The PokéRogue transphobia drama and politics in Pokémon

[@Rennar3210]

Is removing nongendered pokemon and male feminine pokemon not more political than leaving them as they are? Is that not the very injection of politics that they claim to hate?

[@yungmuney5903]

🎶🎶"Don't say that he's hypocritical, say rather that he's apolitical."🎶🎶

[@historiansayori2089]

@@yungmuney5903🎶Once the rockets are up, who care where they come down? That’s not my department, says Werner von Braun.🎶 (couldn’t resist since I like the song 🙂)

[@Aaa-vp6ug]

@@historiansayori2089what’s the song’s name?

[@Aaa-vp6ug]

Agreed.

[@williamqin5051]

​@@Aaa-vp6ug "Wernher Von Braun", by Tom Lehrer. It's a classic

[@cawingcrows2072]

It's so goofy that they removed the genderless pokemon, magnemite is literally a floating magnet LMFAO

[@shytendeakatamanoir9740]

They were afraid of the Attractive power of Cryogonal. (Get it, because it learns Attraction. It's just like me fr fr)

[@cawingcrows2072]

@@shytendeakatamanoir9740 real LOL

[@Shnarfbird]

Huh? I just booted it up and Regice, Magnemite, Cryogonal, even Meloetta don't have a gender symbol.

[@ArthurPhoenix]

@@Shnarfbird Ah, looks like from the change logs on the wiki that they've been slowly implementing genderless and genderlocked pokemon over the last handful of patches. I'd be willing to give them the benefit of the doubt on that one and bet that it was simply easier to make both genders available to every pokemon and sort out the minutia later. There's an awful lot that hasn't been implemented yet after all.

[@XenithShadow]

Yeah think thats likely misinformation, since last i checked most legendaries are genderless and there is certainly some legendaries in the game at minimum mewtwo and rayquaza.

[@lucianofrancesco4742]

Talking about "not exposing children to any kind of ideology" while not including genderless Pokemon and Thanos-snapping any male Gardevoir is quite ironic, isn't it?

[@Mimiyan_or_Pikapikafan]

I mean in PokeRogue's case it makes it way less luck dependent to get Gallade, since stone evos are inherently luck based. I think if Gallade was in gen 3 it'd make sense to have it be a split Evo then a Dawn Stone Evo (which only works on Male Kirlia and Female Snorunt). So while it sucks for trans rights that male Gardevoir aren't a thing anymore, from a game design perspective it makes perfect sense

[@valentingigena6058]

​@@Mimiyan_or_Pikapikafan no it doesnt, you could just cancel the level evolution of garde and wait for a dawnstone if they didnt change the gender thing

[@Mimiyan_or_Pikapikafan]

@@valentingigena6058 my point is that in PokeRogue it's RNG based to get that Evo stone. You could literally not get it during a run if you're unlucky. This is a quality of life feature since it's focused on battles. If you want to use Gardevoir it makes it easier to use. Same with Gallade. Snorunt's evos have this change also. It just makes using the Pokemon you want to use easier. That's it. It makes sense logically from a GAME DESIGN STANDPOINT

[@valentingigena6058]

@@Mimiyan_or_Pikapikafan but my man its the same for every stone evolution, if he wanted to remove rng for that aspect he would remove every stone evolution

[@helior1118]

@@Mimiyan_or_Pikapikafan Well I wouldn't really say removing male Gardevoir does that? For example if you just encounter Gardevoir, there's no reason why that can't be male, right? I can understand not letting male Kirlia evolve into Gardevoir, but that doesn't really mean that male Gardevoir itself has to be removed. Same for female Glalie, too, for the record.

[@GooseEnthused]

Gotta say the removal of ungendered Pokémon is very funny because it produces trans shedinjas. They roll the gender for the shedinja instead of just using the nincadas gender. Very funny

[@Ezekiel_Allium]

in fairness, it makes a kind of sense considering the Shedinja is something else possessing the shed nincada shell, on the other hand it's very funny to say this soul eating monstrous shadow creature has a gender

[@postaldudeirl]

​@@Ezekiel_Alliumisnt shedinja just the skin itself taking life? most dex entries say that anyway so its still just really dumb anyway😭

[@BPTK162]

Adding to the politics seen in anime and manga, it’s not a coincidence that so many children are the heroes of the story. I can’t remember the source here, but after the atrocities committed by the Japanese Government themselves in World War II, you can see a lot of mistrust in adults being the saviors in Japanese media. Pokémon is on the lighter end of that scale, but you could write an entire thesis of child heroes in anime and manga.

[@cecilily]

This is an amazing point! When doing some research, I saw some people arguing that that is the obvious reason why we barely see any fathers in Pokémon (except for Norman, who could fall into an overworked salaryman father stereotype)

[@bunnybreaker]

**Akira enters the chat**

[@handsoaphandsoap]

Good point, though I think in Pokémon’s case it’s just a marketing decision. Pokémon is marketed towards kids, hence why the playable character is a kid. Pokémon’s political statement is moreso in it’s ecological theming.

[@firepuppies4086]

@@handsoaphandsoap i mean there was also the whole thing about plenty of the Gym Leaders being in Team Rocket.. or Lt. Surge existing

[@neoqwerty]

@@handsoaphandsoap Ecological was mostly Hoenn. I know Black/White was ALLLLL about an allegory for animal rights and coexisting with animals, Gen One was literally just "remember when you caught bugs and created bugfighting rings with your childhood friends???" (no really, there's an interview! basically virtual bugfighting but the bugs wanna fight and be your friends), X/Y had a "the horrors of war" background theme that suddenly foregrounds when someone pulls out the evil in history's past and re-enacts it instead of learning from it and not doing it... Also "marketed toward kids" /points at Pokemon Tower, where dead pokemon go get buried, there's orphaned cubones and a vengeful dead mother haunting the top of the mass burial site/memorial, and in Gen 2 we find out that the graves were dug up and relocated in the name of ~progress~. Remember that Japan's idea of "for kids" is a lot more cerebral than the english-speaking North American-like countries, after all Astro Boy was for kids and involves parental abandonment, an allegory for minority rights, talks of commercial exploitation and slavery, and identity crises right out the gate.

[@AmariArts]

I think my favorite part about the situation is backlash against the lead developer featuring trans art of amoonguss.

[@cecilily]

It all comes together in the circle of life...

[@sushicaps]

yes!! trans amoonguss came from wolfey's win in Orlando regionals were his amoonguss survived a near-death hit from an amoonguss to win the final game vs his opponent, who was outed as a transphobe afterwards :3

[@stacystealer]

​@@sushicaps cool wolfey lore thank you

[@plaguous6386]

@@sushicapsshe made a video on that lmao that’s actually how i found this channel

[@cecilily]

@@sushicaps this sounds like an exciting story!! I think I might have watched a video about this somewhere....

[@IchorBloom]

Hey, I was there and somewhat directly involved and thought I could add some more context. 1. the transphobia was there but not nearly as rampant right after the announcement, but then about 5 or 6 hours after the announcement someone posted a document with screenshots of sam being openly transphobic on several occasions and justifying it with his religion aswell as saying and defending using the r-slur. 2. for the day or so after the announcement there was pretty much only one mod on at a time, their mod team was only 4 people for a server with several thousand members, right after the announcement Lost in thought (the mod at 6:40) was the only mod there for hours, and Mega was the only mod on for the entire next day. 3. Lost in thought is not only a moderator but the head moderator and has not received and repercussions for his actions. 4. While talking about trans topics in a positive sense got you banned or muted, transphobia went completely unpunished. one of my friends got a 7 day time out for posting an emoji with a trans flag in it that WAS AN EMOJI FROM THE SERVER. 5. it took i think 4 days for them to completely lock the server and before those 4 days there was nearly no moderation. 6. staff kept making announcements about every hour and had didn't communicate with each other about it whatsoever resulting in a ton of confusion from everyone. All of the announcements about it except for one have now been deleted. 7. sam pretty much dumped all of the responsibilities onto a dev called pancakes, he was the only one in a position of power who was queer and opposed to the transphobia in the server but he has extreme social anxiety so nothing was done for awhile. (shoutout pancakes he's great) 8. most mods were aware of sams position on trans people and didn't do anything about it. 9. about a month before all this went down, there was a pretty normal announcement and people were spamming reactions on it as people always do, the only reactions that were getting manually removed were the trans flag ones and multiple people (me included) were timed out for talking about it. 10. the servers staff are almost entirely different from what they used to be and there seems to be a significant amount of queer people on the team now, the only person who is still on the team despite their bad actions is LostInThought. bullying or asking about it to the staff provides nothing and causes only more fuel to the fire.

[@cecilily]

Thanks a lot for sharing it! I'm keeping an eye on the comments as they come, but if it's the case, I might pin yours for extra context if that's OK!

[@IchorBloom]

@@cecilily sure idm :3

[@VHCosta]

Number 4 is WILD

[@alorravex6672]

This definitely got lost in all the aftermath, but Lost did express that he handled the situation in completely the wrong way and disclosed that he is married to a trans woman and never intended to harm the trans fan base of the game

[@TheMarshmallowMushroom]

r-slur as in the ableist one?

[@thomasherrington7237]

I'm a christian and I think its wierd how sam framed this, because god enjoys art and can use art to do good things. The idea that 13 year olds are gonna get ideologically shifted in a negative way by trans discussion is perposterous. I like the politics in games and wish more people would acknowledge it. I love the video, thanks for informing me ma'am!

[@crispycoacoa]

Indeed, at first it seemed fine like "okay, you wanna devote your life to the lord, sure whatever floats your boat" but after the rest of the message and the context it defiantly felt like he was using his religion as an shield to excuse his close-minded views which is so.. unfortunate to see Christians that do that-

[@sintheemptyone8108]

@@crispycoacoa It would be, until we take into account the context that his response initially was more to the whole gacha aspects of the game. From what I've gathered, the whole anti-trans thing was the result of the trans political activists' speculation on Twatter. I hate when you give my kind the free pass to use their background as a shield. These autists need to learn to process their problems instead of throwing them at other people.

[@damage_incorp0rated]

it highly offput me and made me tilt my head when sam said "i'm abandoning this because i want to abandon all aspirations to focus on my religion" - ofc i'm not judging. i'm just confused, because there are so many devs and artists and creative people who are religious and in fact, like you said, god encourages this sort of thing

[@LiEnby]

They might be “negatively effected” by learning its okay to be themselves and to not mistreat others 😂

[@vesselthanatos3033]

Pchal's reaction to this video: "this is how you play around the trans-phobic crit range"

[@benrueter2321]

Still remembering when I got banned for saying "group estrogen session when"

[@squeaks5677]

Can I join? 👉👈

[@hypphen]

ok but group estrogen when tho

[@limitlesschaos9]

LMFAO

[@A_Fren]

Group estrogen session NOW!!!

[@TheAsvarduilProject]

Group estrogen session when?

[@NoBrainer7]

wow, as a trans ally, it just pains me to see transphobic people saying things like "don't make this political", when the thing that really shouldn't be political is being trans, someone transitioning really doesn't affect anyone negatively and it just hurts that it's not a widely accepted thing, and instead a political debate. I really wish religion and traditional values didn't affect people's morals, because they don't have to, and shouldn't

[@TheMemeCritic]

@NoBrainer7 Of course Religion will affect people’s Morals, it’s the most Important thing in the Life of a religious person as you are a paying tribute to the being who established the Possiblity of all Life. Also Someone being Trans does affect the Person they are dating, as you need to tell them Information like this, in case they would be prefer to have Children or are Religious.

[@scottygagnon4287]

@@TheMemeCritic I technically agree with what you are saying, but I dislike the way in which you said it.

[@abrawolf]

​@TheMemeCritic you could make similar argument about having to talk about other medical conditions, religious beliefs, political beliefs, sexuality, even libido

[@The_Endless_Now]

It's not a very reliable move. You say it doesn't affect anyone negatively, but with a 41% chance of recoil damage, it simply doesn't fit into any established meta. Best have your Pokémon learn Iron Defense instead.

[@NoBrainer7]

@@The_Endless_Now so true

[@cloudt.6669]

Video Games being apolitical, as a fan of Final Fantasy VII, is hilarious to me. People _do_ realise that the core message of Ff7 is tremendously anti-giant corporations, right?... Almost anything that's classifiable as a dystopia is inherently political by nature. Gen 5 games are already super laced with commentary on environmentalism if you're willing to dig deep. if one is willing to analyse, there almost always is a set of morals at play in any story. Sure, purely mechanical games probably are the closest you can get to apolitical (something like Tetris), but even the vaguest amount of story will likely forcefully include a set of morals, and those morals are not possible to separate from policy.

[@phillipanselmo8540]

pokemon has had environmentalism ever since gen 3

[@cloudt.6669]

@@phillipanselmo8540 for sure, I only pointed to 5 because of how blatantly the story focussed on it.

[@RampagingFlippy030]

there';s...a difference between poltical messages are(FF7, Gen 5) and what people usually mean when they say political messaging(trump jokes, trump analogues, something about patriarchy)

[@cinnastag]

@@RampagingFlippy030 except that's blatantly idiotic. Politics is politics...and patriarchy LITERALLY falls into the same boat as environmentalism

[@RampagingFlippy030]

@@cinnastag yes but actually no. one is sociological issues, like war being bad or the nature of the human condition. The other is "haha trump have small hands."

[@HoodlumCallum]

Fantastic video, loved hearing what you had to say

[@cecilily]

Hey there! Really happy to read this from you :)

[@iohu11]

My two favourite poketubers interacting

[@ilexdiapason]

always a relief to see a creator you like openly supporting trans people

[@laraprisma6381]

Also, the fact that a POKEMON fangame is at the center of a transphobia drama leaves me shocked because Pokemon is the game with a huge number of LGBT fans! and don't forget the trans icon, Sylveon!! Yeah, to this day I'm shocked that there are people like that in this community.

[@The_Endless_Now]

You didn't even spell Sylveon right.

[@NoBrainer7]

yea and there is that one character who is canonically trans in the Japanese version of X and Y, that was cool

[@aigis0423]

@@The_Endless_Now wow. That's not at all important but thanks for letting them know.

[@laraprisma6381]

@@The_Endless_Now sorry then, I have difficulty writing names and words correctly.

[@laraprisma6381]

@@NoBrainer7 YES!!

[@Bengt2509]

8:15 REMINDER:thats part of gardevoir’s skin/fur/whatever, its not a skirt/dress

[@Worsterest]

reminder to who? it’s quite obviously designed after a dress too like look at mega gardevoir

[@Bengt2509]

@@Worsterest its designed after a dress sure, but its not a dress. if my skin forms in the shape of clothes, i’m not wearing clothes, i’m still naked. Also its a reminder to anyone who forgot/a note for those who didn’t know

[@Mr.Brothybear]

@@Bengt2509 Isnt Biology Fun!

[@shytendeakatamanoir9740]

Reminder Gardevoir wasn't even in the Human-like Egg group until recently (Gen 8 I think)

[@Worsterest]

@@Bengt2509 are you an animal? animals are usually naked yk

[@Metahunt638]

The “think of the children” excuses are so stupid, I’m living with a homophobic family right now (not discussing my age, just know I’m above 13) and I was never really exposed to queer people except at school where I met my best friend, they later came out as bi around 3rd grade. I didn’t understand what it meant really, and here I am being gay as freak. And no them coming out didn’t effect me knowing I was gay.

[@Dimensional-rifter]

Does your family know you're gay? just a simple question

[@Metahunt638]

@@Dimensional-rifter yes and no. My mom does but my dad doesn’t. I didn’t choose for my mom to know. If I could I would go back in time to stop her from being so nosey. And my dad would definitely disown me.

[@squeaks5677]

You deserve love and support, I’m so sorry that your dad would react that way.

[@Metahunt638]

@@squeaks5677 Thank you! ❤️

[@absolutezero9507]

It has nothing to do with religion or politics that's just shitty parenting. Me and my family are Christian and conservative. They know I'm bi and have been harassed for it. They don't necessarily agree with me being gay but love me

[@ArKkoKase]

it's weird how we get pokémon drama regarding transphobia twice in such a short time pokémon is such a queer-friendly franchise, no wonder why so many bad apples stand out

[@pickletickler1026]

what was the previous transphobic drama?

[@ArKkoKase]

@@pickletickler1026 there was a guy that competed against wolfyvgc in a recent tournament whom was exposed for making transphobic comments on discord the 'amoonguss says trans rights' meme came from that

[@umbriel706]

I’m not exactly surprised tbh, its fandom is admittedly one of the absolute worst. It compares to League of Legends and Smash in sheer toxicity and it’s a miracle people haven’t gone out of their way to put it on full blast like they’ve done before with Smash or Undertale

[@Sylvainjose-satoyumiyato]

​@umbriel706 I feel like the Pokémon community is worse than the LoL community sometimes 😭

[@matiaspereyra9392]

This reminds me of that legendary tweet from the guy with The attack on Titan pfp (armin of all characters) that said "anime is supposed to be an escape from the politics of the real world, adding black people defeats the purpose" talking about a character based on the very real historical person, yasuke, the black samurai

[@miyakosuzushima]

Say you’re racist without saying you’re racist. (Referring to the person who made that tweet.)

[@slavishentity6705]

What the fuck

[@an0bserver2000]

its honestly so depressing that the average cis person sees the way i was born, an immutable characteristic, as an "ideology". i didnt choose to be trans, i just want to exist without being othered everywhere i go.

[@edmundthearchwizard]

I mean I think the average cis person doesn’t actually give a fuck. But the ones who actually talk about do believe it’s an ideology. It’s really a case of skewed data, the people who are the loudest are the ones actually heard.

[@an0bserver2000]

@@edmundthearchwizard in my experience the average cis person sees us as freaks.

[@edmundthearchwizard]

@@an0bserver2000 that’s the internet for you. You’re going to see mostly the people that have had opinions. And like. A cis person who’s a trans ally is less likely to post about that then a transphobe. Like I said, sampling bias. The vast majority of people are just living their lives and don’t particularly care. Unfortunately, the politicians care, and their voices are the ones that are amplified and listened too. Most people don’t see you as freaks. Because most people aren’t jackasses. But the jackasses have the power, so it’s then that you see, and it’s them that talk.

[@Houlgravely]

Being trans isn't an immutable characteristic. It's an unfortunate flaw in your genetic composition that makes you want something that isn't normal and then turn the other 99% into bad guys when they don't want to change their definition of what a man or a woman is. An "immutable" characteristic would be something like race. Being trans and saying "I'm x" loudly in public when most people would say you are not "x" is a violation of their rights and way of life whether you want to admit it or not.

[@edmundthearchwizard]

⁠@@an0bserver2000that’s the internet for you. You see the voices that are amplified, and negative opinions get more traction. For every person who believes that trans people are freaks and screams about it, there are many who don’t care and just quietly go about their lives. Most people just don’t care, but unfortunately, the politicians care and tell everyone else what to believe, and some people listen to them. But not most people. The average cis person does not believe that you are freak. Because the average cis person isn’t a jackass. But it’s the jackasses who run the world, and therefore their voices are amplified more than others. So, don’t just lump everyone into one group and brand them as “The enemy”. Cause that’s what they do.

[@zartoru_]

12:28 Oh god I hate the "I don't want to hear about politics, I just want to play video games" being trans isn't a political opinion, the fact trans people deserve to be treated with the same amount of respect as anyone else isn't a political opinion Like imagine if instead of transphobia it was like racism, like people spitting racist shit and the mod team just started banning people saying racism was bad. I just don't get what's going on in their brains

[@Stathio]

Genuinely? I think I might have actually seen that happen too in some form of online communities- I've seen someone punished for calling out (not saying- for calling out someone else's use of) a racial slur, and blaming them for "witch-hunting" instead of actually addressing the slur being used itself. It's messed up all around. We're all in this together.

[@Bird_in_a_Trenchcoat]

mfs will say "politics shouldnt be in games" when metal gear is literally one of the best game series ever made

[@EnbyOccultist]

They say it as if Fallout: New Vegas isn't a game that's entirely about nothing but politics

[@ThatFont]

@@EnbyOccultistThe Fallout game series broke a lot of boundaries as far as inclusion goes and I’m glad people are finally recognizing the representation after all these years.

[@Sylvainjose-satoyumiyato]

​@@EnbyOccultist I mean, didn't people hate New Vegas? Or am I getting it confused with a different Fallout game?

[@manologamerss5801]

​@@Sylvainjose-satoyumiyatoYou 100% are, it's among the most popular shooter RPGs out there.

[@Sylvainjose-satoyumiyato]

@@manologamerss5801 Oof, ty for clarifying!

[@ActualKuma]

I love how this video went from "drama" about the pokerogue situation perfectly transitioning to a video about "all video games are political actually" had me hooked the entire time

[@alexisstephen8552]

idk how PokeRogue devs ended up transphobic when Ivy has that much tgirl swag

[@comyuse9103]

its literally the reason i played the game despite not liking the baseline pokemon gameplay

[@sometijng]

She has?

[@comyuse9103]

@@sometijng she does and i can't explain it much more than that

[@brisingr0962]

God why is the world so transphobic. It feels like every day that goes by there’s another drama…

[@unoriginal2552]

​@@zilit9589 phobia means fear or irrational dislike. You're not going to tell me a hydrophobic material screams when it encounters water, are you?

[@enn1924]

Tbh I find it very annoying to see players spamming "trans rights" or "you got killed by a girl uwu" in games because suddenly the whole lobby goes to shit as people start fighting just because some obnoxious people can't shut the fuck up

[@firewolfandrewb]

@@unoriginal2552 If hydrophobic material doesn't scream when is encounters water then I have oil I need to throw out.

[@cryosen]

@@enn1924 get annoyed at the people getting mad at trans rights then

[@aigis0423]

@@cryosen This. There's nothing wrong with saying trans rights as long as individuals don't do it to an obnoxious degree. But people who get angry at people for saying something innocent for no real reason are the folks you should be irritated at.

[@snivy5588]

"Pokémon Is not political" Garbodor, weezing and muk : the Pokémon horrors of contamination Zorua and zoroark hisui, lapras, farfech's: the Pokémon mass hunting Made them nearly/totally extinct Consola galar and cursula: the Pokémon coral dead for contamination Mewtwo, sillvally and genesect: the Pokémon horror of the science Tauros paldea: the bullfight pokemon Galar Fossils: the bone wars Pokémon Mr rime: the Charlie Chaplin Pokémon (known anti-n*zi) Empoleon: Pokémon Napoleon Rattata and raticate alola: the invasive species Pokémon in Hawaii Toxtricity and obstagoon: the punk Pokémon Jynx: the gyaru Pokémon Copperajah: a indian Pokémon in US Half of paldea Pokédex: latin-american in spain and Portugal Braviary: the american bald eagle Pokémon Team Rocket: Yakuzas Kadabra, Jynx and porygon: the censored Pokémon Arceus and giratina: god and satan All the 5 generacion: self explanatory Pokémon in general: the satanic panic thing For name a few, if you don't want politics Pokémon you should eliminate all of this Pokémon and More, and like half of the human characters

[@wa_akii6873]

not to forget zygarde, the protector of the ecosystem

[@bab__beaaa]

"Art without politics is just decoration" 👏👏👏 Super excited already for the next one 🔥

[@maddi-lion]

came for the pokerouge discussion, stayed for the insightful discussion on how atomic-trauma influenced pokemon

[@HastorBin]

Trans rights, you all are precious and valid

[@robertgidoiu]

They wont let you hit lil bro 😭🙏

[@HastorBin]

@@robertgidoiu You woke up and chose violence 😥

[@wormofarson5837]

thank you detective dick gumshoe from hit game ace attorney

[@Worsterest]

W

[@shooooooooopi]

bro really thought he’d hit 😭

[@Il_Carino]

"The politics were always there" I got chills

[@gordonwiley2006]

I love to be a truly unbiased and apolitical enlightened being. I have never taken an action or communicated anything, I sit motionless in a blank void and literally nothing ever occurs. I hope that the people who seek to avoid politics can find my path, as it is the only chance they have.

[@umbriel706]

Not everyone can reach this state unfortunately, people in the political spectrum will always wish to fight those with different ideals without even attempting to get to know the other individual. (Though, I absolutely do not support transphobia and homophobia)

[@carpettoaster]

I discovered this channel an hour ago and I check videos to binge watch instead of working and "44 seconds ago" is the blessing i receive. I haven't even watch the video yet, but you're so cool, I hope you get super duper duper big!

[@cecilily]

Well, I'm just rewatching the video to check for problems in the CC so I guess we will watch it together

[@brony4869]

'stop shoving politics into media' is actually code for 'stop making cool stuff that i want to enjoy that has political messages that are different to my own. I was also too media illiterate when i was younger to have noticed the political messages in all art and media and especially that was in the things i mindlessly enjoyed and i want to continue to pretend those messages weren't always there'.

[@neuplop]

Who is more political, someone saying "Trans rights" or someone getting offended by it and making it a mountain from a grain of sand?

[@WhirlyBeepBoops]

I was there and was so confused. I'm Christian, yes, but I'm all for trans rights. I don't think I myself was muted, and I definitely wasn't banned. I tried to be positive in the sea of chaos, but it was absolutely crazy in there. So you can see how conflicted I was.

[@squeaks5677]

Christianity doesn't stand for the oppression of outcasts, at least not the type I was raised in.

[@ballonstudios7799]

​@@squeaks5677same

[@jacksonvoet8312]

@@squeaks5677 You are the true bearers of the message of goodness among a legion of the corrupt. I may not believe, but I salute you nonetheless.

[@PedroOver9000]

the sheer amount of people so quick to dismiss this as being "harmless" for the sake of keeping their magic animal game intact is simply disgusting

[@RichardWaugh-vd2df]

it is harmless? like what your are talking crazy bro

[@neoqwerty]

@@RichardWaugh-vd2df Tell that to the metagame, locking male Kirlias out of being a special sweeper or tank is an awful choice, there's moves and abilities that only affect the opposite gender and forcing Gardevoir to be always female means you've just kneecapped Gardevoir with male Attract/Cute Charm parafusion hax.

[@RichardWaugh-vd2df]

@@neoqwerty no not really just use a female one then and for the early game that’s not huge problem (many prevo pokemon have this moveset problem) only 2 abilities rivalry and cute charm which well just swap out your pokemon

[@Impy_Lucy]

@@RichardWaugh-vd2df Sure, it's not THAT big of a problem - but it didn't have to be a problem at all! They could've just kept things as is, and literally nobody would've complained.

[@RichardWaugh-vd2df]

@@Impy_Lucy nobody should’ve complained in the first place because it literally doesn’t affect anything and is just a qol feature

[@TheDawn15]

I honestly do not understand how someone can like or love Pokémon and be transphobic. Hell, I honestly don't how ANYONE can be transphobic at all.

[@jacksonvoet8312]

But Pokémon especially. Most of the Pokémon fandom’s toxicity is about the games or metagaming and such, so this was surprising. Then again, I’ve encountered a singular homophobic Kirby fan before, so maybe they just hide in holes until they get a chance to be obnoxious.

[@greyscaleadaven]

Glad someone is covering this comprehensively, as from what I've heard it's not just a bad situation but quite a complicated one too. Like there are many queer people involved with the project from what I've heard despite the leadership's actions recently. I'm curious to hear what people have to say, going to likely update this comment after I finish the video with some post-watch thoughts. Thanks! EDIT: To start I haven't made any edits to my original comment. Mostly because I don't feel the need to change my first impressions. As it turns out, the situation was a lot less complicated than I thought it would be. I did play the game all the way through in a vacuum from all of that and enjoyed the game. I don't feel the need to regret doing that, it would make me quite a fickle person to react that way. But I am a big fan of the arguments this video makes. I don't think I need to extrapolate too much on why, so instead to prove the point further I'm going to list off all the generations and an example of how their conflicts may relate to politics (very loosely I'm not a historian so not aiming for perfect accuracy): Gen 1: Lt. Surge and Koga establish the pokemon war. Team Rocket also uses pokemon like Electrode or Weezing, both pokemon that explode often. Rattata and Raticate may represent war criminality in spreading diseases, this is more of a stretch however. Gen 2: This is the gen I know least about lorewise, just being transparent. But a lot of the Gen 1 parallels carry over with team rocket. The Radio Tower might connect to some paranoia people had at the time about radio waves affecting us. I'm sure people from Japan themselves know more about things like the Burned Tower, Bell Tower, or Whirl Islands. I'd rather not try to assert politics I'm not familiar with necessarily. Gen 3: explained in the video, also in general holds commentary on Team Aqua's mentality vs Team Magma. Extremist activism being the main focus. Archie and Maxie parrot exaggerated ideologies to garner support. They're a parody of flat earthers or extremist groups who incite violent or hateful outcomes. That is most definitely politically relevant. Gen 4: God. Giratina is literally an embodiment of the ruler of the underworld. Religion is inherently political. It's also political to pose the question of who gets to control gods. If we had access to that power, wouldn't someone wish to inherit it? Also, is it worth creating a new world if no one is there to inhabit it? The depictions of these gods are also eldritch and esoteric, not euphoric or nightmarish like religion would traditionally paint them. The distortion world is just weird, not an evil place. Giratina was locked away for causing Dialga and Palkia to fight and is vengeful for a time. But as we learn in PLA, it becomes more inclined to fulfill its role in keeping the balance of matter instead of disrupting it. Gen 5: Ghetsis is a politician, using rallies and posing moral questions to audiences in order to sew power. He also manufactures N from birth to be the new king and hero of Unova. This can be seen as an attempt at neo-oligarchical takeover, but also as nepotism and the inherent advantages that can just fall into someone's lap because of generational power. N is however also an insightful commentary on isolation and how anyone can be victimized by abuse. Gen 6: Another war. This time it's actually nuclear and that's exactly how it ends. All to serve a selfish king's cause. Wars can be fought over a single life, killing thousands or more. AZ is the literal aftermath of pursuing his 'noble' cause, being abandoned by even the one he wanted to save. Lysandre reflects this hubris, except he wishes to start over similarly to Cyrus. He wants to cleanse and rebuild, sounds oddly familiar to a lot of the people behind atomic bombings. Gen 7: Lusamine uses her privilege to get what she wants hiding behind the guise of a preservation organization. Phillanthropy and wealth allows her to escape most criticism. Her kids and the people closely around her know a different story, but need significant support to even address the corruption let alone root it out. In the anime, it becomes even more nuanced with it focusing more on the grief of her estranged husband taken by the ultra wormholes driving her to pursue UBs to a fault even when she is a flawed but empathetic person. Also, Team Skull is a commentary on how people who don't fit into a system can be so harshly outcast and band together to drive counterculture movements as a result. The Island Challenge and Z-Moves are forced onto them, regardless of whether that's a good thing or not. It's something inherently interesting to think about. Not everyone is going to like a system that rewards being chummy with those in power. Gen 8: The games don't make this particular argument, but the Darkest Day arc in Journeys does. Rose grows up poor with his brother, Peony. Their father dies in a coal mine cave-in. Rose then makes it his personal goal to never let that happen again, thus leading to him summoning the darkest day. Is risking the world worth saving those forever working in dangerous conditions to give us our luxurious lives? That's the question posed at least. Also, Leon among others are commentaries on the political nature of public figures. Rose has Leon in his pocket, one of the most dangerous men in the region. He raises him to be a champion just like Ghetsis did with N. Leon is brought up to hold the power he does. Another commentary on how being adjacent to power in turn grants privilege. Gen 9: AI is very relevant right now. There are a lot of questions posed, like what does it look like when AI achieves sentience and how will we tell the difference from the real thing as it progresses? Also, the school's infrastructure is inherently political, with Geeta being a figure who is shrouded in mystery and seems to run just about everything. But the biggest point of contention is scientific research and how far we should be pushing that. Turo/Sada, Heath, and Briar point out the importance in ethical practice. All three in different ways made groundbreaking discoveries but pushed things too far and faced consequences for their hubris in the process. When we find something like this, another question is posed. Who should see it? Area Zero's real interior was covered up for a very long time by the League. In many ways, it's clear that it still is after the events of the game. This somehow became very long, again I apologize if I got stuff wrong because I wasn't really planning on writing an essay about politics in pokemon today. Regardless though, it's a proof of concept that not only pokemon is political, but all games have politics ingrained into their stories and design. Even if it's unintentional, artifacts of the time will always hold relevancy in this way.

[@christiancinnabars1402]

Gen 8 is also very political in that its plot is centered around the energy crisis that our world today is _very_ worried about. Rose's father dying in a coal mine cave-in is a very symbolic event. In the games themselves, Rose talks about how the region's power will eventually run out, so he intentionally unleashes a literal doom's day event in the hopes of capturing a being that can supply _infinite_ energy. This raises some questions: Is securing infinite energy worth potentially sacrificing thousands, if not millions of lives that will be caught in the crossfire? And if that is bad, then why is coal fuel, the leading energy source today, acceptable when it injures and kills many people annually as well - many of which are victims to the environmental damage caused by coal mining and aren't even workers themselves - and _doesn't_ provide infinite energy? From Rose's perspective, going from depending on one energy source that _routinely_ kills many people and has a very limited well, to another that has a one-time cost of killing people in return for a bottomless well that would last for all time is an obvious choice. The issue then is, do people even _have_ to die in the switch? Which then goes on to my personal interpretation of what Eternatus even symbolizes. Because a lot of politics in games aren't always directly said as is. I think Eternatus is a stand-in for _nuclear power._ _The_ most politically divisive topic in the whole field of energy. It is an unknown being that wreaked havoc on the region in the past, and had to be banished and sealed away due to it being uncontrollable, but not without leaving a lasting impact on the surrounding area in the form of invisible particles. Then, due to concerns on maintaining energy in the region, it has to be brought up again and studied. Eventually, it is reawakened again, in hopes that the technology nowadays can handle and contain it. _Very_ closely mirrors the real world history with nuclear power. It is even part Poison-type to mirror radiation and the sickness it can cause. And true to modern nuclear technology, Eternatus _is_ eventually caught and contained with _zero_ casualties. Similar to how instead of holding together nuclear equipment and waste storage with sheet metal and duct tape like they did in the past, modern equipment has been shown to _very securely_ process nuclear energy and store nuclear waste. Meaning Gen 8 can be taken as a piece for pro-nuclear power, with a _big_ emphasis on having it land in the right hands. So yeah, Pokemon damn well can be political.

[@greyscaleadaven]

​@@christiancinnabars1402 Yeah! That's why I really enjoyed the Journeys interp of it, because they did make it more overt why his motivation was so strong. I like that idea with Eternatus, that would make a lot of sense and provide a more nuanced conclusion about the strained rumors and relationship with that kind of power. It's also interesting that Rose's team was filled with steel types, all of which are built to counter Eternatus. He clearly planned on taking it down himself but failed. I think this also harkons back to what the video was talking about, the history of Kaiju connecting with nuclear power. In fact, that is what makes the Darkest Day so scary in the first place. It forces pokemon across the region to Dynamax, causing mass destruction with Max Moves and unstoppable power. Dynamax is directly inspired by Kaiju and was likely very involved in that design process for gen 8.

[@jienougaplanteenpot7807]

I feel like everyone is missing one of the biggest blatantly political message of pokemon (or at least the most "relevant" one considering it comes from gen 1) which is... Mewtwo? The genetically enhanced clone bioweapon that was created around the time when real-life research on cloning and genetics made leaps of progress? And if you think that's just a coïncidence, I'll just point to Solid Snake MGS1 and Shadow SA2 who were created roughly at the same time and shares the exact same story and message (and MGS1 and SA2 were nothing if not political) mfs will literally hear "I see now the circumstances of one's birth are irrelevant, it is what you do with the gift of life that determines what you are" and go "PoKeymAns nEveR hAd PoliTiCs in iT!1!1!!"

[@grapegardens9923]

@@christiancinnabars1402 I have to say, I am surprised that "Eternatus is nuclear power" isn't a more common take, especially given that the Dynamax phenomenon that its responsible for takes inspiration from Kaiju movies, a genre that has a history with criticizing the misuse of nuclear power.

[@squeaks5677]

Giratina reminds me of Lucifer from Paradise Lost, the “Fallen Angel”

[@ozzypuff8957]

DAMN That Regis theory. KZbinrs that actually get into japanese pokemon media are PEAK content, I loved all the info you put in this vid.

[@cecilily]

Thank you!!

[@ozzypuff8957]

also, to hell with transphobes.

[@MrGamerofmusic]

“Keep politics out of my (insert thing)!” Is an entitled statement that puts the person stating it. Only wants what matters to them, to be discussed. Basically. It boils down to. “Nuance is for me, not for your problems”

[@squeaks5677]

Rules for thee, not for me.

[@justcallmekai1554]

It's also just completely incurious about the world and by extension people. At that point it just sounds like you wanna be in an ignorant nostalgia bubble because you wanna be 9 years old again. That's why that argument conveniently stops at when "they were growing up". Acknowledging it's a constant would mean they would be blatantly wrong.

[@hyperswag506]

I just popped onto the server to look through it, and there's a trans flag Groudon emoji on the server, which makes me think at least not *all* the modteam is bigoted. Maybe, though, this was added after the events to accommodate people who got justifiably angry at the moderation situation.

[@Veinelso]

Iirc the leader of the mod team is married to a trans woman and there are some trans people on the mod team too, he acknowledged that the way the he acted on the trans rights discussion was wrong but it was a kinda of desperation thing, the mod team was ridiculously small and had the server basically on fire with a lot of racism and discrimination. Everyone that works on the game nowadays is super chill and pro trans rights

[@YuubiTimberwolf]

There is no game that is not political, politics affect everything in our life. "Don't bring politics into this server/pokemon." is a wild statement that just reeks of a narrowminded view of the world and games. Pokemon is political, Gender plays a role in Pokemon, Pokemon had Villains that were on a path of genocide, be it humans or pokemon, we had villains that promote capitalism and use pokemon to make money, we had villains wanting to terraform the earth to benefit one side or completely end all for a fresh start, we had a group of teens and young adults being outcasted and stuck finding their own way withoud any help,.... It's insane, Pokemon and all games are political by nature.

[@louc.6735]

we literally had scientology crossed with corporate culture crossed with heaven's gate as the enemy of Pokemon Platinum, idk what people are on about.

[@dizzyheads]

I think it's more like Don't bring IRL politics into the game

[@sillyspider]

​@@dizzyheadswhat do you think the politics on the game are based on then?? most things in the word are political or at least stem from it at some point or another/nm

[@tysondennis1016]

I kinda find it funny that they made the most trans girl coded character design for one of their NPCs, and yet, they are like that.

[@pokefanmelody]

okay as a transfem with no knowledge of the game, and not currently the attention span to watch this- PLEASE elaborate i need to see this gal

[@darlhiatt8136]

​@pokefanmelody the rival in Pokerouge appears starting at wave 8 of the game, next at 25, and recurs at several other intervals through the 200 wave classic mode. So if you wanted to see her yourself it wouldn't take too long to meet her. The rival will always be the opposite gender as the one you choose starting the game unfortunately, so you'd have to pick male to see Ivy, but if you don't want to play I'm sure there's other you tube videos showing the game. Either way though Ivy does have a good design and I was pretty surprised to see a full on new character designed for this type of game.

[@asierx7047]

My favourite part is that Ivy's outfit is a feminine version of Hau's clothes, down to the hair color. She literally looks like if Hau transitioned after the events of Sun & Moon

[@PhantomAkira5]

@@asierx7047 And got his skin bleached*

[@pinky_pluggy7848]

​@@darlhiatt8136 I played the game (didn't get to level 200, tho) and I don'r get it/gen

[@table2.0]

“Trans people are too political!! It goes against my beliefs!!” But also “I’m Christian and I need to spend the rest of my life serving God. Also READ THE BIBLE” Like.. what does your chosen faith have to do with someone else’s innate identity? And how is Christianity less political?

[@Bengt2509]

From what i’ve heard there was both actual transphobia and transphobia that was accidental due to bad phrasing

[@cinnastag]

And both should be apologized for, just differently, and learned from

[@link3895]

I've never liked the people that gripe about "bringing politics into my video games" when anything even remotely queer related comes around. For LGTBQ+ this stuff isn't politics, it's LIFE, saying it's politics shows exactly where someone stands on the subject.

[@CesarR1037]

I don’t want to be reminded of the state of the real world when I’m playing POKÉMON. If people are so passionate about these issues, there’s millions of places you can go to show support.

[@felixhenson9926]

It's both.

[@beanman9936]

@@felixhenson9926 the politics of... being happy?

[@handsoaphandsoap]

​@@CesarR1037 Queer people existing is not political. Queer people living is not political. Excluding us from media, however, *is* a political decision. Queer erasure has a long, and *highly political* history that you are actively participating in by making statements such as the one you're making here, that we should just go exist somewhere where you don't have to look or think about us.

[@arahman56]

@@CesarR1037 So in the Jim Crow days...black people should have stayed off media discussion? Because racists made their existence political? Why is the first thought always "appeasing bigots"?

[@Trinthegay]

I was actually there while people were arguing about Sam in the server. I remember the same mod that was using the r-slur in your video (Megalith) swearing up and down that he'll try hia damnedest to make the server as trans friendly as possible. On a side note, I definitely appreciate a video essayist who happens to be queer and makes videos about queer Pokemon. I love this.

[@Trinthegay]

@@mimejrtwemiwmiw5634 Is he, though? Because I do respect him trying to make it a trans safe space, but using the r-slur doesn't make him better than Sam.

[@mimejrtwemiwmiw5634]

The r word honestly doesn't bother me that much. Sure it's offensive if it's used to demean people who are challenged, which Mégalith did not. But otherwise it's a an efficient word to talk about stupidity. In French, "retard mental" is the appropriate word to talk about challenged people and I believe Mégalith is a native French speaker, so I really don't see any bigotry or intent to harm in the way he used it

[@Trinthegay]

@@aetoreous I KNOW RIGHT? You'd think that a children's game that promotes positivity and loving everyone wouldn't be filled with so many hateful people.

[@chrisheartman9263]

HE WAS COVERING HIS ASS SO BADLY, LIKE THAT'S CORPORATE SPEECH FOR "I am not responsible for what happens the moment I'm posting this letter" LIKE BRO

[@StylusShade]

Steph Sterling of "The Jimquisition" has made several videos where they go into detail about the politics of video games (mainly criticizing companies and gamers for trying to sweep the politics under the rug), and T. B. Skyen has made a few videos about the politics of "League of Legends." You should definitely check them out. Also, "art without politics is just decoration." I love that quote.

[@RatOfTheWoods]

One of my favorite things [trans] video essayists do is slowly trick their viewers from discussing a pop culture topic into making thought-provoking points about society, politics, art, etc/gen Politics is inherent to everything we as people are, it's inevitable w the culture we live in. Taking the time to understand that is invaluable

[@cecilily]

I call it the "Hbomberguy plot twist" 😅

[@CesarR1037]

That’s the literal definition of indoctrination and propaganda. If you want people to think the same way as you, convince them, don’t TRICK them. Just as you said, this is a cultural issue and nothing to do with who you vote for.

[@Stathio]

@@CesarR1037 Encouraging someone to think about a subject is indoctrination and propaganda now? Better get that lobotomy then! Also... there's literally no trickery- if you'll read it, it's right there in the video title. When they said "trick their viewers" in that comment, they were clearly meaning it jokingly, not literally.

[@comyuse9103]

@@CesarR1037 trans issues have everything to do with who you vote for if one of the 2 options wants to kill trans people.

[@AnimatorBlake]

I love how most announcements in the discord now have tons of trans pride emojis on them all the time

[@luigitime9592]

its weird how you didn't point out that godzilla's breath is literally called "atomic breath" as he uses it a lot

[@elizapetersen8302]

This is probably my favorite video in the vein of "everything's political, dipshit" essays.

[@fillerpoint555]

Pokémon fans: Gamefreak is useless, the fanbase could do a much better job with the franchise! also Pokémon fans:

[@comyuse9103]

to be fair pokemon desolation and pokemon rejuvenation are both better than anything gamefreak has ever put out (even if they are very fanfic-y), and i am pretty sure there is a (half-finished) open world pokemon RPG (as-in you make real choices and they count, different endings and all that jazz) out there too.

[@xkower8181]

Damn, honestly the 2nd part of the video completely overshadows the whole pokerogue drama, it's that good. The Hoenn theories and the Ambassadors of Kawaii stuff was mindblowing. Honestly the latter got me imagining like a Fairy/Dark type Anglerfish pokemon but I think that could have been a bit too much on the nose lmfao. Good as shit video!

[@cecilily]

This is great to read, thank you! I was a bit hesitant to take such a bold deviation from the main topic, and I am very happy you enjoyed :)

[@IgorDemozi]

- Wait, it was all politics? *points gun* - Always has been.

[@st.altair4936]

_Everything_ is inherently political, on account of being perceived by humans. Nothing exists in a vacuum. I find it weird how some people shy away from talking about it.

[@TBG1]

I never expected to see an accurate representation of german politics on a yt channel of a non-german person, let alone a POKEMON video. Wow. Kudos for being so real

[@quendi5557]

The deep dive into how politics shaped the pokemon franchise was fascinating. And your point that "Politics makes art better" is something I whole heartedly believe. I got in an argument a few months back and it was about politics in franchises. The person I was arguing with was complaining about "Politics" ruining franchises, I still to this day don't understand how he didn't see that the franchises he was talking about were political from the start. This was a really cool video and thank you for making it.

[@kaled8839]

politics does make art better when it's implemented well, like the metal gear series, but so many times it's just not. Whenever it has absolutely no nuances AND it's the centerpiece, the art in question just feels like a soulless mouthpiece that a soulless corporation made for money. A good example for this I think is The Boys after season 1, where they just want the main villain to be trump after one of the good writers of the show left. Most people who make the argument of politics ruining franchises really have no idea that politics forms their favourite franchises too, and that's because it's implemented well into the media with nuance, reason for existing the way it does and how it's integrated into the environment. Basically your statement is correct, but I think it only really applies to art that has actual passion behind it.

[@neoqwerty]

@@kaled8839 That's just called shitty writing, and if the politics are shoehorned in believe you me it's not the only thing in the story that's a dumpster fire. Some people just shouldn't be allowed to write for their project (cough cough Fallout Frontier that mod's programmer should have been banned from touching the script).

[@Flasa]

As a Brazilian ally who just discovered your channel, I’m so happy to see someone from our country spreading abroad with such deep and well-explored content. Parabéns pelo seu canal! 😃

[@early_morning_sd_team]

If I had been exposed to trans or nonbinary people when I was younger perhaps it would have been easier to untangle mess that is how I identify. I am Nonbinary and it was so confusing to figure out. Rights are not political, until the government decides that they aren’t protected. We are heading into a scary time especially if project 2025 actually comes into fruition.

[@princeapoopoo5787]

Fun(?) fact, September 11th is another day where encounter rates are lower in Diamond and Pearl! It isn't just Japanese history/politics that gets this nod, but worldwide as well.

[@patawon5782]

I actually didn't know about Junichi Masuda modelling Hoenn after Kyushu. The 3rd gen games were a huge part of my childhood, and the parallels between the weather and nature saving Kokura honestly made me tear up. Thank you for sharing these insights and highlighting more from other creators like Normose, this is an incredibly thoughtful video

[@marine7859]

"Video games are apolitical" Tell that to all the jRPGs like the Tales series and Final Fantasy series, to the Fire Emblem series. To even games like the Kirby series, or the latest absurdity in both political and queer content, the Splatoon series. Nintendo really said "hold my beer" and not just confirmed that one of the main female characters is a lesbian, but also gave a canonically-nonbinary main character in Side Order. There is absolutely no "removing the agenda" from these games that kids and teenagers play, it's been in there all along and it gives them positive representation to better learn about the world and potentially better identify with. People can die mad, it won't change anything. Also Pokemon itself, while being particularly unremarkable on the representation front, has a trans NPC in one of the recent generations. There's a female trainer at one of the battle arena type deals that said she used to be a Black Belt-- a consistently male-only trainer class! Removing genderless Pokemon is also a crime because that means that either Porygon and various legendaries don't exist... or they get the binary imposed upon them. How /dare/ that be done to my favorite virtual duckies!

[@Stathio]

This is (one of the many reasons) why I love Nintendo!

[@Satanika]

I've been almost 20 years on the internet looking for pokémon content daily, I never heard of the implications of the regis locations or corelations between pokémon dates and irl dates, the more you know

[@cecilily]

You should really check out Kaka's video on this, he goes into more detail than I did! The link is in the description :)

[@SuspiciousTemmie]

I hate that my very existence is considered political.

[@vanillasadboi]

honestly as a trans christian i'm tired of seeing fellow christians using the bible or being christian as an excuse for being a bigot :/ what ever happened to love one another as i have loved you? (john 13:34) anyway happy pride month, love is love and trans rights! also if you wanna know more about queer and trans theology the sub r/openchristian is pretty good!

[@zillycat8534]

I also believe in God, and it saddens me too see all of this I’m far far more on the spiritual side though, and go by what feels right And science has shown me that trans people are so much happier as their true identity and that it doesn’t hurt anyone for them to transition! Many of my close friends are trans and I support them so much! 🏳️‍⚧️

[@vanillasadboi]

@@zillycat8534 yeah exactly!!

[@ballonstudios7799]

Samee

[@enigma-the-anomaly]

This was such a great video. Everything is political especially if you’re a minority or marginalized group. When you’re queer or disabled or neurodivergent or a person of color, you don’t get the privilege of being “apolitical” because everything you do or want is politicized when you’re just trying to live your life like everyone else.

[@sillyspider]

transphobic pokemon fans are so weird lmfao like wasn't there trans stuff in the game as early as x and y where a beauty nova npc literally talks about how she used to be a guy but medically transitioned into a girl? i know they removed it in the english localisation, but still, how are you gonna be a transphobe and like such a queer positive series such as pokemon

[@sillyspider]

also shes still trans in the english version too, but instead of mentioning how she used to be a guy but medically transitioned, she mentions how she used to be a black belt (which is an exclusively male trainer class in the game) but she transitioned to her current self instead.

[@sillyspider]

(ive only just started the video so sorry if it gets mentioned in it later and im just repeating things that were already said)

[@Stathio]

Yeah, THAT bigoted fandom drama type stuff is exactly why Nintendo takes action against fangames etc. This is why we can't have nice things. Also, Vivian from Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door is a canon trans woman in English now, so that increased show of support of trans people through that makes me so happy! And I've been saying this for ages- that whole 'no politics allowed!!' mentality is just... impossible. Politics informs everything in our lives, especially art- even in ways we might not immediately recognise. At this point, when people say 'keep politics out of my entertainment' etc., they basically just mean 'keep politics I *don't agree with* out of my entertainment'. They should say what they actually think instead of hiding behind a nonsense impossible statement like that. To paraphrase an insightful reddit comment I saw about that whole issue- 'According to some people, there are two races: white and political. Two sexualities: straight and political. Two genders: male and political.' That's the best way of explaining the hypocrisy of the 'no politics allowed' people in a nutshell that I've yet to see. As a trans person, I *WISH* I didn't have to be political- it's a dark cloud which casts a shadow over our entire lives which we'd LOVE to escape from, but others force it upon us- ironically enough, exactly *BECAUSE* of these 'no politics!' mentalities.

[@neoqwerty]

It means "keep out the politics I don't agree with and can actually spot despite my poor media literacy", to slightly correct you, because the amounts of people I've seen who miss the politics of things like Gundam (anti-war), Getter Robo (nuclear energy, changes from nuclear fears to nuclear hope if respected as the country moved from its war trauma to renewable energy that's safe if properly handled and secured, with side double-message of "imperialism nightmare bad" and "global cooperation good") because they didn't bother to go past giant robots go brrrrrr is. Really telling.

[@imarandomperson761]

That was an incredible video !! When you brought up people complaining about politics in video games I was praying that you'd point out how politics are everywhere and how silly it is to hold an apolitical position, and well I was definitely not disappointed, in fact I learned so much more than I expected. 10/10 video you're super underrated

[@Zistheone2]

Tamahero's retrospective video on Gen 3 also mentions that Team Aqua & Magma's storyline is most likely inspired by the Isahaya Land Reclamation conflict that was taking place during Gen 1 & 2's development

[@Illusn]

I was only vaguely aware of drama going on with Pokérogue, but you covered it, and by extension the politics of Pokémon and Japanese media very well. It hadn't actively considered the cultural impact of nuclear bombs on Pokémon before (despite being aware of the Regi theory). Also, absolute jumpscare seeing my old art at 37:01. It always surprises me to see it crop up in the wild, but I'm glad that it's appreciated.

[@cecilily]

It so nice it was made by you! I found it through Google images, and thought it was super cute! I didn't have any way to contact you, but made sure to leave the signature in each case, happy that you enjoyed the video ✨️

[@iancalhoun7644]

For someone who only subscribed a week or so ago, following the Amoongus video, I'm really excited for this. You have found a great niche in this community, keep it up!!

[@nireus2299]

wait, is that a pink Brazilian flag in the background????? because i need one immediately

[@comyuse9103]

there has been a trend of LGBTQ-ing flags, most suck but a few look _really_ good. there is an unofficial state flag that was LGBTQ'd and i kinda fuck with it, but idk which state flag it was so i can't find it again.

[@johnnysweetly3757]

I just want to play a cool fun pokemon roguelite while also loving and defending my tans friends, but, if I can't do both I guess that's one less dumb game to play.

[@mimejrtwemiwmiw5634]

You shouldn't have to defend your trans friends on a well moderated server. Has nothing to do with the game, they just amassed too big of a community before staffing up seriously. What a weird way of engaging with media

[@JeadyVT]

theres Pokemon Emerald Rogue, which is a romhack that turns Pokemon Emerald into a roguelite with way more depth than pokerogue! and its community is super trans friendly :)

[@comyuse9103]

they aren't roguelikes but pokemon reborn, rejuvenation, and (probably) desolation all have trans characters in them! only reborn is finished and they are all very fanfic-y, but they aren't bigoted and the gameplay is actually a real step up from official pokemon on a fundamental level (they have an actual terrain system, like, being in a cave means using earthquake might drop the ceiling on you and knock out both mons on the field, or diving underwater making fire moves basically useless).

[@ballonstudios7799]

Same

[@tueboys1]

The demonstration of how a silly collectible monster game is actually tied to the horror of the nuclear bomb and how kaijus are an expression of the post ww2 terror was incredible! I learned so much and even though I shared your starting point that art is political wether we want it or not, I never knew about the Hoenn region inspiration or even the Japanese theory of the regi trio. Such a great video!

[@Normoe445]

Clicked cuz I didn't realize there was any drama around PokeRogue, stayed cuz I was entrapped by the sudden deep dive and cultural analysis

[@dragonslair951167]

You cannot escape politics, you can only turn a blind eye to them.

[@mossy9210]

It’s funny how Pokémon is inseparable from its queer fans and yet it’s so difficult to find Pokémon KZbinrs who are queer, I’m so glad I found your channel because not only was your nuzlocke video very fun to watch and kept me on the edge of my seat, but you also have many videos like this where people can learn more about what Pokémon can mean to us outside of a superficial standpoint.

[@tsifirakiehl4250]

Alpharad is bi and Jaiden Animations is aroace. Granted, neither of them are exclusively Pokémon channels, but they do both make Pokémon content.

[@tsifirakiehl4250]

Oh, and Bloody is trans! (She’s mostly a Twitch streamer, but she also does KZbin content.)

[@sopadumacacoumadelicia5]

I recommend FlygonHG. He isn't queer as far as I know but he is a great ally

[@mr.cauliflower3536]

On the note of everything being political, the very essence of Ruby&Sapphire is a political statement about land "reclamation" that was happenning in Japan, where enviornmentalists wanted to reflood the "reclaimed" land to restore nature, and farmers wanted even more land reclamation to be able to grow more crops, which is mirrored in teams magma and aqua.

[@Sincald]

Excellent video, especially the deeper dive into the inherent politics and counterculture in Japan. I had never heard about Masuda's Hoenn-Kyushu correlation and the weather trio fan theory, or the origin of kawaii culture being for rebellion and facilitating activist organising. And the parts about "apolitical" being a political position, and that creators of art are unavoidably products of their own political environment! Just a lot of great stuff, thank you Cecilily 🙏

[@suelime8207]

Oh, thanks for almost literally projecting my thoughts lol! Also i wanted to add that despite the gradual shift in quality that the series have (as it usually goes for, you know, the longest something manages to stay alive under capitalism), it's wild to me that game freak has really went out of their ways to include political readings in EVERY single mainline games Like, one of the main thing on why i used to be super on the fence about Gen 6 is because i thought (maybe in short sighed way) that megas and their pokedex entries were compromising the idea that only a trainer and/or a pokemon should get to decide it themselves and not something forced or hurtful at any point (ie the red gyarados story and the whole friendship evolution mechanic revolving around respect and trust) But even then i wasn't fully seeing the reading that (even if it WAS made to be super edgy to sell more merch obviously), mega evolution being the nuclear fallout consequences brought by the firing of the Ultimate Weapon really was ultimately about facing the trauma of genocide, not turning a blind eye to the very real and visible physical impact forced on nature that “technological achievement” used for war ultimately bring, and still trying in the end to find ways to care and coexist by never forgetting about the consequences of cruelty

[@suelime8207]

Also i forgot because i got carried away, but thanks for the work you put into this vid, it really shows and it's super great as a result!

[@1ntr0spect98]

i have one question, is there still transphobic people within the development/moderation team? as a gender non conforming person i dont want to support projects that harm myself and my community, but pokerogue is so damn fun. please let me know!

[@nanto_naku]

Your video made me scream upon the realization that the weather trio (my favorite legendaries) were an allegory to that event, amazin video, you gained a new subscriber. I really really love pokemon

[@hivickb]

Fantastic video! I think you did the topic a great service by including a bit about the history of politics in pokemon in addition to simply covering the pokerogue controversy.

[@gabe_0364]

A bandeira trans-brasil é LINDA mds como eu nunca tinha visto??

[@cecilily]

Procura bandeyranacional no instagram!

[@EuphratesCanyon]

This video was so genuinely touching. Thank you for all your hard work & research on this, especially for all the attention to the truly human impact of the nuclear bombings. Plenty of attention has been paid to the days of the bombings themselves; far less attention has been paid to the weeks, years, and decades of impact thereafter. The 'sky saving Hoenn' truly brought tears to my eyes. On the overall topic of the video: disinterest in politics is fundamentally a class privilege; as you said "I don't have an option to not care about politics." Well said. Your perspective and presence is greatly appreciated! I look forward to the next topics you discuss :)

[@mayflower2765]

thank you cecilily, you inspire me to hopefully make my own videos one day

[@cecilily]

Go do them! My biggest regret is not having started earlier!

[@paulapanizzon8900]

omg I was shocked to hear Ora Thiago while watching this, I did a double take when you talked about them. Never thought of hearing about a brazilian youtuber by a english speaking one, then I slowly realized you are also brazilian. Fantastic video, we share a lot of views

[@krystofsobotka3069]

It's really silly that anyone would say they want their games or any media "apollitical", because there isn't even such thing as that. Unless you're watching a kitten playing in the grass, most things will be political, even as unassuming games like the first Sonic the Hedgehog, Super Mario World, or hell even Animal Crossing (before it was butchered later on) has a major political thing going on. 95% of all media you consume has some kind of a political message behind it, like it or not.

[@technobeagle9598]

Man the stuff about the history fucked me all up. Especially everting about hoen. But the ending quote where he talks about a leaf being a symbol of peace, how important he felt it was, and the fact that it got shipped out as red and blue. Fuck

[@neoqwerty]

In the positive: at least the remake went with LeafGreen?

[@asmontosborne3111]

Hi, new subscriber here. I was just blown away by the quality of this video, and the Hoenn section had me hooked from start to finish. You're right, a lot of this information is unknown in the West, and I cannot imagine why (actually, I can). The whole premise of "X is not political" feels like a fever dream to me, so it's always nice to see it dismantled.

[@edsonribeiro8063]

Im love this is not just another drama video, but a conversation on how politics and life experience molds art. Also... chocado que vc é brasilieira, amo o canal 😊🫶

[@willdaniel5124]

When you've mentioned the weather protecting Fukuoka... That hit me, thank you for giving that important background to the story of that game. I'm sure the author Masuda would be happy knowing more people now understand a bit more about not only where he came from, but how his experience with that place shaped him; and how he paid homage, in a way, to a place dearly beloved to him that will probably stick with more than a generation. I hope this also helps people remember that artists are people, and that all of us have a deep desire to share our experiences with others and they affect the roots of most of our works. We cannot separate the artist and their art, and we can't separate socio-economic context from the artist, therefore we can't separate the context of the artist from the art; even with a whole team working on a project, all of their shared experiences will influence the end result in some way. Thank you again for reminding me of this, amazing video, I will finish watching it now

[@AltrTheEgo]

You know, looking back on it I thought it was weird my kirlia evolved into a Gallade through level up in my run.

[@an_annoying_cat]

the thing about the weather saving a city possibly tying into rayquaza, just wow. great video

[@kindestegg9989]

it always strikes me that whenever people say things like "omg stop talking about politics!" they usually mean "stop saying opinions that are different from mine, i dont want to question my views!" ah e oiiee br :3 valeu pelo video, passei um montaooo de tempo jogando pokerogue até que me cansei e daí eu vejo o seu vídeo nos recomendados hoje e fiquei tipo OPA quero saber o que aconteceu........... super bem feito gostei bastante

[@matt91_]

Just sat through all the 44 minutes, and I gotta say this was one of the best videos I've watched recently. I usually don't like listening to "serious" topics in my free time, but you made it all very entertaining and easy to digest that I thoroughly enjoyed it. If most political videos out there were 'civil' as this, maybe I wouldn't be so put off by those. Amazing work, liked and subscribed.

[@uchuflowerzone]

this explains why I love Hoenn so much!! things like nostalgia and connection to nature are my favorite themes in art and it's so special to know how deeply they influenced Hoenn and how personal it was to Junichi Masuda. and this essay was so great! not just the content but the formatting/structure, everything!

[@darkestlight660]

This video actually got me to subscribe, it wasnt just a description about the situation, it was an analysis and break down of some of the ideology behind it. Its really good! Looking forward to your next one

[@ryzekiv7147]

8:30 “Can’t have a male looking lkke that…” [Knights of the Round Table have entered the chat] [ancient Grecian Philosopher has entered the chat] [Roman Centurian has entered the chat] [British schoolboy dealing with a heatwave has entered the chat] [William Wallace has entered the chat] [Toga Party Enthusiast has entered the chat] [Cloud Strife has entered the chat] [Bugs Bunny has entered the chat] [Ra has entered the chat] [Anubis has entered the chat] [several Herculeses have entered the chat] [You take a swig from your trusty Pokémon Ranger Canteen]

[@commonbridge4735]

Bugs Bunny?

[@ryzekiv7147]

@@commonbridge4735 kzbin.info/www/bejne/rnStnoprhq6Eibcfeature=shared