As an introduction we thought it would be a good idea to talk about our perspective as shippers and dive right back to why we got into the ship.
When I first watched the movie, I really liked their dynamic, both platonically or romantically, I wanted to see more of them, more of them interacting and continuing to ādeal with each otherā. My heart broke when Erik died, and I hoped he wouldnāt be only a one movie villain, he had so much potential, so much to give the story. And he had power over TāChalla that nobody else had. Iām also often drawn towards antagonistic ships, enemies to friends to lovers is one of my favorite trope, because there is often more that prevents them from being together than the typical miscommunication trope in flufflier ships, they have actual barriers to overcome, and the chemistry, or sexual tension, between two rivals is often fire. The situation of both Erik and TāChalla is also a particular one, their familial relation, royal status and different political ideologies is a fertile ground for exploration of subjects and themes as well as all sorts of interaction*, and rich array of interpretation of their dynamics. Ā
I like exploring characters with different ideologies clashing with each other. TāChalla and NāJadaka affected each other so much in the movie. TāChalla is so empathetic that he was able to feel for NāJakada, even after everything heās done, and because of that NāJadaka managed to reach him and change him. The power they have over each other, the balance that they can create, they can embodied the balance of complementary people who take on the otherās strength and compensate their weakness, who make each other grow. This is one of my favorite kind of pairing. Itās a difficult ship to write well, thus the bigger appeal, since the characters need a lot of character study and evolution for it to work. This ship has a lot of potential, it has potential to do long, angsty fics, and there are many possible āwhat ifā scenarios the movie offered us.
I also continue to translate the dynamic they have in the movie, or would have, into a relationship. The struggle for power, the NāJadaka whoās on the offense and full of anger, obsessed over TāChalla. TāChallaās calmness and understanding can be soothing and reassuring, but TāChalla still has his own moments of weakness and does not always live up to his ideal of a good King, NāJadaka is one of the people who can get to him this way. NāJadaka can get under his skin and make him do some rash decisions on the spur of the moment. I think NāJadaka would need the calmness and understanding, I think he felt alone in his crusade for most of his life and would desperately need someone to get him out of this isolation and find a good way to channel his emotions. He would also be able to change TāChalla change even more towards an ideal that he would champion.
NāJadaka changed TāChalla in a day, imagine what he could do if heād staying longer?
Thereās possibility for a lot of character development for both and working off of each other. They are equals and complete each other. They both have difficulty resisting the influence of the other on their life, as much as theyād try to resist it. And their rivalry could do for some passionate sex!
Also the cousin ātabooā made it even more fun.