#all my homies hate kamado

[nebsisdead]

DAY 3 OF REWRITING DEMON SLAYER

Zenitsu is gone. I couldn't find a way to make his character good or even worthwhile so he's gone.

I'm just gonna use Asuhina as a replacement.

I don't enjoy erasing the main cast but Zenitsu is insufferable. Give me a break here.

Tanjiro has a lot more personality. He's less of a cardboard cut out now. He gets angry at points and isn't just all smiles all the time.

One of the biggest changes is that Nezuk8 can now talk.

She still can't come out in daylight so she is in the box. But sometimes she will put on a sunhat with alot of blockage and get around that way.

I've pretty much overhauled the entire breathing system. There's alot of bullshit i have to fix.

And I somehow have to fix the abysmal timeline and how NOBODY MENTIONS WORLD WAR FUCKING ONE!?!?!

I got alot of work to do

[pokemenlovingmen]

Okay!! I was able to counter act the links being funky in my app by opening your blog in my mobile browser!!!! so I was able to read your rules n stuff so now I can finally request (yusss!!! also, I saw the "ingo,,, again" under the PLA characters you write for and it made me think "ingo 2,,, electric boogaloo" heheheh. also yeah fuck kamado, all my homies hate kamado)

okay, could I please request a lil drabble (if you only do hc's thats fine of course! I just couldnt find it clearly if you only do hc's) of Adaman taking care of a reader who is on bed rest and healing? the exact stuff of how and what is up to you, for me its more so the comfort and caring side, not so much the angst side (so like, nothing thats like "omg reader was near death" pls?). gender of the reader I dont mind, just do what youre most comfortable with and yee!! thank youuuu

Hi you’ve been such a kind supporter I’m sorry it took me so long to get to you!! And yeah. Fuck Kamado. That exile would have been my villain origin story if the game gave me more agency, I swear to god.

And conversely, we love Adaman. They put him in pokemas and my quality of life has improved significantly <3

Oh and I’m sorry about the lack of clarity of what I do! I do only HCs, but at the level of detail I can’t stop myself from including, they’re kinda like a weird fusion between drabble and headcanons.

Healing Takes Time — Adaman x M!Reader

💎 — Hisui is a dangerous place and injuries ranging from minor to severe are all too common. So Adaman’s not exactly a stranger to presiding over loved ones on bed rest.

💎 — Doesn’t mean he’s good at it, though.

💎 — Mai reminds him that the slow passage of time is just as important as things that happen in the quick, efficient manner that he prefers as well. It’s not a slight from Mighty Dialga being displeased, it’s just the nature of time. But he can’t just stand around when it comes to your health! Yes, rest takes time, he’s aware, but all this waiting feels the same as doing nothing to him.

💎 — Mai basically has to keep him away from you constantly because he’s always fretting over you, which is definitely sweet of him even if it’s not exactly helpful, but it is funny to watch the cartoonish shenanigans of Mai trying to constantly shoo Adaman away from the medical tent.

💎 — Even if what you’re recovering from isn’t serious, you’d never be able to guess that from how he behaves.

💎 — He essentially becomes your primary nurse and seldom lets you out of his sight if he can help it (thanks to Mai being the reasonable one, he usually can’t).

💎 — Once things calm down though, after the first two or three days when your recovery progress is becoming quite apparent, he’s less frazzled and more willing to leave you be. He just can’t help that impatience winning out, though, sometimes.

💎 — He’ll be there to help you with maintaining yourself while you rest, sitting beside your futon while you recover, brushing your hair so you don’t have to, keeping a fresh cold compress on you at all times if the problem is that you’re sick and feverish, changing your bandages if it’s an injury, all that.

💎 — If you’re okay with it, he’ll also happily bring his Leafeon to see you for some good old fashioned grass-type aromatherapy. I know Leafeon can’t actually learn the move aromatherapy, but it’s clearly made of plants and must have some kind of floral/herbal smell.

💎 — And since we know he is a house husband in the making guy with an interest in cooking, you bet he’ll be bringing you all manner of home-cooked meals.

💎 — He’s so dutiful, oftentimes he doesn’t go back to his own tent for the night and will instead fall asleep on the cold floor next to your futon.

💎 — Adaman is very sure to keep you abreast of all goings-on in the clan, usually nothing much of interest, but he does uncharacteristically bring you all sorts of gossip. It’s not that he likes to gossip, but while you’re bedridden he can’t think of much to entertain you with so this is what he’s settled on. And also he probably would like to vent his multitude of frustrations with Melli specifically because you just know 3/5 instances of drama involve some kind of category 5 Melli moment.

💎 — Once you start to recover and leave your bedridden state, he’s still just as present as he was before.

💎 — If it was an injury he’s always making sure you’re not overexerting yourself, and if it’s something that happened to your legs, he’s volunteering to help you walk around so you don’t put too much pressure on the injury.

💎 — For illness he’ll always be on your case about taking whatever medicines/remedies you were instructed to, because your recovery has already taken ages (to him) already, and he’s not sure he can bear seeing you sick for much longer.

💎 — Regardless of the reason you’re bedridden, he’ll always give you a kiss on the forehead when he enters the tent and before he leaves—though if you’re sick, he musters the self control to wait. Ideally he can keep that up, but he might get a little impatient… oh well. He needs to remind you how much he loves you, and if he ends up getting what you have, he knows you’ll care for him just as dutifully as he did you.

[imfluentinfangirlandgay]

Traitors in Our Midst - Ch 6

[SPOILERS FOR POKEMON: LEGENDS ARCEUS AHEAD. DO NOT CONTINUE IF YOU DON'T WANT SPOILERS]

Summary: This was the last straw. That damned man had gone too far this time, and everyone knew it. Ingo was pissed. He wasn't going to let this go easily, for Akari's sake or his.

Word Count: 2020 (exact count)

This is all just Kamado hate. Sorry. Personally, I just despise the guy. Nothing personal.

Wyrdeer made it to Jubilife Village first, as Ingo watched from atop his ride. It thundered into the village, scaring away villagers and screeching to a halt quickly. The two dismounted, helping each other. Ingo’s vision was obstructed as the Braviary approached close enough to go into a direct nose-dive. Ingo shouted in surprise, grabbing his hat with one hand and looping an arm around the Pokemon’s neck with the other. He heard yelling to his side. Emmet must be in the same position. The entire ride here, he had noticed Emmet clinging to the large bird as if his life was about to end. It was only then that he remembered that Emmet was scared of heights.

By the time they landed and Ingo had gotten down from his Braviary, commotion had started in the village. The three Nobles sat in the middle of the empty part of the strip, the four riders standing a distance away. (Ingo held up Emmet as his legs adjusted to the ground and stopped wobbling so much.) Rei and Laventon had run up and smothered Dawn, “Akari! We were so worried about you! You just left so suddenly and then we heard that you were banished but Kamado wouldn’t let us leave the village!” Rei said excitedly.

“And then the sky returned to normal yesterday, but the search parties we sent out couldn’t find you, either. Adaman and Irida went out looking for both of you everywhere. Cyllene even left her office to help. We had no idea if you’d…” he trailed off, but the effect of his words were still evident.

“I’m okay, guys, really! And so is Ingo! We figured out the problem and caught them so it’s all okay now!” Dawn motioned to Ingo, who tipped his cap at them. Emmet had managed to catch his footing by now, but still stuck close to Ingo. Emmet tipped his own cap, too, his smile wide. Barry had stayed back by the twins, too.

Laventon cheerily waved at them, not at all concerned about the new people with them. Cyllene emerged from the HQ, Adaman and Irida following her. Upon catching sight of all of them, Adaman and Irida ran forward, passing by Cyllene and approaching the group. “Akari! Ingo! You’re okay!” As they approached, Ingo could see Irida’s face was stained with tears and both of the Clan Leader’s eyes were surrounded by deep circles and sported eye bags. They must not have slept at all since they left two days prior. Ingo immediately felt guilt settle into him at the sight of his Leader, so distraught.

They stopped at Akari first, looking her over intently. Irida’s eyes flashed over to Ingo as he walked forward to meet Akari, the other two behind him in tow. She looked surprised to see his twin next to him and her eyes kept flicking between them. “Are you guys okay? Did you guys solve the rift? We tried looking everywhere, but we couldn’t find you or Sneasler and the Nobles wouldn’t tell us where you were. Volo just disappeared yesterday in the middle of searching and he never came back. We were so worried after the rift left and there was still no sign of you that something horrible had happened.” Irida let the words flow out of her in a rush, Adaman nodding vehemently with her.

“We looked all over Hisui. Where were you guys? And who is with you guys?” Adaman asked curiously.

“This is my friend Barry, he’s been my best friend since I was little, before I came to Hisui. And that’s Ingo’s twin brother, Emmet. After we fixed the rift, they both came through.”

“Hi!”

“I am Emmet!”

“I am glad to see you two in one piece,” Cyllene made her way over to them finally. “After the… events of the other day, things did not go well here. Mass panic took over and Kamado has since locked himself in his office. He has refused to come out since-”

The door busted open, revealing a certain bushy-haired man wearing a gi and a jacket. He looked murderous. Ingo and Akari tensed up, readying themselves to flee if need be. The others all formed a protective ring round them, even the Nobles. Barry cried out, “Professor Rowan?!”

“What is the meaning of this! Simply letting them back into the village, despite the fact that they are still banished! Cyllene, I thought you knew your job better than that. And they brought more outsiders into the village, right into our home! What would possess any of you to allow this!”

“Kamado, the sky is back to normal. The rift is gone. Is that not what you wanted?” Irida asked, shooting him a glare that could kill.

“That may be true, but it could likely come back at any moment. Is it not suspicious that the rift disappeared only after I sent these two away? They likely needed to cover their tracks! They have tricked you into believing they are trustworthy!”

“Kamado, you are being paranoid. Look at them. They look battered and bruised. You are the only one who even remotely thinks that they are to be blamed.”

“And I’m the only one with sense! These two traitors should have been left out there to die in the first place!”

Emmet strode forward. Ingo tried grabbing his collar, but it was difficult to do when Emmet got into these moods. “Emmet, don’t-”

“So you’re the one who threatened to imprison my brother.” He swung his arms wildly at the shoulders, his elbows straight, looking like a toy soldier. “I am Emmet. And I do not like people who hurt my brother.” Kamado reached to his belt, pulling out the first Pokeball he could find-

And then he was on the ground, a very angry Emmet over him, fist still pulled back and ready to strike again. Ingo’s feet were moving, his hand on Emmet’s collar, pulling him back, quite literally dragging him backwards. “Emmet, that’s not very nice.” Everyone’s eyebrows were raised, except Cyllene, of course. “I apologize for his rashness-”

“Oh, don’t! He deserved it,” Adaman smirked. “I’m a little surprised it didn’t happen sooner actually.” Irida nodded, a small grin playing along her lips. Kamado had hopped up, running and grabbing Emmet by the arm, just like how he had to Ingo. He started saying something, but Ingo, again, reacted without thinking. He smacked Kamado in the cheek. Hard. Kamado pulled on Emmet, shouting incoherently about this or that. Boiling-hot rage pumped into Ingo’s veins. He got between them, shoving Kamado back and away from his brother. Then he punched Kamado himself. He felt bone crush under his knuckles, a warm fluid leak out amongst his fingers. He recoiled. The blood felt sticky. He hated the feeling.

Kamado grabbed at his face, his eyes still not showing any sign of backing down. Ingo yanked Emmet away, partly holding him back, partly trying to protect him from Kamado. “You absolute-”

“Commander, I believe that is enough.” Cyllene walked forward, her posture straight as always. “It seems that people are deeming you unfit to lead, as you have made too many rash decisions. Now you are becoming violent. I ask you to step down peacefully as Commander of the Galaxy Team.”

Stunned silence. Then Kamado narrowed his eyes at the woman. “Is this a joke? I founded this team with my own two hands. You cannot simply tell me to step down.” The last two words were snarled, not dissimilar to an angry Purugly.

“I believe, with the display you just showed and the blatant lack of regard you showed for human life, that I can. You threw two perfectly innocent people away, forcing them to survive on their own because you had a vague notion that they may somehow be connected, when there was no evidence to suggest this. And then, even after they fixed the problems that they did not cause, you continued to blame them for everything and threatened to sentence them to prison or a death sentence. That is not something a decent leader would do.” She said all this with a cool expression, her eyes not wavering. “It is because of this I ask that you step down and please exit Jubilife. Do not return.” He stood there, still processing. Then set his jaw, wiping his face. His broken nose stood out painfully obviously against the rest of his skin, blood still dripping.

“No. I will not hear any more of this nonsense. Guards, place them all in custody until we can have a conversation over this.” Nobody moved. Realizing this, Kamado turned around, watching his Security Corps. Not a single one stepped forward. He pulled out a Pokeball. “Fine. I’ll finish this myself.”

The battle did not last long. Dawn and Rei took care of him quickly, knocking down each of his Pokemon in one strike or less. Kamado’s eyes began to show a separate emotion other than anger. Fear.

His team was down. He had no support. Kamado looked around. “You’d really throw away everything for these two foreigners?”

“It is merely a change of hands, Kamado. I believe I am capable of handling your job, considering how much of it I was doing already,” Cyllene quipped. Adaman covered his eyes, shocked. Ingo could see his barely-contained laughter from where he stood. Irida gasped.

“Look, Cyllene, I know I wronged you, and you Warden and Akari, in the past, but-”

“Kamado, please leave Jubilife. Or be removed by force.” Cyllene did not waver.

Kamado came forward, trying to reach her, but Abra quickly teleported him away. “Cyllene, please order your Abra to-”

“I will not order it to do anything. Now, leave.” Kamado shot forward, once again trying to reach someone, anyone. He was quickly nailed in the face with a ball of mud, thrown by Rei.

“Just stop! Leave already!” Rei called out. He readied another ball, but Kamado did not take notice. He reached forward blindly, removing the mud from his eyes. His hands grabbed out at Akari-

Barry kicked him in the shins. Hard. Then again. And again. He kept kicking, but Kamado would not let go of her. She squirmed, trying to get away. “You turned them against me! You’re a Zoroark, I know it!” Braviary and Wyrdeer called out in anger. They did not like this display. Dawn was crying now.

“Stop! It hurts! You’re grabbing too hard!” She struggled to pull away, but to no avail. Ingo came forward and began prying the previous Commander’s fingers off her arm, but it didn’t work. His grip was like iron, stubbornly holding on too tight to her arm. Finally, Samurott popped out of its ball. It slashed out at Kamado’s arm with one of its scimitars, making him flinch ever so slightly. Ingo managed to wrench Dawn away from the man, picking her up and physically carrying her away. Ingo heard a scuffle behind him, but he didn’t turn around. He set Dawn down, examining her arm.

It was already beginning to bruise. Massive, blocky lines across her arms in the exact shape of Kamado’s hand laced around her delicate forearm, clearly painful to the touch. She was holding back tears as he prodded and poked her arm. Ingo was pissed. There was a hand on his shoulder, someone handing him something. Emmet was holding pain medication, yes, that was it. And a bandage. The twins worked on treating Dawn while things kept happening behind them.

By the time she was cleaned up, Kamado was on the ground. He looked worse than they had left him, but Ingo didn’t get much of a good look at him. Almost as soon as he had whirled to see the situation before him, Abra teleported the man away, leaving nothing in his wake. There were several people around who had obviously been working at holding him back (or, in Barry’s case, kicking him). As soon as he was gone, there was silence. Then a sigh of relief. He had gotten what he deserved.

[Start] - [Previous] - [Next]

[sage-nebula]

I have Volo Brainrot™ at present, and I really want to talk about what makes him such an interesting character to me, but I can’t talk about any of that without talking about the colonialization apologia / propaganda present all throughout Legends Arceus, so you know what, let’s just go ahead and do that now instead of waiting for me to get to it in my review. It would be easier to just link this post in the review anyway, particularly for those who don’t want to read a review that’s something like sixty pages long.

All of that said though, before we get into this: I AM NOT SAYING that this is a bad game or that you can’t enjoy it. I myself have enjoyed it a lot (my review score is going to be 7.5/10), and I really, really, really hope that we get future games in this style. I also enjoy many of the characters in the game, too. But that said, the story is Yikes on many different levels, and I think that’s worth talking about. You can enjoy things while being critical of them—or at least, I can. I love Pokémon with all my heart, and that includes calling out its flaws when it has them, which is what I’m doing now. So please note that I’m not saying you can’t love this game, because I myself do love it! But I am going to talk about the serious issues with the story, and if that’s discussion you don’t want to partake in, then turn away now.

Huge spoiler warning for ALL of Pokémon Legends: Arceus, including and ESPECIALLY the postgame. You’ve been warned.

Okay, so first, let’s talk a little bit about the history of Japan, and their colonization of the northern part of the island (and the surrounding smaller islands) and their oppression of the Ainu people. I’m not even going to remotely begin to pretend to be an expert on this topic. I am not Japanese, nor am I Ainu, and I strongly encourage everyone to seek out sources from people who are of Japanese and especially Ainu descent on this topic if you want to know more. I’m just going to give a very brief overview of the things I’ve learned from my own research, but again, I’m not an expert and I’m not pretending to be, so don’t quote me on this. (Although if you’re quoting a tumblr post in your academic papers . . . oh honey, no.)

So.

The two main groups of people in this little history lesson are the Yamato Japanese and the Ainu. “Yamato Japanese” refers to the people that most people think of today when they hear “Japanese”; these are the East Asian people who were indigenous to the main part of the island of Japan, particularly in the middle and the southern regions. Ainu, meanwhile, refers to an ethnically diverse group of people who were indigenous to the northern part of the island (known today as Hokkaido), as well as several of the smaller islands in the periphery of the main island. The Ainu people were established there before the Yamato Japanese decided to move north to further the Empire of Japan, and in fact there are many historical records which show the Empire of Japan interacting with the Ainu people to establish things like trades, treaties, etc. The Ainu had their own culture, their own language, their own religion. That was their land, they were their own sovereign nation.

And then . . . they weren’t.

Again, I’m going to give only a very brief overview, especially since I’m not an expert in the subject. But essentially, the Japanese Empire decided that it wanted to conquer what would later become known as Hokkaido, as well as the surrounding peripheral islands. If you’ve watched the meme-spawning video “History of Japan”, you will remember this as the part where the narrator goes, “. . . and they conquered the north finally, got that squared away.” Well, as can be expected, there was more to it than that. 

In the late 1700s - early 1800s, the Empire of Japan took its first steps toward conquering Hokkaido and forcibly assimilating / oppressing the Ainu people by conquering the southern part of Hokkaido. The Ainu still controlled the northernmost part of their territory and they and other indigenous groups (because I believe there were others too) still controlled the periphery islands—but the Japanese shogunate took full control over the southern part of the territory. And while this would be bad enough on its own, the Empire did not stop there. Because they viewed the Ainu as “beneath” them, as “barbarous”, they engaged in practices such as abducting Ainu women and raping / forcibly marrying them to Japanese men (to “better assimilate” them), and arresting Ainu men to force them to work in indentured servitude for years, sometimes a decade or more. These were only a few of the practices enacted to weaken the Ainu people, stamp out their culture, and drop their population.

And it gets worse.

In the mid- to late-1800s, the Empire of Japan fully annexed Hokkaido and the surrounding smaller islands. In 1899 specifically, the Japanese government passed laws which labeled the Ainu people as “former aborigines” and granted them Japanese citizenship status . . . which might sound good on paper until you realize that it stripped them of their rights as indigenous people (something that was not fixed until 2019). In many cases, Ainu people had their land forcibly taken from them and given to Yamato Japanese settlers, and it was made illegal for them to practice their religious and cultural customs, speak their language, and hunt and gather, so that they would instead assimilate into Japanese culture, language, and customs. And even though the Ainu had their status as indigenous people restored in 2019, not only is it far too late and the damage has been done (the Ainu language is nearly extinct), but a year later in 2020 the former prime minister said that Japan is the only country to have “. . . lasted for as long as 2,000 years with one language, one ethnic group, one dynasty.” So even after the Ainu had their status as an indigenous group restored . . . it was still being ignored by the government, even a year later. Which isn’t surprising, but it is depressing considering how much the Ainu population has dwindled due to the colonization and imperialism, how many of their practices have been lost, how their language is only spoken by a handful of native speakers now, etc.

So, what does all of this have to do with Pokémon?

As anyone who has played the games or is a fan of Pokémon knows, the region of Sinnoh is the PokéWorld version of Hokkaido. And as such, Hisui—which is the version of Sinnoh that we get to explore in Legends Arceus—is a version of ancient Hokkaido . . . or, as it was known before it was annexed, Ezo. In other words, not only did Game Freak base Sinnoh on Hokkaido, but when they decided to make a game about its ancient past, they included the fact that Hokkaido wasn’t always named Hokkaido by making it so that Sinnoh wasn’t always named Sinnoh. So if you’re wondering why the region was called Hisui instead of Sinnoh in Legends . . . that’s why.

Anyway, knowing that Sinnoh = PokéHokkaido obviously raised a lot of questions with regards to how Legends—a game which takes place back in the feudal era—would handle the question of indigenous people. Obviously, Japan has a very brutal history of imperialism and colonization with regards to Hokkaido and the Ainu people (and other places as well such as Korea, but this is specifically about Hokkaido / the Ainu). But at the same time, Pokémon is a game series for children which, while it has included heavy topics such as genocide and child abuse in the past, still tends to make its stories easily digestible and not too heavy for the children involved. Also, this is a Japanese game made by a Japanese company, and even now in the year of our Pokélord 2022 the treatment of the Ainu by the Japanese government and, I’d wager, many Japanese media companies isn’t exceptional. (Although there are many Japanese people with Ainu ancestry due to the aforementioned abductions and rapes, as well as Ainu people encouraging the interracial marriages in hopes that their offspring wouldn’t be as discriminated against if they were part Japanese . . . it’s a whole thing that, again, I’m not an expert on and am not really qualified to discuss.) So, would they just avoid it altogether by having everyone in the game be indigenous to the region?

Unfortunately . . . no.

To get this out of the way before anything else: The issue is not that we have an isekai protagonist from the future / our world / wherever. (I think they’re meant to be from the future of the PokéWorld, but I think it’s left open enough so that you can have them be from wherever you want.) It’s standard PokéFair for the protagonist to be exceptionally special, and if they are from future!Sinnoh, one could headcanon that they’re descended from the actual indigenous peoples of Hisui (so the Diamond Clan, Pearl Clan, or Ginkgo Group), so it’s not quite the pro-colonization propaganda it might otherwise be. While of course it would have been preferable to have our protagonist just straight up be from one of the clans (or maybe from like, a third clan formed by people who left those two clans because they were tired of the fighting and wanted a Third Option or something similar), the isekai aspect of the story isn’t the part I take issue with. Instead, the face of the colonization apologia in Legends Arceus is this face right here:

Words cannot describe how much I hate this insecure, ignorant little man.

This man is Kamado, the commander of Galaxy Team and de facto leader of Jubilife Village, a village that is full of no one but colonizers from outside the Hisui region. Kamado, and those who came with him, decided to come to Hisui to start a new life “free of war and strife,” and Kamado in particular aims to do that no matter what the cost is—including if that cost is, as he says later in the story, exterminating pokémon that he feels pose a threat. The game tries to handwave this by giving him a sad backstory about how pokémon razed his home village back in whatever region he came from (I would assume Kanto personally), but not only are we not told whether those pokémon were ever provoked or not, but it still doesn’t excuse Kamado’s shitty behavior toward the pokémon in the Hisui region who are minding their own business, or, most importantly, the indigenous peoples of Hisui whom he looks down upon, which the narrative never once takes him to task for doing so.

Let’s look at the Diamond and Pearl Clans for a moment, shall we?

The Diamond and Pearl Clans are, I believe, meant to be the PokéWorld version of the Ainu. While they lack the characteristic physical features of the Ainu people from back then (e.g. the women don’t have mouth tattoos, the men don’t have beards), their cultural practices revolving around their close relationships with pokémon and the Noble Pokémon that they worship and serve speaks very much to the religious practices that the Ainu practiced before the Empire of Japan made it illegal for them to do so. Specifically, the Ainu were largely animists; they believed that everything had a spirit or soul, but in particular several of the gods they worshiped took animal forms, and as a result those animals held high reverence among the Ainu people. So for example, Kim-un-kamuy was known as the “god of mountains” and was often seen as a bear; Rep-un-kamuy was the “god of the sea”, and was sometimes depicted as an orca. 

How does this relate back to Pokémon?

Well, as stated, not only do the Diamond and Pearl clans live among pokémon, but if you look at the Noble Pokémon which hold the highest importance in their clan, you’ll see that many of them hearken back to animals that held high importance in the Ainu religious traditions. Ursaluna is the most obvious, being a giant bear. But Basculegion is a giant salmon, and salmon were a staple in the Ainu diet (not to mention that they had a god of the sea / fishing / marine life as well). Deer were another animal which were very important to Ainu survival, and Wyrdeer is another Noble Pokémon. Obviously some like Electrode and Kleavor don’t have direct analogues, but there are still enough that do that make it so that this had to be intentional. Particularly considering how the Diamond and Pearl Clans are very close to pokémon whereas the colonizers are not, and the difference in the Ainu people’s animist beliefs versus the Yamato Japanese’s Shinto or Buddhist beliefs, and the fact that the Clans were, you know, already there whereas the Galaxy Team came from other regions . . . yes, I think it’s safe to say that the Diamond and Pearl clans are stand-ins for the Ainu people. (The Ginkgo Guild might be as well, though it’s harder to say because we don’t exactly know where they came from to my knowledge, or if Volo was even actually one of them for real. But more on that later on.)

Now, to be fair, most of the colonizers in Jubilife don’t seem to have any issues with the Diamond and Pearl Clans. And yes, they are colonizers and not immigrants because if they were immigrants, they would have made an attempt to live with the Diamond and Pearl Clans. It’s not as if they would have been turned away; Ingo fell out of the sky and the Pearl Clan not only took him in, but made him a Warden. Instead, the Galaxy Team has chosen to create a village of their own, with their own culture and inventions, and Kamado is pushing his own values and beliefs onto the Clans. They have created a colony, they are colonizing, they are colonizers. There’s no getting around it.

But as I said, most of them don’t seem to have an issue with the Clans. Arezu is able to become the hairdresser’s apprentice with no problem. Rei / Akari is willing to help Mai when she requests assistance at the start of the game. For the most part, the colonizers don’t seem to look down on the Clans . . . but Kamado absolutely does, and the worst part is that the game rewards him for his ignorant behavior.

First, let’s take a look at their history pre-game.

The Diamond and Pearl Clans have been at odds with each other for a long time, because they each believe that the other Clan is worshiping a false “almighty Sinnoh,” the god they believe created their world and rules over all of time (Diamond) or space (Pearl). Obviously, they’re both a little bit wrong in that they’re actually worshiping Dialga and Palkia respectively and just don’t know it, but whatever, that’s not the point. The point is, these are deeply held and highly valued religious beliefs for these Clans, beliefs that guide their people, beliefs that inform how they interact with pokémon and the world around them. And how does Kamado respond to these beliefs?

He refers to it with sarcastic scare-quotes.

Now, to be entirely fair to him, he does refer to almighty Sinnoh without the sarcastic scare-quotes in the previous line. But even so, referring to almighty Sinnoh with scare-quotes even once shows a disparaging attitude toward the beliefs of the Clans (especially since the context of this line is Kamado questioning Warden Melli’s assertion that the frenzy state was a gift from almighty Sinnoh to strengthen the nobles of the Clans). While it makes sense that Kamado wouldn’t have the same religious beliefs as the Clans given that he comes from a different region altogether, there’s a difference between not holding the same religious beliefs as another group, and disparaging their beliefs. Kamado isn’t showing respect here, and the fact that no one in the Clans was present for this conversation doesn’t matter. It’s clear that he doesn’t think very highly of their beliefs or practices, and while that makes sense considering how close they are with pokémon and how much Kamado himself dislikes / fears pokémon, it still doesn’t make it okay. And, more importantly, given the context of the way the Yamato Japanese colonizers treated the Ainu people and their beliefs (and forbade them from practicing those beliefs after they fully conquered the territory), it leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

But that said, it does get worse than this.

At multiple points in the game, Adaman and Irida (the leaders of the Diamond and Pearl Clans respectively) meet in Kamado’s office to discuss the ongoing situation surrounding the frenzied Noble pokémon. And during one of these meetings, we get the following:

I’m going to be honest: When I got to this part in my playthrough, I had to actually turn my Switch off for a bit and set it down because I was so appalled.

Read the dialogue again, and take note of who is saying each line. Kamado blatantly states that he and the other Jubilife colonizers came to Hisui to create a home for themselves (again, to colonize the land, not to actually join the peoples who already lived there and respect their way of life). Adaman then says that Kamado “[put in work] to get [the Diamond and Pearl Clans] to treat one another as equals and keep [them] from fighting.” 

I don’t know about the rest of you, but to me this reeks of “the civilized colonizer had to stop the barbarians from killing each other over petty squabbles.” And considering how the Yamato Japanese viewed the Ainu as uncivilized, as lesser, as beneath them? To say this isn’t a good look is an understatement. Particularly considering the fact that both Clans were just a little bit wrong about who they were worshiping (since neither was worshiping Arceus, the actual Creator of All), and the fact that Adaman and Irida both at different points in the endgame acknowledge this, this all amounts to, “the poor ignorant savages just didn’t know any better and needed the civilized wise colonizers to come in and set them straight.” It’s nasty. And considering how the Ainu people are still suffering to this day because of the imperialism and colonization (which the Japanese government tried to sweep under the rug by calling it a “redistributing of resources and unused land” or something like that), it makes it even more vile. (In other words, a story that is pro-colonization and pro-imperialism would be bad enough, but considering the historical context? Yikes.)

But still, it still gets worse! Because later on in the story, Kamado—due to his fear of the protagonist’s bond with their pokémon and therefore their overall collective strength—decides to banish the protagonist from the village. The protagonist then goes to the Diamond and Pearl Clans for help, both of whom say they cannot openly assist the protagonist because it would piss off Kamado. And I have to say, I found that to be appalling. Kamado is a colonizer. Kamado has no right to do anything in this land. He certainly shouldn’t have the right to raise an army to go hunt down a pokémon atop Mount Coronet, regardless of whether that pokémon is on the other side of a rift or not. Yet both Adaman and Irida—and, as a result, their wardens and the rest of the clan—kowtow to what he wants. Oh sure, they try to argue with him on your behalf when you’re being exiled, but ultimately they’re afraid of angering him, of going against his word. Kamado’s word is law. And considering he’s a colonizer and they’re the indigenous people, the fact that they’re shown to so easily bend to his will . . . while on the one hand it explains how Hisui changes to Sinnoh (and in the postgame, Kamado is the one who suggests this name change, which makes sense given that he’s the driving force of imperialism in this land and it was the Japanese government who changed the name from Ezo to Hokkaido, but still, gross), it’s still infuriating. Neither Adaman nor Irida, nor anyone else native to Hisui, should have to listen to Kamado’s colonizing ass. But they do, because this game’s story is full to the brim of colonization propaganda and imperialist apologia. There’s no way to get around it, that’s what the bulk of the story is unfortunately about. (And it really didn’t have to be this way, colonizers didn’t have to play a part even if the protagonist was isekai’d in from another time period / world, as I already explained. That they chose to do this is just . . . yikes.)

With all of that said . . . let’s talk about Volo, shall we?

For most of the game, Volo is a friendly merchant from the Ginkgo Guild who is very interested in the myths and legends of Hisui, much like his eventual descendant (reincarnation??) Cynthia will be. In the postgame, we learn that he is also completely off his shits and wants to, for reasons that are never explained to us beyond “I was sad once”, completely destroy and remake the world using Arceus’ power, similar to Cyrus. Now, while the bad writing surrounding his motivation is frustrating (because again, we never really learn what his true motivation is for wanting to remake the world; at least with Cyrus we knew it was because he thought humans sucked for having emotions, but with Volo we never get anything beyond “I was sad once and was like ‘why am I in a world that’s mean to me’" and that’s just not a concrete motivation), I feel like we can extrapolate what could have been his motivation if this game was better written and not so dedicated to being colonization apologia.

During one of his postgame rants, Volo says this:

Volo is one of Hisui’s indigenous people, despite not belonging to either the Diamond or the Pearl Clans.

Now, I mentioned earlier that I think that the Ginkgo Guild are also indigenous to Hisui, although I don’t think this is ever explicitly stated. There is a location in the Cobalt Coastlands that bears the Ginkgo name, and Volo says that he has the blood of the “ancient Sinnoh people,” indicating that he (or at least his heritage) is indigenous to this land, even if the other indigenous peoples don’t refer to themselves as the Sinnoh people (although they do refer to their god as “almighty Sinnoh” for the majority of the game, so). While it’s unclear if Volo is actually a member of the Ginkgo Guild, or if he’s just pretending because being a merchant is an easy way to gather information, he still plays the part well enough that he fools pretty much everyone into believing that he’s one of them, with Cogita even questioning him when he talks about the Guild as if he’s not one of their members (which is why it’s unclear whether he’s one of them or not). Regardless of whether the Ginkgo Guild is indigenous, though, I think it’s pretty clear that Volo himself still is; he says he has the blood of the ancient Sinnoh people in his veins, he has those strong ties to this land and (he feels) to his god, to Arceus. Volo being indigenous is undeniable.

So with that in mind . . . aside from “I was sad once and thought that sucked so I WANT TO DESTROY THE ENTIRE WORLD,” I think that a more believable motivation for Volo would be, “I want to remake the world so the colonizers never came here,” or something similar.

Think about it: It’s mentioned time and time and time again throughout the game that the Galaxy Team’s influence on Hisui is changing the culture of the continent at a rapid pace. Whenever you visit her outside of mandated story visits, Cogita mentions that with the arrival of Galaxy Team, the human voices in the region are growing louder. Both the Diamond and Pearl Clans are kowtowing to Kamado. They’re starting to move toward assimilating into Jubilife Culture, what with Arezu moving into the village, their open approval of pokéballs, etc. And while Volo does use pokéballs as well (and gives you the hint to smack pokémon in the back with them for better captures), we also know that he does still have a good relationship with his own pokémon given that he’s able to evolve his Togepi all the way, which requires high friendship. More importantly though, Volo is interested in history and culture that was lost; maybe it isn’t just wanting to change the fact that colonizers ever came to take Hisui, but also wanting to bring back the cultural traditions that have already been lost to time, to make it so that the ancient Sinnoh people aren’t so ancient anymore. Maybe Volo’s motivations aren’t that he was sad once, but that he mourns for a culture, for a people who have been lost, and wants to bring that culture to life again, to reshape the world so that it was never lost in the first place. And while it’s not my place to say because I am not a member of any indigenous culture that has been stampeded over by imperialism, I feel that if an indigenous person saw a chance to rewrite history so that their culture wasn’t railroaded over by imperialism . . . they would be tempted to take that chance. And I think that it would be wrong to call them a villain for doing so.

Ultimately, I feel that this bit here is the final nail in the coffin for the imperialism apologia in this game’s story. Because Kamado, the very face of colonizing imperialism, is “redeemed” and seen as a “good guy” after he bows to the player for beating him in battle, claiming that he now sees the error of his ways and will listen to them (when really all he’s doing is admitting that he really cannot beat the player in battle, saying “might makes right,” and ultimately just being an ignorant, colonizing coward). But Volo, someone who in his final rant is stated to be one of the indigenous people of the land, is not redeemed, and instead leaves declaring that one day he will conquer Arceus and use it to reshape the world. The colonizer who should have been the villain is seen as a Good Guy After All, while the indigenous person who wanted to remake the world for vague reasons (because perhaps they didn’t want to even question the colonization happening?) is seen as the definite villain who teamed up with PokéSatan in an attempt to conquer PokéGod.

And I just have to say, I think that’s a really bad look.

[salsa-di-pomodoro]

HEY IS ANYONE INTERESTED IN A GOD TIER REUNION FIC I JUST READ?????? WARNING THERE IS A VERY ANGSTY PREMISE BUT ITS HANDLED IN A VERY FLUFFY WAY STARTING ALMOST AT THE BEGINNING

HERE IT IS!!!!!! SECOND CHAPTER COMES WHEN THE AUTHOR DECIDES. IF THE AUTHOR HAS A TUMBLR PLEASE HELP ME FIND THEM SO I CAN TAG THIS WONDERFUL PERSON

[the-scoreboard]

Ayo what the fuck. Kamado can go suck it I did nothing wrong why TF am I being yeeted outta the galaxy team. He’s a lil stuck up bish that’s what he is.

[dittolicous]

we need more Kamado bashing fics. like I get the dude was traumatized n shit but. fuck em. he was an asshat and his lil "apology" means jack considering only like 5 people saw it, while we basically get paraded out of town in disgrace. I'll forgive Kamado when he strips butt naked and begs my forgiveness in the middle of town. Fu Kamado all my homies hate Kamado.

[boiledhotdogwater]

Hiii!! Can I have a matchup for demon slayer and jjk please 🖤

She/her,bi.

Personality: I am very empathetic, always trying to keep the people around me happy (even if I'm not in the end) I hate disappointing people so I can over work myself sometimes. Mostly I am kind and polite, but a I get very sassy moments (I can also be very sarcastic). Im also kind of reserved when I first meet someone and it can take me awhile to show my fun, goofy, happy side to them Aquarius, infj I like reading books, writing, listening to music (mostly kpop). I also like to go exploring like in the forest or even abandoned places I also love cooking and baking (more so baking tbh) sometimes I stop in the middle of talking because I think I talk to much (I've been told many times that I do so I just try not to really talk in a way)i play with my hands a lot, I have a really high pitched (idk sorta cute?) sneeze, I can be very clumsy (I literally tripped on air once😂) when I do something scary my hands shaky after I've done the scary thing (if that makes any sense)

A/N: Homie I relate so hard to the clumsiness one time I broke my ankle (an embarrassing story for another day) and as I was trying to get down the stairs on crutches I fell all the way down and sprained my other ankle. Worst part? It was two weeks before high school graduation so I looked lame with my two ankle boots LMAO

For Jujutsu Kaisen I match you with…

Yuuji Itadori!

- You and Yuuji are similar with how empathetic you both are, which helps you two get along so well

- The two of you are both very fun and goofy (in a silly goofy mood lmao) with each other and have so many inside jokes that the other first years don’t get whatsoever

- He will definitely take you on walks in the forrest area surrounding the school and the two of you spend time enjoying the scenery while talking about your day

For Demon Slayer I match you with…

Tanjiro Kamado!

- Like Yuuji, he is also a very empathetic person and really admires that side of you

- Loves listening to you talk and absolutely does not mind if you start talking too fast or too much! He actually finds it very cute and endearing and thinks it shows how much you care about what you are talking about

- Holds your hand after something scary happens (like a demon attack if we are going with canon au) to stop your hands from shaking

[crypticallylies]

fuck commander kamado!!! all my homies hate commander kamado

[dearme-sincerelyou]

Gifting Stress and More Anime

Dear 2022, 

Okay I’m picking up from where I left on my last post. 

While I was scrolling through the TikToks Mikey sent me, he asked if I wanted to watch One Piece. Since I absolutely refuse to watch it by myself and the only reason I’ll watch it in the first place is because it’s his favourite anime. So we hopped onto discord...we literally did not start watching until about two hours later. 

We got a little sidetracked because he started talking about work. Somewhere along the line he mentioned secret Santa for his work place. Therefore, turning the conversation to the secret Santa between our group of friends. It ain’t even a secret for me because I helped 75% of the group choose the gifts for their secret Santa’s. The other 25% is me and obviously my secret Santa. So I knew who has me--Mikey has me LMAO. This is probably one of the worst situations for me bruh. I genuinely did not want to know anything for this secret Santa but NO. Now I know who everyone else AND they took all my ideas for future birthday presents. I should’ve just left them to figure it out for themselves lol. Damn I love giving gifts but now I’m panicking! You know what I’m taking it as I gave everyone their gifts. All those secret Santa gifts came from ME! Okay I’m kidding but if you really think about it 😗. Yeah but we haven’t been able to exchange presents yet because of COVID restrictions. It ‘s going to be secret Valentines at this point. Also I’m STRESSED because of the upcoming birthdays. WHY IS HALF OF OUR FRIEND GROUP BORN IN JANUARY. WHY DID ALL THEIR PARENTS CHOOSE  TO GET LAID IN APRIL!!! 

As a group we decided that we’ll get individual gifts if the person chooses to throw a party and if they don’t then we get them a group gift. 

I don’t think James is getting a gift from the group since I don’t like him anymore.

(I was the one that brought him into the group so technically the group are my friends and not his so they’re technically obligated to get him a gift)

I’m still his friend and I’m just going to make him a painting of his favourite anime character aka Tanjiro Kamado (he did say he wanted more decorations for his wall.

We’re getting Mikey a pair of shoes (don’t know which ones yet but adidas has a sale) since I jokingly asked if he wanted shoes too while we were talking. 

He actually said ‘YES please actually get me shoes! When we got the shoes for Kyle’s birthday I was like damn I wish someone would get me a pair because I actually need them’ or something along those lines lol.

Mikey also asked if we didn’t go over budget with the shoes if we could throw in something anime related in there too and I was like sure.

Oh don’t think of him as greedy or anything because this is justifiable? Like he’s done so much for us especially for the girls (unlike Kyle someone) and he’s one of the nicest people you could ever know. You literally can’t hate the guy

Rose’s present has me stressing the most

I got her for secret Santa and I already got her so many presents.

The strict COVID restrictions might lift before her birthday and she already has a party planned (don’t worry we’re not being totally irresponsible; it’s 11 people at a big ass rented skating rink) SO I MIGHT HAVE TO GET HER A GIFT OF MY OWN S T R E S S

I don’t know how it got to the point of MIkey and I talking about what we’re trying out for the new year. I meant to keep this blog a complete secret but after him saying that I was only person to know what he was doing I just exposed this. However, he does not know the name of this blog so I can continue to shit talk him if I choose to. Mikey just knows this exists and that’s all. The other reason I chose to tell him was because he’s good at keeping secrets. Mikey is the ultimate homie. 

After going off topic a few more times, we finally got to watching One Piece. We talked a little too much so he left at around 6 am. I can’t believe I got ✨emotional damage✨ from a dog. How dare he put me through that SMH. In my opinion I have no opinions on One Piece. It’s just chill. To be fair we only got until episode 10. 

Since Mikey left, I finished watching Kiss Him, Not Me. The ending made my jaw drop because of the sheer audacity. I should’ve expected it because it’s the literal joke of the show but I DO NOT ACCEPT IT. Now I’m gonna have to read the manga to be satisfied. I still recommend to watch it because I found it absolutely hilarious! I embarrassingly laughed out loud for most of my time watching it. 

I think I’m going to start watching either “Brothers Conflict” or “The Devil Is A Part-Timer.” I’m going to watch two episodes or so before going to sleep at 12 pm again. So I might as well post this now. I can always edit it later anyways. 

Edit: I watched the first minute or Brothers Conflict and it already got too weird for me. I gotta read descriptions more carefully yikes.

I really need to fix my sleep schedule. I am the definition of a vampire right now, I haven’t seen sunlight in almost a week.

Sincerely, Me

01.06.2022