Everyone talks about RoxasXXion or RoxasXNamine

[yamibakura 10]

and here i am shipping these two

i know it has no basis but it feels more natural.

[Movies798 1,357]

That's cool. I prefer Roxas x Namine though. I love their moments in Kingdom Hearts 2, and feel a lot of potential there. And I prefer Roxas and Xion as best friends. Roxas and Xion's friendship feels more natural as platonic pair than some romantic pair in my opinion.

Edited August 2, 2021 by Movies798

[FadedSparkle 18]

Roxas and Olette was the way I leaned too in the KH2 days. Who cares if the Olette he knew was made of data? Definitely not me. Roxas/Namine is one I've never quite understood. They barely interacted in a positive way so I couldn't get behind them in the early days of them being shipped together and I still can't really get behind it now. It also feels like Namine very much feels a connection to him, but Roxas doesn't feel that same connection towards her.

And I can't really tell if she wants to substitute Roxas for Sora or is actually drawn to Roxas. The scene on Sunset Hill that was added to KH2 through the Final Mix has her looking at a drawing of those two and talking about how there's someone she wants to see, but much like in Chain of Memories where she gives off a yearning to replace Kairi in Sora's heart she comes off like she's hoping for Roxas to be the Sora to her Kairi in this scene from KH2FM.

Incidentally this is also why I can't really get behind Namiku, another popular heterosexual ship born circa the days of KH2. There's the whole can of worms that is Repliku in this equation, plus Riku ending up with her comes off as lumping Sora's best friend with an alternate version of Sora's girl (and I don't even like Sokai so it's extra awful to have Namiku as a possible endgame ship after that one scene in KH3). Like I'm not going to cry over spilled milk if they pull the trigger on them after the tease at the end of KH3, but the more blatantly implied sympathizing and empathizing with each other's loneliness and guilt over their past actions towards Sora in the novel and manga continuities do not a romance create IMHO. End of the day the priority for both is still Sora. If anything they went from acquaintances working towards a common goal to budding actual friends working towards a common goal off screen during that year between Chain of Memories, 358/2 Days, and the KH2 prologue.

Roxas and Xion feels more appropriate, but their friendship is so beautiful that I would fear for how a romance between them would be written by someone who does romance as badly as Tetsuya Nomura does. There are little scenes here and there in the 358/2 Days game itself that are not in the cutscene compilation movie that help this one along in being a friendship that could evolve and tip over to romantic seamlessly if handled with the right care though.

Then we have the elephant in the room: Xion is also popularly shipped with Riku and I just can't understand that one. He treats her kind of like a little sister in 358/2 Days after their first meeting on the bridge of Beast's Castle (heck even then he's kinda doing it, warning her to find a new crowd to hang with because the Organization's bad news). It really reminded me of how he was with Kairi. In KH1 they keep trying to push this idea that Riku also has a crush on Kairi, but he comes off more like an overprotective big brother over the course of the game. In the prologue on the Islands he's trying to urge Sora into earning the right to share the paopu fruit with her by pretending to want to share one with her himself, and evidently he's become so suffocating in some way or another to Kairi that she wants to take the raft and leave with just Sora (she wants to get away from an overprotective and overbearing Riku).

After he realizes Kairi didn't end up where either he or Sora did once the Islands fell he resolved to find her and then to get her heart back for her. In Hollow Bastion during the climax of the story he urges her to run again showing the depth of his protectiveness for her. And we get another hint at Kairi not really liking this side of him (of him expecting her to do as he says/wants like an overbearing big brother) in her body language before she agrees to run. Of course at the end of the game we get him telling Sora to take care of her (an unspoken "because I no longer can" lingers in the air here). It bleeds over to KH2 where he has Pluto watch over her for him in the open and watches over her himself from the shadows then goes to rescue her when she gets kidnapped by Saix who he shows a great deal of aggression towards (We see a repeat of this aggression towards her kidnapper(s) in KH3 against Old Man Xehanort after she gets shattered).

It's also in KH2 where we see Riku make a shift in how he sees Kairi. He gives her a keyblade to fight with because he's stopped seeing her as someone who needs to be coddled and kept away from the potential dangers of the adventures he and Sora have become so caught up in (when they were younger everything about how treats the older Kairi in KH1 has echoes to him wanting to make sure she doesn't involve herself with dangerous things; she races with Sora and Riku but is significantly slower than them and later plays referee for them instead of racing with them; an implication that she doesn't often race with them at all), and she's also the only kid on the Play Island who doesn't engage Sora in practice combat/sparring (Tidus, Wakka, and Selphie are positioned as NPC set pieces/supporting cast members at best for Destiny Islands and yet they all fight Sora where Kairi, a main character, the female protagonist, does not), so it's not a far cry that as little kids after she washed up on Destiny Islands Riku took on a role of keeping her from getting involved with more dangerous forms of play. Anything that could've gotten her bumps and bruises, or cuts and scrapes he would have objected to her joining him, Sora, and the others in.

But in KH2 he's willing to let up a little and let her fend for herself. This is nicely brought home in Dream Drop Distance where he's the one sent to bring her to the Mysterious Tower to begin training as a keyblade wielder, and again in 0.2 where he's encouraging about this development as opposed to condescending and also not trying to convince her not to do it. They fall back on showing his overprotective nature towards her in Melody of Memory though, when he reacts poorly to her expressed desire to come with him to save Sora, but you can see the shift in their relationship with each other in how she responds; she takes it for the concern it is instead of an elder brother's condescension and lack of faith in her, admitting she needs to stay behind and focus on completing her training.

Looping back to Xion as I've gotten way off base, but it all still works to support what I was aiming for as my point: Riku approaches Xion with a great deal of gentleness after their initial meeting. He could have incapacitated her and taken her back to the mansion in Twilight Town at any time but explains to her what's going on, doesn't react violently to her incredibly harsh line "So, do you hate me for keeping you from your friend?" although he'd be perfectly justified to be, is even honest about how he feels in response to that question; "Nah, I guess...I'm just sad." he tells her, and then chooses to let her decide what to do and gives her time. Time Sora realistically doesn't securely have because there is no guarantee the organization won't find where he's been hidden. All of it combined makes me wonder where people got romantic vibes from these two in order to birth the Rikushi ship.

Edited August 3, 2021 by FadedSparkle

[SweetYetSalty 330]

I ship Roxas with the stick, lol.

In all seriousness I don't engage in serious shipping. I do love the various fanarts of shipping even if it's a pair I don't like, that's something I will always enjoy seeing artist do.

Since we're talking Roxas ships, I don't ship him with anyone seriously. 

With Roxas and Xion I always see them as best friends which in Kingdom Hearts is far better then a romantic pair anyway. I love Roxas and Xion's relationship and I want to see it evolve even further, but not into a romance. I want to see them become even tighter friends. See them go to Twilight Town school together, spar together, joke around with one another. I don't want Xion to just become "Roxas's girlfriend" because that would just feel like a downgrade to me. I want her to be his equal able to hang with him. I want them to have the Hawkeye/Black Widow dynamic of loving one another but not being in love. These are my favorite boy/girl dynamics in fiction.

With Roxas and Namine I'll tread lightly here. I never got into it. I get the appeal of it and why people like this pairing so much, but it's not for me. Even before Days came out it wasn't for me, even though this was built as something of a romance especially that KH2 ending.

Truthfully I don't want Roxas romantic with anyone because he's not tied down to a single girl which means he can have one-on-one time with any female and not just his "girlfriend". Be it Xion, Namine, Olette or the shopkeeper. It's probably why they haven't made Sora and Kairi a official item yet, despite it being obvious, considering he dances with Ariel and Rapunzel all the time.

Ultimately I prefer cheesy friendship stories over romantic ones. Friendships grow and include others, romance is tied to two people exclusively only. For a series like Kingdom Hearts friendships are better then romances.

Edited August 2, 2021 by SweetYetSalty

[yamibakura 10]

14 hours ago, Movies798 said:

That's cool. I prefer Roxas x Namine though. I love their moments in Kingdom Hearts 2, and feel a lot of potential there. And I prefer Roxas and Xion as best friends. Roxas and Xion's friendship feels more natural than some romantic pair in my opinion.

 

the roxas namine is too forced for me because their original person's are together. also, i tend to ship namine with riku. in the mange the later had a more closer relationship than in the games

[yamibakura 10]

7 hours ago, FadedSparkle said:

Who cares if the Olette he knew was made of data? Definitely not me.

would be interesting if DiZ also gave him a virtual gf tbh ngl. that would have hurt him even more though

7 hours ago, FadedSparkle said:

They barely interacted in a positive way so I couldn't get behind them in the early days of them being shipped together and I still can't really get behind it now. It also feels like Namine very much feels a connection to him, but Roxas doesn't feel that same connection towards her.

i think namine sympathizs with roxas because she too is being used by DiZ. she feels he is a vitcim like her

 

7 hours ago, FadedSparkle said:

he scene on Sunset Hill that was added to KH2 through the Final Mix has her looking at a drawing of those two and talking about how there's someone she wants to see, but much like in Chain of Memories where she gives off a yearning to replace Kairi in Sora's heart she comes off like she's hoping for Roxas to be the Sora to her Kairi in this scene from KH2FM.

Roxas didnt seem to feel the same way though

7 hours ago, FadedSparkle said:

can of worms that is Repliku in this equation, plus Riku ending up with her comes off as lumping Sora's best friend with an alternate version of Sora's girl (and I don't even like Sokai so it's extra awful to have Namiku as a possible endgame ship after that one scene in KH3). Like I'm not going to cry over spilled milk if they pull the trigger on them after the tease at the end of KH3, but the more blatantly implied sympathizing and empathizing with each other's loneliness and guilt over their past actions towards Sora in the novel and manga continuities do not a romance create IMHO. End of the day the priority for both is still Sora. If anything they went from acquaintances working towards a common goal to budding actual friends working towards a common goal off screen during that year between Chain of Memories, 358/2 Days, and the KH2 prologue.

well riku and namine spent a lot more time together than namime spent with roxas or sora so i cant kinda visualize them developing a closer relationship during sora's slumber

7 hours ago, FadedSparkle said:

oxas and Xion feels more appropriate, but their friendship is so beautiful that I would fear for how a romance between them would be written by someone who does romance as badly as Tetsuya Nomura does. There are little scenes here and there in the 358/2 Days game itself that are not in the cutscene compilation movie that help this one along in being a friendship that could evolve and tip over to romantic seamlessly if handled with the right care though.

i dont mind roxas and xion tbh ngl. but i needs some work imho, the basis is there though.

7 hours ago, FadedSparkle said:

Then we have the elephant in the room: Xion is also popularly shipped with Riku and I just can't understand that one. He treats her kind of like a little sister in 358/2 Days after their first meeting on the bridge of Beast's Castle (heck even then he's kinda doing it, warning her to find a new crowd to hang with because the Organization's bad news

xion is kinda hard to ship tbh ngl considering her nature. but at no point did riu seem to have feelings for her anwyay

7 hours ago, FadedSparkle said:

ter he realizes Kairi didn't end up where either he or Sora did once the Islands fell he resolved to find her and then to get her heart back for her. In Hollow Bastion during the climax of the story he urges her to run again showing the depth of his protectiveness for her. And we get another hint at Kairi not really liking this side of him (of him expecting her to do as he says/wants like an overbearing big brother) in her body language before she agrees to run. Of course at the end of the game we get him telling Sora to take care of her (an unspoken "because I no longer can" lingers in the air here). It bleeds over to KH2 where he has Pluto watch over her for him in the open and watches over her himself from the shadows then goes to rescue her when she gets kidnapped by Saix who he shows a great deal of aggression towards (We see a repeat of this aggression towards her kidnapper(s) in KH3 against Old Man Xehanort after she gets shattered).

It's also in KH2 where we see Riku make a shift in how he sees Kairi. He gives her a keyblade to fight with because he's stopped seeing her as someone who needs to be coddled and kept away from the potential dangers of the adventures he and Sora have become so caught up in (when they were younger everything about how treats the older Kairi in KH1 has echoes to him wanting to make sure she doesn't involve herself with dangerous things; she races with Sora and Riku but is significantly slower than them and later plays referee for them instead of racing with them; an implication that she doesn't often race with them at all), and she's also the only kid on the Play Island who doesn't engage Sora in practice combat/sparring (Tidus, Wakka, and Selphie are positioned as NPC set pieces/supporting cast members at best for Destiny Islands and yet they all fight Sora where Kairi, a main character, the female protagonist, does not), so it's not a far cry that as little kids after she washed up on Destiny Islands Riku took on a role of keeping her from getting involved with more dangerous forms of play. Anything that could've gotten her bumps and bruises, or cuts and scrapes he would have objected to her joining him, Sora, and the others in.

But in KH2 he's willing to let up a little and let her fend for herself. This is nicely brought home in Dream Drop Distance where he's the one sent to bring her to the Mysterious Tower to begin training as a keyblade wielder, and again in 0.2 where he's encouraging about this development as opposed to condescending and also not trying to convince her not to do it. They fall back on showing his overprotective nature towards her in Melody of Memory though, when he reacts poorly to her expressed desire to come with him to save Sora, but you can see the shift in their relationship with each other in how she responds; she takes it for the concern it is instead of an elder brother's condescension and lack of faith in her, admitting she needs to stay behind and focus on completing her training.

you know, Riku in KH2, if he dies in battle he says "Kairi...". Now, i doubt that in his final moments he would mentin her if he only saw her as a friend or younger sister. I always feel riku has some feelings for her but he puts her happiness with Sora above them and despite this he still stays close to them.

7 hours ago, FadedSparkle said:

t: Riku approaches Xion with a great deal of gentleness after their initial meeting. He could have incapacitated her and taken her back to the mansion in Twilight Town at any time but explains to her what's going on, doesn't react violently to her incredibly harsh line "So, do you hate me for keeping you from your friend?" although he'd be perfectly justified to be, is even honest about how he feels in response to that question; "Nah, I guess...I'm just sad." he tells her, and then chooses to let her decide what to do and gives her time. Time Sora realistically doesn't securely have because there is no guarantee the organization won't find where he's been hidden. All of it combined makes me wonder where people got romantic vibes from these two in other to birth the Rikushi ship.

i think riku is gentle with girls in general tbh ngl

[Movies798 1,357]

3 hours ago, yamibakura said:

 

the roxas namine is too forced for me because their original person's are together. also, i tend to ship namine with riku. in the mange the later had a more closer relationship than in the games

I respect that. Roxas and Namine interactions wasn't force in Kingdom Hearts 2. They both have nice and natural moments together in the prologue of Kingdom Hearts 2 before Roxas return to Sora. There's a lot of potential between those two in my opinion that I can see those two potentially become a couple. I don't see Riku and Namine together because those two have more a professional working relationship than some romantic couple. Especially that moment in 358/2 Days. Riku comes off like older brother toward Namine in my opinion. Plus, I don't read any of the manga or light novels since those are not canon into the Kingdom Hearts series. I only follow the games which are the only canon material in the franchise. 

[FadedSparkle 18]

On 8/2/2021 at 2:54 PM, yamibakura said:

you know, Riku in KH2, if he dies in battle he says "Kairi...". Now, i doubt that in his final moments he would mentin her if he only saw her as a friend or younger sister. I always feel riku has some feelings for her but he puts her happiness with Sora above them and despite this he still stays close to them.

That actually sounds like grasping at straws for evidence of him having feelings for her of a romantic nature and trailing off could mean he wants to say more (I would imagine the full line he's trying to say there is along the lines of "Kairi...Sora..I'm sorry.").  Although I actually never knew that he calls her name when he dies because I've never had Riku KO'd in KH2 before. Grains of salt all over this though, putting it together with everything else about their relationship it falls apart and acts as a big piece that doesn't fit in the puzzle that's put together from the rest of my observations. I'd have to devote time to slotting that in somehow, but it is a good piece of food for thought. As far as him staying close to them goes, at the end of the day they're still the two most important characters to him. That's consistent throughout the whole first trilogy of games, and all the ones that came afterwards so far. It'd be pretty unlike Riku to not want to be close to Sora and Kairi.

 

On 8/2/2021 at 2:54 PM, yamibakura said:

i think riku is gentle with girls in general tbh ngl

This I can definitely agree with. Kairi, Namine, Xion, Shiki, and most recently the Limit Cut episode of the Re:Mind DLC offered up one scene where he was very gentle towards Aqua too.

 

On 8/2/2021 at 2:54 PM, yamibakura said:

well riku and namine spent a lot more time together than namime spent with roxas or sora so i cant kinda visualize them developing a closer relationship during sora's slumber

Yeah, the novels and manga do help with this one, so long as one views them empathizing and sympathizing with each other's loneliness and guilt as signs of more than a budding friendship. There's an essay posted to AO3 by someone that basically has its core point being that because Riku and Namine were like that in the KH2 novels it means there's a basis for them as a ship, thus the general consensus that the ship came out of nowhere and they just got lumped together in that one scene at the end of KH3 is false. I don't know how canon or non-canon the novels and manga continuities are according to the series owners themselves, so I simplified things in my head and just put everything into its own canon (the novels have their canon, the manga has its canon, and of course the games have theirs). It's just too much of a headache to try combining all three so I choose not to.

There's also a distinct lack of characters acting like themselves consistently throughout all three adaptations. To mention one glaring example I'll just point to Kairi in the KH2 novels and manga. In the games I don't recall any scene where Kairi was mean or rude (save for when she's teasing Sora about being lazy/slow in the head/naive) outside of the line in KH1 where she wanted to take the raft with Sora and leave Riku behind, during a scene with a serious tone to it. The way she treats Demyx in both of the other continuities though; is really contradictory to her game counterpart and served to make me hate her more than I already do. I should probably use hate loosely as it's difficult to hate a character who only has so much life in her. All three adaptations would have to do a better job with her for me to actually like her, and it's more like hate for how she's handled than hate for her specifically because there's only so much "her" to like or dislike/hate. I hope I'm making sense.

On 8/2/2021 at 2:54 PM, yamibakura said:

On 8/2/2021 at 7:37 AM, FadedSparkle said:

 

i think namine sympathizs with roxas because she too is being used by DiZ. she feels he is a vitcim like her

If she does, she has one very contradicting line in the KH2 prologue "Roxas, you were never supposed to exist." It's comparable to the amount of callousness she displays when it comes to Repliku and really brings out the truth of Larxene's "Oh so cute, but beyond this pretty face, you do awful things." line from Chain of Memories. Now this could have everything to do with the way that Namine came into being, but Roxas is right to react with anger and disbelief at her line there when he retorts with, "Even if that were true, how could you ever say that?" I don't want to seem like I'm giving Namine a harder time than I should, but a lot of her prospects for romance are in the realm of one-sided.

She wants to replace Kairi in Sora's heart in Chain of Memories (and takes the fact she's being coerced to mess with his memories as her chance to do so, even if she backtracks and stops trying to in the end), she wants to be close to Roxas because Kairi is close to Sora (essentially wanting him to be the Sora to her Kairi due to them being Sora and Kairi's Nobodies), she wants to be the female companion who ends up with Riku in a quartet made up of herself, Sora, Riku, and Kairi; because Sora belongs to Kairi, her Original/her Somebody (we can infer this way more than just slightly, from the drawing of the four of them she makes in Chain of Memories, where she draws herself next to Riku and Kairi next to Sora because deep down even she realizes that Sora would never choose her over Kairi). I'm really not left with anyone to ship Namine with, without feeling uncomfortable about the pairing in some way.

Edited April 14, 2022 by FadedSparkle

[Bren8612 0]

I’m not entirely so sure about all of this. I mean pairings are fun but let’s not forget riku x namine. That would be awesome I think!