#sora is trying to remember a certain someone...

[amyhayanora]

Twins again, how strange, huh? And of course late from Day 1. TRAVERSE TOWN I have the opportunity to delve into their time in Traverse Town and how this place almost shattered their minds.. Please bare with my self taught english and some cleaned up old art dump, (except for this DDD piece, wich is just Nomura original art+the twins).

To be correct, the twins have never seen the real Traverse Town, but have spent more time than they would have ever wanted in the Realm of Sleep. After the end of Union X, the twins chose merge with their chitithy and become Dream Eaters. But because of a spell placed on them by Merlin when they were very young, and the help of another OC, they managed to regain human form, finding themselves in a strange town where it's always nighttime, confused, alone, with partial amnesia. They have no idea of how they arrived there or how to leave.

The twins have adjusted quickly to the new environment and bonded with the nice locals, loving the little community… then one day they woke up and not a single soul in town remembered them. They never had answers. Slowly but surely they rebuild their life there, again. And again. And again. Because Sleeping Worlds are fragments of the history of a bigger world, like Country of Musketeers. They exist by repeating themselves and the memory they contain endlessly, in a loop.

Imagine living your life knowing the exact moment everything you have built will be erased and for the thirtd time, tenth, twentieth. How many more times do they have to try to change events, living different lives, different jobs, different interactions, hoping to find the combination that is the good answer to this painful riddle? There is no good answer tho. So the temptation to try the bad ones gets stronger. And they did. Because maybe destroying something woul have break the cycle. Or maybe destroy someone… It's not like people will remember anything if it doesn't work and the clock resets anyway, right?

They did it, unintentionally. But it didn't work, as well, and that's the thing they don't want to try again, never. Paranoia will give them nightmares for years even after KH3.

Because they have been exposed to this kind of reality, their social skills are lower than they should despite their real age. It's tricky to learn properly when your actions have no real consequences anymore.

So they decided to never talk again about what happened and focused on building instead of destroying, to keep their sanity. That's how I headcanon 4th and 5th districts original from DDD to be their own creations. (original images below)

Starting small with color-changing other Spirits. Being basically Dream Eaters with human will and creativity, they soon discover to have a certain control over reality in the realm of sleep, so they added a layer to the town and personalized it. this is also part of the reason why during the reaper game in DDD the two realities of the dream weren't perfectly synchronized.

(This power they have will be later the base to make Dreamlight Valley kind of canon, if you know the game.)

What finally breaks their routine is the arrival of Sora and Riku in Traverse Town, their tickets to get out of there. The deal is to help them, teaching them how to move around, fight and train spirits, and in exchange the twins can follow them.

and since there's a Moogle here, bonus page and Tou and Riku getting along very well

[starshapedfruits]

MEMORY REBOOT / Kingdom Hearts AMV

[tobiasdrake]

Digimon Adventure 01x48 - Bombing Mission! Mugendramon / My Sister's Keeper

Previously on Digimon Adventure: The combined efforts of Zudomon, SaberLeomon, and MetalEtemon finally succeeded in taking down MetalEtemon, at the cost of Leomon's life. Meanwhile, the rest of the children gathered around Pinocchimon and stomped on him until he broke.

Onward to the next Dark Master!

We open in the shot that the previous episode snatched to end on in the dub: Taichi's crew traversing a long highway in a vast desert. As they walk, Hikari begins to cough. Her steps become shaky and unsteady. Before long, she trips over her own foot and falls face-down into the pavement.

The other kids keep walking for a couple seconds, unaware that she's no longer with them. Once they realize, however, Taichi rushes to her side.

Taichi: HIKARI!!!

The dub adds some dialogue as we join them.

Tai: This road has to be going somewhere, right...? Kari: (cough cough) Tentomon: Don't count on it! Nothing is certain in the Digi-World! Kari: (cough cough, cough cough) Gatomon: Do you have a furball, Kari? Kari: No, silly... I'm okay.... Sora: One thing is certain; Only a cactus could love this place. (Kari falls) Group: ... Tai: (suddenly notices) KARI!!!

This conversation is basically nothing fluff, but I can see merit in it. In the original, the group seems too exhausted to notice when Hikari drops at first. They're all just trudging through silently.

The dub seems to be angling for them being too lost in conversation to notice - besides Gatomon, who they have monitoring Kari's condition. Though if Gatomon was paying attention to her, you'd think she would have said something when Kari dropped.

I do think they should have had one more line of dialogue here, during and after Kari dropping. To cement the "lost in conversation" vibe, have someone saying something while she falls, and then have Tai suddenly interrupt them with his "KARI" yell.

Nonetheless, I see what they're going for. It's a different interpretation but it works.

The children carry Hikari to a bus stop and set her down on the bench.

Unhelpfully, the bus stop's marker shows destinations as "Somewhere" and "Anywhere". In English.

Sora: I guess her cold must be acting up again. Her legs must be exhausted. Tailmon: Hikari... Are you okay...? Hikari: (opens eyes and nods, smiling weakly) Taichi: Why did you let this go on for so long? Why are you burdening yourself? Hikari: Because... We have to hurry and save-- (cough cough) Taichi: (worried) ...Hikari....

Hikari's condition has been worsening, but she's kept it to herself to avoid inconveniencing the rest of the group. Or, at least, she's attempted to do so.

The dub previously unwrote Kari being sick as her reason for not making it to summer camp. So here, she's recently come down with something. No relation to past events.

Sora: She has to stay out of the sun. And we've got to find a way to get her fever down soon! Gatomon: Don't worry. I won't leave you. Kari: (opens eyes and nods, smiling weakly) Yeah.... Tai: How come you didn't say something before now, Kari!? If we'd known sooner, we could have rested until you felt better. Kari: ...you mad? I didn't want to slow everyone down. (cough cough cough) Tai: (worried) Oh, I'm not mad.

Kari's a bit more verbose than her Japanese counterpart.

Taichi momentarily flashes back on something from their history. He briefly remembers a playground when they were little, watching emergency responders load Hikari into an ambulance.

Taichi: Now that I think about it, it may have been better if we didn't bring Hikari with us after all. Koushiro: Eh!? We wouldn't be able to save the Digimon World or the Earth without Hikari. You realize she's a Chosen Child, right? Taichi: But she's only in second grade... And she's recovering from a cold.... Taichi: (thinking) Takeru's in second grade too.... Koushiro: What's wrong, Taichi-san? Taichi: I-It's nothing. It's just... She tends to try and quietly endure things even when she doesn't have to. Koushiro: Taichi-san....

The curse of being a younger sibling. Hikari's afraid of being burdensome and overcompensates.

In the dub:

Tai: I wasn't paying attention. We probably shouldn't have even brought her along. Izzy: Huh!? What are you talking about!? We had to bring her! We need her if we want to save the Digi-World! She's one of the DigiDestined; Have you forgotten that!? Tai: Not at all! But her being sick... We should have left her someplace safe. We should have split up so someone could take care of her while the others looked. Izzy: SPLIT UP!?!? Tai, this isn't like you! Tai: I'm just a little... worried about her. It's all a part of what I do to be a good leader, Izzy. Izzy: Uh, yeah, but....

They depersonalized this bit hard. They stay in script through Izzy's first line, at which point Tai concedes the point that she has to be physically present in the Digi-World but then wildly suggests stashing Kari somewhere on this side of the boundary.

This replaces Taichi nervously fretting over how young Hikari is. And, by extension, suddenly realizing how young Takeru is too.

Tai wraps up by removing himself entirely from the role of Kari's brother and instead assuring Izzy that this is about his leadership duties.

Suddenly, Tentomon intrudes on the conversation.

Tentomon: KOUSHIRO-HAAAAAAAN!!! I FOUND SOMETHING!!!

Kabuterimon brings the children to what he's discovered. They approach a great landmass across a body of water. A landmass that looks suspiciously like New York City.

Kabuterimon: Look! Over there! Kids: (collective gasp) Takeru: It's America! ...huh?

As they fly, the architecture of the city below suddenly shifts to a new region.

Koushiro: This is Italy. And that's the Arc de Triomphe! That's in France. Sora: It's too quiet. There's something strange about this. Piyomon: No Digimon either.

Taichi rides with Hikari in front of him, keeping a firm grip on her shoulders. She suddenly weakens and goes slack, prompting him to start yelling with urgency.

Taichi: HEY!!! Please! We need to stop and rest somewhere! Koushiro: Uhh... Yeah, sure.

Taichi's request pulls everyone reluctantly away from the mystery they've found themselves in, and they begin looking around for somewhere to land.

In the dub:

Tentomon: FOUND IT!!! Izzy: Huh? Tentomon: We're saved! (Kabuterimon takes the kids to the mishmash city) Kabuterimon: Look! Right up ahead! You wanted civilization? Well, it doesn't get more civilized than this! Kids: (collective gasp) T.K.: IS THAT AMERICA!?!?

The dub slips it's first commercial break, leaving us with the intrigue of having found New York City. Upon return, we briefly replay the shot of Kabuterimon approaching NYC as a reminder of where we left off.

T.K.: Do you think they have a bathroom? Kids: Huh!? Sora: That's New York City.... (They pass into Italy) Sora: ...but that isn't! Izzy: That's Rome. We studied it in geography. And up there? That's the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. They're all smushed together. Tai: It's like that theme park in Florida! Sora: Except that this place is deserted. Look, there's not a sign of life anywhere! Kari: (groan, goes slack) Tai: HEY!!! IZZY!!! Kari's getting worse; Let's find someplace to land! Izzy: Oh! Yeah, right. (looks around) Uhhh....

Taichi is silent through this exchange until he suddenly speaks up about Hikari because he has bigger things on his mind than weird mashup cities. Tai's happy to pitch in and compare the place to... You know, I'm actually not sure which theme park he means. The two I know (Disney World and Universal Studios) are based around movies, not world geography.

Is there a world geography theme park in Florida?

(No, T.K., the entire city of New York does not have a bathroom. Why didn't you go during the commercial?)

Overall, this is pretty faithful to the original, albeit lighter in tone. But we expect that from the dub.

Kabuterimon lands on the lawn of a house, and the children invite themselves in.

Was the door unlocked or were we deprived a funny scene of the Chosen Children pulling a B&E? Taichi totally seems like the type to smash a window next to the door and just turn the inside handle, especially under these circumstances. Possibly in the middle of a debate about whether or not it's okay to break in.

I mean, Jou isn't here to stop us. When the senpai's away, the kouhais will... commit crimes.

In any case, the children proceed to ransack the house looking for medicine. We find Taichi, Koushiro, and Takeru turning the kitchen upside-down when suddenly Agumon runs in.

Agumon: HEY!!! TAICHI!!! Is this it?

Taichi takes the bottle from Agumon's hand and inspects it.

Taichi: YES!!! THIS IS IT!!! Koushiro: You found the cold medicine?

Taichi opens the package, only for his hopes to immediately be dashed when it's empty.

Defeated, he returns to the bedroom where they've laid up Hikari. Sora, Piyomon, and Tailmon are watching over her. Sora looks up hopefully at him as he enters, but he shakes his head.

Sora: I see.... Taichi: We're going out to search. How is Hikari doing? Sora: The same as before. However, she isn't sweating as much. Taichi: That's good to hear. Well, take care of her for me. Sora: Mhm. Take care of yourself out there, Taichi.

As Taichi turns to go, he finds Takeru and Koushiro in the doorway.

Takeru: Taichi-san! I'll search for the cold medicine with you. Taichi: No, I want you to stay here, Takeru. We have no way of knowing when the next attack from the Dark Masters will happen. Takeru: Got it! We'll be sure to protect everyone! Patamon: You can count on us! Taichi: You're the man of the house while we're gone.

The dub credits Sora with finding the house.

Sora: This looks like a nice, quiet spot. (Kabuterimon lands and the search begins) Izzy: These cupboards are empty! There's not even a speck of food! Agumon: HEY!!! This what you're looking for? Tai: (takes the packages) Alright! Way to go! Izzy: What is it, Agumon!? Did you find some Aspirin!? Tai: Yeah, this ought to do the trick! (Tai opens the package and finds it empty) Tai: It's empty! Izzy: Just like everything else! This place is weird!

Izzy, the cupboards are visibly not empty. Additionally, you're not supposed to be scavenging for food right now. We're trying to find Kari some meds!

I guess Sora looking at Tai and Tai sadly shaking his head was too subtle for the dub team because they give Tai something else to respond to.

Gatomon: Tai, humans aren't supposed to be this color, are they? Tai: (shakes head sadly) Sora: Well? Tai: I'm afraid to leave in case something happens, but she needs medicine. Sora: She's stable, I think. All we can do for now is hope her fever breaks soon. Tai: It will! At least I know I'm leaving her in good hands, with you. Sora: Don't worry. Just be careful. T.K.: Listen, Tai! I wanna come with you! I won't get in the way, honest! Tai: No way; You're my last line of defense! What if the Dark Masters come, huh? I need you here to look after the others. T.K.: You can count on me! Don't worry; I'm on the job! Patamon: Yeah! Leave it to us! Tai: I knew I could count on you guys!

Apart from that context shift on the headshake, this is pretty faithful. Tai really plays up the whole "It's actually a super important duty for you to NOT come with me!" thing, which sells it well.

Taichi, Koushiro, and their Partner Digimon make their way into the city.

Agumon: Medicine, medicine... Where is the medicine!?

Taichi stops when he notices Koushiro's fallen behind. Koushiro seems to be looking around for something.

Taichi: (urgently)What are you doing, Koushiro? Koushiro: (points) THERE!!!

Koushiro points out a phone booth. Taichi's team makes their way over, and Koushiro breaks out his laptop, using Tentomon's back as a table.

Koushiro: Searching blindly would be a waste of time, don't you think?

Koushiro plugs his computer into the ethernet jack on the pay phone. (Yes, that is actually a thing some pay phones had back in the day when pay phones existed.) From there, he pulls up a map.

Koushiro: Yes! I have a map of the city! Taichi: (excited) S-So where is the cold medicine? Koushiro: The nearest hospital or drug store is....

A set of yellow blinking lights appear on the map near the central red dot.

Koushiro: There! Taichi: (points to one) Great. We'll try that one!

Taichi bolts out of the phone booth, nearly bowling over Agumon in the process, and sprints down the sidewalk.

There's a continuity error here in the animation. The door to the booth is visibly open in interior shots of the group. (Why bother closing it?) But here we see Taichi throw the door open as he exits - with Agumon teleporting outside of the booth so that he can be startled by the sudden action.

Agumon: T-Taichi!? Koushiro: P-Please wait for me!

Rude, but his sister is unwell.

In the dub, Agumon has his mind on other things than the cold medicine. Namely, reading the script and unsubtly dropping foreshadowing.

Agumon: This place is deserted but I still get the feeling we're being followed. Isn't that strange? (Tai notices that Izzy isn't keeping up and stops) Tai: (urgently) IZZY!!! What do you think you're doing!? Izzy: (points) AHA!!! (Izzy takes Tai to the phone booth) Izzy: This is the Digital Age, Tai. There are a lot simpler ways of finding things now. Tentomon: Good. I was beginning to get a cramp in my wing. (Izzy pulls up a map) Izzy: I knew it! There's an online map of the city! Tai: Izzy, you're a genius! Nice going! Izzy: Okay, now I'll search for hospitals and pharmacies.... (Yellow lights appear) Izzy: Jackpot! Take your pick. Tai: (points) This one's the closest. Let's go! (Tai bolts out of the booth) Izzy: HEY!!! WAIT FOR ME!!! I GOTTA UNPLUG MYSELF!!!

Agumon's foreshadowing is also incorrect. They are not physically being watched. ...well, maybe by Piedmon but he's not what this is setting up.

Koushiro unplugs from the phone booth and follows Taichi. As he does, we see they're being monitored. A pair of gear-shaped Digimon have their own map up on a screen, and can see the red and yellow blips from Koushiro's computer - up until the moment he disconnects.

I don't think the gears ever get an Analyzer rundown, so I'm just gonna cover them real quick. These are Hagurumon, the Child-stage Viruses of the Metal Empire line. They're what evolves into Mekanorimon and Guardromon from Homeostasis's flashback, among other things.

The name comes from the word 歯車 haguruma, which means "toothy wheel" or, in other words, a gear.

Hagurumon 1: The line has disconnected!

Hagurumon turns around, reporting to Mugendramon behind them - who finally speaks for the first time.

Hagurumon 1: Mugendramon-sama! The children were looking up the locations of nearby hospitals and drug stores. Mugendramon: Hospitals. Drug stores. Display their locations. Hagurumon 1: Sir!

The Hagurumon pull up their own yellow blips for the referenced locations.

Hagurumon 1: There are twelve in the area. Mugendramon: We'll target them all. Metal Empire Army! Move out! Hagurumon 2: Metal Empire Army! Move out! Hagurumon 1: Metal Empire Army! Move out!

Mugendramon is not playing around. Knowing the Chosen Children will be in one of twelve places is all he needs.

In the dub, the reporting Hagurumon is super obnoxious.

Hagurumon 2: They have logged off. Hagurumon 1: Yes! My lord, Machinedramon, sir! They've accessed maps and things for hospitals and pharmacies. Hi-yoooo! Machinedramon: And you're waiting for what!? Show me those locations. Hagurumon 1: Right away, sir! (Yellow blips appear) Hagurumon 1: There are, uh, one-two-three-four-five-six-seven-eight-nine-ten-eleven-TWELVE of them! Machinedramon: Let me put this in words you can understand. Send units to all twelve locations and blow them up! Hagurumon 1: Oh, I get it now! Blow them up! Yes, sir! Hagurumon 2: Consider it already done, my lord!

They're going for the "serious cartoon supervillain constantly frustrated by his useless buffoon minions" but they don't have any buffoonery to work with here that they can frustrate Machinedramon with. So they have to make the Hagurumon's personality super annoying to compensate.

They hit the important plot beats but I'm gonna call this one a miss in the attempted comedy. They can't all be winners.

From here, the Metal Empire transforms and rolls out.

This is where the Mekanorimon from the assault on Homeostasis's base came from. An unassuming wall in one of the mashed up cities opens, revealing a hidden entrance to the base. Mekanorimon troops enter into the city on foot.

Beneath the Arc de Triomphe, a secret panel in the ground lowers into a ramp. Tank-shaped Digimon roll up and onto the streets.

A large, round Roman plaza in the Italy section opens up to reveal a secret launchpad. Two huge, serpentine Digimon, one red and one blue, spread their wings and take to the skies.

The Metal Empire is on the move.

In the dub, Machinedramon talks over this.

Machinedramon: The little fools have swallowed the bait! Now it is time to spring the trap.

...what bait? Did you remote-infect Kari with a cold on purpose somehow? Dub villains really do just say things.

The dub Mekanorimon hum a marching cadence to themselves as they emerge. Additionally, the winged Digimon have lines when they take flight.

Red: Finally! Blue: It was getting stuffy!

Meanwhile, Taichi and Koushiro reach their destination. Koushiro raids the hospital's supplies while Taichi goes into another flashback, this time remembering a hospital when he was younger. His mother, out of breath and sweating hard from running, comes to a stop in front of him.

Yuuko: Where is Hikari!? TAICHI!!!

In the present, Taichi shakes, gritting his teeth and clenching his fists.

Koushiro: (calling out suddenly) I found it! This turned out to be the right place!

Taichi and Koushiro adjourn to the supply cabinets, to sort through medications and try to figure out which bottle they need.

Taichi: Which one is the cold medicine!? Koushiro: If only Jou-san were here. His father's a doctor. Taichi: He's never around when we need him! Koushiro: (notices something) That'll work!

Koushiro notices a phone. He unplugs the phone from its jack and plugs in his laptop's ethernet cable, going online.

The dub gives Agumon a line to kick us off. He remains confused by the emptiness of the city.

Agumon: No wonder this hospital's so clean! There's no sick people! Hello! Hello? (Flashback) Yuuko: TAI!!! (runs up) DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU'VE DONE!?!? (End flashback) Tai: (shakes, gritting teeth and clenching fists) Agumon: ...Tai? Izzy: HEY, OVER HERE!!! I FOUND THE PHARMACY!!! (Cut to pharmacy) Tai: There's a lot of medicine, alright. But how do we know what to use for Kari's fever? Izzy: Strange as it sounds, I wish Joe were here. He might know what these are; His father's a doctor. Tai: That's a doctor's kid for ya; There's never one around when you need him! Izzy: Huh!? Hold on! I can patch into the hospital's computer! (Izzy unplugs the phone and plugs in his laptop) Tentomon: Izzy shoots! He scores! Izzy: (typing) Fever reduction. Children.

Yuuko is super accusatory in this flashback. The original Yuuko just asks him where Hikari's been taken to; English Yuuko is more interested in throwing blame around and maximizing how bad Tai feels.

This is not the plot difference that it may seem like; It's actually a pacing shift. The original is holding off on revealing Taichi's complicity in Hikari's hospitalization; Right now, it just wants you to know that Taichi has pre-existing trauma over Hikari's health. Meanwhile the dub comes right out and frontloads it.

The Jou exchange is mostly unchanged, but Izzy makes a point to qualify his statement as a rare deviation from norm. Can't have you thinking anyone likes Joe or anything.

Izzy also describes plugging into the wall jack as "patching into the hospital's computer" despite no computer besides his own being present.

Unbeknownst to them, when Koushiro accesses the city's network, he reveals his location to Mugendramon once again.

Hagurumon1: Someone's accessing the network at Target Area 1. Mugendramon: Hmm.... Narrow our targets to area 1. Prepare to attack!

At Mugendramon's command, Metal Empire forces peel off from their original trajectories and converge on the hospital. They take offensive positions around it, ready to begin the siege.

In the dub:

Hagurumon 1: Sir! There they are, sir! Haha! Hagurumon 2: The network is being accessed from inside Target 4, Master, Sir. Machinedramon: It would then be a good idea to have all forces converge on that target and prepare to attack! Hagurumon 2: Uhhhhh brilliant idea, my lord, sir!

The dub Mekanorimon continue humming their wordless marchine cadence as their forces converge. The sky serpents again have dialogue.

Blue: After you, Megadramon. Red: Oh no, after you!

Inside the hospital, unaware of the impending attack, Taichi and Koushiro compare medications to data Koushiro's pulled up in order to discern which bottle to use.

Taichi: (holding out a bottle) This one? Koushiro: Eh? ...yes! I'm sure of it! Taichi: Great! We should hurr-- Mugendramon: (command room) FIRE!!!

The tanks fire off their opening volley into the hospital. Inside, the boys can feel the building shake and the power cuts out.

(Not that Mugendramon cares but this is a war crime, by the way.)

Agumon: (scared) W-What the...?

Taichi and Koushiro hurry back to the front lobby. Through the sliding doors, they see a row of Mekanorimon foot soldiers waiting for them outside. These Mekanorimon receive the rare luxury of a second rundown.

Mekanorimon is still one of the two Adult-stage Virus-types of the Metal Empire evolution line.

Taichi: T-The enemy! Narrator: Mekanorimon. An Adult-stage Machine type Digimon. Their special attack. Twinkle Beam, is fired from their Linear Lens.

No mention of them being pilotable as a vehicle. This rundown provides less information than the last time they were up here.

Now that they have eyes on target, the Mekanorimon start shooting. Firing off their Twinkle Beams into the hospital lobby. Their shots disintegrate anything they hit, wiping out the front doors and the lobby furniture.

Though momentarily startled, Taichi's crew manage to flee deeper into the hospital.

In the dub:

Tai: Hey, Izzy: You're sure that's the right stuff? Izzy: It's as safe as children's Aspirin! Tai: Good job! Then let's get back! Machinedramon: (command room) FIRE!!! (Assault begins) Agumon: Hey, let's beat it!

When Tai's crew makes it to the front lobby, the Mekanorimon are still singing their wordless cadence. Tai immediately quips about their predicament.

Tai: Lucky we're in a hospital, 'cause it looks like we might need one! Mekanorimon: (singing cadence) Tai: What are they? Agumon: (rundown) Mekanorimon. Evil robots with one job: Blasting Digimon. I suggest we get out of here, and fast! Mekanorimon: Target in range.

Tai doesn't remember that he already saw these Digimon during Homeostasis's vision quest. But we can cut him some slack for that; The narrator forgot too.

Agumon's diegetic rundown is way better than the repeated original. Doing it diegetically allows Agumon to fill it with situational context. That often comes at the expense of the info that's supposed to be delivered, but since this one's a repeat anyway, it's all good.

As Taichi's crew flees into the hospital, they find their path cut off; One of the tanks from outside comes straight through a wall into the hallway, pinning them in.

Tankmon is an Adult-stage Data-type Cyborg Digimon. Also of the Metal Empire line, of course. There's not much to say here. They're a tank. They want to shoot Taichi in the face.

Team: (collective gasp) Agumon: There's another one! Narrator: Tankmon. Using their heavy power and the heavy weapons all over their body, they blast their enemies to pieces. Their special move Hyper Cannon is fired from the barrel on their head.

Something about having a tank cannon pointed directly at their faces makes the group want to stand there and discuss. Fortunately, Tankmon is willing to stand by and let them chat.

Tentomon: HOW DID THEY EVEN KNOW WE WERE HERE!?!? Koushiro: Could they have spotted us when we came in? Taichi: Shit! And we just found the medicine, too!

As if that weren't bad enough, one of the Mekanorimon enters the hospital and rounds the corner, cutting off the children's retreat. Taichi's crew is pincered in the hallway.

(Maybe that's what Tankmon was waiting for. Didn't want to open fire until their retreat was cut off.

The pair fire together, Twinkle Beam and Hyper Cannon. Thinking quickly, Taichi breaks down the door next to him with his shoulder, guiding everyone into a doctor's office.

Taichi: THIS WAY!!!

Taichi's crew escapes the hall just before the two shots collide, detonating in a blast that tosses both Mekanorimon and Tankmon. Taichi's group manage to pile out a window and take cover under the windowsill, while the explosion rips through the windows above them.

Once, the initial blast wave has passed, Taichi gets to his feet and leads the team away.

Taichi: Let's go!

In the dub:

Agumon: They brought along a friend! Agumon: (rundown) Tankmon. An armor-plated bully with a sneeze like a cannon! If you think the other guys are bad, these creeps have more firepower than a volcano! Tentomon: I thought we'd lost them! How did they find us so quickly!? Izzy: One of them must have been following us and saw us come in here. Tai: Think! Kari needs us to get back, pronto! Mekanorimon: (rounding corner) Target in range. (Mekanorimon and Tankmon fire together_ Tai: (bashing down door) LOOK OUT!!! (The kids pile out of the window) Tai: DUCK!!! (They take cover. The explosion passes, then they get up.) Tai: Come on!

Agumon's rundown is a little hyperbolic but covers the key point very well: Tankmon has so much gun. So, so very much gun.

The dub adds "I thought we lost them" to Tentomon's line, which doesn't make a lick of sense. This is our first encounter with the Metal Empire. They have never been chasing us before this moment.

Unless he means "I thought we lost the Mekanorimon out front when we ran deeper into the hall." That would parse, but then Izzy's follow-up line is weird. Yeah, they did see us round a corner.

Between this and Agumon's "I think someone's watching us," the dub seems to be having a hard time with Mugendramon's tracking of the Children.

With Taichi's crew out of the hospital, the Metal Empire fans out to search the city.

Taichi's crew take shelter in the upper floor of an office building. Taichi and Agumon watch a Tankmon pass on the street below. Meanwhile, Koushiro works feverishly at his laptop.

Taichi: How many of them are there!? Agumon: That's it! I'm gonna go deal with them-- Koushiro: Please hold off a moment! We don't have an accurate understanding of the enemy's military assets. It's too dangerous! Taichi: (angry) Then what are we supposed to do, Koushiro!? Koushiro: I'm studying the enemy's positions in order to discern the safest route to take us back. After all, our main priority is to return with the medicine. Taichi: (softens, embarrassed) O-Oh... yeah, you're right.

Taichi always wants to do everything the hard way. ...though they might be better off if they did.

In the dub, the Tankmon are now also singing the marching cadence.

Tai: I'm really getting sick of that sound! When are they gonna call it quits and go home!? Agumon: We don't have time for this! I'm gonna go down there and take care of them! Izzy: No, wait! Those rolling arsenals are just waiting for us! We show ourselves and they'll go ballistic! Tai: (angry)So we just hide here all day!? Is that it!? Izzy: Those machines are the only things moving out there, so a map of the city's traffic flow will show us where they are! Then it's just a question of plotting the best course to avoid them! Tai: Yeah. Just might work. Izzy: Of course it'll work!

A map of the city's traffic flow? Bit of a workaround.

Koushiro's just tapping into the network (unknowingly Mugendramon's network) and looking at the blips showing the locations of his forces. Which is a normal thing for his network to show him.

Izzy's argument against attacking is a lot weaker here, too. Koushiro rightfully points out that we have no idea how many are out there or how strong they are. Attacking blindly is an extremely risky proposition.

Izzy just says "They're gonna shoot at you if you try." Uh. Yeah. That's how violence works. Thanks, Izzy.

Before long, Koushiro's able to pull up the city map again, with white blips showing the locations of each individual enemy unit.

Koushiro: Yes! I have the enemy's positions! Taichi: Really!?

At the same time, a large yellow blip appears on Mugendramon's screen. The Hagurumon zoom in on it, then report.

Hagurumon 1: Mugendramon-sama! An access has occurred in Sector B-12! Mugendramon: Change targets. Sector B-12!

Back in the office building, Koushiro finds that all routes are now unsafe because the white blips have stopped moving in scattershot ways. Instead, they are all converging towards his location.

Koushiro: (jaw open, horrified) .... Taichi: What's wrong, Koushiro? Koushiro: The enemy... They're surrounding the building. Taichi: What!?

Suddenly, Koushiro lets out a startled gasp. His eyes widening with revelation, he looks down at the ethernet cable connected to his laptop.

Koushiro: (thinking) It can't be... They're using my network access to track us!

Today, Koushiro learned an important lesson about what malicious actors are capable of doing with an unsecured IP address. THIS EPISODE IS SPONSORED BY NORD VPN, PROTECT YOUR DATA ONLINE--

In the dub, he continues gloating about "accessing the traffic flow".

Izzy: You see? There! I've pinpointed every one of them! Tai: Good job, Izzy! (Cut to Machinedramon's lair) Hagurumon 2: Excuse me, Your Metalness. They are accessing the network again but the access point has relocated to Sector B-17. Machinedramon: Then relay those coordinates to all forces and attack!

As the Tankmon change course, we see they are continuing to sing the cadence. Though the Mekanorimon are now not singing it. Guess they got bored.

Izzy: (watching the white dots converge on their location) Inconceivable! Huh.... Tai: Incon-what!? What now!? Izzy: The machines! Every one of them rotated in sync and now they're heading our way! Tai: Wha--!? Izzy: (startled gasp) Izzy: (thinking) Of course! They're zeroing in on my computer connection!

Pretty solid, no notes. They even have the not-annoying Hagurumon make the report to avoid disrupting the rising tension. I like the added detail that "every machine rotated in sync". You can picture that in your head and get a good, visceral feel for what's causing Izzy to freak out.

I don't know how he knows that when all he has are blipping dots. He might just be painting a word picture for Tai. But it's a good word picture.

Koushiro doesn't have time to follow this train of thought, however.

Agumon: TAICHI!!!

Agumon's warning comes just in time. The kids look up at the red sky serpent making a beeline for their window. They get up and run just before the creature crashes into the office.

Due to its colossal size, the creature struggles to enter the relatively cramped confines of the office building. Agumon capitalizes on this disadvantage, evolving to Greymon and nailing the struggling creature in the eye with a Mega Flame. Then, as the creature recoils in pain, Greymon takes off deeper into the building - With Taichi and Koushiro riding on his back. We go to commercial from here.

In the dub:

Agumon: INCOMING!!!

The dub slips their commercial break here, as the sky serpent hurtles towards the building. Probably reasoning (correctly) that this is a more suspenseful cliffhanger to leave off on.

No dialogue is added to the brief altercation.

Returning from commercial, we find ourselves at Piemon's observatory.

His telescope displays Mugendramon's command center on the screen, while he waxes poetic about his Dark Master colleague.

Piemon: This is boring to watch. There is no escape. Truly, a Digimon who exists solely for destruction; That is Mugendramon. I suppose he will be the one to bring the Chosen Children to their doom. It's too bad I won't get to play.

Piemon raises his cocktail glass to the screen, on which the fleeing children on Greymon's back are now displayed.

Piemon: (in Spanish) Adios!

The dub adds a lot of extra dialogue to Piedmon, to fill the quiet moments of this scene.

Piedmon: Ahh, the plot sickens. Ahh, me... I had such high hopes that these little ones would put on a more entertaining show! But this? Really, it's too tiresome! Can we just get this over with and get onto something a little less TEDIOUS!? There's no escape from Machinedramon! He's designed for total annihilation; It's only a matter of time now before he catches them. And then the game is over. Ah, it's not fair that that overgrown can opener gets all the fun when I was so looking forward to playing with them myself. (Piedmon raises his cocktail glass to the screen) Piedmon: Farewell, little ones!

Piedmon's actor is chewing every last possible bit of scenery that he can, and it's fun. Mixed into with this rant are all the things Piemon brought up too, so nothing gets left out.

Down below, Greymon smashes his way out through a window of the office building. Freed from the tight confines, he quickly Super-Evolves.

MetalGreymon lands on top of the front line of Tankmon, crushing them underfoot. He charges down the street, weaving through enemy fire, then vanishes around a corner.

Brief cut to the command center, as Hagurumon reports.

Hagurumon 1: We've lost the target! Those jerks escaped again! Mugendramon: (displeased growl)

The Hagurumon are getting frustrated. They broke out the yatsura.

In the dub, it is once more the non-annoying Hagurumon who delivers the news.

Hagurumon 2: Oh, I've got a teeny bit of bad news. They've escaped again, my lord, sir. Machinedramon: And yet you're still here....

Weird line to add. They're the Command Center Digimon, and also they're too juvenile to be useful in a fight. They will not be joining the battle, nor should they.

Taichi and Koushiro find a new hidey-hole in an empty church.

Koushiro: That was careless of me. The enemy was using the signal from my computer connection to track us.

Taichi lunges for Koushiro, violently grabbing him by the collar.

Taichi: Your carelessness is unforgivable! While we're stuck here, Hikari is... Hikari is....

Agumon and Tentomon attempt to pry the boys apart.

Tentomon: H-H-Hey, Taichi-han.... Agumon: What's wrong with you!? This isn't like you, Taichi!

Agumon's words get through. Taichi suddenly lets go of Koushiro, covering his face with his hand and apologizing.

Taichi: ...I'm sorry. Koushiro: Did something happen, Taichi-san? Taichi: She almost died once because of me.

The group lets out a collective gasp at Taichi's confession.

In the dub:

Izzy: It's all my fault! I was giving away our location every time I logged on with my computer! How could I have not thought of that before!? Tai: (grapple) Good question! Now we're stuck here! Meanwhile, Kari's getting sicker and sicker BECAUSE OF YOU!!! (Agumon and Tentomon try to separate them) Agumon: Stop it, Tai! What's come over you! Tai: (gasp) (Tai lets go and shrinks away) Tai: I'm sorry, Izzy. Izzy: Hey, Tai, this isn't your normal behavior. Tai: It's Kari. She almost died once before because of me. Team: (Collective gasp)

Taichi is so freaked out he can't bear to say what Hikari is, while Tai snowballs his fury, burning hotter with each word out of his mouth. Both good interpretations. I liked both versions of this scene.

Also, props to the dub for being willing to use the D word here. This scene wouldn't have half as much impact if he just said she "got hurt" or something.

Taichi goes on, explaining what's been bothering him all episode with a flashback.

Taichi: I was in second grade at the time. Hikari was in kindergarten. On that day, she stayed home because she had a cold.

Taichi flashes back on himself at that age, returning home to find Hikari watching TV.

Taichi: I'm home! Taichi (V.O.): But when I got back, she was sitting up and watching TV. I thought she'd gotten better, so I took her outside to play.

Taichi takes Hikari to the playground and readies a soccer ball.

Taichi: Here I go! Catch!

Taichi kicks the ball to Hikari. She bends down, stopping it with her hands. Then she tries to kick it herself, but her foot goes sideways and she seems to stumble back.

Taichi doesn't notice at first; His eyes are on the ball, watching it pass a few feet away from him. He jogs over to pick it up.

Taichi: Come on! You have to do it right--Whuh!?

When he turns back around, Hikari is facedown on the playground concrete.

In the dub, Tai refrains from giving his own age.

Tai: It happened when she was four or five; Just a little kid. She stayed home from kindergarten one day because she was sick. I mean, I knew she was sick but all I could think about on the way home was playing soccer. (Flashback) Tai: Hey, I'm home! Tai (V.O.): I wanted to go out and play, but I didn't want to leave her by herself so I took her outside with me. She seemed okay. Really, she did! (Cut to the park) Tai: Now watch me! (kicks the ball to Kari) Just like that! (Kari attempts to kick the ball but misses) Tai: (collects the ball) No, that's not right! (Tai turns back around and gasps) Tai: Kari!? KARIIIIIIIII!!!

The dub tweaks Tai's intentions here. Taichi made a well-meaning mistake out of ignorance. (Not unlike Koushiro's mistake, I should note. That's an interesting parallel.) He saw Hikari sitting up and watching TV, so he assumed that meant she was better.

Implicitly, Hikari could have said otherwise and did not. That connects back to Taichi's outburst at the start of the episode about her keeping her suffering to herself and refusing to burden others when actually she direly needs help.

Hikari is a people-pleaser. Taichi thought she was well, and she let him think that because she didn't want to trouble him with the fact that she could barely walk.

The dub rewrites the story to be about Tai being personally selfish. It's not that he didn't notice; It's that he didn't want to notice. He was too wrapped up in soccer to care about Kari's wellbeing.

The way he suddenly gets defensive about "She seemed okay; Really, she did!" implies that even now, he can't fully accept that he made such a selfish choice. But also that he knows it's true deep down. Unprompted by others, that is a defensive statement made in argument with himself.

The flashback continues with a slap in the face.

Yuuko: (trembling and weeping) I TOLD YOU THAT HIKARI WAS SICK!!!

Yuuko breaks down crying from there, still holding out her hand as if to indicate her palm is sore. Taichi slowly grabs the side of his face, crying as well. Susumu rests a hand on Yuuko's shoulder.

Brief shot of the door to Hikari's room, with a sign that reads "No Visitors". Then we find Taichi waiting at the apartment, as Susumu and Yuuko bring Hikari home.

Taichi (V.O.): Hikari's cold was aggravated so much that it left her on the edge of death for three days. When she was finally brought home, the first thing she said to me was: Hikari: Onii-chan.... I'm sorry I couldn't do it right...

Hikari's words cause Past Taichi to start breaking down in tears again. Because of course they do. Holy shit. T_T

Unsurprisingly, the dub cuts the shot of Yuuko slapping Taichi in the face. From their body language, however, it's impossible to not notice that the slap took place.

Yuuko: WHAT COULD YOU HAVE BEEN THINKING!?!? YOU KNEW SHE WAS SICK!!! Tai (V.O.): She ended up with pneumonia or something. She almost didn't make it. But what really kills me is what she said when they brought her home from the hospital. The first words out of her mouth.... Kari: ...Tai... I'm sorry I can't kick the ball very good... You'll probably never want to play with me again....

The dub specifies that it was probably pneumonia that nearly ended Kari's young life. They also add an extra gut-punch to her words to Tai.

The original doesn't clarify her illness, but does viscerally mention that she spent three days in 生死の境 seishi no sakai, meaning "on the border between life and death". The dub offers no timeframe and merely states that she "almost didn't make it".

Returning to the present, Taichi finishes his story.

Taichi: That's the kind of person she is. She's always thinking about people other than herself, and she won't tell anyone that she's struggling or in pain even if it kills her! Honestly, she probably didn't even want to come to this stupid world to begin with! But when the fate of the world is so dire, Hikari couldn't refuse! Koushiro: Taichi-san.... Taichi: That's why I'm supposed to look after and protect her! But I....

Taichi breaks down from there, crying and gripping the bottle of medicine. The others give him the time he needs.

In the dub:

Tai: That's her. That's Kari. She never thinks... about herself.... It doesn't matter if she feels bad or if she's bummed out about other stuff, she's always worried about the other kids! She wouldn't be sick, she'd be just fine if she never came to this stupid place! But she came because she knew that we needed her help; She never thought about what she wanted! She never does! Izzy: Because she cares. Tai: She's a kid! I'm her big brother! I'm supposed to look after her and protect her and think about what's best for her! That's what I'm supposed to do! Agumon: Oh, Tai....

Tai makes the bold claim that Kari only got sick because the Digital World infected her. Given that the original plot point is a resurgence of the illness that made her miss camp, that's a hell of a plot shift.

But, again, this is the result of past changes compounding into future plot points. The dub unwrote her illness before so now it has to claim this is some new Digi-virus she picked up when she got here.

(To be honest, I wonder if Hikari has an immunodeficiency disorder.)

By the way, it is not lost on me that they went into a Christian church to discuss the sacrificial selflessness of Hikari "Light of the Eight Gods" Yagami.

Once Taichi's gotten it all out and is ready to move on, the boys begin making plans.

Koushiro: Since it would be impossible to break through their lines head-on, let's use the enemy's strategy to our advantage. Tentomon: What do you mean, Koushiro-han? Koushiro: This software will prevent them from identifying our access point.

No, for real, this is the best twenty-minute commercial for a VPN service I've ever watched. XD This episode aged well.

Koushiro plugs in his ethernet cable and the game begins.

Koushiro: Using this, we should be able to deceive the enemy.

In the dub:

Izzy: Okay, it would be ridiculous to try to break through them but maybe we can use their own surveillance techniques against them. Tentomon: YOU'RE NOT GOING ONLINE AGAIN, ARE YOU!?!? Izzy: Yes, but this time, I know what I'm doing. I've got a program that will throw them off our trail! (Izzy plugs in the ethernet cable) Izzy: I'm going to mask our access point. It's a little trick a computer programmer taught me once.

I love Tentomon's outburst here.

Koushiro offers no indication of where he acquired the software he's using or whether he made it himself. He even might be actively coding it as they speak. Izzy states that it's a trick he learned from a computer programmer.

Koushiro's trick seems to work. We cut to Mugendramon's command center.

Hagurumon 1: Caught an access--GYECK!?!? This is--!

Dozens of yellow blips appear on the map, indicating several simultaneous accesses from all over the city.

Hagurumon 1: What should we do now, Mugendramon-sama? Mugendramon: (contemplative growl)

Back in the church office, a set of white blips including two massive ones appear on Koushiro's map, as before.

Tentomon: What are those? Koushiro: They indicate the enemy's positions. Taichi: They aren't moving. Koushiro: They can't. Because they don't know where we are. The plan worked!

With the enemy now paralyzed with confusion, Taichi and Koushiro exit the church to make their way back to the house Hikari's resting in.

Taichi: (thinking) Just wait a little longer, Hikari. I'm bringing your meds right now!

In the dub, it's the annoying Hagurumon who reports this time.

Hagurumon 1: There they are again--HUUUUH!?!? Um, boss! Uh, there are now DOZENS of access points ALLLLLLL over the map! Hagurumon 2: Does this mean what I think it does, my lord, sir? Machinedramon: That you have the brains of a tin can!? (Meanwhile, at the church) Tentomon: What are those!? Izzy: Those are the enemy Digimon. Tai: They're not moving. Izzy: That's because the program worked and they don't have a clue where to look for us. PROOOODIGIOUS! Tai: Well? What are we waiting for? Let's get going! (Tai and Izzy flee the church) Machinedramon (V.O.): I'm bored with this game of cat and mouse!

Izzy shouts his "prodigious" catchphrase like a triumphant battle cry here. XD

Unfortunately, things won't be so simple for Taichi and Koushiro. Mugendramon's jaws suddenly clamp down on the shot as if he were devouring Taichi, transitioning us back to the command center.

Mugendramon: Initiate Plan Z immediately! Hagurumon 2: B-But that plan-- Mugendramon: Our utmost priority is to defeat the Chosen Children. Prepare to execute at once! Both Hagurumon: Y-YES, SIR!!! Hagurumon 2: Plan Z: Preparing to Execute! Hagurumon 1: Plan Z: Preparing to Execute! Mugendramon: Plan Z... EXECUTE!!!

The two sky serpents peel off and fly up high above the city. Taichi and Koushiro watch them rise higher into the air. A brief shot of the house shows Takeru at the window, watching what's about to occur as well.

The dub has a playful name for Plan Z.

Machinedramon: Initiate Plan Elimin-8. Hagurumon 2: Uhhh, Elimin-8? How about Elimin-9? Machinedramon: Are you actually questioning me!? Initiate Plan Elimin-8 now! Both Hagurumon: NO, SIR!!! YES, SIR!!! Hagurumon 2: Attention: Initiate Plan Elimin-8! Hagurumon 1: Attention: Initiate Plan Elimin-8! Machinedramon: I'm glad you agree. Fire at will.

There's also some extra dialogue as the serpents rise into the air.

Red: Can I blow something up? Blue: I don't know. Can you? (Cut to Tai and Izzy watching below) Tai: Now we're in for it!

The context that what they're about to do is so brutal that Mugendramon's own forces are reluctant to go through with it is present in both versions, but comes through stronger in the original due to its darker tone.

The Hagurumon, who have been fine with everything up to this point, have moral reservations about Plan Z - Which Mugendramon ruthlessly cuts down.

It doesn't take long to find out why. The red serpent raises their cannons towards the city below and calls out Genocide Attack.

Taichi and Koushiro watch from below with Agumon and Tentomon.

Taichi: What are they doing? Tentomon: They're firing all over the place. Koushiro: (gasp) T-They can't be--!

From here, we get the Analyzers for both of them. The red serpent, Megadramon, is a Perfect-stage Virus-type Cyborg Digimon. Originally an evolution for Monochromon and Leomon in the original Digital Monster lines, Megadramon was brought back for Metal Empire as the evolved form of Guardromon and Mekanorimon.

Gigadramon is a blue recolor of Megadramon created to add more enemy types to the Digimon World video game. They are, as well, a Perfect-stage Virus-type Cyborg Digimon.

Narrator: Megadramon. Proudly one of the most powerful of all Perfect-stage Dragon-type Digimon. Their Genocide Attack, organic missiles fired from both arms, burn everything to the ground. Narrator: Gigadramon. A Cyborg-type Dark Dragon Digimon whose speed and destructive power surpass even Megadramon! Their special attack is Genocide Gear.

Down below, Koushiro opens his laptop and despairs.

Koushiro: It seems that my strategy has backfired. Agumon: What do you mean? Koushiro: The enemy has stopped searching for us entirely. Instead, they're going to level the city with us inside of it. Taichi & Digimon: EHHH!?!? Taichi: T-That can't be...!

That's... certainly one way to deal with an enemy whose whereabouts are unknown. This is another one of those episodes that's harder to watch as an adult. In a literal sense, the city appears to be vacant from what we can tell. But the coding - carpet-bombing a population center to exterminate guerilla insurgents hidden within - is unmistakable.

And remarkably relevant to Current Day 2024.

The dub, unsurprisingly, renames Megadramon's attack to "Dark Side Blaster".

Tai: Man, what a waste of ammo! They're way off! Tentomon: I don't think they're shooting at us! Izzy: Huh!? No, it can't be! Tentomon: (rundown) That's Megadramon, a fully Digivolved flying fiend with devastating destructive powers! Those missiles of his can level a city block in the blink of an eye! Tentomon: (rundown) The other one's Gigadramon! If anything, he's more powerful than his buddy! Believe me, if these guys were shooting at us, we wouldn't still be here talking about it! Izzy: Looks like my plan may have backfired on us.... Agumon: How do you figure that? Izzy: It appears they've decided searching for us is too much trouble, so instead they're just going to level the whole city and everybody in it! Tai & Digimon: (collective gasp) Tai: You've gotta be kidding!

I love Tai's smarmy "LOL These clowns" reaction when he first sees what they're doing. Nice moment of ironic confidence about to be undercut by the reveal.

Less fond of the fact that we are now, in episode 48, still using the phrase "fully Digivolved" to describe Perfect-stage Digimon. Show, you know better now. Why are you still doing this?

Back in the command center, the Hagurumon's screen now displays the damage.

Hagurumon 2: Bombing of Sectors A-1 and A-2 is complete! Hagurumon 1: Megadramon and Gigadramon have commenced bombing of Sector A-3. The Chosen Children have not yet been found. Mugendramon: (quiet growl)

An ominous shimmer comes over Mugendramon's cannons while he considers.

In the dub:

Hagurumon 1: That's it for Sectors A and B! What a mess! Hagurumon 2: Megadramon and Gigadramon have begun operations in Sectors C and D! Children sneaky, nyeh! Machinedramon: Soon there will be no place left to hide, and this game will abruptly END!

"Children sneaky, nyeh!" is a surprising comment coming from the not-annoying one.

No longer worried about enemy troops but instead having something very much more pressing in mind, Taichi and Koushiro double-time it through the city streets.

Suddenly, a colossal shadow passes over them.

Koushiro: Ah! It's Megadramon! Tentomon: The others are over that way! Taichi: Shit! HIKARI!!!

Taichi picks up the pace, screaming at the top of his lungs.

By the time they reach the house, it's still standing.

Koushiro: Thank goodness! They're still safe! Taichi: HIKARI!!!

Taichi sprints towards the house as fast as his legs can carry him. But a missile from Genocide Attack does the same. Right as Taichi approaches, the house explodes, hurling him backwards with the blast wave.

Izzy: It can't be.... Taichi: (sitting up) No... Hikari... HIKARIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!

In the dub:

Tentomon: Uh-oh! Megadramon! He's heading right for where the others are hiding! Tai: No! Tentomon: I hope they see him coming! Tai: KARI!!! (They make it to the house) Izzy: Safe and sound. Everything's okay. Tai: We're back, Kari! (Tai runs to the house, but it explodes) Izzy: The building's gone! Tai: No! No way! It can't be! KARIIIIIIIII!!!

Suddenly, a loud sound comes roaring in their direction.

Koushiro: ANOTHER MISSILE!!!

Before Taichi and Koushiro can react, a beam of light slaps the missile off-course. The shot knocks it back up into the air, detonating it harmlessly.

Turning around, they see Angemon floating above the hedges.

Group: ANGEMON!!!

From there, Takeru, Piyomon, and Tailmon all poke their heads through the hedges. Sora stands behind it, carrying Hikari in piggyback.

(Awww, he did his job! Great work, Takeru. This was the literal exact reason Taichi gave for not bringing him along.)

Takeru: Taichi-san, are you okay? Taichi: Takeru!? HIKARI!!!

We made it through with no fatalities. Yet.

In the dub:

Izzy: HERE COMES ONE MORE!!!

The dub seizes the impending missile strike as a great opportunity for their third commercial break cliffhanger. They are correct. Solid suspense.

When we come back, they replay Izzy's reaction in case anyone forgot where we were.

Izzy: OH NO, LOOK OUT!!! (Angemon destroys the missile) Agumon: Angemon! Izzy: But that means..... (The others reveal themselves) T.K.: Hey, what's up; You look tired! Tai: T.K.! Agumon: Biyomon! Tentomon: And the others! Tai: Kari! You're okay!

Biyomon gets special mention but Gatomon's reduced to "and the rest". No respect.

Taichi and Koushiro join the others on the other side of the hedge.

Koushiro: You're all safe! Sora: We went for cover as soon as the bombing started. Takeru: Taichi-san! I managed to protect everyone! Taichi: Great job, Takeru!

Before they can say any more, the ground beside them crumbles as a laser weapon rips through from below. Then Mugendramon emerges, crashing up through the street. He towers over the Chosen Children. Y'all, I was not prepared for the size disparity here. This is VenomVamdemon all over again.

Koushiro: MUGENDRAMON!!! Taichi: RUN FOR IT!!! Mugendramon: This is over, Chosen Children.

In the dub:

Tai: Kari! You're okay! Izzy: Actually, you look better than okay! Sora: When we saw them bombing buildings, we thought we'd better get out. T.K.: And I led the way! I took care of 'em, like you said! Tai: I never doubted you! (Suddenly, Machinedramon) Agumon: MACHINEDRAMON!!! Machinedramon: You can't rely on scrap metal if you want the job done right! Tai: Take cover, everybody!

The Chosen Children flee inside the building next to them. It will not keep them safe.

Mugendramon fires his signature Mugen Cannon. As a reminder, mugen means "Infinite". So the move is basically "Infinity Cannon".

In one (twin) shot, Mugen Cannon collapses the entire building. As it comes crashing down, we see the children falling into an endless black void in two distinct groups. Sora, Takeru, and Hikari in one group, Taichi and Koushiro in the other.

Hikari: ONII-CHAAAAAAAN!!! Taichi: HIKARIIIIIIIIII!!! Narrator: Unable to stand before Mugendramon, the children fell into the abyss where darkness rules.

Well, that's fucking fun, isn't it!? I'm pretty sure they just landed in the sewers but "The abyss where darkness rules" is a fucking awesome way of describing it.

In the dub, Machinedramon remains wordier than Mugendramon.

Machinedramon: That's right! Scurry away! Ask any ratcatcher; The chase is part of the fun! GIGA CANNON!!! (Giga Cannon destroys the building, and it begins to collapse) Machinedramon: Nothing like a little wholesale destruction to end a hard day's work. Goodbye, DigiDestined! (Children plunge into abyss) Kari: HELP ME TAIIIIIIII!!! Tai: KARIIIIIIIII!!! Narrator: Has Machinedramon succeeded in destroying the DigiDestined? Don't miss the next Digimon: Digital Monsters.

Assessment: Machinedramon has a Stock American Villain persona, contrasting Mugendramon being a 'mon of few words. Mugendramon is mission-focused and only speaks to give orders to his troops, in as minimal words as possible.

You could easily mistake him for one of those bestial mons incapable of speech. In fact, in his first appearance at the start of the Dark Master arc, I legit thought that was going to be the case because he never spoke a word back there.

But no. There is a tactical military intelligence there. He simply can't be bothered by socializing or banter. He has strategies to consider.

A significant departure from Pinocchimon, to be sure.

But the main appeal of this episode is, of course, learning more about Taichi and Hikari's relationship. The dub made a few changes to it, but still milked the drama for all it's worth.

We know Taichi is not very bright and that he's very impulsive. His mistake here feels entirely consistent with his and Hikari's established characters, and that makes its catastrophic outcome so effective.

The same is true of Koushiro, who similarly makes a well-meaning mistake (two of them, even) out of a desire to help and to put his impressive talents to use. None of them, Taichi, Hikari, and Koushiro, really did wrong; They're just. Children. With a lot still to learn, but whose actions can have dire consequences if they aren't careful with the choices they make.

Both in the military campaign of the present and Taichi and Hikari's flashback, they just... didn't know better. And it almost cost them dearly.

[yoroshiu]

Hiya friend! If you're still open to doing some translation, I have a scene I'd love for your thoughts on. It's one in KH3, called Xigbar's Admonishment. I'm especially interested in Xigbar's dialog, as I believe it frames the story of KH3 as a whole. However, Sora's reaction to it all is of course interesting to me as well.

-Nyssa

Hi! I'm so happy to get a translation ask! I locked in and did this in one go so there's a small chance of mistakes or missed nuances, but from what I got, there's a lot of differences that change the subtleties. Doing this was a mix of my own knowledge and using translators for the kanji I wasn't as familiar with, so I hope it's coherent enough TvT

And I'm the same when it comes to this cutscene, it has a grip on me TvT

So below, I'll put the translation, my notes, and thoughts/analysis. It's a little on the long end but I hope this'll be an interesting read. If anything's unclear or confusing or if there's questions overall, let me know ^o^

Kingdom Hearts 3 - "Xigbar's Admonition"

X: Iyaa, Wonderful, wonderful!

D: Black coat!

G: It's Organization XIII!

S: You're Xigbar!

X: What a beautiful self-sacrificing spirit, is this what they say those with a heart of light can do?

S: What are you trying to say?

X: (It's) simple and clear*, stop self-sacrificing, as they say.

H: (Since) I risked my life, I was able to save Meg.

X: That's because you have a special existence, that's not how it works for normal humans.

S: But we can't deny that Hercules' was able to do what his heart desired.

X: In trying to save someone who self-sacrifices, a new self-sacrifice is born. That's a negative chain reaction. If one collapses, the rest fall, as they say.

X: It's the same for your "connected hearts"*. It's true that connected hearts can become (your) power, but remember, on the other hand, it can cause suffering and burden those you're connected with.

X: However, Sora, you can be left as is. (Let) your connected heart be your power and continue on with your hearts connections.

S: Who would do what you say?!

X: No, you have no choice but to follow your heart, as they say. At the time you get there, you'll know your destiny. The goal may be closer than you expected. How fun!

(Xigbar disappears)

S: Connecting hearts will bring everyone suffering—

H: Sora, don't worry about it. That guy just uses words to toy with others. Seeing proves it. There's no mistake in what we did.

S: You're right!

G: Yeah, our present is proof of that!

D: We'll show them! Connecting hearts is our power!

S: Right!

(Everyone walks off while Sora stops and looks behind)

S: My destiny—

~~~~~~

Translation Notes:

General:

In Japanese, Xigbar's cathchphrase, which is "As if" in ENG, is "ってハナシ" (tte hanashi) which I've translated to "as they say".

I've mentioned it in previous posts but "My friends are my power" is "Connecting hearts is my power" in JPN.

Specific:

~1 I checked the kanji and its meaning from different sources and it literally is "simple and clear". I'm making note of it 'cause it's really close to simple and clean and I found that amusing LOL

~2 This is where Xigbar is referring to Sora's iconic line

Analysis:

I've also thought that this scene was very vital to framing the theme of sacrifice KH3 covers. Translating from JPN has given me a lot of new insight. I think certain parts really end up making the moment match Xigbar's story in the KH3 Character Files.

The difference that's probably the most notable and which stuck to me is:

"It's true that connected hearts can become (your) power, but remember, on the other hand, it can cause suffering and burden those you're connected with."

In English, this is where the line about "putting too much power in one place might break it" is.

While both lines technically get Xigbar's main message across, the difference lies in the phrasing. JPN has more focus on the fact that everyone suffers when one sacrifices themselves. In a way ENG, kinda has more focus on the fact that the one breaks. While both statements are true, in the context of Xigbar's character (Luxu specifically), it makes a lot of sense that he'd focus on the consequences of self-sacrifice from the perspective of someone who got left behind, who's seen people get destroyed over and over by it.

In his Character Files story, it's mentioned/implied that he kinda wanted Sora to understand where he was coming from.

In terms of Sora's reaction, he reflects on the idea of everyone suffering due to "connecting hearts". I think for KH3 and most likely future games, it's something he's going to have to contend with. With the way the others are working to get him back, Sora will definitely be confronted with the reality that people have suffered when he threw himself away.

Also very interestingly, the camera pans to Donald and Goofy when Xigbar says the quoted part I mentioned earlier about others suffering from that connection (WHICH IS WILD WHEN PUT IN JPN CONTEXT).

And the end line where he lingers on "My destiny" which does fit with his lines in the intro (as Nomura had said that the lines there are Sora's thoughts post-KH3).

Both ENG and JPN do their jobs in setting up this specific theme and conflict for KH3, but in doing this, I feel that JPN's wording and phrasing does more overt work in tying to the other themes and the characters (which tends to be a reccuring thing with the localizations). I think I have more thoughts on it in general but am lacking the coherence to express it at the moment since I'm a little fried from translating LOL

I really appreciate the ask and I had so much fun doing this, I'm definitely gonna store this in my mind reserves for when the next games come out TvT I hope this gives a lot of food for thought!

[mizukox]

𝖭𝗈thing but a weapon

synopsis:

“your nothing more than a machine” Zane’s intrusive thoughts were coming back. He just stood there looking at himself in the mirror. He wanted to get out of this body, it felt weird to him. He felt different. 𝘛𝘰𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵…

or: Zane has a hard time adjusting life in a new body (takes place after ndr s3 p1)

chapter 1: restless

Zane was pacing around the hanger bay, he had nothing else to do. Everyone else was sleeping. He wished he could sleep right now but he wasn’t required any sleep in this…form.

He didn’t know how to feel in this body. The positives were that he felt stronger and he would be able to survive harder hits…but there were too many negatives for him. First of all he was too tall that he would have to crawl around the monastery. The ninja told him it would be best if he stayed in the hanger bay and he agreed to that, he didn’t enjoy having to crawl around the place. Second was that he felt useful in certain situations but they rarely happens.He couldn’t do simple task like make food for everyone, that was pixal’s job now. Then finally, he just didn’t feel like himself anymore. He looked more robotic than before. He always feared of becoming a machine and it was starting to feel real to him. He didn’t feel human at all, more like a 𝘞𝘦𝘢𝘱𝘰𝘯.

Zane then heard a noise. Someone was in here. The nindroid went still and didn’t move an inch. Who would wake up so early now? He scanned the place until he noticed mr forhicky standing there sleep walking. Zane sighed, he decided to wake frohicky up by patting his head gently. Frohicky then opened his eyes slowly until he jumped from fright only to see Zane thankfully there with him

“Oh master Zane, so glad to see you but…wasn’t I in bed just now?” Frohicky said in a slow tone. “You were sleep walking so I just woke you up so you could get back to your room” Zane spoked in a monotoned voice until heading near the monitor and sitting on the floor and curling up like a ball. Frohicky notices and looks confused. “Master are you okay? Why don’t you get some rest?” Frohicky goes closer to him and sits down next to the nindroid. He noticed his eyes were dimmer than usual. Zane’s eyes always had bright blue glow to them and a sort of cozy feeling but now they were dark and gloomy. It was clear something was up. Frohicky knew Zane for over a year now and he knew that the colour of Zane’s eyes reflected on how he felt and right now he seemed to be down. And he had to do something about it.

“Zane, you know you can tell me anything right? As assistant keeper It is my duty to make sure everything and everyone is okay, so please tell me what’s wrong?”

Zane then looked at the assistant keeper and was hesitant about telling him. There was already too much to worry about. With Arin and sora in danger, there was no time for Zane’s worries. There’s 𝘈𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 no time for his worries so why would he make even more people worry?

“I-I’m fine..” the ice ninja stuttered, obviously that wasn’t a good excuse to say so frohicky easily caught on and straightened his face a little into a more serious expression.

“I can tell you’re lying y’know? Do you need me to make you my mother’s swamp tea? That always cheers me up!” Frohicky looked at Zane wanting for a response

“it’s okay but thank you, I just have been different lately.”

bingo. Frohicky finally found out. Sure it was easy but he was talking to Zane who was always an honest person.

“well what’s wrong? Is it your new body?”

Zane nods

“Then if you have a problem with it then why not just tell pixal, she was the one that made it for you”

“But that’s the problem… I don’t want pixal to get upset because if she didn’t make this body, I wouldn’t be here right now..”

That was true, Zane remembered when he was dying there after trying to stop the train. He felt electric sensations going through his body and only pixal could help him. Even though he didn’t like it, he felt more safe and pixal wouldn’t worry as much for him. Zane was a selfless person who would do anything to reach his goal, even if it cost his own life. But pixal cared about his safety, they didn’t want to lose each other ever again so this was the only way.

“Maybe you might need some time getting used to your new body, I’m sure after a while you’ll get used to it!”

Zane heard and thought about it, he was only in this body a at least a week so maybe it just needed more time to get used to.

He then smiled slightly under his helmet, even if you couldn’t see it, it was a warm smile.

frohicky smiles and head back to his room while waving. In response, Zane sat there waving back.

Zane looked around, he was alone again. It was a familiar feeling he was used to now.thought the ice ninja felt calm after talking to frohicky, his anxiety levels were down. The nindroid then sat there closing his eyes pretending to sleep and sat like that for the rest of the night…

[originalwinnercheesecake]

What if the Digidestends had Pokemon Partners Instead

I have seen this done a few times and I decided to take a crack at doing it myself, for fun. A few things to note before I show my picks.

A lot of the times I see people do this they just give the Digidestined the pokemon that looks the most like their digimon. Example Tai gets Charmander because it's an orange fire-breathing dinosaur, just like Augumon. I chose not to that because one it felt less fun, and two I don't ever remember the digimons looks being that important. They famously get near complete/complete makeovers when digivolving. Instead I am mostly picking pokemon based off the crests (virtues) each digidestiend represented and what the I think was the trait that their digimon possessed that caused the digidestend to most need this digimon.

I am limiting my choices to just starter pokemon. Those are the pokemon that usually became partners to trainers in the way that digimon did, have stronger evolution, and it helped narrow my choices down from 1k+ to like 30.

For this list let's pretend that Pokemon can evolve forwards and backwords just like Digimon

I grew up watching the 1990's -200's Digimon Adventures season 1&2, so that is the area of the show i am basing this off. I am aware that the show has done revivals since then with most of these characters, and probably did change them up some, but I am generally unfirmilar with those changes and am sticking to the era I know,

Oblitoury comment that these are my opinons and if you disagree or feel like another starter would work better for a certain character, (or if you could think of 1-5 other pokemon that should also be on their team) then please tell me who or why in the comments. I picked based on starter groups, but that is not a required rule for anyone else who wants to play

The Galar Trio and these three go together gloves and hands

Taichi "Tai" Kamyia's perfect pokemon partner is...Scorbunny

(well would you look at that. I decide against the fire dino just to give him a fire bunny)

Tai represents the crest of courage. He is the brave leader of the season 1. He is the first to battle and really is the first to take protecting the digiworld to heart. He was reckless and would charge into battle with less of a plan than an idea, but he could think fast on his feat and kept with a mission until he completed. I had to give him a pokemon that could match his energy, and would be just as brave and raring to go as he was. Who else would that be but Scorbunny. Plus Scorbunny is always kicking its feet, and in their downtime would make a great soccermate for Tai.

Yamato "Matt" Ishida's perfect pokemon partner is... Sobble

Matt's crest was friendship and he really did go hard in trying to look out for and take care of his friends. His temper would come into play when he struggled with being unable to help someone or feelings that he as failing them. One of his big struggles was that his baby brother T.K. is growing up and won't always need him as much as he once did. Maybe giving Matt a more needy pokemon will satisfy some of his need to fuss over someone, and take some of the tension out of his friendships. Secondly I fully do expect Matt's temper bursts to scare his Sobble enough to make it cry at times. But then Matt would start crying to because of the effect Sobble's tears have on those close by. Matt crying in the anime was shown to not be a bad thing. Tears were a stage he needed to get to before he would stop lashing out at whoever was in front of him (usually Tai), voice what was actually wrong, and let his friends help/reassure him. So go ahead and cry more Matt. Sobble's evolution line goes from timmid and scared, to depressed and questioning everything, to cool and confident. It is a mess. Matt is also a mess, and cycles through all of that as well. Utlametly Matt and Sobble would be the pair that could best empathize with the mess that the other is and help them through it.

Sora Takenouchi's perfect pokemon partner is... Grookey

Sora is a tomboy who is head strong, loves to play sports, and also loves the care and arangement of flowers. Grookey's line is built in a way that it could be a partner to her in both soccer and tennis, and has abilites to help flowers bloom and stay healthy. All this is great for Sora. Sora is also the mom friend of the group, possesses a maturity that the others do not yet, and she gets a lot of confidence in being able to help and take care of her loved ones. Grookey is like a little kid in that it is very hyeractive and loves to get into things. It would need a trainer who is mature, patient, and caring to help it grow. Sora is all of that and I know that Grookey and her would be able to work practically together, be great friends, and have a lot of fun adventures with.

(Side note I originally had her and Matt's partners switched because Grookey loves music and Sora could be Sobble's mom. But then I figured that Sora is a lot better at dealing with over stimulation of Grookey than Matt, and that Matt maybe has a better grasp than Sora that sadness is a feeling itself and not a failure to be happy. I do find it cool though that Sobble and Grookey could work for both of them. They will one day all be a family after all)

The Kalos trio is just right for these three Digidestines

Mimi Tachikawa's perfect pokemon partner is... Fennekin

Okay Fennekin just might be the cutest pokemon in the fire line. It's super feminine, as is Mimi. Mimi would love brushing its fur, dressing it up, and watching movies with it at night with bowls of snacks in front of both of them. I bet you anything she would buy a large purse that she could carry Fennekin around in. But for real along with it being one of the more girly designed pokemon and all the fun possibilites with showcases and dress up, Fenniken has strong fire power and a temper you don't want to agitate. This matches pretty well with Mimi's famous direct straightforwardness that originally made her so endeering for fans. Mimi and Fennekin together are that duo that know they are pretty and fabulos, and also that they are fiercer than they look.

Joe Kido's perfect partner pokemon is...Froakie

So Joe is actually the easiest of them to see why he needed his digimon. Joe is the crest of reliability. He has all the book smarts and and know how. He can make a plan and write you a list of provisions and supplies you will need. But he is to nervous and scared of taking a chance and failing to go on the adventures he has studied and prepared for. At least not alone. He needs a friend with more confidence that can teach him to be brave. He could learn courage from the training the Froakie line. Its also a very watchful and fairly cautious of its surroundings. It and Joe could make compromises on a plan and I could see it going along with Joe on doing things at an angle that minimizes risk. Lastly Joe is a medic and froakie could help him keep his hand or any injuries clean, and since it has fingers Joe could probably teach it to help with Bandaging (I swear I read once that it can do that). So in addition to Helping Joe with his self esteem and going on adventures it might also make a pretty good field assistant to him

Koshiro "Izzy" Izumi's perfect pokemon partner is Chespin

Izzy has the crest of Knowledge, which pairs well with Chespin's natural curiosity. Chespin are also generally optimistic, which could maybe rub off on Izzy since he has a bit of a tendency to be more repressed and hide from emotions since overhearing his parents discuss his adoption. Chespin can also apparently control how tough its quails are. That plus the way its armor grows to cover it body during evolution would be topics of study Izzy would take an interest in, and help him and the pokemon bond

Bonus starters 1&2 Pokemons top two mascots. Who deserves to partner with them

Takeru "T.K." Takaishi's perfect pokemon partner is ... Pikachu.

I wanted to give T.K. Pikachu since he he is a prominent member of 2 groups of digidestends and get's a lot of screen time. I looked for reasons why they would be a good match and found a few. Pikachu is mentioned in season 1 of the anime to make a good pet for a kid. It is also harder to evolve than a traditional stater, which Patamon also was. But what really sold me on it was the semi new trend of Pikachu wearing its trainers hats. It is so cute to imagine a little Pikachu trying to swipe and wear T.K's hat, and then when he outgrows his first one or changes to new hat he could hand the old one to his pikachu and be like "Here you can keep this now".

Hikari "Kari" Kamiya's perfect pokemon companion is... Eevee

Well since I gave Pikachu to T.K. of course I had to at least consider Eevee for Kari. But for real I gave it to her because her crest is "Light". I am not sure exactly what that means... that she is cheerful? Pleasant? Well light and sun kinda go together and Eevee can evolve into Espeon with either high friendship in the day or with a sun stone/shard. so cool Espeon can be there main evolution. Maybe Kari's can also evolve into like a giant flareon when she does that fusion digevolve thing with Yolei. Also with Kari and Gatomon Gatomon always felt like the on with the struggle (Personality) and Kari was there to help her get on the right path. An evil then redeemed Eevee sounds pretty fun.

Alright there is still the season 2 teammates and frankly the Hoenn starters fit them pretty well.

Daisuke Motomiya (Davis Motomiya)'s perfect pokemon partner is...Treecko

So Davis was the adventures two digi leader. While he may have shared Tai's level of courage and his passion for soccer, did not have Tai's confidence and was pretty in over is head as a leader. But he always tried his best and he did hep a lot (See Ken and his transformation). I picked Treecko for him because its line is has a lot of confidence, and are tough and sturdy pokemon in battle. Also like with Scorbunny, it is athletic enough and built in a way that I could easily see it helping Davis practice soccer and push a noodle cart latter on.

Iori Hida (Cody Hida) perfect pokemon partner is ... Mudkip

One pretty big part of Cody's character is that he is afraid of water. It got to where the anime gave Armadillomon an aquatic digevolution in Submarimon specificalyly so that he could help Cody feel safer in the water. .. So of course I had to pick a water pokemon for Cody. The Mudkip line are small yet strong like Cody. They are very loyal. Lastly it is known for being pretty docile and relaxed, so I could see it still helping to soften him and his more rigid views

Miyako Inoue (Yolei Inoue) perfect pokemon partner is... Torchick

Okay so this one is a lot because it looks like her Hawkmon. But it is also a cute pokemon and a really tough line. It would work well with her.

Now to add Ken and the pokemon I have chosen for him. According to the pokedex it is a starter pokemon

Ken Ichijoji's perfect pokemon partner is... Poipole

I wanted one for Ken that, like him, could work as a villain or a hero. Poipole is very intelligent, and an ultrabeast fits with how ambitious Ken is. It has poison typing. It seeks out light. Shot from its head can be powerful and dangerous attacks, or it can be doing art therapy (and Ken really really needs to do some kind of therapy). I coudl see it being a really good and beneficial friend/partner to Ken... Plus it would be really cool to see Poipole and Treecko DNA digivolve together.

[cityandking]

also 1, 3, 5, 18 for kol, dai and nellie!

you spoil me!!! // oc creation questions

1. What was the first element of your OC that you remember considering (name, appearance, backstory, etc.)?

KOL — the first thought I ever had for kol, back before she was even kol, was (I wrote this down) “high-INT character who fundamentally believes if they know enough they can fix Anything.” I wanted to play a character designed to support my desire as a player to know fucking everything because I thought it would make rp and motivation easier. then we sent her off to grow up in a system where curiosity is carefully directed and information is not accessible and lack of information has explicitly and directly ruined her life and fixed nothing, and now she's got an incredibly narrow worldview so I think maybe that backfired.

DAI — its been so long but I think it was his race/class combo? earth genasi sky domain cleric had a certain ring to it—I loved the idea of a character who was so incredibly rooted longing for the sky

NELLIE — nellie came together so slowly but the first inklings of her character was the dependent background/setup from the good society official ruleset. I really liked the idea of a society gal whose status was dependent on the goodwill of someone else. the death of her husband came almost immediately after, and everything else grew from there.

3. How did you choose their name?

KOL — I had just read The Tainted Cup and I smashed together the names of Kol and Dolabra. I think sazi also came from that series? idk something about the phonemes really spoke to me so I put ‘em in a blender and hit go

DAI — behindthename my beloved. I wanted something earth themed for the earth genasi and I just searched the site until I found something I liked

NELLIE — I knew I wanted a nickname and nellie was the one I settled on. I had to work a little harder to pick a full name for her but Helene fit with the greco-roman theme and also I just love the name helene (as indicated by that also being the name of vesper’s eldest sister)

5. Is there any significance behind their hair color?

KOL — not really? I sort of imagined her from the beginning as being kind of washed out and colorless, which included the pale hair.

DAI — originally it faded to white, which was a nod to his draw heritage. the gold tips now are a symbol of his divinity

NELLIE — not really. it’s mousy because she’s mousy

18. What is the most recent thing you’ve discovered about your OC?

KOL — she missed sora but she never properly mourned him, and seeing him alive and not himself is the first time she’s really acknowledged and understood that her best friend is gone

DAI — to be honest I don’t know if it’s the most recent thing, but I think a lot about him moving to selto post-campaign and how he’s really just unable to go home. it’s not just that he doesn’t fit there anymore; it’s that he doesn’t want to be there. it was kind of a shock (to him and also to me) after he spent sooooo long thinking that Going Home was his number one goal (but then, it was never really his goal to go home. it was his goal to get everyone else home. really, if he’d thought about it, he didn’t entirely factor in there)

NELLIE — she’s so mad and wants to pick a fight. any fight. she’s been trying so hard for so long and she’s so tired of it and she absolutely wants to fuck something (or someone) up about it. but her position is too precarious to give in to the impulse, so she’s just. stewing. constantly.

[thespectralkitsune]

Most common signs of AI generated art

This is a guide for people who might not be ENTIRELY certain how to spot AI generated art. Based on me finding a… totally handrawn piece on Pinterest. Totally.

Here’s the original picture. Looks nice, right? Ehhhh, I beg to differ.

Now, this probably isnt everything wrong with it, but lets at least go over the basics.

Firstly, this is clearly MEANT to be Sora’s kingdom hearts 3 outfit. Without looking at a reference, it’s mildly convincing. However. We have the power of the internet on our side.

This shows us many details of the outfit that get fucked up, because an AI won’t understand to draw it correctly.

The shoes and gloves are the major indicators. The shoes dont have a Diamond print on them. And one glove has a yellow band, while the other has this strangely present grey mark instead.

The box itself is surprisingly accurate, I’ll grant that.

Now, onto a more common offender. If something doesnt have a reference beforehand, this one will probably be the first thing to clue you in.

Dear god Sora mutated.

Now, unless we have someone in the audience with two thumbs and 5 1/4ths of a finger looking for representation, I don’t think this is very accurate to anyone.

Next on the chopping block, these chains.

Now, they look great. If we don’t look too long or too hard. The connections are more fucked up than the american average literacy rate, and that middle chain is floating midair.

Ai is usually not very good at anything being held by a character. Including, apparently, bindings.

The purple line shows how I suspect the anatomy is trying to go. That back arm is pretty funky, but this is close enough, I feel.

It looks half-decent, until we look at this.

Poor Sora’s foot is either clipping into the backrooms, or amputated. This is something that an artist of this supposed skill level should catch nigh immediately, but this is ai. It doesnt care.

Remember how I said the box was decent earlier?

No.

The lineart is clipping into itself. Yet again, something that should be caught in the sketch phase.

Also, these nonsensical petals.

(I ran out of images, so go back up.)

The one on the leg is lines in black, the one on the head is lined in dark yellow, and the rest is lined in whatever i feel like at the moment.

This photo ‘looks pretty’, but there’s actually so much wrong with it, i filled up an entire post.

Fuck AI, it uses too much energy and pollutes our planet just to make trash content like this. You want to draw? Go use a pencil and paper. Gonna take too long to learn? Start. Today.

[vintersang]

🎂 only if you wanna,

give me cake / accepting / @heartbinders

What do you mean by that, Neg?!

Of course I wanna make you something, silly. You should know better!!!

I have a bunch of asks to still answer, including graphic-themed asks, but I actually managed to make something tonight. Neg, I swear you have the patience of a saint for putting up with me and my slowness for so long. With how slow I have been due to mental health reasons, I ended up making three differents version for you!!!

𝐃𝐈𝐕𝐄 𝐃𝐎𝐖𝐍 𝐃𝐄𝐄𝐏 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐎 𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐃… ❄️

I told myself I would make something for your other muses, but then I remembered that Sora is king of your multi-muse blog. Soooo, I ended up making a pinned post graphic for you. Look at Sora; he knows people will always choose him!!!

This next version is without the lovely Paopu Fruit.

Did someone eat it? Maaaybe.

Okay, look, I try to make my graphics somewhat symbolic...even if they are for someone else. However, I abruptly got hit by Meow Wow's cuteness out of nowhere. I haven't gotten to play Dream Drop Distance, not yet anyway, but I always liked the designs of Dream Eaters. I really need to make more progress in my Kingdom Hearts gaming.

Does it look like Sora is sitting in his chair with his own pet? Almost. Truth be told, the composition of this last version reminds me of a certain villain from Pokémon and his purring companion. Anyway, Sora and Meow Wow will naturally destroy everyone with...cuteness? The power of friendship?

This is random, but I can see Elsa with a plushie of the Nightmare version of Me Me Bunny. Oh, but we all know she will enjoy Meow Wow. :3

Anyway, I hope that you enjoy this gift.

Thank you for being such a patient friend, Neg!

[valorxdrive]

❝ The dream eaters ask about you. You know... when your heart goes certain places. ❞

There's a moment of silence that falls when he hears that. Nothing like shame permeates, rather, it's an understanding of how even amidst dreams that wandering Heart of his was difficult to truly lock onto. Just the mere thought of those upstanding souls, his many, many friends leaves a twinge of pain through his chest.

A grand part of him hopes that it wasn't worry. Meow Wow, despite being the first companion had an affinity of being lovingly clingy about his well being. Sora knew the little one felt such things after almost losing him.

Did Riku have an idea of where he found himself traversing sometimes? For a moment, Sora's hand falls upon his chest, the immeasurable potential of that Heart continuing it's origin duty of keeping a steady beat. Except this time, there's more than one that finds itself moving, that proof of the true self that's connected in realms beyond.

"Somewhere that I can't let them come and join me. Normally, they'd try to get as much time as they can whenever I'm asleep." His voice is thick with fondness as he declares this. The longer hours of rest now days were devoted to them. Floral souls, animal souls, the prideful views of dragons to zebras that could dance with lightning charged grace across the skies.

None of them forgotten him, just as Sora will never forget them.

"Much as they've stood against me with nightmares I had, I've felt it, just how much more protective they've become. Their incredible senses can probably tell that my Heart.. It likes to leave no place uncharted." Sora hadn't intended to sound so enigmatic. It's merely that the nebulous realm he falls into, one that finds itself hosting holy spires, a grand sea and boundless sky simply felt beyond words.

He didn't have a singular clue on what to firmly call it. Those eyes would lock with the Guardian, and despite the warmth that emits from him, it's clear his gaze was briefly glancing at that certain precipice through Riku. Even now, the man's Heart station found itself almost like it was within reach.

"Remember what you told me once? How if I wanted to truly reach someone, to turn that space between us into nothing, I'd have to merely dig deep into my heart and reach?"

"Riku, that place exists."

@tenebrave

[elemental-daddy-neos]

May as well write this down somewhere... Inspiration behind my latest au came from a dream like I mentioned, but this one was interesting because it's the first time I've had one that was in character but also not? Like, I've had a few characters make appearances in my dreams before, but I was always Me in them. This time, I was the character, and I could also see the character from a 3rd person pov at certain points.

The character in question was (big surprise) Sora, and in the dream we were getting up from some exam table, very disoriented from some kind of procedure. There was a doctor in the room with us, and I can't remember what they were saying, but I know we were confused. We were trying to walk towards them, and in an attempt to balance ourselves, we put a hand out and touched this nearby machine, and that's when everything got bad.

The second our hand made contact with it, 3/4 of our vision just immediately glitched out, and everything hurt so badly. We could barely see anything real, and the rest of what we could see was just a mess of static and colorful pixels. We were screaming louder than a human should be able to scream, and it was tearing up our throat, but the pain in our eyes and the rest of our body was so great that we barely even felt it.

The dream ended when someone managed to knock us back out, and the screaming finally stopped.

[oveliagirlhaditright]

The Precursor to the Journey - A Kairi Day 2024 Fic

Summary: As Kairi meets two people from another world a few times while she's growing up--and also just grows up in general, and learns more about herself: maybe partly through some of these meetings, but also of course because of her friends Sora and Riku--it puts in place the puzzle pieces that are needed for the trio's eventual journey to start. Written for Kairi Day 2024. Oneshot. Written to both explore what Sora, Riku, and Kairi might have been like together as they grew, but also to somewhat give Kairi her own adventure pre-KH1, that wouldn't mess with canon.

The Precursor to the Journey

Kairi’s PoV

"Why are you here?" Kairi asked a mysterious blonde woman before her, pretty certain that she'd never seen her before, but also not entirely sure of that, either. Kairi was new to the Island, after all.

The woman smiled sweetly for Kairi’s question, it seemed to the five-year-old, but it took her a moment to answer the question. "I'm trying to decide if my decision to abdicate this role I’ve been given is a good one. Tell me, little one: If you had great power, would you give it to someone else?"

Kairi stared at the woman of medium height, definitely confused by the turn of events, as the wind blew and her shoulder-length hair brushed against her shoulders. She really had no idea what the lady was talking about. She was only five. But Kairi didn’t want to admit that she was lost, for she didn’t want to seem dumb. She was about to try and guess at the answer, when the girl seemed to understand that Kairi hadn’t gotten what she was trying to say and attempted it again with, “Would you give something special to someone else?”

“Hmm… Maybe a girl,” Kairi supposed. “I trust them more than mean boys, who have cooties.”

The curly-haired blonde laughed at that, as she stepped closer to Kairi in the sand and out of the shore of the Play Island. And Kairi knew she should have afraid for this—as one shouldn’t talk to strangers—but there was something about this woman that set her at ease.

“That sounds too much like me for comfort,” the woman said, almost seeming lost in her own memories. “And how rude of me to not introduce myself until now! I’m Delamer! But young one… while giving power to girls is fine—and I’d be okay with you ever wanting to do that, if it would somehow help you—is there not even one boy you’d think about sharing with?”

Kairi thought about it for a moment… and at first, she imagined that the answer was “no.” But then she remembered that a boy in her class, Sora—who she hadn’t liked at first, for he had knocked her into the water when their teacher had been teaching them how to fish (1)—had recently jumped into the ocean for her, to retrieve one of the fake nails she had dropped in there, when she had explained that it meant a lot to her since it was from her grandma.

Kairi explained the story to Delamer, and Delamer almost seemed to look… scared to Kairi for a moment. Or was it some other adult emotion Kairi couldn’t understand?

Finally, Delamer said, “Sora seems to remind me of someone that I know. Thank you, Kairi. You really helped me today. I think I will trust and give up this power. In the future… please stay safe and take care of yourself.”

“I’ll try t-” Kairi started, but Delamer was already gone. But what was there in her place, was a giant nailfile.

…

"I wanna make cookie dough," Kairi, at seven, told her adoptive mom, as she put up her hair that now reached just below her shoulders, so she could hopefully help with the task.

As Kairi loved cookie dough more than anything, she thought it would be a good treat for Sora.

But Kairi's mom frowned at her, as the two of them stood in their kitchen, and told Kairi, "You can't really do that, honey. I shouldn't give you the small bits of it that I do. And if you were to give it to Sora, it might give him salmonella."

Now it was Kairi's turn to frown. This had been her best idea, and now she had no clue what else to give her friend. It was hard not to cry at this turn of events, but Kairi fought against it—wanting to press on.

"What if we make cookies, with a little cookie dough on top?" Kairi begged.

And maybe there was something in her eyes or her tone of voice when Kairi had asked, because her mother suddenly relented with a sigh. "I guess there's less a chance for it to be harmful, if we just give Sora a tiny bit that way, than the tin you had been planning. Very well, Kairi."

Kairi beamed wider than she ever had in her life, and jumped up on a chair so she could help her mom with the baking.

And when she presented the cookies to Sora, she thought his own smile looked particularly radiant.

Dangus' PoV

Dangus—Delamer's love, who she had given her power to: though there was much more to the story than that—watched the girl, Kairi (nine now, he believed), as she talked to her friend Riku?

It sounded like Kairi was asking Riku for gift ideas, as she very much wanted to buy him something. But Riku was teasing her by asking if she really wanted to include him in an anniversary that was about her and Sora. Kairi countered by saying if he didn't want the keyboard she was very seriously thinking about getting him, just say so.

The whole thing was cute... And Dangus could understand why Delamer had chosen to speak to Kairi—and wanted to protect her—but part of him wished she hadn’t. He didn't want this power again. …It was too much for him.

Dangus was pulled out of his melancholy thoughts, when he noticed that Kairi was saying goodbye to Sora and Riku outside of their school now, and getting ready to head home. And that’s when it happened:

Water and lightning appeared out of nowhere, mixing together, until it formed the shape of someone Dangus knew all too well, heading straight for the girl!

Dangus began running towards Kairi, but he knew he wouldn't get there in time! So he used his magic to summon to Kairi the gift Delamer had given her years ago and threw it to her!

Just as the... the monster was closing in on Kairi, she first tied her hair that was at her waist into a bun—so the monster couldn’t use it against her—but then she woke up even further, and stabbed at the monster with the nailfile. And while said nailfile was the slightest bit wobbly—Delamer hadn't wanted to give a real weapon to a child, Dangus knew—it was enough to knock him off his feet. And then Dangus was there, and he defeated him with just a look (such was this cursed power he had)... and he hated to do it.

The moment she seemed to gather herself, Kairi looked at him like she'd seen a ghost. "You! You're like that girl... so it wasn't a dream."

"You thought it was a dream, even after Delamer magicked you this ridiculous nailfile?" Dangus laughed, taking Kairi's hand and helping her to her feet from where she’d fallen after having landing her blow on the monster.

"I ended up losing it, after my mom and I moved houses... thank you for bringing it back to me," Kairi said very sincerely. It somewhat baffled Dangus, because why would she care so much about an object that, just a second ago, she thought had been a dream. But there was definitely something about this girl. She seemed so… pure.

"You're more than welcome," Dangus said, suddenly more than charmed by Kairi, even though he should have been staying away from her for quite a few reasons.

"Are you from one of the other islands, or-"

And there was one of the reasons Dangus very much needed to leave. He didn't want to admit he was from another world, after all. But it was also part of the reason he needed to protect her. The Eye he had—that allowed him to see too much, if he allowed it (like someone else in her future with a certain eye)—spoke of an interesting future for this girl.

"...You could argue that I'm from an island. But Kairi, beware of certain people from your island and try to be safe." To try and prove his point, he walked the young girl home.

And once she was inside, Dangus put a strand of green hair behind his ear—getting it out of his brown eyes—and he quietly mourned that this girl would have such a hard fate. Why did so many girls that he knew have to suffer so much?

...

Kairi's PoV

Though Kairi appreciated what Dangus had tried to do for her (Delamer too, even though she barely remembered her now, since that encounter had happened so many years ago) she mostly put it out of her mind by twelve. After all, even if Dangus was right, she wasn't going to ruin her life by worrying about something that might not never come.

She was happy in life: she'd recently become a cheerleader at school; and she loved how it made her more active than she had been before, even if she'd still probably lose a contest with the ever-energetic Sora, Riku, Selphie, Tidus, and Wakka.

Kairi was actually on the way to some extra cheerleading practice at the school's gym now, and was getting ready to jump in her canoe in the Play Island to row there, when she saw Delamer and Dangus again!

At first, Kairi thought the sun was playing tricks on her (or maybe her hair [that was so long now, it reached her bottom] had gotten into her eyes and was obscuring her vision), and she rubbed her eyes to make the illusion go away. But no, it was really them: much like Delamer had been standing on the shore here the first time they met.

There was a part of Kairi that was a bit more cautious upon seeing them now, in knowing how badly her having met the strangers could have gone before… But she also couldn't deny they'd been good to her every time she'd seen them; and that really, she was happy to see them.

"Hey, you two! You look well! What brings you here?" Kairi asked, heading over to them with a wide smile on her face, feeling ever curious.

As she got closer to them, she noted that they were holding hands, but not overly affectionate like some older couples she'd seen here on the islands. She stored that information away for later.

"I'm surprised you're not with your friends. You were with that Sora and Riku when I met you. And when I talked to Delamer about it, she said you were just about to befriend Sora when you two met." was Dangus' rejoinder.

Kairi laughed. "The two of them are very dear to me, but we’re not literally joined at the hip. They might surprise me and support me at cheerleading practice today. But if not, we have plans to play after school tomorrow. So, what brings you two-"

"Kairi, there's a chance this will be the last time we'll see you," Delamer interrupted, seemingly giving up all pretenses. And when Sora would one day tell her how Leon had told him they "may never meet again, but they’d never forget each other," she would think of this moment that she had with these two. "Dangus and I have decided, for the good of the people, that it's best that no one reign like this. …But you must know a storm is coming."

"I guess it's a good thing I'm so good at swimming," Kairi said, getting worried now.

"No matter what happens, believe in yourself and be there for your friends," Dangus told her, with something in his eyes. And with him suddenly dropping his humor and getting pretty dire, too, he must have also decided that she needed to know whatever this was, and that they needed to wrap this up.

Kairi wasn't sure she could easily believe in herself, really (it seemed her friends were so much more talented than her), but she didn't want to let these two down down their last time here, so she said words she'd soon know well, "I will. Thanks for everything." And she took both of her friend’s hands and squeezed them, as they smiled warmly at her. Then, they were gone—soon leaving Kairi to wonder if she'd had any kind of journey at all.

But, oddly, it also left her with a thought that maybe she should cut her hair… if anything was really coming, she didn’t want her long hair used against her. Right?

And short hair was more mature, and she definitely thought she was becoming more that.

It was a thought, at least.

Mulling over a number of thoughts in her head—but deciding to file them later—Kairi reminded herself to take things one step at a time, and headed for her practice.

…

Sora’s PoV

“Kairi’s cut her hair,” Sora randomly brought up after he and Riku were done sparring for the day and were sitting on the paopu tree, looking out at the sunset. The thirteen-year-old Sora kicked his feet to and fro as he chewed on a grape popsicle and he waited almost with bated breath for Riku’s reaction to this.

Though, then again, if Sora really thought about it… he imagined that Kairi changing her hair wasn’t really that noteworthy. His and Riku’s best friend seemed to alter her tresses every year. Sometimes she even changed her look more than once a year, as she loved different hairstyles. But what really stood out to Sora, was that Kairi looked very tomboyish this time, and seemed to be acting it, too. She had even said-

“And she said that she’s down for any adventure we want to do. Which is cool, but what brought it up?” Riku asked from almost beneath Sora’s feet—from where he stood standing leaning against the tree trunk—with a raised eyebrow.

“Hey, you already knew what I was going to tell you?! Why didn’t you tell me that, before I started acting like this was some breaking news?!” Sora pouted. Crossing his arms over his chest, upon somewhat scooching away from his best friend.

Idly, and somewhat jealously, he wondered if Riku had seen Kairi before he had. It was definitely a possibility, since the two’s houses were closer to each other’s. Sora tried to tell himself it didn’t matter. But ever since he’d gotten sick and the three of them hadn’t been able to go to his and Kairi’s eighth grade dance together like they’d planned to, and Riku and Kairi had just gone instead, Sora had found himself resenting some of the looks Riku and Kairi had been giving each other and the conversations they had had.

But he knew that now was not the time for that.

“But back to your question, Riku, if Kairi’s suddenly decided she wants to be more active, who are we to stop her?” Sora queried. He actually thought it was really cool. And he loved the idea that it might allow them to spend even more time with Kairi now.

“I suppose…” Riku allowed, fishing out a popsicle for himself from the cooler nearby and taking a bite of the lime treat before he continued his conversation with Sora. “But I just think there’s a little more to it, that’s all.”

As much as Sora somewhat hated to admit it—because he didn’t want Riku insinuating that Kairi would change her whole personality on a dime or anything like that—he couldn’t help feeling that his friend was right. Kairi had been somewhat… girlier in years past. But all of a sudden, it had seemed like she had wanted to prove she could rough and tumble with the best of them. And maybe this was just another evolution of that. But even if it was, Sora really didn’t see what the big deal was. He was enjoying seeing this new side of Kairi. And didn’t everyone somewhat change as they grew up?

“Her new haircut reminds me of how she looked when she showed up here when she was five…” Sora found himself muttering, barely even realizing he was speaking as he was pulled back into the memory.

It had been a somewhat dark night, but not entirely so. The falling stars and bright, full moon had turned what otherwise might have been blackness into a vast navy blue. Sora had watched it all from his bedroom window, transfixed. And just as what had looked like a rocket falling from the sky to his young eyes had headed for the islands. Then, he hadn’t been able to remain still any longer and had snuck outside to try and find where it had landed… only to find Kairi. Kairi and Riku both, for it had seemed Riku had had the same idea.

“What?” Riku asked, seemingly confused, pulling Sora out of his reverie.

“The night of the meteor shower when we met Kairi, remember?” Sora asked, finishing up his popsicle that had begun to melt onto his hands at this point. He licked what he could off his fingertips, and then rubbed what remained on his bare legs.

“Oh, right!” Riku exclaimed. A far-away look in his own eyes now as he reminisced. “It was so dark that night, it’s hard for me to recall what Kairi’s hair looked like in it. But I guess it was kind of similar to how it is now. Huh.”

Riku got a far-away look in his eyes again after he said that. And Sora was about to ask what was so great to daydream about that he couldn’t even pay attention to him, when the subject of their conversation made an appearance.

“Oh, popsicles. Yum! Did you save any for me?” Kairi asked, giving each of them a thousand-watt smile, before taking her own trademarked seat on the paopu tree. And if Sora swooned a little bit, and tried to hide it, he couldn’t exactly be blamed. He’d never seen a girl with such cute short hair, okay?

“Kairi, hi!” Sore exclaimed.

“Oh, hi, Kairi,” Riku started. Then, realizing what she’d said, he continued with, “Of course we did. There should be a few coconut popsicles in there just for you.”

Kairi began fishing in the cooler with smiling eyes. And it seemed to Sora, something as simple as coconut popsicles was like she’d won the lottery for Kairi.

The three of them then had a moment of comfortable silence together after Kairi got her popsicle (and maybe Sora and Riku got even more), and it felt like heaven to Sora. This was what it was all about.

“So did you guys hear the scandal that’s going on at school?” Kairi eventually said, as Sora and Riku looked at her with curious eyes. “Mr. Namana and the parents are arguing about what one divided by zero is. The parents think it’s one, while he maintains it’s zero… But, guys? I swore we learned that anything divided by zero is undefined, right? What’s even happening? We’re all going to have Mr. Namana next year and I’m scared for our education.”

Sora burst out laughing, wondering how Kairi always had the best stories.

But Riku put it the best, Sora thought, when he said, “Wow. Sounds like it’s going to be quite the adventure next year.”

“Sounds about right…” Sora voiced. But deep down, it was the kind of adventure he wanted with his friends. Always.

And he knew that as long as they were together, things would work out okay.

Author's Note: (1) It’s probably obvious, but Sora pushed her into the water by accident, though Kairi doesn’t realize that at first.

Delamer and Dangus are characters from a novel of mine. I don’t know if that novel will ever see the light of day (even if I love it), but at least they’re living here somewhat, I guess. Hopefully you guys can enjoy my babies somewhat (even with your limited knowledge of them, because I don’t want to spoil too much in case I do ever do anything with said book).

I’ve had this idea for a long time… Though I’ll admit that originally for Kairi Day, I actually wanted to make an amv for her, but I couldn’t download the song for it. So then I kind of rushed back to this fic—that I’ve had bits and pieces done of for years—and finished it as best as I could for my girl. But there was just no way I could let Kairi Day pass me by without doing something for her, so here is my contribution for her. Happy Kairi Day!

Edit: And if Kairi seems slightly closer to Sora at first in this fic, it’s because he’s in her grade (and Riku’s not, as he’s a year older) so she spends a bit more time with him that way, of course. But then when she starts hanging out with Sora after they become friends, Riku’s also there, and she gets to know him, and then they also become best friends.

[ren-wyvern]

While my laptop's still dead and I can't work on videos or do anything, I still really wanna do stuff with my KH x TWST crossover story. Like... It has become the main thing I think about these days. And now its not just Kazuya I wanna develop, but there's four other keyblade wielding OCs I'm trying to work on who barely interact with Twisted Wonderland at all- one of which being Kazuya's twin brother Haru. Despite them being twins, I neglected him pretty badly since his conception, and now I'm trying to figure out where his head is at. Cuz like... I know from Kazuya's perspective, by the time he wound up in Twisted Wonderland, he came to find Haru's presence stifling! But on Haru's side of things, it looks like Kazuya's been struggling the past couple years. He has trouble making friends, he hardly makes much effort to actually go on missions unless Haru is dragging him along... And Kazuya wasn't always like this either, so Haru is trying to figure out why his brother's suddenly changed, and he's trying to help him. But who is Haru outside his relationship with Kazuya? How does he cope when his twin mysteriously goes missing? That's the stuff I need to figure out!

The other OCs in my more peripheral focus are a pair of fanchildren for Terra and Aqua, Loki and Hathor. (Hathor's adopted, but I wanted his and Loki's names to be based in mythology like the Dark Road names were- Hathor may be an Egyptian goddess, but the name does contain Thor...). They're meant to be Haru's closest friends besides his brother. Loki is a bit younger than Hathor, but when she was little and her parents first brought him home, she declared herself the big sister cuz she was there first. These days she knows that's not technically how it works... but she's keeping up the joke. She's got a mischievous streak, but is also a brilliant actress who usually avoids being caught. People tend to underestimate her, expecting her to rely more on magic and acrobatics like Aqua, but truthfully she can hit like a truck.

Hathor is a bit more shy and softspoken, and in battle relies more on status-based magic. He tends to go unnoticed a lot of the time, but he wants to try and stand out more, and be someone people will remember. He thinks he can relate a lot with Kazuya, and has developed a crush on him over time. Unfortunately, he doesn't actually know Kazuya all that well, and his crush is based deeply in his own assumptions. And if a certain dark entity with the ability to disguise itself decides to prey on Hathor's insecurities and use him to cause a bit of havoc... Well, hopefully he'd be able to tell the real Kazuya from an imposter.

And then there's Avric... *sigh* I originally came up with him as a throwaway character who hurt Kazuya at some point and then he was meant to just kinda disappear... but somehow he became Kazuya's shitty ex, and a guy who's kind of the bad side of Light. He's a keyblade wielder too, but at some point he stumbled upon a really old book from the Dark Road era that had some of the old teachungs that darkness in people's hearts was an infection and unnatural- and despite the current generation of Masters trying to explain that the information in that book is outdated and incorrect, he and a handful of other new wielders have become a bit overzealous and have convinced themselves that this outdated info must be the truth, and darkness really is still the enemy. And now he's dragging Kazuya's name through the mud, as well as Sora's and Riku's by extension since he conveniently vanished right when Darkness is threatening the worlds again- and of course his family would try to cover up his involvement, right? (He's not meant to become a major villain... but definitely an antagonistic force cuz god why the hell did he force his way into becoming this big of a character?!)

[stillinlovefiles]

Chapter 3

You didn’t remember the opening being this slow.

The music is quieter then you remember-muffled, like it was playing from another room.

Still, the nostalgia made you smile. The characters faded in one by one, and for a moment, it almost felt like old times.

You clicked “Load save” hoping your old file had survived.

It hadn’t.

You sighed and hit “New Game.”

The intro played, introducing the four love interest.

First was Asher. He had spiked red hair and a temper to match. Hot-headed, reckless, always getting into fights over the dumbest things-gum, rumors, someone looking at him wrong. He wasn’t very smart, but his route had a certain chaotic charm.

Then came Sora. Blue-dyed hair (naturally black, according to the wiki), calm and logical. He was the peacemaker, always trying to keep Asher out of trouble. You remembered liking his route okay, but he never really stood out to you. Something about him felt too safe. Too clean.

Next was Nox. The quiet one. An outcast with a tragic backstory-abusive home, emotional walls. At first, he pushed everyone away. But once you earned his trust, he opened up, and it turned out he was all softness and depth. His route had made you cry. He was your second favorite.

And finally, Ren. Light blond hair, soft-spoken, a little awkward. He gave off main character energy, though the game never confirmed it. His eyes always looked like they had something to say, but he rarely spoke up first. Maybe that’s why you liked him. He felt real.

After the intro, the route selection screen appeared. Each character stood in their signature pose, colors glowing faintly behind them.

But Ren looked… wrong.

The lighting was dimmer on his sprite. Like someone turned the brightness down. His gentle smiled was still there, but it felt stiff-like it was being held in place.

You chose him anyway. Of course you did.

His route began like it always had-a quiet morning on the first day of school. Sunlight streaming through the windows, gentle music playing in the background. It felt comforting. Familiar.

Then he spoke.

There was no voice acting. Just silence.

The text box filled with his line:

“Hello, I’m Ren-and you are?”

This was usually where the name input box appeared.

It didn’t.

Instead, the next line auto-filled:

“Nice to meet you, [REDACTED].”

You frowned.

The dialogue after that seemed normal, but… off. Lines were slightly different than what you remembered. Like someone had rewritten them, trying to mimic the original script.

Then the music stopped.

No fade. No transition. Just silence.

The dialogue box was still there, but now every word felt too loud. Like the text itself was echoing.

“Do you still remember me?”

You blinked. That wasn’t a line you remembered.

The box flashed-then changed:

“Do you… like spending time with me?”

You clicked “Yes”

Ren’s face stayed still for a beat too long.

Then his eyes widened-not in joy, but fear. Pure, sharp, gut-deep fear. Like answering yes had doomed him.

Then he vanished.

The background shifted to an empty school corridor-gray walls, no windows.

No music. No sound.

You say back, unease twisting in your chest. Was the game broken? You hovered your hand over the power button.

Before you could press it, a text box appeared.

No name. No sprite. Just white words on a black background.

“Don’t worry if you don’t remember me. Because you’ll see me soon. And you’ll remember everything.”

Below it, a single option:

[OK]

You didn’t click it.

The cursor wouldn’t move.

The box pulsed anyway.

And then, it clicked itself.

[yoroshiu]

Translating a Scene From Kingdom Hearts  (Japanese to English) (Part 1)

NOTE: I’ve been studying Japanese for a couple of years but I’m far from fluent. I wanted to practice reading/writing/comprehension by doing this. I can’t guarantee that these are accurate translations so I’m more than happy to hear any corrections/advice from people who know better. This is just for fun and self-study, but also because I love seeing differences between localizations. I also have barely any experience when it comes to posting on Tumblr so I apologize if this formatting just looks weird. I’m thinking about doing this for more scenes and I have specific ones in mind but I’m down to try any other ones.

Scene: Sora and Yozora (KH3 Limit Cut) (Before the fight)

Sora: This place... [lit: Here] 

S: (I) didn't disappear at least...

S: Heyyyyyy! Is no one there!?! Heyyyyyy!

Yozora: Hey! Hey!

S: Someone's there.

Y: Where (are you)?

S: (Over) here!

Y: I'm here.

S: Huh? You’re —?

Y: You know me?

S: Yeah, you’re Yozora right/aren’t you?

Y: Why/How do you know me? Who are you?

S: I’m Sora! Ah, right, there’s something I need to ask you.

Y: Sora...You’re Sora?

S: Eh? You know of me?

Y: Yeah, I’ve heard of you.

S:  If you're here, this can't be the real world? But I've hear about you from that girl...then, you really exist in reality?

Y:  What are you saying? Surely, this isn't the real world and I'm real. This isn't how I originally was [looked]. Why/How did you recognize me as Yozora?

S: Eh?

Y: Why are you calling yourself Sora?

S: Why...It's my name...

Y: If you're really Sora, and it was fate that I met you here...as I thought, you're like that*... (this is where he pulls out his gun crossbow)

S: Eeh??

(setting turns to Quadratum)

S: Eh? Eeeeh?!?

Y:  (I) got lost in this mysterious place, and went through some trials. And, I was told to save* Sora.

S: Huh?!? (You're) pointing that at me for such a thing!

Y: Let's end this

~ ~ ~

Additional Notes:

1* In JPN the phrase is:「やっぱり、おまえ がそうなんだな」I remember overthinking this quite a bit. In ENG, Yozora says “My path is clear” but for JPN, this sort of phrase seems to be confirming how he had thought Sora would be as a person, or more what someone has told him about Sora. It’s not a big deal in the grander scale of things, it doesn’t reveal anything big, but I thought it was interesting. At least, from my understanding of it...

2* The word Yozora uses for ‘save’ here is 救え (sukue) which is the ‘salvation’ kind of save rather than 助けて (tasukete) which I’d say is more of a ‘help’ kind of save. I feel most people who’ve watched anime or seen a good amount of Japanese media probably have run into tasukete more, though correct me if I’m wrong!

- I don’t think there’s any notable differences (content-wise) between JPN and ENG here, mostly wording differences. 

- In ENG, Yozora says "Are you done?" in place to JPN's "What are you talking about/What are you saying?" which is amusing to me due to the different vibes.

- I wonder if some of the pacing issues people tend to have with ENG, have to do with the fact that English doesn’t exactly have the same kinds of sounds for certain things like JPN does. When I listen to JPN, dialogue feels faster while for ENG, I’ve heard/read complaints about conversations feeling slow or drawn out. In the case of this conversation, when Sora says��“Ah, right”, in JPN he says 「そうそう」(sou sou). This also doesn’t contribute much to a grander scale of things but I find this idea fun to explore.

Basically, I think about this stuff too much. If you’ve read this far, thank you for reading this kinda unnecessary post! 

[gildedmuse]

[And with that single line, Kuina had more characterization than every other woman in her extended family combine.]

2. Let Me Guess, It Was Very Tragic & Character Defining

(aka Every-Mom Story)

Now, I know a lot of people are going to say, "To be fair, Mina/Muse, it makes SENSE that Zoro's parents were dead! Otherwise they would have to let their son walk around challenging dojos whenever he wanted, and no sane person let a child with Zoro's sense of direction just go town to town on his own like that! Plus, if you actually think about Zoro's whole -"

First off, love the engagement Fictional Tumblr Surfer. I also adore discussing media and hearing different perspectives but before you go any further: trust me, I have thought about Zoro. I have had all the thoughts about Zoro.

Also, this idea that Zoro's parents HAD to be dead seems to be based entirely on, "or else he wouldn't be wandering the countryside looking for dojos". The problem with that line of logic is, well, it doesn't make sense. Look what Luffy was getting up to, he'd got family. Hell, Franky had both his parents and you know what they did? Tossed him into the sea. Parents being alive is not a guarantee of anything. It says she died of an illness but for all we know, she passed away when Zoro was 15. All those Kuina scenes? His mom was just kicking back at the house, doing her own thing. "Oh, yeah, no worries, go hang in out with your little sword clubs. Just remember: what's the one rule when we go out?"

*sigh* "I'm allowed to take shortcuts or whatever pass I please as long as it doesn't involve getting on a boat." *Grumble* "I'm six years old, I know my shortcut through the mountains already! Geeze mom!"

"Yeah, well you just do what your old lady says, since she does feed you and everything. Take all the mountain shortcuts you want, kiddo. No boats."

"No boats."

"See ya in a few weeks honey. REMEMBER, BEATING BAD GUYS UP FOR FOOD DOESN'T COUNT."

"I know! You always say that! I know how bounties work!"

"Hey, I'm just trying to make sure you're staying healthy, Kiddo. And if they're criminals, the Marines can't arrest you for beating them up. Call the home den den mushi if you need anything. Love you!"

"Bye!"

(I understand exactly where Oda was going with giving his mom three traits: she was raised by criminals/thieves/bad guys, married a samurai and died from illness. I see the storyline being set. But, listen, I dare anyone to step and tell me there is absolutely no part of them - not even the smallest silver - that wouldn't rejoice at seeing THIS Zoro's relationship with his still living mom, rather than the inevitable build up to Corazon/Bellamere/Sora/Otohime/Toki & Oden/Yusie Part Du....Di-Diez)

Which brings me around to my point: why kill Zoro's mom!? What is the point other than ensuring you don't have to do the work of having to come up with a whole other character? How does the story benefit from murdering everyone's parents!? Is this a theme of the work or just a personal kink!?

Sorry, let me pull that back.

The thing about Zoro's parents is: no one cares. Don't get me, fans care very much about Zoro. Their curios what was going on, but we've been with this character for years at this point, he's never once brought them up. There aren't even shades of it.

Viewed through a certain lens, the fact they're both dead is somehow WORSE. Because you realize the number of situations the Strawhats have come into where a key component is Illness Related, Evil Pirates Murdering Folks, Parents Suffering/Dying For Their Children, and People Who Lost Parents Looking For Revenge and sometimes nearly all of those things at once! And yet Zoro has never once been emotional triggered by these situations the way Nami is with children in trouble or Sanji is with mistreated women or Chopper is when he is unable to help someone....

Or Zoro is. With Tashigi.

No one dare try and tell, "Zoro isn't the kind to react to someone just because their situation reminds him of something tragic in his own past" because that is LITERALLY his entire DEAL with Tashigi. She has a shallow, surface appearance that is similar to his best friend who died and so even just seeing her brings that up despite Tashigi being entirely unrelated and also, really only Zoro's approximation of what Kuina might have looked like a decade in the future.

So the idea that Zoro lost both his parents in tragic situations which left him homeless and with no one to take him in and his sole emotional response was apparently shrugging off and going to get his walking shoes, he got some dojos to find doesn't speak particularly well for those family dynamics.

And the thing is, this doesn't inform Zoro's character, it doesn't build or explain anything, it's just what Oda appears to do when he needs characters to have a connection to or a history with something. Fine a parental figure. Have them murdered. And with Zoro he could have done something new and different, because Zoro doesn't NEED this history in order to help establish his motivations or explain his thinking, he doesn't need this to be emotionally invested, it doesn't raise any stakes or change his path. Zoro doesn't need any of that; boy figured that all out himself before he was ten, and the parts he missed, Luffy brought with him! Anything that could be added through knowing more of Zoro's history, all it does is add another layer to something he'd already gone and established himself.

With that in mind, why NOT mix it up? Since we've been watching the crew for years and he hasn't spoken a single about his family, you could as easily pull an Ace situation. This is my family, that I have never mentioned before.

I mean have fun with it. Go wild! "Where was she? Why wasn't she looking after her kid? Who would let a child just go off for weeks like that."

"To be fair, Zoro had beaten all the local kids and was really bored. And she did pack him a few lunches. Hey, he's a kid, if he wants to go running off to find another dojo, let him! He's having fun, what's the big deal?" And obviously when he told her his plan to leave the island to hunt down bounties and eventually face off against a warlord, well he was 15, he was an adult and if that's what he wanted to do.

You could have just made her Silvers Rayleigh but a mom. It would have been amazing.

But, no... No, of COURSE she was ill.

And I'll bet she was an absolutely lovely woman too, so sweet, so caring, someone who worked hard doing housework for others in order to feed her family after her husband was tragically killed fending off pirates from raiding the island. Oh, but lately work has been harder to get because her sickness leaves her just so small and frail. I'll bet she often tried to hide just how bad it was by praising little Zoro whenever he carried the groceries or brought in the water or did some physical chore. Like, "look how strong you are, carrying that bag all by yourself. Are you sure you don't want me to help? Zozozo, I think you're just using it as an excuse to train and show off how big you're growing!" Bet he feels so proud of himself, and aren't they just the cutest little household?

I feel like I know her already. I get the sense Ter would be the kind of mother who would tease that it wasn't right how HE was always protecting HER when SHE was supposed to be the one looking out for HIM. Her fearless little tiger! (I mean, sure, she's physically killing herself working keeping food on his plate and a roof over his head, but there was that on time when she was so sick during that big storm that Zoro did all the chores and she hadn't even asked! And that other night walking back from the market when a wolf had come out at woods and starting to growl at them and she'd been terrified they would have to drop the grocery and run when she'd worked so, so hard to get money to buy enough food for the next few days but Zoro wouldn't let it get their food and eventually the thing ran off like a scared little puppy. Such a brave boy!)

Which is good because he'll need, I'm 90% sure she said, while on her death bed. She'd probably surprised to a single down tear running down his little cheeks because she doesn't remember Zoro crying, not even as a baby, and she'd hate that she would be the reason that her strong boy cried for the first time, and she'd end up telling him all about how she used to cry all the time when he was baby. She was all alone and she knew she didn't have long left and he looked so helpless in arm. She couldn't stop worrying about what could happen to him when she was no longer there to feed and protect and help him.

And Zoro would be upset he has made his mom cry so much and she'd just laugh - Zozozo - it's been years since she cried like that. She doesn't have to anymore, seeing what a strong and brave person Zoro has become over the years, she no longer worries. He is so fearless and determined and she knows he will be okay, she believes in him. And with that last breath she'll make him give her his word, promise her he'd always remember how strong he was, that he would never stop getting strong. That way, no matter what, she can rest knowing he will always.

Is that the goal? A cheap emotional underpunch that probably would make cry but also... kind of undermines a lot of Zoro's character. And also raises a lot of questions about some of the stories internal paradox but also it's just so conveniently, predictably heartbreaking that probably that no one will notice.

We've been here, we've done this!

It's just such a boring answer. It's a safety answer. I can promise you, this was not part of the plan when he first tied Zoro to a pole in a marine courtyard. This is very much after the fact, and that's FINE. There are very, very, VERY few writers creating and sort of weekly/monthly/continuous series media that go in there with a full plan, entirely story laid out in detail and every single one followed through to the letter. That is actually a scientifically accurate way to diagnose someone who has signed a contract with a demon lord. The ability to continue to build your story while maintaining a mostly accurate canon while also half making it up on the fly because, oh, wow you hadn't expected that thing to go that way. Wait, what even was your original plan? I mean it's an amazing skill¹ to be able to put out serialized content keeping the story on track, the lore mostly without contradiction, and most importantly, still having a clear way forward even though it almost definitely not the path you cleared originally. It's not easy to do and I applaud and recognize when they have that skill, I have no problem with the idea that Zoro's parents had not really been solidified as characters until relatively recently.

But seeing as there has been over a decade to think on that one, it's amazing it ended up being... Exactly what you have guessed based on every other set of parents in One Piece. But again, it's a safe answer.

Look, this way no one expects to make an appearance, he doesn't have to maybe possibly change anything he'd already decided.

Ah, they never came because they're dead and we're never going to flash back to then so.... Great. Finished with that, job done. And he didn't even have to think about Zoro's backstory and risk accidentally developing.

But! If he ever needs to shove something into Zoro's backstory with absolutely no foreshadowing, he has now created emergency backups.

He could just... Pull a Vinesmoke Sanji, or close enough. He's given a Wano connection, absolutely no characterization and luckily only introduced plot points that would be incredibly useful when attempting to emotionally manipulate the audience so they fail to notice the giant new "Well, THIS is brand new!" Product, and it has to be accepted as valid because it happened in the past. That means it helped define Zoro!