haunted-xander - Tumblr blog

haunted-xander · 10 hours

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Usually when something becomes popular or suddenly explodes online my interest in it tends to be pretty 'oh cool, people like this thing ig' or sometimes my interest actually lessens fron over-exposure

Dungeon Meshi is apparently the exception bc wow I am so intrigued by what is happening here

#im gonna read it online if i can i want to know wats going on here #also the art style is so pretty and cute #dungeon meshi #delicious in dungeon #xander rambles

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haunted-xander · 2 days

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(Im)personalized dress-up doll

#the objectification and dehumanization of xion in days makes me so sad #especially bc she begins to progressively believe it more and more #sad little girl :( at least she had roxas (and axel but his dynamic with her was a bit more complicated)#xion #kingdom hearts #kh #art #my art #xanders art #digital art #fan art #cw nudity #cw non-sexual nudity #cw doll nudity #trying to have my bases covered

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haunted-xander · 3 days

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You. You get it. I know some people hate the fact kh has so many retcons and changes, but that is inevitable when dealing with a long-running and expansive story. People make stuff up as they go all the time, kh is no different. Roxas, like several other characters in kh, had a story that changed because it was expanded upon, and for the better.

I love kh2 with all my heart but it is NOT flawless. Roxas' (and Naminés, for that matter!) story in kh2 alone falls flat given that it provides no closure or autonomy to either of them. Closing their arcs with a 'Well, that's how it is. Live with it' kinda ending is unsatisfactory and sends the message that a bad situation can never be fixed. This is especially criminal in Roxas' case consider this was 1) his debut game and 2) we didn't even get to spend that much time with him. We had the prologue and that's it. We didn't even know him and having his whole unexplored existance end so unceremoniously and unfairly is terrible writing. kh is not a franchise for doomer endings. Tragedies, yes, but it always comes with some form of closure in the end.

Days changed the narrative by focusing on Roxas' individuality, and by putting a comparative arc (Xion's) next to his that show the lengths someone can go to retain that individuality. It puts another perspective on his anger and bitterness at how he's treated in the kh2 prologue. DDD then further expands on that by making it so that he has a tangible individuality seperate from Sora (having a heart of his own), and by emphasizing the unfairness of his situation and Sora's distaste at how it turned out for him.

By this point, Roxas coming back was inevitable, because now we had Sora outright expressing his desire for it, and also a confirmed ability/means to do it.

Respectfully, anyone who believes that Roxas shouldn't have come back in kh3 is wrong and also doesn't know how to make a satisfying end to a characters narrative.

I could maybe forgive thinking Naminé or Xion shouldn't have returned, as they at least got to make the informed decision to return to their counterparts themselves. It would still be wrong but I can at least forgive it.

But Roxas? His entire story is about being allowed to be yourself regardless of what anyone else around you says you should be. It doesn't/shouldn't matter if he comes from Sora, because he is someone else entirely. It's his life, not Sora or anyone elses. Having a story like that end with him being violently forced to return to Sora when he doesn't even know anything about what's going on is flat out bad writing.

Did he accept that he had to die for Sora? Well, sure, but only after getting to beat him within an inch of his life. Only reason he accepts it is because he literally has no other choice but to. He can't keep clinging to the anger and misery at his circumstances forever.

And, you know, it probably helps that the person this was all for also fucking hates it. In no way is Sora happy about what happened to Roxas. Of course he'd bring him back, it's Sora. The situation is so unfair and tragic that having it end with him just staying in Sora forever would literally go against the essence of the entire series.

Kingdom Hearts is, at it's core, a series about bonds. Roxas was established basically immediately as having very important bonds! His best friend literally died for him! He has friends that don't even know it because it was another version of them, but they still feel that bond to him anyway! You really think they should've just thrown away a character whose bonds transcended the boundaries between data and reality just like that? Get real.

#i dont usually reply to reblogs but this is SUCH and important addition that i just had to expand upon it #retcons arent inherently bad and anyone who acts like they are (especially when it comes to kh) are hypocrites #bitch the entire SERIES is build on retcons #it was supposed to be a one-off title literally everything after was made up as they go #i also think ppl are often blinded by nostalgia for kh2 that they refuse to accept that it also has moments of bad writing #which newsflash some of which was actually FIXED by those retcons and later titles these people seem to hate so much!#(also as a bit of a side note: anyone who wont give later titles a fair chance when discussing the writing #genuinely should not have an opinion on things that directly relates to information from those titles #because if you automatically denounces it as bullshit then you are analysing in bad faith)#some people are biased as hell and it shows in the worst ways sometimes #roxas #sora #kingdom hearts #kh #xander rambles #reblog

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haunted-xander · 4 days

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Respectfully, anyone who believes that Roxas shouldn't have come back in kh3 is wrong and also doesn't know how to make a satisfying end to a characters narrative.

I could maybe forgive thinking Naminé or Xion shouldn't have returned, as they at least got to make the informed decision to return to their counterparts themselves. It would still be wrong but I can at least forgive it.

But Roxas? His entire story is about being allowed to be yourself regardless of what anyone else around you says you should be. It doesn't/shouldn't matter if he comes from Sora, because he is someone else entirely. It's his life, not Sora or anyone elses. Having a story like that end with him being violently forced to return to Sora when he doesn't even know anything about what's going on is flat out bad writing.

Did he accept that he had to die for Sora? Well, sure, but only after getting to beat him within an inch of his life. Only reason he accepts it is because he literally has no other choice but to. He can't keep clinging to the anger and misery at his circumstances forever.

And, you know, it probably helps that the person this was all for also fucking hates it. In no way is Sora happy about what happened to Roxas. Of course he'd bring him back, it's Sora. The situation is so unfair and tragic that having it end with him just staying in Sora forever would literally go against the essence of the entire series.

Kingdom Hearts is, at it's core, a series about bonds. Roxas was established basically immediately as having very important bonds! His best friend literally died for him! He has friends that don't even know it because it was another version of them, but they still feel that bond to him anyway! You really think they should've just thrown away a character whose bonds transcended the boundaries between data and reality just like that? Get real.