Since I have other fics in progress, I feel like this is a good time to finally talk about the other other version of WTST that I mentioned here.
There is no difference to what Emmet goes through in Hisui, but what goes on with Ingo is. Uh. Worse than in the main fic.
Okay, first, to prevent confusion:
The Future Will Be Special, the Past Was Not (named after the extra stage theme, "Tomorrow Will Be Special, Yesterday Was Not," from Touhou 10: Mountain of Faith) is the companion fic to the main, original Welcome to Sinnoh's Temple fic; it has not been completed yet, unfortunately, but it essentially tells Ingo's side of the story, much in the same way that WTST tells Emmet's side of the story.
A Promise Broken Is a Lie Told is the version of things alluded to in the above post, where Ingo handles Emmet's disappearance... very badly. This is the version of things that I'm talking about in this post.
Fic talk below the cut -- be warned of themes such as self-blame, self-hatred, bad coping mechanisms, and self-isolation. Please let me know if I should tag anything else. Thank you.
Little changed about the incident -- Emmet's disappearance -- itself; it was really more of a hypothetical scenario where Ingo did not handle his grief well at all, taking his twin's disappearance worse than in the main scheme of things, and it leads to him making some very bad choices.
Bad choices include:
Taking all of the blame for Emmet's disappearance upon himself, even though there is really nobody to blame and it was, as far as anyone can tell, a freak accident. However, in the wake of tragedy, it is human nature to want to pin the event on somebody -- Ingo just happened to pin that blame on himself.
Isolating himself from his family. In the original companion fic, his family -- Drayden, Iris, and Elesa -- is a huge well of support for him. They still are in this version of things, but he spirals just a bit too far and, in his desperation to remove himself and his problems from them so as to not be a burden, he keeps them at arms' length, denying himself their support.
Applying value to himself based on things beyond his control. When he and Emmet were little, they lost their parents, and in an effort to comfort both Emmet and himself, Ingo promised that they would always be there for each other. Naturally, that was derailed, and even though it was a mutually-kept promise -- Emmet had insisted that it wasn't fair for Ingo to be the only one upholding it and that it was his promise, too -- he views himself as the one at fault.
As a direct result of the above point, Ingo considers himself a failure because he couldn't keep Emmet close -- whether something stole Emmet away or Emmet left of his own accord, it isn't 100% certain, but what matters is that he's gone.
Coping by "replacing" Emmet with something else to be protected. A way to prove that he does still have value in that he can keep something close to him, or that he's competent in being able to protect something. This is also a way for him to feel somewhat in control.
The replacement feeds into the points about denying himself familial support and keeping himself away from loved ones so as to not be a "burden." How? The last point:
"Proving" himself -- to himself -- by taking the title of Champion And chooses to remain in the Pokemon League, at the end of Victory Road, as much as possible, making it harder for anyone to get to him in the first place.
Surprise, Champion Ingo AU! He gets a coat.
As an aside, to pursue the Champion title, he resigned from Gear Station, thereby also cutting himself off from the Depot Agents -- also known as his family away from home because they are all fantastic beans who care for each other and very much, like a good little healthy work unit.
Speaking of healthy things, Bad Decision number... 6? 7? Number x:
Neglects himself in favor of looking for Emmet in his free time. Of course. He doesn't give himself any time to relax. This worries literally everyone he comes across, because it shows. In multiple ways. He does not look in a good way, even if he's all prim and proper for a challenger. Everyone can tell. Everyone.
He leaves Gear Station about six months after Emmet disappears, traumatizes the Elite Four and Alder, and becomes Unova's Champion. And then proceeds to near-murder every challenger who reaches him.
Politely, of course.
He may be drowning in self-blame that's bleeding into hatred and waging his self-worth on how well he can defend his title, but he's still polite!
Anyway, that's the basis of the fic. It's really an excuse for me to be mean to Ingo, much like how Welcome to Sinnoh's Temple was -- and still is -- and excuse for me to be mean to Emmet.
There is a happy ending. And therapy. Lots and lots of therapy.
Thanks for muddling through this! It's a bit nerve-wracking to post, like Pandemonic Planet, because apparently I am extremely self-conscious about posting self-indulgent things. And frankly, this particular flavor of WTST isn't fundamentally super different -- it's just hypothetical.
But also the urge to justify my hypotheticals is strong, and I... don't have much of a justification for this beyond "hehehe sad train man go brrrrrrrrrr." Sorry.
This is all still in progress, of course, cooking on the back burner behind all my other fics, but some things are subject to change in the future. Things will probably be added or removed as the idea develops.
Have a good day! And please take care of yourselves! <3
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"Penelope should have chosen Debling!"
My sister in Christ. . .he literally dumped her???
Like just before Colin Bridgerton was on his knees after outrunning her carriage to profess how he can't stop thinking about her in his love me, choose me, I'm yours speech, Debling did the Regency equivalent of calling her a floozy who would undoubtedly cheat on him when he abandoned her for several years to chase his passions (because she would never be one of said passions since she asked outright if he could ever come to care for her and he went 'hmmmm seems unlikely! good thing you have solitary hobbies to occupy you instead!') when he has been given 0 evidence of such other than realizing she liked to look out the window because she had a crush on the boy across the street. I was ready to challenge that man to a duel for Pen's honor
His feelings for her were middling at best, I mean Christ on a Pogostick, after he asked her mum for permission to propose he isn't even happy when he opens the door and Pen is there? She's looking like a snack- nay, a whole ass MEAL, and he can't even smile? He just nods at her and dips the fuck out? You don't think it would kill Penelope to know that both her sisters have husbands who absolutely adore them and she's out here with an absent dude who likely won't even write to her?
Portia's 'Love is make believe!' speech is so transparently full of shit when you realize that we've got Dankworth who is so obsessed with Prudence that he makes heart eyes at her every waking moment and considers her his little bonbon and Albion who loves Phillipa so much that he was waiting for her to consent to sex (not realizing she didn't know what it was) for two entire years because he would never pressure her and so he was content with finishing in his pants when he kissed her to make sure she was comfortable. And you want Penelope to settle for a life of loneliness? When Colin is so besotted with her that he dreams of her and breaks every societal expectation in the book as a notorious People Pleaser to run after her and cannot even wait for the morning after being intimate with her to introduce her as his wife to his family in the middle of the night? You want her to turn down Mr "When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible" Bridgerton? For LORD PENGUIN?
Be so serious right now
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