#people who hate pokémon bw or love it so much they hate it come tell me some criticisms you have

[rockman-x]

i really wonder if my opinions on pokémon bw aren't too rose tinted because i really love that game

[nagichi-boop]

Ways me & Submas are similar

Guys I’m not sorry, I gotta self indulge (and answer the question for myself of which twin I relate to more). Also I should note that while I am going to try and stick strictly to canon facts about Submas, some of these will somewhat veer into headcanon territory.

I will include links at the end to a couple of posts by someone who talks in detail about Ingo and Emmet’s personality in the context of them being autistic. This is by no means me suggesting I self dx (tho if you’re a self dxer reading it you’re totally seen and valid!), it’s just that their post includes a lot of references around their personality that I touch on in this post. So if you’re not sure what I’m talking about when I mention an aspect of Submas in a specific piece of media, chances are these posts will include them.

Spoilers for PLA ahead

(Also a few of the points are mildly venty)

Ingo

1. Flat facial expressions

This is mostly covered in Pokémon Masters and the Adventures manga, but Ingo isn’t the best at expressing himself facially. In Pokémas he expresses to the player that he has been told he looks very stern and is shocked when the player tells him that they have never seen him smile.

If I’m deep in thought, I’ll often get someone ask if I’m okay, I guess because I look sad when I’m not rly trying to mask. I also have a specific memory of sitting with my brothers for a picture and trying my best to smile, but my mum told me to smile anyways. I told her I was and one of my brothers told me I needed to stop being depressing. It wasn’t that I was sad (although I don’t particularly like being in photos), it’s just that I can’t really smile on command. I have to be genuinely happy to smile or else I have very awkward expression.

Also this is a side point, but I am bad at showing my emotions I think? For example, if you give me a gift, I have to strain myself to feign excitement. I will usually try and over express in my voice because I’m aware my face probably doesn’t really scream gratitude. I’m not sure if this is more tied to my depression though as it can take quite a bit to get me excited, though I did tear up from happiness when I got my Pokémon Time Sneasel plush so I have no idea. (Please look at pictures of the plush btw, it’s cute as hell- )

2. Loud when excited

Again, Pokémas is the main source of showing this, but when Ingo is excited, he yells “Braavo! Excellent!” very loudly.

Not really much to elaborate on here, but I often get told by my mum to be quiet cuz when I’m excitable (particularly if I’m talking about something that interests me), I start getting loud without realising it.

3. Talk too much about my interests

This is something that both twins share, but Ingo talks a lot about trains, especially when you consider him in Pokémas. I know I keep going back to that game but man does it give us a lot of cool tidbits about the twins.

I struggle a lot with small talk (I’ll touch on this later) but if you ask me a question about something I love and I feel comfortable that you won’t judge me, I will absolutely talk for a long time about such thing. This doesn’t happen much in real life since I hide most of my interests, but as a kid I know I annoyed myself friends because I would often talk about things I liked that they honestly didn’t care or ask about. In a way I’m jealous of Ingo and Emmet because they have each other to talk to about their interests and so aren’t ashamed of it. As for me, I have been unintentionally conditioned by those around me to believe that talking about what I like will make people hate me, so I don’t often get to pop off unless it’s online. Heck, this post is arguably me popping off about an interest.

4. Expressive language to compensate

Unlike Emmet who speaks stiffly (again, coming back to this later), Ingo speaks very formally when he speaks. It’s more apparent in the Japanese translations, but even in the English versions of the BW games, Ingo speaks in much longer sentences and with a more formal tone compared to his brother.

I don’t tend to speak that way because often times in too anxious to go “off script” (another thing I’ll elaborate later), but in terms of written speech, I tend to write a lot more formally in order to give the appearance of maturity. This doesn’t just apply to writing to places like the doctors but also just people in real life. Especially if I’m not comfortable with them, I will often speak in a very “retail person” esc manner - that is to say I try to be friendly and palatable while distancing myself personally in order to seem like a nice person. It’s not that I would say I’m a jerk, it’s just that I’m a lot more goofy and dorky when I don’t put effort into what I’m saying.

5. Speaking in references and puns

This is again something both twins do, but Ingo uses train puns in his everyday vocabulary. This is something that is true across all pieces of media and it just shows how much Ingo (and Emmet) loves trains.

I don’t make train puns, but I definitely do pick up quotes and mannerisms from fictional characters. At school I once said “I’m going to need some more popcorn” as a reference to MLP and to my surprise someone actually picked up on it. I can’t really think of any recent examples of using references in real life, but online I like to try and incorporate things from sources I like. I have started to say “verrry” in messages online and I’m also trialling “cool cool cool”, as a reference to the tv show Community. (If any irl examples come to mind, I’ll edit this section, but I don’t really speak to many people irl and when I do, I try to mask my personality as mentioned earlier.)

Emmet

1. Monotonous speech

I think it’s a bit easier to tell from Emmet’s English lines in Pokémas, but unlike Ingo who is very excitable and expressive in his voice, Emmet seems a lot more subdued. It’s not that he isn’t excited - in fact his facial expressions and body language scream the opposite - but he is a bit more monotonous when he speaks. And though it’s a bit reaching into headcanon territory, it seems possible that Emmet likely tries to “tone down” his excitement so to speak, which may also explain why he isn’t always vocally expressive. (Here’s his Pokémas English voice lines btw.)

If I’m not deliberately putting effort into sounding expressive, I tend to sound quite flat in the way that I speak. It probably doesn’t help much either that I have a rather deep voice. It’s not something I really care about, but when I did a stream a few weeks back on Discord, I did ask later in the stream whether I sounded more feminine or masculine and they said my voice could be interpreted as somewhat neutral. I guess that doesn’t rly mean monotonous, but I definitely sound more “girly” and expressive when I am making an effort to seem social and friendly as opposed to just being myself.

2. Social scripts

In the main series games, Emmet has a very formulated way of speaking. He even says himself that what he says and does doesn’t change, most likely because he scripts what he wants to say so that he is equipped for social situations.

I social script a lot. I often play out situations in my head and try to think of what to say in a variety of different outcomes. And when I speak on the phone, even for very short and simple calls, I often write out a script so that I know what to say as I get very stressed about saying the wrong thing. Even when I don’t expressly have a written script, I tend to repeat certain set phrases in situations. At work, I’d always greet customers with a “hiya”. I did a few times try to change it to “good morning” or “hello”, but I would often chicken out as it felt uncomfortable somehow to switch my greeting. Also, just the other day on the phone, when the doctor was telling me something I kept saying “thank you, that would be really helpful” every time she said what she was going to do to help me. I was aware I was repeating myself, but I couldn’t think of another way to express what I wanted to say.

3. Stimming is verrry fun!!

This is one of those instances where I veer a little into headcanon territory, but a few canon things that Emmet does can be interpreted as stimming. One example is how he walks in the manga. He swings his arms widely as he walks, which is most likely a stim. Him saying “verrry” could also be a sort of verbal stim or tic as well. And although the pointing pose he does with his either is actually a point and call method that train conductors use, some people have pointed out it’s actually quite a fun way to stim.

I don’t really walk like that - in fact my way of walking usually involves me either holding onto my bag straps, fiddling with my hands or doing the good all Raptor Hands ™ because holding my hands by my side feels unnatural to me. But I do stim in other ways! Much like the fandom interpretation of Emmet, I often flap my hands when I am excited, although usually when I notice myself doing it I stop myself. (I’ve had this stim for as long as I can remember, but I never knew what it was and part of me just thought it was silly, so I am now in the habit of stopping myself when I notice I’m flapping my hands.) I also clench my fists and shake them if I’m watching something intense and getting excitable over it. Then there’s other things like fidgeting with my hands, singing, doing a little dance, etc.

4. Losing a brother

I should probably immediately clarify that my brother is alive and well! What I’m speaking of is a metaphorical loss. While we don’t know what Emmet is going through as we haven’t seen anything canon about how he’s coping, how long Ingo has been missing from his life, whether he knows where Ingo is, etc, there’s a lot we can learn about Emmet from other sources. We know from multiple official sources that Emmet looks up to his brother a lot. He constantly praises his brother.

While I actually have two older brothers in real life, I remember being closest to my older brother, so this point is about him. He was the one who looked out for me, who would help me when I was stressed. I looked up to him so much and loved him to bits. But then when he moved out and got married, it almost felt as if he left the family. My family and I rarely get to see him and he doesn’t make much of an effort to reach out to me, either. I remember distinctly looking up at him once and my brain didn’t register his face as familial anymore. It feels like he is an acquaintance now, which is probably reflected a lot in how I talk to him. It’s formal and scripted, much like how I talk to people I’m unfamiliar with. Logically I know he’s my brother, but with my lack of object permanence I have for people and the fact I rarely interact with him anymore, it feels like he’s not my brother anymore. For those who have watched MLP (or even those that haven’t), an appropriate way to sum up how I feel is something Twilight said; “I could have gained a sister, but instead I just lost a brother.”

- x -

Well that was a lot longer than I expected oops. That’s what happens when I’m allowed to pop off about Submas and myself I suppose! Hopefully this was at least interesting to read? But let’s be honest, this is mostly self indulgence to compare myself to and project my own personality onto this beautiful dorks.

Also, I apologise for ending it on a really depressing note, so if you need a pick me up, please read the amazing posts below! It’s a really good analysis of the autistic traits that the twins exhibit and a lot of the points are things I mentioned/referenced in this post.

Links for the autistic Submas analysis posts:

Emmet

Ingo (and Emmet)

[danwhobrowses]

A Personal Rant before Sword and Shield comes out

I’ve sat idly by for months, tried to weather a few negative responses but given that it’s now 6 days from release and I’m hearing that devs are getting literal death threats I’m going to put my foot down

If you’re already shitting on a game that hasn’t been released yet, you are all juvenile bitches, and I’m about to tell you why.

Before we begin, I’m not saying that you’re not allowed to dislike a game, that happens, but usually it happens after you play a game, not before.

You are viewing this game through a keyhole and judging the room and what you’re seeing is not worthy of this much hate. Let’s start with the big one Dexit: Not as Big as You Think Having No National Dex is of course not ideal, but it doesn’t ruin the game. Let’s Go has no National Dex, all it had was Alola forms and nobody whinged about it. Ruby and Sapphire didn’t have a National Dex until FRLG, and nobody whinged about it. Sun and Moon and Ultra Sun and Moon do not have a National Dex And Nobody Whinged About It Do you know why? Because it’s not actually a big deal. People who complain about it are bandwagoning because ‘Dexit’ is a meme, its name literally parodies an event in current Britain that many people don’t actually want to happen.  Now currently, the anger of Dexit is that Bulbasaur and Squirtle are not in it, which frankly is hilarious because the last wave of bitching was ‘Kanto mons are getting all the new stuff’. You wanna know how many main series versions Bulbasaur and Squirtle have not been in? Seven, only way to get them is trade and event. The other complaint is that there’s ‘only 400′ Pokémon. Remember those days where people were fine with 150? 400 is huge, in fact it’s 3 less than USUM and it’s not accounting for the Gigantamax forms Don’t let headlines fool you either, Sun and Moon had 302 Pokémon, it’s far from the ‘lowest dex number since 2003′. Do your own research with these things. Kalos’ regional dex was 151, BW2 was 300, BW 153, Sinnoh 210, RSE has 386 and GSC had 252 Don’t get me wrong, it smarts that some Pokémon isn’t there, but it’s not a dealbreaker, like let’s be honest here. For a good year and a half all your pokémon are gonna do is sit in an unused cartridge or a PC box, you’re literally whining about the fact that you can’t move your perfect IV Pokémon from one box to another. You could simply just let them stay in Let’s Go or USUM, you don’t have to use Bank or Home on continued subscription for that, so your complaints are only set on the foundation that you feel like you have to continually pay to not transfer your Pokémon, Finally, people act like these Pokémon are deleted forever, they’re not, this is for spacing to make sure this game doesn’t break down from the sheer mass of models and textures it has to maintain in a massive open world space, the local and online camping and battles. Just use the Pokémon that are there! There’s new Pokémon don’t you wanna try those? You can also look at FRLG or Emerald and consider that maybe more Pokémon will get patched in once the game proves to be stable. I don’t think you’ve noticed, but the Nintendo Switch isn’t as powerful as the other consoles out there, sometimes it runs like shit. Believe me on that one, Switch is still in a very buggy development phase. Let’s Go was kept small to test it’s capability and Sword and Shield can’t just fly in and give you all 1000 Pokémon just so one of the ones you want can be in there

You have to be much less obtuse with this, I mean this was a long time coming. You’re gonna have to live with the fact that not every Pokémon ever can be supported on one game alone. Disk, Download, Cartridge and Patch Sizes have limits in Compliance, you can’t just throw everything at it. Waah, the New Pokémon Don’t Look Good They do, you’re being petty. It happens every version, the people dislike the starter evolutions or just one in particular. Remember all the Oshawott hate? This all comes and goes because people have simply gone on the first instinct that ‘new and different is scary and should be shunned’ You’re that Simpsons meme when young Homer accuses Grandpa of not being ‘with it’ I won’t spoil to those who haven’t seen it, but I like the new starters, and some of the new Pokémon will need some growing but not every Pokémon looks good at first glance. If Mr Mime, Hypno or Gastly came out nowadays they’d be crapped on so much for lacking creativity or for looking weird. Look at Drampa as well, thing looks like Falkar from The Neverending Story, when I first saw it I thought it look weird but now I like it. You should offer these things time And actually fall back on past experience, you’re reacting like this isn’t the same thing that happens every version; the dex gets leaked, people whine about the evolutions, people get over it and accept that they overreacted. hIgH QuAlItY aNiMaTiOnS I’ve seen that video, 2 clips and you judge a whole game how classy of you? If you don’t see improvement you’re blind. You can’t shit on a game for keeping the battle animations, you can’t expect every Pokémon to move their own unique way to the exact position of the body part the opponent needs to get hit by, that’s just unrealistic. You’re also failing to equate to the new moves and all the new movesets. You have to ensure that each Pokémon is capable of calling this animation as well. The second clip in that video was Hop and Hau having the same rigging, and once again, that’s not abnormal. Rigging is not easy either, do it wrong and it sticks and deforms texture. There’s nothing wrong with Hop having one animation that matches Hau’s, you’ll probably find that many models actually have similar rigging as previous games. Because it’s not that big of a deal and it saves money, as an example look at Disney they copied hand-drawn motion and stuck a different character on them, Robin Hood’s Little John dances just like (animated, for those too young to know otherwise) Jungle Book’s Baloo The thing you’re also ignoring from that clip is the graphical improvement of Hop compared to Hau, Hau looks like a balloon with a smiley face but Hop’s face has depth and his mouth actually moves like a normal person, his clothes have far more contrast and complexity, but no just zero in on one fighting animation and one rigging that’ll surely be worth abusing a game that’s not even out... B-But Charizard I’ve already explained this before but Charizard is Leon’s main, it’s obviously going to have a Gigantamax, ergo it’s also going to be in the Dex. Does Charizard get a lot? Yes, but the reason is because Charizard is popular. One of the rarest cards is a Charizard Hologram Card, Charizard is one of the first version mascots, it is one of the most recognized Pokémon Ash has in the anime Reality of the matter is that like Pikachu, Charizard is a recognized Pokémon for all ages, it appeals to a demographic that’s not playing In Layman’s Terms: that part is not for you A reality you really need to face. Pokémon is a game for all ages, so elements of the game are not always going to be tailored to your age range. The gimmick of Dynamax and Gigantamax is for merch sales and young children because it’s got an audience there, you can’t expect the Biggest Entertainment Brand in the World to simply shut out a large fraction of its demographic just to appeal 100% to you And again, it’s not a big deal, so there’s a Charizard there, just save a Stone Edge and be done with it, if you hate Charizard so much this’ll be catharsis, but in actuality you’re complaining because it’s something to complain about Kanto are getting Everything That went down like a lead balloon didn’t it? Reminder that the first Gigantamax forms were Galar Pokémon, so you can’t really say that anymore. There are Galar forms from non-Gen I Pokémon too I assure you, but the reason Kanto gets a lot of them is because Kanto is the oldest. Let’s not pretend that other gens don’t get love either Or should I remind you of Mega Ampharos, Scizor, Heracross, Houndoom, Tyranitar, Blaziken, Gardevoir, Gallade, Mawile, Aggron, Medicham, Manectric, Banette, Absol, Garchomp, Lucario, Abomasnow, Steelix, Sceptile, Marshtomp, Sableye, Sharpedo, Camerupt, Altaria, Glalie, Salamence, Metagross, Latias, Latios, Rayquaza, Lopunny, Audino and Diancie? It’s true that the Johto starters could use something, but I don’t think they’re being purposefully ignored, perhaps the right design hasn’t come along. Rather it be done right than poorly wouldn’t you agree? The Devs Should’ve Done <Insert Thing Here> People who say this kinda stuff have no idea how a game is made. I have a First Class Bachelor’s degree in Computer Gaming and Animation Technology and I can tell you that none of the stuff you want them to do is easy. Even getting grass right is a complete hassle. You want small insights you should watch Corridor Crew react to Good and Bad VFX, they tell you about the mechanics of CGI a few times on those vids. This is what annoys me with the prior swipe at the Battle animations and rigging, even with 2 years this is a heavily massive workload and Game Freak have only recently expanded the team that work on Pokémon which makes communication much more widespread and difficult to manage, likewise they are working on other games too they are not just Pokémon, currently their next IP is why Toby Fox was able to do a bit of music for Pokémon, because he’s collaborating with them on another game. The work doesn’t stop, most of these people are overworked and still doing overtime, they bring out a good product and all it gets is ‘but it should have this’, and unless it’s a huge part of the game that’s needed to function then that’s really disrespectful Before you start critiquing on what the people making this game ‘should’ve done’ perhaps you should try to make a game yourself, because it is not easy even for pros, I call back to Toby Fox because creating Undertale took 32 Months to create, that’s 2 years and 8 months for those slow with math, it also took 3 years before it could be ported to Switch because the Engine couldn’t support the platform, Pokémon has less time to do that, greater graphical and animation quality to achieve and more characters to battle, attacks to animate and more songs to compose. Conclusion: You’re All Just Bitter I’ve already seen it happen recently but this group of people senselessly bashing something because of ridiculous demands, expectations or arguments based on a lack of understanding all combine into something I’m simply calling the ‘Bitterness Fandom’. It’s people hating for the sake of hating and trying to bring something down just because it’s been a popular force for so long, and it’s not just Pokémon that’s getting it It’s already been happening to Star Wars. The Last Jedi and Solo were great films but the Bitterness sank its fangs in and act like neither are as good as the original trilogy (like killing Snoke without knowing anything about him and Phasma before she could do anything is any different to killing Sidious and Boba Fett in Jedi or Maul in Phantom Menace and Grievous in Revenge of the Sith), a lack of awareness to reality and the desire to complain for the sake of complaining continues to infect Star Wars. We even have a thing called ‘Star Wars Fatigue’ Star Wars can’t release a film every year because of ‘Fatigue’ but Marvel can release 5 MCU films a year and nobody bats an eye. Those frustrations aside, I refuse to let the Bitterness sink in without me calling them out, because you are not Pokémon Fans. If you were you’d know that having no National Dex isn’t new, you’d know that the graphics have improved and leaks of the game happen every time, you’d know why Charizard is popular and that some features are not intended to be targeted at you Shock and Horror to the heavens above but games can’t do everything And if you’re that naive to think so then you’re clearly not doing your homework So let’s throw out an absolutely WILD suggestion shall we? Let’s decide our opinion on a game After playing it? Because shitting on something you don’t even have hands-on experience with it is a fragile pedestal to put yourself on. If we all think it’s bad then, so be it, but I sincerely doubt that is the case When my copy of Pokémon Sword gets delivered to my house I am going to enjoy it because I will not let petty and incorrect statements sway my feelings and I swear to Arceus if you think the Bitterness will bring down Pokémon that easily then you did not see the queue to the London Poké Center that had been amassing since midnight and was forced to stop taking more people when the doors opened What should matter is how you enjoy the game, play it before you judge it And honestly, don’t send death threats, why we need to tell you that is beyond me, the ones who made these games are people who have worked their asses off day in and day out to provide something you aren’t even going to play because one Pokémon isn’t in it, the irony is not lost on me when I say this but deep into the very bottom of my heart: Grow Up. If you don’t like the game, don’t play it, don’t bother people about it, we don’t need your shit here Enjoy the Game People