Bpdnanaseharuka - I Deleted But Remade

tags from tofixtheshadows: #I keep saying that fandoms will always flatten characters into shallow versions of themselves#because they will just sort of skim the surface of the media and let their expectations fill in the blanks#which are usually easy stereotypes#and this will inevitably hit marginalized characters harder; particularly people of color#and these stereotypes will more often be benevolent for the white characters#and more unfair towards the nonwhite ones

the problem of fandom reducing characters who are women and/or people of colour to sexist/racist stereotypes is definitely aggravated by the fact that a lot of fans simply do not pay very much attention to these characters in the first place then subconsciously paper over the gaps in their perception with things they’ve been culturally conditioned to believe are true about people in the same category as said character

Possibly the greatest struggle in fandom is trying to talk about racism in either canon or as a general fandom trend and then immediately having your inbox filled with denial that exists in any form anywhere and also getting repeated personal attacks against you for daring to so much as mention that racism is still happening. It’s all good and well until you mention racism is an issue, and then it’s like the entirety of Tumblr turns into Fox News.

epic sci-fi Xehanort (this is the heartless factory in kh2 hollow bastion)

Feelings, what wretched things.

Thank you to @manysad for the brainworms.

fujimaki (and by extension knb fandom) and the relationship with colorism

fujimaki has some extremely questionable views on dark skinned people

its like…the only other character in the series that exhibits sexual “interest” bc he reads gravure mags as a past time, has dark skin (haizaki is notorious for his sexual exploits but its supposed to be frowned upon…hes clearly marked as Bad…so the unfortunate implications are rather telling re: aomine…not to mention how fandom ran with this trivia as some Definitive Character Attribute of aomines l o l)

the only character in the series that exhibits infantile toilet humor (farts, burps) as well as being the Dumb Musclehead character, has dark skin

we wont even mention how momoi, in a fit of rage/frustration, calls aomine ganguro, so essentially using his dark skin as a pejorative and kise made a weird mention of aomines dark skin when he first met him (why? its not connected to his status as a basketball prodigy) or his Biggest Weakness is that he cant clean when his miragen cohorts cant draw, cook, carry a tune, or make a joke? or how nebuya is referred to as a gorilla by sports spectators

and of course, the fandom engages with these characters - particulary aomine - in some insidious ways that match with fujimakis prejudices, but pointing that out incriminates fandom or makes you an oversensitive killjoy

though im not ascertained if the colorism+negative views on dark skin are as prevalent or normalized as it was back in the day, its still rather difficult to navigate in this fandoms content when im constantly bombarded with claims that dark skin means youre a hypersexual/sexually predatory fetish, intellectually deficient, unclean, vulgar, a subject of perpetual derision

its especially disheartening when you yourself are judged constantly by the darkness of your skin, both in the setting of east asian culture (japan has a long, ugly history with colorism and xenophobia) and the setting of US-ian politics (do i even have to spell it out?) and then be told that i should be grateful to fujimaki for even considering dark skin representation?? (these types of people have been brainwashed by tumblrs obstinate and incredibly shortsighted identity politics tied with media repesentation)

honestly being reminded of scott mccall hate stemmed from racism perpetuated by teenwolf fandom when i engage with aomine fandom and its alienating/infuriating

my worst enemies are people who say the inosaku fight was about sasuke. like truly why would kishimoto write all of this purely to elevate sasuke. there are better and simpler ways of doing that. the whole point is sakura framing her goals to be more palatable to the patriarchal society they live in (to the point where she's constructed a separate identity around it). it's not subtle !!!!!

sakura has plenty of merits as a character, as do the majority of female characters in naruto, but some of you use "misogynistic mangaka" as an excuse -- subconsciously or otherwise -- not to engage with them (and at worst gleefully deride them). i do not love it

The 3 Keys Theory

@nikutsuneart made a post about Kairi’s involvement in Melody of Memory to find Sora. In isolation, this part of the story also made me scratch my head. However, looking back at this with the context of Dream Drop Distance, it all clicked for me.

In Melody of Memory, the Fairy Godmother says,

“To find Sora, we need three keys… With Riku's dreams and Kairi's memories, you two have already done your part.”

Key and three is used very specifically, she says it multiple times in the conversation. The third Key is the Nameless Star. However, we are not told specifically what the Nameless Star’s key is (as specific as dreams and memory are).

Luckily, Ansem has our answer:

“The three realms of our world--light, darkness, and between--these are all places we can travel to because they are on "our side." This also includes the worlds of memories, data, and dreams.”

Memory, Data, and Dreams, then, must be the three keys.

But my mind began to wander. What if it’s the same ritual from Dream Drop Distance?

You see, at the end of Dream Drop Distance, Ansem also tells Riku about a key:

“You were questioned by three young people. That was the final key to awaken him. Sora is awake.”

The way “key” is used, the audience initially thinks, oh this is just a matter of phrasing. But what if Roxas, Ventus and Xion also represent the same 3 keys?

To talk about this, I think we need to look at that DDD scene a little differently. Is it really Roxas, Ventus, and Xion during that scene? They’re sort of apparitions, not reacting to Riku’s surprise; appearing and disappearing suddenly.

What if, like Ansem the Wise, they’re also forms of data? The knowledge that there are people in Sora’s heart that need to return to the real world: analogous to Sora in that moment needing to return to the real world, as well.

Essentially, the trio are supposed to represent something, here. Given that, who represents what? I think Roxas is Memory, Ventus is Dreams, and Xion is Data.

The Three Keys

First, Roxas as Memory. During Sora’s descent into darkness, Roxas provides Sora with all of his memories and experiences. Ergo, Sora’s heart chooses to represent that component, Memory, with Roxas’ data.

Next, Ventus as Dream. Of course Sora’s heart would use him to represent Dream. He’s been asleep, dreaming alongside Sora, during his whole adventure.

Finally, Xion as Data. Xion has ceased to exist in memories or dreams, yet her data and hurt still remains. It is through others believing and wishing for her to return that she may find her way back to her friends.

I think this works best because it follows the same order as Melody of Memory, ending on Data. However, I do see the argument to switch Roxas and Xion. Afterall, Data Roxas was a major player in Re:Coded.

Furthermore, isn’t this what the power of waking is? “For traversing hearts to reach worlds”? Each of these components, Memory, Dreams, and Data— Riku is using these 3 hearts to guide Sora back to his world.

To Sum It Up

I believe Melody of Memory makes more sense if we understand it as the same ritual. In DDD, although Riku freed Sora from the nightmare, he was still lost. Riku was presented with 3 keys held by 3 people. Each of these people once existed in the real world and represented the desire to return to it. By answering the questions, Riku was able to use the power of waking to pull Sora away from Quadratum—out of his Memories, Dreams, and Data—and into his reality.

Then, Melody of Memory is Riku doing it again. 3 people 3 keys, Riku dreams, Kairi’s memories and the Nameless Star’s heart filled with data of Unreality. Riku is instead traveling away from reality and in the opposite direction: into Quadratum.