lol icon is relevant
Jul. 19th, 2009 10:12 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shamanicshayminGoddammit. I think Alice/Darkrai is becoming the Pokemon equivalent of Bowser/Peach.
Like Bowser/Peach, it's got potential for interesting fic if the author's willing to flesh it out. But it's usually tripe that pisses me off. Why? The fics either neglect clearly important characters or bash them.
I think I'm noticing a theme in ships I can't stand. Stuff that can be cute when done right but more than often makes me want to tear my hair out. Let's compare, shall we?
Put-On-A-Bus (Or: Character A/Factoid A doesn't exist despite being clearly important to the plot and characters)
Bowser/Peach: Peach thinks Bowser is a monster. But shh. Don't tell the shippers that, they're plugging their ears and paying attention only to Count Bleck's arranged marriage for them. They don't want to work around that understandable prejudice, it's too hard and requires effort before smooches!
Jeff/Paula (I don't really hate this ship and I've seen way better stuff for them than the other two, but it usually makes me uncomfortable nonetheless so in it goes): Tony? Who the hell is Tony? Nono, Jeff never had a gay roommate, he lived all by himself. He could totally care less and wants to get away from his annoying psychotic stalker as fast as possible, despite him admitting Tony had a "heart of gold" and was frantic to save the only damn person (before the Chosen 4) he was close enough to be "best friends forever" from Stonehenge.
Poo? Ugh, no, he's a bald monk with a topknot who's totally asexual anyway. (Which may be true to a degree, but it certainly doesn't stop his fangirls from trying!) With your looks and a name like that, no way you're gonna get it on with anyone, Jose.
Darkrai/Alice: Tonio never happened. Boring nerd with ugly hair and clothes, despite discovering 2/3s of everything that was exciting in the film. (I mean, I can understand ignoring the Tonio/Alice aspect of it since their relationship was forced and it can easily remain platonic... they weren't even canon in the manga adapt! But I don't think a lot of you guys have read the manga, and just dropping Tonio off the face of the earth with no explanation as to why Alice doesn't care anymore is inexcusable)
Alicia? Oh, she was only Alice's grandma. That's it. Alicia's lifetime friendship with Darkrai and his promise to protect her and her descendants? Doesn't exist. It was ALL with Alice, and it's OMG TRUE EVERLASTING LOVE despite them being next to each other for oh, fifteen minutes. Darkrai's only word to Alice? "Alicia." Ouch. I dunno about you, but the whole Alicia & Darkrai thing is RIGHT THERE RIGHT THERE yet fandom seems content with stuffing it all in a box and cooing how perfect Aegisshipping is. YOU CAN'T HAVE AEGISSHIPPING WITHOUT ALICIA. hejskghwrjkghdf
Die-For-Our-Ship (Or: lulz you suck you're in the way of our OTP)
Bowser/Peach: Canon*Mario: Bubbly, sweet and heroic. Even if the princess is in another castle, he comes to save Toad anyway.
Fanfic*Mario: Ugh, what a fat jealous pig! He saves Peach for the fame and promise of free cake. Peach yearns to escape that glutton and lets herself be "kidnapped" by her true love, Bowser!
Luckily, Earthbound fandom is better and is relatively light on bashing. But there are still stereotypes...
Jeff/Paula: Ness & Paula in Canon: Jeff offering to fix their appliances when they get hitched is merely an assumption. Ness and Paula have a platonic relationship and are best friends, and it's up to the player to interpret if they are canon or not.
Ness & Paula in Fanfic: Dude they are together and Paula loves Ness, no questions about it or I'll mash your head in, you heathen! If we're bringing Jeff to the mix, Paula either has to run crying in his arms after being rejected by Ness, or there needs to be a melodramatic triangle where it brings out the worst qualities of both jealous boys while Paula remains oblivious to it all. Ness may or may not be a cocky jerk while Jeff is the pitable underdog we have our sympathies for. Oh, and he bears a heavy grudge against Ness and may try to out him. Oh noes!
Darkrai/Alice: Canon*Alberto: Cocky and arrogant, but lets up at the truth. When he realizes Darkrai is innocent, he stops persecuting him. In the manga adapt, he admits out loud that Darkrai was trying to save Alamos. In the movie, he even tried chasing Alice and using his Lickilicky to catch her from the bridge, implying that he really did like her for more than just adding to his status.
Fanfic*Alberto: Cocky and arrogant, and totally Freddy Kreuger for Darkrai! It's all he ever thinks about: revenge on Darkrai and selfishly sweeping Alice away despite her protests. He's determined to have the entire town hunt Darkrai down, turning everyone against him and making Darkrai angst and hack his wrists about being misunderstood. ONLY ALICIA EVER LOVED HIM, AND ALICE TOO. For some reason, Alberto is capable of shooting Darkrai with a gun AND raping Alicia despite her living years before he was even born. Alberto is evil. Eeeeeeeeeeevil. THE REAL MONSTER, UNLIKE DARKRAI WITH A WOOBIE HEART OF GOLD.
Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!
So, what brought this up? Puri was reading a few drabbles someone posted, and they were actually pretty good, particularly a Darkrai/Shaymin piece. Then Puri got to the Darkrai/Alice drabble. The writing is still good. The author has ton of potential. So far, so good. Let's see...
Darkrai floated out, and sat next to her, looking strangely at her. She looked a bit distraught, like something had recently troubled her. “Does something worry you, Alice?” She sighed.
“I...you know how I liked Tonio?” She said. Darkrai nodded. Alice sighed.
“I...I was going to ask him to marry me...and...” She bit her lip. “I...the Baron was in his house, and...” Darkrai nodded, knowing exactly what she meant.
“They were doing human things.” He said bluntly. Surprisingly, Alice began laughing. “Yeah, I guess that’s one way of putting it, eh?” Darkrai stared at her as she smiled and continued to laugh.
*insert Puri's Awesome Face here* Still, I can't help but be concerned. I know Alice would be devastated and heartbroken, and Tonio's reaction would be that he was concerned and dress up and try to explain. He would NOT want to continue having sex at this point, prolly get angry and avoid the Baron while giving him the silent treatment, maybe even get in an argument with him. He'd definitely try to apologize to Alice and not just ignore her and continue what he was doing while she's in pain. :( That would be just... cruel. And definitely OOC for a sweet guy like Tonio. :(
Why am I worried about that implication? 'Cause from then on, the author's drabbles start getting preachy:
“Do...do Pokemon ever love humans?” She asked abruptly. Darkrai stopped, and stared at her for a long, slow minute.
“Alice...Alice...I don’t know.” She looked down.
“Tonio said it was wrong...but I don’t think it is!” She burst out, standing up and clenching her fists.
...Okay. Where the hell did that come from? I can see Alberto being squeamish about Human/Pokemon relationships(probably because of his guilt for constantly blushing and heating up while trying to catch Darkrai), but Tonio? He isn't one to be vocal about relationships, but bring it up and he'll likely to ruminate and study for a while. Maybe the subject might make him a little uncomfortable, but I imagine he's a little nervous how close he is with Alice too. Tonio is unsure about these things. It wouldn't be like him to have a definitive answer, especially if it's for a question relating to sexuality.
It's... I dunno. I feel like this author is villainizing Tonio for the sake of Aegisshipping, and I don't like it one bit. :/
Perpetrator in question: This fic.
Right. Just needed to vent. I'm fine and dandy with friendship *see icon*, but unless you're a really good writer and I trust you, I'll likely to get hives and flare up if it's romantic. D:
Like Bowser/Peach, it's got potential for interesting fic if the author's willing to flesh it out. But it's usually tripe that pisses me off. Why? The fics either neglect clearly important characters or bash them.
I think I'm noticing a theme in ships I can't stand. Stuff that can be cute when done right but more than often makes me want to tear my hair out. Let's compare, shall we?
Put-On-A-Bus (Or: Character A/Factoid A doesn't exist despite being clearly important to the plot and characters)
Bowser/Peach: Peach thinks Bowser is a monster. But shh. Don't tell the shippers that, they're plugging their ears and paying attention only to Count Bleck's arranged marriage for them. They don't want to work around that understandable prejudice, it's too hard and requires effort before smooches!
Jeff/Paula (I don't really hate this ship and I've seen way better stuff for them than the other two, but it usually makes me uncomfortable nonetheless so in it goes): Tony? Who the hell is Tony? Nono, Jeff never had a gay roommate, he lived all by himself. He could totally care less and wants to get away from his annoying psychotic stalker as fast as possible, despite him admitting Tony had a "heart of gold" and was frantic to save the only damn person (before the Chosen 4) he was close enough to be "best friends forever" from Stonehenge.
Poo? Ugh, no, he's a bald monk with a topknot who's totally asexual anyway. (Which may be true to a degree, but it certainly doesn't stop his fangirls from trying!) With your looks and a name like that, no way you're gonna get it on with anyone, Jose.
Darkrai/Alice: Tonio never happened. Boring nerd with ugly hair and clothes, despite discovering 2/3s of everything that was exciting in the film. (I mean, I can understand ignoring the Tonio/Alice aspect of it since their relationship was forced and it can easily remain platonic... they weren't even canon in the manga adapt! But I don't think a lot of you guys have read the manga, and just dropping Tonio off the face of the earth with no explanation as to why Alice doesn't care anymore is inexcusable)
Alicia? Oh, she was only Alice's grandma. That's it. Alicia's lifetime friendship with Darkrai and his promise to protect her and her descendants? Doesn't exist. It was ALL with Alice, and it's OMG TRUE EVERLASTING LOVE despite them being next to each other for oh, fifteen minutes. Darkrai's only word to Alice? "Alicia." Ouch. I dunno about you, but the whole Alicia & Darkrai thing is RIGHT THERE RIGHT THERE yet fandom seems content with stuffing it all in a box and cooing how perfect Aegisshipping is. YOU CAN'T HAVE AEGISSHIPPING WITHOUT ALICIA. hejskghwrjkghdf
Die-For-Our-Ship (Or: lulz you suck you're in the way of our OTP)
Bowser/Peach: Canon*Mario: Bubbly, sweet and heroic. Even if the princess is in another castle, he comes to save Toad anyway.
Fanfic*Mario: Ugh, what a fat jealous pig! He saves Peach for the fame and promise of free cake. Peach yearns to escape that glutton and lets herself be "kidnapped" by her true love, Bowser!
Luckily, Earthbound fandom is better and is relatively light on bashing. But there are still stereotypes...
Jeff/Paula: Ness & Paula in Canon: Jeff offering to fix their appliances when they get hitched is merely an assumption. Ness and Paula have a platonic relationship and are best friends, and it's up to the player to interpret if they are canon or not.
Ness & Paula in Fanfic: Dude they are together and Paula loves Ness, no questions about it or I'll mash your head in, you heathen! If we're bringing Jeff to the mix, Paula either has to run crying in his arms after being rejected by Ness, or there needs to be a melodramatic triangle where it brings out the worst qualities of both jealous boys while Paula remains oblivious to it all. Ness may or may not be a cocky jerk while Jeff is the pitable underdog we have our sympathies for. Oh, and he bears a heavy grudge against Ness and may try to out him. Oh noes!
Darkrai/Alice: Canon*Alberto: Cocky and arrogant, but lets up at the truth. When he realizes Darkrai is innocent, he stops persecuting him. In the manga adapt, he admits out loud that Darkrai was trying to save Alamos. In the movie, he even tried chasing Alice and using his Lickilicky to catch her from the bridge, implying that he really did like her for more than just adding to his status.
Fanfic*Alberto: Cocky and arrogant, and totally Freddy Kreuger for Darkrai! It's all he ever thinks about: revenge on Darkrai and selfishly sweeping Alice away despite her protests. He's determined to have the entire town hunt Darkrai down, turning everyone against him and making Darkrai angst and hack his wrists about being misunderstood. ONLY ALICIA EVER LOVED HIM, AND ALICE TOO. For some reason, Alberto is capable of shooting Darkrai with a gun AND raping Alicia despite her living years before he was even born. Alberto is evil. Eeeeeeeeeeevil. THE REAL MONSTER, UNLIKE DARKRAI WITH A WOOBIE HEART OF GOLD.
Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!
So, what brought this up? Puri was reading a few drabbles someone posted, and they were actually pretty good, particularly a Darkrai/Shaymin piece. Then Puri got to the Darkrai/Alice drabble. The writing is still good. The author has ton of potential. So far, so good. Let's see...
Darkrai floated out, and sat next to her, looking strangely at her. She looked a bit distraught, like something had recently troubled her. “Does something worry you, Alice?” She sighed.
“I...you know how I liked Tonio?” She said. Darkrai nodded. Alice sighed.
“I...I was going to ask him to marry me...and...” She bit her lip. “I...the Baron was in his house, and...” Darkrai nodded, knowing exactly what she meant.
“They were doing human things.” He said bluntly. Surprisingly, Alice began laughing. “Yeah, I guess that’s one way of putting it, eh?” Darkrai stared at her as she smiled and continued to laugh.
*insert Puri's Awesome Face here* Still, I can't help but be concerned. I know Alice would be devastated and heartbroken, and Tonio's reaction would be that he was concerned and dress up and try to explain. He would NOT want to continue having sex at this point, prolly get angry and avoid the Baron while giving him the silent treatment, maybe even get in an argument with him. He'd definitely try to apologize to Alice and not just ignore her and continue what he was doing while she's in pain. :( That would be just... cruel. And definitely OOC for a sweet guy like Tonio. :(
Why am I worried about that implication? 'Cause from then on, the author's drabbles start getting preachy:
“Do...do Pokemon ever love humans?” She asked abruptly. Darkrai stopped, and stared at her for a long, slow minute.
“Alice...Alice...I don’t know.” She looked down.
“Tonio said it was wrong...but I don’t think it is!” She burst out, standing up and clenching her fists.
...Okay. Where the hell did that come from? I can see Alberto being squeamish about Human/Pokemon relationships
It's... I dunno. I feel like this author is villainizing Tonio for the sake of Aegisshipping, and I don't like it one bit. :/
Perpetrator in question: This fic.
Right. Just needed to vent. I'm fine and dandy with friendship *see icon*, but unless you're a really good writer and I trust you, I'll likely to get hives and flare up if it's romantic. D:
