Pokemiscellany
Have I mentioned that I'm getting back into Pokemon just in time for Gen VI?
Well. Okay. I am.
Here, have a long squeepost about I SHIP THIS and so forth.
I love Gen V. I stopped playing these games for a long time after Gen III, which I just found so unpleasant. (Evil gang is planning to expand the oceans! Who writes these plots?) But Gen V completely redeemed these games for me, and . . .
Well . . .
N.
He is the most perfect perfection to ever perfect perfection. <3
Somehow I've become a Ferriswheelshipper, much to my own surprise. I kind of thought I had become one of those fangirls to such a degree that I would never have a big epic het ship again, but this has proven me wrong. I'm just surprised by how much Ferrishwheelshipping and/or Isshushipping is implied by canon, what with the extent to which N seems to really, really like either White or Black. And that whole "Truth and ideals shouldn't be separate!" thing.
(As a side note, I still have no idea what the names of the PCs are. Like, I honestly have no preference between White/Touko/Hilda or Black/Touya/Hilbert. I feel like I ought to pick one and be consistent in my usage, but I can't make up my mind.)
Anyway.
Touko is seme.
(And she is perfect also.)
I'm sorry to report that I actually kinda like Ghetsis, too, even though he's also A Complete Monster. I can't bring myself to hate a man who would actually go out in public wearing that castle snuggie. I like his drama queen nature, too. Like how at the end of BW2, he . . . gets too depressed to do anymore evil and has to be taken away somewhere. I like to imagine that he and the remnants of Team Plasma went and bought a big mansion somewhere, where he lies on the floor staring at nothing day after day, and the others end up rearranging furniture around him. (Has anyone ever considered that Ghetsis might be bipolar? Because I am becoming increasingly sure that Ghetsis is bipolar.)
Seriously though, I think that Gen V is a good example of how one can weave in darker themes while still being completely G-rated. I mean, any kids young enough to not be an appropriate audience for that whole child abuse subplot are far too young to notice it's there anyway. No one who's not . . . well, in their teens at the youngest, I should think, is going to understand why it's horrifying that N is ~20 and apparently still plays with toys from when he was, like, 8. I mean, N's age and gender are totally irrelevant; you really can't accurately describe him as a grown man. (I wonder a lot about whether or not he is in some way irreversibly b0rked. I hope he's not, since he's my favorite character, but . . . . )
It is interesting the way Gen V plays with common fantasy tropes, and I think that's a big part of what makes N so fascinating for me. I've never encountered a kids' series before in which the pure-hearted Chosen One (and king!) is an antagonist. Having an antagonist who is clearly a genuinely nice person being used, basically, as a human shield by someone absolutely repulsive is rather unusual for that demographic, too.
For older gens:
At first, I had decided I wasn't going to fangirl Silver, because he's so much this fandom's version of Draco in Leather Pants, and I just had to FIGHT THA POWAH.
But . . . well . . .
The thing is, I actually rather disliked him back in the day when I first played Gold, but I can't not like him now. Judging by comments I've seen other people make, it seems like this isn't at all an uncommon experience. XP It is a little bit interesting in my case, though, because when I was a little kid I was one of those creepy little girls that will squee obnoxiously all over anything male and in fact, when I was 10 I had a crush on Giovanni, which in retrospect is really creepy because oh god the age differential.
When I was 11, he was this rage-y jerk who keeps harassing you for no reason.
And now it's like, Oh, you're really just this sad, angry kid who acts tough because you have no clue what you're doing. I think he's quite a bit more sympathetic when you're older.
(Also, dat hair.)
And I like Red, who I also didn't in the past. I tend to dislike characters who are held up as these epic, unbeatable boy heroes by their canons, since they always seem to exist mainly as wish-fulfillment self-inserts for the (male) creators. But Red's "... ... ... ..." is so creepy that he's won me over in the end, because I adore creepy kids.
It doesn't hurt that he's always getting aged up and becoming rather attractive in fanart.
And, yes. Originalshipping.
I also sort of like Cyrus. I'm not sure quite why. I find him kind of amusing, probably because he's so serious. I like to think that he and Giratina ended up becoming BFF and now rule Distortion World with an iron fist. But I suspect that it's more likely something awful ended up happening to him.
Also, my headcanon is that Team Galactic recruits by essentially being Scientology a UFO cult.
Have I mentioned that I really don't like Gen III or any of the things related to it?
I don't like Gen III or any of the things related to it.
Well. Okay. I am.
Here, have a long squeepost about I SHIP THIS and so forth.
I love Gen V. I stopped playing these games for a long time after Gen III, which I just found so unpleasant. (Evil gang is planning to expand the oceans! Who writes these plots?) But Gen V completely redeemed these games for me, and . . .
Well . . .
N.
He is the most perfect perfection to ever perfect perfection. <3
Somehow I've become a Ferriswheelshipper, much to my own surprise. I kind of thought I had become one of those fangirls to such a degree that I would never have a big epic het ship again, but this has proven me wrong. I'm just surprised by how much Ferrishwheelshipping and/or Isshushipping is implied by canon, what with the extent to which N seems to really, really like either White or Black. And that whole "Truth and ideals shouldn't be separate!" thing.
(As a side note, I still have no idea what the names of the PCs are. Like, I honestly have no preference between White/Touko/Hilda or Black/Touya/Hilbert. I feel like I ought to pick one and be consistent in my usage, but I can't make up my mind.)
Anyway.
Touko is seme.
(And she is perfect also.)
I'm sorry to report that I actually kinda like Ghetsis, too, even though he's also A Complete Monster. I can't bring myself to hate a man who would actually go out in public wearing that castle snuggie. I like his drama queen nature, too. Like how at the end of BW2, he . . . gets too depressed to do anymore evil and has to be taken away somewhere. I like to imagine that he and the remnants of Team Plasma went and bought a big mansion somewhere, where he lies on the floor staring at nothing day after day, and the others end up rearranging furniture around him. (Has anyone ever considered that Ghetsis might be bipolar? Because I am becoming increasingly sure that Ghetsis is bipolar.)
Seriously though, I think that Gen V is a good example of how one can weave in darker themes while still being completely G-rated. I mean, any kids young enough to not be an appropriate audience for that whole child abuse subplot are far too young to notice it's there anyway. No one who's not . . . well, in their teens at the youngest, I should think, is going to understand why it's horrifying that N is ~20 and apparently still plays with toys from when he was, like, 8. I mean, N's age and gender are totally irrelevant; you really can't accurately describe him as a grown man. (I wonder a lot about whether or not he is in some way irreversibly b0rked. I hope he's not, since he's my favorite character, but . . . . )
It is interesting the way Gen V plays with common fantasy tropes, and I think that's a big part of what makes N so fascinating for me. I've never encountered a kids' series before in which the pure-hearted Chosen One (and king!) is an antagonist. Having an antagonist who is clearly a genuinely nice person being used, basically, as a human shield by someone absolutely repulsive is rather unusual for that demographic, too.
For older gens:
At first, I had decided I wasn't going to fangirl Silver, because he's so much this fandom's version of Draco in Leather Pants, and I just had to FIGHT THA POWAH.
But . . . well . . .
The thing is, I actually rather disliked him back in the day when I first played Gold, but I can't not like him now. Judging by comments I've seen other people make, it seems like this isn't at all an uncommon experience. XP It is a little bit interesting in my case, though, because when I was a little kid I was one of those creepy little girls that will squee obnoxiously all over anything male and in fact, when I was 10 I had a crush on Giovanni, which in retrospect is really creepy because oh god the age differential.
When I was 11, he was this rage-y jerk who keeps harassing you for no reason.
And now it's like, Oh, you're really just this sad, angry kid who acts tough because you have no clue what you're doing. I think he's quite a bit more sympathetic when you're older.
(Also, dat hair.)
And I like Red, who I also didn't in the past. I tend to dislike characters who are held up as these epic, unbeatable boy heroes by their canons, since they always seem to exist mainly as wish-fulfillment self-inserts for the (male) creators. But Red's "... ... ... ..." is so creepy that he's won me over in the end, because I adore creepy kids.
It doesn't hurt that he's always getting aged up and becoming rather attractive in fanart.
And, yes. Originalshipping.
I also sort of like Cyrus. I'm not sure quite why. I find him kind of amusing, probably because he's so serious. I like to think that he and Giratina ended up becoming BFF and now rule Distortion World with an iron fist. But I suspect that it's more likely something awful ended up happening to him.
Also, my headcanon is that Team Galactic recruits by essentially being Scientology a UFO cult.
Have I mentioned that I really don't like Gen III or any of the things related to it?
I don't like Gen III or any of the things related to it.