Because this is PLZA “spoilers” though it hasn’t come out yet, will be below the cut but for the TL:DR: I am very mixed on how to feel about this
On one hand. I am not shocked, it feels very much like this was ultimately the forgone conclusion that yeah, obviously, of course Ingo’s going to get to go home. “Like they would actually do it” moment-- We do have to remember Pokémon is a kids franchise primarily. It's a delight, he's going home! Good for him, and the fandom can and absolutely should rejoice! But...
On the other...
On the other...
I think I’m one of the few who has this really odd way of viewing SubMas and the ableism intersection. Because like, yeah, happy ending, he goes home right? Right? But then part of me is like, why is this the default only happy ending the fandom is willing to accept? Is that not in itself a kind of ableist take?
If this is really all we’re going to get? I just... ultimately feel mixed because it doesn’t really feel like closure honestly. And almost feels... wasted to me.
This is something personal though, but there is honestly something that feels just-- yucky that the only happy ending people seemed able to comprehend as happy was the twins back together and Ingo’s memories restored like it was nothing complicated. And-- and--
And there’s nothing inherently BAD about it, it’s good. It’s fitting for them, and yet--
Some part of me is just unsatisfied. Like yeah, cool, this is the ending we all expected and wanted, it’s the one that follows through. And yet-- why do I not feel satisfied with the knowledge he goes home perfectly fine...
It loops back to closure I think. This just feels like it’s as jarring as him been there in the first place. As mysteriously as he arrived he returned home. It ultimately leaves PLA on an odd note, sure we’ll see a whole exhibit on it, but-- I don’t know, it just sits... poorly with me. An odd note to go out on. PLA as a whole deserved better and not just the SubMas twins.
Now we’re stuck with a museum in PLZA(potentially) and whatever they decide to throw in Masters.
Like I don’t know...
Maybe it’s just because part of me was starting to be an “Ingo never goes home and that’s alright actually” truther.
Or even going home and it not all been fixed instantly... I just... Somehow this expected ending feels worse than if they just left it as nothing, or left it like we get remakes/sequels to BW1 & 2 and they only have a line about Ingo in a history book. Leave it in the air if it’s even our Ingo... Pokémon does canonically have multiple timelines and all to.
And again, the personal note of... actually I don’t think returning home is necessarily the only happy ending here. Because that itself is... it feels bad to think that the only way these characters could be happy is returning to the status quo because that’s... not how life works. It feels like a waste of their potential to grow and change and discover more and--
And--
And even if he did go home the reunion feels like there should be more, because of again people changing. The status quo should be changing.
And I get it, I’m the minority.
But I just wonder if this loops so far it becomes ableism again. Just dressed up to appear nice. Because hey, no need to question the comfort zone right? We all got the reunion we wanted, the only acceptable happy ending... right?
It’s literally just one sentence and nothing more, a sentence that implies Ingo gets full memories as well I suppose, and whatever mystery task he had like the Player was fulfilled, this is fine right? It’s what we all wanted...
Back to relying on Masters for more PLA crumbs with everyone else, and the other unanswered questions because I doubt there will be much more than a handful of bits of dialogue for any of that either.
...
And honestly... does this actually indicate that the Player got to go home as well post-PLA? Are we supposed to expect that as well?
...and again, why is this the only acceptable “happy ending” for these characters? Am I wrong for feeling like the expectation that the only way to be happy is to return to the status quo and home they had before is a yucky expectation?
Am I wrong for somehow feeling like this is just a messy way to finish this off?
I just got hit with I am still that 15 or so dumbass who was like "Well if my best friend got murdered in front of me I'd pick the nuclear option as well..." but this time with Volo pokémon because when analysing my reasons for attachment and defending him I'm just here like...
"To be fair, if I were in the position he's in and had the capability I to would wish for the ability to rewrite reality to make a better world..." and I am...
...Be acting like “Oh but it’s just fiction and that doesn’t hurt anybody”
...Forget that fiction influences and normalises these things to kids that may just stumble upon this.
...Forget that fiction on the internet is often used by groomers to normalise this kind of stuff to their victims.
...Forget to tag their art and stories with the proper warnings
...Mock folks for been triggered by topics that ARE triggering.
...Raid fics or blogs that have been tagged with “Do Not Interact”, it’s rude on both sides.
...Act like they’re somehow better, or cooler for enjoying “messed up stuff”. It’s not a contest and honestly just shows a lack of empathy.
...Forget that a lot of them are in fandoms for children’s media and kids are unfortunately very easy to influence the wrong way.
...Forget that in creating and defending this content they are making spaces for predators to hide in plain sight, especially with media where most of the characters are children.
...Forget that even if this is a way for themselves to deal with mental issues and turmoil sometimes what builds them up can and will tear down others who went through similar issues.
...Be acting like objecting to dark topics been romanticised and trivialised is “nonsense pearl clutching”
...Raid a picture or fic not originally tagged with a ship as if it is for that ship. Let the art be platonic where it is. We’re tired.
I am... sure that people are going to come at me, calling me an anti- or whatever, but here’s the thing. The terms are honestly meaningless. The issues go beyond the scope of just simply been for or against shipping as they once were. But the big thing is, somewhere along the way, both sides have become faceless masses with one side generalized as “nonsense pearl clutching purity chasers” which honestly we all know the issues with that--
And then proshipping has become analogue with those folks who’re acting like there’s nothing wrong at all, when they insist on writing the most dark and/or depressing stuff they can just to stick it to the purity crowd--
...both sides of the argument like to forget or blur the lines of nuance and or they’re too busy been at each other that they forget the greater scope issues.
That been right now-- people love to spout off about it been Fiction and not able to harm, “It’s not real you know” Yeah-- but you know-- the original media influenced you enough to want to create. Media across time has ALWAYS driven and influenced society-- the latest generation is growing up-- reading and learning from the internet and part of what influences that is-- the fanfiction that people post.
It’s why there’s this Culture War in shipping.
Now I wouldn’t say I’m a pearl clutcher-- heaven knows we need conflict in stories-- But there’s a difference when it comes to how it’s handled. And what’s the big issue is certain fandoms... where the top ships or the shipping scene is just-- flooded with topics that are questionable at best.
Incest been the main offender, but often it seems to overlap with paedophilia-- and of course. Rape.
There’s a right and a wrong way to handle these topics. Heaven knows every young kid has made at least one story with a character who has one or all of these in their backstories... Looking at you baby teen Hybrid-- looking at you. But that’s stuff teenagers write when they’re first learning how to make a sad or dramatic backstory-- it’s what kids play around with when they want to imply their villain is absolutely the worst-- it’s what horror novelists put in for the True Adult Fear.
And those things don’t vanish in a day, not for the characters-- not for people who in real life lived through them, and not for the internet as a whole. These topics, all three of them are triggering. Yet only two ended up been universal AO3 tags, and I could make a great big argument about Incest deserving its own place buuuuut--
The major issue here is, teens and adults, these are topics that shouldn’t be dressed up. They shouldn’t be glossed over or given any glow ups-- they are serious heavy topics, and should never be idealised.
No, no, I know the whole “It’s just fiction, what’s the big deal” crowd is here to complain, but seriously. I’ll refer to the above dot points-- the biggest thing. Folks who write this as if this is normal or fine, doesn’t harm or anything-- and then post those works-- you should remember, from the internet, from the page it is often found and used by predators. Either to justify themselves to themselves, to reassure themselves it’s fine-- or to normalise that it’s fine in the mind of their victims.
And again, then it also influences the next generation. We’ve seen the horror of this on twitter... with the so called “MAP” community of Paedophiles and worse the KIDS on twitter who’ve come to think that they’re right and normal and should be defended.
Stories with such topics downplayed or treated in romantic light will only be used by these people-- To further push that view.
And also the other side, again, can be triggering to folks. Retraumatizing to see their trauma so trivialised. Fandom has never really been a safe space for that but-- this is the reason “proshippers” should be remembering at the least to tag.
Especially for Incest.
I still would argue it needs to be a universal warning. And again, shouldn’t be a topic romanticised. Mostly the issue is in how inbreeding causes medical issues down the line, which we see this in dog and cat breeds(and certain human family lines ugh). But also because most “ships” that are incest have dubious to non-consent at best and at worst measure with some MASSIVE power imbalances.
Which to be a broken message “Think about the Children”-- meaning in this case, think about how they don’t have the full understanding of the world and if this stuff is treated as a love story they’ll take it at face value.
Kids are... not stupid, but absorbent. Sponges for whatever is around them. We see it in kids spouting their parents toxic views, we see it in how kids in abusive families think that’s just normal and no issue-- we see it-- in all the warnings that go around to watch out for predators.
So go ahead, call me anti or whatever, but I’m basically just sharing this right now because I am tired, just had to unfollow someone because of the romanticisation of topics and issues I just-- I’m tired everyone.
Also seriously, incest shippers are to the point sometimes it makes the line for affection just be lost. Like normal family things aren’t allowed to be enjoyed anymore. It feels like you folks never had siblings or good families. and that scares me. People need affection, otherwise we become monsters. But when something as simple as a parent-child dance gets tainted by you folks-- haaaaah, what a mad world.
"You know, those big emotions and attachments and it's like, you're super important, could say family but feels like something more intense, but it's not romance, because romance is scary or wrong, and it doesn't sound right in your head, but it's definitely more than a friend emotions?"
Everyone blinks
"Yeah, I still don't have a word for those feelings"
...So who do you contact when you accidentally hijack someone else’s Facebook because you chronologically have an issue with remembering your password so tried to retrieve your account by getting them to send you a text to the phone number you have assigned to your account.
Only apparently someone else has that number as well. Or had IDK...
So anyway. Because at the time I was sick, it didn’t register until I was actually in the account that it wasn’t mine and then I was like wait? What? This isn’t me? Double checked and just like, what? w h a t?
Definitely got the reset code text, logout, reset via email, login, check my contact and recovery phone number... So what... Uhhh...
Basically. PSA.
Please make sure that if you have your phone hooked to your accounts that it’s your current number. And also... Who the hell do I contact? Like how do I... How do I fix this?
