Someday I'll get the hang of properly cutting stuff. Maybe.

[beckerbell]

► - Do you know what else I've been spending the last few days doing? (Well, it was last week, but by the time I had time to post this....) Watching the whole late night talk show scene's latest huge kerfluffle and, good god, is it ever entertaining as hell. I'm seriously going to miss this when it's all over. So far, the best place I've found

Comments

[wrong]

I didn't like how KH dealt with their female characters in general, although it got a huge thumbs-up from me on the Minnie front (she's so awesome...actually, she and Mickey single-handedly redeemed the entire series for me), so I was kind of :/ with how they handled her, even in KH2 (and I had a...somewhat irrational dislike for Namine, much like I imagine your feelings for Kairi are like, so I completely understand).

Lol again, I think what doesn't bother me about Kairi is that I've removed myself from fandom, so I don't really have much pressure from any front to like or dislike her.

For me, the angle is more like Riku -----> Kairi (Sora) in the beginning of KH1 and then slowly opening up to seeing Kairi as her own person instead of an extension of Sora. Because Riku always seemed to ping me as "Sora Sora Sora", and if getting to Kairi meant getting to Sora, then he would do it? I still think that in KH2, Kairi matured to become the stable emotional core of the trio, and it's where she shines.

But lol, I'm not convincing you to like Kairi, I know how annoying it can be since I get that about Namine. :')

[beckerbell]

I know a lot of the Kairi pushing was in reaction to the fans who really just loathed her and were probably coming from a EW GET THE GIRL AWAY FROM THE BOYSLASH!!11, which I can't really blame them for. It just got to a point where I felt that it was an overreaction to something that wasn't as big a problem as it was made out to be. (But that was just my experience, not really being that deep into the fandom and knowing not to take girl-hating morons seriously. XD)

I do agree that, as of KHII, Kairi was the stable one of their trio, but she'd gone through the least amount of shit of all of them. (Which, in itself, is sometimes frustrating, because she doesn't really get to do much. I really wish there were going to be a KHIII where we could have had a party of the three of them together, I think that would have helped warm a lot of people up.) By KHII, I think they were both pretty focused on Sora, so you'd almost have to start there with them, but it would be interesting to look at Riku's feelings for her.

I have more trouble buying why she would be interested in him back, but I like to think she matured a lot and realized how much good there was in Riku and how wonderful he could be. (Which, granted, is putting all the focus on the Riku side of things, but, well. I never denied being a ridiculous Riku fangirl. XD)

[wrong]

I liked that she's the stable one of the trio, because lord knows that someone needs to be the stable one, even if it rankles people that she was also the one who didn't go through as much shit. Although I would probably not like the idea of the three of them having to go out and save the world again, because I think that part of the story is pretty much done.

I like to think that in the absence of her boys (as well as the entire amnesia issue with Sora), Kairi did re-evaluate her status in the entire trio and it's pretty evident how she tries to bring them back together, stubbornly going against Riku's issues about the entire darkness thing. I'm not sure if she recognised herself as the outsider, because as a third-person, I thought that at the end of KH2, it's really obvious that no matter how much they push it, Sora and Riku are still so much closer due to what they've gone through and there's no way Kairi could ever hope to share in that, but like hell she's not going to support them when they need it.

It's weird to think how Riku would feel for her, considering that two years had passed. From the game it felt that he's gotten fond of her, even in the absence, and she with him too, but it's strange because under normal circumstances, you wouldn't really find yourself missing someone, especially when you parted on such bad terms. Because even though Kairi matured a little by the end of KH1, I'm not sure if she actually understood why Riku made the choices he made. Ultimately, I do like that they developed her to where she is in KH2 though!

To sum it up, how I think Riku and Kairi's relationship would be post-KH2 would be snatches of talking quietly together (mostly when Sora's not around/being engrossed by food/napping on the sofa), and double-teaming Sora. But I feel that their ultimate focus is always on him.

[beckerbell]

Maybe that's what makes the Riku/Kairi dynamic interesting, because it's definitely there, but it's not as developed as Riku/Sora and Sora/Kairi is. Instead, you have all these subtle feelings and Sora-shaped complications, because it is hard to imagine either of them without Sora. You can ship the other two pairings with somewhat relative ease and not go the OT3 route, but Riku/Kairi is more difficult to make about them themselves.

I imagine a lot of what Kairi went through was simply growing up (or KH recognizing that she needed to mature), but every time I try to think of her necessity in the trio, I always think of Riku and Sora at the almost-end of KHII, when they were trapped in that empty world and they seemed really fine with being there. Yes, part of it was just relief to be alive, a lot of it was Sora simply knowing they'd find a way out of there, but they still seemed to... fit together, right there. Without Kairi there.

And the trio works all together, but I feel like... if Riku/Sora works for me and Riku/Sora/Kairi works imo, then... Kairi doesn't feel like an actual necessary part. Riku/Kairi, as we've discussed, needs Sora. Sora/Kairi was missing Riku. So, it's hard for me to feel passion for something (the OT3 and, thus, Kairi in the mix) that feels just as balanced without her.

....I really got off on a tangent there, sorry. :x

Circling back to the topic at hand, I agree that Kairi would support them and be empathic with them, even if she couldn't directly understand what they went through. I do think watching both Riku and Sora go through what they went through (or at least knowing enough of it to guess at what they went through), she was the one who could step back (but not entirely away) to really see them, realize all these insights about them because she'd almost lost both of them.

And not that I would want them all to go through heartwrenching events all over again, but... I wouldn't have said no to being able to have Riku and Kairi in my party as I traveled through worlds. (This may also have to do with Donald and Goofy constantly getting in my way as much as it's about the hardcore awesome that would be that party.)

So, trying to sum things up: I think Kairi is important to them as emotional support and as an important person in their lives. But it's hard for me to be passionate about her character for this myriad of reasons, even though I think the Riku/Kairi potential post-KHII would be awesome. Since Sora will never really be that serious of a person, the Riku/Kairi conversations could be much more serious and quietly deep.

[wrong]

I think that's what's really hard about Riku/Kairi. Even if it's just them, I think a lot of their conversations will steer invariably towards Sora.

Since Sora will never really be that serious of a person, the Riku/Kairi conversations could be much more serious and quietly deep.

Sora...really isn't a deep person XD. And as much as I think Roxas has some traits in common with Riku, they're never going to have the kind of conversations they need to have. Which is why I do like Kairi because she gives Riku the avenue to talk...and I think, for characters to work for me, they have to have a point. They may not be necessarily likeable, but if I see the reason for them being there, I'm mostly fine with them.

[beckerbell]

Well and I think everyone and their mother has to agree that Riku and Sora are both... well, Sora's not a deep person and doesn't always get stuff. And Riku thinks nobody loves him, everybody hates him, he's gonna go eat worms. XD

So, yeah, Kairi was pretty necessary at that point in time, in order to get them both back together and to stop being wrapped up in their own stuff or figuring out the words to say. And they'll probably always be that way, to some degree. So I like her in their lives, just... no passion is there, for me. XD