Giratina rant
So replaying Platinum and I picked up Legends: Arceus again, and I am in the mood to blabble about Giratina for a bit.
Spoiler warning for those who haven’t played Legends: Arceus - highly recommend it if you want more insight into Sinnoh’s lore. (I’d suggest playing DPPt first to get a feel for Gen 4, Arceus is much more enjoyable if you can pick up on the references!) Or just - spoilers for gen 4 all around, the movies, the games, you name it KJSHG
And this got dangerously long, and will most likely not make any sense skjgh get your tinfoil hats on.
So, the biggest thing about it, is that it was banished for its violence, right. So, it outright states it’s got a very destructive nature. I mean, in PLA it flat-out tore a rift in space-time to strike down Arceus, making some form of pact with Volo during the process, and it didn’t hold back in its fight against the player, either. It being violent is not a secret.
But then I think of the events of Platinum - when it interfered with Cyrus, and more specifically Cynthia’s text in Masters - where she believes Giratina to be a kind soul. Not to mention Laventon’s theory after you catch Giratina, where he states it was no match for the player - and chose to defend the world afterwards, rather than continue to destroy it.
And that makes me think - why would a creature that people see it as the definition of darkness and malice - do acts that are the opposite? Quite a few of these are in the Pokemon movies where it appears - when it helped Ash battle Zero, and help him escape the Reverse World. Or earlier in the movie, where it allowed Pikachu to sit on its horns (crown??) and even Shaymin, who was mortally scared of Giratina, grew fond of it. Not to mention it was surrounded by many Pokemon during the movie - this makes me think that, not only did they know how important Giratina’s duty is in the other world, but they feel okay enough to approach the bloody thing. If this legendary creature really was as violent as researchers describe it - or myths - then I doubt those Pokemon would be willing to step close at all.
Now, does this exactly redeem any past violent actions? Honestly I’d argue no, the damage was done - time doesn’t heal everything, and I imagine after the stories of Giratina being passed down for generations, Giratina might as well be a symbol of destruction, and few people might be willing to see its good sides. (Its certainly got the right appearance of a demon alright, the Asmodeus of Pokemon LOL)
I think its more a case of. Its heart is in the right place, but the way Giratina goes about it is where it gets conflicting. So, I imagine, in general its got a dangerously short fuse - that much was established in the dex entries. But I kind of imagine it to have a very black and white way of thinking. So, instead of seeing things that have both good and bad things - it views them as ‘you’re not a threat’ or ‘you are a minimal threat - but still a threat, and I’m not taking any chances with you’ and more often than not resorts to violent actions.
Heck, in the Sky Warrior movie, Giratina was pretty aggressive with Shaymin, even though it meant no harm and just wanted to break Dialga’s timeloop - it certainly went about it the violent way and tried to trigger it through fear.
You could argue Cyrus’ fate was a merciful one. Forever trapped in a universe with no other living being aside from him and its deity. No real sound, no sunlight, no... nothing. Like being trapped in a completely hollow terrain. His life was spared, but then the idea of being stuck in a completely different world that’s so huge, yet to hollow, is haunting to think about.
Would I call Giratina evil - definitely not. Its not a pure creature either, not by a long-shot. Its very heavily flawed and chaos follows it everywhere, it might as well be the embodiment of it. But after the events of PLA, we see it show many generous acts - if we take the movie (Giratina and the Sky Warrior) - it was very violent starting off, but after Shaymin healed it, and Ash fought alongside it - it stuck with it. It doesn’t forget kind actions. And it remembered that in the Arceus and the Jewel of Life movie, where it finally dropped its grudge with Dialga.
I think its a deity with a very rigid line of thinking, either you’re a threat or you’re not. It’s fully capable of forgiving (Dialga and Palkia after the Rise of Darkrai movie) even when it was hell-bent on fighting them, Dialga especially.
This entire post is me really stretching things like this is Mr Fantastic from the fantastic four, but - listen. I like to imagine Giratina to be a very complicated deity to understand. I don’t think it’s the pure manifestation of evil with no redeeming qualities, but I don’t think it’s a flawless, pure being either. It’s in that chaotic center - so really - I think Giratina, after PLA, does have good intentions, and does want to defend the world - but the way it goes about it is morally questionable, because, as we all know, it is violent by nature.
Now, put on a second tinfoil hat on top of the first one.
And that is what most likely earned its banishment - and that’s what might have caused it to become increasingly violent. Anger is an emotion that often comes out to defend you when you feel like you’re faced with injustice and don’t deserve this. Whatever it was, Giratina might’ve thought the destruction it caused at some point was justified or the lesser evil, done for the greater good.
Arceus didn’t see the devastation as justified at all, and thus banished one of the members of the creation trio. And Giratina became furious - because it thought it did good - it went to drastic lengths to do good. And is now being punished for what it thought was an act of sacrifice to protect the world. (what exactly this ‘destruction event’ was, idk, but if it deserves banishment it had to be nasty - you have pokemon that dissolve others with acid and drink their juices or kidnap children and those weren’t banished JKSHGD)
So this form of ‘injustice’ from Giratina’s POV, might’ve caused it to become vengeful, and increasingly more violent - and this might’ve been what led to its pact with Volo to destroy Arceus, and cause the events of PLA. Giratina, at the time, didn’t think it deserved this punishment. Perhaps only after the player in PLA defeated it, both at the Temple of Sinnoh and in Turnback Cave - it might’ve started considering that perhaps - perhaps - it was a suitable punishment after all.
And perhaps, after... maybe decades - centuries, even - of fury, grief, hatred and isolation, it did in fact, earn the title of ‘renegade’ and it was better off in its own universe - only allowed to interact with the real world under very specific circumstances. (Mostly when some form of ‘glitch’ happens between dimensions, either because of Cyrus, or Volo).
It’s a very chaotic being, both in terms of its actions and in terms of understanding it, and Giratina is aware of it - and I imagine it often struggles to understand itself.
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SUPPORT ALL THE BE MY FAVORITE FIC PLEASE <3
I need everyone in the world to know that a friend of mine is writing a Witcher AU starring Kawi and Pisaeng from Be My Favorite and I’m reading an early draft of it on my lunch breaks and it’s become the best part of my day.
This thing is likely gonna be over 60k when it’s finished, and I’m really gonna need everyone in the world to leave kudos and comments on this fic when it’s done because my god she’s making an incredible piece of fiction and it’s so ludicrously charming. I don’t even play the Witcher games, I just casually watched the Netflix show and I don’t even think you need to have seen that to keep up. She’s just doing an incredible job.
I’m so happy our little time travel show is still attracting such incredible talented writers and such fun, exciting ideas in fanwork.
If you haven’t been keeping up with the AO3 tag obsessively like me:
Along with the stupefyingly, brilliantly executed genius of Mr. and Mrs. Smith AU Mr. and Mr. Jirawarakul (50k and one more chapter to go!!!) by Looorelai, there’s the nuanced The Long Way Home by saisei about the after-effects of Pisaeng’s time travel, and the punch-you-in-the-soul twist of Writing Ourselves on the Walls of our Future Hearts by Synergic.
Be My Favorite has had some incredible fics written for it.
If you loved the series and you’re missing it and KawiPi, I highly, highly encourage you to check out the tag or my bookmarks.
Tiny fandoms like BMF truly flourish when there’s warmth for them to grow by—or at least glow at a consistent rate. So when you read any fic ever and it makes you happy, please leave kudos and comments if you have the bandwidth. Especially if it’s old. Especially if the fandom seems tiny. It will mean more to them than you may realize; it may even mean the difference between that writer never writing in that fandom again and writing more.
An ember can start a fire.
Just as an example, I left a long comment recently on Clawed by daisydiversions in which Famous AU Kawi and Pisaeng (mostly Pisaeng) are battling a crane game in Japan, and the writer responded thus:
I thought, “Ooh, my screaming nonsense gave them a fic idea! That’s fun!”
Two days later, I had a notification in my inbox!!
And like! I get it! I wrote my 38k WinTeam fic Fireproof on the strength of my friend screaming at me after every chapter posted as well as the comments screaming even more. If I had been writing that on my own with no engaged readership, I would’ve gotten bored and unmotivated and given it up.
I’m not saying, “Leave comments in case the writers will write you fic.” I included that example as a, “Look what unbridled enthusiasm and active community spirit can inspire when we reach out to artists and tell them we appreciate what they created!”
It could inspire more fic, sure, but more importantly: it’ll make writers feel like we aren’t pantomiming for a silent, uninterested audience. That’s how fandoms survive for ten, twenty years. Or longer. Not just through love for canon.
We thrive because we show love for each other. Love for the stories and art we share with each other. Love for the community we’ve gathered.
Love is what brought us to fandom in the first place, after all. That’s where we excel. <3
A nice comment on a fic might be the difference between someone staying in fandom and leaving. You’re more influential than you know, and you can evoke incredible joy in people’s lives with a simple, “I loved this, thank you for sharing!”
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Also, also, Jimmy Jr
Woohoo!! The only boy ever, the dancing queen himself, Jimmy Jr. I'm lowkey sweating a bit because I want to do your favorite boy justice.
First impression: I was very normal about Jimmy Jr. at first (please don't come for me--) I just didn't have a very strong opinion about him. I thought he was funny, and a decent love interest for Tina, but I didn't think much of him. I did think the whole Romeo & Juliet thing he had going on with Tina was pretty great, but other than that, I was pretty normal about him.
Impression now: I hope you know you've made me appreciate him so much more, and now I find myself randomly thinking about him. I think he's an interesting character to analyze, especially when it comes to his daddy issues with Jimmy Pesto Sr., And analyzing how he expresses himself through dance is really fun. He's quite a relatable character. You've given me brainrot, DT, I hope you're happy, pffffffft.
Favorite moment: One of my absolute favorite quotes in the entire show actually is "DON'T TELL ME NOT TO DANCE, DAD!! 😤" I kid you not, it makes me wheeze every time. And the moment when he takes Tina out on a date to Fro-Yo Mama in What A (April Fool) Believes is so sweet (awesome frozen yogurt shop name, by the way).
Idea for a story: Ooooooh, maybe a story that delves deep into his daddy issues with Jimmy Pesto Sr. would be great. Or one that delves deep into his relationship with his mom, because we haven't seen her yet. Though, I would also love to see something centered around his relationship with Andy and Ollie. We need more Pesto Brothers lore!!
Unpopular opinion: Oh my god, what are some people's problems with Jimmy Jr.?? Why can't we all just get along and appreciate his weird, wonderful dancing?? I swear, every time he appears, it stirs up some sort of controversy within the community, and frankly, I'm so tired of it. He's a great character, and I will not hear otherwise. He's thirteen and doesn't treat her that much badly than Zeke. I said it!!
Favorite relationship: I love his relationship with Zeke, it's hilarious. I still keep thinking about when he wanted to catch a chicken nugget in his mouth in the movie and Zeke was helping him. That was great. However, I do love analyzing his relationship with Tina. The two of them are so fun and chaotic together. I will say, @babsvibes said it best, but one of my favorite aspects about their relationship, whether romantic or platonic, is that Jimmy Jr. loves it when Tina is mean, and she can get mean. Their stupid competition on who can run the fastest during The Gene Mile?? I love it. And it goes to show that Tina can be just as mean to J Ju as he can be to her. It's mutual 😌
Favorite headcanon: Jimmy Jr. is a redhead and I will not hear otherwise. DT, ever since you began drawing him with red hair, I've been so obsessed. Now every time I've drawn him (which honestly hasn't been enough, I want to draw him again) I always make him a redhead. It just works so well!! I like to think him and Andy and Ollie all got their hair from their mom. I'm really glad that he didn't inherit Jimmy Pesto Sr.'s butt chin--
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