#adventures in speculative decision making

[artbyblastweave]

So how does the real world history affect the themes of Watchmen? Gorbachev tried to reform the USSR through Perestroika, then dissolved the whole thing peacefully. I think it helps the themes of ambiguity, uncertainty, and who we allow to make major decisions. Adrian may have been smart, but he wasn't omniscient, he couldn't peer back the Iron Curtain and see a failing system.

An interesting element of Watchmen- and, I believe, a very deliberate one- is that despite the fact that nuclear war requires two to tango, we never actually get a direct Soviet perspective on anything that's happening. Instead, they haunt the narrative; we hear about but don't see any of their actions. We get characters speculating on the motives and behaviors of a doom that, from the perspective of every viewpoint character, might as well come from nowhere, present in their lives only in the sudden appearance of a flash of light on the horizon. Milton Glass writes a whole screed about how lingering trauma from World War Two has baked a willingness to fight to the death into the Soviet national character, but we never get a Soviet character who can confirm that that's the mindset at play. In contrast, we have Rorschach's unwavering certainty that the Reds are "running scared," and, following Manhattan's exile, that they're an intuitive suspect. We get a sequence of Nixon and his advisors trying to guess what the Soviets are planning to do, all while Nixon bemoans having adopted a "mad bomber" persona on the world stage because that's not eliciting the reaction they were hoping for. We've got armchair geopolitical analyst Bernie talking about how they've got to nuke them before they nuke us, because they'd do the same in our position. And, of course, as you've mentioned, Adrian's entire plan is based on being able to accurately predict the immediate behavior of the Soviets in response to the alien- which it seems like he did, but that's ultimately kind of a coin flip, wasn't it? There's not that many things that someone could do, in response to that. We're treated to whole rooms full of analysts expressing uncertainty about which direction in which the Soviets will jump if poked- are you sure that throwing aliens into the mix won't just freak everyone out even more? And so on.

I think this is one of the ways in which Watchmen is actively hewing to genre norms as a means of criticizing them- the superheroic mindset was, traditionally, extremely provincial, often jingoistic and deeply unconcerned with rendering Those Bastards Over There as actual people responding to stimuli and incentives and emotions running hot- just a big, malevolent, moustache-twirling blob, a ready-made source of Black Widows and Titanium Men and Radioactive Men and Abominations and Crimson Dynamos, out to destroy our way of life. And so in this story we get upwards of half a dozen masked adventurers who're deeply concerned with the Russians in a very abstract sense, who never bother to actually talk to one.

Even in the 1980s, you wouldn't need an involved understanding of the inner workings of the USSR to be able to infer that the existence of a military Superhuman gap would make everything much, much worse. We, as readers, know that the existence of superheroes, and more specifically one superpowered American, are the direct reason that this world is significantly closer to open nuclear war than our own world was at the time of writing in the 1980s, but the heroes themselves don't have our knowledge of the counterfactual timeline. It's an idea that exists in the world (see again Milton Glass) but they themselves don't seem to have internalized the sense that they're why this is happening. They couldn't really exist the way they do, if they're the kind of people who could entertain that.

Anyway, this is why I consider Deniz Camp's 20th Century Men an important response and/or companion piece to Watchmen; an alternate history where the Soviets deploy superhumans in Afghanistan in the 1980s, it's much more actively concerned with the experiences and outlooks of those we didn't get to hear from during Watchmen proper. This includes the Soviets, but also the people of Afghanistan, sick as they are of their country being treated like a geopolitical tetherball- untold human suffering experienced, from the perspective of the cast of Watchmen, as set-dressing in the headlines, building up to the possibility of something bad actually happening to Americans for once.

[felassan]

Dragon Age: The Veilguard info compilation Post 1

Post is under a cut due to length.

There is a lot of information coming out right now about DA:TV from many different sources. This post is just an effort to compile as much as I can in one place, in case that helps anyone. Sources for where the information came from have been included. Where I am linking to a social media user's post, the person is either a dev, a Dragon Age community council member or other person who has had a sneak peek at and played the game. nb, this post is more of a 'info that came out in snippets from articles and social media posts' collection rather than a 'regurgitating the information on the official website or writing out what happened in the trailer/gameplay reveal' post. The post is broken down into headings on various topics. A few points are repeated under multiple headings where relevant. Where I am speculating without a source, I have clearly demarcated this. if you notice any mistakes in this post, please tell me.

as this post hit a kind of character limit, there will probably be at least 1 more post. :)

Character Creation

CC is vast [source] and immensely detailed [source]

We will enter CC straight after Varric's opening narration [source]

You are given 5 categories to work your way through in CC: Lineage, Appearance, Class, Faction, Playstyle. Each of these has a range of subcategories within them. There are 8 subcategories within the "head" subcategory" in "Appearance" alone [source]

Lineage dictates things like race (i.e. human, elf, dwarf, qunari) and backstory [source]

Backstories include things like factions. Factions offer 3 distinct buffs each [source]

There are dozens and dozens of hairstyles [source]

There are separate options for binary and non-binary pronouns and gender [source]

"BioWare's work behind the scenes, meanwhile, goes as deep as not only skin tones but skin undertones, melanin levels, and the way skin reacts differently to light" [source]

CC has a range of lighting options within it so that you can check how the character looks in them [source]

There are a range of full-body customization options such as a triangular slider between body types and individual settings down to everything from shoulder width to glute volume [source]. There are "all the sliders [we] could possibly want". The body morpher option allows us to choose different body sizes [source]

All body options are non-gendered [source]

They/them pronouns are an option [source]

Rook can be played as non-binary [source]

Individual strands of hair were rendered separately and react remarkably to in-game physics [source]

Special, focused attention was paid to ensuring that hairstyles "come across as well-representative, that everyone can see hairstyles that feel authentic to them, even the way they render" [source]

The game uses strand hair technology borrowed in part from the EA Sports games. The hair is "fully-controlled by physics," so it "looks even better in motion than it does here in a standstill" [source]

The ability to import our choices from previous games is fully integrated into CC. This will take the form of tarot cards - "you can go into your past adventures" and this mechanic tells you what the context was and what decision you want to make [source]

In CC we will also be able to customize/remake our Inquisitor [source]

A core tenet of the game is "be who you want to be" [source]

There are presets for all 4 of the game's races (human, elf, dwarf, qunari), in case detailed CCs overwhelm you [source]

Story

The story is set 9 years since Inquisition [source]

The Inquisitor will appear [source]

Other characters refer to the PC as Rook [source]. This article says they are "the Rook" [source]

The ability to import our choices from previous games is fully integrated into CC. This will take the form of tarot cards - "you can go into your past adventures" and this mechanic tells you what the context was and what decision you want to make [source]

The prologue is quite lengthy. A narrated intro from Varric lays the groundwork with some lore and explains about Solas [source]. In this Varric-narrated opening section, the dwarf recaps the events of previous games and explains the motivations of Solas [source] (Fel note/speculation: this sounds like this cinematic that we saw on DA Day 2023)

What happens first off is that Rook, who is working with Varric, is interrogating a bartender about the whereabouts of a contact in Minrathous who can help them stop Solas. The bartender does not play nice and we are presented with our first choice: talk the bartender down or intimidate them aggressively [source]

The first hour of the game is "a luxurious nighttime romp through a crumbling city under a mix of twinkling starlight and lavish midnight blue" (Minrathous) [source]. The game begins with a tavern brawl (depending on dialogue options) and a stroll through Minrathous in search of Neve Gallus, who has a lead on Solas [source]. Minrathous then comes under attack [source] by demons [source] (Fel note/speculation: it sounds like the demo the press played is what we saw in the Gameplay Reveal). Off in the distance is a vibrant, colorful storm where Solas is performing his ritual. [source] Eventually we come upon Harding. [source] and Neve. Rook and co enter a crumbling castle, where ancient elf secrets pop up, "seemingly just for the lore nerds". [source] Then we teleport to Arlathan Forest, have a mini boss fight with a Pride Demon, and there is the climactic confrontation with Solas. After a closing sequence, at this point it is the end of the game's opening mission. [source] (Fel note/speculation: So the Gameplay Reveal showed the game's opening mission)

The action in the story's opening parts starts off quite quick from the sounds of things: the devs wanted to get the player right in to the story. because, “Especially with an RPG where they can be quite lore-heavy, a lot of exposition at the front and remembering proper nouns, it can be very overwhelming.” [source]

BioWare wanted to make the beginning of Dragon Age: The Veilguard feel like the finale of one of their other games [source]

Rook's Faction will be referenced in dialogue [source]

Minrathous is beautiful, with giant statues, floating palaces, orange lantern glow and magical runes which glow green neon. These act "like electricity" as occasional signs above pubs and stores [source]

The story has a lot of darkness tonally. These dark parts of the game contain the biggest spoilers [source]. However, the team really wanted to build in contrast between the dark and light moments in the game, as if everything is dark, nothing really feels dark [source]

Our hub (like the Normandy in ME or Skyhold in DA:I) is a place called The Lighthouse [source] (Fel note/speculation: I guess this screenshot shows the crew in The Lighthouse? ^^)

Each companion has a very complex backstory, their own problems, and deep motivations. These play out through well-fleshed out character arcs and missions that are unique to them but which are ultimately tied into the larger story [source]

We will make consequential decisions for each character, sometimes affecting who they are in heart-wrenching ways and other times joyously [source]

Decisions from previous DA games will be able to be carried over, it will just work a bit differently this time [source]. The game will not read our previous saves. For stuff pertaining to previous games/choices, players will not have to link their accounts [source]

Characters, companions, romance

Varric is a major character [source]

Every companion is romanceable [source]

BioWare tried to make each character's friendship just as meaningful, regardless of romance [source]

If you don't romance a character, they may end up romancing each other [source]

There will be some great cameos [source]. Some previous characters are woven into the game [source]

Companion sidequests/optional content relating to companions is highly curated when it involves their motivations and experiences [source]

We could permanently lose some companions depending on our choices [source]

Our choices can influence if characters get injured and what they think about us [source]

The bonds Rook forges with companions determine how party members grow and what abilities become available [source]

Each companion has a very complex backstory, their own problems, and deep motivations. These play out through well-fleshed out character arcs and missions that are unique to them but which are ultimately tied into the larger story [source]

We will make consequential decisions for each character, sometimes affecting who they are in heart-wrenching ways and other times joyously [source]

Gameplay, presentation, performance etc

Each class (warrior, rogue, mage) has 3 specializations. The ones for Rogue are duelist, saboteur and Veil ranger [source]. (Fel note/speculation: Veil ranger reminds me of Bellara. Maybe this is her 'spec' too?)

Duelist gameplay involves a sharp combination of dashes, parries, leaps, rapid slashes and combos [source]

Faction-related buffs include being able to hold an extra potion or do extra damage against certain enemies [source]

Individual strands of hair were rendered separately and react remarkably to in-game physics [source]

Playstyle settings include custom, distinct difficulty settings for options as granular as parry windows, meaning "players who might fancy that playstyle but typically struggle with the finer points of combat can give it a go" [source]

Combat mechanics is a mix of real-time action and pause and play. Pausing brings up a radial menu split into 3 sections: companions to the left and right, Rook's skills at the bottom, and a targeting system at the top which helps get in focus on certain enemies. [source]. In the pause system you can queue up your whole party's attacks [source]

Tapping or holding the shoulder button pauses the game, allowing us to stop the action and issue orders to companions [source]

There is a system of specific enemy resistances and weaknesses [source]. Weaknesses and resistances plays a big role in combat and abilities are designed to exploit these accordingly [source]. An example is that "one character might be able to plant a weakening debuff on an enemy, and another enemy might be able to detonate them" [source]

There is a vast skill tree of unlockable options [source]

You can set up specific companions with certain kits, e.g. to tackle specific enemy types, to being more of a support, or as flexible all-rounders [source]

Healing magic returns [source]

Abilities can change together with elaborate results, e.g. one companion using a gravity well attack that sucked enemies together, another using a slowing move to keep them in place, and Rook using a big AOE to catch them all at once [source]

A shortcut system lets you map a few abilities to a smaller pinned menu at the bottom of the screen [source]

There are class-specific resource systems. For example, Rogue has "momentum", which builds up as Rook lands consecutive hits [source]

Each class will always have a ranged option [source]

Rogue Rook can do a sort of 'hip fire' option with a bow, letting you pop off arrows from the waist [source]

Warriors can throw their shield at enemies, and can build an entire playstyle around that using the skill tree [source]

There is light platforming gameplay [source]

The game runs on the latest iteration of the Frostbite engine [source]

The game targets 60 fps

On consoles it will feature performance and quality modes so we can choose our preferred visual fidelity [source]

The game is mission based [source]. Some levels that we go to do open up, some with more exploration than others. "Alternate branching paths, mysteries, secrets, optional content you're going to find and solve." [source]

Everything is hand-touched, hand-crafted and highly curated [source]

Some sidequests and optional content is highly curated, especially when it involves the motivations and experiences of the companions. In others we may be investigating for example a missing family, with an entire open bog environment to search for clues and a way to solve the disappearance [source]

Gameplay, presentation, performance etc continued, after the above bullet list hit a character limit

There is sophisticated animation cancelling and branching. Gameplay is action-like, and the design centers around dodging, countering, and using risk-reward charge attacks designed to break enemy armor layers [source]

The dialogue wheel returns [source]. It gives truncated summaries of the dialogue options rather than the full line that the character is going to say [source]

The bonds Rook forges with companions determine how party members grow and what abilities become available [source]

For stuff pertaining to previous games/choices, players will not have to link their accounts [source]

We can play the game fully offline [source]

There are no microtransactions [source]

The game itself is not as cell-shaded in look as the first trailer looked [source]

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[f1byjessie]

HE LIKES MY AMERICAN SMILE ━━ OP81. [REWRITE]

he may not be a london boy, but you love him all the same, and you’re about to learn the hard way that loving someone can be a wild ride.

( oscar piastri x sargeant!reader )

━━ part one.

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yourusername me and london boy have made so many memories here together and i’ll cherish them forever ❤️. i love this sport and i love the people i've met in this sport. i'll always love it and them, but sometimes you have to take a step back and set your sights on new horizons. that said, neither of us will be competing in any events this year— endurance or otherwise. london boy will stay in richmond and continue to receive the best care possible from people who have grown to love him as much as i do, and in the meantime, i'll start looking to those other horizons.

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user wishing you the best of luck!! we’ll miss seeing you and london boy, but we know this decision wasn’t made lightly and we hope whatever you do will make you just as happy as riding does!!

user london boy lives a more luxurious life than i could ever hope 

↳ user real like why am i jealous of a horse 😭😭

↳ user knowing how well these horses are treated? we should all be jealous

↳ user some of these horses have rain coats that cost more than my entire wardrobe combined… the day i learned that was not a fun day… 😔

user honestly only ever tuned in to watch you both

user the events won’t be the same without you!!!

user I’LL MISS YOU LONDON BOY

user take all the time you need to explore other options! you can love something and still get burnt out on it. sometimes taking that step away can be the decision that allows us to continue loving something instead of growing resentful towards it. do what you need to do to be happy! 🫶

↳ user this is such a good way to put it!!

↳ user THIS. i did competitive jumping for ten years and towards the end of that time i started seeing it more as a chore than the sport i used to be so passionate about. you absolutely CAN love something and still get burnt out on it. taking breaks is so important.

user i’m sure london boy will miss you but you do you girliepop! take a trip or go on an adventure!

user oh to be a girl riding her horse across the beach at sunrise 🥲

↳ user IKR?!? talk about dream life, she’s literally living out scenes that i’ve only ever seen in movies

↳ user it’s london boy’s world and we’re all just living in it

user wait does this mean no more horse content???

↳ user i mean she’s not getting rid of her horse or even outright retiring, she just won’t be riding competitively for 2023

user is she leaving the uk or smth?? bc she said other ppl will be looking after london boy?? i know nothing about horses guys i’m sorry

↳ user london boy will be staying at the stables as per her caption! he will be looked after by many trained professionals who will ensure he is properly fed, watered, exercised, and groomed each day! it’s actually very common for people to board their horses at a stable since horses often need large fields to graze and exercise in, and not a lot of people have big enough backyards or own property to be able to provide that themselves. whether she’s leaving the uk or not, we don’t know, but it definitely sounds like her training with london boy will be put on hold for the time being!

user miss girl we’ll always remember you and london boy as the greatest duo in endurance racing history

↳ user REAL REAL REAL

user does this have to do with her falling off a few months back??

↳ user it could, she did mention the encounter leaving her pretty shaken

↳ user yeah but the possibility of something like this happening is so high that a lot of riders have accepted it as an inevitable occurrence in their career

↳ user even still, that doesn’t change the fact that she could very well be traumatized or experiencing lingering side effects

↳ user guys!! speculation will do us no good!! if she wants to tell us, she will!!

user YOU KNOW I LOVE A LONDON BOY 🗣🗣🗣

logansargeant wanna trade one paddock for another?

There’s a sort of terrifying uncertainty that comes with breaking a long-standing routine.

It’s like a fucked-up sort of package deal— you stop following the methodized schedule you’ve meticulously upheld for years, and in exchange, you receive more time than you know what to do with and an overwhelming responsibility to fill it.

The only question is: with what?

The muscle memory lingers, and you suspect that it’ll take some time for your body to un-familiarize itself with a sleep schedule that you’ve religiously held on to for years, but there’s no demands to maintain any of it and that makes any sort of attempt at continuing to run through the motions feel entirely obsolete. You may instinctively wake up at the ass crack of dawn, but without the necessity of a horse relying on your punctuality to get him fed, watered, and turned out to the paddock, there’s nothing you can do beyond filling the morning with something until your internal clock catches the memo and decides to let you sleep in for once.

“You know, when I invited you to tag along with me,” Logan begins in lieu of a greeting when he opens the front door and sees you standing on the stoep of his apartment, clad in athletic wear and a pair of well-worn running shoes, “I was under the impression that we both understood that to mean the traveling to races part and not necessarily the pre-season training.”

“‘My dearest sister,’” you sarcastically quip back in a mockingly deep voice, feigning heartfelt sincerity and pressing your hand melodramatically to your chest. “‘How good it is to see you after so long! I would be absolutely delighted if you joined me on my morning run today.’”

Your twin brother shakes his head in exasperation, but through the facade of annoyance, you can recognize the hint of a smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

“Honestly, Logie,” You pretend to wipe a tear from the corner of your eye and add in a sniffle for extra flair, “you're too sweet. What would I ever do without you?”

“We saw each other a week ago at brunch,” he grumbles, reluctantly taking a step back from the door and allowing you to pass over the threshold into the warmth of the apartment and out of the winter’s frigid morning air.

“When?”

“Last Wednesday—”

“—did I ask? Oh! Boom! Gotcha!” You whoop out an exclamation of victory as you continue down the hall. “Gosh, I am four for four now. You gotta step up your game, Logie-bear, or this is gonna end in a miserable shut out for you.”

He heaves out a heavy sigh that carries with it twenty-two years of suppressed brotherly rage and the exhaustion that can only come from being reminded at every chance that he is, and always will be, a minute younger than you. “You're the bane of my existence, and I do sincerely hope you know this.”

“Aw, I love you too!”

You step into the small kitchen at the end of the hall. With the exception of a little potted cactus sitting on the windowsill— a housewarming gift from you— it looks nearly identical to how it was the last time you visited.

A month ago.

When he moved in.

There's a woven mat on the floor in front of the sink, an ashy green that contrasts nicely with the off-white cream color of the cabinets and laminate countertops. You can't really tell if Logan actually bought the mat, or if it came with the place, but it's cute nonetheless and serves as one of the few pops of color in the otherwise monochromatically beige apartment.

“I see that my cactus continues to reign supreme as the only individuality in this place,” you comment, glancing over your shoulder in time to see him appear in the doorway.

He shrugs at your words. “Yeah, well, you'd be surprised how busy you can get when you're preparing for everything you've ever dreamed about. No biggie.”

“Logan,” you turn to face him, “you'll do great. There are two other rookies on the grid—”

“And I'll be in the worst car out of all of them.”

“You don't know that,” you chide gently.

This side of Logan isn't unfamiliar to you— the anxiety and fear of failure. It's always existed, and you've known about it since the morning of his first kart race when he confided in you that he was so nervous he felt like he was going to be sick.

The insecurities surrounding his own skills have persisted and thrived with every new track, every new team, and every new series, and as you've grown alongside him you've found ways to challenge his self-doubt, but you've also learned to accept that there's only so much you alone can do.

You can debate it and challenge the self-deprecating thoughts all you want, but the voice in his head will always be there, no matter how quiet it occasionally becomes.

So you choose to drop the topic for now.

It's too early in the morning for an impromptu therapy session anyway.

You turn back around and scan the countertops until your eyes latch onto the container of pre-workout tucked away in the corner, nearly hidden amidst the mountain of vitamin and nutrient supplements.

“I thought it was part of Benny’s job to make sure you didn't have to use all this shit,” you comment, picking through the jars and eyeing them each with unapologetic distaste.

Logan reaches over your shoulder and plucks a packet of vitamin C tablets from your hand, “Sometimes these just work better.”

“Yeah, maybe if you don’t have a nutritionist being paid to quite literally curate a diet specifically to ensure that you don’t need to use these,” you gesture widely to the assembled mass of supplements. “But, last I checked, dear brother of mine, you do have a nutritionist— and a very good one at that— who would be horrified to learn you’re substituting real fruit for…” you squint down at the nutritional label of another one of the jars, but there’s very little that you recognize amidst the scientific jargon and long, five-syllable words, “little gummies that taste like fruit.”

He huffs, “Get your pre-workout or I'm leaving without you.”

“You wouldn't dare leave without me,” you grumble.

“I've done it before and I'll do it again,” he snipes, giving a brief yank on your ponytail and cackling when you swat behind yourself in futility.

There’s more he isn’t saying— there always is, nowadays— but you recognize the deflection for what it is. You want to claw him apart with questions and demand answers that bare every inch of his soul so you understand what he isn’t telling you and why he feels the need to keep it locked away even from you, but you know better than to keep pushing at something Logan clearly doesn’t want to talk about.

It makes you nostalgic for a time in your life when he’d sneak down from the top of the bunk bed after your parents had tucked you away for the night and slip under the covers with you, a well-loved stuffed bear hugged to his chest. He’d curl up beside you and you’d pull the blankets up to your chin and watch him with big, curious eyes until he’d whisper out into the darkness of your shared bedroom what he was worrying about.

More often than not it was a byproduct of a hyperactive imagination still plagued by the fears of childhood. Something about the space beneath your bed and— “What if there’s something down there? And the only way you can see it is by its glowing eyes? But what if it knows when someone is gonna look under the bed, so it closes its eyes so you can’t see the glow?” Or the curtains and— “You have to make sure they cover the whole window because what if you don’t and then something looks inside and it knows I’m not asleep and then it comes inside? I always hold really still and pretend to be asleep even when I’m not if the curtains aren’t closed.”

But sometimes it was about anything and everything else like the fox sitting in the bushes by the bus stop on the way home from school and whether or not it had water to keep it cool in the Florida heat, or the purple glitter pen Mrs. Moore used to grade his spelling test and how the girl sitting next to him had gotten her test graded with the green glitter pen, or— “I forgot my coat in Mr. Garrison’s class yesterday, and you went and got it for me and brought it to the car with you, and I didn’t say thank you, but I always feel bad when I leave my coat behind because what if it has feelings and felt really bad because it thought I was abandoning it, so thank you for getting my coat so it didn’t feel abandoned.”

But that was then and this is now.

You’re both adults, and you live in different apartments on different ends of the city, and you work different jobs that separate you by half the globe at times. There’s no more talk of foxes by bus stops or glitter pens, and certainly no more sentient coats with fears of abandonment.

When you look at Logan now, he isn’t wasting away, and really you owe it to him after you announced out of the blue a week ago that you weren’t just taking a break from competitive riding, but rather taking a break from riding as a whole. He didn’t press you on it then— still hasn’t pressed you on it despite having every right to do so. The least you can do now in return is respect the boundary he’s trying to set.

You mutter a few curses beneath your breath— words your mother would throw a fit over if she could hear you— and feign a scowl, but some of the tension in Logan’s shoulders has released and that's all you can ask for.

“If you leave me behind, I’ll leak a picture of your pathetic kitchen to the tabloids and let everyone tear apart your design choices,” you threaten, digging your knuckles into the tender spot of his arm where bicep meets shoulder and taking pride when he squirms away and beyond reach.

He flips you off. “You’re just jealous I have a cool cactus and you don’t.”

“Hey!” You give a lazy kick in his direction, but he sidesteps it easily with a laugh. “I gave you that cactus!”

“Tomato, tom-ah-to.” He flippantly waves his hand in your direction, laughing again at the indignant squawk you make. “Just hurry up and make your damn drink.”

As he makes his way out of the kitchen, presumably to grab his shoes, you unscrew the lid from the container and reach for the scoop.

Only to find it entirely empty.

“You asshole! There's nothing in here!”

Logan’s cackle echoes from another room.

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yourusername day 14 without london boy and i have officially succumbed to the boredom and willingly subjected myself to the presence of my arch nemesis (love you logie 🫶)

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logansargeant in my defense, you just showed up

user you could not PAY me to go out in this weather

user as a florida girlie myself, this is my nightmare

↳ user REAL

↳ user genuinely seeing this makes me so glad i live in a place where there’s no snow cuz yea, the view is pretty and all, but not even a gorgeous sunrise would make up for me freezing my ass off and having to wear seven layers just to keep the feeling in my fingers and toes

user i wish the most stressful part of my day was going for a morning run 😔

user calling logan her nemesis is so real i just know that man is a menace

↳ user the f2 clips of him and liam are proof enough

↳ user logan sargeant was a menace back in f3 💀 have you SEEN the prema videos with oscar and fred? bro is diabolical when he wants to be

↳ user i'm so excited for the chaos he'll bring to the grid this year

user the snow man is so cute!!

user “14 days without london boy” OH I AM ILL 😭😭😭

user ok but that view is gorgeousness

↳ user ikr?! winter sunrises are genuinely so pretty

user i’m still so confused as to why she isn’t riding anymore?? can someone pls explain

↳ user to be entirely honest, i’m not sure really what there is to explain. first and foremost, we aren’t owed any sort of explanation as to why she’s decided to take a step back from riding. it could be a personal decision, a career decision, or something else, but whatever it is we aren’t automatically entitled to it just because y/n has previously been very open and vocal about her and london boy’s training. second, she never actually said that she isn’t riding anymore. she said she’s taking a step back from competitive riding to focus on other things, and the “without london boy” part of her caption implies that she hasn’t seen him, but she could just be taking a prolonged break, or she could be focusing on something else that has prevented her from going to see him. but again, none of it is our business and she doesn’t owe us any further explanation to what she meant.

↳ user THIS THIS THIS!! as sad as i am to not have london boy on my feed, y/n is a grown adult with her own private life and we have to respect her decisions!! if or when she chooses to come forward about the specifics of her future plans and goals, then that’s great and i’ll continue to support her endeavors, but for the time being we all just have to be patient

user the selfie logan posted with you on his story was so cute!! 🥰

user she’s a runner she’s a track star

user i’ve missed the twin content!

↳ user me too!! i really hope that her taking a break from competitions (as much as i love london boy) will mean we get to see her actually going to more of logan’s races, especially now that he’ll be in formula 1!!

oscarpiastri if the rumours are to be believed, i look forward to getting to catch up at the races this year

━━ tags: @urfavnoirette @casperlikej @awritingtree @f1-is-lovely-33 @chasing-liberosis @405rry @aquangxl @bellezaycafe @peqch-pie @formulaal @chonkybonky @mess-is-my-aesthetic @flippingmyshit @peachiicherries @spacegirlstuff @myxticmoon @landosgirlxoxo @k-pevensie28 @moonypixel @lewisvinga @81vas @maih23 @thatoneembarrasingmoment @elz-xo @the-navistar-carol

━━ a/n: surprise! i've been working on this for a little while now (i got my wisdom teeth removed yesterday, so the time i've spent recovering has been spent polishing up the last few details for this first part) but here she is! as promised, the newly rewritten and revamped 'he likes my american smile'! i feel like i always say it, but the original genuinely holds such a special place in my heart because it was the first work i ever posted here on tumblr, so i'm really happy to take all that i've learned since then and apply it where i can in this new version. i really hope the changes and development is as loved by you all as it is by me, and that you all enjoy!

[woso-dreamzzz]

Captain

Hardersson x Daughter!Reader

Part of The Big Adventures Universe

Summary: Sweden's new captain

The decision comes out of nowhere to Pernille.

It shouldn't but it does.

She thinks it blindsides Magda too but her wife will not admit that.

You're twenty-five now, having just come off your best season at Barcelona yet. After the summer is over, you're off to Wolfsburg finally and Pernille couldn't be prouder.

But, you need to get through this summer first.

You're off at camp, having spent a short few days with Magda and Pernille before heading off to meet up with the rest of the Swedish team.

Pernille's flicking through the channels aimlessly when Magda nudges her, directing her to the channel that's playing Emma's press conference.

The captain of the team retired earlier that month and everybody had been speculating who would replace her and Pernille has to admit that she's got a fair bit of money on it being the woman that plays for United.

She's one of the older players on the team and is a vice-captain at club level.

Magda had disagreed with her, saying that United player was still a newer call-up than those who were younger but had been on the team longer. Magda wasn't quite sure where to put her money but she thought it was a toss-up between the forward from PSG and the midfielder from Gotham.

"-Younger side, don't you think? Surely there are a few older players who could have worn the armband."

"I mean, I'm sure there were," Emma says," But the decision was quite unanimous. I didn't make it by myself. I spoke to the players. I spoke to the staff. Our previous captain mentioned her by name. I'm confident that she'll be a very good leader on the pitch."

"And what kind of qualities do you think she'll bring?"

"Well, I'm sure you all know by now but I'm quite brash. I say it how I see it and, yeah, maybe I'm a little too tough sometimes. I think she'll balance that out and lift up some of her teammates. Just having her on our team is...Well, it's amazing. Sometimes I look at what she's won and how she's won it and I'm just in awe. You can load her with pressure and she just takes it. She's always improving and I think she'll instil that upon the team."

"The Gotham girl," Magda insists, nodding her head at the screen," For sure. Didn't she win the Ballon D'or last year?"

Pernille rolls her eyes. "The year before, which I know you know because Natalia won last year."

Magda grins, teasing. "Did she? I can't quite remember."

Emma's still talking though so they both pull their attentions back to the tv.

"I mean, it's not the first time she's had responsibility like this. She's captained her club a few times. She captained her youth team."

"The United girl!" Pernille says triumphantly," I knew it! Didn't she captain the youth team at some point?"

"So did the Gotham girl," Magda reminds her," And the one from PSG."

"There's obviously questions about bias?" One nasty reporter probes," From you? Seeing as her mother-"

"I really invite you to look at her trophy cabinet," Emma interrupts plainly," And all that she's won and all that she's going to win. She's played for some of the top clubs in the world. You don't get that just on connections. She's a talent. She was a prodigy when she was younger. She's been on the senior team since she was seventeen."

"Called up during an injury crisis, yes," The reporter says and Emma rolls her eyes.

"And proved herself during it. She was called up during the injury crisis, yes, but she never left. She's consistently been called up. There's a reason she's who we turn to."

"But-"

"She was recommended by our previous captain. Actually, I believe her words were something like 'Emma, she's ready'. I don't think you can give a more glowing recommendation than that. Listen, the fact of the matter is, I can't think of anyone more perfect for this role than her. She has the passion, she has the drive. She has connections with the rest of the team that people dream of."

The door to the conference room opens and Pernille holds her breath, ready to cheer her triumph at predicting the United girl becoming captain.

"And," The moderator says," Captain Harder-Eriksson."

You look a little nervous but you hide it well, sliding into the seat next to Emma and adjusting the microphone.

Suddenly, everything Emma has said falls into place for Pernille.

Your list of accolades were impressive. WSL titles, Champion's League, Liga F. Somehow, over the years, you've won practically everything with your clubs. You'd won World Cups on top of that. You were probably one of the most decorated goalkeepers in the world.

You'd worn the armband a few times for Barcelona, sharing duties with one of your teammates when Natalia wasn't on the pitch. You'd captained Denmark when you still played with them too.

The smoking gun should have been the reference to your mothers, to Magda and Pernille who had both captained their countries and Magda, who had served as Chelsea's captain under Emma. Of course, there was reasoning for potential bias.

Everything else should have just made it more obvious.

Being called up at seventeen during the injury crisis for the Swedish keepers.

Playing for the top clubs in the world.

You'd practically been taken under the wing of the previous captain since you first arrived.

Magda had joked once that it was a little like you were being groomed to take her place...

Pernille's awestruck as she stares. You hold yourself well as you talk, articulating your words perfectly even though she knows that you're probably shaking inside.

She's always thought that you turned into a different person when it came to football. You were strictly professional and confident when she knew you were a mess of anxiety sometimes. You seemed to be able to put it all aside for your football.

She'd seen how you command your back line during games, somehow making sure they knew exactly what you wanted them to do and how you wanted them to do it.

Pernille wonders, briefly, if she had been blind to put the United girl forward instead of you.

"I'm really looking forward to this summer," You say into the microphone," I'm grateful for my teammates for believing in me and Emma and the staff for giving me this opportunity. I'm hoping that I can help support my teammates so we can keep getting better and better."

[deception-united]

Let's talk about story structure.

Fabricating the narrative structure of your story can be difficult, and it can be helpful to use already known and well-established story structures as a sort of blueprint to guide you along the way. Before we delve into a few of the more popular ones, however, what exactly does this term entail?

Story structure refers to the framework or organization of a narrative. It is typically divided into key elements such as exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution, and serves as the skeleton upon which the plot, characters, and themes are built. It provides a roadmap of sorts for the progression of events and emotional arcs within a story.

Freytag's Pyramid:

Also known as a five-act structure, this is pretty much your standard story structure that you likely learned in English class at some point. It looks something like this:

Exposition: Introduces the characters, setting, and basic situation of the story.

Inciting incident: The event that sets the main conflict of the story in motion, often disrupting the status quo for the protagonist.

Rising action: Series of events that build tension and escalate the conflict, leading toward the story's climax.

Climax: The highest point of tension or the turning point in the story, where the conflict reaches its peak and the outcome is decided.

Falling action: Events that occur as a result of the climax, leading towards the resolution and tying up loose ends.

Resolution (or denouement): The final outcome of the story, where the conflict is resolved, and any remaining questions or conflicts are addressed, providing closure for the audience.

Though the overuse of this story structure may be seen as a downside, it's used so much for a reason. Its intuitive structure provides a reliable framework for writers to build upon, ensuring clear progression and emotional resonance in their stories and drawing everything to a resolution that is satisfactory for the readers.

The Fichtean Curve:

The Fichtean Curve is characterised by a gradual rise in tension and conflict, leading to a climactic peak, followed by a swift resolution. It emphasises the building of suspense and intensity throughout the narrative, following a pattern of escalating crises leading to a climax representing the peak of the protagonist's struggle, then a swift resolution.

Initial crisis: The story begins with a significant event or problem that immediately grabs the audience's attention, setting the plot in motion.

Escalating crises: Additional challenges or complications arise, intensifying the protagonist's struggles and increasing the stakes.

Climax: The tension reaches its peak as the protagonist confronts the central obstacle or makes a crucial decision.

Falling action: Following the climax, conflicts are rapidly resolved, often with a sudden shift or revelation, bringing closure to the narrative. Note that all loose ends may not be tied by the end, and that's completely fine as long as it works in your story—leaving some room for speculation or suspense can be intriguing.

The Hero’s Journey:

The Hero's Journey follows a protagonist through a transformative adventure. It outlines their journey from ordinary life into the unknown, encountering challenges, allies, and adversaries along the way, ultimately leading to personal growth and a return to the familiar world with newfound wisdom or treasures.

Call of adventure: The hero receives a summons or challenge that disrupts their ordinary life.

Refusal of the call: Initially, the hero may resist or hesitate in accepting the adventure.

Meeting the mentor: The hero encounters a wise mentor who provides guidance and assistance.

Crossing the threshold: The hero leaves their familiar world and enters the unknown, facing the challenges of the journey.

Tests, allies, enemies: Along the journey, the hero faces various obstacles and adversaries that test their skills and resolve.

The approach: The hero approaches the central conflict or their deepest fears.

The ordeal: The hero faces their greatest challenge, often confronting the main antagonist or undergoing a significant transformation.

Reward: After overcoming the ordeal, the hero receives a reward, such as treasure, knowledge, or inner growth.

The road back: The hero begins the journey back to their ordinary world, encountering final obstacles or confrontations.

Resurrection: The hero faces one final test or ordeal that solidifies their transformation.

Return with the elixir: The hero returns to the ordinary world, bringing back the lessons learned or treasures gained to benefit themselves or others.

Exploring these different story structures reveals the intricate paths characters traverse in their journeys. Each framework provides a blueprint for crafting engaging narratives that captivate audiences. Understanding these underlying structures can help gain an array of tools to create unforgettable tales that resonate with audiences of all kind.

Happy writing! Hope this was helpful ❤

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[black00olive]

Diavolo, Come Back To Sleep

A/N: How I feel after referencing Hamilton in the title: 🤓 Anyway, I've been cranking out fics like no tomorrow recently what's up with me o.o

Pairing: Diavolo x reader, a sprinkle of everyone else x reader too but it could be read as onesided or just platonic

Wordcount: ~1,200

Summary: Diavolo wakes up early, it’s required of him as future king, but it’s hard to do so when you’re here with him.

Sometimes— no, that’s not right, he shouldn’t try to lie to himself— Often Diavolo finds himself regretting his decision to have you live under the same roof as the brothers. He’s never enjoyed having these thoughts, seeing as his decision is what has led to so much progress towards his goal of bringing harmony between the three realms. The situation he currently finds himself in would never have been possible if it weren’t for you living in the House of Lamentation and subsequently having pacts with the brothers. Yet, despite these facts Diavolo finds himself grown used to the jealousy that had bloomed in his heart long ago.

The brothers probably see this sight very often, he’s heard from Lucifer how often his brothers tend to find their way to your room in the middle of the night (Lucifer is careful about how he phrases it, as if Diavolo’s internal lie detector would go off if he actually claimed he wasn’t like his brothers). How lucky, Diavolo thinks, bitter jealousy coursing his veins as he brushes away a stray strand of hair from your face. The light touch makes your nose scrunch up and your eyebrows furrow as you slowly shake your head as if to try and shake off whatever it was that touched you. His chest rumbles as he lets out a quiet, groggy chuckle and he feels his jealousy wash away as if it had been nothing but a bad dream. Even when not awake your antics seem to always calm him. The brothers might have had you like this before, but this morning you’re his and his alone.

As he stares at your peaceful, sleeping face he finds himself wondering what you're dreaming about— if you’re dreaming about anything at all. In any case, Diavolo can’t help himself from speculating on what it could even be that you would dream about. Maybe you’re dreaming about going on some great adventure in the jungle or desert or sea. Perhaps you’re dreaming of something more fantastical like being a superhero and saving the world— Ah, however, you did once say that your likes tended to lean more towards the villains most of the time, so perhaps you’re dreaming of something more sinister— more demon-like? Diavolo finds himself smiling at the thought, wouldn’t that be something? Either way, he thinks as he feels the slow, steady rise and fall of your chest against his body and your breath fanning ever so gently on his shoulder, whatever it is your dreaming of he wishes to make it come true. There is very little he wouldn’t do to see your beautiful and bright smile grace your face. When he had first realised that he had been a little terrified over the sheer power you held over him, but now he can’t help but feel some pride over it. Of course you— and only you— are the one that holds such power, it makes sense. In his hearts, it seems right.

Barbatos quietly enters his chambers and it forces Diavolo out of his thoughts. How unfortunate, he thinks as Barbatos pulls open the blinds in his room (though it doesn’t have much impact considering the perpetual night the Devildom is stuck in) and reminds him that it is time he starts to prepare himself for the day. He lets out a half-hearted protest but he knows that he truly doesn’t have much of a choice in the matter. This is just one part of his never-ending responsibilities as crown prince and future king. Barbatos gives him a sympathetic smile as his eyes quickly flick to your sleeping form, understanding evident in his eyes. It’s a curse that you are so charming that you have even his butler wrapped around your finger.

Closing the door as he leaves, Barbatos is showing that he trusts Diavolo to be able to get up himself even with you in his arms. Usually, if he refused to get up when Barbatos told him to, Barbatos would simply force him up. However, in this case that would rouse you and right now you look so sound, neither of them have the hearts to do that.

Diavolo sighs as he gently lets his hold of you go. He stops all movements when your face scrunches up and you start to mumble something incoherent. Once you stop, Diavolo continues to slowly get out of bed; he really needs to get up now and he really wants you to continue sleeping, and it’s proving quite difficult to achieve both things simultaneously. Eventually Diavolo finally manages to get out of bed (though it had taken about 10 minutes longer than average) and he starts to get ready. He grabs the shirt Barbatos had laid out for him and starts to get dressed. It’s moments like these seeds of resentment start to bury themselves in his heart, right now he’d like nothing more than to lie back down with you until you decide it’s time to get up. However, duty calls and his duties are the most important of all.

“Dia?” You mumble as you rub your eyes and Diavolo instantly turns to you. He feels his hearts melt at the sight that greets him, you clearly still halfway asleep and slowly blinking at him with bleary eyes. “It’s so early, why are you getting up?”

Chuckling he walks back over to the bed and sits on the edge of his bed. “I have to get ready for the day,” he presses a chaste kiss on your forehead, “you should sleep some more.” He had only managed to get halfway dressed before you had woken up, so he stands up and goes to finish getting dressed. Feeling a small tug on the back of his shirt he stops and turns back to you, a mistake he quickly realises as he stares at you. A small frown, bordering on a pout, finds itself on your face and Diavolo doubts if you’re fully conscious currently.

“C’mon, you can stay with me a little longer can’t you?” You ask and Diavolo finds it getting increasingly difficult to deny you. He shakes his head and gently removes your hand from his undershirt before he walks over to where Barbatos had left his clothes. Quiet rustling of duvets and comforters and light steps over his floor is all he hears before you wrap your arms around his waist, resting your head against his back. “Diavolo, come back to sleep,” you start and he wonders if you purposefully know what you’re doing, “c'mon,” you plead and he lets go of the clothes he’s holding in his hands. You’re too powerful for your own good, Diavolo thinks as he turns to face you. He sighs before giving you a small smile. “Alright,” he whispers as if Barbatos will hear him if he says it too loudly. He’ll deal with Barbatos’ lectures later.

Right now, he just needs to sleep with you a little longer.

[jesncin]

A Failure of Asian Lois Lane: Pt 2: My Adventures with Superman, an honest discussion

If I had to pinpoint the fundamental problem with My Adventures with Superman's depiction of Asian Lois Lane it's in their attempt to subvert the classic two person love triangle: Lois loves Superman but is indifferent to Clark Kent. In MAWS, Lois insta-crushes on Clark Kent and hates Superman. In the show's attempt to make sense of this dynamic, Lois' Asian identity becomes at odds with a story meant to touch on xenophobia and immigrant themes.

Let's have an honest discussion about a show that made fandom cheer as an Asian character removed the one thing that made her most visibly Asian.

Disclaimer: While I am of East Asian descent, I am not Korean. I'll be discussing general Asian diasporic experiences but the specifics of Korean culture are outside of my knowledge (as usual I can't and don't speak for every Asian person ever, I am 1 opinion). Secondly, I'll be pulling from my personal experiences every now and then particularly pertaining to being a butch Asian person watching this show. It'll be a mix of formal analysis and personal anecdotes. Thirdly, this isn't an exhaustive analysis of MAWS Lois' character. We'll be sticking to what I consider is relevant to themes of Asian identity and immigration. Lastly once more, I do not believe the MAWS crew had malicious intent in any (of what I consider) poor writing decisions. We're here to analyze and challenge these writing decisions.

Please read Pt 1 of Asian Lois analysis that covers the comics, as it provides the groundwork for the ideas expanded on in this essay.

We need to talk about Lois' design. In the follow up to MAWS' release, people have been speculating on Lois' ethnicity. CBR writes that the show has "some fans believing that she's at least part Asian" and other articles have the show crew confirm Lois Korean heritage via her hanbok outfit in episode 4. The existence of these articles, my own anecdotal experience of streaming MAWS with Asian friends, and comments I receive from people asserting Lois' Asian identity was never explored in the show ("you'd only know she was Asian if you searched up articles about it"), tells me we have a case of an ambiguously designed Asian woman. Tangentially many people had no idea Livewire, the white haired and blue eyed woman, was meant to be South Asian.

There's a lot to be said about art styles that don't properly stylize ethnic features, but for the purposes of our analysis that means the writing has to deliver the heavy lifting where the design fails. This is the opposite case of American Alien: a comic that relied on the art to portray Asian Lois.

Let's start at episode 3. In it, Lois finally manages to conduct a private interview with the elusive Superman. When she asks where Superman comes from, how his powers work, etc- Superman comes up empty. In this version, Superman can't talk to his Kryptonian father (Jor-El)'s hologram because of a language barrier, so he knows very little about his alien heritage. He leaves Lois, assuring her he's here to help the people of Metropolis. When Clark Kent congratulates her for interviewing Superman, Lois rebuffs him. "Oh, he's [Superman's] a liar." smirking as she says it. This is the start of the Lois Hates Superman For Being a Liar arc.

I'd like you to consider the optics of an Asian American woman interviewing an alien immigrant who honestly told her he doesn't know where he comes from and is still figuring out who he is, only for her to think he's lying. Because she didn't get the answers she wanted. I can't help but think about my own experiences, where I was asked "but where do you really come from?" or "okay but what's your real name?" I think of my Asian American peers who would honestly say they're from Texas or Atlanta and get a vindictive "you're lying" as a response. People want to hear you're from China. They want their biases confirmed. I think about how I honestly can't tell you where my elders hailed from, because of cultural genocide and language barriers. This scene makes me uncomfortable, but let's press on.

Episode 4 is where Lois is most visibly Korean. In this episode the trio of Lois, Clark, and Jimmy are tasked with interviewing rich techbro Prof. Ivo of Amazo tech at an investor event. It's a prom episode. Lois wears a "hanbok inspired gala outfit" designed by Dou Hong and Jane Bak in a deliberate move to showcase Lois' Korean heritage. Bak comments "I remember feeling strongly about wanting to inject some aspect of her Korean heritage without disrupting her characteristic as a spunky and resourceful intern/reporter." while the wording poorly implies that Korean heritage is at odds with Lois' spunky personality- I do want to challenge a couple of the decisions that went into this design.

I want to acknowledge as an Asian butch that there are many ways to sport traditional garments and it's okay to mix and match to figure out what reclaiming culture (and your comfort) mean to you. However we're talking about the opportunity to showcase culture in an episode of a fictional animated show. I also encourage cultural gender expression that thinks outside of western white people's idea of gender (in both fiction and real life).

Whenever artists try to do a non-conforming spin on a cultural outfit, I always have to ask: "what standard of masculinity are we basing this on?" It's clear that MAWS is pushing for a "tomboy" Lois, and this gala outfit is an extension of that. But what's the standards of masculinity in a Korean lens? Men wear hanbok too, so why can't Lois imitate how Korean men wear hanbok, by traditionally accompanying her look with baji (baggy and loose pants)? This design notably has tight pants that hug the form, instead. I know the hanbok look has been modernized in and out of Korea in many ways, but in a show where you have the opportunity to showcase cultural non-conformity, I feel more thought should be put into the outfit outside of a potentially western lens- or the idea that cultural heritage of any sort "disrupts" a character's personality.

Now that we've discussed the design of the outfit, let's look into the narrative role it plays in episode 4. While we can celebrate cultural representation in media, I consider it important to ask "what is this media's relationship with the cultures it represents?" and the answer for Lois' hanbok in this episode is: nothing! It's an aesthetic acknowledgement of culture. "Hanbok" or "Korea" are not terms explicitly mentioned in the show. When Prof Ivo offers beautiful women as compensation for Clark to keep quiet about his company's corruption, Ivo looks over to Lois- who spills food on her clothes, and remarks that she's unclassy. She's not judged for wearing othering cultural clothes- which would have tied nicely into Clark choosing to be silent on issues of Ivo displacing a neighborhood, making Clark realize his complacency actively hurts marginalized people. Despite wearing cultural outfits being a political statement in America, nobody reacts to it. It's clear what the actual goal of this scene is: Clark looks cool for defending his "tomboy" crush.

In a scene blatantly made for fanservice, Lois offers to sew up Clark's ripped tuxedo by undressing her hanbok so she can reach her little sewing kit. Lois never wears her hanbok again afterwards. This scene haunts me. It's a scene that tells you that fanservice is more important than cultural representation. It's a scene meant to set up that Clark gives his tuxedo to Lois later on for warmth. Lois removing her hanbok is meant for not one, but two fanservice scenes.

Lois talks to Clark at the stairwell. She opens up about her estranged relationship with her father, how her mom has passed away, and how she's been an intern at the Daily Planet for a year with no sign of being hired. This makes the narrative decision for Lois to lose her hanbok far more tragic. Lois being a diasporic child with so few familial ties to her culture would mean garments like her hanbok would hold a lot of sentimental value! It's hard enough finding a cultural outfit that fits with your butchess (many of my cultural outfits are hand made to fit my form and gender expression), and yet Lois unceremoniously loses her hanbok. You would think in Lois opening up about being distant from her parents that Clark would be able to culturally relate with the distance he has with his Kryptonian parents. But the narrative opportunity to link their immigrant experiences is not taken, because the show simply doesn't recognize the parallel between the two.

Instead MAWS pushes for the Lois Thinks Superman is A Liar thing again. A far less narratively substantial and fundamentally flawed arc. This episode starts with Lois calling Superman a liar and has Lois ranting about him "dodging her questions" (remember, he was honest with her about not knowing his heritage) thereby rendering her interview unpublishable. She resorts to conspiracy tabloids giddily provided by Jimmy for information. She rather cruelly says "nobody normal believes in aliens". We are uncomfortably seeing the build up of Lois being allegorically xenophobic towards alien immigrants- a Lois on a quest to out an alien before he's ready. This is their justification for flipping the love triangle. Lois loves cuteboy Clark from work, and hates Superman for not confirming her biases that would help her publish an interview that would promote her at work. What a love story.

To wrap this episode up: Prof Ivo ends up challenging Superman to a fight so he can flex his Parasite suit to investors, only for it to backfire, destroy his reputation, and greatly damage the Amazo building (remember this it'll come back later). The episode ends with Lois discovering Superman is Clark Kent. Anecdotally, I was so frustrated with the treatment of Lois' hanbok in this episode, that I went online to search if anyone else felt similarly. All I was met with was fandom thirsting over the stairwell scene where Clark and Lois were undressing. Consider the optics of an Asian character who removed the most visible signifier of her heritage (the outfit far more culturally specific where her character design was racially ambiguous) and how people cheered because that meant they could see her in her undergarments. They can happily thirst over the body they desired now that the othering cultural garment was out of the way. It's just clothes after all. Diversity clothes. This show continues to be very uncomfortable, and a little too real.

In episode 5 Lois is passive aggressive to Clark and Superman, trying to get Clark to admit he's Superman and vice versa. She eventually confronts Clark by jumping off the roof of the Daily Planet, causing Clark to fly down and save her. She proclaims she doesn't want to be friends with him anymore for "lying" to her. This episode caused a huge ruckus online as people were divisive over Lois' actions. Some defended Lois, saying that "women should be messy" and "it's not Lois Lane if she doesn't do something crazy for journalism!". Ignoring that opinion's very flandarized view of Lois' character for a second, let's thoroughly discuss how this relates to themes of immigration and Asian identity.

By this episode, Lois had known Clark for 5 days. In that time she's entitled and angry to the point of friend-breaking-up with him because he wouldn't disclose his marginalized identity to her within less than a week. "A secret is another type of lie!" Lois says, regardless of her lying on sight to both Jimmy and Clark upon meeting them at work, and continued to lie in episode 3 (after promising not to in ep 1) about her intentions to interview Superman. Only Lois gets to lie in this relationship. The hypocrisy of her character is never recognized. Clark calls out Lois for having previously admitted to him that she wanted to dox Superman and "publish all his secrets. MY secrets!". Keep in mind that when Clark brings up Superman feeling uncomfortable about his secrets being published by Lois in episode 3, Lois' response was "yeah, but HE doesn't know that's my plan!". She explicitly admits that she would publish private information about Superman without his permission. But when she's confronted by Clark in episode 5 about that, her response is "I would never do that to you, I didn't know it was you until after the gala. How could you think that?" It's only through conflict of interest that Lois spares Superman of being doxed. He's supposed to magically know this. Extremely cool of Asian American Lois to be entitled to an alien immigrant's identity within four business days.

Episode 6 wraps up the Lois Hates Superman For Being A Liar arc, so let's quickly summarize what happens. Lois and Clark set aside their fight to find Jimmy in an abandoned scientific facility (he's being cared for by Mallah and the Brain). Jimmy admits (very smugly) to having known Clark was Superman all along because he kept breaking stuff. As the trio are chased by killer robots, they emotionally confront Clark for not trusting them with his alien secret- despite neither Lois or Jimmy creating a safe environment for Clark to come out to either of them (Jimmy outed Superman as an alien on his video channel). The moral of the story is Clark should have trusted his friends anyway, because lying is bad. Not once does the narrative hold Jimmy or Lois accountable.

We have Black Jimmy Olsen and Asian American Lois Lane being entitled to their white passing friend Clark Kent's marginalized alien identity. A joke is made at Jimmy's expense that he doesn't understand bigotry, and Lois clearly doesn't understand why an immigrant wouldn't be forthcoming about his identity to his hostile friends at work. This is how that arc ends.

I'd like to quickly compare this Lois Hates Superman For Being A Liar arc to my favorite scene in Superman Smashes the Klan. In this story, Superman debuts as a strongman superhero instead of an alien, suppressing his more othering powers to pass as human. He jumps instead of flying. Roberta, the Chinese American girl targeted by the Klan, calls Superman out for not using his full abilities to save people who could've gotten hurt. Yet, as she's calling him out, Roberta understands Superman's fear of not wanting to be othered. She sees the way her father dresses up to pass as an accomplished scientist, how he tells her mom to speak in English, how her brother makes racist jokes at their family's expense to fit in. She's not mad at Superman, she's mad at the world that would be scared of Superman if he flew.

"I wish it were okay for you to fly!" Roberta yells. This is a beautifully empathetic scene that shows a marginalized person frustrated at a systemic problem, instead of blaming the marginalized for being marginalized. It's the empathy and perspective we're missing from MAWS.

Episode 7 is a metatextual episode where MAWS addresses how their Lois isn't like the other Loises you've seen before. Lois and Jimmy are brought on to a team of alternate dimension Loises to find interdimensional troublemaker Mxy. In seeing the other more accomplished Loises in the multiverses, Lois ends up feeling inadequate about her self worth...in connection to being Superman's girlfriend, of course. Because Superman only loves Lois Lane after she wins a couple of Pulitzers, right?

I'm open to a version of Lois Lane that isn't as accomplished as she's historically known to be. I can like a Lois that's young and idealistic, like in Girl Taking Over. It's hard not to compare this episode to 2022's Everything Everywhere All At Once, another multiverse story about an Asian American woman who is the "greatest failure" version of all the parallel iterations of herself. But while that movie talks in depth about themes of generational trauma, expectations, and self potential within Asian immigrant families, MAWS uses the multiverse to say that while their Lois is less accomplished, she's still a good girlfriend to Superman! Why should I bother giving grace to a different take on Lois only to get such a superficial story out of it. This is metatextual-ly frustrating.

Why is it, the minute we get an adaptation of an Asian Lois in something as prominent as an animated show, we get "the worst Lois in the multiverse"? Lois is historically depicted as excelling in her field. She's an award winning journalist, jaded and mean from having to work her way to the top. She owns her sexuality, she's the experienced city girl. Instead of taking the opportunity to inform Lois' jadedness and excellence with her Asian American identity like in Girl Taking Over, instead we have an Asian Lois that's simply incompetent at her job. Why are we now adapting historically accomplished women into adorkable quirky screw ups? She went from being sexually confident to being insecure over sending a text to Clark. Is it more relateable to see an Asian woman that way? Is it too intimidating to see a butch Asian woman who excels at her job? Who's romantically confident? This is what MAWS would rather do than humanize her excellence or her failures.

Are you tired of an ambiguously designed Asian American woman reporter being xenophobic to Superman in MAWS? Well too bad because episode 8 introduces us to Vicki Vale, voiced by Andromeda Dunker (an Asian actress), with explicit notes in leaked concept art to design this character as "Indian American or Asian American" (as if those are mutually exclusive...) inspired off of real Asian reporter Connie Chung. Vicki wants to write a hit piece on Superman and interviews Prof Ivo's assistant, Alex, for a negative biased opinion on Superman (to Lois and Jimmy's dismay).

This episode is where it's abundantly clear the writers don't know how to talk about xenophobia. They'll make nods to xenophobic rhetoric, but they don't know what the rhetoric means. In response to Alex's derisive opinion on Superman destroying Amazo tower thereby bankrupting the company and putting "thousands out of work", Vicki responds "Superman wiped out good American jobs". This is a misplaced nod to Replacement Theory: the fear white people have over people of color, but particularly immigrants, coming to "their" country to "steal" jobs they're entitled to, ultimately becoming demographically replaced by non-white cultures and people. This rhetoric is also commonly applied to Jewish people.

The problem is, that's not what Superman did in the show. Amazo tech was going to go bankrupt because of Prof Ivo's poor business decisions. Prof Ivo made the mistake of antagonizing Superman and ruining his own image. Superman damaging the building came from his fight with Prof Ivo, not a deliberate attempt to get hired (if anything don't the building repair people have new jobs now?). No one's job is tangibly being taken by Superman. None of this is called out by Lois or Jimmy, who know the full story and were even the ones to attack Alex for helping Prof Ivo (let's be real the writers forgot this happened). In fact, Lois and Jimmy don't react to Vicki's Replacement Theory remark at all! It's like they don't even recognize she said something with racist implications!

Jimmy and Lois meet up with Superman who learns the people of Metropolis are becoming scared of him (from causing some recent property damage in an attempt to hunt a criminal down) and writing mean comments on social media. A user writes "he should go back to where he came from." This is a transparently xenophobic comment. It doesn't work in the context of the show because of a huge plot hole: Superman never publicly came out as an alien to Metropolis. No verified newspaper has explicitly made this fact known. The only source that mentions this is Jimmy's conspiracy channel, which the citizens of Metropolis are apparently treating as fact- therefore (if we're to believe this is how people knew) this means Jimmy absolutely outed Superman as an alien without Clark's consent.

So how does Asian American Lois respond to seeing her alien boyfriend go through xenophobia? She says "Take a break from being Superman and just try being normal." To be fair, the narrative does portray Lois saying the word "normal" as charged (only here at least, not in episode 4), and when she tells Superman to "take a break" it's because he had been overworking himself after suddenly unlocking the ability to hear when someone's in trouble. But was this really the response Asian American Lois thought to say? To her boyfriend going through such explicit xenophobia? At this point it's abundantly clear that racism doesn't exist in the world of MAWS. Being "normal" is to be human. And to be marginalized- or as the show likes to call it "different" is only reserved for white passing alien man Clark (along with gorilla and robot that was once a white man). Any hope of an immigrant parallel between Asian American Lois and Superman should be fully discarded at this point.

After the events of the previous episode where Superman is kidnapped by Task Force X, in episode 9 Lois regrets being allegorically xenophobic to Clark. At least I think that's what's happening. I often describe MAWS as a show that's extremely squeamish with getting political- and I believe the vagueness of Lois' Dark Night of the Soul moment reflects that. "I said awful things to Clark. I doubted him when he needed us most. I was wrong and now he's gone..." Lois says as she cries to Jimmy. Is this dialogue implying she shouldn't have told a sleep deprived Superman to take a break? What did she doubt about him? This dialogue is purposefully vague about Lois being xenophobic. They've universalized Clark's immigrant identity to such a point that they can't keep their argument consistent. Was Lois in the wrong for telling her overworked superhero boyfriend to take a break? Or was she being xenophobic for telling him to lay low for a while? Or is she regretful for hating Superman for Being A Liar? How is that possible when the narrative sided with her and Jimmy in episode 6? It's woefully non-committal. Regardless, the intent of this scene is to pay off in the climax of the episode.

In the end Superman has a showdown with Prof Ivo Parasite, who has grown into a large godzilla-esque kaiju creature. In typical MAWS fashion, the show is more interested in a surface level nod to Asian media instead of engaging with the specific themes of nature and post-war trauma kaijus and godzilla serve in Japanese culture. I digress. Using Jimmy's massive social media platform, Lois delivers a hope speech that instantly heals Metropolis of its xenophobia towards Superman.

Lois says to the people of Metropolis.: "People have told you to fear Superman because he's different from us. But we humans are capable of causing hurt and pain too. [...] Because we want to punish those who don't look or act like us." I mean this in the most polite way possible, but who on Earth thought this line was a good idea for Asian American Lois Lane to deliver when talking about white passing man Superman?? Why did the writers feel the need to specify Superman not looking like us. I simply don't understand how nobody considered the terrible optics of this.

After Superman defeats Parasite, episode 10 is about Clark, Lois, and Jimmy celebrating Thanksgiving at the Kents' house. At the Daily Planet, the trio of interns are promoted to finally being reporters. It only took Clark and Jimmy a few weeks while it took Lois a whole year! Now feels like a good time to remind you that Lois as a character was historically frustrated at sexism in the industry and despised how men were treated better than her (including Clark Kent). Well in MAWS episode 4, Lois has no idea why she isn't getting picked up to be a reporter. According to the narrative, and Perry White's dialogue ("you're terrible interns, so the only thing to do was to make you reporters")- she simply didn't break enough rules yet! Thank goodness she had the help of two men to show her how it's done! This is a pretty clear case of character regression. Keep in mind that in American Alien, at the very least that Asian Lois still underwent sexism, and I gave it the grace that the story could eventually expand to talking about both sexism and racism if it were to continue. But in MAWS? I don't think even sexism exists, let alone racism. Somehow Thanksgiving does, though.

Half the final episode is spent on Thanksgiving shenanigans where everyone's trying to be polite but they dislike Lois' stoic dad (Sam Lane)- who Clark recognizes as the Asian American xenophobic man who tortured him in Task Force X's government bunkers. A parallel is pulled between Sam and Jor-El, two fathers with different ideals when it comes to protecting their kids. There's a huge missed opportunity to have Lois and Sam speak in Korean with each other, to create a parallel in the language barrier between Clark and Jor-El. Maybe Lois isn't as fluent in Korean as Sam is depending on how culturally connected she is. Oh, but the existence of non-English human languages would imply some sort of minority, who would be marginalized, and we can't have anyone outside of aliens and a gorilla be marginalized in MAWS. Non-English languages in America are political, after all. Oh, but they also got a Filipino actor to voice Sam. Generously Lois could be Filipino-Korean but if we're being truly honest it's clear the MAWS crew think Asians are interchangeable.

Let's talk about Sam. In terms of optics, it's already not great that the main villains who represent the face of America's secret government xenophobia are Amanda Waller and Sam Lane- a Black woman and an Asian man. What's doubly notable is that of the antagonistic villains, Sam and Vicki are the most xenophobic. When Sam tortures Superman, he shouts "When is the invasion? How many of your kind will come through this time?" without a hint of irony. Reminder that historically, Asian immigrants were (and still are) considered invaders in America. They are the perpetual foreigner. MAWS loves making nods to Superman being an immigrant allegory, and yet they can't fathom the human beings that allegory is inspired by.

It's not impossible to portray people of color or even Asian American characters specifically being xenophobic. In Superman Smashes the Klan, Dr. Lee is initially antagonistic towards Superman but we understand why. We see him trying desperately to assimilate into whiteness, to the point he rejects assistance from his Black neighbors who help put out a fire in their backyard (that the Klan started as a threat). We understand why he's a character who would turn on fellow people of color, or fellow immigrants, in order to fit in. For MAWS, if we had a flashback scene where Sam was serving in the military and fought against Asian soldiers, showcasing his loyalty to America over his own people- that would narratively explain why an Asian American character would be xenophobic. Writing bigotry from within marginalized communities requires specificity. Otherwise, you've just got a diverse villain. In the end, Lois defends her immigrant alien boyfriend from her xenophobic Asian American dad.

Whenever I bring up how MAWS fails its characters of color but especially Asian Lois, I'm met with people telling me that "hopefully they'll make Lois more Asian in S2" or "they'll just retcon the bad writing in S1" and I hope this thorough analysis on the treatment of Lois' Asian American identity can help enlighten why I personally think that's impossible. The entire concept is flawed from the very beginning. The story MAWS wants to tell is at odds with Lois' Asian identity. In trying to justify an Asian Lois that loves Clark but hates Superman, they never considered what it means to hate Superman. To hate the alien immigrant. The alien other. What it means for an Asian American character to do all that. MAWS is a show that wants to have its cake and eat it too, they want a diverse world without racism or sexism but still want to reap the clout of lightly portraying Superman as "different".

They'll make the most surface level nods to Lois' Korean heritage- but remove all of the cultural context from them. They can't be bothered to acknowledge the inherit political identity being a person of color means in America, they're too busy doing that with Clark. I'm told "MAWS didn't have the time to go over Lois' Asian identity, it's a 10-episode series that focuses on Clark's alienation", and to that I say the potential of an immigrant love story and time frame was there, they simply chose to go another direction.

When I bring up things like Superman Smashes the Klan, Girl Taking Over, and Everything Everywhere All At Once, it's not to say MAWS should have used those stories as reference when crafting their allegory. All of those specific media were released while MAWS was deep in production already. Girl Taking Over was released the same year MAWS premiered. What I am saying is that we, as the audience, should have higher standards. Because better media portraying Asian American characters already exist. Better media portraying Asian characters relating to Superman mythos already exists. What we're doing when we celebrate the breadcrumbs of representation that is MAWS, is allowing mediocrity to exist uncritically.

Shows like Wednesday are known in the discourse for their portrayal of Black characters as being functionally white, yet that kind of scrutiny doesn't seem known for MAWS. The diverse reimagining of Lois and Jimmy is so poorly handled in MAWS that it would honestly make more sense if Jimmy and Lois were white here. The joke made at Jimmy's expense that he doesn't understand bigotry would be actually funny if it was calling out his white privilege. If, for whatever reason, the writers are compelled to write a xenophobic Lois that unlearns her bigotry and falls for Superman, I'd rather she be white for that kind of story. I wouldn't personally root for that kind of couple, but at least it'd make sense. It's a common joke among DCAU fans of color that we like to headcanon Lex Luthor as Black, or Lois Lane and Terry Mcginnis as Asian. It's a cruel irony that the one time we finally have a canonized Asian Lois in an animated show, she honestly feels and acts whiter than actual white Lois ever was.

I mentioned in Pt 1 of my essay that Asian Lois and Superman has the potential to be a definitive love story. One that considers both their backgrounds as immigrants, othered in different ways by American society. The story of a jaded but accomplished Asian city girl who finds hope to be herself again in an alien immigrant superhero. One where she gets the courage to wear traditional clothes again, to practice languages she once suppressed. The story of Superman, an alien immigrant, finding hope in someone with a painfully similar experience.

As of writing, we have yet to see this dynamic in any canon DC media. A second season of MAWS will not give us that story.

[tobiasdrake]

Digimon Adventure 02x27 - The Unrivaled Combination! Paildramon / Fusion Confusion

Previously on Digimon Adventure: Ken left the fucking stove on when he locked up his fortress and now it's going to burn down the Digital World. Daisuke ordered him to get his ass over here and slapped him in the face. Then XV-mon ate Stingmon for a power-up.

The question that we have to answer today is: Will the combined power of XV-mon/ExVeemon and Stingmon be enough to defeat Oukuwamon/Okuwamon? I think Dub Narrator's got this one in the bag. I can't imagine this episode ending without a decisive answer to that.

Incidentally, the word in the title is 無敵 muteki. It's a combination of 無 mu which is nothingness, emptiness, and 敵 teki which is your enemy or rival. 無敵 Muteki means to be so powerful, so formidable, that no enemy or rival could ever stand against you. You have no enemies because none would dare.

All of which is to say that this is a wild way to talk about a Digimon who's only at the penultimate stage of evolution. The second combined Digimon thus far, the other of whom is Omegamon/Omnimon. Paildramon is cool but we might be overselling him a little bit here....

But enough of my pedantry. We're here to watch the Unrivaled Combination flex an asshole in half.

The episode opens by replaying Paildramon's evolution sequence just because it's so fucking cool. Then we go straight into the rundown.

Paildramon is a Perfect-stage Free-attribute Dragon Man Digimon. He's the Jogress Evolution for XV-mon and Stingmon. Well, one of. The other is Dinobeemon who we will not be seeing in the anime... pretty much ever.

The D-3 V-Pets gave Jogress evolutions to whichever of the six Partner Digimon you had, Jogressing with their Jogress partner in the anime. Tailmon and Patamon got their own Perfect forms to be their Jogresses, but Wormmon needed something separate from V-mon and so we got Paildramon and Dinobeemon.

But the anime only needed one Jogress from them so Dinobeemon was consigned to the annals of history, never to see the light of day. Well, outside of the video games, anyway, which typically include both Paildramon and Dinobeemon as redundant Jogress options for the same combination of Digimon.

In any case, Paildramon's name is a bit of a question mark. Wikimon speculates that it may be derived from the word "Pile". Piledramon, the pile dragon. That fits with the pronunciation, which is absolutely Piledramon.

Wikimon credits that to "pile" meaning javelin, which is not exactly correct; I believe they're referring to the Latin pilum.

I've also seen someone speculate that "pile" refers to a group of bees or hornets, which... so far as I can tell is just wrong? I am fairly certain that a "pile of hornets" is not a thing.

I personally speculate that it's because V-mon and Wormmon are piled on each other to form this Digimon, but that's just my guess.

One way or another, "Pilemon" would be an amazing thing to call, like, a group fusion of all of the Chosen Children's Digimon. Maybe Dogpilemon.

Why is he a pile? Is he even a pile? The world may never know.

Narrator: Paildramon! XV-mon and Stingmon Jogress Evolved to form this Dragon Man Digimon! His Special Attack is Desperado Blaster!

Weak. Even if this was my first episode, you just showed me the stock animation again; I know where he came from. At least tell me he's allergic to tuna or something.

"Paildramon inherits V-mon's bottomless stomach but also Wormmon's weak constitution. These traits combine to make him simultaneously needy and picky which can be very obnoxious to his friends at social gatherings."

There you go, I fixed it.

Once the rundown finishes, we then replay the last fifteen seconds or so of everyone reacting to him.

Daisuke & Ken: Paildramon!? Takeru: They combined.... Miyako: Jogress Evolution!?

I could literally have just used the same set of screenshots from the last section of the previous episode for this but then I'd have to pass up a chance to put Miyako on the screen, and that just isn't done. That's my kid's kouhai you're talking about! I will bite you.

The dub has the unfortunate task of needing someone to give a diegetic rundown for Paildramon. Who could possibly be up for the task? The answer may surprise you!

T.K.: (rundown) ExVeemon and Stingmon DNA Digivolved into Paildramon! His Desperado Blaster attack will defeat Okuwamon for sure!

Wow, I was being facetious but actually that answer surprised me. I thought they'd get Paildramon to do his own. T.K. feels like a very "name pulled from a hat" option.

As we've come to expect by now, the dub does not reuse the dialogue from the end of the previous episode but instead goes a different direction with the replayed scene. They also take advantage of Paildramon's lack of visible mouth to give him dialogue.

Paildramon: Take your best shot! Davis & Ken: Paildramon!? Paildramon: Thaaaaaaat's US!!! T.K.: They became one! Yolei: How can he possibly win!?

Everyone's excited except Yolei who's still panicking.

A note about Paildramon's voice: In both versions, he speaks with both XV-mon and Stingmon's voices. However, in the original, sometimes XV-mon and Stingmon will say things separately. They're both in there, rather than having a single shared consciousness.

This doesn't happen in the dub. I'm not sure if that's a conscious choice or if it was simply lost in translation; You might not notice the alternating voices while just reading a transcript from the third-party translator.

One minute into the episode, we're finished repeating the last episode and are ready for new action. The mystery woman gives the command.

It does not go well. For them.

Woman: Oukuwamon, finish this.

Oukuwamon roars menacingly at Paildramon. Paildramon counters its threatening exhalation with a kick to the face, knocking the colossal stag beetle on its ass in the sand.

Paildramon: It's tough....

Suddenly, Oukuwamon goes back on the attack. Surging up from the sand, it grabs for Paildramon. Paildramon catches its pincer, briefly wrestling with all his strength to push it back. Then, taking control, he finds the strength to toss Oukuwamon to his right, opening up some distance.

It occurs to me that we're still in familiar territory, in a sense. Though the faces and metaphysics have changed, the basic setup of the villain as a rival Pokemon Trainer showing up to test their latest acquisition against us is still pretty much what we're doing here.

It's just that the difficulty level's been heightened since enemy Digimon no longer have a targetable weak spot that will instantly win the fight if we hit it. With Dark Tower Digimon, we actually have to beat them the hard way.

At the start of the original, Paildramon makes a short kiai, little more than a "Hagh!" as he braces himself for the fight with Oukuwamon. The dub gives him a longer and more elaborate kiai.

Paildramon: HIIIII-YAH!!! Arukenimon: (sarcastic) Oh my. I'm so frightened. (Paildramon kicks Okuwamon into the sand) Paildramon: Ready for round two? Ha ha! (Okuwamon charges and gets tossed)

Original Paildramon is assessing Oukuwamon while they fight. Dub Paildramon is just having a blast being Ultimate level.

After tossing Oukuwamon, Paildramon follows up with cables from his fingers.

Paildramon's cables wrap around Oukuwamon's front legs. Whipping it through the air, Paildramon slams the creature down into the sand once more.

Armadimon: Amazing-dagyaa! Hawkmon: He's fighting the Perfect level Oukuwamon on even terms! Patamon: Ugh, if only we could still evolve into our Perfect forms! Tailmon: Paildramon has this in the bag! Iori: (bitter) Though he had to combine with Ichijouji Ken's Digimon to do it....

NO FORGIVENESS. IORI WOULD RATHER DIE THAN--

Well, no. Iori's glad we're going to win this fight. He just hates what we had to do to get here.

So far, Paildramon seems to be dominating the fight, but opinions are mixed. Tailmon has confidence in him, while Hawkmon thinks they're evenly matched and Patamon wishes he could get in there to back Paildramon up.

In the dub, Paildramon calls his cables as an attack.

Paildramon: CABLE CATCHER!!! (Paildramon grapples Okuwamon's legs) Paildramon: Sorry, you're GROUNDED!!! (Paildramon slams Okuwamon into the sand) Armadillomon: He fought something fierce!

For context, Armadillomon isn't saying that Paildramon's opponent is "something fierce". It's a Southern-ism; He's using "something fierce" as an adjective to describe the level of Paildramon's fighting.

Hawkmon: Yes, he's most certainly beating the tar out of that Okuwamon chap. Patamon: Yeah, but does he have to make it look so easy? It makes the rest of us look like weaklings. Gatomon: He's tearing up Okuwamon like he was a scratching post! Cody: But... I don't understand why he had to merge with Ken's Digimon....

Opinions are more one-sided in the dub. Everyone agrees that Paildramon is cutting through Okuwamon like a hot knife through butter. This will be over shortly.

The most important point of characterization here is Iori's bitter aside about Ken, which the dub captures perfectly.

Suddenly, Oukuwamon lunges from the sand at Paildramon.

Paildramon flits up, bounding over the lunge and kicking Oukuwamon in the back to send the creature tumbling back down. Still, he's not breathing easily after the speed of that attack.

Paildramon: It's fast....

While Paildramon braces for the next attack, Daisuke nerds out to Ken.

Daisuke: Don't you think he's incredible!? Ken: I don't know.... Daisuke: That is our Partner Digimon! Ken: Ours...?

For some reason, Paildramon is on the ground now. Oukuwamon tries to stomp him, but he vanishes from sight only to reappear delivering an uppercut to Oukuwamon's chin.

Ken: He's our Partners combined.... Daisuke: (throwing punches) Yeah! Like this! And that! Now finish it! Paildramon: (whirling on them) The Crest of Kindness! Hurry! Daisuke & Ken: (speaking in unison) ...oh yeah.... Got it!

Daisuke is so excited and Ken so stunned by this new evolution that they fucking forgot about the reactor meltdown that's about to kill us all. Paildramon has to take the time out of his busy fight to yell at them about it.

It's worth noting that Daisuke is definitely trying to amp Ken up here. He doesn't just say Paildramon is cool; He specifically asks Ken's opinion on Paildramon's coolness, then makes his "Our Partner Digimon" statement when Ken stumbles on it.

He's not just nerding out but specifically trying to get Ken pumped up and excited to be a participant in this.

Children!

In the dub:

(Paildramon kicks Okuwamon) Paildramon: Going down? (Okuwamon crashes into the sand) Davis: Our Digimon is great! Ken: Our Digimon? Davis: We're working together now! That's the power of friendship! Ken: I guess.... (Paildramon uppercuts Okuwamon) Ken: I don't know if I like this idea of a shared Digimon.... Davis: (throwing punches) Yeah! Take that! The left! The right! JAB!!! UPPERCUT!!! BODY BLOW!!! KNOCK HIM OUT!!! Paildramon: (whirling on them) Quick! Use the Crest of Kindness! Davis & Ken: (speaking in unison) The what? ...OH YEAH!!!

This is pretty good. Davis approaches it differently but he's still clearly trying to amp up Ken. And his voice actor goes hard on the "excited Davis throwing punches" bit.

Suddenly reminded of their task, Daisuke and Ken run for the derelict fortress.

Takeru: We're going too! Hikari: I'm sure there's still time!

The other Chosen Children and their battered Digimon follow after Daisuke and Ken. However, the team making a break for the fortress does not go unnoticed.

Woman: I can't let you do that. Oukuwamon, go deal with the children.

Turning its back on Paildramon, Oukuwamon flies into the air on an intercept course for the kids. This is a terrible idea and the woman was wrong to have ordered it.

Paildramon: I won't let you go!

Paildramon shoots his cables around Oukuwamon's hind legs and drags his ass back because of course he does that. Go fucking take care of them yourself.

I mean that. Mystery woman is Perfect level. There is absolutely nothing stopping her from chasing them into the fortress and jumping them. She's just being lazy.

...well, I suppose she probably doesn't want to be at ground zero when the reactor melts down. That's probably stopping her. She needs to get the fuck out of here at some point.

In the dub:

T.K.: Don't forget about us! Kari: Yeah, let's go! (The rest of the team follows) Davis: Hurry up! We don't have all day, slowpokes!

As the team runs for the fortress, the dub takes their first commercial break. On return, we pick right back up where we left off.

Arukenimon: Fleeing in terror, are we? Hmph! It's such a shame you'll never outrun Okuwamon. (Okuwamon tries to pursue) Paildramon: What's your hurry? CABLE CATCHER!!!

Then, as Paildramon pulls Okuwamon back, they add in a "Stupid Davis" joke.

T.K.: DAVIS, WAIT!!! Ugh, his feet are faster than his brains....

That was necessary, sure.

An oddity of the dub's take on Arukenimon's dialogue is that she doesn't tell Okuwamon to do things the way she does in the original. It just. Like. Acts on its own accord in the ways she wants it to.

Daisuke and Ken approach a hole in the fortress's wall and slip inside. By the time the others reach it, they're already clamboring their way across the debris within.

Takeru: We can't go further than this.

Takeru says that for some reason despite the fact that Daisuke and Ken are visibly in the middle of going further. Before long, the boys drop down onto the floor on the other side at the same time, then bolt for the next opening. Their footsteps are perfectly in sync as they run and hurdle the next chunk of debris.

Slowly crossing the debris, the others stop a moment to stare in amazement at the boys' perfectly synchronized obstacle clearing.

Miyako: Don't those two seem like a perfect match...?

It's almost like they've fused or something.

In the dub, Ken calls out the crack in the wall as they approach.

Ken: There it is! The entrance to the cave!

Weird way to describe an obvious fracture in the metal exterior that we're going to slip through.

Davis: Coast looks clear! T.K.: There's no way they'll get through all this rubble! (Ken and Davis make it to the other side and keep going) Yolei: Uh, I suppose Ken and Davis just didn't hear you, T.K....

T.K. remains as weirdly negative as in the original, but they don't call out Ken and Davis's perfectly synchronized movements. Which is a shame because... that is a thing worth noting. Because they're doing that. It's as if their hearts are beating as one, I wonder why that is.

Following the sound of a blaring alarm, it doesn't take long for Daisuke and Ken to find the reactor.

It's a large metal device glowing with radioactive green energy, emblazoned with the symbol of Kindness. Beneath the symbol is a small slot for the Crest.

Daisuke: The Crest! Ken: Yeah!

Ken climbs up to the generator and slots the Crest into it. The generator accepts the Crest and, after a moment, the energy and the alarm both die down.

With the reactor disabled, the crisis is over. The team finally has a moment to breathe as the others finally catch up to Daisuke and Ken.

Hikari: You made it in time! Daisuke: YEAH!!!

It was... probably close? We don't really have a solid estimate of how much time was left on the clock. Which isn't a bug, it's a feature, as the lack of knowing added to the anxiety. "We're running out of time" tension versus "We might already be, WHO KNOWS" tension. The important thing is, several hundred square kilometers of the Digital World are no longer about to become a smoking crater.

In the original, there is no music on the approach to the generator. The only sound is the blaring of the alarm. The dub has no alarm and plays the typical "dangerous situation" music. They also have some inner monologue exposition in to re-establish what we're doing in here.

Ken: (thinking) There it is. Davis: (thinking) Whoooooaaaaaa! Ken: (thinking) Now we just need to get the Crest of Kindness up there, right below its symbol. Davis: Well!? Quit stalling! (Ken climbs up and slots in the Crest; The reactor shuts down) Ken: Look at that! The power is shutting down. The reactor's going offline! It won't explode now! Davis: It worked! (The others arrive) Cody: Nicely done! T.K.: Excellent! Yolei: YAY!!! Kari: You guys did it! Davis: YEAH!!!

The original script assumes that you already know what the fuck this is and why it's important to shut it off. In the dub, Ken re-explains what we're doing right here and now, as the generator's shutting down.

An interesting note is that the original recap did mention that we're here to thwart the reactor from exploding, though it didn't bring up the Crest. In the dub, the recap is focused on Minotarumon and the big fight we had with him; This moment is the first mention the dub's made of any impending explosion in this episode.

Monitoring the readings from his computer at home, Koushiro confirms that the dark energy distortions have disappeared.

Koushiro: Yes! The distortion's gone!

When we saw him last episode, he was contacting them from the computer clubroom. So I guess he went home while we were waiting on Ken's tardiness. Might have felt self-conscious loitering at an elementary school alone after-hours, and now he doesn't technically need to do that.

One email chime later, Iori gets the message from Koushiro.

Iori: It's from Koushiro-san. The distortion's gone! Miyako: YAY!!! It should be safe now, right? Patamon: To be honest, I was a little scared because it could have exploded at any moment. Takeru: Me too. Daisuke: (to Ken) We're all safe now, thanks to you.

Daisuke's gratitude brings a smile to Ken's face. It's good to be part of a team.

In the dub:

Izzy: Prodigious! Way to go, guys! They managed to return the warp to normal.

The dub does not have the email alert chime as we switch back to the team in the Digital World.

Cody: Hey, it's a message from Izzy! Kari: What's it say? Cody: The warp's back to normal! Yolei: Alright! Score one for the good guys! Patamon: That's all we get? All that work and we only get one point? T.K.! T.K.: You get two. Davis: (to Ken) And it's all thanks to your Crest.

It's a little awkward that we're suddenly talking about "the warp" as if that's what we've been calling it this whole time, but that just parallels the awkwardness of suddenly talking about the 歪み yugami as if that's what we've been calling it. Neither of these terms were how we described the impending catastrophe last episode.

The dub swaps out a nice moment of emotional sincerity from Patamon and Takeru for a cute little affectionate gag.

Not a fan of the way they swapped Daisuke crediting Ken directly for Davis complimenting the Crest itself. Daisuke's still trying to puff Ken up, to build his confidence in himself and in his participation in their activities. "Great work having the keys to the reactor in your possession" is underselling it.

In any case, what matters most is that we've saved the Digital World again, that two more explosions rip out of the fortress, and that we've made a solid connection with Ke--

Wait, what?

Ken: What!?

The twin blasts shake the fortress, causing parts of the ceiling to collapse inside. The Chosen Children run for cover. Outside, Paildramon notices the blasts as well.

Paildramon (XV): Why!? Paildramon (Sting): The explosion hasn't stopped!

He's so distracted, he doesn't even notice Oukuwamon sneaking up behind him until the creature slams its pincer down on the top of his head.

Back inside, Miyako ducks behind a piece of machinery and covers her head, which is kinda funny because she's the only one on the team with an actual helmet.

Miyako: NOOOO!!! I THOUGHT WE PUT THE CREST OF KINDNESS BACK!!!

In his room, Koushiro sees the distortion wave returning on his screen.

Koushiro: This is a disaster!

He frantically types out a message to Iori, received on the other end.

Iori: (reading D-Terminal) "This is a disaster. The distortion has flared up again." That can't be! Daisuke: I thought putting Ichijouji's Crest back was supposed to stop the explosion! Ken: (spiraling) My Crest is useless... It couldn't help us.... Iori: No... I'm sure the power from the Crest of Kindness prevented the reactor from exploding.

That disagreement from Iori of all people creates a stunned silence in the room. Everyone slowly look at Iori.

Iori: (bitterly) I'm just stating the facts. It was plainly visible on Koushiro-san's computer.

Despite his personal feelings about Ken, Iori assesses the situation honestly. The distortion faded when we shut down the reactor. The reactor is still shut down, but now the distortion is back. The logical deduction is that something else is now happening to force the fortress to explode anyway.

In the dub:

(Explosions) Group: Ahhh! Kari: What's going on!? Cody: For some reason, shutting down the reactor isn't stopping the explosion! (The kids run for cover) Paildramon: Huh!? Oh no! The plan didn't work!

The dub uses a white flash to obscure the moment of Okuwamon bonking Paildramon. Okuwamon flies up behind him, white flash, Paildramon's plummeting into the sand. You still get the impression that Okuwamon hit him with something, though not specifically what.

They also apparently also had the "Wait isn't she wearing a helmet?" question because they use Yolei's line to address it.

Yolei: Ugh, my hat's great in the rain but it doesn't work on concrete! (Izzy sees the warp return) Izzy: (confused) What is happening? Gotta warn 'em! (Izzy sends email) Cody: Izzy says the warp is getting worse, not better. But... The Crest didn't work! Davis: How can that be!? We did everything we were supposed to do! We put the Crest of Kindness back where it belongs! Ken: (spiraling) I knew something like this would happen... My Crest is meaningless... Cody: No! The Crest of Kindness should have stopped the explosion! There must be something else about this place that we don't know! Davis: Huh!? Cody: Is there something you're not telling us, Ken!? Ken: Uhh.... (Everyone looks at Cody) Cody: There's something wrong here. And if there was anyone who would know what it was, that person would have to be you!

Iori and Cody have wildly different takes on this situation. Iori calmly assesses that the Crest shut down the distortion and then a distortion started again, meaning there is some other cause of this second distortion. He resists the urge to let his hatred of Ken blind him from following the facts where they lead.

Cody does not resist the urge. He asserts twice that the Crest failed, the warp never stopped, and that Ken must be complicit in it. He even rants over the moment of stunned silence the others give Iori so he can make his accusation. He is wildly off-base and letting his hatred run away with him.

Another explosion rocks the base. We're running out of time, but the others are coming around to Iori's train of logic.

Hikari: Then what's this explosion? Miyako: There must be something else! Some other reason for it! Woman: Oh, what a shame....

A TV sits amid all the rubble. The screen displays the mystery woman out in the desert, demonstrating her continued refusal to come inside and get blown the fuck up.

Hikari: Are you responsible for this!? Woman: Oh, quit pointing fingers. The important thing is, that measly little Crest can't help you now. The Dark Power has grown spectacularly.

Another explosion punctuates the woman's words.

Daisuke: What did you say!? Woman: Nothing can stop it now. Ehehehe... Isn't that funny? AHAHAHAHAHA!!!

She kills the feed there.

In any case, this is our first tipoff of what's really happening here. The Darkness has had its way with the fortress since Ken left and is going critical.

In the dub, the team starts accusing Arukenimon before she even joins the conversation.

(Explosion) Kari: That woman's behind all this trouble! Yolei: Yeah! Knock it off! You're a real bad egg, lady! Arukenimon: And soon you will all be scrambled. (Woman is on the TV) Kari: You don't scare us! We'll beat you yet! Arukenimon: Ha! You don't even seem to know if you're fighting the right enemy or if your friends... are really your friends. (Dramatic explosion) Davis: YOU'LL NEVER WIN!!! Arukenimon: Oh, but that's exactly what I'll do! And you... Ehehe... You'll blow up! AHAHAHAHA!!!

This is nothing. The Japanese cast is deliberating the secondary cause of the distortion that Iori speculated and being given an alarmingly plausible explanation. The dub is just doing throwaway Saturday Morning Cartoon banter.

The one meaningful statement made is that Arukenimon plants seeds of doubt about whether Ken can really be trusted. Continuing from Cody's wild accusations, that seems to be the direction the dub wants to go with this episode.

Reeling from his own helplessness, Ken looks down at the ground... Where he suddenly spots some pipes on the floor.

Ken: Ah! Those are....

Following the pipes with his eyes, Ken sees that they disappear down a hallway to the side of the room.

Ken: That's it! These pipes are....

Refusing to finish any of his sentences like an asshole, Ken explains nothing and chases the pipes into the hall.

Daisuke: Hey! Where are you going!?

Daisuke gets no answer and we cut outside to the mystery woman still not evacuating the vicinity of the impending meltdown.

Woman: Hmph... Those children don't know when to quit.

DO YOU!?!? WHY ARE YOU STILL HERE!?!?

SEVERAL. HUNDRED. KILOMETERS.

Woman: Go ahead and blow yourselves to pieces right alongside that broken toy. All that's left for me to do is to defeat you, Paildramon!

Ken. She means Ken. The "broken toy" is Ken.

Right on time, Oukuwamon erupts from the sand and into the air, clutching Paildramon in its pincers. Steadying his legs against one finger and using his left arm to push the other back, Paildramon's right arm is free to attack.

Paildramon: ESGRIMA!!!

Taking a break from kool exotik English words, here we get some kool exotik Spanish. "Esgrima" means fencing. The attack consists of extending the blade on Paildramon's gauntlets, jamming it straight into Oukuwamon's stupid face.

I'M ALREADY IN YOUR HAND; BLOCK THIS!!!

It's a solid hit; The blade cuts through Oukuwamon's exoskeleton and pierces what passes for its body, cracking the outer shell around it.

In the dub:

Ken: (thinking) She's trying to turn them against me.... Wait! The pipes! Ken: Why, of course! (Ken visually follows the pipes to the tunnel) Ken: We've got to follow these pipes! (Ken physically follows the pipes to the tunnel) Davis: Hey! Where's he going!?

Dub Ken actually explains his train of thought to the others instead of just yelling "The pipes!" and running off. Davis is still confused, nonetheless.

Arukenimon: Ah, just one little explosion and those nosy little brats will be out of my hair forever! But first, let's get rid of Paildramon, shall we? OKUWAMON!!! (Okuwamon bursts out of the sand with Paildramon) Paildramon: No more Mr. Nice Guy! STING STRIKE!!!

They censored out Okuwamon bopping Paildramon in the head earlier but not Paildramon stabbing Okuwamon in the fucking face. That part's fine.

As the fight rages outside, the children enter what I unaffectionately call the Meat Tunnel.

No, this will not be explained or even commented on, but I would hazard a guess that it's a product of the corruption bleeding out from where the Dark Power is most concentrated. It's corrupting reality around it.

Daisuke: What's down there? Ken: These pipes are probably what send energy to the reactor. So if we follow the pipes, we should be able to find the cause of this explosion.

"Probably". Ken doesn't fully remember the base is constructed. As someone who works with databases, I can relate. I've built many a database only to have to diagnose problems a year later and be like, "How the fuck did I code this again?" It's always a little embarrassing having to reverse-engineer something that you fucking built to begin with.

Assuming he did build it.

Outside, Oukuwamon slams into the desert sands hard and burrows deep, leaving Paildramon alone on the surface.

Paildramon: Where is it!? Where did it go!?

Back inside the Meat Tunnel, the team prepares to go deeper.

Tailmon: Something about this feels wrong. Patamon: I'm sure I've felt this way before....

Despite their misgivings, the Chosen Children progress down the tunnel until another explosion blocks their way. The blast causes the... meat ceiling... to collapse in a pile of wet muscley debris and what are definitely veins or intestines.

In the dub, Ken's more confident about his assessment.

Ken: These pipes send energy to the reactor above. Following them will lead us right to the source of its power! If we plug that source, we should be able to stop the reactor from exploding! (Okuwamon suddenly burrows) Paildramon: Come out, come out, wherever you are! ...where are you!? ...hello? (Back to the Meat Tunnel) Gatomon: These tunnels give me the creeps! Patamon: You know, this reminds me of something. (The team continues) Davis: How much further do we have to go? (Explosion) T.K.: What's that!? (Tunnel collapse)

The dub is no more eager to talk about the Meat Tunnel than the original is.

With the collapse of the tunnel, it looks like we have no choice but to turn around and find another way.

Oh, never mind. Hooray for violence!

Iori: It's blocked! Miyako: Agh! Now what!? Armadimon: Leave this to me-dagyaa! ROLLING STONE!!!

Armadimon rolls straight into the debris and grossly splatters it everywhere.

Hawkmon: FEATHER SLASH!!!

Hawkmon follows up by throwing the feather from his headband, which slices through the intestines and clears our path forward. What had been an obstacle falls into a gooey mess on the floor.

Hawkmon: (proudly) And now we can pass.

Hawkmon gloats but he's not the one who got Meat Tunnel all over his face to achieve this. Where's the props for Armadimon?

Outside, Paildramon's getting a little spooked waiting for the inevitable ambush.

Paildramon: Where are you!? Come out!

Suddenly, the sand shifts on a nearby dune. Paildramon whips around, preparing for the attack... which instead comes from below. Capitalizing on a clever distraction, Oukuwamon's pincer suddenly bursts from the sand beneath Paildramon's feet and drags him down below.

Woman: Mm, ohohohohoho! It's over.

THE UNRIVALED COMBINATION

...got outsmarted by an animate rock. Probably should have just stayed in the air and not put himself in this position to begin with. Sun Tzu says that if your enemy goes to ground, hover in the air for as long as possible instead of giving him the opportunity to sneak attack you with his giant monster pincers

That's a direct quote from the Art of War. You can look it up!

In the dub:

Davis: Oh no! Kari: The tunnel's blocked! What are we gonna do!? Armadillomon: Don't worry! Just leave it to ol' Armadillomon! DIAMOND SHELL!!! (Armadillomon crashes through) Hawkmon: FEATHER STRIKE!!! (Hawkmon slices the intestines) Armadillomon: YEAH!!! Hawkmon: Now, we may continue. (Cut to Paildramon's fight) Paildramon: OLLY OLLY OXEN FREE!!! (Sand shifts) Paildramon: Huh? (Sudden attack) Paildramon: WHOA!!! NO FAIR!!! (Paildramon's pulled under) Arukenimon: Ahahaha! Too easy.

When Armadillomon smashes through the meaty debris, the original sounds like he's crashing through a stone wall. The dub gives it a drilling through steel noise. Neither really wants to engage with the wet splorching sounds that he'd probably be making in actuality.

Anyway, that's the end of the Meat Tunnel. Hope you had a good time and let's never speak of it again. Hey, could have been worse. Could have been the Wonka tunnel. You know the one. In any case, this tunnel exits out to a... to the....

That. It exits to that.

Ken: That's it!

At their destination, the pipes wrap around a huge stalagmite sticking straight up with some sort of disgusting growth on it. A hideous maw on the end breathes darkness into the air. The whole thing seems to be radiating dark energy.

Daisuke: Does anyone else feel a chill? Takeru: This feeling...! Patamon: I remember! This is what I felt when we were inside that whirlpool!

Takeru flashes back on his and Pegasmon's descent into the Dark Whirlpool. Back when Pegasmon had to warn him away from looking directly at whatever horror lurked at the bottom.

Hikari: I know it too.

Hikari flashes back on the moment when she first opened her eyes in the Dark Ocean, looking out at the endless seas and that lighthouse with the black light.

Ken: That makes sense. The opening in that mouth is connected to the Dark World. Dark Energy from the Dark World flowing through that opening is what was powering this base.

The Crest of Kindness was never the fortress's power source. It was stabilizing the power source. Counteracting the Dark Power coming from this thing. And given how black and murky it was when we first found it as the Digimental of Miracles, the Darkness seems to have been winning.

No time for more discussion, however, because two small explosions shake the inner chamber. In his room, Koushiro sees the distortion pulses speeding up.

Koushiro: PLEASE HURRY!!!

The Chosen Children enter the chamber and approach the grotesquery, which seems to be approaching critical mass. The eye on the dark maw suddenly begins to glow white.

Iori: We're out of time! We have to do this fast or it'll explode! Daisuke: What do we do, Ichijouji!? Ken: We have to cut the flow of Dark Energy! There should be some kind of mechanism to cut the flow!

Suddenly another explosion, this time way too close, rips through the room itself. Time's just about up.

As an aside, I don't know if this is an animation error or not because this device is a weird gross eldritch thing. But when we see the maw in closeup, the flow of Dark Energy seems to be pouring into it rather than out from it, but the characters talk about it as if it's bringing Dark Energy from the Dark World and pouring it into ours.

It's inhaling rather than exhaling which doesn't really make sense for how its functions are described. Unless maybe the Meat Tunnel was a gateway into the Dark World or something. We do seem to have the Dark Ocean gray filter over us. That's a possibility.

In the dub:

Ken: There it is! The source of the reactor's power! Davis: Boy, if evil's got a color, that's it.

Felt, Davis. Super felt.

Yolei: It's so cold! T.K.: This feeling.... Patamon: I remember! This feels just like when we were near that whirlpool! (Flashback to Dark Whirlpool) T.K. (V.O.): Yeah! I remember now! You're right, Patamon. It is the same disturbing feeling. (End flashback) Kari: I've felt it too. (Flashback to Dark Ocean) Kari (V.O.): When I was pulled into the world that looked like a negative photograph. Everything that was supposed to be light was dark. Even the light! (End flashback) Ken: The World of Darkness. Kari: Huh? Ken: This is a doorway that leads directly to the World of Darkness. Davis: How do you know!? Ken: Because I've been surrounded by this energy ever since I came to the Digital World.

The dub takes that line as a dramatic mic drop to leave off on, and we go for the second commercial break. After the break, Kari re-establishes our predicament.

Kari: I can feel that thing's power building! We'd better do something quick! Yolei: Yeah, but what!? (Two explosions) Izzy: It's a...bout to explode!

Really noticeable gap in that word due to the lip flaps not cooperating.

Ken: COME ON!!! (The team slides down into the room; The maw's eye glows) Cody: Look! Up there! We've got to close the opening the Dark Power is coming through! Davis: So what do you think we should do, Ken!? Ken: I don't really know but we've got to stop that power flow! There must be something around here that we can use to stop it! (Surprise explosion)

The exposition here is pretty good. The maw opens into the Dark World and we need to shut it down. Bases are covered, we know what's going on and why we're exploding.

Outside, Paildramon and Oukuwamon erupt from the sand. Paildramon's still grappled in Oukuwamon's pincer.

Paildramon (XV): Daisuke and the others are still in there!? Paildramon (Sting): Ken-chan and the others are in danger! Paildramon: DESPERADO BLASTER!!!

Paildramon is officially done with this. Using his hands to pry apart Oukuwamon's pincer, he unloads the dual machine guns dangling from his hips. From his hoisted position, gravity easily guides his bullets right down into Oukuwamon's face The relentless assault tears through Oukuwamon's fleshy exterior and then through the Dark Tower mass underneath, until finally Oukuwamon explodes into pixel dust.

When the smoke settles, the only piece left of the false Digimon is the lone severed pincer. Paildramon lets that part fall, which then also disintegrates. But there's no time for celebration because Paildramon still has work to do.

Paildramon (XV): Daisuke! Paildramon (Sting): Ken-chan!

Turning around in the air, he guns it for the fortress.

In the dub:

Paildramon: Uh-oh! That looks like big trouble! Time to end this fight! DESPERADO BLASTER!!! (Paildramon's assault destroys the false Okuwamon) Paildramon: Now that's what I call going to pieces! (Paildramon drops the pincer, which also disintegrates) Paildramon: Okay, it's time to save some DigiDestined!

As I mentioned before, the alternating voices didn't make it across the pond. Paildramon confidently makes quips to nobody in particular but isn't talking to himself to the same extent as the Japanese Paildramon.

Inside the fortress, the team try to get their bearings after that last blast rocked the inner chamber.

Daisuke: Is everyone okay? Miyako: We're fine, but... LOOK AT THAT!!!

Miyako points up at the stalagmite, which is now pulsing with white energy. The dark maw cries a stream of glowing white fluid. We are out of time.

In his room, Koushiro stands up suddenly, knocking over his chair.

Koushiro: IT'S ABOUT TO BLOW!!! YOU HAVE TO GET OUT OF THERE!!!

Oh, we are way past the Point of No Escape. If we were planning on evacuating, we needed to start running like an hour ago. At this point, we won't even make it to the crack in the wall leading out to the desert.

Ken: It... It's hopeless....

Not so much! Paildramon crashes through the wall, locked and loaded.

Paildramon: DESPERADO BLASTER!!!

He pumps the bleeding maw full of hot lead until it shatters, destroying the Dark Energy intake and thwarting the meltdown.

Daisuke & Ken: PAILDRAMON!!!

Koushiro once again watches the distortion ripples fade.

Koushiro: (relieved) They made it....

He sends another email to Iori.

Iori: "The distortion has subsided. This time, everything should be fine."

Corroborating how fine everything is, we cut to the mystery woman outside, and she is livid about how not-blown-up she is right now.

Woman: Remember this, you wretched children. Now you've really pissed me off, and you're going to regret it.

She does not televise this proclamation. She's just threatening the wind. Everyone needs to vent sometimes. But she is promising escalation. We might even finally get her name.

From here, we go to commercial. This is a good spot to demarcate the two halves of this episode.

In the dub:

Davis: Whoa, what a doozy! Is everyone okay? Yolei: I'm fine but my pride is bruised. ...BUT LOOK!!! (Yolei points out the pulsing stalagmite) Cody: The power output is increasing! T.K.: This looks like the end! (Izzy knocks over his chair) Izzy: Oh no! RUN!!! RUN!!! WHY WON'T THEY RUN!?!? (They do not run) Ken: No! It can't be! (Paildramon breaks through) Paildramon: Someone call for a hero? DESPERADO BLASTER!!! (Paildramon destroys the maw) Paildramon: Do I know how to make an entrance or what? Davis & Ken: PAILDRAMON!!! (The warp ripples stop) Izzy: The warp's returning to normal. Whew... But my stiff neck isn't! I've got to learn not to get so excited. (Izzy sends email) Cody: Izzy says the warp is returning to normal and it's all thanks to Paildramon! Paildramon: Save the accolades. This was just a battle! The war is far from over.... (Cut to Arukenimon) Arukenimon: Enjoy your little victory while you can. Eat, drink, and be merry, little DigiDestined, for soon you'll be crushed!

This is pretty good.

After the commercial break, we return to find Paildramon dismantling the Kaiser's fortress in a hail of gunfire with extreme prejudice.

Paildramon: DESPERADO BLASTER!!!

An explosion tears outward from the fortress, blowing off its outer shell. The Chosen Children watch from a safe distance.

Ken: Smash it into pieces. Leave nothing behind.

When the work is finished and the massive fortress has been reduced to a field of smoldering rocks littered about the sand, Paildramon returns to the children. He's spent so much energy that he's reduced all the way to his Baby I forms, Leafmon and Chicomon! This is our first time seeing V-mon as a Baby I! D'aww....

The babies bounce over to their Partners, hopping for joy and mobility. It's dual-purpose hopping!

Leafmon: Did we do a good job, Ken-chan? Ken: Yes, thank you, Leafmon. Daisuke: You're... V-mon? Is that right? Chicomon: Ehehe! Right now, I'm Chicomon! So, weren't we really strong? Daisuke: Yeah, you were the best!

THE UNRIVALED COMBINATION!!! With many, many asterisks on "Unrivaled", but they just saved the day so we'll let them have this.

In the dub:

Paildramon: DESPERADO BLASTER!!! (Outer layer of base explodes) Ken: Yes, blow it up so no one else can ever use it again. (Babies come bouncing across the sand once the deed is done) Leafmon: Hey! We're over here! Did we do things the way you wanted us to? Ken: Yes, you did an excellent job, my friend. Davis: Um, you're Veemon, aren't you? Chibomon: Well actually, Davis, you can just call me Chibomon for now. Davis: Well, whatever your name is, YOU ROCK!!!

CHIBOMON

That was NOT a typo.

They shifted one letter exactly one placement to the left so that it wouldn't be the Spanish word for "boy". I don't even know why they did that. Is there something wrong with saying "chico" on children's television?

Chibomon has the hilarious honor of being halfway between Chicomon and Chibimon, two perfectly good Digimon names that the dub inexplicably refuses to use.

It's fine. He'll fit right in with his buddies Gawkmon and Armadikkomon.

Anyway, enough celebrating. It's time to turn up the pressure on Ken.

Chicomon: (to Leafmon) I look forward to working with you! Leafmon: Aww, thanks!

While Chicomon gleefully nuzzles Leafmon, Daisuke holds out his hand for Ken's.

Daisuke: We did it, Ichijouji.

Ken reaches for Daisuke's hand, but then pulls his own back.

Daisuke: What's wrong? Ken: Why did our Digimon suddenly combine like that? Why? Daisuke: What are you talking about? It's because we're teammates. Ken: Teammates? Daisuke: Didn't you feel it? When the Digimon combined, our thoughts and feelings flowed into each other. Our hearts beating together as one... What an amazing feeling of unity! It was at that moment, I knew that we'd become a team.

Daisuke's interpretation is a little biased because he's been advocating for Ken for several episodes. The word he's using here is, of course, 仲間 nakama. A tight-knit group of people joined together by a mutual activity or goal.

He overextended himself previously with this word. In episode 25, he made good progress in getting Ken to agree to an apology, but then scared Ken away when he whipped out the term 仲間 nakama. That was a bridge too far.

It's ironic that 仲間 nakama was also a concept that gave Yamato a lot of grief, but his successor Daisuke has no problem with it; It's Ken who struggles with it.

But given what just happened with Paildramon, Daisuke feels confident in pushing 仲間 nakama again. This proves to be a mistake, as Ken remains as uncomfortable with it as he was in 25.

Ken: I'm not qualified to join your team. Daisuke: What do you mean, "qualified"!? The feeling of unity wasn't enough!? Ken: Sorry.

Preparing to leave, Leafmon hops up into Ken's arms.

Ken: Give me more time to think about it. Daisuke: Eh!? Ah, wait a second, Ichijouji!

But Ken does not wait. Having said his piece, Ken turns and walks away, leaving a dejected Daisuke behind with the rest of his 仲間 nakama.

Paildramon was cool and all but that doesn't mean Ken's ready to join us. Nor are we ready to have him, given that we're still only at two of five confirmed approvals. Hikari and Takeru were on the fence and Iori was at Hell The Fuck No last we checked in.

In the dub:

Chibomon: We make a great team, huh? Hehehehe! (Chibomon and Leafmon nuzzle each other) Davis: We make a good team too! (Ken almost shakes Davis's hand but backs out) Davis: What's wrong? Ken: I just don't feel like I deserve to be friends with any of you. At all. Davis: Boy, that's a lot of bologna! Look, Ken, you've earned our friendship! Ken: I have? Davis: Yeah! Sure, you started out all mean and evil but you decided to change and become one of us! And working hard like that builds the strongest kind of friendship there is! Trust me, I know friendship and after all we've been through, we're friends! And I'm absolutely not gonna take no for an answer. Ken: I don't know. I've done a lot of bad things. Things I'm not proud of at all. Davis: Hey, all of us have made mistakes. Look at Yolei; She makes them all the time! Yolei: HEY!!! Ken: I don't know. (Leafmon hops up into Ken's arms) Ken: I need some time to think about this. Davis: Wait, Ken! No, don't go! (Ken leaves, carrying Leafmon) Leafmon: (dejected) Byyyyyye....

Oh my god, I love Leafmon's sad "bye".

Not so keen on the rest of this. Davis sidesteps the feeling of unity to instead talk more generally about Ken's redemption arc. Which doesn't... really sound quite right? Like, Ken is changing but the "and become one of us" is completely false. Ken isn't one of us. Whether or not Ken should be one of us is the main topic of discussion surrounding his arc right now, and Ken himself is in the anti- column.

Davis just comes across like he's describing redemption storytelling instead of talking about Ken's journey across these past several episodes specifically.

He also, for the second time in as many episodes, trivializes the Digimon Emperor's crimes with "You made some mistakes; Who hasn't?" It's literally the exact same bit as in last episode, except this time he throws Yolei under the bus for a joke rather than diving under it himself.

As Ken departs, Daisuke and the others are left to unpack his latest rejection.

Daisuke: I don't get it.... Hikari: You're too straightforward, Daisuke-kun. When you suddenly pressure him like that, of course he won't be able to give you a clear answer.

Poor Daisuke. First Hikari, now Ken. Forever rejected.

That's only half in jest. In seriousness, it's probably not a coincidence that Hikari is the one who can pretty clearly see what just happened. As a consequence of wearing his heart on his sleeve, Daisuke's problem is that he comes on too strong.

Daisuke: But we just fought together! Miyako: Maybe he was engrossed in the fight, but once it was over and he settled down, he suddenly thought "Wait, what's going on!?" and flew into a panic! Just a thought. Iori: Even I don't really know what's going on anymore. Hikari: We'll just have to wait and see what happens with Ichijouji-kun. Come on, let's go home!

Hikari, Miyako, and Iori turn and leave the opposite direction from where Ken's going. But one person conspicuously hasn't chimed in on this conversation. Daisuke turns to watch Ken leave and addresses Takeru, who's been silently watching him go this whole time.

Daisuke: He's trying, in his own way. Takeru: I just hope he isn't only doing it to make himself feel better.

Hikari seems to be softening on Ken, but Takeru remains conflicted.

This statement from Takeru seems to clarify some things from his earlier expressed opinion on the subject. He'd said previously that, like Daisuke, he does believe Ken is trying to change. But he still opposes letting Ken join the team.

Takeru's concern is that Ken might only be changing to soothe his guilty conscience. Just saying what he needs to say and doing what he needs to do to stop having to feel bad for what he did. Going through whatever motions he needs to go through to bury it and put it behind him.

Ironically, it's a potent counter for what T.K. said in the dub about wanting Ken to forgive himself. If you're just doing it because you feel bad, then once you do forgive yourself, there is a high risk of falling right back into old habits. That kind of mindset, the idea of just trying to repay your debts, is the sort of change that is ephemeral.

The problem is not what Ken did or how Ken feels about it; The problem is who Ken fundamentally was as a person, which motivated the things that he did. And unless Ken is sincerely motivated to change that core identity, to rebuild his beliefs and his way of experiencing the world, it's not going to stick.

The biggest peril of atonement/forgiveness/redemption/etc. is recidivism. People who did it for the wrong reasons and then fell back on old ways once they'd achieved what they sought to achieve. The "My S.O. said they were going to be better but then after I forgave them, they started doing the shit again" phenomenon.

We, the audience, have looked through Ken's eyes so we know that he is sincerely motivated to change his core identity. We know that he's already examined his beliefs and why he believed those things. We held his hand as he went on a soul-searching mission to rediscover who he is on a fundamental level.

But the others weren't privy to that. So Takeru's concern is factually wrong, but it is a valid concern for him to have. Having to face these sorts of concerns is just part of the redemption process.

In the dub:

Davis: But we're friends now.... Kari: You always come on so strong, Davis. You can't force him to be your friend if he's not ready. You have to let it happen naturally. Davis: Yeah, but we just fought together! That makes us friends, doesn't it? Yolei: Fighting's one thing, but maybe afterwards he realized he wasn't ready to be friends. Or maybe he's just upset with a certain someone for pointing out how he makes mistakes! Cody: Let's not fight. Let's just keep an eye on Ken and see what happens. Kari: Cody's right. There's absolutely nothing any of us can do about it now, so let's go home. (Kari, Yolei, and Cody start walking) Davis: Well, I hope he decides to become our friend soon.... T.K.: I hope he doesn't start thinking it'd be easier to go back to being evil!

Yolei shames Davis for that "we've all made mistakes" remark being too accusatory somehow. But I can forgive it because she's clearly projecting. The gag is that she's upset with Davis for throwing her under the bus earlier and she's using Ken as a vehicle to express it.

Iori didn't really have much of an opinion to express on the matter so Cody steals Hikari's line and hopes no one will notice.

T.K. expresses a shallower but similar concern to Takeru's. Despite its similarity, it's more jarring and feels like it comes out of nowhere. I... also hope that but I'm not sure what part of this conversation made you think that was the thing to worry about, my guy.

Back in the human world, we go straight to a closeup on a pay phone.

Miyako: Yes, that's right! The Digimon combined!

Then we cut to the team outside the phone booth talking to Miyako about her call.

Takeru: What did Koushiro-san say? Miyako: Well, he has something he wants to explain to us about Jogress Evolution, so he's asked us to come to his home tomorrow. Iori: What does he want to tell us? Miyako: Um, I didn't ask for details.

They leave the pay phone and start walking home with Iori immediately regretting letting Miyako be the one to talk to Koushiro.

Iori: What do you think, Daisuke-san? Daisuke: No idea. Hikari: Could it be...?

Hikari stops suddenly. She and Takeru exchange looks. Exchanging information through the telepathy of shared experience as veteran Chosen Children.

Iori: Do you two know something?

Hikari and Takeru turn around to face the group, but then they're interrupted by Chicomon jumping on Daisuke's shoulder and biting it.

Chicomon: I'm so hungry, Daisuke! Miyako: Me too! I'm starving! Takeru: It's late. We can talk about it tomorrow. Iori: But it's bothering me! Upamon: Iori, we need to get home in time for dinner-dagyaa! Iori: Ah, you're right. Hikari: See you all tomorrow at Koushiro-san's house! Team: Bye! See you!

With that, the team splits up and goes their separate ways. Takeru, Iori, and Miyako one direction, with Hikari and Daisuke the other. Why Iori doesn't use this walk to try and pump Takeru for further details, I can't answer.

In the dub:

Yolei: Okay, Izzy! We'll be there tomorrow! EW!!! Are pay phones supposed to be this sticky!? (After the call) Cody: What did Izzy say? Yolei: He wants us to meet him tomorrow so he can tell us all about DNA Digivolving. Davis: (frustrated) Sometimes I wish he wasn't so smart so he didn't have so much to tell us! Team: DAVIS!!! Davis: I'm sorry but it hurts my brain to hold all that information! Cody: ...can we trust Ken? Davis: I think! Kari: If we're going to be friends, we have to learn to trust each other, right? (Kari and T.K. stop, exchanging serious glances) Cody: I suppose, but there's just something about him that worries me.... (Chibomon bites Davis's shoulder) Chibomon: Hey, less speaking, more sleeping, kay? Yolei: Look, the sun has almost set! T.K.: Let's get some sleep, talk to Izzy tomorrow, and then we'll figure out what to do about Ken. Team: Okay! Upamon: But... Before that, we get to eat, right? I'm so hungry! Cody: You're always hungry! T.K.: Okay, I'll see you guys tomorrow! Team: Bye! See you later!

As with Daisuke and Ken's scene earlier, the dub is aggressively disinterested in talking about what happened with Paildramon. It throws out the script for this scene completely. We get some more discussion of Ken's redemption, with the one meaningful statement made being that we have to trust Ken if we're going to be his friends

I will say that it's good that the dub has figured out that Cody's supposed to be the one most against Ken's inclusion in the team. A lot of the stuff they changed for him these past couple episodes have been to play up his resentment and disdain for Ken.

This isn't awkwardly OOC like that time T.K. said we should all give Ken a second chance and then we just had to pretend he never said that. (Though Cody did have moments like that earlier)

But we are talking over the actual topic of conversation, which is unpacking what happened with Paildramon, to keep hammering the point that everyone loves, adores, and forgives Ken. Except Cody. And Ken.

That night, we find Daisuke in bed muttering to himself, unpacking his feelings from the day.

Daisuke: I know I felt it... That we're teammates.... Chicomon: I felt it too! Daisuke: Eh!?

Shocked, Daisuke rolls over to face Chicomon.

Chicomon: When we Jogressed, I felt like I completely understood him and it made me really happy. Daisuke: That's right! That's just what it was like! ...did he not feel the same?

Poor Daisuke. That is a good question, though. Let's go see what Ken thinks, as we move over to his room for the night. He's actually talking to Leafmon on purpose, rather than being overheard.

Ken: I thought I didn't have anyone but you, but then you went and combined with Motomiya's Digimon.... Leafmon: It made me happy, though. It made me think we were still needed. Ken: Despite all the awful things I've done? (Ken closes his eyes) Leafmon: Just take your time to think about it and do what you think is right, Ken-chan. Good night.

It might just be me, but I get just a hint of jealousy from Ken's first line. After all that stuff about Ken's Digivice versus Osamu's Digivice, and with Wormmon being his Digimon and no one else's? I feel like a part of his hesitancy stems from suddenly sharing his Digimon with Daisuke.

As a lone wolf, Ken doesn't have to navigate the complicated social intricacies of being in community with other people. Something that has only ever brought him harm, whether through neglect or adoration.

In a sense, the trauma of his complicated relationship with Osamu is still driving his behavior. He's pulled into himself, trying to re-establish his sense of individuality and personal identity, his sense of... of mine. This is me, this is mine and I can have this.

And then, out of the blue and with no clear explanation, what was mine became ours. And Ken's not emotionally ready for that. He's not ready to be a part of a community when he's still trying to rebuild his confidence in himself as an individual.

That's my read, anyway.

In the dub:

Davis: I don't understand what's wrong with Ken. I'd want to be friends with me. Chibomon: Don't worry! I'm sure he'll see how great it is to be friends with you and how great it is to DNA Digivolve with me! That was fun! Davis: That was some fight! ...but what if Ken never comes back again? (Cut to Ken's house) Ken: I was afraid that you'd disappear forever, Leafmon, when you DNA Digivolved with Chibomon. Leafmon: But I liked it. Ken: Huh? Leafmon: It made me feel like we were needed again. Part of something big. Ken: I don't know. Maybe they really could be my friends.... (Ken closes his eyes) Leafmon: Uh, Ken? You're sleeping on me!

The dub takes its third commercial break here.

Davis and Chibomon continue to talk around the specific sensation of Jogressing. I actually wonder if the reason they're avoiding that topic so heavily is to make it feel less shippy.

Because it is so shippy. Daisuke lying in bed wondering why Ken doesn't feel the same as him about their hearts beating in unison is super shippy. There's a reason these two are 02's #1 most popular ship.

So the dub refusing to talk about that sensation and also uttering the word "friend" about twelve times per minute is kinda starting to feel like a "No Homo" reflex.

Ken's first line feels like Dub Team taking their best guess at why Leafmon merging with Chibomon would have bothered Ken so much. It's a changed line, but feels specifically like an interpreted one.

The next day at Odaiba Mansion, four out of five team members assemble.

Iori: What's taking Daisuke-san so long....?

Yeah, well, that's what happens when you can't get to sleep. He comes running up shortly after, carrying Chibimon in his arms.

Daisuke: Hey, guys! Iori: YOU'RE LATE, DAISUKE-SAN!!! Daisuke: Yeah, my bad. Tailmon: Oh, you've made it back to Chibimon. Chibimon: All I needed was a good night's rest! Daisuke: (proudly holds up Chibimon) He's such a busy little guy! Team: Ahahahaha! Iori: Hurry, let's get to Koushiro-san's place!

Iori is still chomping at the bit to hear the big infodump. He runs on ahead, leading the others in.

In the dub:

T.K.: Boy, it sure is early.... Cody: Yeah, and Davis is late! (Davis comes running) Davis: Hey guys, I'm here! Cody: No sense running! You're already late! Davis: I'm sorry! Gatomon: So you're back to DemiVeemon, huh? DemiVeemon: Just needed a good night's sleep. Now I'm back and ready to go! Davis: (proudly holds up DemiVeemon) Yeah, you want to see him do his Pop Attack? Cody: Hey, watch where you point that thing! Now come on! We're already late!

Solid.

Inside, Koushiro begins the meeting.

Koushiro: What exactly does "Jogress" mean? I did my research, but I couldn't find any trace of the word "Jogress". So I had to figure it out for myself.

Inside, Takeru and Hikari are sitting against a wall on Koushiro's side while the three rookies sit opposite them.

On the screen of Koushiro's computer, he shows the team the words ジョイヌト joinuto and プログレス puroguresu. These are English words spelled in Katakana, so he explains their meaning.

Koushiro: "Joint", which means to combine, and "Progress", which means to advance.

As he explains, he deletes the イヌト inuto from the first word and the プロ puro from the second. Then he combines the two words to create ジョグレス Joguresu.

Koushiro: I believe it's a portmanteau made from these two words. Iori: Is that all you had to tell us about Jogress? Koushiro: No. As a matter of fact, Daisuke-kun, Miyako-kun, and Iori-kun... There is something else we haven't told you yet.

Hikari and Takeru exchange glances again.

Daisuke: Something you haven't told us? Koushiro: Perhaps we should have told you sooner. Cody: What is it? Please quit stalling and just tell us.

Probably should have told them sooner but this plot point didn't exist two episodes ago so Koushiro can be forgiven for having a retcon suddenly thrust upon him.

The dub has a bit of a snag here. The first explanation Koushiro offers is a definition for the made-up nonsense word Jogress, which isn't going to work the same with DNA Digivolving.

Izzy: DNA Digivolving. What is it and how does it work? I'm now creating a computer program that will explain everything but, until it's done, look at this.

They obviously can't use the footage of Koushiro demonstrating the two words, so they black out his computer screen and replay the stock animation for Paildramon's evolution on it.

Izzy: Look at this. When two Digimon DNA Digivolve, the most powerful part of one of them merges with the most powerful part of the second, producing a Digimon that's more powerful than either of them alone. Cody: Is that what you wanted to tell us about DNA Digivolving? Izzy: Well, actually I wanted to show off my new computer program. But there's also something even more serious I have to relate. (T.K. and Kari exchange looks) Davis: Don't leave us hanging, Izzy! What is it? Izzy: Mrrgh, I'd really hoped to find a way to tell you using my new computer program.... Cody: But we're here now! So please tell us the secret, Izzy!

To get away from the Jogress explanation, Izzy concocts his own explanation for how the process of DNA Digivolving actually works. On its own, it's not a bad explanation.

But taken alongside the dub's removal of all the "hearts beating as one" stuff, you can really feel the shallowness of the dub's engagement with Paildramon. This is as far as they want to take it: It's a cool power-up that makes the two component Digimon SUPER strong.

Having been through the dub of the first anime, this is familiar territory. The dub's always been comfortable in the realm of strength and battling but gets antsy when we have to talk about our feelings.

As Koushiro begins to explain the new backstory, he begins with Omegamon.

Closeup on the word Jogress on his computer, and then fade into a flashback shot of Omegamon

Koushiro (V.O.): Two Digimon combining into one... As a matter of fact, it's happened before.

Back in Koushiro's room, a flash of recognition crosses Miyako's face. After all, she was one of the participants sending emails during Omegamon's battle with Diablomon.

Miyako: Ah! I know about that! Koushiro: This happened sometime afterward. We were contacted by Gennai-san, and we all returned to the Digital World.

Koushiro enters into another flashback where the veteran team dressed in summer clothes reunites with their Partner Digimon. Except Taichi who dresses the fucking same year-round. Mimi and Palmon are crying together. Patamon's about to bite Takeru's nose off. It's sweet.

In the dub, they have to remove that shot of "Jogress" printed on Koushiro's screen so they instead insert a shot of Izzy simply facing forward and talking.

Izzy: DNA Digivolving has happened before. (Flashback to Omnimon) Izzy (V.O.): Omnimon! (End Flashback) Yolei: Oh! Omnimon! Izzy: Let me explain exactly how he came into existence. (Flashback to Digital World) Izzy (V.O.): Gennai called us back to the Digital World. It was great seeing our friends. We thought we'd never see them again!

Izzy claims that this backstory is going to explain how Omnimon was able to happen during Digimon: The Movie, so he's getting his sequence of events backward and raising new questions. As a matter of fact, what we're about to learn is as far removed from unlocking a new way to Digivolve as you can possibly get.

In flashback, Gennai explains the new lore to the flashback children while Koushiro's V.O. explains it to the Junior Team.

Koushiro (V.O.): We thought that defeating Apocalymon would cause the distortions in the Digital World to return to normal. But, in fact, that turned out to not be the case. In order to fully restore the distortion, we had to release the force that safeguards the Digital World, which had been sealed away by Dark Powers. (End Flashback) Iori: A force that safeguards the Digital World? Hikari: Yeah. We don't know what it is, but when that force is weakened, the Dark Power in the Digital World is able to grow. Koushiro: To that end, we needed to use the power from our Crests.

Ahh, Gennai. His intel proved to be as reliable as ever. Yeah, the new backstory begins by taking the climactic ending to the first series and slapping a "NOPE, NEVER MIND" sticker across it. Retroactively, they still hadn't saved the Digital World at the end of the first anime. So that's fun.

In the dub:

Izzy (V.O.): We just figured that, when we destroyed Apocalymon, that the warp was repaired and that was the end of it. But Gennai told us that we also had to "release the powers that protect the Digital World" in order to defeat the forces of Darkness. Gennai: First, you must-- Izzy (V.O.): He had a habit of telling long-winded stories that I'm not sure even he understood.

Pot, meet kettle. XD I do like that gag, though. Gennai gets three words in before Izzy's voice-over comes back and nopes us through another five-minute conversation with him.

Izzy (V.O.): But we all listened intently to what he had to say. And when he was done, we knew what we had to do. (End Flashback) Cody: The powers that protect the Digital World? Kari: That's right! Izzy told me this story once. He thinks those powers are the same forces that originally picked us to be the DigiDestined. Izzy: To defeat the forces of Darkness, we had to release the powers from our Crests.

What do you mean, Izzy told you this story? Kari, you were there. You were sitting right there with Gatomon listening to Gennai explain this.

Generously, she might be badly conveying that Izzy told her about Homeostasis in general. Kari missed out on meeting Homeostasis on account of being possessed by them at the time.

It's not unthinkable that the forces Koushiro/Izzy is talking about might be Homeostasis and those other higher program things that we learned very vaguely about in the first series. I wouldn't be surprised if that turns out to be the case.

The original doesn't necessarily say that here. But there is a point later in the conversation where it doesn't... not say that either. So I'm not necessarily going to mark Izzy down for making up his own lore again.

Returning to flashback, the eight Chosen Children channel their Crests one by one.

Their power rockets up into the sky and then expands into a wave of rainbow light that blankets the Digital World.

Koushiro (V.O.): The power from our Crests finally corrected the distortions in the Digital World.

Until the next time we need to go back and say nope, no, there was actually this OTHER thing causing it....

Which, to be fair, happened a bit in the first series too.

Most of this scene happens silently, with just the gentle background music and pretty visuals carrying the atmosphere. The dub has Izzy explain it in his own words.

Izzy (V.O.): The eight of us knew that this was the only way to save the Digital World from the evil forces that would threaten it.

And by "the eight of us knew", he means Gennai just told them. But sure, go ahead and take credit for it.

Izzy (V.O.): Our eight Crests combined to create a powerful force that spread across the Digital World. Kind of a coating of goodness, like the lamination on a baseball card or the plastic that covers a new box of floppy disks. It brought peace and beauty to the Digital World.

There are issues with the new lore being presented and we'll circle back to it but suffice it to say, what exactly is happening here is vague and confusing in both versions.

For now, Koushiro's story comes to a close.

Koushiro: The power from the eight Crests broke the seal on the Digital World. This was the true reason that we had been chosen. However, because we used the Crests' power to break the Digital World's seal, it has become very difficult for Tentomon, Agumon, and the rest of our Partner Digimon to evolve to the Perfect level.

This part is infamous for the plot hole it creates so bear with me but we have to talk about this. There are other issues with Koushiro's story and we're gonna talk about them, but this part right here is kind of important.

Every version of the show that I've seen translates this as Koushiro saying that the Digimon have lost the ability to evolve to Perfect. It is no longer within their capabilities. It cannot happen, ever.

However, this is what what he says about them here: The Partner Digimon "...それ以来完全体に進化できにくくなってしまったんです sore inai Kanzentai ni Shinka deki nikuku natte shimatta ndesu".

In this fragment of the very long sentence Koushiro just delivered, the word でき deki describes their capability to なって natte, to become or change or grow, into 完全体に進化 Kanzentai ni Shinka, their Perfect Evolutions. However, なって natte is being modified by にくく nikuku, the adverb form of にくい nikui which means something that is very hard or difficult to do.

"Very hard to reach Perfect" =/= "Lost the ability to reach Perfect". They technically can still go Perfect, but only under rare and exceptional circumstances.

Patamon: However, the hearts of everyone that the Crests came from aren't gone. Tailmon: So it's not as if we've completely lost the ability to evolve.

Patamon points out what we learned at the end of the first Adventure series; That the Crests and Digivices were only tools for helping the Chosen Children access the holy light that was inside them all along.

Tailmon follows up by literally saying, "だからまったく進化できなくなったというわけではないの Dakara mattaku shinka dekinaku natta to iu wakede wanai no."

Here, まったく mattaku is the adverb modifying 進化 shinka and it means completely, wholly, entirely. Again we have なった natta for our verb but this time it's being modified by the adverb できなく dekinaku. できな Dekina is the negative of でき deki; So, they don't まったくmattaku, totally, have the ability to なった natte, to achieve, their 進化 shinka.

But the sentence ends with a はない wanai, which is a negative modifier over the whole sentence. So it is not as if they've completely lost the ability to evolve.

Koushiro, Patamon, and Tailmon assert that it is very hard to evolve to Perfect, but that the ability hasn't been lost entirely because of the revelations from the end of the first series. For some fucking reason, this ended up translated in the fansubs as "They can't evolve anymore, but maybe they will again some day."

Holy shit! This actually means that Angewomon's appearance in episode 13 is in the clear, and basically the entire English Digimon fandom has been wrong about this being a plot hole for twenty years. There are Reddit threads and forum threads about trying to make sense of Angewomon's "impossible" appearance. There have been furious debates about whether it happening in the Dark Ocean means there are special exclusionary rules or something.

And the answer, it turns out, is just that none of us have ever fucking heard this scene correctly.

Today I Goddamn Learned.

Miyako: So that's why you couldn't become Perfect yesterday. Tailmon & Patamon: (nods) Mhm. Iori: Why haven't you said anything before now? Hikari: We didn't mean to keep it a secret. It was just too sad to admit that we couldn't reach Perfect evolution anymore. Takeru: In fact, it's not like they'll never evolve again. We're still holding out hope that, in time, they'll be able to evolve at will like they could before. Iori: (satisfied) Oh, is that right?

Daisuke nods along with that. The newcomers seem satisfied by Takeru and Hikari's explanation.

As am I because it turns out that massive plot hole was all a misunderstanding, right?

...

NOPE, we still have a problem here. Though admittedly not as huge of one. While the problem that the Chosen Children are explicitly able to evolve their Digimon to higher levels without Crests has been resolved, there's still one other issue.

The Chosen Children don't have Crests.

Apocalymon destroyed their Crests and Tags during the fight, and they never got those back. They awakened the power to evolve without them and used that power to defeat Apocalymon. There are no longer any Crests to sacrifice in this flashback.

So. What exactly did they sacrifice? It's worth noting that in the flashbacks themselves, they don't have the Tags either. Nothing is visibly dangling around their necks when they summon the Crests, as if the Crests just... emerged from inside of them.

So... was it their own intrinsic power that they sacrificed? The power that the Crests were channeling? And the physical Crests in the flashback were just a metaphor for them releasing and surrendering their virtues and light itself?

That's the only thing that really makes sense. But if that's the case, that they gave up their own intrinsic power, then... why can they still evolve their Digimon? It must, like... regenerate or something, right?

That's the only way this really works. They burned out the light they carry inside of them and basically leveled down, and now they have to develop their power over time again. Or something. But that's not how it's explained. It's explained as, "We sacrificed the Crests (that we don't have) and now we can't reliably evolve to Perfect at-will because we lost those Crests."

So this whole double-secret retroactive final mission past the end credits of the first series is a bit of a confusing mess in terms of what they actually did, what its effects are, and why those are its effects. And it's not helped by the total vagueness of the "power that protects the Digital World". Especially when the Digital World seems pretty unprotected, at that. Where was this protection power during the Digimon Kaiser arc?

It's not as continuity-breakingly messy as its reputation suggests, but it's still pretty messy.

In the dub:

Izzy: The Evil Shield stopped the forces of Darkness from spreading. It was great except there was a side effect none of us were prepared for. Because we had to give up the power of our Crests, our Digimon lost their ability to Digivolve to their Ultimate forms. It was a sacrifice that meant, in a way, they had to say goodbye to a special part of themselves. They all took it pretty hard. Patamon: We're not sad anymore. We know we'll be able to Digivolve to Ultimate one day! Gatomon: Until then, we'll even use balls of yarn to fight if we have to. Yolei: Yeah, there's nothing that will slow you guys down, right? Gatomon & Patamon: (nods) Mhm! Cody: Why didn't you tell us all this before!? Kari: It's not like we're trying to keep it a secret... but sometimes it's really hard to admit when you have a weakness. T.K.: In a way, though, it's not really a weakness at all! A DNA Digivolved Digimon kinda fights a lot like an Ultimate Digimon. Cody: I never thought of that!

The dub, of course, contributes a lot to the English Digimon fandom confusion surrounding this plot point because they do say with absolute certainty that the Partner Digimon can't evolve to Ultimate anymore.

The nuance of this plot point has been stripped out and replaced with quips, banter, and T.K. changing the subject to how cool DNA Digimon are.

Finally, Koushiro brings this back around to Omegamon.

Koushiro: Back when MetalGarurumon and WarGreymon combined, the resulting Omegamon was dozens of times more powerful. He was capable of defeating an enemy they couldn't have handled separately. Miyako: Uh-huh! He was so strong and so cool! Koushiro: In the same way, when XV-mon and Stingmon combined, they were able to gain the power to defeat Oukuwamon, which I don't think they could have achieved on their own. Miyako: So you mean that because they couldn't reach Perfect, they Jogress evolved instead? Daisuke: If that's the case, then we have no time to waste! There's no way that hot-blooded woman is anything but a new enemy. Hikari: Not to mention, she was able to make a Perfect Digimon out of Dark Towers to attack us. Iori: Who could she be? Takeru: We can't let our guard down.

There's a lot of splitting hairs in the fandom over whether Omegamon constitutes a Jogress or if that sort of same-level fusion is a different thing.

Koushiro comes down on the side of them being the same. He describes XV-mon and Stingmon's combining as 同じように onajiyouni, in the same fashion, the same way, the same kind of thing, as MetalGarurumon and WarGreymon's combining. The whole reason we're talking about Omegamon is as an example of what Jogress Evolution is capable of.

But that was over twenty years ago so the series may have become more pedantic since then. :P

In the dub:

Izzy: You're right, T.K. DNA Digivolving is very powerful. It's sort of like when MetalGarurumon and WarGreymon Digivolved together to become Omnimon. Yolei: Yeah! I saw that happen on the internet! Izzy: (snapping) Excuse me, but I still haven't finished my story here!

Oh yeah, that's right. It's been a while since we were last reminded of how fucking rude Izzy is.

Izzy: ExVeemon and Stingmon DNA Digivolved into Paildramon because of the threat Okuwamon presented.

That's it. That is all he wanted to say when he snapped at Yolei. He's getting tossed off a cliff again for being mean to my kid's kouhai. Even if she is... also technically his kouhai.

Yolei: So, can they only DNA Digivolve when there's a big enough threat? Davis: There's only one way for us to find out for sure. We've gotta go to the Digital World and fight that evil white-haired lady! Kari: But she's so powerful... I mean, she turned a Control Spire into an Ultimate Digimon. Cody: I wonder who she is and what she wants? T.K.: And how to defeat her?

You might notice that Izzy's story here was supposed to explain why WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon could evolve into Omnimon in Digimon: The Movie. And... yeah, we never even touched on that. Didn't even come close to exploring that as a topic of conversation.

The translation choices of the fansubs are responsible for a lot of confusion but the lion's share of confusion coming out of this episode weighs on the dub's shoulder. Izzy clearly established his flashback as being before the Diaboromon part of the movie. They sacrificed their Crests, something something something, then Omnimon was able to exist.

So in addition to Angewomon in episode 13, there's also a lot of questions in the fandom about why they could use their Ultimate evolutions in the movie. Didn't they sacrifice their Crests already? Episode 27 clearly stated that they couldn't have gone to Ultimate level while fighting Diaboromon.

...and the answer is plain as day. Koushiro, in the original script, expressly states that the flashback adventure is しばらく経った shibaraku tatta, a short time later. So that's that. The dub really screwed the pooch on this one by setting the flashback before Diaboromon and saying that the Digimon can't Digivolve to Ultimate at all anymore after it.

As the team sits and stews about this situation, Daisuke suddenly stands up and calls them to action.

Daisuke: Then let's hurry up and get to the Digital World! Who knows what she's going to do next?

Miyako stands up too.

Miyako: He's right! Come on, let's get going!

Repaying Izzy's rudeness, Miyako grabs Koushiro's chair and wheels him out of the way, then gives him a push so he rolls gently to the other end of the room.

Miyako: Out of the way please, Izumi-senpai! Koushiro: Hey, hang on.... Miyako: DIGITAL GATE, OPEN!!!

Armed with her D-3, Miyako conjures the Gate on Koushiro's computer and the team lines up to enter the Digital World.

Koushiro: Uh, my mom's about to-- Miyako: CHOSEN CHILDREN....

Suddenly, the door opens. Izumi Kae enters the room, carrying a tray full of drinks and snacks she prepared for Koushiro and his friends.

Kae: Go ahead and enjoy, everybody. Miyako: LET'S ROLL--huh?

At the very last possible second before activating the Gate, Miyako stops and turns around and sees the snack plate.

Miyako: DOOOOOONUTS!!!

Just like that, a crisis is thwarted by the power of baked goods. And they are actually donuts and not rice balls.

Remember that conversation we had about how it's really convenient that we can enter the Digital World from any computer but we also have to be really fucking careful about doing it from home? This is why. Daisuke and Miyako's enthusiasm very nearly doomed us all.

In the dub:

Davis: Hey, what are we all sitting around moping for? If Gatomon's willing to fight with a ball of yarn, I am too! Yolei: Davis is right. It's time to fight! (Yolei pushes Izzy away from the computer) Yolei: Excuse me, Izzy. Izzy: Hey! What are you doing!? Yolei: Ready, guys? DIGI-PORT OPEN!!! (The Digi-Port appears on Izzy's computer) Izzy: GAAAAAH!!! No! My mom will be home any minute now! (Kae suddenly enters the room) Izzy: Ah! Yagh! (panting) Kae: Who wants snacks? Yolei: ...huh? Donuts, alright!

The dub's decision to remove Miyako's catchphrase continues to haunt the show. Without some version of "選ばれし子供たち出動! Erabareshi Kodomo-tachi, Shutsudou!!!" the kids all end up just sort of... hanging out and waiting after Yolei says her other magic words, "DIGI-PORT OPEN!!!"

Why aren't they going through? Unclear.

So the gag loses something when the only sound being made while Kae comes in and slowly approaches the kids is Izzy making panic noises.

As an aside, it's also weird that Kae comes in with a plate full of snacks after Izzy said she'll "be home any minute now". When did she have time to prepare snacks if she just got home a second ago?

Koushiro never says exactly what his mom is "about to", but he clearly means "come into the room". She's been home. He may or may not have known that she was going to bring the kids snacks, and he also probably heard her footsteps in the hall just before she opened the door.

Kae takes a seat with the kids as they dig into the donut box. Koushiro slumps against the back of his chair. The crisis has passed.

Junior Team: I...Itadakimasu! Koushiro: (thinking) That was too close.... Kae: Huh?

Suddenly, Kae notices that something's wrong here. She sees the other kids with their "stuffed animals". Then looks around the room before looking up at Koushiro.

Kae: Tento-san isn't here today?

Everybody freezes in place. In an easily missed gag, a chunk of Daisuke's donut breaks off, falling from his hand straight into V-mon's waiting mouth.

Takeru: ...Tento-san...? Hikari: Ehehe.... Kae: (confidently) Tento-san. Koushiro: (sheepish) Eh... eh... you see... Ahahahaha....

They thought they were being so fucking clever, too. They were doing such a great job at dodging around their parents' notice, weren't they?

CHILD WE DID NOT FORGET WHAT HAPPENED THREE YEARS AGO. DRACULA BECAME SATAN AND TURNED ODAIBA INTO A PARKING LOT.

We close right here on the shocking realization that YOUR PARENTS SEE RIGHT FUCKING THROUGH YOU.

In the dub:

Junior Team: Thank you, Mrs. Izumi! Kae: You're very welcome. Wow, what big appetites you all have! You'd think that none of you had ever seen food before.

Why are you being passive-aggressive about the snacks you brought in? Were we not supposed to eat them/

Kae: Um, Izzy? What happened to that friend of yours, Tento? (Everyone freezes) Kari: Uhhhhhhhhhhhh T.K.: Heh... It's Tentomon. Kari: Ehehe! Kae: Tentomon, then. Izzy: Oh! Well... See, he... Uh... Ahahahahahaha.... Narrator: Will DNA Digivolving prove powerful enough to defeat Arukenimon and her forces of evil? Keep watching Digimon: Digital Monsters to find out.

Narrator wisely avoids making a "Next time" promise because he knows that question isn't getting answered any time soon.

I'm not sure the dub quite got the joke here. Why exactly Koushiro is so flustered and embarrassed when his mom suddenly asks about Tento-san's absence.

Their version of the gag is about Kae not getting Tentomon's name right, but the final bit where Izzy sheepishly trips over himself trying to answer is played totally straight, and it's not super clear why he'd be tripping over that question.

"What happened to Tento?" is an easy question to answer. He went back to the Digital World.

The question that's killing Koushiro is, "Why isn't Tento-san here like the other Digimon are?"

To wrap up, the question Dub Narrator left us with is whether Paildramon can defeat Oukuwamon. I am pleased to report that this episode did, in fact, answer that question decisively. The answer is that with XV-mon STANDING BY YOUR SIDE for Stingmon, their Jogress Paildramon proved more than ready to STAND UP TO THE FIGHT.

I'm a sucker for that old-school Show Me Your Brave Heart but Beat Hit is so good too.

Assessment: Well, this was a hell of a thing. Koushiro spends half of this episode explaining the plot and it still feels like a lot of what happens here is not very well explained.

At least Jogress makes sense. Two Digimon fuse because of the strength of their Partners' bond. In the V-Pet, Jogress can be used as a way to bypass the requirements to reach a Perfect or Ultimate level, which is pretty much exactly the way the show uses it.

High point of the episode was the developing bond between Daisuke and Ken.

Low point of the episode was "Hey let me tell you about the super-secret 53rd episode of Adventure that we didn't make but that I need to have happened."

You know, I'm not sure "sacrificing the Crests", whatever that means, was even needed. That the Crests were destroyed and the kids now have to evolve to Perfect without the training wheels seems like a suitable enough explanation for why their ability to hit Perfect is now unreliable. We retconned their Crests back into existence just to take them away again; It nets to zero.

[scottoro-ramblings]

Continuing with my series of Tarot Card illustrations, I did for my His Majesty the Worm setting conversion to the Dungeon Meshi world. Here featuring three orc women toasting to a victory while a warg naps in the foreground.

As with my Kobold card, I'm attaching to this post all of the lore I attached to the race for the setting conversion, and the majority of that lore is just my wild speculation because the actual information is pretty sparse. If you have any suggestions, or things I missed from canon, let me know!

Orcs

Both the hunted and the hunters, orcs are well used to fighting for survival. Pushed to the brink they will do whatever it takes to make sure they don't end up prey.

Squat and wide, with tusks and pig-like snouts, but built of muscle not fat, orcs are demi-humans with a reputation as fierce and ruthless fighters. So fierce and ruthless in-fact, that most other kith consider them little more than monsters. Adventures are regularly paid bounties to kill orc tribes that settle in dungeons, and in most places killing a lone orc is seen as a sensible precaution in case they are a scout for a raiding party.

This hostility justifies further violence from the orcs. As anyone who discovers their camps or traveling bands could doom the entire tribe, witnesses are quickly silenced and fed to the wargs. Without the option to barter, anything that orcs cannot get from the environment must be stolen. After generations of raiding most orcs are proud of their martial strength and cunning, but if one were unwise enough to question the morality of their actions, they would be swiftly reminded orcs don't have other options.

Disputed Origins

Orcs don't know where they originate and generally do not care. Such questions do not factor into their daily survival, and orcs tend away from superstition and speculation. They certainly once had a much larger distribution than the few scattered pockets they live in now, but how and why that is the case is a topic of much debate.

Dwarven historians claim that elves made orcs as weapons of war, fusing boars and humans with black magic to create super soldiers to use against their foes. This would handily explain why there are no old orcish ruins, or traces of them in ancient records, as well as making orcs entirely elves’ responsibility. Elvish scholars claim that orcs are native to the eastern continent and were transported across the sea to cause chaos in the lands of their enemies. Any discrepancy in dwarven records is easily explained by later censorship to hide fault.

Other human races generally believe the explanation of whatever long lived race they are closest to, but are primarily concerned with keeping orcs from razing their villages. The blame for their actions is far less important than getting them out.

Regimented Society

While orc tribes tend to be small, to keep travel quick and quiet, they have a strict chain of command. As orcs are also polygamous these ranks can be easily distinguished by their number of mates. A ruling chief could have four or more wives, his top enforcers two, all the way down to unmarried low ranked orcs. Sometimes the rank of male orcs can also be distinguished by their number of horns, though in most tribes they are purely aesthetic. These horns are not natural but instead are lumps of sterilized bone sewn under the forehead.

A higher ranked orc can order any lower ranked orc around, and those orders must be obeyed unless the orc is trying to challenge their position. Orcs primarily gain ranks by aiding the groups survival, such as by exceptional feats in battle or finding a secure home. Orcs can lose ranks if they work against the tribe, such as by causing infighting or harming a tribe member without justification. Children, and those rare guests that won the trust of an orc tribe, are outside the hierarchy. They are treated with kindness by all, but have no authority over others or say in decisions.

While orc society is both hierarchical and suspicious of outsiders, it can be surprisingly accepting as well. Any guest that proves valuable to the tribe will be fully inducted into the tribe and given a rank that suits their contributions, regardless of their kith. Ogres, seeking a society where their strength would be admired not feared, are the most common but stories abound of tall-man or even dwarf bandits and exiles who have found a new home amongst an orc tribe.

Orc Names

Orc names vary significantly between genders, though both tend to be rather short. Male names have harsher consonant sounds, while female names are smoother and frequently have double vowel sounds. While descent is important in orc tribes, generational glory wanes quickly, so in place of surnames orcs just take the name of their higher ranked parent.

Orc male names

Bahay, Bahr, Gark, Gohark, Gurn, Kahkark, Kon, Kor, Lazay, Loz, Lunyr, Nor, Nyr, Rark, Rohay, Rok, Rozyr, Zarn, Zlor, Zon

Orc female names

Bayd, Boahee, Boorlay, Gaarn, Geer, Goolay, Kayl, Keer, Koahay, Laarn, Leed, Loor, Nayd, Nayr, Noor, Xeen, Xoor, Zayd, Zleer, Zlolay

Orc Kin

While orcs are widely dispersed across the world, the pressures of survival have keep their cultures relatively similar. Orcs generally recognize each other as kin, and avoid conflict between tribes unless necessary for survival.

*Below are the His Majesty the Worm Game Mechanics, so if you are just here for the headcanon feel free to stop*

Kin Talent: Ultimate Survivalist

While orcs rarely get the chance for any sort of formal education, living off the land gives them a wide set of practical knowledge. You can bid lore to determine the edibility of anything, or to check the safety of a particular location. The safety check is a matter of gut instinct so the GM does not need to describe the nature of the environmental hazards should they be hidden, merely if any of significance are present.

Arete

Orcs gain arete by preforming the following deeds:

Getting married

Creating a fully stocked and secured safe-house

Gaining the right to publicly dwell in a human settlement

When an orc accomplishes all three arete triggers, they gain the following talent:

Orc arete talent: Pigheaded

Orcs can be tremendous stubborn when set on the path they have determined to be best. Whenever you fail a test of fate you can spend a resolve to draw again in place of your original result. This cannot save you from a great failure caused by pushing fate and getting the fool.

Orc role-playing concepts

Orcs often travel with massive canines called wargs, which are normally not fully domesticated. The wargs clean up bodies for the orcs and alert them to danger, and orcs make sure the warg pack eats and heal wounded pack members.

Orc tribes often find refugee in dungeons, which seem to be less hostile to them than most adventurers for unknown reason.

Items of luxury and wealth have little use to orc tribes who have no-one to trade with. It isn't uncommon for orcs to rob a merchant and steal crates of potatoes while leaving gold scattered across the floor.

Orcs have divergent beauty standards to most races, considering wide snouts, small shapely ears, and a solid build with plenty of muscle and fat to be the height of attractiveness. As a result they consider elves very ugly.

[gawrkin]

(Source: Life of Saint Efflam)

So I found this is a rather eye-opening statement from the hagiography of Saint Efflam, that 450 A.D. is the time of Arthur's crowning.

By that logic, Arthur was born in 435 A.D., since traditionally Arthur assumes power when he's around 15 years old.

But going further, there are two significant points in the story of Arthur's life: the Battle of Badon Hill, where Arthur decisively subdues the Saxons, and the Battle of Camlann, the final battle with Mordred.

To start: Annales Cambriae, where the earliest mention of Arthur and Mordred is found, actually dates the Battle of Camlann to the year 537 A.D. (other manuscripts say 539 A.D.).

This would mean Arthur lives to a ripe old age of 102 years old.

The thing is... it makes a kind of sense. Because in Vulgate Cycle -Mort Artu, we get a statement of Arthur, Gawain and Lancelot's ages:

(Source: Vulgate Cycle - Mort Artu)

It is off by 10 years but, damn, it is close, so margin of error. Then again, this statement was made during the War against Lancelot. Vulgate narrates that following this, the War against Lucius Tiberius and Mordred's Rebellion ensue right afterward, so that may account for the missing ten years?

Also, this info from Mort reveals the relative age gap between Arthur, Gawain and Lancelot. Gawain being 76 y/o means he was born roughly a year (or so) after Arthur's coronation, ~451 A.D. onwards.

This leads into a bit of weirdness regarding Vulgate Canon, since the Orkney Brothers (sans Mordred) in Vulgate Cycle start their Knightly Careers and defend Camelot while Arthur is on an expedition to Cameliard, defeating King Rions and courting Guinevere. Arthur's critical battle with King Rions - which is just after his shotgun wedding with Guinevere - is said to happen when Arthur is 28 years old:

This also means, while Arthur married Guinevere and defeated King Rion for Leodegrance in around 463 A.D., it leads into a very weird conclusion that Gawain was around 12 years old around this time, when he started fighting the Saxons (with his even younger little brothers!) in Arthur's absence. If we add 10 years to that number (adjusting for the statements in both Efflam and Annales), it becomes the more believable 22 years old for Gawain.

Moving on to Lancelot, the age gap between him and Gawain is 21 years while the age gap between Gawain and Arthur is 16 years.

This means Lancelot's birth was around Arthur's 37th year. Extrapolating this to Efflam's statement, Lancelot's birth year would be 472 A.D. around 22 years after Arthur's coronation and 9 years after marrying Guinevere.

Vulgate Cycle states that Lancelot goes to Camelot and knighted when he is around 15-18 years old (it's inconsistent), which would reasonably be the age of maturity. This means Lancelot begins his knightly career in the 490 A.D. at earliest and would meet a 55 year old King Arthur.

The last consequence that Life of Efflam's line implies is the timing of the Battle of Badon Hill, Arthur's decisive victory over the Saxon encroachment. Multiple scholars have speculated when Badon supposedly took place, with estimates going from as early as 482 A.D. to as late as 516 A.D.

If we presume, for the Big Battle of Arthur's entire career, is around 500 A.D., Arthur is 65 years old, Gawain 49 years old and Lancelot 28 years old.

The amusing and romantic conclusion about all of this, is that young freshly knighted Lancelot meets the Great King Arthur for the first time, at the midpoint of Arthur's life, just right before Arthur's biggest military achievement, one that secured Britain's peace for a couple of decades. (With Lancelot maybe even making his big debut in Badon!)

And as a result, the next 20-30 years or so afterward, would be everything in Lancelot's adventures - Galehaut, Morgan, False Guinevere, Meleagant, Galahad and the Grail Quest, etc.

Of course, the BIG problem with both Vulgate and Efflam's statements is that, according to Bede, Vortigern's entire drama with Hengist and the Saxons takes place around that 450's time period. Dates given in Bede's chronicle state the Saxons began arriving anywhere 446 A.D. to 449 A.D.

This makes Arthur's coronation at 450 A.D. impossible, as traditionally, the entire story of Aurelius Ambrosius and Uther Pendragon needs to unfold, especially the magic conception of Arthur as well as the fact that Arthur never meets Vortigern.

Even if we adjust to saying 92 is the oldest Arthur ever got with the Annales 537 A.D. date, that still leaves us with Arthur being born at around 445 A.D. and coronated at 460 A.D. - still far too close to Vortigern's era.

[wisyhana]

I just have a full ass writing about how it happens~

About Yugi and Atem for the Monster Tamer AU:

Yugi always dreamt of being a Monster Tamer; he loved studying them and wanted to be closer to them. However, he was too scared to try it. Atem encouraged him to join and promised to support him. They trained together, and later, Jonouchi joined them. After they graduated, Atem became the Guardian of the Region of Domino. Yugi stayed in Domino to support Atem.

They were a highly respected team, with Atem known for his outstanding leadership and decision-making skills and Yugi known for his affinity for monsters. Throughout their adventures, Yugi made friends with Poki and Pau. Their relationship was shrouded in mystery, leading to speculation about whether they were a couple, but it didn't bother them.

During one of their missions, they tracked a group of aggressive monster dealers and set an ambush with the help of Jonouchi and Kaiba. A fire broke out during the fight, and while Atem, Jonouchi, and Kaiba went after the dealers, Yugi stayed behind to rescue the trapped monsters.

The fire spread rapidly, making it difficult to move and breathe. Despite the danger, there was still a monster trapped inside. Atem and the others rushed back to the burning building to extinguish the fire, but it was too late. The structure was on the verge of collapsing at any moment. Yugi mentioned that the last monster was still trapped inside and pleaded for help to rescue it. Atem refused, wanting to ensure everyone's safety. However, Yugi, feeling desperate, disregarded Atem's words and ran inside, the tension in the air palpable.

Tangled in scorching iron chains, the last monster seemed resistant to the fire, but Yugi's body wasn't. Despite his many attempts to cut the chains, it seemed hopeless until Atem showed up. Although resistant to the heat, the beast became increasingly anxious and uncontrollable, causing the burning wooden pillars to collapse and injuring the monster tamers, especially Atem. With Atem wounded and unable to move, Yugi took action, using the burning chains to pull the beast outside, burning his hands in the process. Jonouchi arrived just in time to help Atem before the entire place was engulfed in flames.

After the incident, Yugi and Atem grew distant from each other. Yugi was overwhelmed by guilt and couldn't face Atem after almost causing him harm, while Atem regretted his decision to prioritize chasing the culprits over the safety of the monsters. They couldn't discuss the issue, and their friends couldn't help either. Without realizing it, they drifted apart.

At some point, Atem became the PeaceMaker, the most powerful monster tamer, and had to leave Domino. Meanwhile, Yugi took on the role of Guardian of the region. It would be four years before they would reunite when Gandora arrived in the area.

I just copy pasted what I have written, but I hope it helps to give a full image of how it went for them.

[felassan]

Ive heard that we'll be able to load our previous dai world state but maybe it said something in a different way and I misunderstood. We get to "make choices" but we can't load it exactly? What does that mean for the inquisitor? (I want to see my little guy lol) or maybe I'm just confused, I'm sorry

hello! ◕‿◕ All good! We will see the Inquisitor in the game. Worldstates will not be loaded directly, as in from save files or The Keep anything. They said that during the character creation process, we will "be able to customize [our] Inquisitor from the last game's story and make a few key decisions that will impact how DA:TV begins". [source, two] There won’t be any way to carry the Inquisitor's appearance 'data' over from DA:I into the game [source: the Discord] (because the tech is too different) so it sounds like it will be a case of re-creating them from scratch in DA:TV's new CC. For the world state, DA:TV will not use the Keep [source]. DA:TV will not read saves from DA:O, DAII or DA:I [source], because the technology is very different and they wanted this to be in the client. How we will 'tell' the game what our choices were will look a little different this time. They said:

"In an interview with IGN, Dragon Age: The Veilguard Game Director Corinne Busche says the ability to import your choices is “fully integrated into the character creator this time around.” “What’s not lost on us is that it’s been 10 years since existing players have played. They might not remember [what they did in previous games],” Busche explains. “They might need that refresher and we don’t want new players to feel like they’re missing out on those decisions. So in the character creator, I like to call it last time on Dragon Age, but you can go into your past adventures and it, actually through tarot cards, tells you what the context was and what decision you want to make.” Busche also confirms that The Veilguard players won’t have to link to their accounts for this option, as you’ll be able to play the game fully offline." [source]

This is just speculation on my part, but what I imagine is like - you know how in the start of DA:I, you select the Inquisitor's race and class from tarot cards? Something like that, but for certain choices we made in our past adventures instead, and for less choices than there are in the Keep (which has sooo many choices and tiles), so maybe mostly just major ones? the way it's described reminds me somewhat of Mass Effect Genesis, only instead of a 'comic' style, it's with tarot cards. (/end speculation ^^) I hope this helped. :>

[aphantimes]

hey did you know that the sonic adventure perfect guide has a part written from the perspective of researchers who speculate that the surviving members of the knuckles clan after chaos' rampage split into two groups

did you know that one group of these survivors made the decision to create angel island using the master emerald. they willingly isolated themselves from the world to ensure this never happened again. they had the power to control the master emerald and chose a sacrifice to benefit the rest of the world instead of being conquerors like they were under pachacamac.

did you know that the in-universe researchers speculate that the second group stayed on the surface to pass down the knowledge of the disaster to future generations.

meaning it may very well be possible that there are some echidnas still alive out there. and if not then there's definitely room to explore what the heck happened to make both groups eventually disappear. were their numbers just too low to be sustainable? did some other disaster befall them? ghhh how often i think about this.....

[exactly-another-one-piece-blog]

I’ve seen a lot of people talking lately about how Percy Jackson is one of the only fandoms where the main character is actually the most popular. And it occurs to me that sort of applies to One Piece as well. (What qualifies as a fan favorite character in one piece is tricky because there just SO MANY) And I think this is fascinating because in a way Luffy and Percy appeal to their fans in very similar yet completely opposite ways.

Like with Percy the big thing that makes him so appealing is his internal dialogue. Percy comes off completely differently when he’s telling his own adventures vs when anyone else is. He’s an incredibly powerful badass but that’s obviously not how he sees himself, and his narration openly tells the audience how scared he was while doing his impressive feats or how stupid his ideas sound before they work out. He’s also fully aware that he is telling a story and that the audience is judging him, so sometimes he’s the first to admit something wasn’t a great idea and other times he gets really defensive about his decisions. You feel at once that you ARE Percy, tying your best with the information and skills available, and that he is someone complete and separate from you.

Luffy famously has almost no internal dialogue at all and yet he appeals to his audience in much the same way. With Luffy we have to depend almost entirely on how he acts and reacts to various situations to learn about his character. But by not providing an explanation, Oda invites the reader to speculate less about how they would handle the situation, but about why Luffy responds the way he does. And yes of course both characters have the same bad ass one minute, doofus the next cognitive dissonance appeal.

But with Percy we know exactly what’s going through his head and it encourages us to think about how we would respond with actions and with Luffy we only know he responds and it encourages us to think about his thoughts.

[subir-astrologer]

RAHU IN DIFFERENT HOUSE OF VEDIC HOROSCOPE

In Vedic astrology, the position of the Lagna (Ascendant) plays a pivotal role in shaping the effects of Rahu in different houses.

Rahu, known as the North Node of the Moon, is a shadow planet that amplifies desires, obsessions, illusions, and unconventional paths.

Its effects are modified based on the house it occupies, the sign it is in, its aspects, and its relationship with the Lagna and Lagnesha (the lord of the Ascendant). Here's how the Lagna influences Rahu's effects in various houses:

General Principles of Lagna Influence:

1. Nature of the Lagna:

o Each Lagna has a ruling planet, and Rahu’s compatibility with that planet affects its outcomes. For example, Rahu is more harmonious with Mercury, Venus, and Saturn but can create challenges when linked with the Sun or Mars.

o The overall disposition of the Lagna lord (strength, placement, aspects) determines how Rahu's energy manifests—positively or negatively.

2. Strength of Lagna and Lagnesha:

o A strong Lagna and Lagnesha can stabilize Rahu's malefic tendencies, while a weak Lagna might exacerbate Rahu's shadowy qualities, leading to confusion, delusion, or instability.

3. Aspects on the Lagna and Rahu:

o Benefic aspects (e.g., Jupiter) on the Lagna or Rahu can mitigate Rahu’s potential for chaos and lead to spiritual or material growth.

o Malefic aspects or conjunctions (e.g., Saturn, Ketu, or Mars) may intensify Rahu’s challenges.

Rahu in Different Houses and Lagna Modifications:

1st House (Lagna):

Impact: Rahu in the Lagna amplifies individuality, ambition, and a desire for recognition. There may be eccentric behavior or a fascination with unconventional paths.

Modification by Lagna: A strong Lagnesha can channel Rahu’s energy into leadership or innovation. Weak Lagna might lead to identity crises or over-obsession with appearances.

2nd House:

Impact: Rahu influences wealth, family, and speech, often bringing unorthodox financial dealings or strained family relationships.

Modification by Lagna: A strong Lagna stabilizes material pursuits and mitigates dishonesty in speech. Weakness may lead to financial instability or harsh speech.

3rd House:

Impact: Rahu enhances courage, communication, and a risk-taking nature. It supports success in media, travel, or entrepreneurship.

Modification by Lagna: A strong Lagna makes Rahu’s adventurous spirit constructive. A weak Lagna may result in reckless decisions or strained sibling relationships.

4th House:

Impact: Rahu creates restlessness in home life and emotional dissatisfaction but can also bring interest in foreign lands or real estate.

Modification by Lagna: A stable Lagna helps manage emotional turmoil and makes Rahu’s energy favorable for property-related gains. Weakness could lead to instability in domestic life.

5th House:

Impact: Rahu influences creativity, speculative ventures, and progeny, often bringing unconventional approaches to these areas.

Modification by Lagna: A strong Lagnesha supports intellectual and creative pursuits. Weakness might cause erratic behavior in romance or speculative losses.

6th House:

Impact: Rahu is powerful here, bringing success over enemies and competitive fields. However, it may create hidden health issues.

Modification by Lagna: A strong Lagna enhances victory in conflicts. A weak one may lead to chronic illnesses or hidden obstacles.

7th House:

Impact: Rahu in the 7th can bring unconventional partnerships, strong desires for relationships, or foreign spouses.

Modification by Lagna: A strong Lagnesha ensures harmony in partnerships. Weakness may result in marital discord or deceit in relationships.

8th House:

Impact: Rahu here deepens interest in occult sciences, hidden knowledge, and transformations. It may bring sudden gains or losses.

Modification by Lagna: A strong Lagna channels this energy into research or spiritual awakening. Weakness might lead to accidents or mental disturbances.

9th House:

Impact: Rahu affects philosophy, religion, and long journeys, often leading to non-conventional beliefs or foreign connections.

Modification by Lagna: A strong Lagnesha supports spiritual growth or success in distant lands. Weakness might result in conflicts with mentors or a lack of faith.

10th House:

Impact: Rahu enhances career ambitions, fame, and a desire for public recognition, often bringing success in unconventional fields.

Modification by Lagna: A strong Lagna solidifies career gains. Weakness might lead to unethical practices or instability in professional life.

11th House:

Impact: Rahu brings material gains, social connections, and ambitious goals. It can indicate large networks or unusual friendships.

Modification by Lagna: A strong Lagnesha ensures stable gains and genuine friendships. Weakness may lead to greed or untrustworthy allies.

12th House:

Impact: Rahu heightens spiritual tendencies, expenses, or foreign connections, often bringing hidden fears or escapism.

Modification by Lagna: A strong Lagna enables Rahu’s spiritual potential. Weakness may result in excessive expenditure or mental unrest.

The interplay between the Lagna and Rahu determines whether Rahu’s placement will lead to growth, transformation, or challenges.

The Lagnesha’s strength, dignity, and aspects play a critical role in shaping the results of Rahu's influence. Always analyze the Lagna chart in conjunction with the planetary periods (Dasha and Antardasha) for a comprehensive understanding.

[rising-volteccers]

Seeing that they're making the news drop on 14th March a pretty big deal, I decided to put on my tinfoil hat and in my sleep deprived state, throw out some thoughts and speculations for what could potentially happen in the series. I'm basing my thoughts off what I've been seeing on my feed, which includes the supposed Horizons leak so spoilers underneath the cut.

So, I've been thinking a lot about HZ089's title being Beyond the Adventure. Considering it's the last episode of this arc, it makes me wonder what would be the next adventure for the kids. We've been following their journey for two years now, watching them grow and achieve their goals. We've seen then ponder about their adventure ending because prior to their clash with the Explorers, it was reasonable to assume that once they were finished with their adventures in Rakua, that's it. That's the end of the line after a year of traveling around together.

To me, they'd either wrap up their adventure nicely with an emotional goodbye (less likely to happen, given the next arc will introduce Mega Evolution in the series) or they'd give the kids a new reason to strive towards after their adventure.

What could that reason be? I feel like given the tone of the upcoming episode + the supposed leaks, my guess is that they're going to suffer a devastating loss from the Explorers. Throughout their adventure, the RVT has only ever won or stuff happens that led to a draw. They've never really had an incident where their only option is to escape, to huddle down somewhere to lick their wounds after (aside from Rayquaza crashing into the airship in HZ044).

If I were to speculate about what could possibly be a devastating loss, two things come to mind.

Something is going to happen to Friede, leading the kids to make a vow in getting stronger and save him. Throughout the past few episodes, there's a sense of foreshadowing about Friede's potential fate at the end of Rakua. He's seen the kids grow, he knows they're strong. He advises them to think and act on their own if something bad happens. He's sidelined from battling against Zygarde because his Pokemon were knocked off. The fact that Cap was returned to his Pokeball is the biggest tell to me that Friede might temporarily be removed from the story. Even back in HZ023-HZ024, Cap lost but escaped with the kids from the Galar mines. Not once has Cap been shown returned to his Pokeball aside from his initial capture in HZ018. So, what I'm thinking is that perhaps an event would occur where the kids would have to escape, and Friede entrusted Cap's Pokeball to the kids, to look after him in his stead while he stays behind. I feel like to give him a fighting chance, Charizard would stay with him. Cap would go with the kids so he'd still be present as the series Pikachu for the next arc. If Cap were to stay with one of the kids (and if the leaks are true), then Roy would be the likeliest choice, if only to continue the 'boy with a Pikachu' image.

Something is going to happen to either Terapagos or the Six Heroes. We know there's going to be what feels like the decisive battle for Rakua's fate on 14th March. Terapagos might repeat what it did 100 years ago by creating another barrier to seal the Rakurium, draining enough energy to make it lie dormant again in its pendant state. The Six Heroes might be sealed alongside Lucius (I'm genuinely interested to see how they're going to go about someone who's technically 100+ years old) in the barrier, or maybe the Explorers would capture the Six Heroes and/or Terapagos because they can potentially study these Pokemon for future access to Rakua (assuming it doesn't fall to ruin from all that Rakurium seeping out).

Either way, these events could potentially be a reason for the kids to get stronger. There's no better motivation than to save those they care about after all. If there's presumably a timeskip, I can see that the kids briefly go their own ways, like Liko going back to school, Roy going on an adventure with Cap, Dot continuing her Nidothing streams while also looking for info / keeping an eye out for anything interesting.

If Friede's removed from the picture, I do wonder who'd take charge of the RVT in the meantime. I feel like Orla would be the stand in leader, with Murdock being their pilot. Picturing the possibility of Friede presumed to be missing or worse but the RVT having to continue on with the obvious Friede shape hole in their hearts RAGH THE ANGST POTENTIAL CRYING SCREAMING THROWING UP

Regardless of what might happen these next two episodes, I'm just happy to see this series that I love continue on instead of ending at Rakua. I think it's fitting that the 5th arc would begin (assuming there's a two week gap like they usually do with new arcs) on 11th April 2025 as Horizons aired on 13th April 2023. A new beginning to a new chapter in their adventure.