There’s something about the ‘give Namine a keyblade and let her be a badass too!’ That just. Idk. Rubs me the wrong way. I’m gonna write out my thoughts and see if I can figure it out bear with me

I guess to start, Namine has never even once expressed any kind of interest in any of that. The most she’s done was physically shield someone from larxene that one time and even that’s pretty passive wrt physicality. (SPECIFICALLY physical action, not in terms of character)

Don’t get me wrong; I am NOT calling Namine weak. I’d even argue she’s one of the strongest, most well written characters in the series (certainly in the top five at least imo)

I guess that’s actually the pin of it. Namine is a perfect example of ‘she doesn’t need to be a badass to be strong’. Nearly every other girl in the series (few as there are, admittedly) ARE badasses. Xion, Aqua, Larxene.

What I think is more important than shallow badassery is agency, the character making decisions and following through with them, those decisions having an impact. Namine HAS that, she doesn’t NEED a keyblade. If anything I almost feel like it would take away from her a little.

‘But shy’ I hear you say ‘you’ve been begging for Kairi badass stuff for YEARS’. Yeah, I have. Because she’s been WANTING to do exactly that, explicitly, since kh1. She WANTS to fight. She WANTS to protect those close to her. And at every turn the narrative has denied her.

(And when they finally did let her it was... flat. Bc there was still no agency. But that’s a whole other essay and we’ve all heard this before)

Anyway I guess that’s just a thread of why I always put Namine in a support role when I’m writing, bc making her fight when I feel like that’s something she has absolutely no interest in doing just isn’t something IM interested in, yknow?

(Now this being said, I am always down for non-fighter characters being placed into a situation where they have NO choice but to fight, bc I love that kind of drama. I just feel like as soon as the panic has passed they don’t continue that path, bc they know it’s not for them)