Family

[manyissuesali]

Is it just me, or does anyone else absolutely hate when fic writers make Riku's home life horrible? Either someone is an alcoholic, someone has walked out on their son and spouse, or his parents just hate him. I detest these stereotypes. Just because he turned to the darkness doesn't mean that he had a bad home life, or was beaten, or abandoned. It

Comments

[omamus]

It's probably based on a comment Riku made in kh1 "We may never see our parents again." He doesn't say he hates his parents.

[akaihikari]

I've never run into that Riku!trope (thank God). But, yeah, I don't really perceive him as being from an abusive home. Hell, if anything, I think he might have been... Not really spoiled, but close to it.

[leapscotch]

One of my favourite fan fictions ever has Riku with a bad family life. I guess it's because he always seems kind of down & has that "I'm putting a wall up so you don't know the real me" kind of vibe going on.

[kitsuneikkin]

I think his nearly-suicidal self-reliance might have something to do with it, too. It kind of makes sense that it might have come from him having to take care of himself more than usual when he was younger. That doesn't necessarily have to translate to abuse and alcoholics, though. I'm kind of partial to the idea of Riku having a parent/parents who really do love him, but can't always be there for him because of mundane reasons like work rather than any kind of malevolence on their part.

Of course, sticking him with a horrible family guarantees a lot of angst and pity, which is probably the real intention in the more egregious cases.

[pearlblade]

My parents were and still are very much like that. My mom, as I was growing up, never understood how to show concern or how to comfort. She thought just facing something that scared me was better then comfort. err... *Thinks of a better way to explain this...* Ok here's an example. If I saw something that scared me walking down the street, mom wouldn't hold me, rather she'd just tell me it was nothing to be afraid of and keep going. Follow that up with my dad being a very passive person

[kitsuneikkin]

Hmm, that is a different way of thinking about it, and it makes a lot of sense.

I don't think Sora necessarily needs to have parents with safer jobs to make it work, though. I actually could see him having a father who's out at sea part of the time - Sora's ability to stay optimistic even when he's separated from his friends and family would make more sense if it was something he'd developed over time instead of something he just has.

It'd make an interesting contrast, too. Riku's parents know that something could happen, and try to prepare him for that possibility by making him self-reliant, while Sora's parents know that something could happen, so they stay as close as possible while they can and make sure Sora knows they'll always be there for him even if they're (physically) gone.

[teal_deer]

When I actually used to write Riku, I did say that his mother had gone missing when he was small and his father was rather distant, but it wasn't bad, really, just... not as happy as Sora's? Pretty normal, but easily blown out of proportion for your average teenager?

[brishena]

This is one of the stereotypes I can actually understand. To me, he just seems a little too eager to leave the island, compared to Sora or Kairi, who was really just tagging along for the hell of it.

Everything involving their home lives (and even the island itself) IS all fanon, though, so I don't see much point in "this theory is better than that one."

[leapscotch]

This x 100!
I'm glad someone other then me noticed him wanting to leave the island more then the other two :)

[brishena]

Yes! I mean, he'd been talking about it since they were, what, five? (And that's a little unusual for kids so young.) SO YES.

[duster]

Pretty much this.

The way a friend roleplays Riku he comes from a bad home. No mother and his father likes to find his answers at the bottom of a bottle.

Riku just seemed lost and needed some connection, probably why he clung easily to the darkness.