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Hedginka

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It's pretty blatant to me, and it coincides with the uncertainty and insecurity that I mentioned before, that RikuNami is more of "let's get this bitch out the way" than anything. There's nothing about them that is inherently romantic in the entire saga and it is not the behavior of someone who likes or is interested in another person.

You don't have to be this bitter towards Namiku, ya know.

The whole thing is honestly so weird. I see on twitter a lot people going "and Kairi's gay for Olette" and I just... Olette is barely a character? It feels like wanting to ship Kairi with a girl so she won't get in the way of Soriku, but also not wanting her to get in the way of Naminé/Xion, so due to the lack of original female characters in KH that are age-appropriate for Kairi... Kailette was born.

You mean to suggest a group of rabid shippers ship two characters based on extremely little interaction, just for the sake of pairing characters together and removing them as competition for anyone else? Why, I can't imagine such a thing being true.
 

*TwilightNight*

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Yeah, as a more villainous pairing they'd be pretty entertaining.

Well what's a bit of backstabbing among traitors? I'm sure they'd work it out.

But honestly it's weird to me that they're now framing it as if Larxene was into Marluxia, when she and Axel seemed to be hitting it off so much better in CoM.

That's another aspect that came out of nowhere and got retconned in. Marluxia and Larxene hardly exchanged words, if at all, and KHIII wasn't much better. And suddenly there's this relationship there that comes from the past. It doesn't help that it ruins Larxene's character. Her only motivation being a guy to join the Organization? Elrena being used for this Strelitzia mystery about him and then never seen again since? Just typical, sexist Nomura here.

This is something I find rather frustrating with KH's story telling. There's a lot of interesting dynamics that are established over the years, but they're either not utilized or glossed over. Like what you mentioned here.

Often it feels like instead of having characters actually work things out and get to that point, the story just skips to where it wants the characters to be. Ansem and his apprentices are a good example, yes you can have them working in the labs again, but there's some ground work that needs to be done to get them there. Same with what you mentioned between Riku and Roxas, you can have them or even Xion and Isa, get along, but there's somethings that need to be addressed first.

Exactly.

I'd have found it more interesting, if Mickey was with Riku fighting off Ansem, Repliku and Xigbar, leaving Axel and Kairi to face Marluxia and Larxene. You could have Marly and Larx holding a grudge against Axel, while Kairi feels Naminé's fear at the sight of her abusers. This would also give us the added benefit of having Axel and Kairi be party members for a full fight.

You should take Nomura's director seat or something. Sounds much better narratively. That's another thing that bothers me. How people online in some forum can think of things in only minutes while the guy in charge professionally struggles to get anything in-depth done with the characters. And also can't figure out that if there's no time for that, to not throw things together as if everything is fine with the cast.

Something about that rubs me the wrong way 'cause I was never fond of the mentality of characters being obstacles for the ships people wanna like.

Unfortunately, that predominantly exists, otherwise no shipping battles would be happening. That's the crux of them.

And I'm talking about a particular faction.

I don't remember Riku being abusive to Namine in this series... DiZ apparently wanted Riku to "take care of" Namine after everything was done, I guess? Riku didn't do anything to her though. Riku was more threatening to Xion from what I remember, and even then he didn't do much to her either other than make her feel bad. Roxas is probably the one he hurt the most by defeating him and then helping DiZ to delude him with the TT replica. And Namine was in on that herself, too--she wasn't coerced into what happened to Roxas like she was by the Org. into harming Sora. I guess I didn't really mind Riku's actions because Nobodies were thought to be hollow vessels of the original people and Riku was trying to revive someone who was actually real. That's not quite the same as Axel murdering his own in order to get him and Isa farther up the chain of command in CoM. (Although KH3 softened that storyline by writing in that they were seeking to find the Mystery Girl.) Still, Axel was ruthless to Vexen in particular, and enjoyed it. He came across bloodthirsty. Of course he didn't have a heart at the time.

Riku didn't stop or try to lessen Diz's ignorance and verbal abuse for her sake, he manhandled her when she was speaking to Roxas in that odd white room, dragging her up by the arm, then stopped Roxas from trying to help Naminè with Diz as Diz manhandles her himself while she tries to fight him off to get last words in. That's called complacency and makes him just as guilty. The brakes only appeared when it came to dispose of her.

Adding in that he might have believed that these people were hollow vessels and his goal being to ultimately wake Sora up (which his little scenes with Naminè tend to consist of), it simply does not paint the picture of someone that loves and cares for a potential significant other. It's a hard sell to me with this type of history. RepliNami is problematic in my opinion, but it makes more sense to me in comparison.

And Naminè had no choice in this matter due the complications involved. If they wanted Sora to wake up, wherein she had promised to fix him, then she knew that Roxas had to disappear. That doesn't mean she agreed with how Diz decided to handle it. Otherwise, there's no point of breaking into data Twilight Town and riling him up as a result of her actions. It's completely counterproductive, no? More so as it risked Sora's awakening.

I think AdrienXIII placed it in perspective. Riku may not have been as bad as Axel, but there's questionable behavior that's simply not addressed and it feels like they skipped the road to reach that final destination where they can all run around the beach, making it feel hollow and disingenuous.

Anyway, I think a "pair the spares" RikuNami pairing woul be just as insulting for Riku as it would be for Namine.

I think forcing the idea that Riku inherited Riku Replica's feelings to excuse Riku's lack of interest previously is much more insulting to all three parties. I've seen it thrown around as another distorted interpretation of Nomura's interview because, again, the lack of acceptance of what was stated there. Why would anyone want that for their ship in general is beyond me.

You don't have to be this bitter towards Namiku, ya know.

Trust me, if I was bitter, it'd be worse. I'm simply pointing out and calling out the shippers who stubbornly and falsely claim something that's not there. Like it being canon. Then get triggered when others don't follow their perceived reality.
 
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palizinhas

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My reaction to shipping wars is taking whatever characters people pit against each other and shipping them together instead. Probably the reason I'm so attached to Riku/Kairi and Naminé/Xion.

Sometimes that works out (kisses out to Korrasami, the crackship of dreams).
 

Elysium

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Korrasami was more the SoRiku of that show (ie, the ship with the most onscreen chemistry that was only thought off-limits because they were both women). KH is too mainstream for that kind of ending to ever happen though. I kind of hoped Voltron would get that ending, since it was a niche show to me. Instead they went with something that apparently pleased nobody--I think?

he manhandled her when she was speaking to Roxas in that odd white room, dragging her up by the arm
I guess security guards are "abusive" then, lol. As for the rest, yes, Namine was just as "complicit" or "complacent" or whatever other inappropriate buzz word we're using here in the treatment of Roxas. She was just a little nicer about it and tried to let him in on his lot in life because she empathized with him as a fellow Nobody.
 
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*TwilightNight*

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I guess security guards are "abusive" then, lol.

They do use violence and rough handling, they just have the authority and right to if it presents danger to others.

With Naminè, that was completely uncalled for. Especially if you are to extract romance out of that. Don't get that comparison at all.
 

palizinhas

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Korrasami was more the SoRiku of that show (ie, the ship with the most onscreen chemistry that was only thought off-limits because they were both women). KH is too mainstream for that kind of ending to ever happen though. I kind of hoped Voltron would get that ending, since it was a niche show to me. Instead they went with something that apparently pleased nobody--I think?
Korrasami didn't become THE lok ship until season 3 though, which is when the crew started pushing for it. In the first two seasons the only scene they had together that really stood out was the race car scene.

So the ship was pretty much a crackship in seasons 1 and 2, and yet I still shipped it, if nothing else out of spite of two female characters being pitted against each other by the fandom because of a guy. No one would have expected the two of them ending up together that early even if the show was released now that we have stuff like She-Ra or Owl House.
 

Elysium

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Being counterculture is still ultimately letting the culture dictate what you think, you know. I mean, shipping "out of spite"? I guess I'd rather ship something because I like it. I don't feel ashamed of shipping SoRiku just because of SoKai v. SoRiku shipping wars happen out in the ether somewhere.
 

redcrown

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Korrasami was more the SoRiku of that show (ie, the ship with the most onscreen chemistry that was only thought off-limits because they were both women). KH is too mainstream for that kind of ending to ever happen though.

Was Legend of Korra that niche though? It was under the Nickelodeon brand after all (unless it wasn't by the end of the show, anybody feel free to correct me; I dropped the show after Season 1 disappointed me), even if the Korrasami ending was only aired online. I would say it's more known and less niche than Kingdom Hearts, but KH is still under a stricter brand.

Also, I really hate saying this since it's pretty messed up and awful, but imo society at large seems to accept (or at least not be as up in arms over) wlw romances in media versus mlm romance in general, for pretty sexist and nefarious reasons I imagine (also feel free to tell me I'm wrong or out of line here).
 
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palizinhas

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I think wlw romances are definitely easier to get away with, but I feel like when it comes to the animated shows in particular... they were mostly done by queer people? She-Ra has a lot of lesbians because Noelle Stevenson is a lesbian, as an example. I think it's just that the fight (and there is still a fight) is being done by women or non-binary people who want to see themselves reflected back on screen, so mlm representation just kinda gets left behind. Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts has a mlm romance that I hear was done really well though (I haven't seen it yet).

It's actually weird because when it comes to Disney Channel/Disney+ live action stuff, I think all the canon main gay characters are men? Cyrus in Andi Mack, Carlos and Seb in HSMTMTS, the main character's brother in Diary of a Future President...
 

Elysium

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@redcrown: I thought of Korra as having less popularity than Avatar. I think all of Avatar's viewers tuned in at the beginning, but a great number of them tuned out over time. By the time they actually went through with the ship, they really didn't have anything to "lose" anymore as far as ratings went. Maybe I'm wrong there, for people who were more into Korra than I was.

No, you're right with what you said in your second paragraph, I'm sorry.
 
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SweetYetSalty

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sometimes Aeleus and Dilan for some reason?
Ya' know I'm starting to ship these guys myself. Move over Zexion. I don't know if AeleusXDilan has a ship name but if not I shall dub it "Silence-Is-Golden" The literal unspoken bond between two men. Just look how Aeleus confronts Dilan when Ansem the Wise returns. These guys need a game!
 

Idreamaboutcats

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We’re not doing a goddamn Bechdel Test in a Disney video game forum shipping thread! What would all the characters even talk about anyway? It's only always about three things: light, darkness, or Sora.

Ships that don't involve Riku or Kairi huh? I got plenty!
  • Canon Disney pairs
  • Player x Strelitzia
  • Lauriam and Elrena (if they ever develop it)
Actually yeah that's about it. Nomura keeps the romance to a minimum in the series.

If I had to go with crackships, I always wondered how Luxu and Ava would interact with each other had they not been pushed into corners by the Master.
 

Hedginka

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We’re not doing a goddamn Bechdel Test in a Disney video game forum shipping thread! What would all the characters even talk about anyway? It's only always about three things: light, darkness, or Sora.

Ships that don't involve Riku or Kairi huh? I got plenty!
  • Canon Disney pairs
  • Player x Strelitzia
  • Lauriam and Elrena (if they ever develop it)
Actually yeah that's about it. Nomura keeps the romance to a minimum in the series.

If I had to go with crackships, I always wondered how Luxu and Ava would interact with each other had they not been pushed into corners by the Master.

The question was supposed to be favourite Sora ship that doesn’t involve Riku or Kairi. Think someone made a typo.
 

Clue.Less

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Now that the typo's fixed, let's discuss this bold statement?

You know I didn't really pick up on it, but I can kind of see how Sora being so smiley and eager to befriend Neku, could be seen as a crush. Honestly given Sora's personality I think shipping him with anyone should be pretty easy.
My first instinct was to say, "True!" and then "Wait, yes, but also not really?" That kind of personality doesn't match well with everyone, in my opinion. And the crush needs to potentially go both ways. Ariel is too enamoured with Eric to care about Sora romantically. Neku opens up to Sora, pretty quickly, and I think it's cute (and it's such a joy to watch Sora making him all flustered in every single scene they have together). Dancing with Ariel in KH2 is a way to distract her from Eric, whereas dancing with Rapunzel is just having fun together, that's why I like Rapunzel better than Ariel as a crush-ship with Sora. (Ariel's spirit in KH3, though, that's power couple material...)

s'my humble over-thinker's opinion 🧐

Anyone want to sell me Ven/Sora? I don't get it, but I'd like to!
 
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