Saw post talking how the line here is apparently "My real name was Violet" but the subtitle track says Is. And that's a pretty big difference-- Even with the "I-I changed it in middle school" Which makes me wonder how we're supposed to read it now...
Still neat to have as reference information I suppose. This show done way more than it needed to.
Does anyone have a subtitle track that says was instead? Because now I'm double guessing it. Because is makes it seem like a name Purple still uses while was implies it's a dead and gone name.
Mind if I incorporate your submas phobia headcanons into my fic? I was thinking of having Emmet come to blueberry academy as a guest lecturer and it would be really funny to mention Ingo going ah heeeelllll naaaah to the underwater school
Okay, so, given I’ve outed myself as a dirty multi-shipper with some darkships(Admittedly mostly because Mouthwashing fandom has... few alternatives, and then a few other fandom roots). Not like I really was trying to hide it, like, I’ve had horror tags on my blog for a while and spoken about Omegaverse before(let’s be real, that’s a whole host of problematic tropes in a trenchcoat, commentary or not)--
So-- anyway, this is basically going to be a more in depth explanation from me about like, why I can still have those posts complaining about romanticisation of rape, incest and other things. Why I still think that AO3 should have Incest/Incestual Themes as a Main Trigger Warning. (To the point I added it to my Bio/Desc)
Ramble warning, things might go in circles in some places to... but that’s... the price of Entry sometimes.
All media is Propaganda in One form or Another
I know there’s a lot of people who want to object to this. This is a hot take, unpopular opinion but-- from the largest most popular piece of media, to the smallest most inconsequential piece of media. All of it is Propaganda in some form. All of it wants to say something, even if that something is just “Doesn’t this make you feel things?
I’m sorry to folks who want to argue against this but it’s simply a matter of basic fact.
Everything we see, read, listen, interact with-- everything has something that it influences in us. That’s what this point is about beyond everything else, maybe it’s not as big and obvious as like, Cop Shows telling us the police are good all the time-- maybe it’s not like those conservative kids shows trying to enforce “proper values” on children and parents, but think about it-- actually think about it.
I know we live in the day and age where people are allergic to media analysis, “The Curtains are just Blue” takes on enjoyment but-- Even that, is a response isn’t it? And whether you want to acknowledge it or not... all of this shapes your world view. Whether it is giving you something new to think about or reinforcing what you view as normal. Setting the tone for what you think is normal even.
On the other end of this spectrum, think about all those Moral Panics we see. “Video Games makes people Violent” or “If you like Horror it’s because secretly you wish you could get away with that” or “Enjoying Dark Romance means you wish to have that” etc. They’re not-- completely wrong, but they are missing the nuance that the conversation really requires. It’s not in a vacuum that these can cause problems. Because there’s all the other around it. Humans are sponges, we take in so much from all around us.
Think about every single time you’ve heard someone say “It’s not that deep it’s just a kids show”. Maybe not, but even if it’s “not that deep” it is creating the foundation understanding of the world that kids will take into the rest of their lives. When you look at kids shows, and I mean really look at kids shows you see the first taste that kids get of what the world is and should be. What’s good, what’s bad-- who can you trust, who are the good guys and who are the evil villains.
Think about how important it is when you see anyone who’s not like you in a kids show. Or someone who is like you.
Even into adulthood the effect of representation, seeing yourself is something that just-- can’t be understated. It’s super-effective. And maybe you don’t think about it, because it’s just fiction right? Who cares if most stories still just have the same copy and pasted man as the main character? Who cares if heroes all still have to be flashy and strong in a fight? Who cares if girls are still primarily love interests only? Who cares if the LGBT, POC and Disabled characters are still limited to side-kick or moral lesson roles, or still villains who don’t get redeemed? Who cares if the happy ending is still always marriage and kids?
And yet, even if you don’t think about it... it lingers. It tells you a world view. Everything tells you a world view.
There’s also the non-fiction side. Think about how history is written and portrayed, the revisionism of things. What history is even taught in schools verses what you kind of have to find out on your own. The news cycle, what you hear and see-- the language they use and present information with-- sure we now have social media that presents so much other news it’s overwhelming but-- the big news sites? Regular common news on your TV? The newsfeed?
True Crime documentaries, Nature Documentaries, Reality TV even none of them are completely without bias.
And Fandom is no different.
Fluff VS Whump/Horror Fandom
Look, I’m not planning on pulling my punches or sugar-coating anything here. And while primarily, I will be talking about the darker side of the fandom experience... I do think I need to get this part out first.
Fluff is NOT inherently more moral or better than Whump. It’s also by extension not better than horror fics, and horror is a BROAD category.
Honestly this section is more about the weird issue in fandoms where they’re moralizing entire genres. Or stereotyping people based on the genres you like. The whole I only enjoy good and wholesome fics and that makes me a “good fan” issue. The Virtue Signalling issue, or the idea that when it does come to Whump/Horror there’s a certain line of “Well these are the good tropes” and the rest of them are “unacceptable”.
Which is honestly only the tip of this issue. Because sometimes what seems like fluff to one person can be incredibly upsetting to other people. It’s again an issue of what constitutes as normal almost. I’d bring up the broader issue of normalization but that’s a sliding scale that’s really, really hard to solidly define.
Think in some ways about how the typical friendship is presented in media. What do good friends look like, how many shows have friendships that on reflection aren’t actually that great? Uneven all over the place... fluff can be a bit the same. What can seem fluffy can be-- not on a deeper read.
I’d talk about romanticisation/normalization but the issues with that is so broad. But like, I want you to think particularly about the traditional romance tropes again. What makes a simple fluffy romance, and yet how many romance stories kind of have this... I don’t know, maybe it’s just it’s not my genre but a lot of them feel, odd to me. And I’m not even talking dark romance novels, but even normal romance novels to me sounds like “But I don’t understand why he’s so great when he’s kind of controlling?” Or literally what does he do, show up with a smile? Kind of be charming? If someone can ever explain romance to me you’re a miracle worker.
But seriously, how many male leads in romance feel to me like, they just show up and then do... nothing? But romance I guess.
Also here’s a challenge, is Sickfic fluff or whump?
Anycase--
This is really just a minor note, but I really do tend to squint more at people who try and exclusively write fluff. Because like, tension? Even fluff fics aren’t supposed to be completely devoid of it, even if that it has to be something small like stressing about ice-cream flavours or I dunno, whether or not the reservation will hold up-- how crowded the pool/beach will be? Or even something small like an argument between siblings that’s resolved as simple as 1, 2, 3--
Parents having to parent-- goodness, I’d love to complain about certain fandoms and how parenting or boundaries in families is apparently just abuse by default but this is not the post about that. Though seriously families can be dysfunctional without been abusive and GOD--
In anycase, abuse/whump tropes isn’t just as simple as the obvious ones, and again I kind of squint because romance tropes kind of confuse me. Like okay, why is it both romantic and yet problematic if a guy is possessive of his girlfriend? Why is jealousy somehow both? Why is there all these relationships tests that’s somehow really cute, but also problematic? Society and romance make sense already?
No but seriously on the possessive stuff I’ve seen romance stories where the main is like “Oh that’s my ex, he’s still so possessive” and it’s problematic, and in the same story their new love interest is jealous and possessive and it’s so romantic. How-- How does that--
The Yandere trope, but also Tsunderes... Sorry to be an anime fan about it, but why is only one of these two seen as a bigger problem. I don’t think either is really... healthy?
Why is violence and fighting fine, and look how manly this guy is? Think again about superhero stories, do fights against villains count as Whump? Should they when the villain beats down our heroes, locks them in a jail and taunts them?
Or is it only the “Bad Kind of Whump” when it extends to torture, starvation?
I’d also like to say there’s more an issue when it comes to whump with “Body Horror” and the horror is just disability. But like, okay, sure, but why is disability somehow automatically a body horror thing?
Good Scars verses Bad Scars.
Disability as Punishment
Fat = Evil(?!?)
Villains been still more likely to be Queer/POC
Ugly = Evil
And all those other things. Like okay, maybe I’m getting away from the issue of fluff verses whump, but still.
Also something, something the push for found family in fandom can be overwhelming at times. Especially when it goes above and beyond to the point of cutting out or undermining characters real families. Or again the jump in certain fandoms to claim that the real families are automatically abusive just because characters don’t automatically have the ability to be a perfect family unit and have moments where they fail...
That also feels like a bit of the whole, puritanism issue. Like if a family and friend group isn’t always on each others side they’re automatically “bad”-- like no... that’s not how any humans work...
Also cutting conflict out of stories just makes everyone and everything feel generally flatter. IMO.
Horror as well, is like, such a broad category and I feel like it would be worth it for you kids to even just-- campfire horror story your favs for the enrichment sometimes. Make a murderer OC and have them chase your favs, it’s very enriching. I promise, you’re not a bad person for wanting to put characters through torment and trauma.
...
A personal aside here, but I kind of have to bring up Suicidal Theming in stories as well. I know it’s an uncomfortable topic but... If there’s one thing I kind of find missing when it comes to whump and horror fandoms it’s that suicide still feels almost like this banned topic that you just... DO NOT TOUCH. Self Harm to-- to the point I’m kind of like, why do I come out of fandom feeling more guilty for wanting to write a love letter fic about someone coming to terms with a companion’s suicide than I do about contemplating a character been kidnapped and assaulted? Why do I feel more guilty about writing about someone hurting themselves than I ever do about violence commit to another?
...why do I still feel ashamed for the idea that one of my Self Insert fics that I cut short had a “happy ending” where the Insert died in the end because I was and still am... struggling.
Why do I kind of dread going into the Worm fandom not because the setting is so bleak... but because there are so many people, including the Author of Worm himself who deny that Taylor at the start of the series was showing very, very clear signs of suicidal feelings, because as someone who has been there I could so easily see my own reflection in her and--
And yet she’s “not suicidal”.
The topic of suicide across both sides feels equally as shunned. And I do wonder why that is genuinely-- It feels like racism and the we don’t talk about it. But I am white so I can’t speak on the racism issue with any proper weight behind it and shall leave that door to people who know it better.
Although how much POC families get made abusive in fandom just to have kids find family elsewhere SURE IS A TREND--
The Shipping Tea
So--
I’m older fandom. I’m from the days when we all knew Proship and Proshipper meant, “I ship and Let Ship” and Antishippers were people against any and all shipping in general. Or just specific ships even--
I don’t feel that old and yet-- the sheer divide over what’s allowed especially in the shipping space is just... it makes me feel so aged.
And for all my posts about the topic-- I’m a hypocrite, I don’t need to be told that. I’m pretty sure we’re all hypocrites in one way or another. I’m also here to say I’m a darkshipper. Primarily because I do ship rape/non-con, and take great interest in exploring and understanding my feelings on toxic/abusive dynamics. Not just in shipping, but for shipping it’s one of the more... problem areas.
Still, I will say, Proshippers shouldn’t be romanticizing those topics. Mostly because that’s the Darkshippers job. Proshipper is just the people who’re supposed to support and stand up for shipping been a free market. It’s not the proshippers who should be making the spaces, they’re the guards, the gatekeepers. Darkshippers are the ones who make the content.
Darkshippers and Proshippers are different sides of the fandom. Pro never originally meant Problematic, so there’s this kind of funny asterisk to my statements about Proshippers...
That said--
I am so, so tired of pretending there isn’t some issues here. I’m a darkshipper, but I do have lines, obviously. At the same time-- OCs. And the very, very clear case that it’s so much worse in the shipping corners. And I wish it were as simple as “Romanticization of this is bad” but I am more than aware it’s a much more complex issue than that. Same reason people make their OCs, play with their own new dolls to add to the environment...
And most of my OCs tend to either be abusers, or the abused. With some of the standout relationships even between my OCs been toxic and messy and complicated. Because relationships across the board are complicated.
That said, I have made my own lines in the sand clear on some level. I’m a darkshipper, I like problematic content. I do not like Incest ships, mostly because too often they feel like, the low hanging “taboo” in fandom and media. Like, I feel like I specifically have to point to Coffin of Andy and Leyley again, because I just-- DO NOT UNDERSTAND why that is incest at all. What does that even DO or SAY about their characters? But to be fair that game in general to me has some messy things about it. It’s hookless. No shock I just stare at the characters and primary “bad thing” of that game and go “But if that’s where your complaint stops and starts you really need to find a better reason”.
Or hilariously, I’m tangentially into Shield Hero.
Mainly because there was like 2 crossover fics I read with one of my hyperfixation characters as main character and I fell down the rabbit hole and GOD-- If that series didn’t make me suddenly understand Twilight Haters so much more. But Shield Hero feels like another good example of the puritanism issues in fandom. Maybe not necessarily shipping, but given how... on the edge of problematic a lot of Naofumi’s ships feel, if mostly because of the whole Slavery and Ages thing--
And look I know, it’s an old, old trope, Slavery Romance. Rape to Romance, kind of, but Shield Hero is another fandom I side eye seeing people complain about because it’s like. “If the Slavery plotline is your main point for that series been BAD you have NOT read enough of it to genuinely be a hater” No I will not explain my issues with the series, that is for me and my friend group and any fanfiction that maybe ever eventuates where I just be absolutely unrepentant in pointing out the flaws in Shield Hero’s worldbuilding, setting and then the character plot issues and honestly what the hell happened to that series--
Anycase, there’s also the issue that sometimes when it comes to the shipping things, it’s like. When we try and argue against Darkshipping, like, people who ship Incest specifically because harm, harm-- I just think of that recent post that talks about banning access to information about CSA to children, when it’s a crime commit against them.
Adult/Minor, Teacher/Student ships-- Incest ships, these tend to be the ones I see called out as most problematic in fandom. The ones too far, and eh-- Also I’d love to have a talk about Yandere tropes but I do not think anyone is ready to really examine those either. Or even the issues with Tsunderes.
It’s a complicated, horrible, dangerous scale.
Depiction Verses Endorsement
Sooo I have a confession.
For all I believe that we shouldn’t really be romanticizing abuse/abusive topics, I don’t think anyone can actually say with any genuine sense what romanticisation is.
Shield Hero can be argued as romanticizing Slavery, another argument, one I’ve made in private is it’s also a romanticisation of Grooming.
The very existence of Dark Romance novels and stories--
HELL-- Actually, you know a book that really brings this up. Lolita. And all the debates around it. Is it endorsement, is it decrying it-- It’s from the abusers POV. And people fiercely debate it the world over it feels. Mislabelled too often as a romance story... and don’t even bring up the issues of the movies.
I could even bring up the bible actually. Sure there’s examples in there calling stuff out, but there’s also Lot’s daughters. Genesis 19: 30-36, if you wish to crack that open and review. And how many times have people tried to ban the bible huh? Or even did you think about the question of who Cain’s wife was?
Oh, but what do I really know? But seriously, for all I say the don’t romanticize the long and short of it is kind of-- what romanticisation is kind of is a little bit of eye of the beholder. You can write and play something completely dead straight and someone still can take offense to it. Or there’s the issue of people calling out your depiction of something as been problematic by default.
It’s also complicated by the simple fact that... it’s not like rape fantasies are uncommon. Or adjacent topics, of power imbalance in relationships... Think old school bodice rippers and/or the many “I got kidnapped by my favourite celebrity/sold to my favourite celebrity” fics that used to exist back in the day. Those also always have some problematic undertones and questionable power-dynamics... also the abusive families. Do writing these also automatically mean you’re endorsing them?
Here I also think about all my OCs, and the OCs I’m sure pretty much everyone has if you’re creative. And like, generalizing, but I’m certain everyone has at least one OC with the “Everything bad that could possibly happen to a person happened to this character, human trafficking, child sexual abuse, incest--“ Baby’s first foray into making a character and the mistake of thinking more trauma in the past added more depth to the character’s present.
Or like, depicting any sort of mental or physical illness and people getting so in arms about the depiction having to be unproblematic and I just-- is it wrong if I want to present my disability with all the aspects that includes, good and bad? Is it glorification to depict the worst days of my disorder and the truth of intrusive thoughts? Is it glorification to mention a character losing the battle against suicidal ideation?
Is it glorification to depict a character who went through trauma seeking to empower themselves by researching what hurt them? Is it glorification to depict Hypersexuality as a trauma response? To merely mention Self-Harm? To TALK about these things?
Then again, 13 Reasons Why and its whole mess and the lack of care for safety. Basically operating as a How To for a portion of its audience also exists.
Look... as my Horror Rantmentioned, there’s Splatterpunk and then there’s Extreme Horror. All Splatterpunk is Extreme Horror but not all Extreme Horror is Splatterpunk and all these feels the same.
And the line is oh so fine... to be invisible.
You can’t stop people from interpreting things how they want to, and what you might think is endorsement of a topic can just be-- someone else’s lived reality. Or what might seem to be romanticisation of a topic, normalization... is just a more subtle way to bring it up.
Is it no contact CSA to ban your child from going to school camps and telling them it’s because someone could kidnap and do horrible things to them never letting them come home again? Is it no contact CSA to be so paranoid that you tell your kid that even their friend’s dads are to be met with distrust? To instill a deep fear that anyone could harm? Because oh, they all just want to take little girls and do “horrible things”-- that blurry line.
Fiction and depictions in fiction where it’s just telling... as long as it’s tagged, even if it is “romanticized” it can teach you things. Show the red flags... be an opportunity to discuss them in a way more genuine. Or sit and ask why is this uncomfortable-- even with yourself.
All media also holds up a mirror to reality you know...
Even beyond these there’s the whole-- debate of like, does the narrative question if it’s good or bad-- how are you supposed to think about this? The horror of Mouthwashing is you’re supposed to see yourself and your humanity in Jimmy--
When it Actually Becomes a Crime, Grooming
Of course--
There is THIS issue.
Legal verses Illegal content and who is making those decisions. A thing to keep in mind is how much queer media especially gets banned. That in mind-- it’s also prone to overreactions, or banning anything that makes people think too much. 1984, and other political books.
That said, it’s best to be mindful of what’s actually banned and what’s not--
And there’s been at least one recent big upset for the Dark Romance genre on that to. Extreme Horror verses the law on how graphic is too graphic as well-- and just like-- this is the complicated blurry line, if only because Governments seem to just... struggle to determine what is and is not illegal content sometimes.
CSAM and whether animated, drawings counts... In a few cases sexual education books banned even... which is not a rabbit hole I’m going to dive into because I think I’ll lose my mind at how talking about a girl’s first period is “exploitation”. Also see the overreaction of parents to how Turning Red talked about periods to HAH!
OF COURSE-- A bigger issue. And what will always be an issue as long as creeps exist is all of this stuff can be used to groom people. No matter how sincere the depiction of something. No matter if you portray it as the trauma it really is, or if you offer something lighter as a cope--
Bad Actors will use whatever they have to make it feel normal.
I mean... how much do you think Lolita has been used by Child Sexual Abusers to make it seem like it’s nothing?
And if you just ban it all--
Who does that actually protect? When it removes the ability to discuss it?
Why is sexual education constantly pushed to be limited to older and older ages as if nine isn’t right in the average start range of puberty?
Look, I’ll be honest my wording for the initial post about this and PLZA, the leak, was a bit strong and a bit muddled. Maybe Ableism isn’t the correct word, but I do not have any other word to use to explain what the issue is... so Ableism is the word I used.
For a bit of pre-ramble, I’m Autistic. I am diagnosed, have been since 2019-2020(end of, to the beginning), and I got my diagnosis as an adult. I don’t... can’t claim to know everyone’s experience and I can’t even claim to be able to know everything that counts as Ableism because what’s Ableist to one person might be completely justified for another person based on individual support needs. So this explanation is going to be more about my own experiences and WHY I got so upset and ranted about the Only One Happy Ending issue with regards to the SubMas fandom and their reaction to this ending. Also yeah, took some time to cool down and get my thoughts more in order. (And also to let things settle and see if there was more in PLZA... but honestly if they do show in the DLC at this point it feels too late to change my opinion on things(and also the drama backlash in this fandom is terrifying and honestly too much))
Disclaimer: I am not arguing that the ending itself is Ableist, it’s not. I am also not arguing that we should view it as a bad ending, because it’s obviously not. No, this is an issue with the fandom’s general reaction more than anything else.
We good, we good? Okay!
Last bit of pre-ramble, but if you come onto this post just to say you don’t think there’s any canon way for it to have been happy without Ingo coming home, this isn’t the post for you. Please do not comment, tag, or anything. Just move on.
(It’s something about Agency)
So, I don’t actually know how much of this will make sense, but-- it really does go back to how the fandom insists that there is only one right answer. That the only way Ingo, (and also arguably the Protagonist from PLA--), could be happy is going home. Where they “belong”. There is only one route, one road to happiness.
While this matters less for the PLA Protag, because let’s be real, they suffer the same as all Pokémon Protags as a fill-in-the-blanks character, there is still that same issue with them. Whether you think they’re Akari or Dawn, Rei or Lucas, Champion or Rowan’s Assistant... There is that same attitude that the fandom tends to have that the only acceptable happy ending is returning to their original status quo, as if it’s the only good option and Hisui itself is just... bad in general. And I think that a lot of that happens with how half-finished and half-baked Hisui as a whole tends to feel once you reach the end.
And I’ll be honest, maybe this is just something that bothers me...
But...
I’ve experienced that. There’s only one road to happiness. Only one path in life that will guarantee happiness, and one way to “truly live”.
Look I know these are fictional characters, I know they don’t have any real agency other than what we choose to write them as but-- there is still something here that just echoes with my experience. There’s only one way that you can be happy, and while a majority of my specific trauma with this “only one road to true happiness” is from religious trauma. It also echoes and reminds me of the way people react to disabled characters as if the only way they can be happy is if a cure is found for their disability. (Or if they find one status quo and don’t dare change, stay in your single box)
There’s also the issue in here I suppose of how the amnesia side of this gets handled. And while we have nothing indicative of a solid answer yet. But I don’t have high hopes for anything more than what we’ve gotten.
But even the amnesia follows a “one happy resolution” pattern. Less so than the return itself(which I could huff about why were there few to no endings where Emmet came to join Ingo in Hisui but-- trains). Still, it would go in circles how many people even still just have the amnesia resolved in a snap. Erase or cure the problem as if it’s that easy... as if it’s that smooth.
The lack of agency to it is also just a matter of the wording feeling jarring. Like, okay, that’s it, a single sentence. “It’s time for me to return!” On one hand I can and will laugh, it’s given rise to so many meme/joke posts about that, on the other it feels like... no choice, no chance for goodbyes or even if Ingo made his own decision about it... which we can guess about but-- feels more like Gamefreak/TPC scrambling like, oh the fandom didn’t like that fix it quickly but don’t explain so we can maybe do something(but unlikely to).
No agency in how he got there, none in returning home.
It’s just a thing that’s happened. And we’re all happy about it I guess.
(It’s something about Community)
Or the lack of it I guess.
Even for the protagonist this one’s a bit of a funny spot. Though I suppose really they’re still in limbo, we still don’t even know if it’s Akari/Dawn, Rei/Lucas, somehow both, their clothing was just there in the museum without much explanation. But community, character interactions, the supposed connections that characters do or do not have. This has honestly never been something particularly strongly resonate in the pokémon games or franchise in the text itself. I would apologize but genuinely, I think 90% of the community we think that these characters has comes more from the fans extrapolating on very little or minimum character interactions from canon. (And let’s be real, the anime/manga DOESN’T add that much more, everyone aside the protags only gets one or two spotlight arcs and then is gone... don’t lie to yourselves about it. Even with Masters this is BARELY adding anything more than crumbs.)
I mean just look at the Nimbasa Trio headcanon’s dominance.
Like, we can and do make all the assumptions about this.
Uncle Drayden, the connection to Ghetsis and N... how related or not Iris actually is... The level of connection that the twins have to the rest of Gear Station’s staff... And even regards to Hisui, so much of what the fandom made was kind of just taking a glance and running with our own ideas. How much Ingo was/wasn’t involved in the Pearl Clan, what his role as Warden meant... his position at the Training Grounds in Jubilife--
It’s like, for all the joy of him returning home, there’s something in how the fandom never considers it’s a lose-lose. Trade one community for another and in either direction you will have to give up connection and place and-- I don’t know, maybe this one is just a me thing, but it feels really off about how it’s handled here, maybe only because the Clans as a whole seem so greatly... forgotten by the Museum... Like why is it pretty much just Jubilife? It’s so-- disrespectful for real. But that’s a whole different topic compared to the point I’m trying to make here.
I think, the reality I’m trying to get here is-- pretty much every single return and reunion thing had the same issue that this canon return has. It makes it feel like the Pearl Clan didn’t matter at all to Ingo. These people who took him in and cared for him in Hisui, to whatever level or degree that went, every single time he just drops everything without a proper send-off or explanation-- aside the few cases where it’s time sensitive or not his choice(which seems like canon did, no agency for you)-- it just feels, rude to them. It makes me wonder what the point of it was... did they matter or not, it feels... unfair. It would be different I guess if there were hints or suggestions they approved or encouraged him home, but that’s a bit much to expect. Was there a choice or not--
In anycase, misses the way that even if he has a full community to return to there is something of a lose-lose in community and those surrounding and caring for him... and feels like the Unovan side is constantly held up as more important by the fandom and canon.
I’d also somewhat argue but this gives a weird vibe to how the community is supportive or not of Emmet... during or even after Ingo’s disappearance. But there’s often this vibe like the community alone, that support system isn’t enough. They absolutely need each other or it’s the worst outcome and that feels--
I don’t know if I have words for precisely how that feels. But it sure feels like something. And feels like on both ends the idea of a support system is that it doesn’t matter... not beyond their twin. Codependence win I guess?
(It’s something about Individuality)
Oh, now this is going to be the point where people side-eye me for sure but-- no, I’m not going to pretend this isn’t one of my issues with this “Only One Happy Ending”-- only one foregone conclusion and we should be happy that the twins are a Unit again. Because... that’s just it...
The Twins.
Ingo and Emmet. Emmet and Ingo. Subway Bosses, plural.
Now this is kind of a personal thing, but was a HUGE part of my knee-jerk reaction but it is that uniting of these two that gets me. Can’t have one without the other or they’re “incomplete”.
Like maybe this is just a personal twitch but there’s just-- something about how these two are always together, constantly a unit that sometimes feels a bit... much. That feels like it loses out on the interest of who they are and could be separate and makes them, sometimes feel like there’s this incompleteness when they’re on their own and not like fully fledged characters with anything to stand on their own about. Who’s Ingo without Emmet and who is Emmet without Ingo?
Well we got the answer somewhat to the first with PLA.
We get to see Ingo on his own, missing a lot sure, but also still there with a lot. Man really out here just-- doing stuff. Revolutionizing the entire battle system and taming the entirety of the wildlife because he’s bored. Emmet is his self-control on keeping a reasonable team size and Emmet is NOT there... the Pearl Clan was not taught how to handle this, help them. Man has no memories and yet still so full of drive, he is keeping so busy finding or making himself jobs. Maybe he doesn’t know where home is, but by golly that’s not stopping him from poking around-- and making a new home as best he can with a lack of closure.
But that’s Ingo-- absolute shining boy, the Warden to Lady Sneasler. Doesn’t have his meds and disassociating due to what seems to mostly be understimulation.
In anycase, we have had the opportunity to see Ingo on his own. Properly to. Some form of him making a life separate from this unit that the twins are otherwise presented as.
But for Emmet...
In some ways with the release of Z-A and even the DLC which gave us not much more-- Emmet has genuinely been robbed. And the fandom should be MAD about it. Okay, so the fandom has somewhat mitigated this with how many Emmet-centric AUs and fics there are but it still isn’t really balanced. We’re all kind of aware that Ingo’s the favourite child, he’s the one who gets so much, the joke of him with all the Megas and all.
Emmet truly feels like the unfavourite.
And maybe it’s because there’s this air of like, he is exactly what he seems to be on the tin, but that feels... unfair to him. And it really doesn’t help, even in my own analysis and headcanons that so much of how people write Emmet gets caught up in how he works within the dynamic of been a twin. Sometimes it feels like people get stuck on the twins because you see them as twins first and then as Emmet and Ingo. Worse for Emmet who hasn’t gotten his moment to really shine on his own yet.
It’s also something in how even to this day there’s a bit more of an infantilization lean with... both twins honestly, and depending on where you look it could be either getting it worse. But a lot of the whole, Emmet’s not coping takes seemed to lean into it in a way that was... uncomfortable. And there’s still a bit of a trend I see where people are putting Ingo into the caretaker role, older more responsible brother to Emmet that’s... ishy. Like sir/ma’am/fandom that’s a GROWN MAN. The fallacy again coming up where neither can exist as complete on their own-- which is... not great.
BUT THAT-- It even loops a bit back into my dialogue about the Community a bit-- but this is kind of the core, “I don’t like how that feels” matter. The way that Emmet and Ingo get focused on as a unit first. To the point where I’ve seen genuine takes where it’s like, they do not have a full set of core skills for living independently unless with each other. It’s what feels ableist the most. And some other -ist I couldn’t know how to define. Like no, I’m sure they both know how to do all the most important and necessary chores actually. Taxes, Laundry, Cooking, Cleaning...
Complement each other, but they also do have individual lives.
And maybe it’s just something important to me. But like, for Emmet especially like, as I said we saw Ingo independent in PLA... We didn’t get that for Emmet. But I feel it’s so important, to be able to sit down and go... no actually... even for Emmet’s side of things, it shouldn’t have to be forever seen as a tragedy and him been “incomplete” without his twin. (Also that wording, is--). I just, maybe this is a personal thing, but the aspects of can never go back to how it was before feels so important and distinct... and letting Emmet discover who he is on his own to. And the closure-- again.
But yeah, maybe this could be resolved more by people acknowledging even in the intervening time the fact-- they are capable of functioning on their own. They have their own circles they run in, their own separate interests and hobbies... like I mean, we’re halfway there with Emmet’s joltik breeding-- but it feels like there’s just this little bit extra missing sometimes.
As an aside to this point about individuality with the twins there’s something to be said here as well about how Pokémon Masters keeps bringing up this idea about the twins and how together they always are and consistently it seems like Ingo is the one who struggles with defining himself without Emmet. Or wanting to be without Emmet, the Sygna Suit event and now even with the Lodge it’s a bit like it’s a follow on from that...
I’d also love to take a moment to point to how this fits as well because before PLA, Ingo more than Emmet was the one who didn’t actually have any Pokémon that were exclusively his, aside maybe the trade evolutions(and do those count given the trade requirements) meanwhile Emmet has his Double Battle pokémon that Ingo never uses. I mean, you can literally cross-check on their wiki pages to confirm this.
All Ingo’s singles team pokémon also get used by Emmet with only Klinklang been the exception since it is two different ones, nature, moveset and held items.
(It’s something about Thematics)
I... don’t actually have much to say on this point, but there is something just-- very distantly in how this all feels regarding the theming of the games and the discussion around them and--
I know Pokémon isn’t deep, I know this isn’t the fandom for great big discussions and the handling was kind of... not amazing given how half-baked it was in PLA but-- there is something in the broader scope of how this resolution feels. The fact it’s so default settings about it to. Back to 0, when placed in line with games that are-- I don’t know.
PLA has a bit of a questionable status regarding themes and the whole plot in broad strokes... but what kind of strikes me is how unsatisfactory this feels if only because of analysis. Or in a line, it feels like an afterthought and Arceus has the WORST plan management skills ever-- but also, PLA is set in a time of great change and shift-- and the theme of Past that’s there... Something about the romanticisation of the Past, and then you can reflect on that with Truth and Ideals and the subtle return of Anti-Pokéballs drama if a lot quieter here and just--
I don’t know if I can explain the weird intersection here in how it feels like it got thrown out. Mismatched and like the reflection got broken. Could also talk a lot about how there’s the implication of Ingo been the original intended hero not the player character... and I honestly have a whole other conspiracy about that, but that’s neither here nor there... and that brings up some... fascinating story implications when you again reflect on the Pokéballs issue.
Something, something the idealization of history verses the truth of it as well. But generally I just loop back to the Pokéballs verses not using them and how Ingo kind of does both if you assume that none of the Path of Solitude Pokémon have any Pokéballs at all which it feels like they don’t. Still very funny of him!
In any case, I find it honestly interesting how there is this echo in Hisui to the themes of Black and White. It’s not huge, especially since it more obviously, and purposely echoes Diamond/Pearl/Platinum and legacy, history-- but like, there are the echoes. Once more we have that question, if much less prominent on whether pokéballs are right or not. And on a quieter note, the whole... Wielder verses Trainer thing... but that’s... hard to narrow.
There’s also the issue in this where it’s like... I just personally have some hangups with this resolution and the themeatics and how it is like-- you can’t change things in any meaningful way and it’s not up to you... with the way the resolution has been handled. And also somehow it been so flat resolved feels OOC for the way Arceus is generally written as if it believes itself in the right and knowing, and-- I just ugh. Maybe this is more a personal thing, but it feels like, we got the resolution in a way that just goes against the potential for something interesting. Whether on a character, or series wide implications.
But whatever, guess there’s no reason to analyse any of that right?
Maybe this is also just me reading too much, because again. Feels like we the protag were the backup plan. I suppose to, it’s in Ingo’s own dialogue on returning. “It’s time for me to Return”-- But hey, maybe this is all just me with conspiracy glasses on because PLA as a game feels like the story it tells is the propaganda version of history to me.
Anycase, kind of loops back to the agency issue, and echoes with the implications that Ingo was the first choice hero to. I dunno, I lost the point...
(It’s Literally just Fandom Gatekeeping)
As a wrap up point...
I think as well, there’s this reaction that’s just like. “Oh if you didn’t want them to reunite you’re a horrible person” which is... dumb.
Like come on, let people play in their sandboxes. Even if some of those sandboxes may seem to be opposed to the general audience. If some people want to explore more of Hisui with Ingo, or cope maybe with their own losses and having to move on without people they loved with Emmet-- that’s their right.
There’s a lot of reasons for people to want to find a happy ending in the separation to. And they should be allowed to.
You know, there's something funny sometimes how I'll discover a blog hasn't blocked me and I'll be like-- weirdly offended about it. Like
"Hello, sir/ma'am-- all your friend circle blogs have me blocked. I don't know why but I'm sure it's a very good reason, so you should block me to"
This is so dumb, and yet it's my brain's first response sometimes. Like, I'm sure they have their own reasons to not block me, but when all their "friend circle" blogs have... it's like. Why haven't you?!
Same reason their friends have personal reasons to block me. I don't actually send messages like that, but boy do I have the thought.
God you know what really gets me about one of the Core things in the Iron Lung Movie.
It kind of forces you to ask, "does anyone deserve this?" The... the Dehumanization, and slow drawn out doom at the bottom of a blood ocean. A creeping death via radiation, suffocation or lack of supplies with starvation and dehydration(because how was he ever supposed to get out?)
Does anyone, is there any crime that would validate this? We don't focus on what Simon done to earn the name Butcher. We don't learn what really happened to Filament Station, how it blew up, how culpable Simon was or was not-- we don't know all the details. But we know enough that he's a convict and this is what they get sent to do.
Part of the Core is you look at this-- you look at this and the movie asks you.
"Does anyone deserve this?"
Guilty or Innocent, doesn't matter. It doesn't matter, it shouldn't matter, because the bigger message is how unfair this ALL is. Nobody deserves the unsafe working conditions and told to just do the job and maybe, maybe if they're good they'll be free. If they just do this one thing, look they can be redeemed, let go, look what good behaviour gets you. Nobody deserves to have the risk of their work conditions hidden from them either, or to not be listened to...
Nobody deserves...
“You sent me down here to die, and you don’t even know my name?”
And personally, I think the message stands stronger if he is Guilty. Because again, the movie forces you to sit and go... "Does any human deserve this?" and the answer... is no.
God this shit update is RUINING any odds of a Blackout properly been organized, I think I've seen 4-5 different dates offered now...
Honestly... I'm just here like, next time Tumblr randomly logs me out as it tends to do on Desktop, I'm just... not going to sign back in. Because No, I hate this. This is awful and it all feels like-- that's the point.
They don't want the site to exist anymore, they bought it, got no money and still refuse to understand. This is so much BURNING the whole site to the ground it just feels like--
I've been here since 2014, seen shit, but this is just... the final straw. Like beyond all else, this is absolutely ruinous, it feels like they purposely found the worst thing they could do and done it.
Still, keep replying to that stupid post of theirs: https://www.tumblr.com/changes/811285635102130176/its-very-clear-that-you-all-have-strong-feelings (don't forget both versions_, using the feedback form(even though it's clear they're ignoring and automating that)-- BE LOUD.
