Twitch Plays Pokemon

Okay. Yeah. I caved in.

I only popped in a little during Twitch Plays Pokemon Red, but the fandom around it (and the completion of the game) got me really interested when Crystal started being played. Plus Gold/Ethan is my favourite trainer to begin with, so I can't help but get quickly attached to poor AJ.

Honestly, I feel like the Mob is Missingno in-universe, or something. We're certainly chaotic enough for it. And yeah, I do subscribe to the theory that Red/AJ are possessed, not that they have a mental disorder (although their possession is probably seen as a disorder by NPCs). The "schizophrenia" theory honestly sounds like people trying to get either a quick gag or ~extreme drama~ out of mental illness, which isn't cool.
As someone who struggles with intrusive thoughts, seeing art of Red and especially AJ (who is portrayed more as a little kid than Red is) dealing with it and being helped by other NPCs is heartwarming, but most of the Mob probably doesn't intend it to be in that way. A lot of it comes off as supposed to be ~inspirational~ that a disabled kid got all the way to the League and won, but it comes off as being gross. You can still have a ~tragic~ character in this context without making a big glorified show on mental illness.

Then again I'm kind of weird. I see Red and AJ as being possessed, but when I draw AJ (in doodles I won't post here because they're really messy) I tend to vent through my own feelings about my mental issues. Life is weird.

wow where did this rant even come from, sorry