Official Shipping Discussion | ships ahoy | sharing is caring: fan creations (fic, art, etc.)

[Oracle Spockanort]

Sorry about that. What I meant wasn’t anything against or for any ship, but rather trying to figure out what it is others see that’s romantic in a particular ship, in this case, Sora and Riku, since I don’t understand it. Certainly nothing malicious, and I think a lot of ships are fun and/or funny, though I carefully try to keep restrained on that kind of thing.

I have to admit that I am a little wary of pandering though, since the disaster that is Voltron and its really gross and obsessed shipping fandom. I’ll try to be a lot less severe and pessimistic about these things.

Never speak of VLD in this hallowed house or I might start ranting about how I never want to see anything about Sheith, Klance, Lotura, Allurance, or any discussion about S8 ever my heart is still broken

I feel you on that, though. Shipping really destroyed that fandom. I don’t think KH will be hit with anything like that, though. For all of the talk Sokai and Soriku fans do, I don’t think anybody will be violently mad at whatever comes to pass in the future.

If I were not overwhelmed with a busy job and prepping for an promotion interview tomorrow, I’d take the time to properly write a meta on Soriku and why people ship it but alas...I will say that it mostly has to do with the plethora of interactions they have had over the years and how deep their bond is. For many, they see it as an ideal romance because it is formed on a strong foundation that took years to be built up. We see it happen as the games progress.

Everybody see romance differently and has an ideal romance in their heads. To me that is two people with a strong friendship and a lot of intimacy. Sora and Riku have that in spades.

 

[Idreamaboutcats]

Never speak of VLD in this hallowed house or I might start ranting about how I never want to see anything about Sheith, Klance, Lotura, Allurance, or any discussion about S8 ever my heart is still broken

Agreed.

Everybody seems romance differently and has an ideal romance in their heads. To me that is two people with a strong friendship and a lot of intimacy. Sora and Riku have that in spades.

See, that’s the thing. For me, I see the friendship but not the intimacy. I don’t see paopu or ice cream sharing, etc. I think I can recall two instances of what I could interpret as intimate. After their final battle in 2 when they agreed to be the darkness together while the rest are safe back home, and of course, the Sound Idea thing. I can’t find other instances of intimacy, or anything else that isn’t just really close friendship. Maybe my sense of intimacy is whacked. I heard 358 and DDD are basically shipping exposition for those two, but to me, him going far for Sora in 358 to the point of being Ansem SoD again seems more like a mix of penitence and brotherhood than anything romantic. I should rewatch DDD again and try to understand their dynamic better.

 

[*TwilightNight*]

I kinda see it. Remember, Xion is the way Sora sees Kairi, his most important memory (though I don’t know where the eff that brunette hair came from). The Rokushi shippers probably connected the dots that since Roxas is half of Sora and Xion is the “idealized” Kairi the way Sora saw her, blah blah blah the rest is shipping history, and the whole “who else will I eat ice cream with?” Speaking of, wasn’t there a line in the novel where he used the word “love” to refer to a girl? I just can’t remember WHICH girl he’s talking about.

I miss that Kairi too. Dang her KH1 iteration was probably the last decent writing she had, and that was as a damsel in distress. KH2 was okay but lacking in that je ne sais quoi, then it all went downhill from there.

They hold unto that, yes, but Xion is basically a Sora replica at the core and part of him as much as Roxas is (and Axel actually states in his journal that Xion is the replica of Sora's Nobody i.e. Roxas). That "ice cream" line is also different in Japanese and actually includes Axel as a mention, which was a point of contention because everyone was like, what, Axel is chopped liver? He wasn't. I don't know why the localization team made it that way honestly.

And I have no idea, I never read the novels. You might have to ask one of the users that reads them. I know in the game proper Xion said she loved Axel and Roxas.

I wouldn't be surprised though. Xion is basically Tomoco Kanemaki's baby, it's her creation. Only reason Xion has black hair is because Kanemaki wanted a black haired female, there's literally no other reason. She admitted as much. I call Xion her self insert personally. Bias would definitely be there where she has full creative control.

It's funny because fans still hated on Kairi at the time, I never agreed that she didn't have a personality because she did. I think in this fanbase, Kairi can't really win. She's always gonna have detractors I feel.

Mmm, not a good comparison unless you’re into red baseball caps and being ruled over by a cheese puff.

I just finally Googled her at this point. Lol. Cheese puffs are good though, the poor snacks.

Hey, if Sora and Pooh's hand holding scene featured flower petals spinning around them with added slow motion, I'd declare myself captain of the Poora armada.

If Sora wasn't pushed towards Kairi, I would think Aqua reaching for Sora's hand in a close-up within water as rays of the sun shone through would be romantic, but here we are.

It's why my previous post mentioned the very thin line about friendship and romance in KH and Nomura's mindset about it, as well as what the contrasts are. Because it seems his perspective is marginally different than what others see as "romantic".

 

[Absent]

I'm slowly losing interest in soriku but I'll never abandon my take that Riku is definitely queer. In the novels, I found Riku is presented as this outsider trying to find redemption but what's interesting to me is that he's not doing it for himself. CoM and 2 heavily imply that he's bettering himself for Sora. Case and point, Sora is always compared and associated with the light(CoM's prologue for Riku spells it out). That light is redemption, the happy ending he wants. I think it's not a coincidence that its personified as someone dear to Riku(this has more weight when you remember that Kairi is Sora's light).
Also who can forget that iconic moment in KH2's novel when Axel straight up asks him what Sora means to him.

Also this.

"The things that mattered the most were what he couldn’t tell Sora. It had always been that way.”

Conclusion, novel!Riku is queer.

 

[Oracle Spockanort]

I'm slowly losing interest in soriku but I'll never abandon my take that Riku is definitely queer. In the novels, I found Riku is presented as this outsider trying to find redemption but what's interesting to me is that he's not doing it for himself. CoM and 2 heavily imply that he's bettering himself for Sora. Case and point, Sora is always compared and associated with the light(CoM's prologue for Riku spells it out). That light is redemption, the happy ending he wants. I think it's not a coincidence that its personified as someone dear to Riku(this has more weight when you remember that Kairi is Sora's light).
Also who can forget that iconic moment in KH2's novel when Axel straight up asks him what Sora means to him.

Also this.


Conclusion, novel!Riku is queer.

Honestly, to a degree I am the same. I don’t think KH3 helped any with kind of side-lining Riku, but also I always think about the big sacrifice Riku does for Sora and how frustrating that divide was.

We have Riku who believes so much in Sora, and then we have Sora who—yes, has seen all of his friends get killed right in his face—tell Riku he is all alone even though Riku is right there.

I love that entire scene, but I think for the first time since I actually started liking Soriku did I feel like Riku was chasing after something he couldn’t have and that he wasn’t valued as a pillar of support. Imagine going through so many trials and tribulations, standing by somebody’s side and defending them at every corner, believing in them so much that you would die fighting for them. And then imagine that person saying they have nothing and nobody when you’re standing right next to them.

Like damn, that hurts.

Even when Sora had nothing, he had Riku. (Can you tell I just binged the Captain America films?)

I love that Riku still shows Sora how much he believes in him throughout the rest of KH3 and ReMind—he is always believing in Sora even when he is feeling at his lowest—but man KH3 showed me that Sora does not value Riku enough at all which kills me considering everything that Riku has done for him...it’s actually upsetting Sora doesn’t even realize the extent of Riku’s devotion lol.

I guess as the viewer we see it, but still.

And now I’ve lost what I’ve been trying to lead up to by responding but it is 6am so I am only half-awake.

I think I was going to say I still like Soriku but it’s been a waning interest bc of KH3 and Remind, but yes I agree Riku is definitely queer. I hope it was intentional and not accidental queer-coding, though. At least we know in the novels it was very intentional by Kanemaki...

 

[Hedginka]

The first mistake was not ignoring most of KH3's story. The second mistake was not saying a lot of very mean, super duper naughty words about the scene where everyone gets stomped by a lot of shadow heartless.

 

[Oracle Spockanort]

The first mistake was not ignoring most of KH3's story. The second mistake was not saying a lot of very mean, super duper naughty words about the scene where everyone gets stomped by a lot of shadow heartless.

I already did that in 2019. This is 2020 me where I care too much about KH3.

 

[Hedginka]

The fact that I'm still venting about it means I'm probably in a similar boat.

 

[Beyond]

I do only care about Sora and Riku as a ship (since KH1, since I was 14).
But yeah, after KH3 and expecially Re:Mind (that I played only recently, cause I really think Square should learn a lesson about
place prices) I'm start to thinking that Riku deserves better.
Sora doesn't really recognize his value.
The problem is that, deep down in my heart, I still have hope for them or - at least - for Riku to be out as gay.
I usually don't think about KH for months, but when a new title is announced I catch up with the story of mobile games and I start looking for informations on the new one and when I end up playing it, inevitably, I feel bad (of course, not like when I was 14) if Sora and Riku don't interact as I would like.
So, Nomura, do something: give Riku a boyfriend, make Sora and Riku indisputably canonical or kill my hope for good and do it with Sora and Kairi and let them kiss.
Please, cause I am 25 years old - almost 26, and a functional adult: but this stupid saga plays with my nostalgia and it makes me feel like the heroin addict patient I see in psychiatry that, despite having overcome the withdrawal symptoms and the tolerance for the substance of abuse, fall back after years.
Nomura please, SET ME FREE.

And this is just to say that I don't ship in KH, but I do have "a thing" for Sora and Riku for sure.

 

[AegisXIII]

I would be pleased if Sora turned out to be asexual.

 

[Idreamaboutcats]

At this point I just want a kiss that isn’t from Disney characters. No, indirect kisses from sharing fruit don’t count. How are indirect kisses a thing anyway?

 

[Oracle Spockanort]

At this point I just want a kiss that isn’t from Disney characters. No, indirect kisses from sharing fruit don’t count. How are indirect kisses a thing anyway?

They didn’t even share the same fruit. It was two separate fruits.

Indirect kisses aren’t real xD

 

[Hedginka]

Heck, even Disney characters don't kiss anymore in this series. Did anyone else notice how kissless KH3 was? Rapunzel glomps Eugene instead of making out with him, Hercules and Megara stuck to hugging as well. Yet the credits of both KH1 and KH2 weren't hesitant about it, despite how weird PS2 character models locking lips look.

I'm grateful for it though, because it did a good job in assuring me that Sora and Kairi aren't exchanging saliva in this game. And I was right.

 

[Oracle Spockanort]

Heck, even Disney characters don't kiss anymore in this series. Did anyone else notice how kissless KH3 was? Rapunzel glomps Eugene instead of making out with him, Hercules and Megara stuck to hugging as well. Yet the credits of both KH1 and KH2 weren't hesitant about it, despite how weird PS2 character models locking lips look.

I'm grateful for it though, because it did a good job in assuring me that Sora and Kairi aren't exchanging saliva in this game. And I was right.

Yeah, KH3 is really weird with this. I don’t know if there was some internal rule change at Disney or something to do with ratings (which...???). It was definitely baffling.

 

[Idreamaboutcats]

Yeah, I agree it’s weird. How are even Disney characters not kissing anymore? The last game we got a kiss was UX, I think between Aurora and Prince Philip. The last one we got with polygons on it was BbS with Snow White (I don’t think we got kiss scenes with neither Cindy nor Rory, did we?). It’s not like Disney would be kiss-shy all of a sudden since the Disney Princess movies always involved kissing (except Brave, but who cares?).

At least let the rest of the princesses (except Alice because kid) have their kiss; it’s not like they’ll be able to love anyone else except their princes since their destinies were already predetermined whether coded in data, written in a book, or willed by the World.

 

[Sign]

Yeah, I agree it’s weird. How are even Disney characters not kissing anymore? The last game we got a kiss was UX, I think between Aurora and Prince Philip. The last one we got with polygons on it was BbS with Snow White (I don’t think we got kiss scenes with neither Cindy nor Rory, did we?). It’s not like Disney would be kiss-shy all of a sudden since the Disney Princess movies always involved kissing (except Brave, but who cares?).

At least let the rest of the princesses (except Alice because kid) have their kiss; it’s not like they’ll be able to love anyone else except their princes since their destinies were already predetermined whether coded in data, written in a book, or willed by the World.

Aurora and Phillip kissed in BBS, yeah. Only Cinderella was left out among the three.

 

[MATGSY]

Aurora and Phillip kissed in BBS, yeah. Only Cinderella was left out among the three.

Cindy only married the guy for the money anyway. She's the Melania of Disney princesses.

 

[Hedginka]

Aurora and Phillip kissed in BBS, yeah. Only Cinderella was left out among the three.

Tetsuya was originally going to have her and the Prince kiss, but midway through writing BBS, he realised how vastly superior Terra/Cinderella is and couldn't bring himself to write that in any longer. True story. He broke into my house one night to tell me that.

 

[Foxycian]

I think you all get the idea but really im shocked, I see many people approving of this ship but why? it just feels wrong, Roxas is Sora’s Nobody and Xion (altho looks like kairi) she is Sora’s Replica, so technically both are Sora, only difference is Xion is a female but still before growing her own heart she still was created from Sora, which means they are more siblings then they are Lovers, Riku should be with Xion instead imo or both should stay single not everyone should be in a ship lol

what do you think?

 

[AdrianXXII]

I mean both major straight ships with Roxas have the same issue, both Naminé and Xion are a mix of Sora and Kairi. Xion is a replica made to replicate Sora, but ended up becoming a mix of that and the Kairi of Sora's memories. Naminé is Kairi's Nobody through Sora's body, with a touch of Ven thrown into the mix for blond hair. So technically you can view both as his half-sisters.

I'm generally rather meh about shipping, so it doesn't really matter to me. I prefer to see the three of them as friends.