Riku - A different side

I made this Riku version in 2008. I bet about no one of you remembers. Well, I didn't. I just stumbled across the photos and was like '....whoa! where did that come from!' XD

So have some traditional Riku.



This is the one thing I don't think he'd ever wear because, although he somehow is from Japan, he's not japanese at all.
But still I did it.
Yes, I'm a freak XD

I know it's a bridal kimono and it looks very feminine. That's on purpose. Riku is not the all-over-cool guy, let's remember the original Kingdom Hearts, that he has been possessed by Ansem and used by Maleficent, that he was a mere doll of the darkness. He has a fragile and helpless side when it comes to his wishes he can't make come true by himself and his need to be free that made him an instument of darkness. Riku is someone who has been used a lot. And he's not the overall seme type. Maybe when it comes to Sora, he is. But not to Ansem.
That's why I made this not the cool and masculine style. A kimono is a very symbolic piece of clothing and I wanted to use it in a symbolic way.

That's also why it's tied the 'wrong' way, like a funeral kimono (in the right photo. I mirrored the left one for a better composition). I wanted it to represent an 'inner' world, not a kimono Riku would wear for an actual japanese festival.


And here again, light colours for Riku. Turquoise to match his eyes, light blue to make it look windy, rose for the cherry blossoms, black for the contrast.


photos by ~JulianMoore









He himself was broken
Long before the sky would open
Forsaken, almost human
He sank beneath your wisdom like a stone
And you want to travel with him
And you want to travel blind
And you think maybe you'll trust him
For he's touched your perfect body with his mind.