#ANXIOUS TAICHI

[koushirouizumi]

{"It's just a little damage."} {"You don't know what it means to be afraid."}

(To lose parts of your HOME) ---

{Now that you've come to value it as your HOME.}

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[izzyizumi]

U.S. Dub!2020 Koushiro: "MY NAME... IS Koushiro Izumi" mE: THANK!!!

[brainfilehasstoppedworking]

"Hey, Babe. Hiroko was wondering how I was doing figured maybe you could tell her?" -Takaaki to Taichi

[mikuni14]

I Hear The Sunspot - Ep 7

I don't like the direction this show is going now. I don't like that they keep separating Taichi and Kohei. I don't like that they have more interactions with other characters than with each other. And I don't like how they are constantly under the influence of other people, not each other. I don't like how the plot repeats itself and they start creating false scenarios and assuming what the other person thinks. Again. It's already been done, it's been resolved, let's not go back to it. Where did this horrible person come from, will all the girls on this show be this weird? Yeah, I know, I know, she will "understand" and apologize and everything will be all right. So... why this, why again, why now? I like jealousy done well. In this episode we have a perfect example of jealousy trope that I hate.

What's going on, this series was my second favorite series of the week, and I liked maybe 2-3 moments and I was alternately bored and anxious the whole time…

I have nothing against angst, but let it be a new angst, a new problem that they have to overcome TOGETHER. I don't like the repetition of what I watched in this episode: jealousy because of the girl, a sense of inferiority, fear of rejection, making assumptions and fake scenarios, me waiting for a honest conversation between them. They went through it all already, Kohei clearly stated that he wanted Taichi and chose him, the "girl problem" was also solved and it's clear that neither of them wanted her back then, so let's not introduce new girls, as in plural! They also fought already, because they assumed what the other person thinks and it was explained in an emotional conversation (which even this episode reminded) and they already had a good relationship after they cleared the air. Let's move forward with the plot!

I just… I feel like we are going back to square one, only worse.

[tobiasdrake]

Digimon Adventure 01x07 - Roar! Ikkakumon / Ikkakumon's Harpoon Torpedo

Previously on Digimon Adventure: After vanquishing Sid at the end of Toy Story, Woody went mad with power and created an empire. Also, Mimi learned that there can be too many teddy bear hugs.

Now the kids are back on the road again, exploring the island to find options and answers.

We open with a shot of that great mountain in the center of File Island. The Black Gears seem to be coming from it, flying high over the forest below.

This is a quiet, ominous scene in the original; Devoid of music, with only the sounds of the trees rustling and the gears whirring as they make their way across File Island. Then we open on the kids walking, visibly shivering from the cold. Even the Digimon are suffering, with Patamon and Palmon openly complaining that it's too cold.

Everyone except Gomamon, who's visibly having a great time.

The dub adds some background music and has Gomamon talk over the whole setup.

Gomamon: I know this is no day at the beach, Joe, but that's no reason to be a worrywart about it and make all your friends unhappy! Pardon the pun but chill out; Only you have a problem with the cold, right guys? Everyone, think warm!

Well that's a harsh scolding to walk in on. Joe hasn't even had a chance to say anything yet! This sets up a visual contrast, with the sight of everyone freezing and suffering contrasting against Gomamon's claim that everyone else is fine.

Either way, it hits the main point: Gomamon is completely unbothered by the frigid cold that everyone else is suffering from.

Suddenly, Taichi pipes up, giving the group encouragement in the form of a distraction to keep their spirits up.

Taichi: If we get any snow, we can have a snowball fight! Mimi: Snowball fight! Palmon: What's a snowball fight? Koushiro: A snowball fight, huh? Tentomon: What is that? Is it food? Koushiro: No, a snowball fight is a fun activity where we throw snowballs at each other. Yamato: (to Taichi) We can finally have a match! Taichi: I won't lose! Sora: I'm looking forward to it! Takeru: I wanna make an igloo! Palmon: *to Tentomon* Hey, do you know how to make an igloo? Tentomon: Now that has to be food. Koushiro: Again, it's not.

The dub script for this scene is slightly different but conveys the same ideas pretty much perfectly.

Tai: Yeah, but if it snows, we'll throw some snowballs! Mimi: And make snowmen! Gomamon: Who do you think snowmon is? Gabumon: A Digimon from their planet. Izzy: It's difficult to explain. Tentomon: Well, if it's edible, count me in! Izzy: No, the best thing about snowballs is that you can throw them at each other. It's a fun game that we play in the winter months. Tentomon: You throw food!?!? Matt: We can even build a snow fort! Tai: You'll need one! Sora: I bet I can beat you both blindfolded! T.K.: I wanna build an igloo! Palmon: I'll help! ...if you tell me what it is. Tentomon: An igloo sounds scrumptious to me! Izzy: Too bad they're not edible.

The main difference between the two versions is Mimi's introduction of a snowman into the conversation and Sora joining in on the hypothetical snowball duel between Taichi and Yamato.

The highlight of the two versions is definitely Tentomon's horrified misunderstanding of snowball fights in the dub, though. "You throw food!?!?" That got me. XD Nobody tell him about food fights.

Gabumon's confident explanation of snowmon is also pretty funny. Characters confidently answering questions about information they do not possess is never not funny.

Jou, on the other hand, is not swayed by all this fun snowball fight talk. Sora asks why he looks so on edge, and Jou explains exactly what's making him so anxious about all this snow talk.

Jou: (muttering to himself) You guys are taking it too easy. It would be unbearable if it snowed. Sora: Jou-senpai, why are you standing all alone over here looking so serious? Jou: Of course I'm serious! Think about it! If the temperature drops any further, it will be difficult for us to set up camp. In this cold environment, it'll be hard to find food too. My head hurts from all of this! I'm the one who has to protect everybody! ...because I'm the eldest.

While he's talking, we see Takeru, Koushiro, Yamato, and Taichi chatting happily to underscore the difference between his attitude and theirs. We don't hear what they're saying, but the big smiles on their faces conveys the idea that they're taking things much more lightly than he is.

The dub gives them dialogue and distracts from Joe's speech, which paints him more as a joy-killing worrywart.

Joe: Come on, get serious! It would be horrible if it started snowing right now. Sora: Lighten up a little, Joe; We're just trying to look on the positive side of things. Joe: BLEGH!!! T.K.: Hey, Tai! When's it gonna snow? Tai: Probably any second now. Matt: Right on Joe's head! T.K.: That'd be so funny! Tai: I can't wait to see his face! Joe: You know, if the temperature drops any lower than it is already, we won't be able to camp out anymore. We'll be frozen Digi-Treats! That's right! Go ahead and laugh but when your tootsies freeze, don't come crying to me; I'll just say I told you so! It is always better to be safe than sorry; Think first!

The important context of Jou being the eldest and needing to take responsibility he isn't equipped to handle doesn't make it into the dub. He does get the final word, but half of the scene is spent ridiculing him; Even Sora scolds him for his attitude, where in the original she strikes up conversation out of concern for him.

Also the dub just has Joe suddenly going "BLEGH!!!" which automatically costs it a million Joe Dignity Points.

Either way, as the kids keep going, they come upon exactly what they've been discussing.

A snowfield lies ahead. Mimi and Takeru go run around and play in the snow having fun, but the others hang back with Jou to much more seriously discuss what we should do and where to go from here. All talk of snowball fights and igloos evaporates the instant it's really happening.

Taichi puts two options in front of them: Either they cross the snowfield, or they turn around and climb the mountain behind them. Suddenly, Agumon gets a sniff of something. A strong smell from nearby. The other Digimon and even the kids start sniffing the air, and they can all smell it too.

An onsen/hot spring! You can feel the cultural difference in how the kids react to this revelation.

Yamato: I see. This is-- Jou: AN ONSEN!!! Mimi & Takeru: ONSEN!!!

Jou, Mimi, and Takeru all scream at the top of their lungs when they realize what's in front of them. Meanwhile, in the dub:

Matt: But what's it coming from? Joe: A BIG GEYSER!!! Mimi & Takeru: Wow, a hot spring!

Mimi and Takeru are still excited but a bit more reserved with it rather than the ecstatic shriek of the original. Joe's still stoked, though.

Ecstatic, the kids race across the snowfield with hot springs on their mind to find warmth and relaxation. No, wait, hold up. It says here, uh....

It says "boiling black goop". They find boiling black goop. File Island sucks and I want to go home.

(I am reasonably certain that what they're looking at is a mudpot, a highly acidic and viscous bubbling slurry found in volcanic regions. Technically considered a hot spring but you wouldn't want to soak in that.)

Well, we aren't going to be able to bathe here but at least it's warm. Convection from the mudpots is providing relief from the bitter cold, but Jou quickly calls the group's attention to the problem of food. Fortunately, Takeru spies an answer.

An absurd answer. An incomprehensible answer. An answer that visibly makes Jou want to pull his hair out when he sees it. An answer that staggers all reason and sanity, and yet is not that unexpected anymore on File Island.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Sure, why not. Forget it, Jou; It's File Island. Hopefully this one isn't full of Numemon. Against Jou's protests, the kids race to the fridge. Taichi throws it open to discover eggs for days.

This discovery provokes an interesting conversation on the ethics of food stealing during a survival situation.

Taichi: Guess this means dinner's served! Jou: W-Wait a minute, we don't even know if they're edible! Taichi: (huge grin) Don't worry, I'll test them for poison! Jou: What are you saying!? Even if we could eat them, we'd be common thieves for taking other people's property! Yamato: We don't have a choice. We're hungry. Sora: They'll understand if we explain it to them. Koushiro: At any rate, this is an emergency situation. Tentomon: Let's have dinner!

Honestly, the others have a point. Children stranded in a foreign land and starving rank pretty high on the list of acceptable reasons to violate societal norms. This while File Island excursion is the most emergency that a thing can possibly be.

The dub version of this conversation is pretty much an exact translation, though I really like their version of Tai's "I'll test them for poison" line.

Tai: GRUB ON! These will keep us all fed for a month! Joe: Wait a minute, you shouldn't even touch them! We don't know if they're fit for human consumption! Tai: Then I'll be the guinea pig! If I turn purple, you'll know they're not edible. Joe: There's more to it than that; Even if they were edible, they don't belong to us! That would make us all thieves! You gotta think about stuff like that, Tai! Matt: Unless you're into eating rocks, we don't have too much choice. Sora: I'm sure they'd say yes if they knew we were in trouble. Izzy: Exactly; We'd tell them it's an emergency situation. Tentomon: (sarcastic) Rationalize away.

The biggest difference is that Tentomon oddly seems to be on Joe's side in the dub? But overall it's practically verbatim, just a little wordier. But also, "If I turn people then they're not edible." XD Perfect addition to Tai's line.

Outvoting Jou once again, the kids set to work preparing the eggs. They're getting pretty good at wilderness survival. They make crude bowls, a rudimentary cooking stove to fry eggs on, and nets to boil the eggs in one of the less viscous boiling springs.

(Nobody stops to ask the obvious question of where the eggs came from if there are no chickens in Digimon World. Multiple previous conversations have established that there aren't animals or people here; Only Digimon. But. Y'know. Kids. They probably think eggs come from the supermarket.)

For his part, Jou whittles chopsticks while muttering to himself.

Jou: Everyone's so cheerful. I can't be like that. Because I have responsibility....

Contextually, he means that in the sense that he's responsible for whatever happens to them, not that he has responsibility as like a personal characteristic. It's what he was talking about earlier: Whatever happens to them is on his head because he's the eldest.

The dub makes this another argument between Joe and the others.

Mimi: Hurry! We wanna eat! Joe: (dour) Sorry, this just makes me feel uncomfortable. We'd be in big trouble if someone got sick; No doctors, y'know. Why do I always have to be the one to think about these things?

Ironically, Jou's burden is specifically the answer to Joe's question.

Once everyone's finished, they set out the eggs and dig in. ITADAKIMASU!

Yamato wishes they had some white rice to go with it, while Matt wants ketchup. I feel Matt; I'm a ketchup-on-eggs person too. Dub Sora thinks it's gross though.

(Sora and Matt start dating in a few years. I wonder if there's any fics about the inevitable ketchup-on-eggs bickering? You know that's gotta come up for the dub versions of these characters.)

From there, Jou laments that they wouldn't have to do so much work if they were at home. Joe expresses a similar sentiment, but his lament is that ketchup would be easy to come by at home.

This sets the others on a depression spiral, thinking about how homesick they are. Koushiro gives us a timescale: The kids have been here for four days now. In the dub, Izzy adds that he wonders if anyone's started searching for them yet.

At that point, it's Sora's turn to lift everyone's spirits with a distracting conversation topic.

What kind of topping do you like on your eggs? The kids take turns answering with their preferences.

Jou - Salt and pepper. Taichi - Soy sauce. Yamato - Mayonnaise. Sora - Sauce. Koushiro - Ponzu, a tangy citrus sauce. Mimi - Sugar with natto on top; A fermented soy bean.

The kids agree that Koushiro and Mimi's answers are weird, especially Mimi's. Natto on eggs? What?

(Meanwhile I'm over here recoiling in horror at Yamato's mayo eggs.)

Some of the responses in the dub are a bit different.

Joe - Salt and pepper. Tai - Soy sauce. Matt - Salsa. Sora - Doesn't answer, instead saying Matt needs a reality check. Izzy - Mustard and jelly beans. Mimi - Maple syrup with cherries on top.

The dub kids find Izzy and Mimi's responses weird too, but T.K.'s kinda into it and curious to try.

All this talk of weird egg toppings sends Jou into a complete meltdown.

Jou: You all put that weird stuff on your eggs!? (hangs head in hands) I'm shocked. The Japanese culture is collapsing before my very eyes!!!

Taichi tries to defuse the argument by asserting that everyone's culinary choices are valid except natto, but it's too late. Jou goes off.

Jou: With eggs, all you need is salt and pepper! Not sauce or mayonnaise but salt and pepper!

Gomamon calls Jou stubborn, provoking an argument that quickly devolves to Gomamon asking Jou to Fight Me Bruh.

In the dub, Joe's reaction is honestly tamer than Jou's.

Joe: What!? You're making me completely lose my appetite; I just like plain eggs! (hangs head in hands) I wish we could talk about something other than egg recipes.

Here, Tai's remark isn't so much to defuse the conversation as it is poking fun at the group.

Matt: Come on, join the party! Tai: I think it's really too late for him. I think Joe thinks we've gone a little crazy over these eggs. Joe: Well, really. Jelly beans and cherries on eggs, that's just crazy talk! Salt and pepper's all they need. Keep it simple; That's always been my motto!

He's still grossed out, but he's not calling them the decay of Japanese culture over it.

After Gomamon tries to fight Jou, Yamato steps in to try and de-escalate. Yamato tells Jou that he's acting off today and asks what's up, but Jou screams at the whole group that they're the ones who are off and storms away.

The dub captures the same elements but the delivery of Joe's actor undercooks the emotional tension. Joe sounds mad, telling everyone things like "You're all asking for trouble!" in an angry but still reserved Joe voice; Jou, however, is full-throated screaming at the group, audibly furious beyond any consolation.

Over eggs. Because this isn't really about the eggs. It's about everything that's happened. Jou's crumbling under the pressure of his responsibility.

Finally, Jou storms off to be alone and cool down beside one of the boiling hot springs.

When Jou calms down and returns to the group, he finds Yamato and Taichi at each other's throats. Koushiro explains: They're bickering over whether we should go to that huge mountain we keep seeing in the center of File Island. It's called "Mugen Mountain", mugen being the Japanese word for Infinity. The dub translates Infinity Mountain faithfully.

(Don't know about y'all but I'd be hesitant to start climbing something called Infinity Mountain in a place where physics are playful. The possibility that the name might not be hyperbolic would give me pause.)

While we see the two bickering, Sora summarizes their sides for Jou's benefit.

Sora: Taichi says that if we go there, we can survey our entire surroundings. Jou: That's true. On a mountain that tall, we can see everything. Sora: But Yamato is against it because it's dangerous. Piyomon: There are a lot of ferocious Digimon on that mountain. Jou: I see. That is dangerous.

While in the dub, Tai and Matt themselves yell their opinions at each other mid-argument for Joe to hear and consider.

Tai: It's the perfect spot! We gotta climb up there; It's the best view of the island! Joe: You've gotta admit; He's got a point there. Sora: That's not how Matt sees it. Matt: Nobody would make it up that peak! It's much too big of a gamble! Biyomon: He might be right, Joe; There could be lots of evil Digimon up that peak! Joe: Hmm... That's not good! That wouldn't be worth the risk.

The biggest difference between the two versions is Yamato's side. Piyomon in the original states with certainty that there's ferocious Digimon there, while Biyomon in the dub is only speculating. Given that the Digimon have been Tour Guiding everyone and identifying various important Digimon by name, it makes sense that she'd have a good idea of what's on Infinity Mountain. So that's a point to the original.

However, the way it's phrased makes it sound like Yamato's only worried about fighting Digimon, while Matt sounds more generally concerned with the idea of a bunch of inexperienced children trying to do expert mountain climbing, regardless of what else is up there. So that's a point to the dub.

Taichi calls Yamato out for unproductive cowardice and Yamato calls Taichi out for recklessly endangering the group. Jou tries to convince them to settle down and stop fighting, but they respond by putting him on the spot. Pick a side: Taichi or Yamato? Jou agrees with both of them and demands time to think, and the whole argument turns into a three-way shouting match rather than being settled.

(That's a Nat 1 on Jou's Diplomacy check.)

Eventually Sora is forced to step in and yell at all three of them to cool it. Together with Piyomon, Agumon, and Gabumon, she declares bed time - Leaving Jou with nothing but his abject sense of failure.

While the others sleep, Jou reflects on how badly that went.

Jou: I couldn't do anything. I even got caught up in the fight instead of stopping it. This won't do. I have to stay focused. I have to keep everyone in order! Me!

Jou rises to his feet with determination to take action. He's going to climb Infinity Mountain himself.

He barely makes it out of the cave before Gomamon catches him. Jou protests Gomamon's presence, demanding he stop following him. Gomamon retorts that he has business to take care of up on that mountain so they just happen to be going the same way.

Jou and Gomamon help each other up the mountain, dissolving the tension between them pretty quickly. Gomamon offers Jou a "hand" to help him climb; Jou points out his flippers for a joke, surprising Gomamon with the fact that he even can tell jokes. For his part, Jou physically does help Gomamon up the mountain.

Jou and Gomamon stop to take a break on the mountain, but suddenly a massive earthquake strikes. The partners bear witness to a secret door opening in the mountainside, spilling out more Black Gears and sending them across File Island.

Jou immediately decides to investigate whatever this is.

As they approach the secret door, the sun comes up. However, it's already closed and sealed, and the Black Gears are gone. Jou and Gomamon find nothing waiting for them.

Then they hear a noise. The sound of wings beating in the distance, coming closer.

Unimon, an Adult-stage Vaccine-type Digimon. The narrator explains:

Gomamon: It's Unimon! He's a smart, gentle Digimon. Narrator: A sweet Digimon whose form is a mix of the legendary beasts, the unicorn and Pegasus. His special attack is the fireball Holy Shot.

While in the dub, Joe and Gomamon go over him like this.

Joe: Oh, that's just great; A flying horse wearing a mask! This can't be good. Gomamon: That's not your everyday flying horse, Joe. That's Unimon! He's a wise old Digimon. I never knew he lived in these mountains; He's not much of a talker!

Normally I side with the original over the dub on these character intros, but I like Joe's agitated remark and Gomamon's personalized exposition more than the clinical analysis that the narrator provides this time.

Jou initially insists on hiding. Despite Gomamon's assurance that Unimon's kind and friendly... the kids have heard that a lot on this island.

Fortunately, Unimon's just stopping by for a drink of water. Everything is fine. Gomamon steps out of the cave to go chat up Unimon and--

Red Alert. Everything is no longer fine.

Expectedly, the Black Gear slams into Unimon's back, driving him wild. He turns on Gomamon and Jou, advancing menacingly. In the dub, he says, "Hello, Gomamon; Aren't you happy to see me?" in a hostile voice, but he says nothing in the original.

Back at camp, Sora's the first to wake up. Stepping outside the cave, she finds a message Jou left, informing the other kids that he'll be back in a bit and asking them to wait for him. Immediately realizing what reckless action Jou's taken, Sora wakes everyone up to go after him.

Jou and Gomamon flee for their lives from Unimon, but his flight advantage makes escape impossible. He destroys both sides of the path they're on with his Holy Shots, pinning them down to one area.

Again, the original Unimon only makes horse noises, while dub Unimon speaks English, taunting them with remarks like, "That's a perfectly good route if you're thinking of flying away!" Also, the dub refers to Holy Shot as Aerial Attack.

With Jou and Gomamon pinned down and nowhere left to run, Unimon begins charging up a final Holy Shot to kill them both. Jou hugs Gomamon tightly, closes his eyes, and waits for the end. Then he hears the crash, but nothing hits him. So he opens his eyes and....

Sora and Taichi have arrived as backup!

While they're distracted checking up on Jou, Unimon nails Birdramon with a Holy Shot, sending her tumbling down the cliff. Sora slides down after her to check on her. Meanwhile, Agumon evolves into Greymon to take over fighting Unimon.

It does not go well. Unimon's flight advantage allows him to easily outmaneuver Greymon on this narrow ledge and swing around for a dive bomb.

As Greymon picks himself up and opens fire, Unimon's full three dimensions of maneuverability let him dodge Greymon's Mega Flames, while Greymon has few options to protect himself from Unimon's Holy Shots. Greymon gets pummeled by Unimon's fire while landing no shots of his own.

Birdramon returns to the fight, but Unimon sails straight between the shots of her Meteor Wing to land a body slam, putting her back on the ground.

This fight is ugly, but Jou has a plan. Recognizing that their real enemy here is not Unimon but the Black Gear corrupting him, Jou takes charge and leaps off the fucking cliff to land on Unimon's back when he sails close by below.

Unimon begins bucking and thrashing in the air to stop Jou from pulling out the Black Gear. Gomamon screams at Jou to come down from there, but Jou to stop, but his mind is made up.

Gomamon: JOU, STOP!!! It's impossible! Jou: No! I have to do this! I have to protect everyone! Because... I'm the oldest... I'll PROTECT EVERYONE--

And then Unimon wins, bucking Jou off and sending him tumbling from a lethal height.

It's a strong moment for Jou that doesn't quite hit the same way in the dub.

Gomamon: JOE, STOP!!! Don't try to be a hero! Joe: I know! But I just have to do this one thing... I'm not going to stop until it's done! I have to think positive! I'm responsible! I've gotta do it--

Followed by being bucked off. There's a certain pathetic quality to the dub's Joe that makes this a heartwarming "He tried" moment. While, in the original, this is the culmination of Jou's responsibility and pressure to safeguard the younger kids; the realization of Jou-senpai.

He fails. And he falls. But as he plunges to his doom, this moment is what awakens Gomamon. With a bloodcurdling scream of Jou's name, Gomamon SHINKAAAAAA!!!

Ikkakumon has feelings about what just happened. An Adult-stage Vaccine-type Digimon, Ikkakumon derives the name "ikkaku" from the Japanese word for narwhal. He's Narwhalmon.

(This makes pitting Ikkakumon and Unimon against each other exceedingly funny, as narwhal tusks are believed to have been the source for unicorn myths. They're sometimes called the Unicorn of the Sea. So. Y'know. Get wrecked by a REAL unicorn, Unimon.)

Ikkakumon's signature move, Harpoon Vulcan, fires multiple horns from his head at his target. The dub calls it Harpoon Torpedo.

That Unimon is extremely difficult to hit in the air remains a problem, however. Or rather it would be a problem but, much like Andromon's Gatling Missiles, every shot from Harpoon Vulcan contains a fun toy surprise inside!

Specifically, homing missiles that target Unimon's Black Gear, hitting home and destroying the corrupting influence.

With the Gear destroyed, Unimon promptly flies off. Even the dub version has no parting words despite speaking English.

Once that's settled, Taichi, Sora, and Jou unpack things. Taichi congratules Jou and apologizes for last night. Jou shakes hands with Gomamon and formally thanks him for the rescue, much to Gomamon's embarrassment. The hostilities are all swept aside.

Since they're only a hop, skip, and jump from the peak, the trio finishes the climb together. But the answers they find at the top are incredibly discouraging.

Nothing but ocean surrounds this lonely island for as far as the eye can see. There is nowhere else to go. The episode ends on that suspenseful moment, as the kids stare out at the dismal truth.

Taichi: Th-This is.... Narrator: Taichi and the others became highly discouraged when they discovered that File Island was a solitary island admist the vast sea.

The dub, on the other hand, spins this around to end on a positive note.

Group: Whoa! Tai: Not much out there. Joe (V.O.): So Gomamon and I fought all the way to the top to see what was there and we found... Well, nothing. But I think we discovered quite a bit on the way up!

Yeah, that's a bit of a tone difference. They don't find nothing at the top of Infinity Mountain. They find despair. The revelation that there is no escape in sight, that there is nowhere they can go but File Island. That the island sits alone in a vast ocean with no clear indication of where else they can go, or if there even is anywhere else to go.

But. Y'know. We're lightening the show up for an American audience and hoo boy at that. It's just funny to see the Japanese Narrator deliver this revelation with horror and then American Tai's just like, "Huh. Neat. Anyways...."

Assessment: This is the last of the character intro episodes we'll get for a while, as Patamon's evolution is being withheld for later. This one ends on such a dark note because the plot officially begins next episode.

For Jou, this episode really highlights the crushing pressure he's under. Something it doesn't resolve, but instead simply spotlights. No answer is explicitly given for the stresses that led him to explode at everyone on Egg Night. What answer can be given? The situation is what it is.

Everyone moves on and forgives each other, but Jou remains under the burden of a responsibility he's not equipped to handle. Nonetheless, an answer is implicitly given when he and his team lean on each other against Unimon. Jou takes charge and wins the day, but only because they were there to help him in the first place.

Cooperation and mutual respect is what's going to keep them alive out here, more than anything.

Much like with Sora's episode, the dub misses the mark at several points with regard to Jou's character arc, which is basically erased here. What they replace his emotional turmoil with is more like the journey of a weak boy needing to be brave.

Without the perspective of his senpai responsibility, Joe just comes across cowardly due to his cautious sensibilties. Which, I think, is an uncharitable treatment; The way he leaps from the cliff without hesitation pretty well conveys that Jou isn't afraid of harm to himself; He's cautious because he has an obligation to keep these children safe. He'll jump straight into the fire for them, but he'll do everything in his power to keep them from lighting themselves on fire first.

But as usual, the dub also has some great moments and solid lines going for it as well, with the snowball discussion being its highlight.

[jujumin-translates]

🍁 Picaresque Returns (First Half) Scout Card Details

🍡 SSR 【A Puff of Cigarette Smoke】 Juza Hyodo

Lead Skill - Smiley-Playful Mode

Adlib Skill - Light the Fire Yourself

Backstage - BE.MINE ver.JUZA

“From that very first day when I stood on stage as Lansky, all the way up until now, I’ve continued to act. And I’m still gonna do my very own play today too.”

🛹 SSR 【Setting Off From the Birdcage】 Taichi Nanao

Lead Skill - A Sky View With You

Adlib Skill - Everyone’s Member

Backstage - BE.MINE ver.TAICHI

“I wanna show everyone how much I’ve grown, just like I wanna show a whole new side of Benjamin in the sequel!”

🐺 SSR 【A Secretly Maneuvering Shadow】 Omi Fushimi

Lead Skill - Special Seat Escort

Adlib Skill - The Only Person You Can Trust is Yourself

Backstage - BE.MINE ver.OMI

“I also want to put on a play where I can compete with the speed of everyone’s growth. Besides, I can’t lose to the impact of a villain.”

🍡 SR 【Premonition of Budding】 Juza Hyodo

Lead Skill - An Untrustworthy Worthy Opponent

Adlib Skill - You Can’t Undo this Path

Backstage - Please Ticket: From Juza

“I think that every time I hit a new wall, I’ve gotta keep tryin’ ‘n strugglin’ ‘cause that’s what’s essential for me to change.”

🛹 SR 【Premonition of Budding】 Taichi Nanao

Lead Skill - Exchanging a Fist of Words

Adlib Skill - Full Speed to Timelimit!

Backstage - Please Ticket: From Taichi

“I’m anxious, but I’ve been able to overcome everything so far, so I’ve got enough courage to try new things!”

🐺 SR 【Premonition of Budding】 Omi Fushimi

Lead Skill - Catching Words and Fists

Adlib Skill - Friends Who Can Unite

Backstage - Please Ticket: From Omi

“I think what I need is not just action, but to challenge myself and have the desire to get something new out of it.”

[animeyanderelover]

It's totally okay if you don't want to write for him, but I would practically die for yandere Shirabu (Haikyuu) REALLY liking a classmate that's super sweet but too intimidated by his salty attitude to actually interact with him (and feel free to change this as much as you want if you do write for him!) I love your writing either way and am excited to read more from you! >3<

I think that's the first time anyone has ever asked for something with Shirabu.

Tw: Yandere themes, possessive behavior, obsession, stalking, manipulation

Too salty

🐾There you are again, sitting in front of him whilst chatting with your close friends, that damn smile on your face that always manages to speed up his heartbeat a bit. How long has this been going on now? A few solid months would be Shirabu's guess, he can't get much more accurate as the line between a huge crush and a fine obsession has been a fluid transition for him. An obsession with you, the infamous sweetheart in his year and due to that quite liked by almost everyone. That includes him but his feelings are a bit different from everyone else around. He has never considered himself as someone who would start obsessing over a person like in some fanfiction written by a teenager yet here he is, finding himself studying you again from behind, accurately guessing what you'll have in your bento box as he's familiar with what you enjoy eating and your preferences. He could be proud of himself, unfortunately he can't help but feel a bit like a creep because he knows that despite never having interacted with you before.

🐾To his defence, that is largely your fault. Sure, his own pride has held him initially back, it took a while to gradually come to terms with his unhealthy feelings. By now everything is blamed on you though as Shirabu has actually tried to approach you in the past before only to discover that for some reason you don't seem to like him. You have never been downright rude but kept the conversations short before storming to your friends as soon as you caught a glimpse of them, excusing yourself and fleeing the scene. He's not willing to make a fool of himself, he has gotten the message. You're for some reason nervous and slightly anxious around him and for that reason he has stopped trying to talk to you. He won't admit it, but you did hurt his feelings with your behavior. Worst of all is that he seems to be the only one you're intimidated off as you have no problem offering your help or sparing a sweet smile and encouragement to other classmates of yours. That is just infuriating.

🐾The lack of willingness from your side to interact with him only worsens his jealousy of literally everyone else you're willing to talk with. Unconsciously he starts comparing others to himself. He has excellent grades, he's diligent and he's the setter for the volleyball team which is famous even across their prefecture. By all accounts, Shirabu can't help but feel like he deserves a slice more attention from you than some other people you chat with. So it's not uncommon that people catch him with a scowl on his face, glaring at you and whoever is your company at the moment, eyes narrowing angrily as he wonders what's so special about them anyways. He catches Taichi talking with you once and holds a grudge against his teammate afterwards, tongue sharp and tone rude during their training together and it isn't until the coach nearly yells at him that he passes him acceptable tosses, purposely making it harder for the male. Shirabu is aware that he's being irrational but it's hard to keep his boiling jealousy under control and he partially blames you for that.

🐾He has to find out what he's doing wrong or otherwise he fears that he might literally go insane. Luck seems to be on his side though when he overhears during a conversation between you and your friends, a conversation he just happens to eavesdrop on for a bit, that you need to score well on an upcoming test in a particular subject he knows you've always struggled with to make up for the abysmal score you had in the last test. Your teacher wants to help you though, has offered you to find someone to help you with, ideally someone in the same year as you. Shirabu is exceeding in this subject and he knows instantly that this could be his chance. He approaches the teacher in talk soon enough, slyly convinces them to set him up for coaching you. It's quite easy because Shirabu is an obvious choice so soon enough said teacher approaches you, Shirabu following him closely behind. You have a look of slight panic when you realize who they brought but are stuck, Shirabu is fully aware of that. If you reject him right now, you would openly insult the kind teacher and him and you could never do that.

🐾He schedules for you two to meet tomorrow after school so he can start coaching you and the night before that, Shirabu diligently creates notes for you and comes up with a whole plan how and what to teach you. You're awkward and stiff when you meet him, still a tiny bit anxious which does not make the male happy. This is a good chance to cleanse whatever bad image you have of him so he's on his best behavior. He's patient, explains everything in great detail to you and gives you tips or shows you tricks how to solve questions easier. This is a matter of pride for him because if he helps you to get a good score in the exam, you'll definitely have to change your mind about him so he can't fail you here. His sheer dedication to help you doesn't go unnoticed by you nor his polite behavior that soon makes you question your previously bad image of him. Sure, you've seen and heard about his salty behavior but in private he does not seem to be all that rude. At least not to you.

🐾You start to crumble with your cautious behavior around him, something Shirabu notices and he knows that he needs to push you a bit further to hopefully break all mistrust you hold against him. He purposely lets Taichi hand you over something he prepared for you to help you with the stuff, fully aware that Taichi will mention to you that he's been preparing sessions for you even in the locker before and after training, only deepening your guilt for having judged him without ever having properly interacted with him. It's by that point that he dares to ask for your number to communicate easier and so that you can ask him questions even outside of those private sessions and you cave in, a little bit hesitant but also unable to reject because of all the work he pours in for you. At times he purposely lets you solve stuff that is quite advanced and specifically catered to the areas you struggle most with. He can easily cover it with the excuse that he wants you to learn how to solve those problems, in reality it's just as much for his own want as it allows him to keep you longer with him.

🐾He approaches you for the first time outside of those private study sessions the day before the exam and hands you notes specifically made for you so you can prepare yourself for the test, right in front of your friends who afterwards can't help but talk about how detailed he made them and how much time he must have spent on them. All for you. Don't just think he did it out of altruism, Shirabu has been eavesdropping on you and your friends. Their image about him has majorly improved because of what you have told them that by now they almost scold you a bit for your unjustified fear of him and their words get to you as you already feel very guilty. If he can get them on his side, it would make things a lot more easier for him. The next day, during the exam, Shirabu can't help but glance over to your table multiple times, more nervous for you than for himself. There's relief though when he always sees your pen moving and never stopping for too long as you can write down an answer to everything.

🐾It seems quite normal when he approaches you after classes and asks how it went. You appear still surprised when you tell him that you were needlessly worried as you had only little problems because of everything he has taught you, genuinely thank him for his help. It's the first time that you've actually given him such a sincere smile and to his slight embarrassment, and to your friends delight, he starts blushing a bit. When you get your test back, with Shirabu having written the best one out of the class, you're delighted and relieved to see that you have majorly improved and have over 80% right. You're so relieved because this really is the final proof that you've been able to use everything Shirabu has taught you. If you would have failed, you think you wouldn't have been able to look him or the teacher in the eyes anymore. You come running to him excitedly afterwards, show him your exam joyfully and Shirabu hides the smug grin as he receives an ego boost. He knew he would be the right one to help you, luckily he convinced the teacher on that day.

🐾You want to pay him back somehow for his help and simultanously apologize for your bad behavior before because you've realized that you judged him wrongly. The male accepts your invitation and both of you agree to meet up on the weekend. You want to thank him for his help but are unprepared when he actually gifts you something to congratulate you for your good score on your test. Initially you want to reject since he's done enough for you already but can't do so in the end as he insists that he wants you to have it. You're slightly surprised when you realize that he just so happened to gift you something you've wanted to have for a while now but never had the time to buy due to all the studying. You think of it as a very lucky coincidence, Shirabu certainly won't tell you that he has listened on the conversations of you with your friends one too many times and has studied you closely for months and knows you for that more than you know. He feels satisfied though when noting your bashhful reaction because this confirms that he has definitely managed to make you forget about your assumptions about him. That means he can move on to the next step now.

[dutchforstrangers]

Tour • ne • sol - Taiora double bill pt. 2

January 6th/7th 2024.

Summary: On the day after New Year's Eve, Sora misses her sunny boyfriend, worrying herself sick over his whereabouts. Luckily, her friends have some flower-y surprises, with the biggest one to come at the end.

A/N: Happy New Year! Today marks the date of something dear to my heart and so it’s time for Taiora double bill part 2 (here's part 1)! See it as some sort of “anniversary present” ;) And remember, no matter how far we’re apart, turn your head to the sun (or moon, because you’re more of a moon person) and you know we live underneath the same sky <3 Enjoy! P.S. That song is an ChatGPT original haha :D

Taiora double bill pt. 2 | Characters: Sora Takenouchi (POV) x Taichi Yagami, appearances and mentions of the other DigiDestined | Genre: Long distance surprise, romance, general, friendship | Rating: T | Wordcount: 3.094

Tour • ne • sol

Sora would be lying when she said New Year’s was a blast. Right before the clock would strike midnight, she had felt nothing but anxious and alone. Why exactly that feeling was dominating, she couldn’t pinpoint. She was surrounded by people she loved and who loved her back just as much, if not more. And the past year had been an absolute miracle in so many ways. Her trip to Italy standing out to her the most.

The trip to Taichi. The trip that changed it all.

It had been one of the hardest goodbyes when they had to part in August, knowing he had to stay while she had to leave again. It was a bittersweet goodbye. Bitter, because their parting happened right after finally answering the genuine love the two of them had been feeling all along. Sweet, because, at least, it wasn’t forever.

Fortunately, time had passed rather quickly and now it was already January 1st. Taichi would return to Tokyo at the end of February, in time for her birthday and a planned vacation they would spend together. Sora was absolutely thrilled, looking forward to every future second. Sure she had been missing him until now, but it would all turn out fine.

Still there was this anxious feeling.

Perhaps, deep down inside, she was afraid for his return. Would the feelings have stayed the same, or did they change? What if he would look different than what she could remember. Than how she had always known him? Something told her, however, that that anxious feeling had nothing to do with those irrational fears.

Sora bit her lip, looking down at the cellphone in her hand. The screen was lit, on it Taichi’s last message to her.

Happiest of New Years to you my lovely Sora!

It had definitely turned a smile on her face and of course she texted back as soon as she could, but due to an overloaded mobile network and the poor reception that was the logical follow-up, her message didn’t come through. That had made her anxious of course, but the phone call she had with him earlier in the day had made up for it.

But now it was the morning after, her message was eventually sent, but he didn’t replied, probably not even seen it. A wave of sadness overcame Sora and the anxious feeling of being forgotten washed over her.

Sora sighed.

For all she knew, Taichi was still celebrating with his newfound friends in Italy. She wanted, needed, to know and with her fingers she typed another message to ask him about his day and celebrations, only for it to be deleted again right after. She wasn’t the pushy girlfriend, right? If he wanted to text her, he would.

All sorts of scenarios crossed her mind, from Taichi kissing other girls to him being drunk from all the Italian wine and this passed out. Maybe his phone died. Maybe it fell, or he lost it…

“Stop it Sora, you can trust him! Right?” she said out loud to no one in particular as she held her phone to her forehead. For a little while she stood like that, unnecessary tears stinging behind her closed eyes. She wasn’t going to give in to those, and she didn’t have to.

Through her eyelids Sora could see a sudden light, cueing that her phone had just received a message to show her. Her eyes shot open and within a second she had unlocked her phone. Her messaging thread with Taichi was still opened, but there was no new message to be found.

Slightly annoyed, Sora swiped away Taichi’s chat to see who was the one who had sent her a message. Probably her mom telling her she had forgotten something at their house early this morning, she immediately thought, but she was surprised by someone else’s name.

Sora-san! Happy New Year! I have a little present for you, I’m at your door in 5 minutes. Could you open up? Love you soooooo much!

It was Mimi and a smile replaced her frown. Sora remembered how lucky she had been with such wonderful friends, then remembered she wasn’t exactly dressed to receive guests, so she hurried to the bathroom to wash up and dress herself in something more decent. She hoped that Mimi’s coming by would cheer her up good enough to stop the sulking over her boyfriend being far far away from her.

Just in time before she could get back into the sulking, the bell rang and she sprinted to the door to welcome Mimi in. As she opened the door, Sora tilted her head in pleasant surprise.

“Not alone I see?” she asked with a grin on her face.

“Hello Sora-san, happy New Year.”

“Nope! As you can see, I dragged Koushiro-kun with me. Hope that’s okay with you? We actually won’t stay long,” Mimi said with a wink.

The two guests entered Sora’s apartment, both of them being familiar enough to know the way once inside. Sora closed the door and followed her friends into her own living room where all three of them took a seat, Mimi on the chair and Sora and Koushiro on the couch. Mimi placed the bag she had been holding on the coffee table in front of Sora.

“I baked you something!” Mimi exclaimed happily as she impatiently waited for Sora to reveal the insides of the bag.

She found it the sweetest gesture, but had no clue to what she owed this exactly. Nonetheless, she was grateful for it and carefully unpacked the baking from the bag.

“Is it a carrot cake?”

“Mmhm!” Mimi confirmed excitedly, nodding her head rapidly. “But I gave it a touch by adding a nice amount of sunflower seeds. To wish you both an orange and sunny new year.”

Sora smiled as she kept looking at the cake, the orange and ‘sunny’ reminding her of Taichi. She was happy with the gift, but couldn’t help to feel the sadness pinching a little. She looked up to look at Mimi, hiding away any visible sorrow.

“It looks delicious. Thank you Mimi-chan, I really appreciate it.”

“Anytime,” Mimi said lovingly, flying out of the chair to give Sora a friendly little hug. “You deserve to have all the orange and sunshine in your life. He will return in less than two months, am I right?”

Of course Mimi looked right through her, Sora thought to herself. Without saying a word, hiding it away as best as possible, Mimi knew it anyway. And of course she tried to find a way to cheer Sora up. So Sora nodded to the question, now knowing she was unable to hide it from them.

“Then why the sad face?” Mimi asked as she sat back down in the chair.

Sora looked down at her own hands. “He hasn’t texted me after his last message at midnight our time. I’m a bit worried I think?”

“I see,” Koushiro started, “it’s normal to feel that way. But I don’t think you have to worry, Sora-san.” Koushiro reassured her with a knowing smile, a careful hand gently placed on her shoulder. He usually wasn’t the type for physical reassurances like these, but with Sora he felt more open and she absolutely loved her co-redhead for it.

“Unless he fell into a river while being overly drunk. I mean, right? There is a river in Rome, right?”

“Mimi-san!” Koushiro called out. Mimi ducked away further into the chair, in her way feeling sorry for her words. Sora could only laugh at her friends’ antics, even though Mimi’s words did sting a little, exposing a possible truth Sora wished wouldn’t be true. “Anyway,”

Koushiro diverted everyone’s attention with just that one word, his hand reaching for something in his pocket. Sora watched him closely, curious what was so important to change the subject. It didn’t take long for Koushiro to take the item out and he proudly held up a USB stick.

“It contains a little PowerPoint presentation I made.”

Sora thought it was suspicious, for the simple fact that it was ‘just’ a PowerPoint and not some sort of complicated other piece of software Koushiro would have created himself.

“I think it might peaks your interest, maybe you could take a look and let me know what your findings are?”

Unable to say no to her friends, she held out her hand and took the little thing from Koushiro. “I let you know,” Sora said with her kindest smile

“But not now!” Mimi said after looking at the clock hanging on the wall. “Koushiro-kun and I have to go.”

Sora’s suspicion rose. “Why the sudden hurry?”

“Koushiro-kun and I promised to pick up my cousin from Europe!”

“Together?”

“Mimi-san didn’t want to drive alone, so she asked me to accompany her.”

It at least sounded honest. Sora nodded and followed her friends to the door to say them goodbye. As she shut the door behind them, the feeling of being alone flooded back. Sora sighed, dragging herself and her racing mind back to the living room.

Once arrived, she seated herself on the chair, slumping away while tightly holding on to one of the pillows. Her eyes looked at the cake and the USB on her coffee table and a faint and grateful smile appeared. She didn’t have much time to take it all in and wonder about their intentions.

*PING*

The phone in her pocket announced an incoming message. Her heart skipped a beat and with one sharp motion she flew out of the chair, now able to get deep into her pocket. Her heart skipped another beat seeing the first part of the name on her screen.

Yagami

She should have known though that he wasn’t the only one with that last name in her phone and disappointment hit like a stab in her stomach.

Hikari: Happy New Year dear Sora-san! I wish for you to have a warm year with lots of Love and Light that will brighten your sky. I was going through some pictures from crafts made by my kindergarten kids and I stumbled upon some shiny ones! Who knows this will make you feel less alone, he will be back before you know it.

Sora wondered whether Mimi or Koushiro had texted Hikari to let her know about how she felt. Especially after looking at the pictures of the crafts Hikari had sent her. Sunflowers, in all forms and shapes. The yellow and orangeness combined with the by the children taken creativity warmed Sora’s heart, Hikari’s attentiveness even making her heart flutter.

Still she couldn’t help but to want the attention from the girl’s brother and not Hikari. So Sora quickly typed a thank you message in return before heading over to her chat with Taichi. With blind annoyance she wrote a message.

Taichi, where are you? I’m starting to feel like I’m not important enough for you. I feel kind of neglected? Anyway, I’m worrying myself sick over you and that’s not the way to start the year for Kami’s sake.

For once she did not read it twice and immediately hit send only to feel complete guilt right after. Her heart started racing.

I’m sorry! I don’t know what’s gotten into me. I just… I love you so much and you haven’t replied to anything and I just want to know whether you’re safe or not. Please, Taichi, can you please send me a message back? Even though it’s just an “I’m OK”… I’m so sorry…

Sora bit her lip as she crushed her phone between her hands as it was the only way for her tension to get out. She was on the verge of crying, of feeling miserable and an incredibly bad girlfriend. Her mind wandered everywhere and felt numb all the same. She was slowly losing herself and hyperventilation was close.

However, a vibration in between her hands brought her back from the spiraling. For a moment she concentrated on the ongoing vibrations, easing the fast pace of her heart. Or at least try. Because the chance this was Taichi calling her was rather high after those messages she sent and Sora wasn’t sure whether she was ready to face him like this.

She was both relieved with and surprised by the caller ID popping up on her screen.

“Yamato?”

“Hey Sora, happy New Year.”

She had never felt so happy to hear his voice. There was no way for her tears to stay hidden.

“Are you okay?” He sounded worried. Knowing.

She nodded, then remembered she was on the phone. “Yes. No. I don’t know? I’m just happy it’s you who’s calling and not him.”

There was a short silence on the other side, but Sora knew Yamato was nodding his head. Taking his time to find the right words.

“I know this is hard to believe when you’re feeling the way you are feeling, but believe me as I say that Taichi hasn’t forgotten you. He would never forget about you, you and I both know that,” he reassured her and Sora nodded understandingly. “And if it helps, he hasn’t texted me either. I think he’s just… occupied. You’ll hear from him sooner than you think.”

“Okay,” she replied quietly, taking the time to let his words sink in a little more. “Thank you, Yamato, and a happy New Year to you too,” she eventually said.

“Thanks.”

“To what do I owe this phone call?” She asked.

“Erm…” he sounded nervous. “I was wondering… could you listen to these lyrics I just wrote?”

Lyrics? Sora thought to herself. “You’re writing music again?”

“Just a little something. You don’t have to listen to it if you don’t want to—”

“No! I’d love to actually.”

“Alright,” he said and after some shuffling he started softly playing.

Sora closed her eyes and she felt herself zoning out. The melody felt like warming rays of light embracing her.

As the seasons change, and the days drift by We’ll hold onto the light, under the open sky Through gentle rain, and the storms that may come, We’ll stand tall and strong, turning to the sun

The lyrics made their way to her heart and a single tear rolled its way over her cheek, a bright smile accompanying it.

“It’s beautiful,” she said as he ended his singing. They exchanged some more words, making Sora feel a bit more relaxed, then wished each other a good day.

“Oh, before I forget,” Yamato interrupted. “Please look in your mailbox, I think Takeru has left something in there. I gotta go now, take care of yourself.”

And with that he hung up, leaving Sora with questions.

Hadn’t it all been a coincidence? Her friends, acting like this. Everyone coming over, texting her, calling her, apparently leaving her things in her mailbox… Everyone, except that stupid Taichi.

Sora balled her fists, then walked to her front door, stepping into her shoes and opening it. On the ground stood a small glass bottle with a note attached to it. Another surprise.

“Hi Sora-kun, Jyou here! I got you a little massage oil, it’s made from sunflower oil and I immediately thought of you. Please save it for a special occasion. And a happy New Year!”

Again the sunflowers… What was going on with everyone?

She placed Jyou’s present inside, shut the door and headed for the staircase of her apartment’s building. Because even though she could take the elevator, the stairs seemed to be more fitting to get that adrenaline out of her system.

She jumped, flew down the stairs, skipping at least two steps of the stairs with every step. Once arrived on the ground floor, Sora sprinted to the mailbox, opening the thing and immediately seeing what Yamato had meant on the phone.

There was a little notebook with on the first page Takeru’s handwriting telling her the notebook contained handwritten short stories about sunflowers. And that all their other friends had come to him with inspiration.

Sora’s mind was blown, completely overwhelmed with all the information she received. The gifts, the sunflowers… Still the feeling of being ignored by her own boyfriend lingered the most. And she wanted to ugly cry and scream. Loud.

She turned around to see if there was anyone there who could worry over her if she was going to scream.

“Sora,”

She turned around, her eyes taking in the sight of a boy she had been longing for since midnight. His brown hair was a bit of a mess, his cheeks showing a blush, though Sora couldn’t tell whether it was from being outside or from their for her unexpected encounter. In his hand he held a bouquet of sunflowers.

Sora could feel the tears sting. Her friends were right when they said he would be back sooner than she thought he would.

“It was really hard to get these flowers in the middle of winter.”

She exhaled quick and sharp, only to inhale the air right back. “Oh no, you didn’t…”

“I kinda did?” Taichi replied and Sora could hear both the excitement as the worry in his voice. “Please don’t hate me…” He lowered the bouquet.

She had felt every emotion these past twelve hours. She had been plain mad and worried and desperate, both separately as all at once. But now, all she felt was relieve and sheer love for her Taichi standing in front of her.

“How could I?” Sora said, longing in her eyes.

“Well, I thought you’d be more excited and— ouch!”

She slapped his arm first. Then threw herself onto him, wrapping her arms around his neck while her lips found his as if they had never done anything else in life.

“Excited enough for you?” Sora asked as she parted her lips from Taichi, locking her eyes with his and staring deeply into them.

The lopsided grin on his face said it all.

x X x X x

Bonus time! (They have just watched the PowerPoint about Sunflowers made by Koushiro)

She grabbed the hem of his sleeve and stretched it out over his hand.

“What are you doing?” He asked, his eyes shifting from Sora to his sleeve and back to Sora.

Sora looked at him with a fond smile, not answering his question. She then looked down at her own sleeve and stretched it the same way she had stretched Taichi’s. Carefully she tied the two ends together into en tight knot.

“There,” she said, “forever.”

[seventeenlovesthree]

@digimon02countdown Day 6 - Hikari & Tailmon

The transition from 1999!Hikari to 2002!Hikari will always be fascinating to me.

At first glance, the once sickness-ridden girl with a somewhat weak constitution seems to have gained quite some spunkiness; she appears to be more confident and up-front, cheeky even, ready to jump into the Digital World with ounces of main character energy to save her brother! She has always been sweet and kind, highly empathetic and maintained her strong opinions towards injustice - and the power of darkness. And at this point, it becomes clear that Homeostasis' messenger still has a lot of trauma to process and baggage to get rid off. She has seen death, she knows how hard it can be to face fears and difficult decisions - and that it's also not easy to get over your own attachment issues.

She is still feeling dependent on Taichi and unable to speak her mind in every situation, raising her hand, drawing attention towards herself when she's uncomfortable or anxious. Her otherworldly connection to the Digital - and other - worlds is haunting her in ways she does not desire, feeling incapable of escaping the dark ocean that draws her and her insecurities in. But she has to learn that the power lies within her to change her fate, to fight her inner demons and become her own person for her own sake - however, she shall never forget that she's not alone in that.

She has Tailmon, her loyal partner, who believes in her inherent strengths and abilities to always succeed; Taichi, her loving brother, who may be protective, but still knows how reliable she is; Takeru, her close companion, who may project onto her and appear to be overprotective too, but who will stay by her side, no matter what; Miyako, her Jogress partner, who's there to complement and shake her out of her paralysis, while also getting reassured and grounded by Hikari herself in return; all the other Chosen Children, who are kindred spirits, supportive friends and relatable partners in crime she can trust in and who inspire her to be better.

Yagami Hikari strives to reach a peaceful future in which people and Digimon can live in symbiosis and enjoy the fine things in life, like love, taking photos, thriving in a gentle breeze and sweet desserts. And she will work relentlessly to let her light shine through to achieve this goal one day.

[asordinaryppl]

A3! Main Story: Part 4 - Act 13: Budding Spring - Episode 6: Current Location

Hisoka: … But this is still just the pre-voting.

Sakyo: That’s right. It won’t affect the finals. It’s just temporary voting results.

Kazunari: True! Ah, that had me startled!

Taichi: We can make up for it if we do our best on the real thing, right!?

Misumi: We’ve got a year~ Let’s do our best!

Yuki: … Still, even though there were so many theater companies, the votes didn’t increase.

Chikage: You can tell with just a quick look at the ranking that it’s mainly influenced by celebrities and influencers.

Chikage: We were at a disadvantage, considering this was SNS-only voting.

Sakyo: There will be SNS voting during the actual thing too, so we can’t say the situation will change.

Sakyo: It’s unlikely we’ll suddenly rise to the top 10 from our current position at 70 during 1Q

Izumi: Then what should we do…?

Itaru: The New Fleur Award has just started, so there's no guaranteed win strat.

Itaru: We don’t know how much theater votes will count for.

Homare: All I’ve understood is… We need to steadily increase our ranking from 1Q through 4Q

Omi: Our only choice is to take advantage of the four opportunities we’re given.

Azuma: I don’t think we need to reach the top immediately, we can build up bit by bit until we reach the 10th place.

Tsuzuru: Four times… Wouldn’t it be better to hold performances that stand out?

Sakyo: No, rather than doing something outlandish, wouldn’t it be better if each troupe performed its own MANKAI Company specialty?

Tasuku: The most important thing is to make sure that the fans who come to watch our plays leave satisfied, for sure.

Tsumugi: I think focusing on theater votes is a good idea. They are worth more points than SNS votes, after all.

Tenma: We have no choice but to make sure our audience sees our best, just as we’ve always done.

Masumi: We don’t need to change what we’ve been doing.

Tsumugi: You’re right. Let’s put on the best play possible. Same as always.

Misumi: Yup, yup! There’s no point to keep worrying about the ranking~!

Muku: That’s true… We've just got to do all we can.

Juza: Yeah. As we keep gaining experience, we’ll grow as actors. Even if that’s crude, it’s all we can do. 

Banri: So, we’ll be holding performances as usual, yeah?

Homare: If we’re going with our usual schedule, then the Spring Troupe would be the next ones up.

Tsuzuru: Being the first ones up in a situation like this is makin’ me anxious… If we fail here…

Itaru: It’s scary to think how our results will affect us in the long run.

Citron: There is no need to worry! We just need to put on our usual Spring Troupe performance!

Sakuya: That’s true. We were nervous during our first performance too, but if we had failed, we wouldn’t have been able to have connected to the Summer Troupe.

Tenma: That’s how it is. If it wasn’t for you guys, the Summer Troupe wouldn’t even exist. If anyone can do it, it’s you.

Tsuzuru: Got no choice but to go for it, huh…

Citron: If we could do it at that time, we can do it this time too. There’s no mistaking it!

Chikage: I’ll do my best, too.

Sakuya: We’ve gained experience and one more member since then. I’m sure we’ll be fine.

Banri: And we’ll be supporting you too, of course.

Tsumugi: Let’s overcome our hurdles and reach 4Q.

Sakuya: Let’s do our best!

momo has entered the chat momo: mankai company came 70th even though they won the fleur special award? that’s sus momo: even more sus is companies that haven’t even put on their first show coming out on top momo: i can’t accept this sns voting. why was the pre-vote only sns voting? there were definitely companies that organized mass votings momo: if you use disposable emails you can vote as much as you want, and there were people actually suggesting that online momo: social media clout and irl clout are different to begin with Iv: this yua troupe that got first place was just created by a famous vtalent, yeah? the fact that they got twice as many votes as second place gives me the creeps fr Kar: sounds like a serious situation. you ok? momo: of course i’m not. what should i do if my oshi is shocked by mankai company’s low rank? no way, just thinking about it is giving me depression shiki: there was no helping it this time. the influence of social media is just that big momo: winning just because you’ve got too much clout on social media is wrong Iv: i mean, it’s appropriate considering the times we live in. there are fans who can’t go to the theater performances but want to support their oshi Kar: if anything, couldn’t this be used as a strategy to get people into theater? might just be me tho momo: true, but still

previous episode | masterpost | next episode

NOTES:

(1) the episode title is usually used as the "you are here" indicator on a map app

(2) 22/4 edit: i wasn't sure before, but yua troupe is mentioned again in a later chapter, so i edited its name in

[digitalworldbound]

liberty

characters: taichi and yamato summary: while yamato is attending a space program in America for the summer, taichi comes to a realization. a/n: this is an old draft i forgot to post; i haven't written anything new. stay hydrated and happy! also on AO3.

It had been twelve days and seven hours since he had last seen Yamato.

Not that Taichi was counting.

“It’s the opportunity of a lifetime,” Yamato had said, an unusual sparkle in his eyes. Taichi couldn’t bring himself to argue with him. 

As a result of hard work and excellent grades, Yamato had been awarded a summer internship at the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies. All expenses would be paid for, and Yamato couldn’t turn down a good deal.

Once the twelve of them had gathered in the crowded airport, Taichi had to fight the tears in his eyes. He wrapped his arms around Yamato for what felt like the last time

It was only for the summer, he reminded himself. 

Still, his heart strained uncomfortably in his chest as Yamato’s mop of blond hair slipped further and further away. 

It had been twelve days and seven hours since he had last seen Yamato, and Taichi was about to crack.

The air conditioner hummed pitifully in the corner of his apartment. Though the one bedroom, one bathroom apartment had always been small, the rooms felt stifling in the summer heat. Listlessly, Taichi flipped through an old issue of Sports Illustrated. Across the pages, men that were having a lot more fun than Taichi flashed brilliant smiles. The sunshine didn’t bombard them, but embraced them, a thin sheen of sweat highlighting their rugged cheekbones and emphasizing the blueness of their eyes.

Taichi shook his head. Their eyes weren’t that blue. Yamato’s were more crystalline, shimmering with depth and hue.  

Taichi shook his head again. The heat had gotten to him, turning his thoughts to mush and quickening his pulse. 

Peeling himself from the comforter, Taichi dressed quickly. Basketball shorts and a tank top were all he was willing to put on underneath the harsh Odaiba sun.

Outside, birds twittered mockingly. Their melodious conversations reminded him of late-night talks with Yamato, their voices muffled by phone speakers and sleep.

Their first year in college proved to be tougher than either of them had thought. Together, they would hole up in Taichi's cramped apartment, boxes of take out stretching between them. 

"You know," Taichi began one night, mouth loosened from alcohol or laughter. A half-finished midterm paper glared up at him from his laptop. "I hope all of this work is actually worth it in the end."

Yamato glanced up from his math worksheet. Numbers and letters combined in a way that made Taichi's head hurt, so he looked away, focusing on the way Yamato's eyebrows bunched together in thought.

"As long as you enjoy the journey, any outcome is worth it, you know?"

Yamato's eyes stared into Taichi's for a beat too long. An anxious fluttering erupted in Taichi's stomach, an oddly-placed cough doing little to ease his tension. 

Something pulled in Taichi's chest, a gravity urging him closer to blue eyes and the whisper of a smile. 

Instead, Taichi cleared his throat.

"Well, I'm glad math isn't a part of my journey." 

His voice sounded faint in the otherwise quiet room. Yamato merely snorted, turning back to his worksheet, the moment passing by as Taichi struggled with his courage.

In the present, Taichi wanted to kick himself for being so stupid. Passerbys glanced at him, nearly-grown and half wild with regret. Sweat beaded at his temples, the throngs of people overwhelming his senses. 

Taichi felt his sneakers guide him away from the sidewalk, leading him beneath the wide branches that caressed the edges of his busy district. 

With shade providing minimal comfort, Taichi ran his fingers carelessly through his hair. Despite the heat, his body had too much energy; his mind was too cluttered to think clearly.

Taichi turned himself around, his tacky skin pulling against the clothes of strangers as he hurried by. Once his apartment was in sight, his tanned legs broke into a run, lips curled downward in concentration.

A weak wave of lukewarm air greeted Taichi as the front door swung open, but the heat was now his least concern. 

Yamato, his Yamato, was a world away, probably spending his free time with a different, braver brunette who wouldn’t be afraid to kiss his best friend on the lips whenever he felt like it. 

With a groan, Taichi hastily kicked off his shoes. The linoleum floor was cold against his bare feet, but he paid little mind. 

A rickety desk stood cluttered in a corner. Yesterday’s clothes were draped over the chair, but there was no one else to mind. With a singular push, everything clattered onto the floor, Taichi rummaging through his drawers until he emerged victorious.

Though it was slightly stained with some mysterious liquid, the slightly-tattered postcard was exactly what he needed. 

Messily, he scrawled his message, short and sweet, and stuck on the first stamp he found. 

Braving the heat for a final time, the postcard was carefully pushed on its way, arriving safe, if not slightly damp, in a mailbox across the sea. 

It had been seventeen days and ten hours since Yamato had last seen Taichi, but a smile threatened to stretch his lips as he read the words out loud.

"Come home soon."

[denimbex1986]

'Time in my palms. The excitement of trying to know someone, someone else or at best myself is inside me. My body is shaking. I am anxious. Time is making my palms sweat. I understand that it is not possible to really know something. I feel deprived. I am trying to build a future for myself from the present. If the time you are in is difficult and your living space is limited, it seems that it is essential to dig the bottom of our lives in order to find the strength to resist and continue. I return again and again, trying to remember the moments that have been nailed to my life. Remembering is to be free, remembering is to forget, remembering is to encounter the reactions you once could not show, remembering is to hold life by the neck, remembering is to throw yourself off a cliff and wake up from your sleep when you are about to hit the ground. Remembering is to cut off life, to cover up what we could not face and to search for a way to continue. Remembering is to show the truth of life in our faces and to obscure what we see. Remembering is to challenge life even though you know you will lose. To remember, to shield oneself against life and fight stubbornly, to take a deep breath and surrender oneself to the peace that beautiful things bring…

To Forget is to Look at the Ashes After the Fire That Once Burned in Your Body Has Gone Out

There is also forgetting. Forgetting is accepting that a part of you has broken away from you. Forgetting is understanding what the part that has broken away from you really is and recognizing it from every aspect. Forgetting is looking at its ashes after the fire that once burned in your body has gone out. Forgetting is not understanding what it is that you are trying to forget or overcome, and if you do not understand, it will not happen. Forgetting is living in the dizziness caused by the feeling of deprivation and loss. Forgetting is cutting life short and ignoring the place where what is worth remembering lies, and that reckoning trips us up over and over again. Forgetting is what allows us to escape being crushed under memories and the pain we have experienced. Forgetting is to survive. Forgetting is covering up what has happened to us in order to overcome it. And forgetting is to face the fact that one day what is truly complete and defined will break away from you…

The Closeness of Two People Who Find Their Lives Strange in the City, With a Loneliness That Is Hard to Break

Starring Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal, Andrew Haigh's All of Us Strangers , who achieved great success with his films Weekend and 45 Years , is adapted from Taichi Yamada's 1987 novel Strangers , which was published by İthaki Publications under the title Yabancilar Bir Yaz ( A Summer with Strangers) with the translation of Nilay Çalşimşek into our language. The touching film, which deals with themes of love, loss, reconciliation with life and confrontation, tells the story of Adam's reconnection with his deceased parents and his developing relationship with his neighbor Harry. Drawing its strength from the profound performances of Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal and receiving praise, the film touchingly reflects the uncanny state that the mourning process brings and can bring. Standing alone in a void of darkness after the loss of his family, Adam does not want to face his reality in order not to break that bond with his childhood. He follows the delusions he sees. He fossilizes himself and his reality in his past, creating a distance between himself and everything around him. The flow of Adam 's life , swimming in his deep darkness of a single person, accelerates after he gets close to Harry . The closeness of two people who live with a loneliness that is hard to break and find their lives in the city strange, causes the truth that Adam cannot face and mourn to emerge. Because pain and the state of not being able to accept pain creates a distance between us and the outside world. Pain is an attack on the individual's relationship with the world. It opens wounds. We feel like we are far from everywhere, we don't belong anywhere. We become alienated from all the relationships we establish. It brings people face to face with their limits. It becomes increasingly difficult for us to make real contact, to see the existence of a person and our own existence. The pain that we cannot confront and mourn does not allow the contact to leave a mark even if a contact is established. However, whether it is important how and in what form it is established or not, every contact gives us a form...

Adam believes in the reality of the contact he has established with his family so much that he easily makes everything around him serve that reality. Because Adam is someone whose right to say goodbye to his family has been taken away from him by life. His body and mind think that he always has a possibility in his life, right next to him, as an escape area, a place of refuge, and a chance to make up for the opportunities he once missed. He cannot see the collapse that others can clearly see. The emotional, physical and mental contact he establishes with Harry gives him a different perspective. Director Andrew Haigh manages to drag the audience into the character's emotional intensity by making a cut at every point where emotions are intense. By making cuts to every feeling, the state of alienation and not being there is felt more clearly. The film finds a way to portray the uncanny state of its characters, who are alienated from the city, by depicting them in closed areas without getting involved in the city. With this choice, the director creates a very convincing area for the coming together of the characters' fragile personalities, isolated from the outside world.

​Adam creates a reality for himself while dealing with the mourning process, and attempts to cope with the emotional weight of trauma and loss. Having lost his parents at a young age, Adam feels the need to relive conversations and feelings that were left unfinished in the past. These imaginary meetings are a reflection of Adam's search for inner peace and acceptance. By creating a fictional reality, he tries to close the unfinished accounts of the past and believes that he has found deep meanings about himself, his family and his new relationships. The encounter with Harry helped Adam see what he really was. His relationship with Harry allows Adam to open up emotionally and heal the wounds of the past. Harry's presence and the love he shows Adam helps Adam accept his losses and take a step forward. This encounter triggers a change in Adam's inner world, allowing him to face the truth and live a more meaningful life. It is possible to say that Harry also has a sense of having a traumatic past, emotional burdens and unresolved issues in his past. Harry's relationship with Adam allows both of them to reveal their wounds and heal together. Harry's traumas help Adam develop emotionally, while also allowing Harry to confront and accept his own pain. The emotional depth of the film increases as both characters are there for each other, prodding each other's realities. It creates an ambiguous relationship between the two characters, but one that can only be understood by each other. Adam and Harry are far from everything, wounded by everything, and perhaps often find themselves uncomfortable being born. But they still take refuge in the conversations between each other as a breathing space for themselves. Or we think this is how it is throughout the film. Because the story always directs its reality according to the feelings of the viewer and the reader of the book. I think this is the greatest power of the text and the film. Whatever we believe in and how much we are ready to feel living with it, living becomes a part of us, apart from being an endeavor. It is difficult to be everywhere and stay with ourselves. Sometimes you just have to stay where you are and enjoy both the truth and the lie... No matter how much I say it, it will be both not enough and incomplete, so I'm going to stop myself here and invite you to play the song The Power Of Love by Frankie Goes To Hollywood, which plays in the movie.

We Are Stuck in the Vortex of Remembering and Forgetting

I don’t know how many stages and ways there are to overcome and overcome grief. But the most difficult part of dealing with grief is when you come across a person, a living being, an object that you can truly connect with. Do you have the courage to see if it is something that will help you move on or not? Dealing with grief is about knowing yourself, understanding yourself, looking at your lies, your truth, your weaknesses and having the courage to stand by yourself despite everything. We remain in limbo in the vortex of remembering and forgetting. Forgetting bends and twists the truth in order not to succumb to its destructiveness. Remembering, on the other hand, imprisons us in the reality of whatever we want to believe. When this happens, we continue our lives by cutting out what we have experienced. Neither inside nor completely outside. Nothing. In any case, we are part of what we call living and we need to be at peace with the idea of ​​savoring it, living every desire and emotion to the fullest and sometimes mixing with each other and sometimes getting away from each other…'

[ashxketchum]

MIMATO WEEK 2023 (Random Update)

Note: I haven't been able to write on time as much as I wanted to, maybe by tomorrow I will post my Day 5,6,7 entries but until then I wanted to share something, so here is a prompt I got a year ago that was just sitting in my drafts for no reason! Enjoy 💙💚

Prompt: "Your heart is beating too fast to be close to someone you don't care about."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~ Listen to my Heartbeat ~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Digital World throwing them off track without a warning was something that didn’t make Mimi bat an eyelid anymore, and she was pretty much used to the ground beneath them slipping away in a flash, taking away with it any progress the group had made so far. So of course, she was unamused with the current situation, which was her being stuck in a cave with what looked like a light drizzle falling outside. The funny thing was, that while she couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen rain in the Digital World, what she could remember was that she had never been stuck alone with the blond standing tall at the entrance of the cave.

Yamato had his back to her, as he peered outside, and though Mimi couldn’t see his face from where she was sitting, she knew it was probably scrunched up in a frown as he inspected the raindrops that settled on his hand. She half turned to pass a comment to Palmon and was bitterly reminded once again, that the only occupants of the cave were her and Yamato, and that the whereabouts of their partner Digimon and the rest of their friends were currently unknown to them. She definitely felt anxious, sitting there without Palmon to keep her company or spring into action to protect her if required, and wondered if Yamato too felt a similar unease, though would he answer honestly if she were to raise this question out loud?

Her eyes wandered over to Yamato again, and she was a little taken aback, maybe even slightly jealous of how much the scene suited him. With his pale, yellow hair shining in contrast to the dim, rocky walls of the cave and his lean figure just rightly fitting in the narrow crevice, nonchalantly bathing in the faint rays of light that escaped through the cloudy sky and surrounded him, he looked nothing less than a muse artists would stroke carefully onto their canvases or poets would write sonnets about. She held back a sigh, it was as if the colour blue, or rather the emotion blue, was meant to be embodied by him, and to Mimi that was a feat worthy of being envious over.

“What should we do?” She decided to speak up, as sitting around and admiring Yamato’s perfect features was something that she could do from anywhere, getting out of here and reuniting with Palmon took priority for now.

Yamato turned, and as expected, with a frown on his face he fixed his eyes on her, and she noticed a hint of surprise reflected in them, as if he had not expected her to follow his lead.

Which was something Mimi couldn’t deny either, she was more of a ‘my way or high way’ kind of girl, but when it came to things related to the Digital World, all of them had adjusted to a pattern that was hard to shake off. If something goes wrong, look to Taichi, and if Taichi is not around, turn to Yamato. It was simple and easy to remember, and pretty much the mantra that had managed to keep them all in one piece during their many escapades, even though lately they hadn’t had much of a success with it since both Taichi and Yamato were butting heads so frequently. Mimi was liking this new side of Yamato however, it was different from what she remembered of him from their childhood, and his recent tenacity was something she could relate to and even found herself drawn towards.

“I don’t think we should move about carelessly.”

She raised her eyebrows, well that was unexpected, and even a little bit disappointing. She could’ve expected that kind of statement from Jou or Koushiro, but given the recent circumstances, Mimi assumed that the blond would be ready to go all out at any given moment. She stood up, dusting off the dirt from her skirt, she wasn’t going to sit around and wait to be found.

“Suit yourself, I’m going to go look for Palmon and the others.”

Mimi moved to make her way out of the cave, but Yamato raised his arm, blocking the entrance as he shot her a glare, “I’m worried about Gabumon and Takeru too, but you saw what happened, do you really think it’s a good idea to go out there without our Digimon partners?”

He was referring to the attack that had broken the group from their brief moment of slumber and had unexpectedly split them up. A shiver ran down Mimi’s arms as she remembered the daunting size of the Digimon that had attacked them out of nowhere, and internally she couldn’t help but agree with what her senior was saying. It was not a good idea to move around carelessly, but it was an idea and that’s what she needed right now instead of sitting still and waiting for someone to come calling.

“I’m not saying you’re wrong,” Mimi began, raising her eyes to meet his frowning gaze, “but maybe that’s what the others are thinking too, so how will we find each other if no one makes a move? We didn’t come to the Digital World to sit around and wait for help to find us, at least I know I didn’t.”

She knew she had hit a nerve and she did feel a bit guilty about it, ever since the whole thing with Meicoomon had begun the one who had been advocating for action the most had been Yamato, so for her to suddenly chide him about sitting tight was a low blow on her account. But she couldn’t help it, Mimi could feel the restlessness racing through her veins for every minute they spent together inside the cave. She had never spent so much time alone with him at such close proximity and the new feelings that were being stirred up in her heart when she looked at him, broad shoulders firm with determination as he refused to lower his arm and allow her to pass through, were completely unfamiliar to her.

“So you would gladly leave me behind?”

His voice was just a tone above a whisper but it was almost as if it rang through the cave like a loud, blaring alarm. It takes two to tango, is what his captivatingly blue eyes were saying as they fiercely peered into her own, if Mimi wasn’t afraid to cut corners then neither was he, which made it all the more difficult for her to look away and actually respond to his question. Not that coming up with an answer to his question would be easy, the way he was staring at her made it seem like he could look directly into her soul and would be able to sniff out any lies.

But Mimi had managed to dye her hair pink without her parents finding out until she walked out of her room with her hair bouncing about like a cart of cotton candy had exploded on it. She could handle one blond tundra.

“Gladly,” Mimi said, her voice slightly quivering, but still managed to resound firmly around them. She took a step forward, hoping that the threat of proximity would make Yamato lower his arm and give her the space to make her exit, but instead, he just tightened his grip on the rocky wall, muscles taut around his arms as he continued to stare her down, challenging her to come even closer.

She swallowed a gulp, he was the last person she expected to raise the stakes in a situation like this, what she had expected was that he’d get embarrassed and she’d take that opportunity to take the upper hand and make her escape. However, in the moment it was Mimi who felt embarrassed as she realised that if she raised her fingers just a little bit, she might be able to trace the shape of the tense muscles that clung to the white fabric of the shirt, and as crazy as it sounded to her, that’s all she could think about as they stood close facing each other down with such a fiery determination for perhaps the first time since they had met on the bus to summer camp all those years ago.

Why Yamato had decided to meet her challenge was still something she was unsure of, under normal circumstances he might’ve silently glared daggers at her and focused his attention elsewhere, that’s how he usually fought with people who weren’t Taichi, but then again Mimi and he had rarely ever disagreed on anything before, so there was no way for her to know how he would push back in an argument against her. She wished somewhere deep down, that if this was how things were going to go down, then she had been better off not knowing at all.

Mimi squeezed her eyes shut and tried to get the image of the blond looming over her in all his handsomeness out of her mind, what was important right now was winning this game so she could put some distance between the two of them and never have to deal with all these feelings stirring up inside her ever again. All she needed were a couple of words that would do the trick, they didn’t even need to sting per se but just surprise him enough for her to get a shot at creating an opening in the barrier that he had put up, metaphorically and physically both.

“I’m not intimidated by you.” She began, raising her voice by a pitch that made him wince as he looked over at her with humorous doubt, “In fact, I’m rarely intimidated by people I don’t care much about. And you’re one of them.” Mimi folded her arms across her chest and met his eyes with equal vigour, letting him know through her posture that she too was firm in her decisions and he wouldn’t be able to change her mind with a few lousy tactics. Lying wasn’t something she was particularly good at but the tension in the air gave her the strength to step out of her comfort zone and make a bold statement that would surely hit all the right notes and make Yamato angry enough to lose his cool.

But lately, he had been full of surprises and Mimi should've known better.

Just for a moment, she saw anger flash across Yamato's eyes before he covered it up with an expression she did not recognize. The corner of his mouth curved into a ruthless smirk as without a warning he lowered his head to level with her face, the tip of their noses now only centimetres apart. His warm breath brushed past her chin, which considering the chilliness surrounding them would have been a welcome feeling if Mimi’s whole body hadn’t frozen at the sudden lack of distance between the two of them. She wanted to lift her hands and push them against his toned chest so he would be forced to take a few steps back, she wanted to turn on her heels and stalk back into the inner depths of the cave so the cold air could help douse the fiery excitement that was now rushing through her veins.

But her hands and her feet refused to listen to her demands and stayed put, she felt a hot, burning sensation take over her cheeks as Yamato’s gaze dropped to her lips for just a brief moment, before his eyes met hers again, shining with an emotion she couldn’t find the right words to describe with. Mimi could feel her heart thumping rapidly against her chest, its hammering drowned out the faint pitter-patter of the rain outside in her ears, and she meekly prayed that the loud sound couldn’t reach Yamato because the air of confidence she had put on would crumble the minute he knew how nervous being this close to him made her feel.

Her prayers went unheard of course as the smirk on Yamato’s widened with amusement.

“Are you sure about that, princess? Because your heart is beating too fast to be close to someone you don’t care about.”

A soft whimper escaped her lips, and Mimi was ashamed of her reaction but her voice seemed to have gotten lost somewhere deep inside her throat. It was almost unbelievable that she was losing a battle of stubbornness against Yamato of all people, so all Mimi could do was blame the change in her attitude on the stupidly cold cave that made her long for the warmth of excitement that came with being the absolute centre of Yamato’s attention. She also blamed the Digimon that appeared out of nowhere and separated their little group in such an odd manner. Because she was sure that if a few more of their friends and their Digimon partners were around, this disagreement of theirs would have ended with both of them huffing and puffing and turning away from each other, not with their faces hovering so close that a single a push or a trip of her feet could send her lips crashing onto his-

“Yamato san, Yamato san, can you hear me?”

The two teens immediately pulled back at the sound of their friend’s voice. Mimi took a few steps back into the cave, her hands pressed to her cheek as she tried to hide the redness across her face. While Yamato ended up stepping out of the cave and into the rain, his pale cheeks however, betrayed no hint of embarrassment, only his chest fell and rose irregularly as he took a few deep breaths.

“Yamato san, can you hear me?”

The two turned their attention to the source of the voice, Yamato's digivice which was attached to his pant’s belt loop. Frowning, the blond removed it from his pants and raised it towards his mouth, responding in a hesitant tone.

“Koushiro?”

“Yes! I’m glad I was able to connect with you too. I’ve gotten hold of everyone else, well except Mimi san but I was planning to reach out to her next.”

The digivice being used as a walkie-talkie was something new to both of them, but if someone was capable of figuring that out it was Koushiro. Yamato lowered the digivice, holding it between the two of them so Mimi could lean in closer and listen better too.

“Mimi’s with me.”

It was a simple statement, a factual one in fact, but the words made Mimi’s stomach churn unbearably. She wanted to slap herself across the face just to get out of this stupor she seemed to be under, Yamato and she had never been anything more than casual friends, and she should know better than to dream of something more.

“I see...That’s...uh that’s good to hear.”

Koushiro’s voice seemed more timid than earlier, as if he was not happy to hear about how the two of them had ended up together. Yamato too must have noticed the change in their friend’s voice as he scowled at the device in his hand, possibly annoyed that Koushiro would take a dire situation like this and make it about his feelings for the brunette.

“What do we need to do next?” Yamato cut right to the chase, the urgency in his voice made it seem like he wanted to put an end to the whole dilemma of being stuck alone with Mimi as soon as possible and that finally made the jumbled-up feelings inside of her calm down for a minute.

“Let me explain the rendezvous location to you…”

Mimi tuned out the conversation, knowing that Yamato would guide her in the right direction, she took that time to collect herself instead. By the time they left the cave and followed Koushiro’s directions to where they would meet up with their friends, the surge of emotions she’d felt by simply being around Yamato alone began to simmer down. The two walked in silence, with Mimi trailing slightly behind. She was dragging her feet across the ground so slowly, which came as a surprise to Yamato and he would often turn to check if she was still around. He must have thought her behaviour odd, considering how aggressively Mimi had wanted to get out of the cave to go look for Palmon a while ago.

But now, she knew that the minute the two would reunite with their friends the problems surrounding the Digital World would take centre stage in both their minds. Until the battle was over the two would probably never get the chance to think about what had almost happened between them in the cave. What Mimi feared the most, however, was that both of them would eventually forget the heated moment they had shared and never again make an attempt to get close to each other.

Which is why she walked slowly, to keep the memory of Yamato’s mesmerising blue eyes staring at her lips fresh in her mind for as long as she could. Deep down she hoped that Yamato would do the same, because maybe, just maybe if both of them held onto the memory of their tryst tightly, it wouldn’t wither out as a dream and remain rooted in their minds as something real for years to come.

- x -

[digifandom]

Okay this might be a hot take but, I don't think the Crest of Sincerity shouldn't exist. I like the dub crest of reliability for Joe and the sub crest of purity for Mimi. At least to me they seem to fit the characters better. Like compare the meanings and-

Joe/Jyou

Let's use the whole situation with Takeru and his Mom. With the Crest of Sincerity the meaning of that scene is that he keeps his promise to protect Takeru to Ms. Takashi, therfore showing he is sincere in his promise. (Which is great, it does read) Yet when you watch it in the context of the Crest of Reliability then the scene isn't just a promise being fulfilled (simplifying ofc). Joe's character gimic is literally being a constantly anxious person (again simplifying) so the scene has more impact (imo) to Joe as a character due to it showing that nature of "this person that I care for is in trouble, I have to help him" and therefore showing that someone who has a lot of anxiety/fears is still a reliable person. Someone who despite of himself will still do everything he can when it comes down to it, to me that has a bigger impact. Feel free to give your own opinions I'm also open to different interpretations.

There is a counter arguement to be made with the example of Joe and Yamato fighting together at the restaurant and that episode showing how "sincere" Jyou is by telling Yamato the whole truth of him not messing up on purpose, but 1 that episode is supposed to showcase Yamato's trait of friendship more so than Jyou's trait of sincerity (don't get me wrong it does do both but still), and 2 that episode read with the Crest of Reliability still reads really well, especially as a set up for who Jyou is. The episode shows things going wrong time and time again, Joe messing up (even tho it's not his fault) it shows that side of him that counter acts his giving trait of reliability but still shows the effort he puts into be reliable and once again shows his resolve to do everything he can for those he cares for via being squished by veggiemon for Yamato. The episode shows peaks of him being reliable while still keeping the trait buried in other things as it's not his and Gomamon's time.

Mimi

For our pink loving queen let's use the episode of her princess Era (ya know the one where she needs to sing but Taichi has to slap some sense into her before she does). It makes sense that this scene reads better, or more deep, with the perspective of Purity rather than Sincerity (the og is showcasing Purity afterall) In the Dub the Crest of Sincerity is used as Mimi (just as in the Joe sub) keeping true to her promise, and it admittedly (again imo) works much better than Joe keeping his promise. It works better only due to the build up of Mimi not aligning with her trait, but the Purity (imo) is still better. The Purity crest in this scene is used to represent that Mimi is a caring person that wishes the best for others but also incredibly (albeit unintentionally) selfish. Mimi is a character who wants to be treated like royalty and she can be very unaware of what her actions bring to others or that they are morally wrong in any slight way, but it makes sense for her character as she is like 10 and when she does realize the harmfulnes of her own actions she stops and tries to be better. Purity in this sense is a trait of betterment, Purity is NOT supposed to represent Mimi as a character with an unwavering moral compass that's perfectly aligned to good, instead it's meant to showcase her trait of Purity is the sense that she has a heavily wavering moral compass, one that leads her to make bad decisions at times but she then improves herself from her mistakes. Purity is (self)betterment rather than perfectly clear/good.

Counter argument: Mimi saving the people when she first get palesmon to digivolve into lillymon. It's easy to say this doesn't showcase either, or that it showcases her sincere want save people, or that it shows how pure she is by wanting to save everyone (especially her parents). So let me just justify my interpretation of the Crest of Purity representing betterment rather than being pure of heart (aka my explanation that's not the 3rd option I just gave). To keep this short, this scene is pay off of past (self)betterment and the gateway to more (self)betterment. The payoff comes from Mimi holding her ground rather than just encouraging everyone to run and get out, it's her acting (something that she's grown to do). The gateway of this scene is the fact that she is still doing this still protecting these people because of her family, she still hesitates to fight (until the very end of the series she hesitates to fight) but everytime she gets better she reacts faster she gains more confidence to do what she has come to believe is right, protecting others.

Iori/Cody

Okay I won't go into as much detail with Yolei/Miyako and Iori/Cody. But Cody is a bit difficult to really define but I still wanna say the Crest of Reliability fits him best. When Cody has to lie when he gets his digitama and is choosen to be Joe susesor it's easy to see how it's supposed to represent the in-between of the Crest of Sincerity, how it's okay to lie if necessary and that you can still be an honest (sincere) person. But read it withthe Crest of Reliability and that message is still there but another layer get added to it, Iori at that moment is doing what he can to save his friends and he pulls through despite his own hesitations it shows that responsibility within in that also helps his character as someone who always does what their told by their elders, he was taught to be honest and goes against those teachings for those he cares for. To me that developed who Iori is as a character a lot more.

Miyako/Yolei

I feel as if the execution of both crest was well down with her, to the point that if it weren't for her being the successor of Mimi I would probably be more on the Sincerity Crest side. The episode that stands out to me is surprisingly not when she gets her digitama of Sincerity/Purity it's when she gets dragged with Ken and Hikari to the dark ocean. Specifically when she slaps Hikari, that slap and the speech she gives to Hikari read so well with the Crest of Sincerity in mind, Yolei is being honest with Hikari, she's talking about her feelings she's unbashfully being herself and admitting what she wishes for, admits her jealous of Hikari. She's sincere and in ture she brings out Hikari's genuine emotions. I think this is the best use of the Crest of Sincerity and that the scene doesn't read as good when read with the trait of Purity in mind. It still reads well which is why I still think Yolei should have the Crest of Purity because it reads well with either and therefore dependent on what work for Mimi (as again she's suppose to be Mimi's successor) But just bc I like Sincerity better in this case doesn't mean I won't give my arguement for Purity.

The Crest of Purity in this same scene is weaker (imo) but it does still work, my point with Mimi is that Purity is suppose to represent (self)betterment and this scene can be argued to show that. The first step at fixing a problem is acknowledging it, this scene is Miyako out right admitting to everything that she sees wrong with herself and wants to change, it's her not necessarily asking for help from Hikari but telling Hikari "Hey I wish I wasn't as stubborn as I am and knew how to listen to others like you do" and in response Hikari points out that their is a good side to Yolei not being able to do that. This scene in this context is about (self)betterment but specifically the steps to it such as accepting the problem and understanding the positives that should stay but the negatives that do need work.

Now some of the scenes I talked about weren't scenes the characters crest were a big deal in. So ...

Why Think about the Crest in a situation that the character isn't actively using it?

The Crest that the digidestined have are meant to represent a trait they have (an arguable exception is made with Hikari's Crest of Light and Daisuke's Crest of Miracles but I have theories on that for another time) meaning in every scene you should be able to see the trait in each character or the character struggling with their trait. It shouldn't matter when if it's a trait that their suppose to represent at all times,

Taichi being scared because Courage is overcoming fear

Yamato pushing people away because he struggles with receiving the friendship of others (but giving it as much)

Mimi being selfish because it's something she needs to better

Takeru putting on a brave face because even if he doesn't have hope he refuses to let those around him lose hope

Sora holding someone back because she loves the so much and doesn't want them to be hurt

The whole point of the digidestined's crest is that they have these traits so deeply ingrained in their actions, yes their human and don't always adbid by them but even that is still present in their actions.

Lol sorry for the rant, feel free to drop your own opinions, at the end of the day it's just personal preference and interpretation, pls reblog so others can vote!

[brainfilehasstoppedworking]

The adorable newly married couple take their little boys to kindergarten together and they're just absolutely being a cute little family while the moms that are there are kind of just staring at them. But they don't mind it. They're happy.

And they're just as happy watching their sons happily go to class and they both hope that they make friends. They absolutely adore these two boys and won't let some stares make them nervous or anxious. Takaaki rests his head on Taichi's as he holds his beloved's hand. The moms stare in disgust. But they don't mind. Takaaki ignores the screams in the back of his head as Taichi just leans into the touch, reminding himself and Takaaki that they're all just assholes.

The married couple leave to go to work as they just talk about how exciting it is to see their boys grow up and start kindergarten together.

[shoujomangathoughts]

Chihayafuru Thoughts - Chihaya and Taichi in Ch.93 -139 (S3 events)

This is part one of a series where I plan to talk about Taichi and Chihaya. Here’s a spoiler warning for this section and some light spoilers about chapters after this point.

The stretch of chapters covered in season 3 feels like a fundamental shift in the series and by the end of this part it’s clear that the series will be quite different moving forward. 

In regards to Taichi and Chihaya, this section of the series is where things start changing for them and I wanted to go over some moments that stuck out to me. A consistent plotline here is that Chihaya is actively trying to understand more about Taichi because she starts to feel anxious about their relationship. She actually admits “I don’t know anything yet, not even about Taichi”. We already know how Taichi feels about Chihaya, and there are actually many instances of him trying to grow and change on his own in this part.

This statement from Retro seems to rattle her because in her mind, she knows Taichi and his skills well. When she plays Taichi at the Fujisaki camp, she refers to him as “feeling like a stranger”, something she notes again at Yoshino. Yoshino in general is an important match for both of them (that others have analyzed more in depth than I ever could so check those out!). While Chihaya truly “saw” and acknowledged Taichi in this match, Taichi’s frustration over losing is directly opposite her enjoyment of the match. I feel like the difference in these feelings is why Chihaya is so confused by Taichi’s decision to skip the class trip for the Meijin qualifiers. Taichi, losing after working so hard on a strategy tailored to go against Chihaya, still sees himself as inadequate, and understanding the time he has left (as Desktomu tries to explain to Chihaya), pours himself into karuta more than before. After Kana’s explanation about “competing to stir hearts”, Chihaya seems to gain an inkling about the fact that Taichi may have left their match feeling somewhat unsatisfied and frustrated in contrast to how she left with both the satisfaction of winning and enjoying a match with someone who she has worked so hard with and values.

After Taichi is unsuccessful at the qualifiers and returns, there’s a moment when Chihaya regains her composure (after hearing the challengers were Harada and Arata) where she looks up and sees that Taichi isn’t in the hallway anymore. It’s a small moment but the look on her face suggests to me that she realizes she didn’t ask Taichi about his matches or why he went, let alone seeing if he seemed upset. It also becomes apparent to her that she doesn’t necessarily know how to comfort him and she starts noticing distance between them.

After this, when they practice in the clubroom, it becomes clear to Chihaya (and everyone else) that Taichi is in a slump after losing both Yoshino and the Meijin qualifiers, and the only thing Chihaya can think to do is continue to play him seriously out of fear he might quit. She once again starts feeling anxious that Taichi might be burning out and give up on karuta. She even seems to take his feelings into account when Porky brings up calling and congratulating Arata. She holds her phone up and Taichi is shown directly in the background, and she decides to call him later, as if she wants to be careful about congratulating Arata on accomplishing the very thing Taichi is dejected about (Taichi is right next to her when she calls him later, but the point is Chihaya is starting to be more aware of people and their emotions, not to mention that Dr. Harada fired them up a bit before). She notices Taichi’s apprehension about seeing Dr. Harada as well.

Arata’s confession also rattles her and she spends some time after in a daze. Taichi is too sharp and can read Chihaya too well to not essentially piece together what happened (confirming his suspicion later in his match with Arata). This puts Taichi in a tough position since he still doesn’t know how or when to tell Chihaya how he feels, most likely out of fear that their relationship will change.

When Taichi stays behind again and Chihaya gets visibly upset, Kana urges her to think about why he is acting the way he is. The whole “Why is Taichi always going off on his own?” thing has always been interesting to me (and I feel like I always overthink this or maybe I just don’t get it). The answer isn’t simply because he loves Chihaya. When he skips the class trip, it seems as though he wants to win as a result of his frustration over his loss at Yoshino. His loss against Chihaya, despite so much preparation probably made him think that he’s still not good enough to stand as Chihaya’s (and Arata’s) equal, so he pours himself into another tournament. Taichi even asks himself what he wants to be so bad that he’d miss his school trip, and that’s where a problem arises with his motivation. Among other reasons, it feels like part of why Taichi is trying so hard in karuta is to grow/find himself and change parts of himself that he isn’t satisfied with. However, that’s a vague benchmark and it’s hard to tell when you feel you’ve grown “enough”. Would he have been entirely satisfied had he won against Chihaya, even if they had played each other in an earlier round than the final? It’s hard to say, but maybe he needs the tangible proof that he’s grown because otherwise he may not believe he has (his victory over Arata later and his reaction makes this seem to be the case, if only partially). Taichi staying behind the second time specifically in hopes to play against Arata is also something he wouldn’t want Chihaya to know. Beyond more or less asking Arata about his confession, Taichi doing this feels like he’s trying to face Arata (a person who Taichi compares himself to, to a fault) and try to overcome his own insecurities - “How do I fight? Against Arata? Against myself?”. Despite his private nature and him not typically relying on others, to me there seems to be many reasons he can’t confide in Chihaya, one of which being that he loves her and that is often a part of why he feels insecure because he doesn't see the value in himself enough, so he isolates himself to try and find himself on his own (?). If anyone has a better read on this and its implications please tell me lol it feels pretty open to interpretation to me.

After losing to Arata, it’s incredibly clear that Taichi is feeling dejected and unmotivated in regards to karuta. At this point, Taichi has been on the way down; losing to both Chihaya and Arata, losing at the Meijin qualifiers, not having the drive to challenge Suou like Arata, and knowing Arata confessed despite Taichi not having the courage to be honest with Chihaya about his own feelings yet. The anxiety Chihaya feels about the distance between them and the fact that Taichi appears to be suffering is enough for her to break down. I’d consider this growth for Chihaya; she at times gets tunnel vision for her own goals or doesn’t notice people’s feelings because she herself is having fun. Yet here she so viscerally reacts to the fact that he is struggling, and very purely wishes for him to smile and enjoy the time with everyone like she has been. This desire is how the Taichi cup is born, which results in Taichi thinking about whether he feels he’s grown or not since the last genpei match they played as kids. It’s also sweet of Chihaya to pick genpei matches in part due to appealing to one of Taichi’s greatest assets in karuta, his memorization.

After Taichi confesses, the dynamic between them is different. We’re shown a montage of several days that follow, where they don’t seem to speak and while Taichi seems to be faking smiles, Chihaya can’t even seem to look at him. Whether or not she flatly turned him down isn’t known but there’s also no communication to erase any misunderstanding either.

Once the realization that Taichi is leaving the club fully hits Chihaya, that anxiousness about him slipping away is now a fear being realized, hence her act of desperation to bring him back. It comes across as a bit selfish and unintentionally cruel, that she doesn’t seem to recognize that while she’s been confused and trying to get her thoughts straight (or just waiting and hoping they go back to normal), he’s been suffocating in the atmosphere created after he spilled his most vulnerable feelings. I know the kiss rubs some people the wrong way, and while it may not have been the best option, it effectively translated Taichi’s heartbrokenness to Chihaya and made her understand him more clearly. The other thing that made his feelings clear was the karuta reference - that all 100 cards look pitch black to him. Virtually all of his karuta career has had Chihaya involved in some way, which combined with his dejection after all those losses, makes sense why he has no desire at all to continue. Not long after, he’s convinced that he doesn’t like karuta at all, which isn’t really true. The truth seems to be more along the lines of he was never playing because he liked it. He was playing to meet team expectations, help Chihaya achieve her dream, gain acknowledgement and battle his own issues, possibly even to reject the ideals his mother instilled in him, etc. and he eventually was crushed by that weight. He needs the space and time away from Chihaya and the club, even if it’d be considered selfish for him to do so.

//Sidenote// I always find it interesting when people compare Chihaya’s reaction to Arata’s confession to Taichi’s because the context and her actual relationships with each of them are inherently different. Chihaya has spent a good amount of time trying to figure out Taichi (and in general just knows him better) and for her to miss something so huge obviously stuns her, not to mention she starts feeling guilt that she may have been unintentionally causing some of the suffering she so desperately wanted to dissolve. She also doesn’t seem to know how she herself feels yet, hence the “I’m sorry” which feels pointed to other things rather than a flat out rejection (despite Taichi feeling completely rejected). She also recalls his confession and it depicts Taichi in a very pure and gentle way, which I’d interpret as being remembered in a positive way (even if she also remembers how broken down he was shortly after), and later refers to his words as being like a poem.

I also see people complain about Taichi’s timing in leaving the club. Honestly, it feels like the best time he could, rather than wait until there are new members to help and tournaments to worry about, and then just dip out. Was is it somewhat unfair that they weren’t told face to face (apart from Nishida and Komano)? Sure, but realistically it wouldn’t have gone over well any way it happened and I think Taichi just didn’t have any fight left to give. Apart from Chihaya (at first), everyone seems stunned but seem like they understand that he wouldn’t leave without reason. It’s been obvious that he cares a great deal about the club and its members.

Anyway, I’ll be making more of these that talk about these two after these events up to the end of the series soon. If you read this far, thanks and feel free to add your thoughts!