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Manifesto on Canon
I. Canon is that which is not open to interpretation.
(aka, your pairing isn't canon unless there is a kiss, a commitment to date monogamously, or a positively-received I love you)
I know it's really tempting to claim something is canon. Hell, everyone does it. Sora/Kairi is canon! Axel/Roxas is canon! Leon/Cloud is canon! But all of those claims are wrong. In fact, the only canon relationships in Kingdom Hearts are Disney characters and Sora/Namine, in his head while he is brainwashed. (One assumes the Replica is also, but no way of proving it.)
There is a fine line between suggested canon and canon. Yes, Sora shows interest in Kairi. That's canon! But their romantic relationship is not. It doesn't matter if he likes her enough to stab himself in the chest for her (and assuming he wouldn't do this for any of his friends, which I consider questionable) -- that doesn't make them in a relationship. If just wanting to be in a relationship made you in one, Namine and Sora would be married.She wanted him to pick her so bad, you guys.
But relationships don't happen by default. Okay, Sora has a crush on Kairi, but he did not tell her that and ask her on a date and receive a happy affirmative of course Sora, I feel the same way! That makes their relationship not canon. His interest in her is canon, but there are any number of reasons why they might not get together. Maybe no one says anything. Maybe Sora realizes he's happier being just friends with all of them after all they've been through together. Maybe Selphie asks her out first or Sora discovers she doesn't wear deodorant or god forbid he grows out of it.
Much as I would love to say that Axel/Roxas is canon, it is not. Neither is your pairing, unless it's Mickey/Minnie, or one of several other Disney pairings.Even Jack/Sally isn't canon.
II. Canon was never intended to be used as a weapon.
(aka, who cares if it's canon?)
A lot of fans are under this bizarre misconception that non-canon pairings are disqualified from some interinternet shipping competition, and unless they can justify it by playing Six Degrees of Canon Separation, Riku/Sora won't win an all expenses paid trip to Hawaii. The simple fact of the matter is that canon honestly doesn't give your pairing an advantage over other pairings. It doesn't validate your fanfic automatically, and it certainly doesn't make other people stop disliking your OTP. Yeah, sure, Squall/Rinoa is canon, but I still yawn at your improbable cardboardgame pairing and write Leon/Aerith instead.
This is especially a problem I've noticed from Roxas/Namine fans, who not only feel this sense of entitlement that their pairing is canon, but seem to feel that it's canon mostly because Sora/Kairi is canon. Putting aside that neither is actually canon, and the fact that this reasoning is so wrong on so many levels-- Why do you feel the need to keep saying it? Do you need the director's personal approval to like a pairing? Does it make you feel superior, or are you that threatened by other people's pairings?
If a pairing is canon, it's (hopefully) because there is some purpose to it in the story. Maybe it is the story, as in FFVIII, or maybe it gives a character what they need to do what is needed, as in FFX. It's not because it's somehow superior to other pairings. Locke/Celes is canon, but Square-Enix didn't make it canon because they think that Locke/Terra is stupid and anyone who pairs them must be proven wrong.
And for whether or not that makes them OTP forever-- See above about unexpected discoveries, or changing feelings, or growing up. Chances are, when you're 15, your relationships don't last forever. I'm not even still friends with anyone I knew when I was 15.
III. Canon is not the law of the land.
(aka, write it anyway, noob!)
Okay, so it's not canon, and no one would care if it were. Should you not ship them? Of course not. The canon police haven't come after me yet (well, except to say that Axel/Larxene is soooo canon and he's not into Roxas that way), and lord knows I ship Seifer/Namine, a pairing that no one ever writes with two of the least popular characters who never actually meet. (It's not that she isn't liked, it's just that no one writes about her.)
Your pairing doesn't have to be canon to be valid. There are lots of wonderful pairings that aren't canon. Marluxia/Larxene is amazing, and so is Xemnas/Marluxia. Kairi/Olette is fantastically shiny and sometimes I wish more people wrote Hayner/Roxas. (I think my opinions have changed on that count.) Write horrible Zexion/Riku slash; it didn't happen but it could have! Its not being canon doesn't mean you can't make it awesome if you have the inspiration and the will.
To be honest with you, even Nomura doesn't want canon pairings. He's said in interviews, after all, that he wants the player to be able to interpret things, to see their own relationships. He's been called "cold" by his staff for not allowing more shippy things to get into the game. (He cut short a Sora/Kairi moment in the ending sequence despite protests from the staff.) So there you have it: the director doesn't like canon pairings.
And? Honestly? He knows that the more fangirls he can entice with suggested, almost-canon slash involving unattached characters, the more his game will sell. The Japanese have known this for yeeears.
The man's too smart to make anything canon.
(aka, your pairing isn't canon unless there is a kiss, a commitment to date monogamously, or a positively-received I love you)
I know it's really tempting to claim something is canon. Hell, everyone does it. Sora/Kairi is canon! Axel/Roxas is canon! Leon/Cloud is canon! But all of those claims are wrong. In fact, the only canon relationships in Kingdom Hearts are Disney characters and Sora/Namine, in his head while he is brainwashed. (One assumes the Replica is also, but no way of proving it.)
There is a fine line between suggested canon and canon. Yes, Sora shows interest in Kairi. That's canon! But their romantic relationship is not. It doesn't matter if he likes her enough to stab himself in the chest for her (and assuming he wouldn't do this for any of his friends, which I consider questionable) -- that doesn't make them in a relationship. If just wanting to be in a relationship made you in one, Namine and Sora would be married.
But relationships don't happen by default. Okay, Sora has a crush on Kairi, but he did not tell her that and ask her on a date and receive a happy affirmative of course Sora, I feel the same way! That makes their relationship not canon. His interest in her is canon, but there are any number of reasons why they might not get together. Maybe no one says anything. Maybe Sora realizes he's happier being just friends with all of them after all they've been through together. Maybe Selphie asks her out first or Sora discovers she doesn't wear deodorant or god forbid he grows out of it.
Much as I would love to say that Axel/Roxas is canon, it is not. Neither is your pairing, unless it's Mickey/Minnie, or one of several other Disney pairings.
II. Canon was never intended to be used as a weapon.
(aka, who cares if it's canon?)
A lot of fans are under this bizarre misconception that non-canon pairings are disqualified from some interinternet shipping competition, and unless they can justify it by playing Six Degrees of Canon Separation, Riku/Sora won't win an all expenses paid trip to Hawaii. The simple fact of the matter is that canon honestly doesn't give your pairing an advantage over other pairings. It doesn't validate your fanfic automatically, and it certainly doesn't make other people stop disliking your OTP. Yeah, sure, Squall/Rinoa is canon, but I still yawn at your improbable cardboard
This is especially a problem I've noticed from Roxas/Namine fans, who not only feel this sense of entitlement that their pairing is canon, but seem to feel that it's canon mostly because Sora/Kairi is canon. Putting aside that neither is actually canon, and the fact that this reasoning is so wrong on so many levels-- Why do you feel the need to keep saying it? Do you need the director's personal approval to like a pairing? Does it make you feel superior, or are you that threatened by other people's pairings?
If a pairing is canon, it's (hopefully) because there is some purpose to it in the story. Maybe it is the story, as in FFVIII, or maybe it gives a character what they need to do what is needed, as in FFX. It's not because it's somehow superior to other pairings. Locke/Celes is canon, but Square-Enix didn't make it canon because they think that Locke/Terra is stupid and anyone who pairs them must be proven wrong.
And for whether or not that makes them OTP forever-- See above about unexpected discoveries, or changing feelings, or growing up. Chances are, when you're 15, your relationships don't last forever. I'm not even still friends with anyone I knew when I was 15.
III. Canon is not the law of the land.
(aka, write it anyway, noob!)
Okay, so it's not canon, and no one would care if it were. Should you not ship them? Of course not. The canon police haven't come after me yet (well, except to say that Axel/Larxene is soooo canon and he's not into Roxas that way), and lord knows I ship Seifer/Namine, a pairing that no one ever writes with two of the least popular characters who never actually meet. (It's not that she isn't liked, it's just that no one writes about her.)
Your pairing doesn't have to be canon to be valid. There are lots of wonderful pairings that aren't canon. Marluxia/Larxene is amazing, and so is Xemnas/Marluxia. Kairi/Olette is fantastically shiny and sometimes I wish more people wrote Hayner/Roxas. (I think my opinions have changed on that count.) Write horrible Zexion/Riku slash; it didn't happen but it could have! Its not being canon doesn't mean you can't make it awesome if you have the inspiration and the will.
To be honest with you, even Nomura doesn't want canon pairings. He's said in interviews, after all, that he wants the player to be able to interpret things, to see their own relationships. He's been called "cold" by his staff for not allowing more shippy things to get into the game. (He cut short a Sora/Kairi moment in the ending sequence despite protests from the staff.) So there you have it: the director doesn't like canon pairings.
And? Honestly? He knows that the more fangirls he can entice with suggested, almost-canon slash involving unattached characters, the more his game will sell. The Japanese have known this for yeeears.
The man's too smart to make anything canon.