I asked the goodly Kylux shippers out there for the reasons why they’re behind it, and I got a great spectrum of responses that I’d like to share with people – in particular, Kylux and Reylo shippers. I found it super interesting to get a feel for why people are into it, and while I don’t see myself becoming a Kylux shipper any time soon I definitely have a much better sense of why it’s such a thing now.
The first response was from an anon, who came up with:
online fandom = mostly straight females = ship any two dudes who breath in each other’s vicinity.
While I’m certain there’s at least some element of truth to this, it’s clearly not the whole story. Several people indicated that they enjoy seeing the ‘enemies to lovers’ trope explored:
@our-blades-are-sharp I personally ship them because I love the ‘Enemies to Lovers’ trope, and because kylux fic tends to show a more unapologetically evil Kylo, which I love!
An anon expressed similar feelings:
I ship Kylux cos I’m a sucker for hardcore denial of feelings, angsty miscommunication, hatefucking, enemies to lover, the ‘oh my god I have /feelings/’ moments (followed by more denial and angst), and… I dunno, I just like thinking that, no matter how horrible someone is, they can still love, and maybe even find redemption through it.
As did @songstressfox:
You asked people why they ship Kylux – I tend to see the fierce rivalry as being both a cover for and a prelude to fierce OTHER feelings, and I’m trash for rival ships anyway so them bickering onscreen was practically an engraved invitation for me to ship the thing. Plus, I see them as kinda complimentary – Kylo is all emotion, Hux is (mostly) all control, so they kinda balance each other that way!
A reason that I find especially sympathetic – on account of my experiences as a Reylo shipper – comes from @mistress-of-ren (the bold is my emphasis):
They both are hot, the relationship is good for nice kinks (bdsm, uniforms, etc), and the kylux fandom is very entertaining, as well. I love kylux jokes :D. There are less dramas than with reylo,all these reylos vs antis arguments in the tag annoy me
@lokithedumpsterbaby has some really interesting supplementary thoughts in a similar vein:
It’s fairly common to see fans jump onto ships between two characters with an antagonistic, superficially developed relationship. Without much backstory to their relationship, there is a lot of room to play around. Maybe they just hatefuck. Maybe they are hiding secret feelings for one another under all that hate. Maybe they have an enemies to frenemy lovers situation. Also, given the nature of fandom at the moment, it’s one of the least wanky pockets of fandom. The shipping-for-righteousness crowd has gravitated towards combinations of Finn/Poe/Rey(/Jessica Pava). Reylo is both a target of massive amounts of wank, and also the source of defensive, reactionary wank. Kylux is a fairly unwanky corner. There is no expectation or hope that it might end up canon, so there’s no pressure there. It’s just a fun and cracky sandbox to have some (porny) fun with.
Another ask message from @hux-you-up likewise indicated that Kylux offers a more fun and relaxed alternative to the dramatics of the Reylo ship:
Why I ship Kylux: b/c it allows me to have some shippy fun without becoming emotionally invested. Kylux is not grounded in canon, it’s not going to become canon, & I’ll be shocked if Hux even survives the first half of Episode 8. (I took my last ship far too seriously & ended up suffering for it, & I don’t want to make that same mistake again. It was a hero/villain ship & those of us who shipped it were treated the way Reylo shippers are treated now – hence why I feel rather protective of them.)
The quality of the fanworks was also clearly a big element of the appeal for people:
@zero-pointe-vers-linfini Kylux have serious and sexy fanart, full of BDSM references. At the same time, the ship art has that amazing chemistry and humor that resembles films such as “It happened one night”, so funny and nonsense. That’s why I like both Reylo and Kylux.
I think none of us exactly shipped it seriously, not at first. It’s a ship that grows on you, especially with series like Children, Wake Up. Also, when I first saw TFA, I briefly thought they were holding hands on the bridge and I was sold -_-
@millicentthecat has an epic response to the question that’s well worth reading, but I’ll just post the introductory paragraph for the sake of brevity:
When I jumped on board the Kylux ship it was literally just because I find Kylo relatable and, more than that, the fandom is PRODUCTIVE. There is so much cute fanart and good fic in all different styles and tones. Plus it’s a really positive and supportive community. The tag is usually full of a wide variety of pretty celebratory material, and well, if you haven’t read CWU, I highly recommend it. I recommend it to people who aren’t Star Wars fans, even. In my mind it is (so far) the single most perfect work of fiction in existence. It is a literally heart-breaking vein of truth.
Thank you to everyone who got in touch – I found it really interesting to gauge people’s views and experiences. I was especially intrigued by the volume of people suggesting that they turned to Kylux after witnessing all the hysteria and drama enveloping the Reylo fandom. As much as I love the Reylo fandom, it absolutely is hyper defensive and extremely sensitive to any potential attacks on the pairing – I’ve seen shippers get jumped on by other shippers who thought they were antis, and at times the paranoia is practically tangible (we’re talking Red Peril levels, people!) I can absolutely understand why the dynamics of the Reylo fandom – as much as I love it – have turned some people off and sent them in search of chiller pastures. Since there is a definite possibility of Reylo becoming canon, people tend to be heavily invested in it, which simply isn’t the case with Kylux – the shippers know it ain’t happening, so they just focus on having fun. Which should, of course, be the whole point of fandom. I think that the Reylo fandom (myself included) could stand to learn from that, tbh.
Kylux seems to offer what many people consider to be a comparatively safe and relaxed fannish environment, on top of characters dynamics and storytelling potential that people find rich and worth exploring.
Reasons for boarding, or S.S. Kylux
Published
dispatches from the dumpster 