#(I Am Having Izumi Family Feelings Again)

[izzyizumi]

Digimon Adventure ~ J.P.N Version ~ Episodes 53~54 + Izumi Koushiro{u}’s (A d o p t i v e) Parent{s} (amongst other Families of Chosen Children group)

"And for the s a k e of THOSE WE L O V E, Who are W A I T I N G FOR US Back on E A R T H..." - Koushiro, adding on to previous Comments of Chosen, trailing off s o f t but F I R M L Y...

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[hikari-m]

{I forgot to show this... Way back in 2k21, when the Digi-Partners site was asking about "Favorite"{s}... I left a Koushiro-positive comment (about enjoying Koushiro's {full} character + story) And I logged in again today And apparently they saw and "Like"'d it} :')

(Even if it may have been automatic, it makes me happy.)

[azulaaaaaaah]

rating every zuko ship (cause that mf is shipped with everyone)

CLICKBAIT!!! this isn’t every zuko ship just the main ones i immediately lied lol. idk if any of these are hot takes or not but please don’t crucify me (might do a part 2 where it’s azula ships)

Jinko - Zuko/Jin

6/10

awwww it’s cute (for what it is)

and what it is was one singular date that was never really mentioned again

i really appreciate how jin is so unperturbed by zuko’s awkward angst and just genuinely likes him

howevvver she’s kinda one dimensional (as she’s only in like an episode) and i just don’t see this going anywhere longterm

less a ship, more a vehicle for zuko’s character development lol

Jetko- Zuko/Jet

3/10

jet being zuko’s first gay encounter is canon in my eyes

don’t ship them however cause i hate jet with the fire of a thousands suns

similar issues to jin as well where their interactions are extremely limited so personally have no clue how this could be a long term thing

Maiko- Zuko/Mai

5/10

i am so impartial on this ship it’s not even funny.

i get that it’s canon. i get that izumi looks suspiciously like mai so it’s endgame. i just don’t see HOW?? it feels as if the writers realised zutara was becoming popular and were like ‘OH SHIT WE GOTTA DEFUSE THIS SITUATION SOMEHOW’

their relationship is basically just mai being a cold asshole and zuko being an angry asshole and there’s no change or development between EITHER OF THEM

however when they’re cute they’re cute !!!!

‘i love zuko more than i fear you’ COLDEST LINE EVER

however again it’s like - you had a crush on him as a kid. he was BANISHED. you dated for like a month as teens. you argued the whole time. he left again- and shortly after you saved him from prison, but then you were imprisoned partly due to his actions. you get back together again, he becomes the ruler of a country, and then you’re surprised it’s isolating him/making him even more of an asshole???

on the other hand we as a society need to admit that zuko is weirdly possessive of her (ig that’s a positive if ur a booktok romance girlie but im not). like if i was mai i wouldn’t put up with that toxic shit either

at the end of the day, i honestly don’t care that they’re canon lol- but i think they’d probably best as a bitchy best friend duo

Zukaang - Zuko/Aang

1/10

not round here partner. not round here

my first issue is the age gap is objectively extremely weird if examined in canon. leaving it at that

i get that this is grumpy x sunshine in a way the other ships aren’t to me- but we’ve only ever seen these two characters interact with each other when there’s (again) A WEIRD AGE GAP

they are bros in the least homosexual way possible

the cherry on top of this situation is: isn’t aang the reincarnation of his great grandpa? isn’t that giving slight, uh, inc*st vibes??? imagine if people shipped korra and jinora isn’t that just WEIRD???

Zuki - Zuko/Suki

8/10

is this my most controversial take ???

i am a sucker for bodyguard x royal family dynamics guys

and the fact that this is girlboss x malewife is even BETTER

suki seems the most competent at handling his pissy ass in a way the other people on this list aren’t

like she’s real. she’s not sugarcoating his situation, BUT SHES COMPASSIONATE !!

i don’t like throuples typically but suzukki is even eliter than this, which removes the whole ‘going against the bro code’ element that arises from them being together

also i feel like if you haven’t read the comics this doesnt make sense At All so please do

-2 points for the lack of tangible reason to ship them lol

Zutara - Zuko/Katara

7.5/10

okay this one makes the most logistical sense to me within canon (solely examined as a zuko ship not overall)

it really seems as if they were gonna make this canon and swerved circa book 2

LIKE CMONNNN OG ENEMIES TO LOVERS WHERE THE GUY ACTUALLY HAS CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT AND ISN’T JUST EVIL? FIRE X WATER? ITS INTRIGUING

something about this makes me uncomfortable though. (despite the age gap which again a little weird)

something about katara potentially becoming the fire lady is so… icky. she’s a waterbender. the fire nation tried to systematically erase her kind. her mother is killed by the fire nation because they think she’s a waterbender. and katara…. what, becomes part of the royal family? it just seems wrong, and like something she wouldn’t be into

also i feel like their arguments would be a little too NUCLEAR. there’s like, a 50% chance of divorce

she deserves a better ending than that is all i’m saying

to paraphrase the hunger games: katara has plenty of fire herself. SHE NEEDS THAT DANDELION IN THE SPRING MAN

(i’m a kataang truther)

Zukka - Zuko/Sokka

9/10

my zuko related otp!!!

bros to lovers guys, where zuko falls first but sokka falls HARDER !!!

ik this will never be canon and im happy with that. i know there’s not even a whisper of romance between them in the show, but i just think it’s c u t e .

sokka (like suki) is very likely to call zuko out on his shit, but less likely to lose his own shit (like katara)

this in my heart of hearts is 10/10 however is still problematic in a similar way to zutara

his mother is killed by the fire nation and he (presumably) becomes consort ?

however though, i would still say it’s not as ruhroh as zutara bc firstly, sokka isn’t a waterbender, and secondly, ‘consort’ is a lot more open to interpretation than i think fire lady is. in my opinion a consort ≠ a fire lady, just like irl a consort ≠ a queen. it kinda means he can still be ambassador to the southern water tribe/a leader of his own people, while just so happening to be married to the fire lord.

overall i can’t help but stan a friends to lover ship cmOn now

[thegirlfromgonewiththewind]

since you talked about Izumi in some of your posts (like Dad!Zuko and Mom!Mai and their “conquering Ba Sing Se adventure”) and the Hou-Tong/Izumi beef, I was wondering if you were open to make Gaang kids headcanons.

and if you were, can I request Kya and Izumi headcanons on their friendship etc?

Ok so, anon refers to this post and this other post in the ask, FYI.

But yes, I absolutely am down to make adult gaang/Gaang kids’ headcanons of any kind. So if y’all want any headcanon of that kind feel free to send an anon!

Anyway, back to the ask. I absolutely love the potential of Kya and Izumi’s dynamic. But since I love angst, here’s some little HCs with p a i n.

Izumi and Kya are roughly the same age, maybe Izumi is a year older than Kya.

Ever since they could sit straight, they’ve been inseparable. And as kids, with the republic city construction, they used to be constantly together

I headcanon that Izumi was more responsible and protective of Kya, while Kya saw Izumi as her idol, because you know, pretty firebending princess who punches everyone who looks at Kya the wrong way

I also like to think that Izumi was Kya’s gay awakening in her teens, but never acted on it because Izumi was straight and uninterested. Also, I HC that Izumi had a thing with Bumi, but that’s another story

Anyways. Since Izumi most likely had Iroh at like, 20, Kya would always hang out with Iroh as his fun aunt, doing mischief around etc.

But, and let’s go to the angsty part, I also HC that Kya and Izumi kind of began losing contact once 30s approached. Because you know, Kya was always traveling, and Izumi had crown princess duties to partake in.

Also, given that Zuko was Fire Lord and kind of not as involved in republic city as he used to be, the FN royal family did not hang out with the rest of the gaang as often, and Izumi ended up being often excluded from the drama etc. nothing unfixable, but stuff that definitely hurt Izumi.

I also feel like Izumi (and parents) was always invited to all of the gaang’s and their kids’ milestones, like weddings, ceremonies etc.

And when in 158AG Sokka died protecting Korra, Zuko and Izumi were at the funeral despite their problems in the fire nation.

But, and here we reach the most angsty part, a year later it was Mai who died, of an illness that had taken her like, five years prior. Of course Zuko and Izumi were distraught, and asked Katara, Toph and the others to attend.

But the day of the funeral, only Katara showed up. Because Bumi was in the United forces, Kya couldn’t interrupt her spiritual travels, Tenzin had a heavily pregnant Pema at home, Lin was working, Suyin was just up in her business in Zaofu and Toph was nowhere to be found.

This made Zuko very sad, but Izumi? She was furious. Absolutely furious. Because, how could they miss the one time they needed to be there for her after all the times she had gone out of her way to support them?

And especially, Izumi felt betrayed by Kya, for not even passing by or answering back to the news. So Izumi kind of ghosted and stopped talking with everyone.

The first time she saw any of the Gaang kids was during Kuvira’s storyline. And even then, as cold as ice

So I kind of headcanon that Korra had some business to do in the fire nation and the gang kids tagged along, and kind of had a some of fight with Izumi about her ghosting them and them never visiting

Izumi would be the most angry and hurt with Kya, and they would kind of be angry with each other for the entirety of the storyline

But then by the end, they would have an actual talk and begin speaking to each other again

So yeah, happy ending but TONS of angst. I know right? Amazing❤️

[twig-tea]

Ossan's Love Returns: I Love This Show

I have so many feelings about this finale; and they’re very different from my feelings about the Perfect Propose finale (both very good but in extremely different ways) so having experienced both today has been a real emotional journey! 

This episode left me feeing euphoric. I am not a huge crier, but Ossan’s Love always gets to me, and I cried four times during this finale. Then I rewatched and cried four times again. 

There is something about how this show does such a good job of capturing complicated and loving relationships of all kinds–romantic, platonic, familial, other–and making me believe that they will support one another through anything, even as they whack each other with frying pans and despair at their loved ones ever having two braincells function at the same time.

That exasperated, eyes wide open, no illusions about who you’re with kind of love has been in the series from the first season, but in this season it feels so lived in. The comfort that all of the characters have with one another, having all seen one another at their worst already, is palpable. And the way the original gang were so open to the new characters and their absurdities was so touching. 

There are so many things I love about this show. Haruta and Maki’s relationship makes me feel so proud of them, knowing how far they’ve come from Season 1, and everything they went through in that season and the film to get here. But even just taking the season as a stand-alone, there is so much growth this season. They go from a couple who have not been in the same city together for years to living together, and they have to learn to be in one another’s physical space. They have conversations with both sets of parents, they navigate whether or not to have a wedding, whether or not to have kids, and just how to show appreciation for one another in a long-term relationship. 

The way Maki said that Haruta was his happiness, and Haruta said that he was happiest just looking at the sky with Maki (because Maki is his happiness too) made me cry twice. Maki is so competent, but Haruta is kind; and it’s his consistent, active kindness that holds their wider found family group together. The way Maki had to learn to actively think about Haruta’s happiness in the same way was that Haruta does all the time, in the same way that Haruta had to learn to be competent in cooking and cleaning so that he could take some of the burden off Maki, this is the stuff that gets to me. 

The way this found family cares about one another, rallies around whenever one of them needs it, and shows up for one another consistently, also really gets to me. And this show knows exactly what it’s doing–there were some wonderful conversations this episode about what counts as ‘family’, and how sometimes the importance of someone in your life can’t be easily defined but that doesn’t make them any less important (that was another one of the times I cried). The final placard of the show read WE ARE FAMILY in sakura petals, and that’s what made me cry the fourth time (and is making me tear up now to think about). 

And I can’t think about this gang without thinking about how so many of the relationships in it are complicated, like I mentioned above. The way Maki and Kurosawa cannot be in a scene together without sniping, but Maki calls Kurosawa for help when he needs it and Kurosawa leaves Maki an extremely touching note acknowledging Maki’s importance in Haruta’s life. The way Maro and Haruta are friends but Haruta also chastizes Maro’s causal speech every time they talk. The way Chouko has found a detente with her mother-in-law by bonding over a boy band, and how Chizu relies on the Arais for childcare but feels ashamed that she has to. The way Takegawa wants a relationship so strongly but holds himself back from making a[nother] move on Maki so that Maki and Haruta can have a happy wedding day. The way Haruta can’t return Izumi’s feelings but he leaves room for him to feel them.The way Chouko and Izumi bond over having lost a long-held love. The way everyone thinks Kiku is super suspicious but they still eat his onigiri. The way Kurosawa gifts Kiku his fermentation pot in recognition of the both of them holding onto unrequited love. 

This show makes me so happy. I could keep explaining all the ways in which it brings me joy, but honestly, just go watch it. It’s on GagaOOLala right now, and @isaksbestpillow is working on improved subs for all episodes (the subs on Gaga are good enough to understand what's going on, but Siiiri's are better for understanding the nuances and jokes). You don’t need to have seen any of the previous content to enjoy this show. If you’ve ever lamented that BL isn’t funny; that BL doesn’t feature established relationships, that BL doesn’t have enough older characters; that JBL couples don’t kiss or show affection, then watch this show.

[bengiyo]

Ossan's Love Returns Ep 9 (Finale) Stray Thoughts

Last week, everyone sensed that something was up with Kurosawa, and so the squad rallied to host a home party to cheer him up. Kurosawa spent much of the episode working on saying goodbye, and even left instructions for Maki with some household tips before teaching him how to make his version of miso soup. He left goodbye videos that completely destroyed me, and his final scene in the park with Haruta brought me back to the In the Sky goodbye in ways I was not ready for. I don't want to mourn him, but I feel like I already am.

I can't drink those smoothies that just taste like grass.

NOT THIS GOOFY ASS MAN MISHEARING THE DOCTOR AND JUST WALKING OUT OF THE HOSPITAL!!

He kicked the doctor!!!

All this drama over red food!?!

Oh lord his home sold. Where is he going to go??

I hope the entire cast comes to visit him a little bit at a time. This is great.

"Give me back my tears, geezer!" Yes, Maki! Fight him again!!!

I'm with Haruta. I think about my parents getting older. I've been making slow preparations for the future.

Good job, Chizu. I'm glad you're still here to keep Haruta from spinning out.

Oh, thank you for the shower scene. Tanaka Kei has a great body.

Natflax real estate???? I'm gonna lose it.

This recruiter looks familiar. I'm going to need to look them up later.

STYLER JIBS!!!!!!!!!

Oh no Haruta is having nightmares now.

Whoa, is that Tabasco hot sauce???

I really do love the way Kurosawa and Maki moments have evolved over time.

I love that the whole crew is here for a surprise party, and glad Kurosawa is back to tormenting Maki.

Haruta bursting into tears whenever he feels too much love is one of my favorite things about him. He always appreciates every earnest gesture from Maki.

This is beautiful. I would love to be surrounded by all the people I love telling me all the things I did that made them feel supported and appreciated.

Takegawa got a cat! That feels so correct.

This whole sequence is incredible. It's an ongoing group hug, a party, and a talent show.

Maika is always eavesdropping and she is correct. Not all queer relationships need names that fit neatly into other expectations.

It does feel like a family photo. I have quite a few with my wider digital families.

Wow, the cherry blossoms scene was beautiful. I really appreciate how explicit this season has been about the complex nature of family and that finding community and joy in it is possible in any number of configurations.

Maro is such a dude I love him. He would absolutely get into a fandom just to be closer to his mom and wife.

Kiku and Izumi made it! Can't believe that they've grown on me a little bit.

Teppei, Chizu, and Maika having dinner with their kids as Teppei sings another song is perfect for them.

Maki stay trying to slam the door on Kurosawa.

Another almost brawl!!

"WE ARE FAMILY!!" I got all my sisters with me!! Okay, I cried.

Final Verdict: 9, Highly Recommended. I think, even if you bounced off or didn't watch Ossan's Love (2018), you should absolutely check this show out. There's so much to be had in this show about adults navigating what they want for their lives as they try to take care of the people they love. Maki and Haruta figuring out what their romance is going to Iook like when it's not just an idea landed so well for me. I like that Maki is still able to be a little bit terse or reserved, but he's finally able to say clearly to Haruta how important he is to him and he's also better able to be around others. Izumi is right that Haruta is this beacon of love that others seem inevitably drawn to. Kurosawa is such a huge presence, and he reminds me of some of my favorite gay elders. I hope to be as powerful and loved as him when I get older. I'm so glad I went back and watched Ossan's Love properly. I can't believe I denied myself this incredible experience for years.

[hunieday]

8th Anniversary story - Chapter 8

Chapter 1 - Chapter 2 - Chapter 3 - Chapter 4 - Chapter 5 - Chapter 6 - Chapter 7 - Chapter 8

Please note that I am not a professional translator and I'm only doing this to share the side materials to those who cannot access them, if you notice any mistakes please let me know nicely. Enjoy!

Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: Okay, I’m gonna open it!

Izumi Mitsuki: Thank you so much!

Touma Inumaru: Hold on! Let's guess before you do that!

Iori Izumi: Guess what?

Touma: What do you think we're in charge of?

Izumi Mitsuki: Oooh, let's try guessing..!

Iori Izumi: If I had to guess, since Nii-san and Tsunashi-san are there, it's probably sports drinks, right?

Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: Iori-kun and Touma-kun, you seem to have an image befitting carbonated beverages, don't you think?

Touma Inumaru: The Izumi brothers kinda have tea vibes. Your family runs a bakery, right?

Izumi Mitsuki: Energy drink is also a possibility. Hmmm... It's hard to narrow it down. What do you think, Iori?

Iori Izumi: It was decided through an internal survey and a general consumer survey.

Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: That's what they said.

Iori Izumi: The Tsunashi-san we know is a healthy sportsman.

Iori Izumi: But the general public’s image is erotic, isn’t it.

Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: Erotic...

Izumi Mitsuki: You should say "ero-ero beast".

Iori Izumi: I'm sorry for not calling him erotic twice...

Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: Thank you. You're very kind.

Iori Izumi: No, not really

Touma Inumaru: Haru said that too. That you’re not sociable at school, but very kind. Thanks for everything you did for Haru.

Iori Izumi: I didn't really do anything...

Izumi Mitsuki: I'm so happy for you! Nii-chan is proud to have a younger brother like you!

Iori Izumi: I-is that so? Ehehe…

Izumi Mitsuki: He's embarrassed! What a cute guy!

Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: I know what you mean. Little brothers are always adorable.

Touma Inumaru: Oh, we”re getting off topic. What was it again?

Iori Izumi: Besides sports, I think he has a mature image? Is that what they call it…

Izumi Mitsuki: Oh, I see. But we don't have alcohol or anything mature on the lineup.

Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: Tea, energy drink, sports drink, or soda. Hmmm... I guess I’d go with energy drink?

Touma Inumaru: It is the most mature one out of the four options.

Izumi Mitsuki: Okay, we’ll go with energy drink as my first guess! Please open the box!

Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: Got it! Ta-da!

Touma Inumaru: Oh, four black plastic bottles!

Iori Izumi: They look like ninja drinks.

Izumi Mitsuki: Open it, open it!

Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: Ah… smells refreshing.

Touma Inumaru: Seems sweet… but salty?

Iori Izumi: Shall we taste it?

Izumi Mitsuki: On the count of three. One, two, three…

Iori Izumi & Mitsuki Izumi & Tsunashi Ryuunosuke & Touma Inumaru:....

Iori Izumi & Mitsuki Izumi & Tsunashi Ryuunosuke & Touma Inumaru:....

Iori Izumi & Mitsuki Izumi & Tsunashi Ryuunosuke & Touma Inumaru:.... it’s a sports drink!

*Ding ding ding*

Izumi Mitsuki: Wow! It's raining something!

Iori Izumi: Confetti and a banner... “PLAY GAME!!”? 

Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: It's our unit name and the name of this drink!

Touma Inumaru: Ain’t it good! “PLAY GAME!!” feels more like a sport everyone can enjoy instead of it benig competitive!

Iori Izumi & Mitsuki Izumi& Tsunashi Ryuunosuke & Touma Inumaru: Yay! “PLAY GAME!!”

Mitsuki Izumi: I see, it’s great that it’s pretty straightforward! Tsunashi-san, please take care of us, just like when we’re playing! Looking forward to working with you!

Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: Me too! I'm so happy to hear this. Once it releases let’s bring it with us when we’re playing together!

Izumi Mitsuki: That’s right! We’ll brag about it to Momo-san! Iori, Touma, you should come along and play sports with us too!

Touma Inumaru: Seriously? I'm so happy! I mean, I'm surprised that you think of me as a sporty person.

Iori Izumi: I’m surprised as well. I mean, I thought Momo-san would definitely be involved if it were sports-related.

Izumi Mitsuki: For sure! I think it's because Re:vale hasn't been doing sports variety shows lately, right?

Touma Inumaru: If that’s the reasoning, Tora would have been called for the sports drink.

Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: Torao-kun is athletic too! So, where did Momo-san and Torao-kun end up?

Izumi Mitsuki: ...Tea? Huh, they said tea!

Iori Izumi: Nanase-san seems to be like tea as well.

Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: So does Gaku! The idea that the four of them were assigned the tea unit is interesting! I wonde rwhat their reaction is?

Gaku Yaotome & Riku Nanase & Momo & Torao Mido: gulp...

Riku Nanase: Ah…

Gaku Yaotome: Hm...?

Momo: Tea?

Torao Mido: Probably...

Riku Nanase: Tea! We’re team tea!

*Ding ding ding*

Momo: Waah!! You were right!!

Gaku Yaotome: Haha, it's confetti! And there’s a banner that says…

Torao Mido: "TEA take" …What's "TEA take"? Is that the product’s name?

Riku Nanase: It's also our unit name! Wow! Look at that!

Gaku Yaotome: The limited time unit "TEA take" and their future activities.

Momo: "8th Anniversary! Four Thanks Project" includes a CM with a new song from “TEA take!”

Gaku Yaotome & Riku Nanase & Torao Mido: Wow!

Momo: We’re shooting commercials!

Gaku Yaotome, Riku Nanase & Torao Mido: Wow!

Momo: "8th Anniversary! Four thanks project” will release celebratory products alongside a live performance for the media!

Gaku Yaotome, Riku Nanase & Torao Mido: Wow!

Momo: And the main attraction!

Momo: Invitations to the "8th Anniversary Four Thanks Projects Miracle Limited-time 4-Unit Thanks Live" for the lucky winners of the "8th Anniversary! 4 Thanks Projects" campaign~!!

Gaku Yaotome & Riku Nanase & Torao Mido: Woooow!!

Riku Nanase: We’re doing a live concert! It's gonna be fun to perform live with these members!

Momo: Right~!! It's going to be super fun! Oh, and we have the two Number one men people want to hold the most!

Gaku Yaotome: We’re usually rivals, but this time we are allies. We won't lose to any other unit.

Gaku Yaotome: Right, Mido!

Torao Mido: Y-Yeah.

Riku Nanase: There are so many exciting projects waiting for us! I can't wait to hear our new song and the other units’ songs! 

Gaku Yaotome: That’s right!

Momo: Oh, and one last message! Well, let's all say it together!

Torao Mido: Got it.

Riku Nanase: One, two…!

Gaku Yaotome & Riku Nanase & Momo & Torao Mido: We are "TEA take"!

Nagi Rokuya & Tamaki Yotsuba & Tenn Kujo & Isumi Haruka: We are "GREEN BUBBLE"!

Sogo Osaka & Yamato Nikaido & Yuki & Minami Natsume: We are "Chameleon Chill"!

Iori Izumi & Mitsuki Izumi & Tsunashi Ryuunosuke & Touma Inumaru: We are "PLAY GAME!!”

Riku Nanase: Congratulations on your 8th anniversary! We look forward to working with you in the future!

Gaku Yaotome & Momo & Torao Mido: Thank you very much!

Nagi Rokuya & Tamaki Yotsuba & Tenn Kujo & Isumi Haruka: Thank you so much!

Sogo Osaka & Yamato Nikaido & Yuki & Minami Natsume: Thank you!

Iori Izumi & Mitsuki Izumi & Tsunashi Ryuunosuke & Touma Inumaru: Thank you so much!

Riku Nanase: (and a few months later .........)

Riku Nanase: (Our new legend begins!)

Audience: Kyaaaa...!!

Nanase Riku: Good evening, everyone!

Nanase Riku & Yaotome Gaku & Momo & Mido Torao: We are ”TEA take”!

Audience: Kyaaaa...!!

Kujo Tenn: Everyone, welcome!

Yotsuba Tamaki & Rokuya Nagi & Kujo Tenn & Isumi Haruka: To “GREEN BUBBLE”’s live!

Audience: Kyaaaa...!!

Yuki: Hello, nice to meet you.

Nikaido Yamato & Osaka Sougo & Yuki & Natsume Minami: We are “Chameleon Chill”!

Audience: Kyaaaaaa...!!

Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: Here we go! We are...

Izumi Iori & Izumi Mitsuki & Tsunashi Ryunosuke & Inumaru Touma: “PLAY GAME!!”!

Nanase Riku: (We'll talk about this live another time!)

Nanase Riku: (Look forward to it!)

The End.

NOTE: Banri officially announced on his twitter account that there's more to this story coming soon, let's look forward to it and thank you for reading!

[aranarumei]

hi kiri What’s the deal with a3’s timeloop day. you shouldn’t be surprised that I am asking this. okay I love you bye

ok this is actually a pretty simple answer! but i got rambly so here's a readmore.

A3! (which stands for Act! Addict! Actors! <- don’t ask me why it’s this. idk) is a gacha game where you play as the manager, Izumi Tachibana (I’m doing first name, last name here) and you work to revive a dying theater company called Mankai. there’s 3 Acts, each with like, 4 big stories in them. and a bunchhhh of shorter event storiess which imo are crucial to experience. The first 2 acts, along with the interceding events, have been completely localized, and were run on the now-defunct English server. There is, however, an archive—if at any point in time you are ever interested, feel free to shoot me a message. And I’m serious. Even if it’s like two years later. It’s been like almost 3 years since I started going thru a3 and I haven’t even finished act 2. I’m slow

Anyways, Act 1 deals with establishing the company—in its former glory, there used to be four troupes that rotated by season. Izumi’s dad also used to run it, and he disappeared. So that’s why there’s four big stories each act: it’s one per season. In Act 1, each story deals with gathering the members for each season troupe together, and then pulling off their first play. And it also deals with like, the issues all the characters are facing. It is like, within the yumejoshi genre so there’s definitely that vibe of like. wow look at all these pretty boys who are kind of into me!? but I think it’s pretty mild on that point and like. something I enjoy is that I can see Izumi as like. an actual Character as opposed to just a self-insert. Which is nice. but the real selling point for me is that there’s a lot of like, found family and rich character dynamics within the cast. It is even homosexual sometimes.

One thing I find really interesting about a3 is that I think it has really strong character writing and development. And it’s really good at establishing different “moods” across each troupe, which works well in creating dynamics and also because each troupe specializes in something different. So spring is like, the “classic” troupe—they tend to do lots of reinterpretations of classic works, though that’s not exclusively their thing… but anyways. they do like. nice fantastical stories in my opinion. Summer does comedy, autumn does action, and winter does drama. and winter HAS drama.

Now up until winter there’s been some wackiness in a3 but it’s been like, pretty grounded in how it’s played out. and then winter rolls around and. see the issue with winter is that unlike some of the younger members they’re all composed of adults. so they’re bad at talking about their feelings, because instead of just shouting things out loud they will just shut down and like. Leave. I love this about them and I think it’s such a good writing choice.

Enter Tasuku Takato and Tsumugi Tsukioka. Tasuku and Tsumugi used to be like, the best of friends. they acted together and followed their passions together. and then they both auditioned for the God Troupe together, which is this prestigious famous troupe (it’s also evil.) and while tasuku got in and became one of the lead actors, tsumugi failed his audition. This left a deep scar on Tsumugi, who ended up kind of running away from acting as a vocation all together. now, Tasuku quit the God troupe because they were engaging in some shady stuff, and ended up joining Mankai along with Tsumugi, who coincidentally was inspired to try acting again. tsumugi’s been elected the leader of winter troupe, and therefore the person who’s meant to take the lead role in their first play. Tasuku is constantly snapping at him whenever he’s unconfident, and it’s just not great vibes. To top it all off, they’ve been issued a challenge by the God troupe, where they’ll both perform and the audience has to vote on which play they like better. Tsumugi is not really confident he can stand up to them for obvious reasons. Tasuku gets mad at him about it. Tsumugi runs into this weird doll, and the next day, they wake up in a time loop.

See, the thing is, they’re on such a tight deadline for the play, and winter is So Bad at talking about their feelings, that magic is real now. this is somewhat of an oversimplification, but it’s funny to say it like this. Anyways, there are like, seven mysteries in Mankai (have I mentioned they all dorm together! they all do! Each of them has a roommate and they all live in a big dorm that’s connected to their own theater and stage. It’s part of why they’re in such big debt and trouble at the beginning—its really hard to maintain those facilities) and one of them is about this doll that will put you in a time loop unless you become friends. essentially. And this is what happens… eventually they end up talking to each other for real due to the time loop, and each affirms just how much they respect the acting of the other. later on when Tsumugi slips back into being unconfident tasuku is able to resolve his past mistakes, because part of why he was so angry at Tsumugi was also because he was angry at himself for like. not reaching out. And telling him how much he loved him and his acting. Because their styles are very different—tasuku is loud and commanding, and Tsumugi is a more understated and subtle.

A3 is also very very cool in that parts of its plays mirror real life? so like. this play, sympathy for an angel, has two leads: Michael (Tsumugi) and Raphael (Tasuku). In it, Michael becomes interested in this woman on a list of people who are about to die, and ends up visiting the human world. He writes letters to her. His friend, Raphael, warns him against this, saying that he’s foolish for going so far for someone he can’t even meet. And each time he steps into the human world, his own soul gets weaker, and his wings begin to wither. Still, he persists against objections. Eventually, the woman recovers, gets a fiancé, and he returns to heaven. Thinking he’ll just wish for her happiness even with his unrequited love, he looks at the list and finds out that despite recovering, she’s still on the close to death list. Despite the danger to himself, he descends into the human world, and takes her place in a car accident. As he’s dying, his soul about to be obliterated because he’s been in the human world too often, Raphael descends and holds him in his arms. Michael says that he’s happy he got to do something for the person he loves, and he’s happy to be held by his best friend. Raphael says that though he’d called Michael the fool, it was him that truly was one: because he stood by, unable to protect both the person he loves and his best friend. Because he was in love with Michael the whole time of course. And then Michael dies in his arms. Now this makes me weepy as does the accompanying character song but what I really love most about it is like. Raphael’s regrets in that he didn’t protect Michael kind of directly mirror Tasuku’s own regrets in being unable to help Tsumugi when he was going through a tough time? only Tsumugi isn’t dead and so Tasuku has an actual chance to fix things, which is sweet.

It should be mentioned that one guy in the spring troupe WRITES all of these plays which is deeply funny to me bc it means that 1) he is probably gay and doesn’t know this and 2) he has precognitive abilities regarding the inner psyche of all of his castmates. and that’s a3 timeloop day. some of these a3 characters have me by the throat btw I just get beamed visions of them chatting and introspecting like constantly. I definitely haven’t explained everything but I think this is enough?

[bearsanpancakes]

Mitsuki Izumi - IDOL STAR LIVE 2023 Rabbit Chat

[Note: I am translating from the Taiwanese server of IDOLiSH7, not the Japanese server! Translations might differ from the original Japanese version due to that, but it shouldn’t make too much of a difference overall!]

ㅤ

Mitsuki: Tamaki~ 😄

Mitsuki: Do you have some time to spare?

Tamaki: Mikki~ [1]

Tamaki: Yup! What’s up?

Mitsuki: A: Fruit tart

Mitsuki: B: Chocolate cake

Mitsuki: Pick one‼️

Tamaki: What!? That’s impossible to pick from!!!!!

Tamaki: B…

Tamaki: Actually, hang on

Tamaki: A

Tamaki: Hm………….

Tamaki: I choose both 🥺🥺

Mitsuki: Lolol

Mitsuki: I might be able to make both if I start early in the morning 🤔

Tamaki: Huh!? Mikki, you’re making them yourself!?

Mitsuki: Yup! I have some spare time over the weekends and I haven’t made cakes in a while, so I wanted to try making them again

Mitsuki: My job finished early and I wanted to buy some supplies before heading home, so I asked for your opinion 😄💪

Mitsuki:

Tamaki: So that’s why you asked me, I’m glad about that

Tamaki: I love Mikki’s cakes the most

Tamaki: I’m super looking forward to it!!!!

Tamaki:

Mitsuki: I’m the one who’s glad to hear that you’re glad!!!

Tamaki: Hehe

Tamaki: But is it really okay for you to make both of them?

Mitsuki: Yup! That’s because this is also a reward for you!

Mitsuki: I heard you’ve been working hard to prepare for your exams after all 💪

Tamaki:

Tamaki:

Mitsuki: Huh, what’s wrong?

Tamaki: Actually, I can’t muster up the energy to work hard…

Mitsuki: Didn’t you return to your room early last night after saying you wanted to study, though?

Tamaki: I mean yeah, but

Tamaki: I instantly fell asleep the moment I opened up my books

Tamaki: I also wanted So-chan to keep an eye on me while I studied in the break room earlier

Tamaki: But I left my books at the dorm

Tamaki: I can’t muster up the energy to work hard anymore…

Mitsuki: What are you talking about? You’re already working hard!

Mitsuki: The fact that you returned to your room early and wanted Sogo to keep an eye on you is already really impressive!!

Mitsuki: Tamaki, you’re excellent!

Tamaki: Mikki…

Mitsuki: Alright! You wouldn’t feel at ease if I said the cake was a reward, right? Then feel free to have some cake as a way to lighten your mood and help you concentrate instead 🙂👌

Tamaki: Mikki!!!!! 😭😭

Mitsuki: I just sent Iori a text about the cake as well 👌 It’s impressive that both you and Iori are working hard for your studies and as an idol…!

Tamaki: That’s because Idol Star Live will be held soon

Tamaki: Iorin should be fine, but I’ll cause trouble for everyone if my results are bad and I have to take supplementary classes

Mitsuki: Hey now… you wouldn't be causing any trouble at all

Mitsuki: I’d definitely pat your head if you were in front of me right now!!!!

Tamaki: Then I’d have to crouch down so that your hand can reach my head 😏

Mitsuki: I can reach your head even if you don’t crouch!!! (lol)

Tamaki: Thanks

Tamaki: Mikki Tamaki: I’ll do something for you as thanks after my exams!

Mitsuki: There’s no need! Your thoughtfulness makes me glad enough 😆

Tamaki: Nope, I made up my mind

Tamaki: I’ll buy tons of cake with Iorin at your family’s bakery!!

Mitsuki: Lololol

Tamaki: Ah, but Iorin’s buying stuff from his family’s own bakery, I don’t think this counts as thanks then lol

Mitsuki: That's not true! My parents said that they feel happy watching the both of you and Isumi come to the bakery after school and enjoy their food 😋

Mitsuki: I’m sure I’d be super duper happy if I got to see you guys like that as well! I’ll be waiting for the thank you gift ✌️✨

Tamaki: Alright!

Tamaki: I’ll start giving it my all tomorrow just for this

Tamaki:

Mitsuki: That’s the spirit! Don’t push yourself too hard though

Mitsuki:

ㅤ

End of Rabbit Chat

ㅤ

[1] - The formatting on tumblr is really bad so I wasn't able to include it, but Tamaki ended this sentence with a little King Pudding emoji! Here's what the line actually looked like:

[obligitory-fma-blog]

I watched the final Netflix adaptation of FMAB. Here’s some of my notes

- “Y’know, I don’t think he has any need for his dad.” Hoenhiem. Uhm you left him he kinda did for a while so idk why you’re being bitter now

- YOOOOO SIG AND IZUMIIIIII

- RAHHHH I LOVE THEM

- Okay the fighting is better this time, less choppy

- Izumi’s actress is ON POINT I LOVE HER

- “I was never much of a proper parent to either of those boys” Ya don’t say. (I’m not a Hoenhiem hater, but I am a Hoenhiem critic.)

- “Maybe you should’ve told them goodbye and talked to them before leaving. Maybe then their grief wouldn’t have taken over.” SAY IT IZUMI

- “I reorganized your insides lol” Hoenhiem you could tell Izumi before you did that?? Creepy man.

- Still didn’t use the music from the original :(

- Okay Ed should be covered in blood after falling into it but he isn’t, just his head bandage. Wtf is up with that??

- GIRLIE I CANT WITH ENVY RN WTF

- WTF IS THE CGI OF THE HUMANS ON HIS MANE (?)

- EW IT GOT WORSE

- Okay how tf did envy knock them onto a stone platform that was LITERALLY NOWHERE TO BE SEEN UNTIL NOW

- Mustang and Riza my beloveddddd

- The actor for General Hakuro is pretty good tho, very weird, but good

- Girlie you walked into some weird shit

- Mustang girlie I luv you so much tho hope you slay this movie

- Oh hi Father

- “Daddy…?” -al “DO I LOOK LIKE YOUR-“ -father

- Also highkey the actor for Envy is really good too

- “How do you know Hoenhiem?” “Technically he’s our father” TECHNICALLY HAHA

- Ed is like “touchy no no, no touchy”

- Girlie you are a creep HANDS OFF THE LITTLE GUY

- Ed’s just like >:/ wtf get off

- WHY ARE YOU PETTING HIM???????

- I feel violated just watching this

- YEAH LING SAVE HIM

- YOOOO WERE GONNA SEE GREEDLING :D

- Ew that’s fuckin goopy (philosophers stone)

- It looks like melted jello ewwww

- Okay idk if seeing greedling is worth it for this shit

- Why is his mind blue???

- Wait did we see greed lose his body in the first one or….

- I don’t think we did???

- Uhhhh idk and I don’t wanna go check because the first one is bad

- Lowkey he’s fine as hell tho

- Mustang looks so damn done lmao

- HE’S SITTINF LIKE THE SHINJI MEME WAIT

- LMAOOO THATS SO GOOD

- okay okay it’s time for me to get my Mustang being a dad moment don’t fail me now movie

- Stfu Bradley no one cares

- WTF WHERES MY MOMENT HELLO

- ARE WE NOT GONNA GET THE 520 CENZ PROMISE??

- I HATE THIS

- Okay Ed, Sig, and Izumi get to interact now :D

- Okay so now we’re getting the scar brother research moment? Outside of Briggs? Cool? I guess?

- Oh hi greedling

- Okay so apparently father killed greed cause he disobeyed him but that’s all we get for that.

- Also this story set up just doesn’t and will never work as well as the first one, so much stuff is intertwined in different events and mixing it all up like this just makes it so confusing and that’s part of the reason why this just doesn’t work

- But I’ll ignore it for the sake of things

- OLIVIER :D

- Mustang and Riza checking in on their kids :D

- I’m so normal about found family

- 5 minutes in Briggs and Ed is already in trouble. In character stuff

- Also we gonna talk about his automail or we just gonna skip over that for plot reasons

- OLIVIER I LOVE YOUUUUUU

- WOMEN ARE HOT

- am I bi

- YESSS ICE QUEEN ICE QUEEN

- “How’s Alex?” “He’s good!” “…shame.”

- Okay sloth looks less weird than I imagine

- OLIVIER WITH THE BOMB :D

- Love her what a Queen

- Still wish they used the original soundtrack I will forever be mad about that

- SLAYYY OLIVIER YASSSSSS

- please marry me

- YEAHHHHHH

- Okay Ed just kicked sloth off of briggs? Girlie even with automail I doubt he could kick him that easy

- So Olivier doesn’t suspect Ed of anything? Out of character, #notmyicequeen

- Also turns out Hakuro and Raven are both the same person in this version??

- Oh Hi Winry

- “If I step out of line, they’ll do something to you.” Awww baby protect your gf

- YEAHHHH OLIVIER AGAIN :D

- “I won’t let anyone do whatever they want in here!” SAY IT GIRLIE YEAHHH

- please I’m begging you marry me

- on my KNEES

- They could not have casted her better

- Bb girl it’s so hard to understand you when you’re so fine I can’t focus

- Okay now Drachama is attacking Briggs

- When Sloth goes back in the hole Raven/Hakuro looks like a grandpa when he’s told he can leave the nursing home for the day to play golf and if that isn’t a summary of the entire us government idk what is

- AWWW WINRY HAS A CHARM ON HER BAG THAT LOOKS LIKE DEN :D

- Sorry Olivier, but it’s so hard to focus on this serious scene with your luscious lips and beautiful face

- She would murder me for saying this all but IDC IF TJAYS HOW I GO THATS HOW I GO

- Alphonse!! :D

- Hoenhiem is like “hUH???”

- He didn’t know about Al’s body????

- Okay bestie :/

- Father of the year fr

- Can’t even keep up with the fact that his son doesn’t have a body smh

- Okay Xerxes time

- ED IS THE SAME ACTOR FOR YOUNG HOENHIEM???

- Okay I get why

- BUT OKAY THEN IG

- Okay cool Xerxes sequence

- “Everybody is dead” lol cringe get good

- Sorry I have the humor of a middle schooler

- Oh hi Greedling

- Am I bi cause THIS MAN

- Okay now it’s Al!Pride time just out of nowhere for no reason?

- “So you’re gonna try and beat me then?” -Pride

- “… nah you’re freaky lol” -Hoenhiem

- Hi again Al

- “Don’t insult my son bitch” okay we love that

- “Okay, let’s all go beat the dwarf in the flask :D” -Hoenhiem

- “NO ONE FUCKING ASKED UGH” -Ed

- MUSTANGGG LOOKIN SPIFFY

- Still mad we don’t get the 520 cenz promise

- AHHHH BLACK HYATE

- LUV HIM

- Also seeing Mustangs team all together is so slay :D

- “Don’t die while we overthrow the government y’all.” -Mustang

- Oh great bad cgi soldier things

- YEAHHH MUSTANG SAVE YOUR SON!!

- Okay good Envy and Mustang will fight :)

- Now it’s time for CRAZY MUSTANG :D

- BURN THE BITCH BURN HIM

- ED LOOKS SO SAD AND CONCERNED :(

- YEAH RIZA STOP HIM STOP HIM

- YEAH ED STOP HIM

- “GIVE IT TO ME FULLMETAL NOW! OR ILL BURN OFF YOUR LEFT ARM!” ANGST ANGST ANGST

- “JUST TRY IT! GO AHEAD! ILL THROW DOWN WITH YOU NOW!” YEAHHHH SAVE YOUR DAD!!

- “YOU PLAN ON STANDING AT THE TOP OF THIS COUNTRY LIKE THAT?!” CRYINF SCREAMINF RAHHHHH

- “YOU KNOW THIS ISNT WHAT YOU WERE STRIVING FOR” PARENTAL!ROY AND ED PEOPLE WE ARE GETTING FED TONIGHT

- YEAH RIZA AND SCAR STOP HIM :D

- The way Ed got ready to fight when Mustang looked like he was going to snap at him I :,)

- “I am a giant fool forcing you all to act this way.” HUG YOUR WIFE AND SON

- “Lieutenant, please lower your gun. I’m so sorry” GONNA CRY NOW

- I still wish we got the 520 cenz promise and I will never not be bitter about that

- I don’t care that it’s not the point of this IM STILL MAD

- OOP BYE ED

- AWWW MUSTANG CALLING FOR ED BEFORE HE GOES :,) WERE GETTING FED GUYSSSS

- Okay I don’t like the fight between Bradley and Fu as much this looks more like stage fighting :/

- That’s the only one so far I didn’t like tho so….

- How tf is Riza gonna survive tho the weird doctor guy isn’t here

- DONT LOOK DIRECTLY AT AN ECLIPSE GUYS WHAT???

- Also those do not go that fast either

- I got to see one and it was really slow but fun ig

- Idk I was like 13 so

- Anyways

- YEAHHH ED HELP YOUR DAD!!!!

- Okay I wish they added colored contacts for this or smth so it’d be similar to the series and make more sense but eh… who knows

- ED YOU GOTTA KEEP HELPING HIM HE CANT SEEEEE

- or get revenge that works too

- Okay cgi for the absorbing god scene is cool

- Alright who’s ready to fight god?

- Am I hallucinating or is the actor for Al also the actor for god!father/Dwarf???

- IM NOT THATS HIM

- OKAY IG

- All the actors for this are really good actually. I can tell they have passion for this. I appreciate that.

- Okay it’s time for Ed to almost die for the 5000th time

- YEAH MUSTANG FUCK HUM UP

- YEAH EVERYONE!!!

- POWER OF FRIENDSHIP YIPPIE

- Also someone get Ed. Or don’t

- Nah cause the creepy guys gonna get him now

- AL

- THIS SCENE WILL NEVER NOT BE SAD TO ME

- DONT TOUCH THE CHILD WEIRDO

- It’s funny cause when I got into this I was younger than Ed and now I’m older than him. Fixation really be lasting a while. It’s the neurodivergence isn’t it.

- YEAHHH NOW WE GET HIM BACK TO HIS BODY :D

- I can’t even tell if it’s good because the series is good or if this is actually a good movie

- Oh hi greed I forgot about you lowkey

- But you’re hot so hiiiiiii <3

- “YOU DARE DISOBEY YOUR FATHER?!”

- “ITS A LATE-STAGE REBELLIOUS PHASE IM GOING THROUGH!”

- Iconic.

- And get punched idiot

- OKAY TIME TO BRING BACK AL

- YEAHHH HOENHIEM TAKING RESPONSIBILITY

- “Let me at least do something fatherly in the end” AHHHHH

- “STOP BEING A DUMBASS DAD” AWWW ED

- “You finally called me dad 🥹” I CANT VISIBLY REACT I DONT WANNA DISTURB MY ROOMMATES BUT AHWHWIWJEVRI

- “I was always a human to begin with. All is one, one is all. Even if I can’t use alchemy, I have great people in my life. My precious friends and family.” STILL THE BEST QUOTE FOREVER

- YEAHHHH RIZA AND MUSTANG WILL FIND A WAY TO GET HIS EYESIGHT BACK

- AWWW WE GET A TRISHA AND HOENHIEM SCENE

- YEAHHH THE BROS COME BAVKKKDHIHZHW

- AND WE SEE HUMAN AL WITH SHORT HAIR

- AWWWWWIEHJEIEHWHWH

- IM NOT NORMAL ABOUT THIS EVER

Conclusion: yep. This got me in the heart, even if it isn’t the show itself. Still stuff that bothered me. But overall, this series of movies is not so bad. Not so great, at times, but not so bad. Honestly, I think they did the best they could and that’s really all I could ask for. And it was nice seeing them all in live action. For this movie, an 8/10. For the series of movies? 6.5/10. Not remotely comparable to the original series, but still a worthwhile watch and something I’d recommend if you want a recap of the series but don’t have time to watch it all again.

Let me know if you all want notes on the first one! I watched it a long time ago but I’ll do it again for y’all. Much love guys <3

[seventeenlovesthree]

Digi Dynamic Shipping Game

Send me two names among the following 12 and I’ll write a short analysis post about them:

Taichi Yagami | Yamato Ishida | Sora Takenouchi | Koushirou Izumi | Mimi Tachikawa | Jyou Kidou | Takeru Takaishi | Hikari Yagami | Daisuke Motomiya | Miyako Inoue | Iori Hida | Ken Ichijouji

Whether canon provides input on them or not.

Sorato are a very interesting and - at this point in time - unique case in regards to canonically confirmed relationships in the Digimon universe. Despite the fact that they had been shown to have started dating through the course of Digimon Adventure 02 - with the epilogue showing them to have two children together -, the ongoing course of the series post 02 is... Incredibly vague about them to say the least. Disclaimer: I am not intending to bash the ship, this is a personal analysis post in which I am trying to analyze it from my point of view based on what we're being shown. And I want to thank my dearest @dutchforstrangers and @jamesthedigidestined for all the input I got over the years to put this into words!

First of all, Digimon Adventure presented Sora and Yamato as very interesting parallels to one another, hinting at a certain family angle in subtext. To summarize it: They're both prone to try and handle things by themselves, hiding their true feelings behind masks as they both believe that they don't have what it takes to activate or even deserve their respective Crests at first, Love and Friendship. This is in part thanks to their shared familial trauma and strained relationships with their mothers. It’s why they’re so prone to being engulfed by darkness, why their dark caves are dangerous manifestations of their declining mental health, self-doubt and fears. That is why the soul-searching is needed, repeatedly so. It’s why they understand each other’s need to be left alone - which is something we will see throughout the entirety of the Adventure series for both of them. By the end of the first season, Sora had already been on her way to reconciliation with her own mother and, after everything she went through, was able to reassure Yamato that he could go on to find his own path as she did hers before, believing that he could do it too. In return, Yamato had been put - and eventually also put himself - in the position to pull Sora out of her own state of darkness as well. Because he had been there himself, he was finally able to put things into words. (Which may or may not be influenced by Yamato also perceiving Sora as a motherly figure, reminding him of his and Takeru's mother, according to the novels.)

Them being the way they are is also why they need Takeru’s softness and Taichi’s persistence (as well as Jyou’s support and Mimi’s reassurance at different times) to get it back together again. They have to be reminded that they don’t HAVE TO be alone in all this (even if they often choose to).

I want to underline Taichi's importance in particular here - because even though he reassures Sora to go for Yamato in 02, encouraging her to actively pursue what and whom she herself wants for once... Canon is very reluctant to openly state that they're actually a couple and the ongoing debate on whether or not the Digimon staff was ever fully settled on them being endgame or not doesn't help matters. (I will not open that debate once more, just know that this is still a thing.) On one hand, there is official art depicting them as close, with him usually having an arm around her shoulder, so "show don't tell" does apply here!

But on the other hand, the 02 audio drama "Armor Evolution to the Unknown" has a very... Debatable way to refer to them. "Daisuke’s Great Valentine’s Day Plan" has the other girls gossip over how they think that Yamato must really have a hard time enduring Sora's wrath and that they probably won't last through a fight; "Armor Evolving in Chaos" implies that Sora is asking herself why Yamato has been "so cold to her recently", causing him to desperately sing a love song for her...

It all feels very awkward and rocky. And to get back to Taichi here: The aftermath of 02 mainly shows us a somewhat dysfunctional bond between these three friends and it's very unclear what is even going on between them. For example, there is their portrayal in Diablomon Strikes Back; the way the picture of Yamato and Sora gets leaked causes the group to react in shock, followed by awkward silence... And the way Sora eventually leaned towards Taichi instead of Yamato, to this day, is reason for the fandom to debate on what the - at that time - current state of Sorato is. The writers of Tri even mention that "no official relationships are going on between [Taichi, Sora and Yamato]", which begs the question as to whether or not it had worked out in the end. We don't know if, when or why Sora and Yamato broke up, what their stance is towards each other. Just like the foundation of the relationship itself, we do not actively hear what they mean to each other outside of weird, non-canon audio drama humour - and all we get is vague subtext and a forced (somewhat fanservice-y) love triangle that was never supposed to be one in the first place.

I say forced, because in usual fandom portrayals of the "traingle", it's Taichi and Yamato "fighting" over Sora's affections, which is, never, not even once, confirmed to be true - and while Sora is being put into a position in Tri that implies that she has to pick between them (aka Yamato's concert and Taichi's football match)... It never actually happens. Instead, in the end, Sora and Yamato both appear to be more likely to have feelings for Taichi than for each other, but that is a whole different box of pandora to open up.

Long story short - canon has never settled on how to commit to them and thus, the infamous Taiorato fandom wars had never really come to an end. Which is a shame, because the initial set-up in Adventure would have allowed for a lot of mutual growth and healing potential due to Sora's and Yamato's shared experiences and view-points. Unfortunately, the anime decided to never really SHOW them spending actual screentime for the sake of bonding together post their scenes in Adventure, neither in 02 nor in Tri. And if they talk to each other - it is usually about Taichi. Tri does include little nods towards them (hands on shoulders, little reaction shots, mostly on Sora's behalf), but is equally prone to depict a visible distance between them, culminating in Yamato not noticing that Sora, by the end of the series, had cut her hair even shorter than before (so he's getting called out by Takeru for not being very observant). Kizuna at least implies that Yamato knows what Sora is up to - but the only scenes that actually include her have her be concerned for Piyomon and Taichi instead...

The epilogue itself had also always been reason to speculate for decades by now; in comparison to Miyaken - which had actually gotten quite a solid foundation in the most recent movie -, there had been a visible physical distance between Sorato while talking to their children, which heated up fan speculations as to whether they're still together at this point in time...

Whether I think why and how they’d work.

As I haven't been able to keep it shortly up there after all, you may be able to tell that I am somewhat frustrated with their portrayal. Whether production quarrels got in the way or not, whether they've been trying to undo the damage by keeping things as vague as possible throughout all these years, I am not able to tell. What I do know is that - Digimon never shied away from giving us realistic interpersonal relationships. We've seen it all, between friends, siblings, parents and children, married couples... The sad part here is - that also includes relationships that are not meant to last.

And as much as it may sting, as promising as their initial parallels may have been... To refer back to my previous analysis post, maybe their mutual tendencies to "pull back and isolate themselves" had been (one of) the reason(s) why they were not right for each other in the long run. Do not get me wrong, I support the idea that Sora had developed feelings for Yamato as a teenager - they were 14 years old, they had been through life-changing events together and related to each other due to their strained mother-relationships... Again, we never really hear how they feel about each other, but: Why wouldn't Sora feel drawn to Yamato as a kindred spirit, someone who could understand her and already proved to be able to give her the space she needed in the past? Let's also not forget that we're also still talking about Sora Takenouchi here - she's a born caretaker, even if she doesn't want to be reduced to that role, she is still naturally loving. So it also makes sense for Yamato to fall for her, to feel cared for, loved and wanted? To get the affection he had always craved while simultaneously being able to live out his own protective side? Heck yeah! In theory - it makes perfect sense! Let teenagers experiment, have fun, figure themselves out!

But canon also shows us that they - and Taichi - actually turn out to be quite... Dysfunctional young adults due to a LOT of unresolved self-esteem issues, mental health problems and a lack of a clear identity path. Adventure and 02 had shown them to be on a good way, but... Puberty apparently didn't allow them to work on their issues in healthy ways, which applies to all three of them - which, once again, is mirrored in the dysfunctional bond between them as well as in the fact that THEY were chosen to be the ones shown to lose their partnerships in Kizuna.

For some reason, Yamato and Sora had drifted apart and, as far as we can tell, were not able to rekindle their initial romantic attraction by the time of Kizuna/The Beginning. Instead, there were, apparently, a lot of confused feelings for Taichi involved... And an inability to open up to themselves and each other about their dreams, aspirations, paths. They tried to become "performative adults" - and lost themselves in the process. Sora is the literal embodiment of the "I'm going my own way by myself" as of Kizuna, distancing herself from literally everyone once more while she still follows in her mother's footsteps - and Taichi and Yamato did very similar things.

My impression here is that, even if Sora and Yamato did eventually get back together again at some point, maybe after doing some more soul-searching and getting in touch with themselves again, getting their Digimon back... I'm not sure if they'd last. Especially if you consider Yamato's career path as an astronaut, who'd spend quite some time away from home, whereas Sora would not only be tasked with her own, probably very time- and energy-consuming career as a fashion designer; she'd also have to take care of their two children by herself... Which kinda delegates Yamato back to his initial lone-wolf-persona he never even wanted to have, literally forced to keep a physical distance, probably doomed to follow in his own parents' footsteps of being incapable of maintaining a happy, balanced marriage... It's not that he doesn't WANT to break through generational trauma, quite the contrary, he is a hands-on person after all, especially when he has set his mind to something - but he's not always the most observant and vocal when it comes to the subject of his own relationships and we know how he tends to deal with conflict, he either gets unintentionally hurtful or... Leaves. And since Sora can also very easily lash out when she feels cornered, Yamato might not be capable to give himself or her what they need - just like the silly audio drama once implied. Especially because after everything she went through, Sora needs as much reassurance and validation as he does - and living through a marriage in which her husband would be away just as much as her own father used to be in his marriage might... Not be the healthiest approach.

Whether I’d prefer them as platonic or romantic ship.

Whether or not we'll ever retcon the epilogue or not - my personal verdict is that Sorato could have been a great opportunity to show that dating as teenagers can be super fun and nice, but you may not be compatible long-term. But it's okay to break up and move on and maybe be a little awkward for a while, but since you still have that history and a deeper understanding for each other, you still get out of it stronger and with a bond that is just as meaningful as a romantic connection. I feel like it could really have been great like that and I do have a very soft spot for their potential - especially as parallels to Taishirou, there is nothing more fun than having these four go on adventures and silly double dates together IF everything is well executed and functional and if people actually TALK to each other for once. I have a billion set-ups in the back of my mind in my AUs where they would end up moping about their mothers and about Taichi and teasing each other, Sora would actually enjoy collaborating with Taichi and Takeru to get under Yamato's skin, but she also knows his gentle and soft and cheesy side, they adore each other, even if they're incredibly dense about it and Mimi would forever roll her eyes at them... I could go on.

But even if things stay like they are in the epilogue - the "Sorato is actually divorced in the epilogue, but still on good terms and take care of their children like responsible adults who successfully broke through generational trauma" approach can be pretty nice and enjoyable as well (especially in a scenario in which Yamato would end up with Jyou and Sora with Mimi, because I feel like these two get them the best - or both of them actually end up with Taichi, so the triangle can FINALLY be resolved in a satisfying way. The comphet memes about them from back in the day also really spoke to me, because I them getting together could also have been them trying to compensate for their attraction towards their own gender - OR because neither of them thought they could have Taichi in the end, but... THAT'S just a theory after all.) Either way, they care deeply about each other in every reality - even if I personally believe they might work better platonically.

[izzyizumi]

ME: Good morning to Mrs. Izumi and Mrs. IzuMI ONL-- Mrs. Izumi: :) AND {My CHILD} Koushiro? :) :) ME: ... AND Koushiro Izumi TOO (You're rIGHT)

[heatwa-ves]

pleaseeeee i wanna know abt the izlo ghost fic !!

YAYYY okay so this is inspired by my fav fic of all time a thousand nights with you by casastella

so this is in an au where they're just at a normal school (boarding school?) not idols and izumi is investigating the music rooms at night because there's rumors of a ghost and makoto was scared (I feel like it's canon he's scared of ghosts but I might be making that up?? someone correct me if I'm wrong) and when he goes into one of the music rooms he finds leo who is a ghost who died at the school 3 years ago so before izumi had started and izumi is basically like. what the fuck. ghosts aren't even real who even are you. and leo talks for a bit and izumi is just like What The Fuck because he has to accept that ghosts exist now I guess and he leaves and he's thinking like omg what am I gonna tell makoto. and he just tries to go back to life as normal but he finds himself going back to the music room that night. leo isn't there so he's trying to convince himself maybe it was all a dream. and he leaves it be for a couple of weeks

until one day he returns to the school building very late (ritsu had fallen asleep in a classroom and izumi had to go find him) and when looking in the music room he sees leo again.. and they talk a bit.more this time and leo plays some music for him and it turns out (izumi doesn't know all this information at this point) that after leo died because he was so young and it was so tragic he had been granted 200 more fridays to write 200 more songs so he can appear as a ghost on one night a week in the music room .. and so izumi visits him every friday for the next few months and they get to know eachother and leo tells izumi the circumstances of his death (events of checkmate with people only wanting him for his songs and getting burnt out and depressed but this time he doesn't have izumi or madara and so there's nothing to really help him through his depression and he ends up committing suicide. and idk the story goes through these moments they have together with leo writing songs and even gets izumi to start singing and leo laughs at his singing like in lionheart but says he has potential and izumi talks about how conflicted he is over what he wants to be and what his parents want him to be and does he love modelling or not and izumi tells leo about naru and ritsu and makoto and leo talks about his family and how ruka is now older than he will ever be and one day leo tells izumi he only has one more song left before he has to pass on and izumi because he's incapable of processing emotions is upset and angry because leo is leaving and so they have an argument and when it comes to the last day they will have together izumi is scared to go but he also doesn't want his last words with leo to be the argument they had and he gets there when leo has only a few minutes left and maybe they kiss idk and leo plays the last song he wrote just for izumi and then he has to go.. and he had been recording all the songs even with izumis singing and theyre on an ipod that is left for izumi.. and izumi sits in the empty music room and listens to the songs on the ipod and is very sad 👍

[arigatonamuse]

the re-reading continues time for:

Episode 1 - The Show Must Go On! (pt1)

CW: I will be talking about parental neglect in this (also i call Itaru names but it's all /lh i promise)

Chapter 1

Me, reading the prologue: i’ve given up on thinking about the timeline Me, in the very first chapter: what if i tried, anyway?

*Quietly converts yen to my currency* Oh whew That’s more than the money i’d need to pay off my student loans

Sakuya 🤝 me Being confused about the “tricks” comment (i was able to understand it from context later on tho)

Honestly? Good on Massu for slapping Sakyo for saying that

Izumi rationalising her being neglected as “my dad loved this troupe” and holding onto that because if it wasn’t that way then he was just a neglectful father, Yukio HAD to love the troupe because if he didn’t… then where would that put her? (Izumi, my beloved, we was still neglectful towards you, you don’t need to make excuses for him, he kinda WAS a piece of shit since before vanishing and that’s not your fault and responsibility bby)

Izumi calling Mankai, which was more or less Yukio’s favourite child, a “priceless treasure” makes me wonder… is she doing all these, at least in part, so Yukio will finally see her worth or something? Because Mankai is a priceless treasure but his family wasn’t worth his time, is this Izumi trying to show her importance to her dad too?

Damn, Izumi really has to heal from some shit, doesn’t she?

HE ABANDONED YOU, IZUMI HE HAD ABANDONED YOU SINCE BEFORE HE FLED JAPAN

Izumi wanting Sakyo to retract his statement really makes me feel like i’m onto something regarding Izumi wanting to prove her important and worth to Yukio

I should Adopt this mindset in my life tbh

Chapter 2

I really wanna recreate the dorms somehow but i’m just remembering how the map is not actually up to scale and i tried alr and it was Weird and aaaaaaaah

I love how Izumi shuts down or ignores Masumi while still being a caring adult towards him, that’s some model adult shit tbh

Sakuya’s parents ;-;

Izumi saying things about Sakuya’s parents without Knowing make my heart ache for him so much

Oh i had forgotten how much i cannot stand Sakuya’s relative from the phone call I’m feeling a bit violent at reading through her lines

I do wonder… Sakkun says he’s been crashing at his friends’ places but… how come we’ve never heard of his friends again?

Ngl now i’m wondering if the line about meeting his parents was just Massu trying to change the conversation topic away from… his family situation 

Again, tho, i love how Izumi is explicit in telling him no when it comes to those comments

She’s such a caring and generally Good Adult towards the younger members ;w;

Chapter 3

I wonder how Matsukawa’s food was bad in order for it to be salvageable through curry, bc i do know that Izumi’s a queen when it comes to making it but i doubt you can salvage like… overcooked food or just a weird food goop with it?

(I am now thinking about An’s rant about curry (i think about it often ngl))

Now that i think about it… i actually wanna listen to Izumi’s rambles about spices too, please and thank you

I would love to watch OG Harugumi’s romijuli

HAKAKU MENTION HOLY SHIT

Chapter 4

Massu and Tsuzuru questioning why actors need to exercise… meanwhile i’m having flashbacks at my hs theatre club’s “warm up” exercises including circus bs every now and then (no really, i learnt how to jump through a hoop and land in different ways)

I had forgotten Massu’s parents had their SECRETARY answer to Mankai regarding their son’s whole ass living arrangements

Izumi is so quick to point out when someone’s parents/tutors don’t care about their child and yet… *looks at her making excuses for Yukio*

Chapter 5

I love how Tsuzuru is already thinking like a storyteller even though he doesn’t have the scriptwriter role yet

That said, Tsusuru, you’re wrong, there are MANY things one can do with a limited cast, you just have to break away from the traditional theatre structure

THE HOMELESS

Same, Tsuzuru, same

DOGHOUSE

Something something Masumi's a sheltered rich kid

Note: ask An what Citron’s lines say in Japanese (idk exactly what they say but i think loc had to change them a lot based on the ham/daikon change)

IZUMI WAS ONTO HIM FROM THE FIRST MOMENT THEY MET SHE WAS ONTO HIM (and we have the seed of suspicion planted for understanding Citron’s character more in depth)

oh my god, Tsuzuru, you can't just ask someone why they're wearing a headscarf 

Citron i love you but you cannot talk about bare skin when your v neck goes that deep

“With all due respect, are you nuts?!”

The pleasure is all mine, Sir Citron (this is the part where i try and fail to convince people that i’m normal about my faves)

I feel so bad for Sakuya wrt the spinning around but also i cannot stop giggling

istg i read the way Sakuya literally stumbled on Itaru in more than one fic back in the 2010s

Itaru you fucking liar i see you

SARDINE CAN ROOMS Citron i get that you’re a prince and all but those rooms are actually pretty damn spacious 

Chapter 6

Have i mentioned that i love Citron? Bc i love Citron

Izumi’s right, Citron is very pretty and i think we need to talk about that more

This is the first time where Citron says something ridiculous, so far his grammar and vocab haven’t been anything outlandish (except for a “Manzai Company” mention last chapter) This could be proof that Citron does what he does on purpose as a mood maker, he waited for a bit, talking to the troupe more or less normally at first, before pulling this, and he does this the moment he sees people seem to be distressed (i should add this to the Citron essay)

Tsuzuru being so determined on what he wants to do makes you want to root for him so bad, i care he

Tsuzuru and Hakkaku parallels shown this early on! 

But also Tsusuru bby it’s been two days and you’re already trying to pile too many things on your plate

Izumi being so harsh with him (yet giving him this big ass chance) lowkey reminds me of Sakyo in the first chapter

“Abducted alien” something something Citron othering himself while still being "in character"

I am so emo about Izumi’s lines regarding being on stage She loved the stage so much she deserves to be kinder on herself and give herself more chances

KASUMI MENTION (no names but y'know) I am VERY curious about what the original Japanese says here Also i love that this seemed like a throwaway line back then, but now we know who it was referring to and we actually got to meet Kasumi? It means so much more now

Chapter 7

Oh Izumi you’re gonna be so disappointed

Itaru I’m onto you

ITARU I’M ONTO YOU

Dw Izumi, it’s not your fault, he took up your offer with the conditions you mentioned

“あめんぼあかいなあいうえお” -> *starts singing Citron no Tadashii Nihongo Kouza? In his head*

I love Citron so much (but also i’m onto you too y’know)

Chapter 8

Massu’s relationship with Tsuzuru has improved so much, it makes me so emo

HE WASN’T GOING TO UNI? TSUZURU PLEASE!

I’d forgotten how annoyed i was at Itaru at first but whew he sure annoys me with his disappearing, excuses, and not giving a shit outside the scheduled rehearsals

HE MADE IZUMI WORRY AND I FEEL SO BAD FOR HER

MASUMI PLEASE

I love how quick Sakuya and Citron are to care about their troupemates Idk if it is the same in the original but Citron calling Tsuzuru “my dear Tsuzuru” is actually so cute to me ;w; (I know he’s partly just being dramatic but still, it’s cute)

Chapter 9

I love how Massu just deadpans his question about if it’s a gay script

Citron, anything you wanna share with the class?

TSUZURU AND MIZUNO LORE (i’d forgotten they mentioned his inspiration this early)

Citron’s line about understanding Tsuzuru makes so much more sense knowing about his past (I wonder if he’s thinking about Guy here?) And him following the first time he opens up, ever, with a mistake is SO interesting to me it makes Tsuzuru focus on the mistake instead of Citron’s possible backstory, and his correction makes the audience follow along that path too and--

Tsuzuru’s so right to say that Sakuya represents what Harugumi stands for, he has no idea 

“No protein dayo”

Oho now we have two people onto Citron

Sakkun leader!

Tsuzuru so mean to Citron :<

ITARU GAMER REVEAL

Honestly i’d completely forgotten about how it took me some time to warm up to Itaru but i’m so excited to see that happen again now

Chapter 10

CITRON SOUNDS SO UPSET AT HIS NUMBER OF LINES I’M SORRY MY DEAR 

ITARU YOU DIRTY LIAR

Before Banri “Super Ultra Easy Mode” Settsu, there was Masumi

Sakuya is trying so hard i wanna cry from love

MASUMI PLEASE DON’T BE MEAN TO SAKKUN HE’S TRYING HIS BEST

Ngl tho i can’t be that upset at Masumi because his criticisms are right Like yeah he’s being a bit harsh and should’ve given everyone more time to feel their place with the script before making them but… he’s… not wrong Something something Masumi had a different experience with the script so he expects everyone to be similar

NOOOO SAKKUN DON’T SAY THAT

Massu that’s not what Tsuzuru said, that’s a whole new sentence

Citron to the rescue

sEE! SEE! HE MAKES MISTAKES WHEN THE MOOD IS TENSE TO LIGHTEN THE MOOD!

Itaru you bitch

Aaaaand i got to the max images i could add to one post alright see y'all in pt2

[twilightmalachite]

PORTRAIT - Epilogue 3

Author: Akira

Characters: Akiomi, Makoto, Izumi, Arashi

Translator: Mika Enstars

"As I’ve always said, you’re always so beautiful and true, Yuuki-kun, I envy you."

[Read on my blog for the best viewing experience with Oi~ssu ♪]

Season: Winter

Location: Reception Room

Akiomi: By the way. Have you seen your father since his release yet?

Makoto: No, my family’s been divorced for a long time. Yuuki is my mother’s maiden name… My father hasn’t contacted me either, so I guess it’s kind of an awkward situation.

I do hope he is well and happy, though.

Akiomi: I feel perhaps your father feels the same way about you.

Makoto: …?

Makoto: Oh, I’m sorry! Are you in the middle of work, Kunugi-senpai?

It looks like you’re in the middle of an interview. Um, sorry for having bothered you.

👤: ……

Makoto: ? How come you’re… staring at me?

Umm. Have I met you somewhere before…?

👤: [—Excuse me, Kunugi-sensei. I do feel we have reached a conclusion, and it appears you have other business to attend to, so I’ll take my leave here.]

Akiomi: Alright. …You don’t wish to talk some more?

👤: [I’m not worthy of that. But, I am glad to know you are well and happy.]

Akiomi: If he hadn’t been happy, you’d go on another rampage in a costume, wouldn’t you?

Makoto: Costume…?

Akiomi: The people of the world think you are some unidentified monster, but…

The truth is, you wanted to be a hero.

You had believed the negative criticism C-kun’s parents spread around in it’s entirety and had tried to rescue your precious son from the “bad guys”—

You tried hard, and desperately. After all the misunderstandings and fruitless efforts, you were handed a guilty verdict from the judiciary, but I can’t say I think you are.

👤: […The only “bad guy”… is myself.]

[Despite having been released on parole at the time, I had gotten my sentence extended due to an incident at a department store—]

[And during that time, everything in the world had changed.]

Akiomi: That’s why you came to talk to me like this, isn’t it?

But, I don’t think you need to be so anxious.

I’m sure that no matter what happens, no matter how much time passes by, there are things that will never change. Isn’t that right, Yuuki-kun?

Makoto: Me? Umm, what are you talking about…?

Akiomi: As I’ve always said, you’re always so beautiful and true, Yuuki-kun, I envy you.

Makoto: Oh no no, not at all… I’m the one who's always thought of you as beautiful, ever since the day we first met. I felt it was a shame you quit working as a model.

Akiomi: Ahaha, I feel the rest of the world feels the very same way about you.

👤: […Now, if you’ll excuse me.]

Akiomi: Yes. You’re welcome to come again anytime.

Next time, you can just come and see me normally, okay? No need to go through the trouble of posing as a reporter and requesting an interview.

Let us talk, as a parent and as a teacher.

👤: [……]

*sound of a door clicking*

Makoto: …? Who was that guy, again?

Hmm, I definitely remember seeing him somewhere. He was certainly beautiful, so maybe he was an actor in some movie or something…?

Akiomi: I don’t think he ever went into acting, unlike you. He had been denounced or something after being exposed for plastic surgery, though—Though I’m sure you’ll be beautiful even without having to touch up here and there, won’t you?

Makoto: Huh… It doesn’t matter whether I’m beautiful or not, though. But I guess people of the world certainly are particular about that, aren’t they?

Akiomi: Fufu, you say that because you’ve never not been beautiful yourself. Once you get older start getting wrinkles and gray hairs, I’m sure you’ll understand.

Once you’re an adult, right?

Makoto: …?

Izumi: Yuu-kuuuuuun! ☆

What are you doing here by yourself with that feeder cricket bastard? Cheating? Are you cheating? Even though you have me…!

Makoto: How come you’ve lost your mind as quickly as you arrived? Did you hit your head, Izumi-san?

I swear you used to look a little cooler than that, you know…

Arashi: Sorry~! ♪ I figured Kunugi-sense~ might’ve been cheating on me after seeing him go behind closed doors with a beautiful man, so I listened in from the room over!

Akiomi: There couldn’t have been any cheating between us in the first place, though.

Makoto: Seriously…

Arashi: Ufufu, that’s when Izumi-chan came upon me, and while I was making all sorts of excuses, Makoto-chan entered the room, you see—

That’s when Izumi-chan and I’s interests coincided, so we decided to bring down the hammers upon our cheating men! Make sense~?

Makoto: I’m totally lost, though.

Akiomi: Seriously… It’s boggling, no matter how much time passes us by, you guys remain to be troublesome children.

Arashi: Oh my, how cold! We’re growing up little by little, aren’t we? Right, Izumi-chan? Makoto-chan?

Izumi: That’s a given, isn’t it? I’m always becoming more beautiful than ever before!

Akiomi: Indeed. I understand that, of course.

There are a lot of things we have gained, and fortunately, as idols, we are in a position to sell it all.

You guys, too. Don’t waste your time here, show the world what you’re made of—Best of luck with your work as usual.

…We were born for the sake of being loved.

We cannot stop time until we achieve “that” and are satisfied.

[ ☆ ]

← prev | story directory

[sloanerisette]

To Have And To Hold From This Day Forward - Chapter 3: Cold And Alone

Miyakari Autumn may have ended a few weeks ago, but I am still set on finishing this lil fic! This one is for the prompt "Cold and Alone" and I am SO excited to have it out because I've been working really hard at it!

Summary: For years, Kari has been tormented by forces of darkness that she can't even fully comprehend. Now, so many years later, and it's trying to claim her again to extinguish her light. But Yolei will be there to try and protect her wife, no matter what threatens the love of her life.

You can find the whole thing on AO3 here!

---

Work couldn’t end soon enough. As much as she loved working for Izumi Technologies, some days were incredibly tiring, there was so much to do, and all she wanted was to be back with her wife and kids and especially her wife.

Oh, how she missed her wife.

As she looked down at her phone while on the subway back to their neighborhood, one taken at their wedding, at the moment they shoved cake in each other’s faces, Yolei held a fond smile on her face and held back from tearing up. Even fifteen years later and there wasn’t a day she didn’t feel the same way as that fateful day. Hawkmon looked up at Yolei with a knowing smile in his eyes.

“It’ll be nice to get home and relax with our family, won’t it?” he asked.

Our family. A pair of words she still couldn’t believe at times. After the start they had, that she had, here they were, with a home and a family.

“I’ve been waiting all day,” Yolei said simply.

When the subway dinged, Yolei was quick to maneuver through the crowds, a spring in her step despite how tired she was. They’d have dinner and once the kids were in bed they’d cuddle up on the couch with some wine and snacks and continue one of those horrible American dating shows Yolei got caught up in during the brief time she stayed with Mimi during undergrad. It was the ultimate guilty pleasure, and the two frequently lamented how one lady was meant to pick out a partner between all sorts of men who clearly didn’t deserve her.

She was buzzing with excitement as she approached the door, having to hold back from squealing with delight. She swung the door open and popped in with the same dramatic flourish as always.

“Honeyyyyyyyy I’m home!”

…

Where was her beautiful wife to greet her?

Yolei’s smile quickly gave way to a deep frown as she slipped off her shoes and padded inside.

“Babe?” she called out as she craned her neck to look at her son and daughter watching TV, “Hey kids, where’s mom at?”

They remained distracted by the television for a few moments before their son Ichiro looked at her, a Nyaromon sitting in his lap, while a Poromon was nestled next to their daughter. Gatomon was curled up on the couch with her eyes closed.

“Oh, hey mom! Mom’s taking a nap,” he told her.

“A nap?” Yolei repeated quietly.

“Yeah! She picked us up and then said she wasn’t feeling good so she wanted to lie down before dinner,” their daughter Haruka added.

“I’m gonna go check on her real quick and then we’ll figure out dinner, ok?” she said. They both cheered, but despite that Yolei couldn’t help but feel a bit anxious. She wasn’t even sure why, but something in her gut left her on red alert. She barely processed Hawkmon peeling from her side to occupy the kids as she started to walk again. When she approached their bedroom door, she couldn’t help but hesitate for a second as she reached for the door knob.

Kari was feeling alright this morning… maybe it was some sort of 24 hour fever? It was the season, after all…

They were probably out of stuff after their kids both got sick a few weeks ago, too, so she’d have to pick stuff up…

Her mind was racing with thoughts of what to do, what might be wrong, and how to handle it all in that brief time before she opened the door. She held in a breath and slowly peeked inside to see Kari lying on her side, facing away from the door.

“Oh, baby…” Yolei frowned. She stepped in and closed the door behind her, “Kari, are you ok? Are you asleep?” Her voice was soft and gentle as concern creased her features.

“Mmmm’kay,” Kari mumbled, her voice barely audible. Yolei was straining to hear her and walked forward, rounding the bed and crouching down to look at Kari.

She seemed… mostly fine? Maybe a little paler than normal, although her eyes were tired, with thick, dark circles underlining them. Yolei’s mouth dropped open a bit.

“Are you sure? You look kinda rough,” Yolei whispered. At the very least, there was no trash can or mess nearby. She brought the back of her hand to her wife’s forehead, letting it rest there for a moment. It was something her mom and dad did when she was a kid to check for a fever, but frankly… Yolei couldn’t exactly tell. Was this supposed to be helpful?

“You don’t feel warm or anything,” she said.

Kari shook her head, “I’m ok, honest,” she breathed out, “Just not feeling that great. I was feeling kind of bad during the last half of the day but it got worse when we got home.”

“Oh, baby, I’m sorry. Look, I’ll take care of things tonight, ok? I can get dinner handled and take care of the kids,” she smiled, hoping the sight would help assuage some of her wife’s pain, “Is there anything you need?”

“Maybe something for a headache and a glass of water?”

“Of course. I’m on it, my perfect queen,” Yolei said, standing up and planting a gentle kiss on Kari’s temple, “I’ll be right back.” She snuck out of the room as quietly as she could so as to not disturb her wife, and closed the door behind her. As she let out a sigh, she saw everyone’s heads peeking around the corner. Yolei offered a smile as she walked over.

“Is mom ok?” Ichiro asked.

“Yeah, she’s just really tired and has a headache,” Yolei frowned, “I’m going to get her some water and then I’m going to pick us up some dinner.” Dinner… dinner… Where was there to get something quick? She could probably call for some delivery from Davis’s restaurant? Then she’d have to get Ichiro’s and Haruka’s orders and their son was still pretty picky at times…

“Yolei, are you ok?” Hawkmon asked as she leaned against the counter after pouring the glass of water for her wife. Yolei folded her arms and sighed.

“Yeah, I’m fine, Hawkmon. I think,” she paused for a beat, then another, “…I always just get anxious when one of us gets sick.”

Hawkmon gently patted Yolei’s knee, “There, there, my dear. Everything will be fine. Kari is strong, and you’ve heard the stories from her parents, right? She’s been through worse than a mere cold.” Hawkmon offered a smile. Yolei slowly broke from the deep frown both on her face and in her expression and returned a small smile in kind.

“You’re right, but I guess that’s just what has me so stressed,” she shrugged, “I’m just overthinking it.”

She grabbed a bottle of painkillers from the cupboard and grabbed it and the glass, “I’m going to pick up dinner for everyone after I drop this off, do you mind watching the kids while I’m gone?” she asked. Hawkmon saluted.

“Gladly!”

Yolei walked as quickly as she could back to their room without breaking into a run, and when she opened the door she saw Gatomon sitting next to Kari, gently rubbing her arm. Gatomon’s ears perked up and she turned to look at Yolei. Yolei once again rounded the bed and placed the water down. She opened the bottle and pulled out a pill.

“Still feeling rough?” she asked, voice low and soft. Kari nodded as best she could as she slowly pushed herself up and took it from her hand.

“Yeah… I’m probably just going to try and fall asleep after this,” she mumbled, then took a long drink of water.

“I’m gonna pick up some dinner, do you want me to get you anything?” Yolei asked. She reached to take one of Kari’s hands in her own, gently squeezing it. At the very least she wasn’t too warm or too cold. Honestly, it brought the same warmth and relief it always did. It helped loosen up the tension she had been feeling more and more by the second ever since she got home.

“No, I don’t really feel all that hungry,” she said with a shrug. Of course, that just meant Yolei would pick something up for her anyways and put it in the fridge in case her wife wanted a midnight snack. Yolei gave Kari’s hand one more squeeze, which Kari returned, mustering up a weak smile to offer her in hopes of assuaging her nerves. As much as Yolei appreciated it, and though she didn’t let it show on her face, it didn’t do all too much to help.

“Make sure you keep a close eye on her,” she said to Gatomon, shooting her a playful wink.

“Don’t worry, she’ll be perfectly safe.”

Yolei headed for the door, grabbing a jacket on the way out. As she passed by the living room, she pulled her phone from her pocket.

“Ok kiddos, Digimon, mama’s picking up curry, what do we want?” she asked as she opened up her notes app.

“Me and Poromon want katsu!”

“Oh, we want katsu, too!”

“As tempted as I am to branch from my usual choice, I think I will go with the katsu as well.”

They all talked at once, and it was only thanks to going through this type of situation so many times that she managed to catch it all. Lots of katsu, she would get a chicken cutlet for herself, seafood for Gatomon, and vegetable curry for Kari.

“Perfecto! Be good, I’ll be back soon!” she said with a wave before popping out of the apartment. If she kept her mood up, then she wouldn’t have as much reason to worry.

…That was what she tried to tell herself, at least. If she kept moving, kept herself focused on picking up on food, and kept her thoughts on anything but that anxiety gnawing at her, then she could make it through the night without much issue. The cold winter night nipped at her ears and clouded her glasses. She pulled them off and wiped them with her jacket’s sleeve when she got into the elevator.

Thankfully the curry place they frequented was only a few blocks away. Even if she wasn’t a fan of making the walk in this weather, the prospect of delicious curry and dinner with her family (even if it would be without her wonderful wife) left her chest feeling warm. The streets were still busy in the early evening, and people talking to each other or on their phones, advertisements playing on giant screens over various buildings, and music playing from stores and radios all helped drown out some of those errant thoughts that kept trying to poke at her more and more.

Christmas lights were starting to be put up on a few of the smaller restaurants and storefronts, and as Yolei gripped onto the phone in her pocket, thoughts of their honeymoon, of their first times taking their kids out to see Christmas lights and watching the wonders in their eyes, all filled her mind. Of going to Mimi’s Christmas parties and kissing under mistletoe that her idol would sneak her when no one else was looking.

As she reached the curry shop, someone opened the door and the delicious aroma of food wafted out. She took a large step to grab the door just in time and whipped in, unable to help but shiver as the warm air hit her body.

She checked her phone for any word from Kari, half-relieved and half-worried to see there was nothing from her. She could only hope that her wife was simply sleeping off her headache and exhaustion.

She droned off her order once she reached the front of the line, and stepped off to the side to let the next woman put her order in. She rocked on the balls of her feet and listened to the music playing as she waited for her food, and jumped when a loud pop song started blasting from her pocket.

“Sorry! Sorry!” she apologized to the other patrons and the staff who turned to look at her. Yolei tapped on her phone and brought it up to her ear.

“Hello?”

“Kari is missing!”

An iron hand gripped her heart as fear took over her body. Hawkmon’s words rang in her ears over and over as all of the air was pushed from her lungs. This couldn’t be happening. How could this be happening? The girl working the counter calling her order was distant to her as the world fell away around her. This felt like all of her worst nightmares come true. Hell, this was a nightmare she couldn’t have even begun to imagine.

“Yolei! Yolei, you need to get back here right now!”

“I… I…” she breathed out slowly, swallowing down a lump in her throat.

She wanted to scream. She was mere moments from screaming, and instead barely managed to hold back as she burst out of the restaurant and started sprinting back home, pushing through anyone and everyone who didn’t move out of her way. Her breathing was heavy with each stride she took down the streets. Her brain buzzed, louder and louder with each passing second, almost enough to cause her to collapse. She didn’t even think about how her phone call was still going, all that mattered was getting home. What she would do when she got there she had no idea, but it was the first step.

Nothing else mattered.

She had to get home.

She had to figure out what happened to Kari.

The elevator up was agonizingly long. If it wasn’t for the fact that it would be hell to go up a dozen flight of stairs or so to get to her floor in her boots, she would’ve sprinted her way up, taking the stairs three at a time. By the time the elevator reached her floor she was ready to claw through the door. Her hand fumbled in her purse as she tried to get her keys, and after a moment she finally slammed them into the lock and barreled through into the apartment.

Haruka and Ichiro were both on the verge of tears, with Ichiro struggling to hold back from sobbing as he started to sniffle loudly. Gatomon rounded the corner on all fours and skidded to a stop in front of Yolei. Hawkmon flew over to the entryway and Yolei knelt down.

“What happened? What do you mean Kari disappeared?” she asked, voice wavering as she did her best to try and keep it together. If she broke down then her kids wouldn’t be far behind. For now she had to hold it together. For her kids’ sake, for Gatomon and Hawkmon’s sake, and for Kari’s sake. If she lost it and started sobbing now then she couldn’t save Kari, and nothing was more important than getting her home safely.

“I-I was just sitting there next to her and she kept mumbling about how she ‘didn’t want to go back’ and ‘she couldn’t face it again’.”

“A-And then she just disappeared?” Yolei asked. She was so focused on Gatomon that she didn’t see her kids running forward, and nearly fell over as they grabbed onto her.

“Is mom gonna be ok?” Haruka asked.

“Mommy, where'd she go? Why is she gone?” Ichiro cried as he shoved his face into the arm of her jacket.

“M-Mom’s gonna be fine, kids,” Yolei choked out, before she swallowed hard. She couldn’t tell them the truth that she didn’t know— she could barely even handle that right now.

“Gatomon, are you sure she said that? Did she say anything else?”

Gatomon shook her head, “I couldn’t make out some of it, she was mumbling into her pillow a lot of it.”

“Didn’t want to go back…” Yolei mumbled to herself. All of a sudden the lightbulb went off in her head and she froze. No. No no no. This couldn’t be happening. Not again. Not after so long.

“It’s-it’s the Dark Ocean. It has to be. It got to her somehow,” she said. Her breathing was getting quicker and more shallow, and it took Hawkmon’s hand on her arm to just barely stop her from hyperventilating.

“But how? It’s been years since it’s tried to get her!” Gatomon said.

Years. As far as she was sure, the last time had been when the two of them had their Digimon DNA Digivolve. Before that it was when she was kidnapped by whatever force was there that wanted her. It had her again, and she couldn’t let it keep her. Her heart continued to pound in her chest, and she started pacing.

“We-we need to get there. The three of us. We have to rescue her,” she said, the words rolling off her tongue quickly as her mind raced frantically. Both of the Digimon looked at each other and nodded as the two children looked at her, still afraid.

“Mom is gonna be ok, right? You’ll get her back, right?” Ichiro asked.

“Of course we will,” Hawkmon assured the boy, wanting to cut in just in case Yolei continued to unravel.

She pulled her phone from her pocket and brought it to her ear as she started to call her sister.

“Momoe? I need you to come over and watch the kids. No, this is an emergency! Kari is missing!” she shouted, “Me, Hawkmon, and Gatomon are going to get her now. You need to get here as fast as you can, please,” she begged, voice on the verge of breaking. She fell silent as her sister spoke, then hung up and turned to look at her kids.

“Aunt Momoe is gonna be here soon. Don’t open the door for anyone except her.”

“Mom will be ok, right? You’ll be ok, right?” Haruka asked. Yolei crouched down and opened her arms, at which the two ran to her for a hug.

“We’ll all be ok, I promise,” she said, planting a kiss to each of their heads, “We’ll be back soon,” she added, before standing up. Without another word, she strode towards the balcony and whipped open the slider door, then turned to look at Hawkmon and Gatomon. “You guys ready?”

Gatomon ran to her side, while Hawkmon flew out the window. As soon as he was out, he Digivolved into Aquilamon, and flapped next to the balcony. Gatomon ran and jumped, soaring through the air to grab onto Aquilamon. Yolei took a few steps back and swallowed hard, then started to run. She couldn’t let this stop her, she couldn’t waste any time. She jumped up and landed on the railing, nearly tumbling forward, then hopped off and landed on her partner.

“Gatomon, you remember where Kari disappeared, right?” Yolei asked.

“Yeah, it was that way!” Gatomon shouted over the wind.

“Aquilamon, go!”

“On it!”

***

As her eyes slowly opened, she was met with the sight of a dark, lifeless sky and the sounds of the ocean’s rough, choppy waves. She could barely move her head enough as her body moved, but she was just cognizant enough to realize that she was in the ocean, being carried by the ways.

She was back in the Dark Ocean, and she didn’t have it in her to try and swim away. To do anything more than just lie there and stare up at the sky. The voices had been scratching at the inside of her head for weeks now, trying to tempt her to come back here, “where she belonged”. And the whole time, Kari had shouldered that burden and those voices by herself, through teaching and dinners with family and friends, and here it had taken her.

The darkness was going to claim her. It was going to push her under the currents and use the light she held for its own nefarious purposes.

And there was nothing she could do.

“Child of Light, I always knew you would come back, and here you are at my home yet again,” a rough voice rang in her head, “Just accept what awaits you and give up. Let the waves wash away the Light and bring you unto my domain.”

Her lips parted just slightly as the spray of the ocean flew on her face from yet another wave. She wanted to say something. To scream. For Gatomon, for Yolei, for her family, but she didn’t have it in her. She felt weak, barely able to keep herself floating along the water. Everything in her head felt fuzzy, except for that booming voice that seemed to absorb everything else. Her arms were held out, the only thing that seemed to keep her afloat, using most of her strength as her eyes slowly closed again, somehow less dark than the world she ended back up in.

“Time after time you push others away, yet once again you end up here. A sign that your presence here is meant to be.”

She pushed them away. Even that day, as the voices got louder and louder and overwhelmed her to the point that she had to lie in bed and hope it could go away, she pushed away Yolei. Her wife, her partner in life, all because she felt like a bother for it. Everyone would just worry if she told them that it was back, waiting impatiently for something to happen, if something happened. Did she even deserve Yolei? Deserve the life she had with her, Ichiro, Haruka, and their Digimon? All of her friends, her family?

No, maybe she didn’t.

All of the sounds slowly started to meld together, gnashing against her mind in a painful cacophony. Would it just be easier to sink beneath the waves and be taken by this?

Maybe… Maybe…

Her presence here was meant to be.

“Kari! Kariiiiiiiiii!”

Huh? Was that…?

Though her eyes were closed, it felt like she could see her. Yolei out there, somewhere, looking for her. Trying to find her. But there was no way she could actually be there, right? She was trapped here, no one else could be here… no one but her and the one who brought her here.

She could still hear her wife, repeatedly calling for her, her cries getting more and more distressed, close to breaking as her voice strained with each shout.

Rain started to fall, quickly picking up and drenching not just Kari in the ocean, but also Yolei, whose bangs were now matted to her face and stuck to her glasses, and Gatomon and Aquilamon.

She could see the pitch black silhouette with its shining red eyes piercing the horizon, and her fingers gripped Aquilamon’s feathers tighter than before.

“I don’t care who you are!” she screamed, “Give me back my wife!”

“The Child of Light is actually the Bride of Light? It doesn’t matter, she has brought herself to my domain and I will not let go of her. I will take her Light and plunge it into Dark as I have sought to do for so long.”

Yolei brought a hand to her head and clenched her eyes shut as the voice spoke directly into her head, rattling her skull.

“I will keep her, so go now or drown.”

She grit her teeth, trying to steady herself as the voice finally went quiet.

“We’re not giving up Kari!” Gatomon shouted at the hulking behemoth.

“Right!” Aquilamon shouted.

They were right, they wouldn’t give her up. Yolei helped bring her back from the brink before, and she would do it again, no matter what.

“Kari! We’ll fight this darkness together! As many times as it takes! I don’t care how tough it is and I don’t care what’s out there trying to take you away, but I’m here! Remember what I said? The darkness will never beat you! And it will never split us apart! Do you hear me? Kari!”

She hoped Kari could hear her voice. She needed her to know this, to know her strength. No matter what happened, she would be strong enough to get through this. And Yolei would always be there to remind her of that and fight for her.

Yolei’s eyes began to scan the ocean, looking for any hint of her.

“Where is she? Where is she…?” she mumbled to herself, head jerking in every direction to try and spot her. Finally, her eyes spotted pale alabaster in a sea of murky waves, and she felt her heart stop.

“Aquilamon, there!” she shouted, pointing in the direction she was. As soon as they were above her, Yolei pushed herself up and jumped off her partner, careening towards the water as she dove down.

“Yolei!”

“Yolei, what are you doing!?”

She could hear the Digimon, but their voices felt far away as she plunged into the water, barely able to keep hold of her glasses. She broke the surface and swam over to Kari, struggling against the current the whole time.

“Kari! Kari I’m here!” she shouted. She could see Kari’s eyes, just barely open, but they still held the same affection as always. It was the smallest shining light imaginable in this hell. Kari let out a weak cough, offering her a small smile as she reached out a hand to her. Yolei grabbed it, doing her best to tread water. “Please, tell me you’re ok,” she begged.

“Thank you… for always fighting for me. I’m sorry… I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I just… I didn’t want to bother you. I didn’t want to worry the kids,” she breathed out, tears pooling at the corners of her eyes, “I don’t want it to split us up.”

“It won’t, I promise. We’ll keep each other safe, just like we always have.”

Ever since she realized the errors of her ways, how horrible she had been, and how happily Kari was to accept her in her life as a friend and eventually a lover, she wanted to keep Kari safe. And she wanted Kari to keep her safe— it would be how they got through the tough times together.

“We’ll go home and-and the kids will be so happy to see you, and we can have dinner, whatever you want, even if it’s something I think is gross,” Yolei rambled.

Kari laughed weakly, “Even shirasu don?”

“I’ll eat five bowls of it just for you,” Yolei choked out, unable to stop herself from crying, too.

“Kari! Kari!” Gatomon cried out as Aquilamon finally lowered to the water’s surface.

Yolei reached for Kari, pulling her towards her and helping push her up onto her Digimon.

“Yolei, get on!” Aquilamon shouted. Yolei started to swim towards Aquilamon, but before she could get to her partner, she started to struggle.

“Get her… out… of here!” Yolei gasped before she dropped beneath the tides.

“Yolei!” Kari shouted, reaching into the water to be met with nothing.

“We can’t leave without her!” Kari screamed, panic clear in her eyes as she couldn’t even so much as see any sign of the other in the water.

Aquilamon, however, pulled away, and started to head back to the shore.

“I’ll go back for her, but Yolei wanted to make sure you were safe!” Aquilamon said. Aquilamon flew fast, nearly crashing into the sand as he met the ground. Kari tumbled off Aquilamon and Gatomon hopped next to her.

“How are we going to get her? None of us can swim,” Kari whimpered. The three stared out at the horizon, and at this point, the waves were so rough that none of them could even begin to guess where she was.

Yolei saved her. Yolei did everything she could to save her, and now it was because of her that her wife would drown. Kari’s body shook as tears started to fall uncontrollably.

“Yolei! Yoleeeeeeeeeeeeei!” she screamed, gasping for breath after, “Yolei! Don’t leave me! Please!”

She pushed herself up and tried to run forward, before almost immediately tumbling forward into the water. She got onto her knees, hands digging into the wet sand to try and anchor herself as the tide ebbed and flowed. She didn’t have her Digivice, none of the others were there…

“Yolei! Yolei! I’m sorry!” she screamed, hoping to be heard above the wind and the waves.

“I will claim this one’s lifeless body and then as the Light inside you burns out, I will take you and let the darkness fill you as it has been waiting to do so.”

Kari gripped her head, unable to stop herself from screaming.

“Not like this, not like this,” she mumbled to herself. It was a struggle, but she forced her eyes open.

“Yolei! I love you! You’re my light, and I can’t lose that or you!”

A bright light gathered at her chest, over her heart, and she started to glow. Gatomon and Aquilamon rushed forward, and the light gathered and shot towards the two of them, enveloping them. Kari turned to watch in silent awe.

A deep red light shot from the murky ocean, a beacon in the dense darkness, before turning to shoot towards the Digimon. The two lights fused together, before shooting out in a blinding burst of pink and red energy.

“Gatomon!”

“Aquilamon!”

“DNA Digivolve to…!”

The light shimmered away to reveal their DNA Digivolved form.

“Silphymon!”

Without wasting a moment, Silphymon shot into the air with a speed never before seen from her, jetting straight towards where the light from the ocean had come from. She dove into the water, an aura of light covering her and keeping her safe as she swam down deeper and deeper and deeper. It was hard to tell, but she could just manage to see Yolei, still sinking further into the depths.

From the shore, Kari watched with her jaw dropped, heart pounding in her ears as she waited for something, anything, that could show they were ok. She couldn’t lose any of them.

She didn’t know what she would do if she did.

But suddenly, a geyser of water shot up and Kari squinted to see Silphymon, with Yolei draped over her shoulders.

“You can try and save them all you want, but you’ll fail. I will kill you and claim the Child of Light no matter what it takes!”

Silphymon’s jaw clenched, as she stared at the silhouette that seemed to be covered by that perpetual fog.

“Kari and Yolei are our friends, our family, and our partners, and you’ll never lay a hand on them!” Silphymon shouted.

“Thousand Whips!”

The fog broke just enough for an innumerable amount of tentacles to burst forth towards Silphymon, but the Digimon was unfazed.

Instead, she started to charge up energy, once again radiating that aura she had when she Digivolved.

“Static Force!”

It was an attack Kari knew all too well from all of the foes the two of them fought against, but this was unlike anything Silphymon had ever unleashed before. Far larger than any attack their partners had unleashed in this form, and Kari couldn’t help but wonder if this would be something to surpass one of Wargreymon’s strongest attacks.

The blast of pink energy tore through the tentacles, shredding them into pixels of data effortlessly and dissipating the fog. Kari could see the face of her long-time tormentor, some sort of horrible sea monster adorned with prayer beads, chains, and strange markings. But the sight was short-lived, because as soon as the blast had met the monster, it too was destroyed instantly.

And once it was, Kari suddenly felt like she could breathe, like a massive weight had finally been lifted off her shoulders. Her first taste of air after decades plunged into the darkest depths.

Silphymon sped back towards her, reaching her in no time, and gently set Yolei’s unconscious form down and into Kari’s arms.

“She’s still breathing,” Kari whispered, then looked up at Silphymon, “Thank you for saving her. For saving us.”

“We wouldn’t be able to call ourselves your partners if we couldn’t keep you safe, could we?” Silphymon asked, trying to break the tension in the air with the soft-spoken comment.

Kari held onto Yolei tight, crying into the crook of her shoulder while the two Digimon de-Digivolved into Gatomon and Hawkmon. As they did, the Dark Ocean seemed to melt away around them, slowly fading into the shore of the beach at Odaiba. Though it was pitch black outside, the lights of the city shone behind them.

“We’re back home…” Hawkmon said with a sigh of relief. Yolei slowly started to stir, then began to hack, sputtering out water from her lungs. Kari pulled away just enough to give her wife some space, the relief on her face clear.

“Yolei, Yolei, you’re ok,” Kari said with a wavering voice. Her eyes slowly fluttered open and she looked at Kari, her face instantly breaking into a wide smile.

“You’re safe…” she breathed out before coughing again.

“Yolei, please, don’t push yourself,” Kari told her.

“’M fine, I’m fine,” she mumbled, shaking her head, “You can’t expect me not to push myself now that I know you’re safe and sound.”

She was safe and sound, they both were, when it wasn’t that long ago that she was ready to give herself up to the Dark Ocean.

“I know, but I’m still going to tell you,” Kari said, gently tracing her fingers down Yolei’s right cheek, just to assure herself that she was real and there. That she wasn’t still floating in that horrible ocean, ready to be brought under at any moment.

“Fair enough,” Yolei said, letting out another cough. She then looked back at Kari, that grin turning slightly mischievous, “So I’m your light, huh?”

The tears started to stream down her face faster and Kari couldn’t help but laugh, “Of course you are, silly,” she said, slowly devolving into a crying, laughing mess as she pulled Yolei back in for a tight hug.

Yolei pulled away, just for a moment as she planted a long kiss on her lips, then nuzzled into her again.

“I hope you know that you’ve always been my light. And you always will be.”