#and actually might have a bit of a moral center??? which is especially ' odd ' for someone in the mathis family BUT-

[mad-hunts]

JACK MATHIS, THE CONTORTIONIST — expert thief and fauceur of the mathis family.

[rotationalsymmetry]

This election season I’m not waiting for the “a vote for a third party candidate is a vote for a Republican/if you don’t vote because you don’t like either major party candidate then you’re the problem and also clearly swimming in privilege (because there’s totally a correlation between being privileged and not voting)” thing to start up, I’m just going to preemptively unfollow anyone who posts anything GOTV-ish that rubs me even slightly the wrong way.

Ahem. Voting is a choice, and for the system to even halfway sort of kind of function it has to be. If Democrats cannot possibly lose votes on the left no matter what they do, but can lose votes in the center, they will inevitably drift right. The only way we can mitigate this is if there’s some penalty in the voting box if a Democrat is too fucking centrist for words. Moreover, there are tons of people who intend to vote Democrat but might not if not given a little bit of a push/reminder to register/ride to the polls/etc, so please focus on those. Like the people who are actually paid to get out the vote (or who even just volunteer a few hours of their time with the Democratic Party, rather than independently posting whatever makes them feel superior on social media) do, you know? I understand text banking is a big thing these days, and for people who like a bit of creativity there’s postcards.

There is, also, especially for national elections, a sense in which voting is…how do I phrase this? You know when you give a young child a choice of doing their math homework with the pencil with unicorns on it or the pencil with the spaceships on it in hopes that they won’t notice you’re not giving them a choice about the homework itself? Voting can be like that, a way to get people to feel like the state represents them, and if there’s an asshat in power it’s other people’s fault, so that they will follow the rules and not, idk, unscrew the middle bar on park benches with an Allen key so that homeless people can sleep there or whatever. Or lie on their resume. Or refuse to rely on the cops when something goes wrong. Or hire people for odd jobs without asking for their social security number and paying them under the table so they don’t have to pay taxes/report their earnings and possible lose their disability money/whatever. Or look the other way when they see someone shoplifting baby formula. Or pirate movies, whatever.

The state functions largely by getting people to believe that it is good and that following the rules is good, and elections (where we all get to pretend that a politician’s constituents are the people who voted for them, and not the institutions that funded the campaign) are part of that smokescreen.

You will notice the unicorn pencil/smokescreen interpretation is not actually incompatible with the results of the election having a great deal of importance on people’s lives. Indeed, it would be quite difficult to get people to buy into the concept if the election results didn’t matter.

There is power in deciding the system is not just and you are not morally obligated to play by its rules. There is power in saying “the decisions made by my government are not made with my consent and are enforced against my will.” There is power in saying “not my president” about every president.

[dragonindigo245]

Official post for my orange side theory

AND NO IT IS NOT WRATH OR ANGER

WARNING: Spoilers for Working Through Intrusive Thoughts. I'm not gonna bother adding the spoiler tag to this post because all the spoilers are going to be under the read more.

Also this post is long so be warned.

Back in early August of 2020 I came up with an orange side theory I have stuck with for a long time. I always found the orange side theory of wrath/anger to be odd, seeing as anger is an emotion not a personality trait, and therefore made an effort to try and discover what I can see the orange side being. In light of the fandoms response to the latest asides saying that orange being wrath is "now canon", I figured it was time to bring it back, along with new points and explanations.

What is the orange side exactly? The answer is simple. He might not be this exactly, but orange is naivety, irrationality, or the inability to see logic clearly.

This started when I made the connection to the dark sides being complete opposites to one another. For example, Janus and Patton are opposite ends of the moral spectrum, Roman and Remus are opposite ends of the creative spectrum, and Logan himself is on the functionality/rationality spectrum. The opposite end would be something like naivety or irrationality.

After that post, I made another a couple of months ago with 3 main points, the first being the opposite ends point. The other two points are just as important.

Point 2: It ties into the 3 monkeys theory

The recent episode confirmed the 3 monkeys theory, further solidifying this point. In case you live under a rock or are new to the Sanders Sides theories, the 3 monkeys theory is based on the whole "See no evil, hear no evil, and speak no evil" thing. The dark sides all have powers relating to each of these.

Janus has the ability to mute the sides (speak no evil), Remus has the ability to muffle the sides (hear no evil), and Orange has the ability to... make... their eyes pretty? I'm sure that we will get an actual explanation on how he influenced Logan in the future lol. Regardless, orange is definitely see no evil.

Now you may be asking, Indigo, how does this tie into irrationality?

Do you know what irrationality is? The inability to SEE the world clearly or to SEE reason or logic. Irrationality blinds you to reason itself. It makes sense, seeing as emotions are illogical and orange clearly did something to push Logan to an outburst. When orange provided his influence, Logan's eyes glowed orange, indicating he lost the ability to see purely logically. While, yes, orange did this with anger as a vessel, irrationality takes many forms.

Point 3: Color symbolism

Something that is frequently overlooked when fanders make theories about the sides is that each side ties into their color scheme in some way. Roman being red ties into him functioning as Thomas' romantic side, Patton's light blue tying into his gentle nature and trustworthiness, etc.

Orange is a color that is tied to joy and youth. Being naïve to the world around you crumbling down will often make you happier. While some naivety is great and can make you happy, in large doses it is a threat to your well being.

Point 3.5: How is this connection accurate?

A great deal of the plot in this episode, especially the endcard, showcases this irrational blindness to all of the issues the sides are having with each other. Throughout the episode, Logan keeps having to sacrifice his plan to help Thomas and then once Nico calls Thomas, Thomas doesn't know how hard it hurts Logan to once again be brushed off. In the endcard, Patton and Roman tell Logan that this is more important, not realizing how rejected Logan feels.

This isn't just happening with Logan either. Patton and Virgil have had some rising tension as of late as well. This is showcased the most clearly in this video when Virgil snaps at Patton and says "Oh thank goodness. You're giving him permission." sarcastically. Patton takes this as "I didn't know you would give him permission" whereas Virgil was meaning "He doesn't need your permission to feel good about this". Furthermore, each of the light sides have argued with each other individually in different episodes except for Virgil and Patton.

With Janus recently being more accepted, Remus appearing and hurting everyone, and the tension each of the main sides have... it's all going to fall apart. Nobody but the dark sides seem to notice this tension, not even Thomas. Why? Because they are being naïve. The orange side is either keeping them blissfully unaware or the very fact they are unaware is giving the orange side power.

What is the new point you mentioned?

This video with the orange side really got my gears turning. I began making connections that otherwise I didn't have the ability to make, or never happened to think of. The fact my theory has managed to hold up in a heavy orange side lore video only solidifies my confidence in this.

Point 4: The dark sides revolve around the truth

This theory is a little more of a stretch but if I'm right, then this is all the evidence I really need to confirm that orange is irrationality.

Janus is essentially the ring leader of the dark sides. He keeps them hidden until Thomas wants to be aware of them, with the potential exception of Virgil who we don't know when he was revealed to Thomas. However, each dark side has something in common besides witty remarks. They all center around the truth.

Janus and Remus are easier to figure out, seeing as Janus is literally the embodiment of lies and Remus has multiple times where it is obvious he provides the unfortunate truth. Remus being the bringer of truth is showcased multiple times, which I will only bullet point because this post is more-so about orange than him.

His line of "I would never hide anything from you."

Janus bit in Forbidden Fruit that goes "No longer will you deceive yourself about the ugliness within you."

Logan admitting Remus can help Thomas in his own way

Virgil on the other hand is harder. Unlike the other two, Virgil represents a completely different angle of this "truth theme". Virgil represents the fear of both the truth and the unknown. Why would Janus even need to even repress the dark sides in the first place if Thomas wasn't afraid of the truth that they were apart of him? Why would Thomas had admitted he didn't want there to be more dark sides after he asks if there were more of them if it were not fear he had more unwanted parts of him and fear of not knowing what they were?

Virgil knows Thomas' fears. This would have made admitting he was a dark side such a hard feat. If he felt Thomas was chill with the dark sides, Virgil could have instantly told Thomas he was in fact one of them. In a way, this makes Virgil the perfect bridge between the light and dark sides. The dark sides provide Thomas with the truth he needs or wants, and the light sides figure out how to handle it.

Point 4.5: What does this have to do with orange?

Orange would keep Thomas from the truth. While, yes, this is the exact same thing Janus does, Orange would do it another way. Janus makes Thomas unaware of the truth he KNOWS. Unconsciously, Thomas still knows what Janus hides. This makes it entirely different from how naivety works. Naivety would keep him from ever learning the information in the first place.

Furthermore, we saw that orange is potentially connected to Janus in some way. The very last thing we see in Working Through Intrusive Thoughts is the flash from Janus' eyes, to oranges eyes. This could be a slight hint at Janus and Oranges functions not being so far apart.

Or the writers just thought it would look neat. That too.

Is Logan the orange side?

I can say with almost 100% certainty the answer is no. We saw before each sides introduction, they manifested themselves in the other sides.

Janus silenced Roman in Accepting Anxiety Part 2, Remus manifested in Roman by giving him random unwanted outbursts (like the naked Aunt Patty line that Roman said he didn't know where it came from in the Christmas episode), and therefore it follows orange is manifesting in his own way.

Furthermore, Logan is not the type of character to turn evil. He has outbursts and is being beaten down but he would never snap for good. If anything, we have seen from Putting Others First that he would only appear as needed if he felt ignored.

Logan is not one to let his emotions make irrational decisions for long, and he almost always goes to make up for his mistakes the moment they happen. He always has Thomas' best interests at heart and has witnessed Virgil realizing force is not the way to go about it.

It makes no sense for his character and there is no reason for it to happen narratively.

Please note that this post is simply a theory and I do not wish to start arguments about if I am right or not. If you are going to provide counterclaims, please do so respectfully and do not clog my notes with your own essay. Thank you!

[androgynousblackbox]

Thoughts about the fifth season (spoilers)

Okay, so normally I would make these posts as neutral as possible because I want them to reach anyone who enjoys the show. Even if you are someone that really fucking hates incest ships you can read them and still have an idea of what I liked, what didn’t, etc, without me bringing up that element. You can disagree or agree without being reminded “oh, yeah, he is one of THOSE fans I don’t like” and that is totally fine by me. Curate your own online experience and all that. But this is season is quite literally about the relationship between Rick and Morty, so as a rickmorty shipper I just can’t separate that from what I enjoyed about it and thus I am going to be talking from that position during all of this. If that makes you uncomfortable, that is cool, I get it. You can skip this one if you want. Also, this is going to be a general big mess of thoughts and whatever because I have lots of them so, bear with me. -Some of the shippers I was with on a server will know this already, but from the very first episode I was sure we were going to have two major themes: 1. Rick is a flawed human being, not a god, not a ultra genius who is always destined to be on top of everything and knows how to get out of any situation. Just a man. And that is why he needs other people, which is somethig he had to accept and understand about himself, especially after the fourth season was all about dethroning him as the patriarch of the family and break away the illusions that Beth had about her own father. We have standed too long having Rick win on everything and coming out like a badass, so it’s time to kick him down a bit and let him lose. 2. Morty’s heart is always going to get fucked over, which is something that gets even more explored on the Planetina episode: he wants a place to belong with a person who doesn’t make him feel like the odd one out. Combine the two and my idea was: they want to assure us about their relationship on some kind of way, this is about them and what they feel regarding each other. Probably about why or how Rick became so jaded because why else include Rick freaking out about Mr Nimbus just mentioning Diane’s name and how much he changed, on a first episode no less, if this isn’t something we are setting up to see later. They explicitely brought someone from Rick’s past to talk about that past and make a point to tell us that changed Rick. -So, we have the two major player set up like this: on one hand, Morty aspires for that companionship but he is not willing to compromise his own moral for it, whatever he has left after starting to take on some Rick’s traits. He is desperate for that connection and if that means leaving Rick behind, so be it. Rick will still be there anyway. On othe other hand, Rick also wants that connection and companionship but it’s too disfunctional and can’t make it quite work because there is always a part of him that wants to keep distance. With the alien lady, evne with the crows, it’s all about escapism and pretend like everything is fine, it’s just fun and he doesn’t have to care because they are just having a good time together. He tried to do that too with BP by keeping away the info about his daughter, but he called his bluff because BP knew Rick too much to not see that comic. It’s rebound after rebound because he is missing the one person that can keep him in check, that truly knows what a piece of fucking shit he is and somehow still comes back to him. BP saw that, knew what was happening, and prefered to get the fuck away because he didn’t want to compromise his own values like that either. But Rick doesn’t have that problem with Morty. It truly is Rick and Morty one hundread years because, no matter how fucking bad it gets, they still choose one another. -Now, the way they keep building up this relationship, these connection, even regarding the rest of the family, to me is brilliant in restrospect because it perfectly illustrate how much they have changed from what they were before and what that means. Morty is more independent and less afraid, right, but that doesn’t make him more happier because he is still lonely and Rick is being reminded, over and over again, that he can’t be alone either. -Regarding the way Morty have behaved, I have seen some people being concerned about how Morty is becoming more independent and therefore not relying on Rick as much for anything, so it’s like what is the point of their relationship anymore. And like, to me it makes sense they show because they have already told us on past seasons that Morty has stopped viewing Rick with that wide eyed expression for a long time. He is learning from him and can defend himself, so why does he need Rick at al? The answer is because he loves him. You can read that as platonic or romantic or whatever, but for better or for worse Morty just loves Rick. You shouldn’t love people because you need them, or at least that is not a healthy basis for any relationship. I said this on another post: you cannot make anyone to be your center for your mental health like that, and I feel like they aware of this point, which I really fucking love because it would have been easy as fuck to write any pairing like that.  -If you stay for the “Behind of scenes” scenes, the writers talk about how this season is about building trust between Rick and Morty. So it starts with Morty going around cleaning up some of the messes Rick left behind without telling Rick and then fucking the portal gun because he doesn’t trust Rick to not “kill him” to finding out he did that, just like Rick in fact doesn’t trust Morty to not be doing unnecesary bullshit. So Morty, hurt because his suspicions were right, puts an ultimatum and Rick, being the petty fuck we all know him to be, takes it kind because of course he would. -What does Morty does immediately after this? Latch onto another sketchy as fuck older man whose name ends with Ick and hope that is the connection he craves, because after all “we are like brothers now.” So rebound for him, rebound for Rick, rebounds for the crows, rebounds for everyone. Yay. -I know it has been however many years have passed since this show started, and it was obvious for fucking everyone who watched it, but I do really like that they use the exact words for how their dynamic has been: unhealthy, toxic, abusive. Lack of trust, lack of boundaries, secrets. Just straight up calling it as it is. So they have both of them confronting that fact, being aware of it, and to top it all off, make Morty the only being now on their universe that knows everything about Rick, every single thing he has kept even from BP, like the true reason he joined to their guerilla group, and still makes the conscious choice to go after Rick even when, as far he was aware of at least, there was another option.  -So, okay, now what, might someone ask. We have put everything out there and we have talked about what is wrong about their relationship, does this mean we are doing the boring healthy bullshit now? Well, nope. Considering that Morty did went out of his way to guilt trip Rick into getting back and Rick admits point blank admits he get it, Morty refusing to demand things be different because he is just desperate... they are still and probably always going to be a condependent mess, but hey, a condependent mess that at least is kinda self aware about it and won’t pull the “I am going to break up with you on a whim” move again, hopefully. I do think and expect some things to change, but only as far their dynamic during adventures goes and regarding the rest of the family, with everyone being on the know that those two are an item neither of them can get in between. Rick is probably still going to want to keep some things in control, he is still not going to express his feelings to Morty directly and Morty is still going to be a little shit that will want for validation that won’t come his way. It’s a shithole house, but at leat it’s their home kind of thing, and personally, that is how I like it. -The “adventures as a metaphor for a relationship so this is not like a real break up” is real funny when you hear the writers literally calling it a break up and a relatonship. Also, the amount of times that they say “my partner”. Like, I am sorry, but how the fuck I am supposed to believe this wasn’t for the shippers, fucking how? Like even if you aren’t one, and you go “it’s a metaphor!! it’s not like an actual relationship, they are not saying they are together as a couple”, that is flimsy as fuck because we have determined already that Rick uses adventures as an extension for all his relationships. There is a intentional paralel between BP and Morty and how Rick treats the both of them, like he would do anything for them but still be kind of a lying piece of shit too, so it’s definitely canon on the sense -Omg, we had miniature cute Mortys who like crayons and also big hot adult Morty, fucking finally. I cannot fucking believe they wouldn’t know the blessing they were throwing to fandom with that one, they know what they are doing.  -Rick as a boy dressing on the same colors of Morty could have been a cute little detail, like aww, they are family, so they pass down those colors from one generation to another because family, but fuck all of that, let’s make it creepy and fucked up because why not. But it’s also interesting because if Ricks breeded Mortys and put those colors on them, isn’t that another way of saying “you are connected to us just as much as we are connected to you”? Because they didn’t had to chose those colors, but they did it because it meant something for them. On a very fucked up way, I think they might even feel themselves more fathers to Morty than even Beth, because many of them didn’t cared manipulating her in order to gain more Mortys even if they could just clone them easily. -”You all really are bred for forgiveness”... Not really, or else “Evil Morty” wouldn’t exist and Cop Rick, the good one, would have never been attacked by using the attachment of Ricks against him. But Morty had made his choice and that choice was Rick, and even then Rick cannot fucking believe it so he has to reduce it to his breeding. -So, the finite curve has been destroyed and almost all Ricks were killed, the ones that weren’t coincidentally fucking off to another place just when that happened. That means that now there is true infinite universe where Rick is not the smartest man on the universe, where Rick doesn’t even exist at all, so we may have adventures where other people where the smartest people on their universe and Rick could finally meet his equal or someone even worse.  -The final speech of Mr Poppybutthole is kinda the perfect ending to everything, because he is talking avoid being afraid of the people he loves finding the “true” self of him and not loving him anymore, but Morty did that and he still loves Rick and, listen, I have FEELINGS about it, okay.  -After exploring this, which was the true only canonical mistery of the whole series, while also dumping off the backstory of Rick so nobody has to theorize about it anymore, it feels like they going two routes: either we are dumping anything about serialized anything, at least for a while, and we are back to just silly adventures with asshole grandpa and traumatized kid, or... we are introducing another big baddie that we are going to drag to hell and back. Maybe Evil Jerry? That could be fun to explore on the show. My bet is on the second option because I think that is the kind of thing that Justin really enjoys doing and that is why it appears on Solar Opposites as well, with the whole Wall as a central points behind all the shenanigans of the aliens.  -The only misteries left are: the weird Rick that killed his family, if he wasn’t killed already on the Citadel, and Birdperson reunion with his daughter, for which he might ask Rick’s help in the future when he cools down or maybe Rick gets his daughter back for him on a ridiculous plan to make him return his calls, because that is something he is going to pull. The Jessica thing and her quest for becoming an actual character with her own thing going on. -This finale made rickmorty canon on all the ways it could without having them literally making out willingly, and after Naruto, I don’t think that is a line they are not willing to cross at some point in the future, even if it’s just a joke. They already did with the parasites. I honestly don’t even know how you can watch the show and think “fuck yeah, they hate those ships just as much as I do!”, because with the way the writers talk about it and literally this entire season being nothing but a building up for their relationship, I would have been turned if I didn’t ship it already.

[fatesdeepdive]

Entry 55: Oops! All Supports Volume #8

Hey, guess how many Supports I have left for the Hoshidans? Eleven. Enough to finish up in this entry. Excluding the portal babies and the route neutral characters, I’ll be done with Birthright. Then all I have to do is deal with the hundreds of Conquest, Revelation, and child Supports.

Support: Jakob/Oboro

C: Oboro finds out Jakob has been volunteering to go around the battlefield and kill off any injured enemies, so she calls him scum.

B: Jakob explains that he doesn't care about right or wrong, only defending Corrin, and that ruthlessly killing seemingly defenseless enemies keeps Corrin safe. Jakob tells Oboro that he doesn't care about her opinion of him and will crush her without hesitation if she ever endangers Corrin.

A: Oboro explains that her parents were brutally murdered by bandits, which is why she hates Jakob's lack of mercy. Jakob tells her that she can hate him as much as she wants and that she has better reasons than most, but he'll continue to treat her as an ally.

S: Jakob has Oboro swear she will never betray Corrin, because he could never bring himself to fight her. Oboro, now okay with Jakob's brutality, agrees to marry him.

Review: A fantastic Support that paints Jakob in a morally grey yet noble light. That said, it is a bit confusing from a continuity perspective, because Corrin absolutely would not let Jakob go around murdering unarmed enemies.

Support: Azama/Azura

C: Azama speculates that Azura, deep down, feels utterly hopeless about the prospect of saving the world.

B: Azama asks Azura to tell him about her inner darkness. Azura refuses because she knows Azama will tell everyone.

A: Azama tells Azura to stop carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders and share her feelings with others. Azura realizes that Azama is actually worried about her.

S: Azama and Azura get together.

Review: Not bad, but could have been better. I do like the idea of Azura having inner turmoil and Azama being able to notice it, but I don’t know if this Support explores the concept enough.

Support: Felicia/Saizo

C: Felicia offers Saizo food and he refuses to eat it because Felicia is a terrible cook. Felicia gets mad and uses ice magic on him.

B: Saizo tells Felicia to quit maid work and devote herself to destroying enemies with ice magic. A: Felicia explains that she'll never quit working as a maid because Corrin is like family to her. S: Saizo tells Felicia he wishes he had a relationship with Ryoma as strong as hers with Corrin, and that someone else is the center of his world: her.

Review: Decent, but raises a big question: why doesn’t Felicia use ice magic offensively? Even if she’s a maid, she fights in battle. And yes, there is a little ice effect on her attacks, but it doesn’t affect gameplay. Also Saizo not understanding Felicia is a loyal retainer is dumb.

Support: Rinkah/Silas

C: Silas asks Rinkah to hang out and she explains that she is forbidden by her tribe from doing anything but fighting. Silas suggests they play tag and easily gets away thanks to his higher movement score.

B: Silas explains he escaped by hiding among other soldiers. Rinkah demands a rematch.

A: Rinkah finds Silas by asking other people if they saw Silas. This was apparently Silas's plan to force her to make friends.

S: Silas proposes. Rinkah accepts, but mentions her father might not allow it and will probably have Silas beaten.

Review: This one was fun. Rinkah’s obsession with victory is hilarious, especially her “Who's the best predator? I am. It's me.” The focus on Silas tricking her into making friends is a bit odd, but overall this Support works. Side note, it’s weird the fact Rinkah is forbidden from making friends doesn’t come up more. It’s mentioned in this one, in the Support she has with Corrin, and maybe in the Revelation Supports, but other than that I can’t recall it ever being mentioned.

Support: Felicia/Hinata

C: Felicia, like in many Supports, is disheartened by her own incompetence. Hinata suggests she find a talent to cheer herself up and. Felicia decides to make ice.

B: Felicia creates ice sculptures.

A: Felicia gets great at making ice sculptures; Hinata suggests she does it professionally.

S: Hinata proposes because of Felicia's infectious happiness.

Review: Okay, but it falls into the problem a lot of Supports fall into of only really focussing on one character. Hinata in this reminds me of the mothers in the child Supports.

Support: Kaden/Kagero

C: After Kagero saves Kaden's life, he follows her around to try and repay her. She tells him that she does not need nor want help.

B: Kaden keeps stalking Kagero. Kagero tells him to stop.

A: Kaden stops following Kagero and instead gives her shiny things. Kagero admits she didn't mind spending time with him.

S: Kagero goes back to stalking Kagero because she's in love with him.

Review: A fairly bland Support that feels like two conversations stretched into four.

Support: Hayato/Setsuna

C: Hayato hears Setsuna humming. It's weird and gives him goosebumps.

B: Setsuna shows Hayato that her weird humming attracts deer for her to hunt and also, perplexingly, scares off animals when she's stuck in a pit.

A: Hayato asks Setsuna to hum a happier tune because her creepy song scares him.

S: Hayato says he loves Setsuna's non-creepy humming and that he only talked to her about it as an excuse to get closer to her.

Review: This one isn’t very good. It’s hampered by not actually being able to hear Setsuna hum. That said, I enjoy the fact that Setsuna is a magic deer magnet and kinda wish her Supports gave her more random oddities, rather than relying so heavily on the joke about pit traps.

Support: Jakob/Rinkah

C: Rinkah tells Jakob to fuck off. Jakob politely leaves, definitely not planning to screw with Rinkah.

B: Jakob stands next to Rinkah talking to himself about how good his tea is. Rinkah threatens to beat him up and Jakob says that her tribe wouldn't approve of her attacking allies. A: Rinkah explains that she doesn't dislike being around others, just prefers real friendships to idle chatter.

S: Rinkah asks if Jakob has feelings for any of the women in the army. Jakob dances around admitting that he's in love with Jakob.

Review: I haven’t really captured it well in this entry, but this is a fantastic Support. Jakob acting like a shithead and Rinkah getting annoyed is hilarious, and this Support has some stellar dialogue.

Support: Felicia/Kaden

C: Kaden finds an injured kitten that Felicia patches up. Kaden does his compulsive need to repay debts thing and Felicia says he can repay her by allowing her to take care of the cute widdle kitty.

B: Felica and Kaden take care of a cute widdle baby with toe beans. By the way, look up images of kittens when you read this Support, it makes it a million times better.

A: Kaden pouts about Felicia being nice to the kitty because he's jealous of the kitty for being cute.

S: Kaden realizes that he was actually jealous of the kitten because Felicia was nurturing to him and he's in love with her.

Review: Dumb but also cute.

Support: Hayato/Kagero

C: Kagero talks to Hayato for diplomatic reasons and says he talks weird. He says she talks weird too. To be honest, I have noticed Kagero having a very formal speech pattern, but Hayato talks like every other character as far as I can tell.

B: They talk about how they talk formally.

A: Hayato thanks Kagero for helping him be confident in how he talks. Then he breaks down crying because she's so nice.

S: Hayato proposes because...I don't know, it's an obligatory S-Rank Support and this game doesn't think men and women can be friends without having sex.

Review: This one is similar to drilling. That is, boring.

Support: Azama/Hana

C: Hana trains by chopping down a tree in a single slice, something absolutely ridiculous. The tree almost lands on a meditating Azama. Unfortunately, it does not kill him.

B: Hana chops some wood and shoots shrapnel at Azama. Azama demands he warn him every time she plans to train.

A: Hana trains without warning Azama and accidentally beats the shit out of him. Hana says it's karma. Azama, the pseudo-Buddhist monk, says he doesn't believe in karma.

S: Hana asks Azama to accompany her every time she trains. Because she likes Azama. For some reason.

Review: Shallow, but Azama getting hurt is always fun.

[shihalyfie]

“The 02 characters didn’t get any character development”

Yes, they did.

“But -- “

Yes, they did.

Having had the gift of having rewatched 02 recently, I have to say that it still really, really confuses me how the hell people get this impression. It’s not even “I’m trying to see the best out of this” but that I genuinely do not get it, because as far as I’m able to see it’s pretty much literally right there!! This isn’t even tinfoil hat tier!

But in case you have any doubts, sit down because Shiha’s gonna sit here and write a meta about the 02 kids, and how they are perfectly reasonable characters that developed properly fine over the course of the series.

(All below translations of 02 dialogue are by PositronCannon.)

So the first thing to understand about 02 is that it is fundamentally made with a very different writing approach from Adventure in the first place, and therefore it is not meant to be compared in a one-to-one fashion.

This is a point I’ve said many times over and over, and I think it’s to the point where it shouldn’t even really need official clarification, but I’m just going to go ahead and bring up the words from Director Kakudou himself:

For instance, we had the prior series stick out in terms of its points about “what it means to be oneself”, and for 02 we made it so that you would pay attention to “the relationship between yourself and other people”.

Right, so: 02, by design, does not use Adventure’s character development methodology of “self-awareness”. It is built from the ground up by having its characters and character development predicated on relationships instead of singular characters. This might seem a bit odd on its face, but no man is an island, and, in fact, changing the way you interact with other people and with the world in general does speak a lot about one’s personal growth in its own way. And this also means that if you try to analyze 02 by holding it to Adventure-based standards of “character focus episodes” or the like, you’re already on a losing battle.

This means that character growth in 02 is not presented in a way where it’s up-front and center, but rather something you have to glean over the natural course of the series. We’re working off relationships, so you have to actually pay attention to the natural interactions between the characters or what they say even during “off-hours” -- the focus-episode format used by Adventure doesn’t apply here anymore. And it’s something apparent enough from how “evolution” is a metaphor for “personal growth” in this franchise -- in Adventure it was via the Crests, which meant self-awareness, but 02′s key evolutionary trump card is Jogress, which relies on the strength of relationships.

One thing I have to say in terms of my experience as a 02 fan is that I’ve found I actually appreciated it significantly more as an adult than I did as a kid, and that, in general, a lot of the things to appreciate about 02 are things that you really viscerally feel and understand when you’ve gotten that degree of life experience under your belt. Unfortunately, this is kind of a double-edged sword, too, because it ends up becoming the kind of series that often risks going over the heads of the very audience of children it was supposed to be targeting. It’s got a lot of very nuanced depictions of mental health and the childhood experience that are maddeningly subtle, to the point of possibly going over one’s head or even coming off as illogical without sufficient life experience, or simply just not being as visceral (the entire theme of “parents stroking their own ego with their kids’ achievements” hits the hardest when you’re college age).

So what this means is that 02 doesn’t exactly hand its themes or character development to you on a plate. But it is there, once you actually start looking for it.

Let’s start off by talking about our main core cast of characters. Adventure and 02 prided themselves on the fact that they tried very hard to not be adherent to anime tropes, but rather to portray well-rounded, nuanced characters that felt more like actual kids you might meet at school. So how does the 02 cast fare in not being pigeonholed anime tropes?

Daisuke: Even though official freely admits he has “the most anime-like personality”, it’s hard to say he actually falls that much into the generic shounen archetype. For one, he’s actually shockingly humble and polite in certain situations (he’s consistently polite with his elders, and is very quick to admit his own limitations). Actually, he comes off as a surprisingly friendly and deferential person -- it’s just that he happens to have somewhat of an abrasive exterior, and even then it’s implied heavily in the first half that this stems from a lack of validation and purpose. (He actually “deflates” really easily, so you can’t even say he’s all that arrogant past the surface.) Certainly he’s simple-minded, and kind of an idiot, but his abrasive exterior is actually pretty deceptive.

Miyako: Miyako floats an interesting duality of simultaneously being aggressively feminine and being aggressively un-feminine -- not necessarily in the sense she tries not to be feminine (on the contrary, she absolutely embraces it), but more that she’s also an aggressive, “inelegant” mess in ways atypical for a lead heroine in a shounen show, who are usually either cute or “badass action girls” and not...a mess. Despite that, she is also consistently portrayed as capable of heavy emotional depth and being very genuinely kind and concerned about others, which are not in any way diminished by the fact she happens to be an aggressive mess with a severe case of foot-in-mouth syndrome. It’s an interesting mix of character traits that you don’t see often.

Iori: “Designated young characters” usually fall into the “cute” archetype a la Adventure!Takeru or Tomoki, so it’s interesting that the youngest one is actually the most mature one, and impeccably polite at that (having been raised by a family that emphasizes formal manners and propriety). Even more interestingly, nobody actually treats him like he’s that much younger, and he’s given the weight of respect in a sense that has nothing to do with his age (think about how there are indeed quite a few kids who simply just get along better with older kids). Yet the series doesn’t shy away from his youth, and his overly black-and-white view of morality is portrayed as immaturity in its own way, along with the occasional “slips” in his facade or manners indicating that it’s still something he has to consciously focus on.

Ken: Ken’s development goes without saying (it’s one of the most consistently praised aspects of 02), but it’s also interesting to note the unusual way the series plays his redemption arc. Instead of making him a typical “jerkass anti-hero who learns to get a bit better”, the series completely blindsides you by revealing that Ken is, in fact, a naturally soft-hearted and kind boy, and then plays up the mystery of the severe kinds of trauma that would lead him down that path. And ultimately, even though the cause is revealed to have supernatural influence, the series also makes it clear that it doesn’t matter -- that, whether it was his conscious “fault” or not, he still is responsible for what he did. And on top of that, it also scorns the usual “redemption by sacrifice” mentality by pointing out that it’s a cop-out -- it doesn’t actually solve the problems that were caused, and, in fact, a much better way to make up for things is to fix them going forward.

Takeru: Takeru had the “designated young character” role in Adventure, and it turns out that once one of those gets a few years older, they’re naturally not going to be nearly as pure and innocent! The “sweet child” from Adventure has now grown into having slightly pettier emotions, even to the point of grudge, and things he won’t let go of. Oh, and also, trauma from three years prior is still going to have impact on an eleven-year-old kid. Who would have thought.

Hikari: Adventure’s most infamously inscrutable character also seems to have gained some individualized, not-quite-innocent traits of her own (observe how she deals with Daisuke’s advances), and, moreover, it turns out that her deferential humility and refusal to open up about her problems is...not a good thing! when it starts to actually bite her in the rear in front of her friends. Yeah, it turns out that being the “quiet cute girl” actually has its own mental health drawbacks. Oops.

We’re doing pretty well, actually! At the very least, they certainly feel like they already have the Adventure/02 brand of character nuance, where their personalities are inherently varied and nuanced enough that you may not quite find characters like them elsewhere. On top of that, we definitely get to see what makes these characters “tick” -- we get a lot of depth into their thought processes and what their likes and dislikes or strengths and weaknesses are, and that’s something 02 still completely beats out a lot of other kids’ shows or even certain other Digimon entries with.

But here we’re talking about character development. So what do we know about them at the very beginning of the series?

Having watched 02 in Japanese a few times and being very used to the core cast’s latter-half characterizations, rewatching the early episodes always strikes me really hard in the face with genuine shock at how shallow the kids -- especially Daisuke and Miyako -- start the series off as. It’s understandable in terms of the context of the series -- unlike the Adventure kids, who were thrown into a “survival, need to get home” situation off the bat and thus already understood the need to be wary, these kids started off having comparatively easy access to home at any time, and didn’t have a constant sense of danger and survival looming over their heads. It naturally took a lot of time for the gravity of the situation they were in to start really hitting them, and so even the relatively straight-laced Iori didn’t exactly take it all that seriously at the beginning.

Yet while it took them a significantly more delayed time to understand what they were dealing with and take it as seriously as they needed to...they started cultivating something else in the meantime.

02′s first half is especially full of “random banter conversations” that seemingly involve nothing in particular, but, in fact, that’s actually part of the point. One thing I have always been quick to point out in regards to 02 is that it is rather unique among Digimon series in how it goes out of its way to portray its core cast as having become friends even in pure daily-life social friend terms, even if it had absolutely nothing to do with Digimon incidents -- these are kids who genuinely enjoy each other’s company even in the most mundane of situations. This was something that wasn’t the case for the original Adventure kids -- having been a group of kids thrown together by necessity, even though they most certainly kept in touch and trusted each other as fellow Chosen Children deeply, they started floating back into their own different social clusters after the events of 1999. Relationships are multifaceted, after all; you can still have a deep relationship and bond without necessarily being friends on a social level.

But already, off the bat, Miyako brings food for her new best friends, and it’s implied that she’s the main ringleader behind holding the picnic -- a picnic that started off having no intended relation to the Digital World territory war -- in episode 6. And, to be quite honest, can you really blame these kids? Even the Adventure kids wistfully entertained the idea of a long-term fun adventure through the Digital World in Adventure episode 54, wanting to enjoy its beauty and fun in a situation where they weren’t constantly running for their lives. Now that this luxury is actually available, why not take advantage of it -- and bond further with the others in the process? And for the rest of the year, these kids actively end up spending mundane conversations together and bonding to the point that, by the time we get to the end of 02, these kids have just genuinely bonded so much that they really come off as a cohesive, inseparable unit that would actively choose to spend time with each other if given the opportunity. In fact, even going through all of the TV Digimon series that exist as of this writing, I would say Appmon is the only one that really competes with 02 in portraying its core cast in this manner.

Again, remember: this is a series where characterization is dependent on how the kids treat others and interact with them, so you do actually have to pay close attention to these interactions and see how they change over the course of the series.

So once the episodes start coming in play, we actually learn a lot more about what happens when the characters start breaking away from their shallowness. For instance, episode 8, one of the first key episodes to understanding Daisuke’s character:

Daisuke: He'll be a great opponent. We didn't face off in the last tournament. Takeru: If you had made it to the finals, you would have, right? Daisuke: Don't remind me... Hikari: Can you win? Daisuke: It's not about winning or losing. Right now, all of the boys who play soccer in this country want to be like him. Just thinking about playing against him makes me excited!

For all Daisuke initially seems to be arrogant, he’s actually not that incapable of humility. Far from it, actually; he does have a genuine love for soccer and the spirit of the game, and, when completely and obviously unmatched, fully admits he has no chance and is set on enjoying the most he can out of it anyway. I feel like Daisuke’s surface-abrasive attitude really does throw off the fact that he’s a lot more genuinely humble than he’s given credit for. In the end, he’s satisfied enough with the accomplishment of pulling off one sliding tackle against Ken, and is able to enjoy that -- a foreshadowing of how the latter half relies so much on the fact that he’s capable of enjoying simple pleasures and being straightforward about them.

I find that this scene is really underappreciated, too (mainly because it gets lost in all of the other major things in this episode) -- while Daisuke jokes about his accomplishment, it only takes a single comment from his respected senior Taichi to shut him down.

There’s a huge reason I constantly emphasize that Daisuke respects his elders -- this part tends to get lost in translation a lot (especially the American English dub, which just smashed this aspect out of him wholesale, among other things) due to it being a bit reliant on Asian senior deference and cultural propriety, but Daisuke is respectful not only out of societal obligation but also because he genuinely respects his elders! The way he looks up to Taichi and chases after his approval is genuine, and even his interactions with the other Adventure kids have a major hint of him having genuine respect and deference to them. Daisuke is just a deferential person in general -- note that while his crush on Hikari tends to manifest when he’s at his most shallow, he’s actually the one putting Hikari on a pedestal (considering it his own responsibility to impress her), so he’s not actually as assertive as he tries to come off as. The first half of 02 arguably has him deflating more often than he actually stands his ground...and this is a trait of him that starts to actually change quite a bit over the course of the series.

Miyako comes to terms with the fact that maybe she’d been taking this whole Digital World adventure thing too lightly in episode 10, indicating that she actually does have a good sense of priorities when they become increasingly clear! This is actually very important, because it fleshes her out as someone who’s emotionally sensitive -- too emotionally sensitive, to the point that “emotional sensitivity” is just as much of a driving point behind her later breakdown in episode 18, this time from taking her duties too seriously. Miyako is a very id-driven person, and so a lot of the early series is her struggling to find a proper balance on how to adjust her emotions in an increasingly escalating situation. Her heart is in the right place, she’s just not someone with an inherent sense of preparedness to deal with this kind of problem.

We get into the secondary Digimental arc, and there’s a noticeable consistent thread that all of them involve admission of personal faults. This is something that tends to throw people off at times -- wait, having bad traits about yourself is what awards you? -- but the point is that this isn’t like Adventure’s Crests, where things came from proof of exercising the virtue, but rather admitting that there are ways you need to improve, and showing a will to improve in that manner. In the end, people are not perfect human beings, and sometimes even understanding that you’re deficient is half the battle -- after all, the second half is all about a certain character named Ichijouji Ken coming to terms with some very, very serious personal problems.

In episode 11, Daisuke completely admits that he doesn’t feel he understands the concept of friendship the way Taichi and Yamato et al. see it, also latently admitting that he doesn’t see himself as worthy of the Digimental of Friendship. Beyond betraying a lot deeper issues within Daisuke that he seems to have actually had a background lacking in friends and sources of validation, he actually acts very self-effacing when admitting his issues to Taichi and Yamato, ultimately culminating in him calling himself pathetic. Or, in other words, he does want to be a better friend and to understand the concept better, and is harsh on himself for not doing better (which, of course, ultimately leads to how he eventually does gain better relations with the rest of the group and reaches out to Ken).

In episode 14, Miyako admits that she’s shallow and judgmental and tends to jump to conclusions based on first impressions. Recall that she’s comparing herself to Mimi in said relevant scene -- Mimi, whom she admires, and actually spends part of the episode trying to understand and empathize with the mentality of. This is not a statement of Miyako being proud of herself. Rather, this is Miyako being very straightforward about the fact that she needs to try harder to see through the essence of things and to see through to the emotional core of. Again, something she actually does start developing over the course of the series.

In episode 16, Iori gets his first major lesson on the limitations of being too stuck on principles in his attempt to be honest. Recall that Iori’s later character arc is very dependent on him realizing that his own view of the world is too black-and-white. It’s great if you could never tell a lie to anyone, ever, but in the end, that’s going to reach limitations of practicality -- after all, as Jou points out, what Iori did ended up not actually hurting Jou in comparison to the incredible amount of hurt it would have caused everyone by being too stubborn, and thus Iori would have failed to keep his responsibility to help the others because of one narrow-minded principle.

Hikari even gets in a bit during the infamous episode 13, where we learn that her “passive” attitude is biting her in the rear. In Adventure, Hikari’s passiveness and reticence had mostly been used as satellite development for Taichi (his insecurities as an older brother and his obligations to her), so this is actually the first time we get to see a proper perspective from Hikari’s side, and it turns out that his overprotectiveness has actually caused her to get dependent. But even though Taichi is the one the episode actually focuses on, the larger focus is more specifically on the fact that Hikari is too passive -- that she sees being taken by the Dark Ocean as an inevitable thing that’s just going to happen unless someone else steps in on her behalf. Takeru, of course, is having none of it.

Once that’s out of the way, we go back to taking a look at the subtleties of everyone’s interactions. While everyone generally tends to focus on the second half of episode 17, it’s also pretty interesting to see how the 02 kids react to hearing about their seniors’ adventure in the first half -- remember that this is the first time the 02 kids are actually given any real depth about the degree of 1999′s events that’s not just random points of hearsay, and the way the new kids react to it indicates that they’re thoroughly floored. It’s later established that they didn’t even get the full story (it may not even be possible, given that the Adventure kids’ experiences may well have gone even further beyond what we got to see in 54 episodes), and yet the new kids are overwhelmed. 02 itself does not shy away from the fact that the younger kids really have no qualms about deferring to their seniors if need be, and treating them with utmost respect.

Another minor note, which I pointed out in my Daisuke meta earlier, is that the beginning of this episode is pretty much the last time Daisuke ever shows outright hostility towards Takeru for his relationship with Hikari -- it’s something you have to glean by squinting, but the implication is that the insecure and clingy Daisuke actually got to learn this episode that the two of them had a pre-established shared experience that he himself may not understand, and that it wasn’t just Takeru randomly swooping in and snatching away the closest thing he had to a friend for no good reason.

Once the Kaiser infiltration arc begins, episode 18 ends up being one of Miyako’s funniest episodes, but it’s a bit distressing that a lot of people in the fanbase often never let Miyako live this incident down, when in actuality this was explicitly not a good mental health day for her. (This is basically the equivalent of pinning Mimi as a conceited, self-centered jerk based on the fact she was one for a fashion in Adventure episode 25.) The beginning and ending of this episode establish that this is basically a result of Miyako...trying her hardest. She’s scared as hell, but she also learned in episode 10 that this is something she needs to take seriously, and the stress puts her into a mental breakdown. This is why she ends up having a heart-to-heart with Hawkmon at the end; her heart is in the right place, but she needs to find a way to channel her emotional sensitivity in a way that doesn’t make her into a complete mess.

And note that her own voice actress, Natsuki Rio, even pointed out that Hawkmon’s actions had enough of an influence on Miyako’s character that she had to play her differently thereafter.

At first I always played her with Maximum Excitement, and I kept thinking “someone, please, stop her,” but the more straight-laced Hawkmon did his best to pull her in and hold her by the reins (laughs). Thanks to him, Miyako became a lot more of a put-together person…thank goodness Hawkmon is her partner!

Episode 19 has two interesting things of note that I want to point out -- first of all, starting from the very beginning of the episode, everyone ditches Daisuke because they’re independently going in to infiltrate the Kaiser’s base. Note the complete lack of a plan here whatsoever -- everyone’s just going in on their own -- and the fact that everyone expects Daisuke to come up with what he wants to do on his own. For all it’s worth, even though Daisuke may have a designated protagonist aura to him, within the story itself...nobody actually sees him as a leader at this point in the series (and, to be fair, he’s never really tried to claim the position, either).

It’s similar to how Taichi was never recognized as a particular leader of the Adventure group until Adventure episode 28, but in regards to the full team dynamic, it’s actually inverse -- the Adventure kids were capable of making tactical plans together as early as episode 20, but fell apart emotionally in short order as soon as Taichi was gone, whereas here, the kids are fond enough of each other to hang out socially and support each other emotionally, but they take a while to get any real cohesiveness as a fighting group.

The other is that Iori personally witnesses Takeru’s sudden whiplash into his grudge against the darkness and the Kaiser, and it scares the hell out of him.

Takeru eventually laying a punch on the Kaiser is a pretty awesome moment (and, really, Ken kind of deserved it, so it’s hard to not cheer for him), but it’s also important to note that within the context of the series, this is not a good mental place for Takeru to be in. Iori, the person who should by all means sympathize with hatred of evil things at this point of the series, is still extremely unnerved by Takeru’s actions here, because he’d always seen Takeru as a mature person who’d always kept his composure, only to show a drastically different side of him that he hadn’t even shown a hint of before. That kind of “two-facedness” and emotional repression -- and this way of venting trauma in general -- cannot be good for Takeru at this point in time, and it’s also an important moment for Iori when he later admits during the two’s Jogress arc that he’s having a bit of a hard time understanding him.

And so episode 20 comes, and Chimeramon pretty much takes out the entire party, leading to this conversation.

Takeru: Let's escape. Daisuke: Escape? Takeru: We can't fight anymore. Our mission has failed. We'll retreat and wait for another chance. Hikari: You're right. We have no other choice. Iori: Understood. Daisuke: No. Miyako: Daisuke? Daisuke: We can't just say "another chance" like that. If we leave now, they'll keep attacking anything in sight. We don't know if we'll be able to get into the fortress again. So this is our only chance! Hikari: That's crazy... Iori: Exactly! Miyako: They're all back to their Baby forms... Chibimon: Daisuke... Daisuke: But...didn't you all see it? Destroying those towns...and all we could do was watch quietly. I don't want to see that ever again. I won't let them do whatever they want! So I'm going, even alone. I won't give up now. After getting this far, all I can do is go forward!

Why is this moment important? This is the first time Daisuke has actually stood a firm ground against anyone else in the party -- and not only that, with the entire party standing against him.

Recall that I mentioned earlier that, in spite of Daisuke’s abrasive attitude suggesting otherwise, he actually has a tendency to “deflate” pretty quickly when people tease or criticize him. He spends the first half of the series having a lot more bark than he actually has bite. Earlier in the series, if the entire party were to go against him, he’d be more likely to begrudgingly go along (while complaining) -- in fact, he actually did just that at the beginning of episode 7! But now that push has come to shove, Daisuke’s own sense of morals and bleeding heart have won out. (While his decision here is definitely a bit reckless, he does have a point; if they’d retreated, they might genuinely lose any future chances.) Even with the entire party telling him to pull back, he refuses to accept what they want him to do, and pushes forward.

This is where Daisuke first starts to really make strides towards what becomes his eventual major role in the group as “the one who pulls people forward”. It’s a moment after which the rest of the group themselves also start to treat him with more respect now that he’s proven he’s not just a doormat, and that when it comes to there being a real problem with real priorities, he does have the resolve and initiative to keep going.

Also, a very important point is that he immediately says he’ll go alone if he has to. He doesn’t begrudge the others for wanting to fall back, and has no condescension towards them; he just can’t stand the fact that he himself is being asked to sit it out.

So, you know. Episode 21 happens. Ichijouji Ken goes through some real trauma as Wormmon dies in his arms. And all Daisuke has to say is...

Daisuke: You should go home. There are people who are worried and waiting for you! Go home!

Remember when I pointed out that 02 takes a very unique perspective on Ken’s redemption arc, pointing out the futility of being too trapped in the idea of symbolic penance and focusing more on actively taking steps in the future to make up for and fix things? Here’s our first major sign of this, and Daisuke’s eventual approach to Ken -- Daisuke does not choose to scorn or lambast Ken for what he’s done, even though there are a lot of things Ken deserves to be harped on for, but rather instructs him to take the first active step towards fixing his mistakes, in this case fixing things with his family.

Episode 22 is Daisuke’s own “fanbase will never let him live this down” moment, but there’s still some interesting things to note here. Firstly, Daisuke’s “relapse” happening exactly when it seems like his duty to the Digital World is done and there’s nothing to do besides community service doesn’t seem coincidental, especially when this exact episode actually dedicates a full scene to Takeru, Hikari, and their partners going “...now what?” Secondly, as I touched on earlier, note that Daisuke’s never really seemed to have any resentment against Hikari for not responding to his affections -- in fact, he still considers it his own (and V-mon’s, by extension) duty to be the one to impress her. It’s a surprisingly refreshing take on the “shounen hero with a crush on a girl” trope, because in the end...Daisuke isn’t actually all that possessive of her, he just really wants validation from her, and respects her a lot.

More importantly, though -- note the way Daisuke handles this topic. He’s not actually mad at or resentful of Takeru anymore. In fact, he’s mulling on the topic and wondering what he could do to be on that level. Yup, even when Daisuke’s being shallow and jealous, he’s still learned to handle this issue ever so slightly more maturely than he would have at the beginning of the series.

This is also important because only one episode later, once Daisuke becomes disappointed again at Takeru and Hikari walking off on their own, Miyako intervenes -- not only so that Takeru and Hikari can have their space, but also so that Daisuke can have some genuine fun and something to do. This is a very blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment in episode 24, but it makes it very clear that Miyako was looking out for Daisuke’s welfare, too, and I think it’s very important in light of the events of the prior episode. Miyako, who had always been fumbling on what to do with her emotions, is starting to properly channel them into managing the dynamic between the team and checking in on how everyone’s doing, and that starts to guide her actions and relationships for the rest of the series.

The next episode (25) is where we kick off not only the Jogress arc, but also the arc where we start going into everyone’s attitude towards Ichijouji Ken. This is important not only because Ken happens to be the effective central figure of 02′s story, but also because -- well, remember, 02 is fundamentally founded on the concept of relationships, so it’s only natural that the other kids’ relationship with the “team newcomer” will be a key aspect of the second half, and in relation to their own characters.

Remember how I said that Daisuke’s first-half character involved him being extremely deferential and often deflating whenever he was criticized or someone stood against him? At the time of episode 25, once again, pretty much the entire team is standing against him -- he’s the only one who’s this level of open-minded about getting Ken into the group, and everyone else is showing differing levels of opposition. But while Daisuke doesn’t begrudge the others for thinking this way, he also doesn’t back down, either, and reaches out to Ken on his own because he still really believes in what he’s doing. Now that he’s settled into what it means to be a Chosen Child, he’s started to gain a proper idea of what he wants to do, and what he feels needs to be done.

So, let’s recap everyone’s stances on Ichijouji Ken at the time of this episode!

Daisuke: Forward-thinking and optimistic; willing to believe that Ken should be given the chance to make up for his mistakes and that they should put everything behind him, even to the extent of believing that there’s probably a good reason for the more suspicious aspects about him (prior to the events of episode 25, it was unclear whether Ken was being a bit too callous about killing Digimon). Also the most actively aggressive in reaching out to Ken and trying to get him to join them.

Miyako: Forward-thinking; she openly states at the beginning of the episode that she thinks Ken’s learned his lesson, she’s just worried about whether he’s going to keep doing questionable things in the future (killing Digimon). Once it’s on the table that he’s not just doing this callously, she immediately is on board with him (to the point of even being the first in the group to use given name basis with him), but her stance on what to do with him is more on the edge of “give him space and wait for him to come on his own terms” (she ends the episode saying she’ll be waiting for him to come).

Takeru: States in the episode that he does believe that Ken’s changed, but doesn’t really know what he’s thinking (i.e. too inscrutable to really be sure about). The later episode 35 implies that Takeru was inclined to be a bit more sympathetic than you’d think otherwise, because he understands the trauma of losing a Digimon partner.

Hikari: Wants to wait a little longer and see how things play out. (Remember that Hikari has a known, consistent thread of taking a very passive approach towards things.)

Iori: Absolutely against it on sheer principle.

It should be noted that none of these stances are wrong. Iori sometimes gets a lot of flak for being the one with the most infamously cold stance towards Ken, but when you really think about it, Daisuke and Miyako are very lucky that their hunch about Ken was right and that he actually did happen to be a very kind boy who had a little too much trauma and some supernatural influence. The fact that Ken is a very emotionally withdrawn person for the rest of the series meant that the two of them ended up breaking through to him the most, but there’s nothing wrong with Takeru, Hikari, and Iori’s skepticism; Ken did some pretty shockingly horrible things in front of their eyes for the first half, and it’s entirely within their rights to determine how forgiving they want to be with him.

In any case, we get to episode 26 (the first Jogress), and most of that episode goes without saying, but I do want to emphasize Daisuke’s lines right before it happens.

Daisuke: If you die now, you won't be able to accomplish anything...I don't want that! Ken: I don't want that...There are still many things I must do.

Daisuke urges Ken not to go for the “suicidal penance” route not only because it sucks, but also because, as symbolic as it may be, it’s also counterproductive to the whole point of doing penance to begin with. If Ken really wants to make up for his mistakes, he’s only going to be able to do that if he’s actually alive to do it! There’s only so much you can do by drowning in self-pity by going “because I did this, because I did that” instead of actually taking responsibility for your actions.

02 itself is deliberately ambiguous on how much Ken’s transformation into the Kaiser was Ken’s own conscious will and how much of it was Dark Seed-induced supernatural influence, but one thing it’s consistent about is that it doesn’t really matter. Regardless of what the cause was, Ken did what he did, and it’s his responsibility to make up for it, and the only way to actually do that is to keep moving forward. The fact that Daisuke is so able to viscerally and directly address what Ken needs the most right now is what fuels their first Jogress, and why Daisuke becomes Ken’s closest friend through the rest of the series.

People have pointed out that 02 has a lot of moments of physical hits, but, notably, other than Takeru punching the Kaiser in episode 19 (which he really deserved, honestly), all of these hits are done with the express intent of bringing the other person out of a very, very deep mental abyss (Yamato punching Taichi in episode 10, Daisuke slapping Ken in 26, Miyako slapping Ken in 30, and Miyako and Hikari’s mutual slaps in 31), because they were in a state where words would no longer reach them otherwise. These are all circumstances of the kind where the person on the receiving end understands that they really needed a drastic wake-up call because of how deeply they’d fallen (and these aren’t some average mental abyss problems these kids are getting put through, either). It’s actually hard to imagine any of the 02 group getting in the kind of genuinely angry and vicious fistfights Taichi and Yamato would in Adventure, because of how close they are (the closest being Daisuke and Takeru grappling in episode 11, but it never got near that level) -- in fact, these kinds of things are done with the implication that they’re doing it because they trust the other person to not hold it against them (and in fact, the fact Yamato does this with Taichi in this way is intended to be read as a sign of how much better they’ve come to understand each other).

So, moving on with the series! The Giga House incident in episodes 28-29 is the first time the group works together in an organized effort, which is notable not only because it’s their first time coordinating with Ken, but also because it’s their first time properly coordinating at all. Remember when I mentioned that, back in episode 19, as much as the kids were pretty fond of each other and were great friends, they still hadn’t figured out how to actually fight as a team? Here we are, with them actually having started to figure that process out.

We then get to episode 30, where there’s actually quite a lot of interesting things to unpack.

Miyako: What's wrong with you? Daisuke: E-Eh? Mi-Miyako-san? Miyako: It feels weird when you add the "-san". Daisuke: Shut up! Man, you're all the same!

Miyako and Daisuke’s relationship is often misconstrued considering that they’re the two most chaotic in the group (their temperaments are very similar at times, which causes them a lot of friction), but I also think this blink-and-you’ll-miss it moment is pretty much their actual relationship in a nutshell. They fight a lot, and they’re ostensibly vitriolic, but they’re actually two of the most like-minded in the group -- they banter because they’re comfortable with each other. Recall that I mentioned that Daisuke is normally respectful with his elders, yet he’s the only person in the group who won’t use the -san honorific on Miyako (even though she’s the oldest)...but the one time he gets flustered and uses it on her, she tells him that it’s weird and he needs to cut that out. Or, in other words, “it’s not like you to be weirdly respectful of me like that, we shouldn’t have that kind of distance between us, stop it.”

(It’s also pretty notable that Miyako has never seriously used -kun or any other honorific on Daisuke, even right after meeting him -- the only other person she dropped honorifics on was Iori, whom she’d known prior to the start of the series, but she seems to have deemed Daisuke enough of a fellow disaster child that he merited dropping it.)

This is especially because, right after that, she recruits Daisuke into her plan to get Ken and Iori to get along -- in the end, when things really get serious, the two are incredibly like-minded (look at how in-sync they are when they scheme together).

30 is actually a surprisingly Miyako-centric episode, despite not ostensibly being one. For one, it says a lot that right now, her biggest priority is to get Ken and Iori to get along -- something that has absolutely nothing to do with herself. In episode 14, Miyako freely admitted that she had a tendency to jump to conclusions about people, and that she was shallow about aesthetics, but this is a very different Miyako from the one who harassed Daisuke for Ken’s autograph in episode 8, or immediately became distrusting of Digitamamon in episode 14. Instead, she’s simply just genuinely invested in seeing people she considers friends get along, and in a selfless manner -- one that has nothing to do with herself. She just really, really cares, a lot.

After all of the first-half hubbub of Miyako really having no idea of what to do with her emotions, the second half has her start channeling that energy into what’s always been one of her biggest strengths: checking on, connecting with, and caring about her friends. Daisuke may be an aggressive forward-thinker who can push everyone in the right direction, but unlike his predecessor Taichi, he doesn’t actually have particular charisma or leadership skills that can necessarily hold everyone together. In the absence of that ability, Miyako fills in for him, checking on the moods and feelings on everyone in the team and making sure everyone’s doing well. And that’s why she loses her temper and slaps Ken late in the episode -- because, really, she’s reached her limit on her “give him space” philosophy when he’s abusing it to be standoffish in a crisis situation, and, on top of that, she really, really did have a huge emotional investment in him.

Moving onto more Miyako in episode 31, her Jogress episode with Hikari, we get to see a little bit of the old emotionally compromised Miyako again, but -- much like the second Digimentals arc -- it involves the two of them acknowledging that both of them are not going about things the best way, and that there are things they can learn from the other.

Hikari: Miyako-san, you're a handful sometimes. Miyako: I knew that's what you thought of me... Hikari: But...I've always envied that. Miyako: Huh? Hikari: Because I can't be honest and say I'm scared or scream like you.

Miyako’s tendency to lose control emotionally results in her being insensitive much of the time, which she calls herself out on multiple times during the episode, and she can’t always be as “kind” as Hikari is -- but, on the flip side, her antics are something that can be a “light” (pun not intended) towards those who are falling in a bad mental state or into the darkness, and Hikari even acknowledges this when one of her trains of thought makes her break out into laughter. Miyako ultimately manages to get through to Hikari this way at the end of the episode, which results in a Jogress and mutual growth for both of them -- Miyako puts more thought into how to approach others (it’s pointed out at the end that she’s still thinking about understanding Ken and Hikari better), and Hikari gains more resolve and determination to fight against things instead of passively accepting her fate (she tells Takeru very directly at the end "I’m fine now. I’ll never go there again.”).

Iori and Takeru's Jogress is a little more complicated to the point where it spans multiple episodes, but a lot of it ends up having to do with the fact that the events of the BlackWarGreymon arc start really putting Iori's black-and-white principles into conflict -- it's wrong to kill something that's been proven to be alive, but it's also wrong to be evil. Putting a huge nail in that is that there's a stake in him forming a relationship with Takeru, but he doesn't really understand Takeru either -- the "two-facedness" he witnessed back in episode 19 scares even him, and he's so intimidated by Takeru that, in episode 35, he goes to approach Yamato about Takeru's past instead of asking the person directly. Takeru, hearing about this, complains that he could have just asked directly, but admits he understands why Iori did so.

By the way, I should point out that episode 35 is the last time within the TV series that Daisuke is portrayed as having a particular interest in Hikari, and it’s just in terms of being slightly more excited that Hikari is joining his meeting. At this point, there are actual important things happening in the Digital World, and he needs to take care of Ken, too, and so...in the end, once again, Daisuke proves that he’s actually capable of putting aside those kinds of more shallow things when he really needs to.

On top of that, this is when the kids start actively working with Ken in the real world (and, if post-02 materials are any indication, continue to hang out with him even for social outings). The choice to have Ken live in Tamachi instead of Odaiba facilitated his isolation from the group during the Kaiser arc, and during around the third quarter they were all grouping up in the Digital World anyway, but the fourth quarter actually has the kids make an attempt to include Ken in their real-world outings despite the distance. Tamachi is not temporally far from Odaiba (approximately half an hour by train), but it’s a bit of a nuisance to get to, requiring crossing a bridge to/from the Tokyo mainland and paying extra for the Yurikamome. But at this point, he’s an important enough friend to them -- and them important enough friends to him -- that they’ll make it work.

At the end of episode 35, Iori finally decides -- to the point of recklessness, something that would have been previously very uncharacteristic of him -- to try and appeal directly to BlackWarGreymon to get him to stop destroying the Holy Stones so that they won’t have to fight. It’s emblematic of Iori’s heart being genuinely torn, because he’s having such a difficult time rationalizing all of these conflicting feelings. This comes to a head in episode 36, when Iori loses his temper at the rest of the group for “playing around”, but Armadimon snaps him back to reality to remind him that they’re tired and hungry, and this can’t be neglected. Iori himself ultimately becomes the one to proactively suggest that they take time to sit down and eat, indicating that -- little by little -- he’s starting to shift his thinking a bit, after being so incredibly stubborn for much of the series.

This is what leads to Iori and Takeru’s Jogress at the end of the episode, now that Iori is flexible enough in thinking to understand the emotional id behind Takeru’s mentality. And likewise, Takeru’s started to loosen up by 36, too --

Takeru: Sure, darkness is frightening, and we would feel at ease if we could get rid of it completely, but I'm sure that's impossible. Ken: Impossible? Takeru: Where there's light, there's always darkness. Hikari: The brighter the light, the darker the shadow, right? Takeru: Yes. That's why I think it's important not to lose sight of the light inside you, no matter how dark it is.

The thing about Takeru is that while he deceptively seemed more open and playful than Hikari for most of the series, he was actually bottling up a lot of emotions in a way not entirely different from the way she did. (Note how, despite how tied at the hip the two constantly are, they almost never actually talk about their thoughts on each other; it feels like a relationship where they implicitly trust each other but are practically reliant on that implicit trust to maintain that close of a friendship at all.) And he’s been keeping those emotions bottled up until they exploded in less-than-healthy ways, initially distancing himself from Iori. But being a lot more open about his thoughts on the matter allowed them to connect better, and eventually Takeru came to embrace a somewhat more reasonable stance on the matter after observing Iori.

It also doesn’t seem like coincidence that this is the episode that ends with Takeru’s first major act of goodwill towards Ken.

This leads into episode 38, the Christmas episode. Fun things to note!

The episode opens with Daisuke and the other younger kids giving a “Christmas present” to their seniors in the form of letting them reunite with their partners. Remember how I said that the 02 kids always admired their seniors and looked up to them? Even this late in the series, the series does not shy away from the fact you’re supposed to see the 02 kids as their deferential juniors.

The Christmas party is, of course, notably, the first major moment of reconciliation between Iori and Ken, with Iori having gone through major harsh lessons about morality in the last few episodes, and Ken opening up more to the rest of the group. Said party is also yet another notable example of how much of a priority it is for the 02 kids to be “social life friends” and not just friends working as a Digimon incident team -- after all, having genuinely emotionally present friends is what Ken needs most in his life right now, considering that the party is treated as the first time he’s been truly happy in a long while.

This is followed by episode 39, which is notable as the time when Daisuke finally commits to switching to given-name basis for Ken, and actually opens the episode standing against Taichi -- because he's so worried about Ken that he needs to go join him. This is something that's lost a bit in translation, but although Daisuke stands down against Taichi, he's not rude nor does he overstep his boundaries with his respected senior (he even opens his statement in polite-form Japanese) -- he's just saying, firmly and politely, "I'm sorry, but I can't go, I have to go help my friend." It’s a notable moment because while Daisuke has been becoming increasingly assertive and aware of what he really wants to do, this is the first time we’re actually seeing him refuse to defer to the very senior he’d spent so much of the series idolizing and looking up to.

We get to episodes 43-45 (the Demon mini-arc), which is also the culmination of the 02 kids having to face the limits of pacifism. This tends to throw off people who are coming in from Adventure, since the Adventure kids ended up killing Digimon with a lot more ease in the original series, but it’s also important to make note of the fact that the episode itself deliberately portrays a gap in mentality between the Adventure and the 02 kids -- with Hikari torn between the two. It also creates an interesting subversion of expectations when Hikari, the one you’d expect to be more on the pacifist side, is the one who’s already accepted that it may be inevitable, whereas Miyako, the more aggressive and belligerent one, is the one staunchly against it.

The reason for this “paradox” comes out of a single line from Hikari in episode 44:

Hikari: You’re the one who saved him, Miyako-san.

The Adventure kids never liked killing. They were never enthusiastic about it -- it was just that they were almost immediately put in a situation where the entire fate of the multiverse was at stake thanks to some unambiguously evil Digimon who wanted nothing but wanton destruction. Even then, it was pretty clear that they never enjoyed it -- Takeru professed a desire to avoid fighting in Adventure episode 12, and the pacifist Mimi went through a breakdown in Adventure episodes 45-50 trying to avoid casualties. But one of the most important lessons Mimi learned at the time was that pacifism has its limits -- there’s no point if it ends up in more deaths than it saves, because at that point you’re adhering to moralistic principles more than you’re actually saving lives.

The fact that the Adventure kids and the 02 kids have a “different mentality” isn’t just happenstance, but outright embraced. Daisuke, Miyako, and Iori never had to actually deal with a conscious Digimon that was unambiguously evil for most of the series, and Archnemon revealing that her motives were pretty much nothing but wanton destruction in episode 29 was the first major warning signal to Iori that his pacifism might have limits. And during this Demon mini-arc, it’s not like these Digimon are threatening multiverse destruction or anything -- it really does seem like a constant “glimmer of hope” that maybe, just maybe, they can save people non-lethally. Alas, they can’t.

Daisuke, being someone who’s inherently practical-minded, starts entertaining the idea that push may come to shove as early as episode 25, and finally makes his first statement about practical limits in episode 43. But the more emotionally caught-up Miyako and Iori end up taking another episode to swallow it, and they don’t take it well. Most of the attention in 44 is given to Miyako, and it reconfirms that, despite her aggressive exterior, she’s emotionally sensitive and empathetic -- and while killing LadyDevimon is framed as truly the only thing that could have been done in that situation, Miyako is not faulted for being emotionally compromised, nor is Iori likewise when he faces a similar situation with Takeru and is forced to confront the people whose lives were at stake.

Episode 45, when Ken opens the gate to the Dark Ocean, doesn’t really have much to add on top of what’s already there, but this is basically “the point of no return” when everyone confirms their own emotional investment in Ken and understanding that he’s not just reformed, he’s genuinely struggling under the pain of what’s been happening -- and this is before they find out about the truth behind the Dark Seeds, and that Ken’s transformation into the Kaiser may have been supernaturally influenced, too.

It’s also interesting to see the different ways each kid reacts to Ken as they support him:

Hikari, the most outwardly compassionate, goes to support him the second she notices him in physical pain; Takeru notices that it might work, realizes Ken needs the support, and joins.

Iori and Miyako reflect on how Ken’s putting all of his efforts in, and lambast themselves before joining. Interestingly, given the circumstances behind what’s happened up until now, Iori and Miyako criticizing themselves take a different meaning -- Iori, who’d been scornful of Ken until recently, seems to be regretting that he distrusted him when Ken had been trying so hard, while Miyako, who had been open to him since episode 25, seems to be upset that she’s sitting there and not doing enough when he’s in all of this pain.

And Daisuke, of course, the most “forward-thinking” of them all, gives Ken a speech about what he’s done so far and reminds him that he’s already done more than enough for “atonement” -- which is, of course, what directly reaches Ken the most.

And when we get to episode 46, and the kids, now knowing about the Dark Seeds, hold a roundtable (and emotional support group) to discuss what to do about the Dark Seeds, Daisuke’s the one with the most spirit and energy about it, but...

...the one actually leading the roundtable? Miyako.

Miyako: Sorry, that's all I can think of. Ken: Please don't worry about me. Miyako: (nods)

It’s subtle, but the scene in question does actually make a deliberate move in indicating that Miyako’s continuing to channel her emotional sensitivity and desire to go out of her way to help Ken -- of course, they all know how traumatic this is for him, but she’s the one who’s actively calling attention to how he must feel about it first and foremost.

Episodes 47 and after end up becoming yet another major wake-up call for Iori (seriously, I do not understand why people claim he had no character arc when this wasn’t even remotely subtle) when he learns that Oikawa, whom he’d pinned as “evil”, has a deep relationship with the father he’d grown up idolizing so much, and it completely flips his world around -- even though he had started to get a bit more open-minded, he’s still trying to rationalize what should have been, in his mind, two diametrically opposite things. It fuels his confusion and desperate desire to understand more, not just about Oikawa, but about everything he’d thought about morality and why people turn to evil.

So we get to the final arc of the series, and it involves a confrontation with BelialVamdemon -- but said finale is heavily dependent on talking to the Dark Seed children and inspiring hope back into them. This results in a conversation where everyone talks about their career dreams, and Daisuke admits that he wants to be...a ramen chef, which completely blindsides even his friends.

What’s with this arc?, you might think. And moreover, why is Daisuke ending the series still kind of an idiot? Even Miyako still seems to be a bit of a mess and chaotic. Weren’t they supposed to be growing into dignified heroes, like Taichi and his friends were last series?

Well, here’s the thing -- the fact that the 02 kids end the series comparatively “undignified” is actually very inherent to the core theme of 02 itself. There were more than enough episodes that established that said kids are heroic in their own way -- caring about others, fighting on others’ behalf, and learning important lessons about what’s important to fight about. That doesn’t mean they don’t get the right to continue being disaster children while they’re at it.

Why?

Let’s look at a few official statements behind the creation and intent behind 02 as a series. From producer Seki Hiromi, from the Digimon Animation Chronicle:

That came from an idea I had while reading a newspaper article. I read a story about a nine-year-old boy going to Columbia University, and I thought, “This boy is going to college because he’s considered a genius, and everyone around him will be in their twenties, and he won’t get to have any friends his age. What kind of life would this boy end up having?”

Or some very interesting statements from head writer Yoshimura Genki from the 02 Blu-ray box:

When I was writing Ken Ichijouji, the main idea for him I used as a basis was the conflict between “the self that has to be a well-behaved child when adults are watching” and “being able to be oneself”, and the pain that came from it as a result. So for instance, in the same way as the Pinnocchio fairytale, or the short story A.I. that was adapted into a movie, or many other works, there are probably universal worries that all children feel as they grow, but also, there were ongoing unimaginable, atrocious incidents happening with children at the time, and perhaps it was those social conditions that gave me a hint on what to do. I think I had some thoughts that I wanted to convey to the children who were living through that time. I was given the opportunity to put those kinds of feelings, as much as I liked, into episode 23, and I am truly grateful to all of the staff, including the director. ... Also, this is about Daisuke’s character, but I believe I paid particular attention to making him “a child who could be himself”. He has no special talents, and although he’s clumsy and scatterbrained, I wanted him to be someone whose strength was in his straightforwardness, and wrote him that way. 

Lying underneath the entirety of 02 itself is a theme about “children who are not allowed to be children”. Or, in other words, the pressure placed on children to be “talented” and “dignified” and “well-behaved”, often imposed on them by well-meaning parents who are unfortunately taking the opportunity to stroke their own ego, robbing them of the happiness and mental freedoms they should have as kids.

Ichijouji Osamu and Ken, who were placed under the pressure to be “genius children” and cracked under the pressure to please their parents. Oikawa Yukio, who was cut off from the Digital World in childhood by a well-meaning Hida Chikara, worried about his son getting into “foolish” talk. The Dark Seed children, who also fell victim to similar pressures that Ken did, and lost hope for life unless they could force themselves into that mold.

Takeru: If you want the Digimon to exist, if you believe in that, they will. Just like our feelings...Just like every child having the power to make their dreams come true. Keiko: That's just childish. Daisuke: You all have dreams for the future, don't you? Noriko: Dreams for the future? Takashi: I've forgotten that stuff. Daisuke: No way! You must have one! Takeru: It's nothing to be ashamed of. Takashi: Then, what's your dream? Daisuke: Mine? Mine's a ramen shop. I love ramen! I'll become the world's best ramen maker! Ken: I had no idea... Noriko: Well...actually, I wanted to be a kindergarten teacher. Hikari: Me too. Daisuke: What about you guys? Takashi: A baseball player! Keiko: I really want to be a pastry chef. Hiroshi: When I said I wanted to be a manga artist, everyone laughed, so I gave up... Takashi: We all had aspirations, and at some point we thought that wasn't allowed...But we were wrong, right? Daisuke: Let people say whatever they want! Noriko: You're right, we should be free to dream. Miyako: Not just dreaming. If you work hard, your dreams will surely come true!

Notice something about all of these careers mentioned? They’re all the kind of “overly childish” “wild dream” “undignified” “too simple” kinds of dreams that an average parent might be uncomfortably quick to shoot down because that’s “not good enough”. These are the kids who willingly accepted the Dark Seeds; they, much like Ken, probably grew up under parents who prioritized school performance and other “societally dignified” things that ended up eating away at their happiness.

02 has a lot of different themes, but the one that lies in its undercurrent from start to finish is “so why does a child have to be this way? As long as they still understand what’s important, do they have to be dignified people? Why can’t they just be free to have dreams and be themselves?” And Daisuke and his friends are there specifically to stand up against this mentality, and to remind Ken and the other victims of it that it doesn’t have to be this way -- that it’s okay to be your true self, and be a child, and not succumb to all of those arbitrary, shallow standards people put on you. Even if that means you’re still a bit of a chaotic disaster at the tender age of eleven.

Digimon, in the Adventure and 02 universe, have always been treated like a part of the self (they were literally conceived as a physical manifestation of the soul), but in 02 they gain an extra meaning of representing “the inner, deepest part of yourself that represents your wildest ‘childish’ dreams”. The symbolism of Ken spending the first half of the series trying to reject Wormmon for being “weak” -- in other words, rejecting his own kind-hearted self for not being the kind of “strong” entity he was pressured and groomed into being -- is not lost, nor that of the Dark Seed children gaining partners when they reconnect with their dreams and wishes, nor Oikawa finally, finally meeting his partner when he comes into contact with the past he’d really lost (and especially not the fact that his attempt to reclaim shallow reminders of said childhood involved trying to make his own Digimon).

And notably, the series’s finale (prior to the epilogue) ends not on Daisuke but on Iori, escorting Oikawa to the Digital World despite how completely impossible it would have been for early-series Iori to even entertain the idea, finally coming to truly understand what happened with him and being most personally impacted by his death.

But in any case, where are we with the characters? We’re here to talk about how they’ve grown and developed over the course of the series. Let’s recap:

Daisuke: Started off the series as an abrasive kid with more bark than actual bite, constantly deferring to others and easily deflating, relying on shallow sources of validation like wanting attention from Hikari; gradually gained an ability to identify what was important and put his foot down for it, embraced his forward-thinkingness to reach out to a heavily troubled child as a friend, and ended up surrounded by a friend group that loves and respects him.

Miyako: Started off the series as a shallow, flighty girl with poor control over her emotions and difficulty in appreciating the gravity of things; came to channel her emotional range into empathy for others and compassion, bringing other people together and taking care of them.

Iori: Started off the series as a straight-laced but too principled child who stuck to “rules of what’s right” not only in morality but also in way of acting; started to appreciate the emotional nuances and heart behind why people do what they do and how it’s possible to be more flexible in “doing good”.

Ken: Well, his character arc is pretty obvious, but -- again, while his arc of learning to forgive himself is well-known, less often pointed out is that it centers very heavily on not only having penance but also not being too hung up on the past, and the futility of drowning in self-pity and regret instead of choosing to take responsibility and act more productively going forward.

Takeru: Started off the series as a seemingly mature but deceptively inscrutable character whose duality made him hard to approach; eventually opened up with the help of others and showed a capacity for being more flexible with his personal grudges.

Hikari: Started off the series emotionally repressive and passive to the point of self-destruction; eventually embraced connections with her other friends and became more active in taking a stand for herself.

Hey, not bad!

And, again, this is not a series you should be reading in terms of “self-awareness” in the same way Adventure was, but in the sense of their “relationships” and how they interact with others. By being less abrasive and more assertive, Daisuke gained the respect of his other friends. By putting her emotional capacity into caring about others, Miyako became someone who holds the group together. By learning to think a little more flexibly and be less stubborn, Iori arrived at a position where he could more easily sympathize with others in the group. Takeru and Hikari both moved from their previously relatively inscrutable positions to ones who could more effectively interact with and open up to others. And Ken, of course, became someone who managed to integrate himself into a group of true “friends” despite everything he had done against them in the first half.

This, in the end, is how you get what’s one of the tightest friend groups in Digimon history. In the end, the relationships themselves are almost like characters of their own that got development -- I say very often that you could take two of the characters and have an excellent scope of how they’d interact and play off each other by the end of the series. And although they end the series as possibly one of the most shameless, undignified disaster groups out there...they’re certainly still heroic, and in any case, given the lessons they learned throughout their own series, they probably wouldn’t have it any other way.

[dietraumerei]

Weekly Writing and Reading Update

After most of a slow week, I seem to have got my groove back, at least somewhat. My obligations are essentially taken care of, so I’m not in much of a hurry to write more as I go back to work this week, if that makes sense.

I find I am really happy writing, but less happy posting, so anything that’s completed, or will get completed soon, might take a bit to go up. (Like, a week or two, not next year.)

Writing

reverse bang story: completed today! Of course it needs editing, but it’s done and down ahead of schedule, so that makes me happy.

bikeGirlsCuddle: Set after the truly disastrous picnic at the end of Crowley and the Perfect Picnic: A Comedy of Errors . Crowley is feeling low, and Aziraphale comforts her. That’s it, that’s the story. Completed.

crowleyFocus: I think this is the year of writing Crowley, honestly. This will be a Castle Terra story, and a pretty long one too.

bikeGirlsGabrielleReturns: what it says on the tin. Completed.

Connections, and Other Human Things: Castle Terra story, posted.

Reading

Not as much as I’d hoped, but not to be sneezed at either! Two books done this week:

The Tombs of Atuan, for the metafilter book club. I liked this much, much better than A Wizard of Earthsea. The world is richer and weirder, and I liked Tenar a lot better than Ged. Although I also actually liked Ged in this book; he’s gentler, here. Really, properly excited about this series now.

I also finished Angela Steidele’s biography of Anne Lister, which is really pretty cradle-to-grave. Wooof, this book! I mean, I loved it, it’s a wonderful biography, but look, here’s how she ends it (well, near the end):

“I have had a similar experience with Anne Lister to all the women in her life - first she seduced me, then she betrayed me. [...] Anne Lister was a beast of a woman. Like all her lovers, I could not escape this conclusion, and yet nor could I let go of her.”

[translation by Katy Derbyshire; the original bio is in German.]

Yep. Yep, that exactly. Suranne Jones is doing a lot to make Anne appealing and sexy and lovable, it has to be said. Because she’s really an absolute beast of a woman; she’s a horrible lover (I mean, morally, if her diaries are to be believed even a little, she was actually fairly skilled at giving women orgasms in a variety of ways), and a pretty nasty woman. But, shit, I’m still drawn to her. Her diaries are deeply self-centered, and I love them the way I love selfies. She demanded to take up space and record herself for all time. And she was, uh, very confident, let’s say. But she was also resolutely queer (in the modern definition, although it’s lovely how she calls women’s genitals queers as well), demanding to be odd and be recognised for her oddities. Most of the book is her chasing after women, largely because I think that’s about all she did until she inherited Shibden Hall (which holy shit she was so bad with money you guys). The sections about her travel, especially her last great journey, were riveting -- what an adventure, what a life. She’s intoxicating, even as she’s just an absolutely awful human being.

It is interesting -- the show really casts Ann Walker as the great love of her life. (I get the sense Anne Choma really believes this, and that’s likely a bit of the influence on the show and absolutely no shade towards Choma; it’s certainly possible that she was, at least at one point...) I kind of suspect that Ann just happened to be the one with her when Anne died, though; they didn’t seem to like each other very much, let alone love one another, and I wouldn’t have been surprised if they’d gone their separate ways upon returning to Shibden Hall which INCIDENTALLY sounds like the actual worst place in the world to live. I wonder if Anne ever loved Ann, or just wanted to marry rich; I suspect Ann may have loved her at one point. Honestly, I would love someone to discover Ann Walker’s diaries, and rather get her side of the story. (The show also plans to go all the way to Anne’s premature death, and I am really curious to see what’s kept and what changes and if Anne remains as sexy and appealing and breathtaking as she was in series one. Also oh man the last year+ when they were travelling all over is going to be amazing to see! I am excited to use up a lot of that sweet, sweet HBO budget.)

Anyway, I remain full of feelings about Anne Lister, the end.

[stxphxn-strange]

be glad he’s holding me back

a/n: I’ve never written a fic where Peter gets bullied, but i couldn’t stop thinking about how overprotective Stephen and Tony would be and that bloomed into this fic. I’m actually v proud of it, hope you like it too! tw for bullying

It was an innocent quip, a comment that just spiraled out of control. The same sentence Peter used to actually defend his bullies now applied to this situation, the situation being that he told his Baby Sister that he was being bullied at school. The running joke in the Stark-Strange family was that Morgan could smell fear, and everyday she proved that to be more than just a coincidence. She sensed Peter’s discomfort and just laughed in understanding.

“These Animal Crossing villagers can be so mean!” Morgan had said. “I bet it would be AWESOME live on an island with a cool friend who brought me gifts!”

Even in her youth, she was perceptive. She could see her brother relax as she dismissed his comment, but Peter didn’t know that Morgan would probably never forget what he told her that day.

“I already get bullied enough at school, the last thing I want is for my Animal Crossing villagers to be mean to me too! But at least they don’t throw things at me or...”

++++

Stephen was equally surprised and unsurprised when he emerged from the en suite and found Morgan sitting on the bed and talking to Tony. That didn’t, however, stop him from pointing out that it was well past her bedtime.

“I wanted to talk, but I had to wait until Pete went to bed so he can’t hear,” Morgan explained.

“I’m listening,” Stephen said.

Tony cleared his throat. “We.”

The sorcerer disregarded his husband’s quip. “I’m listening,” Stephen repeated, getting into bed and resting his head on Tony’s shoulder.

“What am I, a cushion?” Tony asked. Between Stephen laying on him and Morgan sitting on his stomach, he felt a bit like a piece of furniture. This, of course, was a role he’d always proudly play for his family. Both Morgan and Stephen ignored his grumbling anyway, as they tended to do when Tony jokingly complained about things.

“What’s going on, Morgan?” Stephen asked. His smile was always soft when he spoke to the kids, especially his youngest, but it faltered the longer she talked.

Morgan was nearly asleep by the time she finished relaying Peter’s earlier words, her head resting on Tony’s chest where the arc reactor once was. “I don’t think he wants you to know, but I don’t want him sad. So I told you. I didn’t know what else to do.”

Stephen’s voice was clipped as he softly brushed through Morgan’s hair. “You did the right thing, Little One. Can you just keep playing with him and trying to make him laugh with Illyana? We’ll take care of everything else.”

“Promise?” Morgan asked. Normally she would object to Stephen calling her “Little One,” but tonight she was too worried about Peter and too tired to care.

Stephen and Tony promised their youngest they’d take care of Peter, their tones vastly different even as they said the same words. The sorcerer could hear the fierce, protective growling in his voice and ruminated on it as Tony put Morgan to bed. Once Tony returned, laying beside Stephen and holding him close, his anger gave way to despair.

“Why wouldn’t he say something?” Stephen asked quietly, burying his head in Tony’s chest.

“He gets his sense of ‘I can handle anything and everything by myself’ from us, but he’s trying to prove to himself that he can handle a bully. Maybe part of him thinks he deserves it, and if that’s unfortunately true then he’ll really want to deal with it quietly and not draw more attention to himself. It’s not a matter of whether we failed him or not,” Tony said, trying to assure himself just as much as Stephen. “We can’t choose whether or not he ever talks to us about it, you know? All we can do is support him and let him know that we love him. He does know it, but you can never hear it too much.”

Stephen nodded frantically as memories from his childhood and adolescence resurfaced.

“You know, I have to tell myself a lot that I’m not failing Peter or any of the kids when something like this happens. Any effort on our part to give them the best is already a success objectively and compared to what we knew. You’re a great parent Stephen,” Tony said firmly. “And a great husband, I might add.”

“We’re not talking about me,” Stephen replied.

“We’re not, no. But I thought you just needed a little reminder,” Tony said. He gently kissed Stephen’s hair. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Stephen murmured, snuggling closer to Tony. It was quiet for a few minutes more, thoughts bouncing around the walls of their minds and the room. “What can we do?”

“Well I’d like to know how this happened, since the school has supposedly an anti-bullying policy. A meeting with the principal sounds good,” Tony said. “And we can determine whether or not pursuing legal action is necessary.”

“You’ll threaten to sue anyway,” Stephen replied knowingly.

“Of course I will, and then I’ll be shown up by your protective side,” Tony said. His tone was teasing now, but his statement was true.

Stephen wasn’t a helicopter parent, but he was protective of the kids (and Tony) in a way that he never thought he’d be protective of anyone. It was just nice to have someone to protect, and to be needed.

“Hey.” Tony cleared his throat and kissed Stephen’s hair again. “Asleep?”

“No... just thinking,” Stephen replied. “Do you think Pete was bullied last year too, before Harley left for college?”

“I’m not sure... but if Harley defended him it also makes sense why we’re just finding out, doesn’t it? He would allow Harley to handle it and hope that he could make it stop, so we wouldn’t need to know,” Tony said. “I don’t honestly know how much we can do, but we won’t know until we try.”

Stephen nodded, yawning as he did so. “Can we handle this in the morning? Or sometime tomorrow?”

“That should be fine, I’m free most of the day tomorrow except for one meeting at 10:45. In the morning I’ll see if we need an appointment with the front office, but I won’t hesitate to name drop to make something work,” Tony declared.

“Worse case scenario, we walk into the center of his office via a portal,” Stephen said, his words muffled as he closed his eyes and shifted to lay his head on Tony’s shoulder again. “Now shush, I need beauty rest for a confrontation like this.”

Tony snickered fondly. “Goodnight, you absolute drama king.”

++++

A plan fell rather easily into place. Christine and Pepper would pick up Illyana and Morgan in the early afternoon while Tony and Stephen would meet with the Midtown administration. Harley even called his parents to offer moral support, though he too was unaware of the bullying.

Stephen was shocked and saddened when he heard that, his heart breaking at the fact that Peter had been silently hurting for so long.

“When is he going to learn that he doesn’t have to go through everything alone?” He’d asked, leaning against Tony.

“He’ll probably figure it out at the same time you or I do,” Tony replied bluntly.

“Does that mean I’m a bad example? I—”

Tony shook his head, quickly cutting Stephen off. He fell into a pattern of oversimplified thinking and rambling when he was nervous, and it was no secret that the sorcerer was nervous.

“We both know that’s not what I meant,” Tony soothed. “Peter is strong and stubborn and independent, but with that comes pride. None of those things are bad, it just means the internal odds can be stacked against you when you try to go against yourself and ask for help. It’s in all of our nature, and you acting as you normally do isn’t showing him that he can’t ever be vulnerable or ask us for advice or assistance. It’s just hard to admit when you need it.”

Stephen nodded, unclenching his jaw. “Somehow this has become about my insecurities, rather than being there for our son.”

“Your heart is in the right place, you know? You want to do right by him. And we will,” Tony promised. “Although it might be a good idea to unpack everything that’s bothering you, if you want to tell me about it.”

“You’re right.” Stephen nodded again, an air of professionalism setting onto his face. “We’re going to be late if we don’t leave now.”

Traveling by portal hardly took any time, including the short walk to the school from a nearby side street, but today wasn’t the day to be fashionably late. Tony was already fiddling with his sunglasses when the couple walked into the office, opening and closing them in his hands. To most, it seemed like a simple boredom-relieving thing to do while sitting in a waiting room, but Stephen knew that Tony was also nervous. He would present himself as invincible during their meeting, but the wait leading up to it could make Tony second guess himself.

“We’re doing the right thing,” Stephen whispered, drawing circles on the back of one of Tony’s hands.

“Peter hates when we interfere with his life,” Tony muttered absently.

“If we don’t, the bullying might not stop. I’d rather have Peter be a little angry and tell us that as opposed to not tell us that he’s hurting, or that someone is hurting him,” Stephen said. “Because he doesn’t deserve this.”

“Damn right he doesn’t,” Tony replied. “May I lean against you a little, while we wait?”

Stephen nodded. He wasn’t one for PDA in places where someone might use his affectionate nature to judge him or diminish his credibility, at least not large gestures of affection. But there was nothing harmful in Tony leaning his shoulder against Stephen’s, it looked almost like they were just having a private, whispered conversation.

Which, incidentally, they were. They talked quietly until the door to Principal Morita’s office swung open, revealing the man himself standing in the doorway.

“Gentlemen!” He greeted them warmly. “So nice to get your call, Mr. Stark, and as always it’s nice to see you.”

Stephen refrained from calling him a kissass, instead forcing a smile. “Same to you, although I do wish it was under better circumstances.”

Principal Morita closed the door to his office and ushered the couple in. “Yes, I thought I could pick up some stress on your end while we were on the phone. I trust it’s nothing too urgent?”

Tony could see that his husband’s temper was already beginning to flare. Stephen’s back stiffened and he impatiently gripped the armrests of the chair, ignoring the pain that this always caused his hands. To steady him, Tony discretely placed a hand on his back.

“That depends. How urgent is bullying to you?” Stephen asked. He relished in the discomfort he caused the man across from him, noticing Morita beginning to shift uncomfortably in his swivel chair.

“Midtown has a no tolerance policy when it comes to bullying, I assure you. It’s actually very fortunate that you’re here today, Peter has been reported to my office for bullying this past week,” Morita replied.

Tony had honestly zoned out, he was too busy trying to keep Stephen calm and trying to stay calm himself.

But that bullshit caught his attention.

He scoffed. “Peter? A bully? That doesn’t sound right.”

Stephen nodded emphatically. “Our son is not a bully, in fact we came here today to discuss the fact that he himself is the victim of such mistreatment.”

“That doesn’t match the information we have on file,” Principal Morita said skeptically. “Children can lie to their parents about acting out, can they not?”

“Is that really something you want to try to convince us?” Tony asked incredulously, pointing at himself and Stephen with the hand that wasn’t now rubbing Stephen’s back.

“How long ago was it that you adopted Peter? Perhaps he—”

“Let me stop you right there,” Stephen snarled. “We don’t know the extent of what Peter has endured because he believes he can handle everything on his own and would hate to burden another with his needs, no matter what his needs are. People who brush him aside and equivocate as you’re doing now certainly don’t make him feel like he’ll be taken seriously, do you understand?”

“It’s just that... well the evidence is rather stacked against Peter at this point, isn’t it?”

Stephen would have bolted upright if Tony wasn’t holding onto the back of his shirt. He was only grounded by the soft pressure of Tony’s hand on his back, the sorcerer didn’t even give a rat’s ass about his dignity anymore. Not where his family was involved.

“Why don’t you check your files again?” Tony suggested. “If we’re wrong, you’ll grant me the opportunity to threaten our contributions to this school’s funding. I think your statements during this meeting certainly warrant that.”

The principal left the room in a hurry, muttering about “my conduct, of all things?!”

++++

It wasn’t uncommon for Peter walk down the hallways linking arms with Ned and MJ. His friends gave him strength, empowered him to be the best he could, and made him laugh. They were truly the best friends in the world.

Peter just didn’t agree with them when they begged him to report his bullies. He always replied with a “then beg,” sending them into laughter but leaving Ned and MJ with worry for their friend.

“I hate to be a downer,” Ned began, looking to MJ for support. She nodded at him to continue, and so he did. “Peter that bruise looks like it hurts.”

“Oh, my eye?” Peter asked, well aware that he had a black eye. “It’s not as bad as the bruises you can’t see.”

“That’s the point, Peter,” MJ said, as gently as possible. “It’s really bad, and you know your parents will want to know about it.”

“They care so much and don’t want anything like this to happen to anyone, least of all you,” Ned added.

Peter sighed and nodded. “I can’t believe I accidentally told my sister.”

“If you’d told Illyana, I think she would’ve taken care of the bullies herself,” Ned said. “She’s a little scary.”

“Ned, she’s ten (10) and nothing to be scared of. She’s just chaotic and cunning in a way that Morgan isn’t,” Peter replied.

“A boss bitch at such a young age... we love to see it,” MJ added. “Now can we please go to lunch? I want to get good seats.”

The trio continued walking, Ned and Peter reminding MJ that they sat in the same seats for lunch everyday.

“Betty always steals the specific spot I want at our table,” MJ quipped. “I love Betty, but that’s honestly a pet peeve. How can I sketch Peter in disaster mode if I can’t see him?”

“You can’t,” Peter and Ned replied in unison.

MJ rolled her eyes. “Why am I friends with you losers?”

“Because we’re your losers,” Peter declared. As the group walked past the principal’s office, the start of his next sentence was interrupted by a very frantic Principal Morita.

“Peter! Sorry to interrupt, but may I see you in my office for a moment?” He asked.

Peter looked at Ned and MJ. “Go on without me.”

“Like hell we’d do that! Now I have a chance to talk to MJ about the conspiracy theories I read last night,” Ned replied, sitting down on a nearby bench.

“Oh joy!” MJ said, sarcasm flooding off of her as she sat beside Ned.

Meanwhile, Principal Morita ushered Peter into his office. “I need to check something quickly, just go sit down.”

Peter did as he was told, surprised and honestly relieved to see his dads sitting there. “Morgan told you what I said?”

Tony nodded. “She was worried about you, and what she said worried us. Sit down.”

Peter grabbed a nearby chair, sitting on Tony’s right.

“Peter, are you okay?” Stephen asked, shifting into doctor mode.

“There’s no point in not being honest, since you know,” Peter said. “Today wasn’t so bad though. I just got kicked around a bit and shoved into my locker.”

“Am I wrong to assume that you’re understating it?” Stephen asked.

Peter shook his head. “You’re not wrong. I’m ashamed of myself, and why shouldn’t I be?”

“Pete—”

Peter dropped his voice so low that only his parents could hear. “I’m such a good superhero, aren’t I?”

“You are. Your worth isn’t determined by what they say about you or how despicably they treat you. You’ve proven yourself and your good heart everyday, some people are just shitty,” Stephen said. “Peter, who did this?”

“It doesn’t matter, Doctor Dad. They won’t get punished. It’ll only continue and it’ll get worse since the bullies will know you know, and—”

“Take a deep breath, Petey,” Tony encouraged, noticing his son beginning to hyperventilate. “I know this is unexpected, but we’ll figure something out. And I’ll successfully make sure your dad doesn’t kill the principal in the process.”

“Is that why you’re holding him back?” Peter asked.

Tony nodded, still gently massaging Stephen’s spine.

“He’s not really holding me back, I could spring into action if I wanted to. Your father is too short to hold me back properly,” Stephen quipped.

“Okay, rude,” Tony replied.

“If the shoe fits,” Stephen snarked back at him. He looked at Peter again. “Don’t think that question will be left unanswered.”

“Doctor Dad, it doesn’t matter who’s bullying me. After this meeting it’ll just be someone else, someone who didn’t get caught,” Peter said.

“So much for anti-bullying policies,” Tony muttered. “Your principal has a suspicion that you’re the bully, but I doubt that’s true.”

“Why would I want to bully anyone? I’m not like them,” Peter replied.

“Like who?” Stephen asked.

“I found no evidence on file that lists Peter reporting a bully,” Principal Morita announced, reentering the room. “Our records indicate that at least three (3) students have reported him for violent misconduct, however.”

“I didn’t, I would never hurt anybody!” Peter fretted. “The guys who beat me up told me that they’d do that to get me into trouble, and then they shoved me into a locker.”

“Who?” Morita asked, disbelief surrounding him.

“Flash Thompson is the worst of them,” Peter confessed. He proceeded to list the names of Flash’s cronies as well as everything they’d done to him, his face burning. He just wanted to go home and hide.

Morita sighed when Peter was finished talking. His parents shared looks of rage and sadness, Tony consoling both Stephen and Peter. “Thank you for discussing this, Peter. I’m sure that wasn’t easy.”

“Um... may I go find my friends?” Peter asked nervously.

“If that’s what you want, go ahead,” Tony replied.

“Mr. Stark, you don’t speak for me. Especially not if your child doesn’t feel comfortable talking about his wellbeing with you,” Morita said. “Peter, you may go.”

“Love you Petey!” Stephen called after him as he left.

Peter ran back into the office to hug each of his parents in turn before scurrying out again.

Stephen’s gaze hardened, his stare intense enough to bury Morita in the dirt. “If you ever speak to my husband that way again, or treat my son with such arrogant neglect if he needs to report something like this in the future, you will rue this day.”

“I see no reason to take any action thus far, Peter looks fine and the alleged ‘bullies’ families contribute heavily to Midtown’s success,” Morita said.

“As do we... for now,” Tony replied, a low protective growl in his voice. If Stephen wasn’t so angry, he’d be swooning all over his husband.

But there would be time for that later.

“Did you SEE the contusions around and under his eye?” Stephen asked, inhaling sharply. “I assume he has more, but he’s scared to say so.”

“And it’s no wonder why. With how aggressive you two (2) are, why would he discuss anything with you?” Morita replied.

“My mother didn’t raise a bitch, and we’re not raising a liar,” Stephen snapped.

Tony clicked a pen he found in his pocket. “I’m going to strongly advise that you not get him riled up. Why not check the security cameras? If the Thompson kid and his group don’t have any injuries, you’ll know Pete is telling the truth. He doesn’t like to fight and wouldn’t hit back.”

“Is this a... what I’ve heard students call a ‘flex,’ Mr. Stark? You bought the security equipment and paid for renovations to the AV room, why wouldn’t you run an experiment to see if your money is being put to good use?” The principal leaned back in his chair.

Stephen was fully ready to stand up, but Tony kept him still. All things considered, he was doing a good job of keeping the sorcerer level. To be fair, Tony couldn’t (and this didn’t) keep Stephen from yelling, “You have some nerve, you audacious idiot!”

“It’s fine babe, relax,” Tony said. This man could disparage Tony’s integrity all he wanted, it didn’t matter. “At the very least, Mr. Morita, find some way to prove that those boys are uninjured and exonerate my son. We will be withholding any additional gifts until you’ve done that and re-evaluated the anti bullying policy to our standards. As such, I expect a draft of your new policy in my work email no later than 9am Monday, so I can share it with Stephen. We’re done here.”

“Thanks for wasting our time and making our kid feel bad, asshat,” Stephen snapped. He stood up once Tony let go of his shirt, taking his husband’s hand and striding out of the room. Once they were away from the school and out of earshot, Stephen slouched. “That was exhausting.”

Tony just nodded, softly cupping Stephen’s cheek. “You busy the rest of the day?”

“No, why?”

“Because I need a coffee, and you need some kind of sweet or a pickmeup.”

Stephen smiled for the first time since before the meeting. “You know me so well.”

“How could I not? I’m your husband,” Tony replied, rolling his eyes lovingly. “What I would love more than anything, right now, is some caffeine.”

It was Stephen’s turn to roll his eyes. “We can’t have you caffeine-deprived, can we? Let’s go.”

[fleomae]

MMS 194: JOURNAL

Beginning this journal with the ultimate art question of "What does art mean to you?"

I liked what Thomas McEvilley, professor of art history in Rice University said, "The last time I was in Houston, I went to a place called Media Center, where someone had set up posts as in a back yard with laundry hung all over. I immediately knew it was an artwork because of where it was. If I had seen it hanging in someone's yard, I would not have known whether it was art, though it might have been. It is art if it is called art, written about in an art magazine, exhibited in a museum or bought by a private collector.". 

To continue with his point, "What's hard for people to accept is that issues of art are just as difficult as issues of molecular biology; you cannot expect to open up a page on molecular biology and understand it. This is the hard news about art that irritates the public. if people are going to be irritated by that, they just have to be irritated by that.". 

Something I also find meaningful to this most asked question is perfectly worded by Arthur Danto from Art critic of The Nation, he says, "You can't say something's art or not art anymore. That's all finished. There used to be a time when you could pick out something perceptually the way you can recognize, say, tulips or giraffes. But the way things have evolved, art can look like anything, so you can't tell by looking. Criteria like the critic's good eye no longer apply. Art these days has very little to do with esthetic responses; it has more to do with intellectual responses. You have to project a hypothesis: Suppose it is a work of art? Then certain questions come into play -- what's it about, what does it mean, why was it made, when was it made and with respect to what social and artistic conversations does it make a contribution? If you get good answers to those questions, it's art. Otherwise it turned out just to be a hole in the ground."

And as a religious type of person I find this short saying from Robert Hughes striking. He says, "The Puritans thought of religious art as a form of idolatry, a luxury a distraction, morally questionable in its essence, compared to the written and spoken word.”. 

From here you can see the art differences from Catholics, Orthodox, and the many many denominations of Protestantism. I guess growing up in the Philippines most art I experience is about the religious if not historical. It's always been my dream to visit France and Rome to come and see all the "art" people are identifying as but as society moves forward with nano technology, we can see many forms of Computational Art. 

For example are the three below...

Digital illustrations, sounds cool right? Well, I was thinking of Digital Kinetic Art at first but I couldn't find an artist that purely does a digital version, so I had to look for other options until I finally found this amazing artist named Sean Charmatz. He was born on August 28, 1980, in San Diego, California. He is an animator of Spongebob Squarepants, LEGO Movie 2, and Trolls. He spent several years as a writer, artist, and storyboard director for the television show Nickelodeon. He also shared his digital art talents with the companies like Dreamworks and Disney.

He is making the mundane normal ordinary things as something worth looking at, with a story to portray from scratch!!! Looking into his art, I don't know if I have a bias reason because I grew up watching Spongebob and I really like the show and other types of cartoons too like "The Adventure Time", "Princess Sophia", "Barbie Movies", "Dora the Explorer", "The Amazing World of Gumball", and the like. It's something I find pleasurable as a younger child (actually until now, but I don't have the leisure time I used to have), and as I see his newest digital illustrations, I can't help but be in awe and smile with a childlike smirk. I might do something like this as he inspired me to make the mundane objects into something fun with a cool story to tell. 

Especially now during pandemic, and everyone is asked to stay indoors and minimize social interactions at most. We should be creative to learn in entertaining ourselves and making the most of our everyday situations. He is truly inspiring, and maybe with the practice I'll do, I might be able to make cute short children's comics for the next generation.

Here are some of his recent digital illustrations,

Moving from visuals let's talk about our hearing, let's talk about Generative Music. Majority of my life I've been listening to Pop songs and classical ones, usually made the traditional way 100% human, learning about this algorithm or computer composed type of music is a bit odd for me because it feels technical and numbers complicated, in a way distant and out of touch. Computers are a recent invention by the human race, so we can understand why more and more innovations related to it are still growing everyday, a lot of people who doesn't see it's importance will be left behind and soon enough more and more generative music art will enter the music scene, digital divide will be inevitable. 

This type of music scene is "experimental" as it's unknown to a lot of possibilities and very different from the traditional music producers and artists, we still don't know how will it click, is it a fad or here to stay? I'm not sure, but I think more types of sounds will be incorporated in music, specially in movies and other types of effects if it doesn't get popularity in the music industry.

Hatsune Miku, the first ever open-source singer is having popularity around people specially those who like anime and the things of its kind. Only this year I was able to discover this type of music scene and I never expected that Hatsune Miku Youtube music has millions and millions of viewers and subscribers. Music analysis software exists that can predict hits with increasing accuracy, and Google Labs have an ersatz neural network up and running that can make convincing music. Along with all the other jobs currently being destroyed by automation, it looks like the most human of all – music – is under threat.

To move forward let’s go back in 2017, I liked this guy from the College of Business Administration and he is one of those cool distant type of guy who gives this big mystery vibe, and what do you do when someone is mysterious? You stalk them online, so I did and that's how I found out about "hello poetry". I didn't know digital poetry actually has a term, a name but I knew it has a community online, which is cool because you can make an online library and records of all your poems easily accessible online if you're into this thing. I actually joined the platform "hello poetry" after reading a ton about my crush's online poems, in a way I was inspired. Once you join it's nice to see other poets about their works, what others are raving about, and sometimes judge inevitably although some are very beautiful others are also unconventionally short and seems like a tweet. This category of art can fall on art & literature which is something purely human, well as of now. Soon enough computers will be able to make their own poems, maybe there already is.

Here's a link to my first and only poem I published in the community, https://hellopoetry.com/fleomae/

[hiddendreamer67]

Switching Sides

Summary: Deceit convinces Remus and Virgil to join him as disguising themselves as light sides: Deceit as Patton, Remus as Roman, and Virgil as Logan. It’s a surprise to no one when they’re caught. Afterwards, it’s discussed if Virgil has become a good person- er, side.

October Prompt #8: Switched

Check out more of my writing at @hiddendreamerwriting!

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“Ooh, would you look at that!” Remus purred, twisting his hips this way and that as he held out his wrist to inspect, playing with the golden cuff links. “Who knew my brother’s clothes were so loose?”

“Remus, if you thrust your hips in my direction a third time, I will stab you.” Deceit growled threateningly, in the process still of adjusting the prince costume to fit the more eccentric creativity. Virgil looked on, feeling a bit out of place.

“So… why do I have to be Logan again?” Virgil looked at the tie around his neck, already too tight. He went to loosen it, but a look from Deceit made him stop messing with it.

“Because I’m the only one who can play Patton.” Deceit stood up, dusting off the light blue polo he wore. It was strange, seeing ‘Patton’ act so calm and collected. It was obvious ‘Roman’ was still Remus, what with the way he kept wiggling his eyebrows, but it was still odd to see Remus without his mustache. “I would also be the most convincing Logan, but you have no pep and Remus has no morals.”

“Morals are boooooooring.” Remus groaned. “Let’s set some houses on fire!”

“Remus, if we pull this off, Thomas will listen to all your ideas.” Deceit assured him, wrapping an arm around Remus’ shoulders.

“What? No!” Virgil immediately protested. “That goes against my job, keeping Thomas safe!” 

Deceit frowned, coming closer to Virgil. “I was lying to him.” He explained quietly.

“...oh.”

“Now Virgil.” Deceit looked him dead in the eye, and Virgil shifted uncomfortably at seeing Patton’s face so serious. “You’re losing your touch. You’ve grown soft with them.”

“No, I...I haven’t.” Virgil defended himself lamely.

“Yes you have!” Remus piped up, not attempting to be subtle about your eavesdropping. “You didn’t even try to give a witty comeback there! You used to be all bark and no bite and now you’re not even a bark.”

“I’ll bark you right up a tree.” Virgil groaned, rubbing his forehead. “What? No, I- whatever. Creativity isn’t my thing.”

“I know- it’s mine.” Remus gave a smug little twirl. “Oooooh, I’m so excited to be center stage again! We should really switch things up more often.”

“We can’t, the others are never going to be okay with this.” Virgil warned.

“The others are never going to know.” Deceit gave Virgil a pointed look. “And so long as we pop in so that Thomas doesn’t actually summon them, Thomas is never going to know either.”

“What, you don’t think he’s going to suspect something when ‘Patton’ is telling him to do the opposite of yesterday, ‘Roman’ is unbelievably horny, and ‘Logan’ is a stuttering mess?” Virgil knew himself well enough to know he was no Logan. 

“Stop thinking of worst case scenarios.” Deceit instructed him, which was basically equivalent to telling a human being to stop breathing. “Thomas hardly listens to Logan, simply use some slang incorrectly and he’ll never suspect a thing.”

“And what about you two?” Virgil raised an eyebrow at Remus, who was looking beneath Roman’s clothes. “I doubt Dukey over there will be able to keep it in his pants.”

Deceit grimaced, seeming to be thinking along the same lines. “Yes… that might be our biggest challenge, but I have a few excuses up my sleeve. Mostly framing it as a change brought on by Thomas’ lack of ability to get a boyfriend.”

“So you’re going to guilt trip him.” Virgil’s expression darkened.

“It’s hardly a lie.” Deceit scoffed, which was rich coming from the embodiment of deception. “Why do you think Remus even exists? All those suppressed hormones had to be bottled up somewhere.”

“I think you mean whore-moans.” Remus teased.

“He did not.” Virgil deadpanned.

“But don’t you get it? It’s got whores and moaning! Man I’m really good at this pun thing, maybe I should be Patton.” Remus mused.

“No!” Deceit snapped. “No more switching around. I’m Morality, you’re Creativity, and you’re Logic.” Without another word he disappeared, and up above Virgil could hear the faint beginnings of his act.

Virgil frowned, glancing up and wondering if he should go get the light sides after all. He wasn’t a dark side anymore, they would listen to him… right? But was that what’s best for Thomas? Should Virgil be even worrying about what’s best for Thomas if Thomas was so clearly becoming a bad person? A normal human wouldn’t have nearly so many dark aspects of himself tucked away. But giving the controls over to the subconscious didn’t feel very safe, either.

Virgil’s frown deepened, fiddling with the tie again. Logan would know what to do- the real Logan. He’d know the best logical solution, even if Roman didn’t like it and Patton hated him for it.

“They’re never going to trust you again.”

Virgil’s head snapped up. Remus was grinning at him cheerfully from across the room, making Virgil feel like a cornered mouse. It was clear Remus had noticed the way Virgil was fondling the tie.

“Especially not Thomas.” Remus crowed. “Not after this. You know Logan doesn’t like others playing with his toys.” 

Virgil growled, watching Remus sink out to join Deceit above. He hated that that moron was right- it reminded him of the few times Roman had an admittedly good idea. 

The anxious side shook his head. He really was growing soft- why should he care if Thomas didn’t trust him? He didn’t need to trust him. Virgil did what he needed to do to protect Thomas, for better or worse. And if Thomas would be more willing to see Virgil’s reasoning if he was ‘Logic’... perhaps this really was for the best. Logan was always able to keep Patton and Roman in check, surely Virgil could do the same with Deceit and Remus. It’s for the best.

Despite telling himself this, Virgil felt a sick feeling in his stomach as he rose up to fill the final spot.

“Logan’s here!” Deceit cheered, in a way that Virgil could almost believe it was Patton. Almost.

“Yes, hello Patton.” Virgil greeted awkwardly, shifting to try and adjust his posture. Logan stood up straight, he didn’t slouch. “Thomas, what’s…” Virgil trailed off, his words caught in his throat for a moment as he looked to the human himself. Thomas was looking to him with such pure confusion, in a way that made it clear that he wanted answers and trusted no one else to tell him the truth. 

Even on the best of days, Thomas never looked at Virgil that way. Anxiety had to be kept at a distance and feared.

“Cat got your tongue, Nerdy Numby?” Remus tilted his head curiously, and Virgil caught a dangerous glint in his eye clearly urging Virgil to speak.

“I seem to be… out of the loop.” Virgil cleared his throat, forcing himself to meet Thomas’ expression. Oh good lord, now Thomas was looking at him with concern, too. Thomas was concerned for him! Well not him, but Logan, and- “What seems to be troubling you, Thomas?”

Thomas frowned, looking around at the three of them. “...you’re acting weird.” He decided.

Tug.

“Whaaaaaaat?” Remus laughed awkwardly, in a way that perfectly resembled his light brother’s insecurities. “Thomas, I would never hide anything from you!”

“Roman, you’re freaking me out.” Thomas winced. “You’re kind of sounding like…”

Tug. 

“Roman’s not feeling very well.” Deceit wrung his hands nervously, the picture of an innocent lamb. “It’s all this talk of being good or bad or grey, it’s got him feeling… not so glittery! And I mean, how can a person really be grey, you can’t be a color-”

“Patton, you’re deflecting again.” Thomas pointed accusingly 

TUG. 

Virgil’s eyes widened in sudden recognition of the tugging sensation in his gut, recognizing the pull of a summoning. “Thomas, you’re getting quite anxious.” Virgil said, a bit louder than necessary as he gave the other two a warning glance.

“And that’s just it!” Thomas threw his arms up in exasperation, the tugging getting even stronger to the point where Virgil had to cling to the stair post to stay upright. “Of course I’m feeling anxious, you all are acting like- like kooky cookies and yet despite this unpleasant feeling that something is absolutely wrong Virgil is nowhere to be-”

CRASH!

All heads whipped around to Virgil, who had been all but thrown against the wall in his usual spot. He groaned, slowly standing up. The glasses he wore were skewed and the tie had become ruffled in the chaos of so forcefully changing spots. Well, guess that was one way to tell when Thomas needed him.

“...Logan?” Thomas murmured, looking hurt and confused as Virgil hunched in on himself. 

“Yes?” All dark sides froze, a chill going up their backs as the real Logan popped into place. He gave Virgil a considering look. “...why are you in my garments, Virgil?”

“Wait, Virgil?” Thomas looked around, giving all sides present a wary glance. “What about you, Patton?”

“I’m just as confused as you are, Kiddo.” Deceit shrugged meekly. Thomas gave Logan an inquisitive glance, wanting the truth. 

“Deceit!” Logan exclaimed, revealing the impostor with an exuberant point of his finger.

“Oh dear, nothing gets by you, does it, Logan?” Deceit rolled his eyes, folding his arms over his chest as his scales reappeared. 

“And you’re Remus!” Thomas accused, pointing to the one in princely garb.

“Yours unruly!” Remus grinned, his mustache reappearing. “My brother’s a bit tied up at the moment.”

“Don’t wink when you say that.” Virgil groaned. 

“Thomas, it appears that the previously subconscious aspects attempted to trick you into believing they were Patton, Roman, and myself.” Logan informed him, stating what was now the obvious.

“Well yeah, thanks Logan, I got that far.” Thomas squinted at each impostor in turn. “I mean, I’d expect that from you two, but…” Thomas’ gaze fell on Virgil, and Virgil felt the immediate urge to sink down into the subconsciousness forever. “Why’d you do it, Virge?”

“I…” Virgil’s tongue felt like sandpaper, and he focused on taking off the glasses instead of answering the question. 

“I’m quite curious about that, as well.” Logan admitted, looking at Virgil intently but not yet with judgement. Virgil closed his eyes, wishing he wasn’t about to destroy all of that trust.

“...you really should keep better track of your sides, Thomas.” Deceit spoke up, drawing all attention to him as he inspected his nails. Or were they still Patton’s nails? “They’re getting too easy to manipulate.”

Virgil raised an eyebrow, on edge and wondering what sort of scheme Deceit was plotting now.

“First it was Patton, then Roman, now Virgil…” Deceit tsked, looking up to Logan. “I think Logic is next to be knocked down a peg, don’t you?”

“Impossible.” Logan informed him with a scoff. “Knowledge and reasoning are not so easily swayed as those who base their crucial functions on the unsteady structure that is emotions and- ugh- feelings.”

“I doubt that there’s not a chink in your armor.” Deceit hummed. “After all, Virgil had Thomas fooled that he was a good side.”

“Virgil is a good side!” Thomas insisted, and Virgil’s heart couldn’t decide if it wanted to swell in size of shatter entirely. 

“Is he?” Deceit looked unconvinced. “How incredibly naive of you. I think Virgil is as good a side as you are a good person.”

“I… I am a good person.” Thomas said slowly.

“You hesitated!” Remus was quick to point out happily. “Come now Thomas, join the dark side, live a little looser.”

“Virgil and Thomas are equally good, considering ‘goodness’ is a social construct and arguably meaningless.” Logan didn’t seem to be filling either with much faith. “Despite Virgil’s strange actions today, his record indicates that he intends to protect Thomas. For this reason, we can conclude that he has a ‘good’ average, so to speak, despite morality not being mathematically quantifiable-”

“Logan, we need English, buddy.” Thomas interrupted.

Logan sighed, but he took a moment to readjust his wording. “Thomas, you trust Virgil to be good, yes?” 

Thomas looked to Virgil, staring at the anxious side for a very long time. “Of course I do.” He said finally.

“Then he is, inevitably, good.” Logan gave a decisive nod. “We are only figments of your consciousness. Our capability to be helpful and sincere is dependent on your perception of us.”

“And what about Tommy-Boy himself?” Remus argued. “If he’s bad, we’re bad.”

“Perhaps, but-”

“No butt’s about it!” Remus joked, giving a cheeky grin.

Logan gave him an unimpressed look, not a fan of being interrupted. “Perhaps, however, we have been figuratively running in circles deciding if Thomas is a ‘good’ or ‘bad’ person. The fact of the matter is we have no control over how others view him morally. It becomes not an issue of who Thomas is, but rather who you trust him to be.” 

Logan turned, his attention now focused to Virgil. “It is logical to have fears about how others will view Thomas, but worrying excessively will drive Thomas to be unproductive and miserable, stuck unable to decide for himself. Sometimes it is necessary to take a step back, reevaluate your purpose and trust others to do their function. Taking control of responsibilities that are not your own will only hinder the system as a whole.”

Virgil coughed, awkwardly rubbing his neck in shame. “That uh… that’s a real long-winded way to tell us to ‘stay in our lane’.” 

“Oh Logan, I’ve been thoroughly scolded.” Deceit bat his own hand sarcastically, looking no less repetitive. “How you’ve thwarted me again. I certainly won’t be back.” With this ominous note, Deceit sunk out.

“Bye Tomma-lomma-ding-dong, see you in your dreams~!” Remus waggled his fingers, sinking out as well.

“Please don’t.” A weary Thomas sighed, wondering what Remus would have in store for him tonight.

Virgil shifted, feeling uncomfortable. “...guess that’s my queue.” He felt uncomfortable and wanted to leave, but at the same time a small, desperate part of him willed anybody to stop him, to say he hadn’t forever screwed up the meager amount of acceptance he had gained the past few years.

Uninterrupted, Virgil sunk out, and a moment later Logan was beside him in the mind palace as well.

“Please return my articles of clothing to my room once they are cleaned.” Logan instructed. 

Virgil cringed. “Yeah, sure thing.” The clothes felt uncomfortably exposing now, showing far too much skin. Virgil didn’t know how Logan could stand being so vulnerable. “...Sorry.”

“Apology accepted, Virgil.” Logan nodded in thanks. “I will see you tomorrow.” 

“You will?” Virgil did little to hide the surprise in his tone. 

“Yes?” Logan gave him a confused glance. “You and I are critiquing Roman’s suggestions, are we not?”

“I… kinda thought you’d never want to see me again.” Virgil admitted. 

“That very idea is absurd.” Logan adjusted his tie. “We occupy the same mind, it is impossible to avoid contact entirely.”

“No, i mean…” Virgil groaned, rubbing his hand down his face. “I totally was an ass today! I tried to switch back to my old habits, and I almost hurt Thomas.”

“...but you did not.”

“But I could’ve.”

“You did not.” Logan insisted. “It is logical for you to have relapses into less than ideal behaviors, but regardless of your darker habits it is clear that you are no longer the individual you once were. Your old allies made that clear today.”

“I...I guess they did.” Virgil wasn’t sure how to feel about that. The isolation was- good? It meant he was a light side, at least in their eyes. 

“In your case, I would be more worried about the mental images you have now supplied Thomas.” Logan allowed himself a sly smirk. “I’m certain Roman will be quite amused when a lot of strange materials appear in his half of the dream workshop tonight, likely featuring you as a typical ‘nerd’.”

Virgil went ghostly pale, realizing his fatal error. “...oh no.”

Logan chuckled, giving Virgil an only slightly awkward pat on the back. “It is… reassuring to have you on our side, Virgil.”

[abigailnussbaum]

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, S5

Overall I’d say this was the best season since the first one, and the ending it gives the story is a satisfying and moving one. I really liked how the show gestures back at some canonical She-Ra concepts - the rebels hiding out in the Whispering Woods, for example - while at the same time doing things that are completely outside the original canon’s scope - She-Ra in Space! And I thought the ensemble was well-used, main characters, side characters, and antagonists all getting their own storylines and resolutions in a way that isn’t easy with such a wide cast of characters, but was handled with elegance.

But look, if you’ve read anything I’ve written or tweeted about this show over the last four seasons, you know I have fundamental issues with how it chooses to direct its storytelling and characterization energies. It doesn’t come as much of a surprise that the concluding season didn’t address most of those issues. A big part of that is that the show I wanted She-Ra to be clearly wasn’t the one Stevenson and her team were making, and that’s fine. But I find it genuinely strange that of the three series that are obvious thematic and emotional successors to Avatar: The Last Airbender - She-Ra, The Legend of Korra, and The Dragon Prince - none of them reach the same heights of plotting and characterization, and at least in She-Ra’s case I think this is rooted in an unwillingness to complicate a rather simplistic central theme. 

(Also, at least part of the problem has to be that the show’s five-season, 52-episode run spanned only seventeen months. Even if you add in the production period for the first season, that’s a truly bonkers schedule that must have told in the depth and complexity of the final product.)

Take Catra, for example. If you’d asked me where I thought her storyline was going before watching the season, I would have said pretty confidently that she was going to get at least some level of redemption story. After all, her situation at the end of S4 perfectly positions her to switch sides by stripping her of all the things she thought she wanted and placing her in a precarious position that she might not be able to talk or manipulate her way out of. The season premiere establishes those facts even further by making Horde Prime a literal monomaniacal monster. And yeah, it’s pretty clever that in a series that places so much emphasis on the importance of friendship as the path towards moral growth, the villain is narcissism personified, a person who has no use for others except as they reflect himself, and subjugate themselves entirely to his will. So it’s not surprising that, finally cut off from any realistic path towards power and made to feel her own vulnerability, Catra would finally start doing some soul-searching and realize how badly she’d treated the people who cared about her. 

(Though if you’ll allow me a snide moment, I can’t help but point out that in the Best Redemption Story Ever, Zuko actually gets all the power and approval he’d thought he wanted before realizing that it means nothing without his honor and self-respect. I think we all know that if Catra had gotten a position of power from Horde Prime, she would have felt no loyalty towards Adora and Etheria, and helped him to conquer them.)

Similarly, I think I would have given you better odds than even that the series would end with some romantic storyline between Catra and Adora. And I don’t want to downplay the importance of depicting a story like that - before the end of the season I found myself wondering why Bow and Glimmer’s romance was being depicted so chastely, before realizing that the writers wanted the first kiss on the show to be between two women. I respect that impulse and the representation the show ends up delivering - we’ve come a long way from Korra and Asami holding hands at the end of their show. But at the same time, I can’t help but feel that the way that the show arrives at this point requires a significant rewriting of Catra’s personality and character arc, not to mention the history of her relationship with Adora.

As the fifth season argues it, the root of Catra’s resentment of Adora is romantic disappointment. She complains that “Adora doesn’t want me. Not the way I want her”, and leaves the team when Adora decides to risk her life by destroying the Heart of Etheria because she takes it as a personal rejection. But this is, to say the least, a massive whitewashing of what we’ve seen of Catra and Adora’s past relationship. In flashbacks, particularly the ones from S4, it’s made clear that even when they were on the same wavelength, Catra and Adora’s friendship was toxic and dysfunctional. Catra may have always loved Adora, but it was a selfish love, one that saw Adora as an instrument for the validation of Catra’s confidence and self-image, and denied her any opportunity for pursuing her own interests and desires. 

There’s room for a story about Catra growing past that selfishness and learning to love generously and openly, of course, but we don’t get that story in S5. When Catra complains that in sacrificing herself for Etheria, Adora is refusing to want things for herself, it’s not an honest character moment. Catra has never cared what Adora wants - in fact, her refusal to acknowledge Adora’s right to make her own choices and take a path in life that left Catra behind has been the crux of their enmity since the series premiere. Having her suddenly change tunes doesn’t feel organic, but like a parachuted-in personality transplant.

To put it back in ATLA terms, Catra was never Zuko. Adora is Zuko - someone raised with bad principles who nevertheless has enough innate compassion, and a powerful moral compass, that with a little support - emotional or magical - they can break through their indoctrination and become a hero. Catra is Azula - obsessed with power, possessed of very little compassion for others, and, most importantly, seriously emotionally unbalanced. I’m not saying someone like that can’t be helped and can’t become a better person, but it takes a great deal more than what the last season of She-Ra has given us.

Meanwhile, if you look at Adora’s storyline, on one level it gives us what I’ve wanted for a while. I’ve complained a lot about how Adora has remained static throughout the middle seasons of the show while other characters - Glimmer, Catra, Scorpia - got character arcs and changed meaningfully. One effect of that has been to create a strange disconnect between the show’s central themes and its main character. In a story that is supposedly all about the importance of friendship and personal connections, the heroine is someone who achieves her heroic destiny by rejecting those connections in favor of a more global morality, and who then had to struggle with balancing her sense of global responsibility with personal attachments - to Glimmer and Bow as much as to Catra.

The fifth season finally circles back to these ideas and places Adora at its center. I thought her conversation with Mara about having the right to be more than She-Ra, and to do more with her life than sacrifice it for others, was a really powerful moment. I just feel like, once again, the foundation wasn’t laid for it. First because Adora’s growth has been mostly ignored during the intervening three seasons, and second because this is a character arc that clashes with the show’s friendship-above-all message in ways that aren’t really acknowledged.

When you think about it, the moments when Adora has been the most herself are the ones when she rejects toxic friendship and stands up for herself - in her confrontations with Catra, especially over the course of the first season, and when she defies Glimmer’s decision to use the Heart of Etheria and the end of S4 and destroys the sword. So to the already complicated issue of where to draw the line between the things you want for yourself and the things you owe others, you add the thorny matter of when to detach yourself from toxic friends who see you only as a means to an end. Except that She-Ra never really grapples with this extra wrinkle - and again, Catra’s hasty personality transplant plays into this, because we get to pretend that the only problem she and Adora ever had was romantic miscommunication.

In a season that is all about putting aside differences and personal grievances to fight for a common cause, there is a refreshing number of instances that remind us that those grievances are still relevant - the fact that nobody will ever really trust Shadow Weaver, for example, or the other princesses calling Entrapta out on her seeming indifference to the consequences of her actions (though in this case, and yet again, Entrapta’s neuroatypicality is used as a get-out-of-jail-free card from taking personal responsibility). Even Glimmer gets to spend a bit of time in the dog house, at the same time that she and Bow work together and save each other’s lives. But once again, when it comes to the main character, we can’t let pesky matters like a lifetime of toxic friendship get in the way of a happy ending in which lesbian love conquers all.

There was a good story to be told here, one that could have easily ended up in the same place as the series actually did. But it required actually delving into the complexity of a character like Adora, and dealing honestly with the problems in her relationship with Catra. She-Ra ends - as it did throughout it run - by choosing to paper over those difficulties in favor of a friendship-conquers-all message that is a great deal less convincing.

(Also, am I wrong or are there a lot of loose ends still? I don’t think we ever find out who Adora was, what Greyskull is, and what She-Ra actually is.)

[broken-clover]

Who are your top three favourite Guilty Gear characters and why!

This question took me out into my backyard and shot me.

Okay, being a little dramatic, but it’s kinda tricky since my opinions on the entire cast basically go (favorites) -> (everyone else is slightly less favorite but I still love them) and then a massive gap, and the Zato. Aside from him, there really aren’t any characters I legitimately dislike. Everyone’s great! I’d say that basically everyone else is tied at #4. But I guess if I had to pick…

3). Venom

Personally, I think Venom has one of the best character arcs across the series. From the beginning he was depicted as a person with a stoic outer persona heavily influenced by and struggling with the ‘kill or be killed’ nature of his upbringing under the assassin’s guild. Despite being a highly trained assassin, he’s a very honest person who puts a great emphasis on morality and politeness.

His character arc has him basically deconstruct everything he has been taught and adhered to- the guild’s way of life and his status as an outsider, his feelings towards his master, and his animosity towards others. I loved his story in Revelator when he finds an unexpected kinship with Robo-Ky in how they share a similar history, having their lives being centered around fighting, and even sharing a sort of ‘us vs them’ mindset that prevented them from truly bonding with other people in different ways (Venom’s valuing the Guild above all else/following Zato vs Robo’s disdain for humanity and narcissism) culminating in a rather beautiful ending where he chooses to disconnect from the Guild and become his own free man.

Plus, his design and playstyle are very striking and unique, which is something that makes him interesting. He’s basically a wizard with an extra-long wand, but the usage and applications of billiards as a fighting style is just weird in the best way possible. Plus, it’s stated that Venom literally created his own type of magic from scratch, which makes him one of the most skilled characters across the series.

2). Zappa

I suppose it’s kind of weird putting him above Venom, since Venom has such a good and complex story while he just kinda doesn’t. But I really like Zappa for the roles he plays and how he basically contrasts against the entire cast by being someone with no capability to fight or a drive to do so. He’s basically the series’ straight man pre-Xrd, being just a normal guy with the normal goal of finding a romantic partner, but whose plans are repeatedly dashed. He adds an odd sort of relatability to the often-ridiculous plots of Guilty Gear, not really knowing what’s going on and not really wanting any part of it. He’s basically what most people would be like if they accidentally stumbled into a fighting game. Plus, I appreciate softer guys, especially in this genre. Zappa doesn’t even really like fighting, does his best to be polite to everyone he meets, and writes letters to his mom. Friggin’ adorable.

Along with that, he’s one of the few characters where we actually get to know what he was up to during the six-year timeskip between Accent core and Xrd. After failing to get help with his ghost-summoning ‘illness’, he not only got rid of the problem on his own, but managed to get enough insight on the Backyard that he played a major role in Revelator basically trying to stop the apocalypse. It was nice to see him have moments showing off his intelligence and aptitude for technology, even if After-Story C showed that he can still be the anxious dork that he was back in the old days.

1). Bedman

…This should probably should not be a surprise to anyone, but still. He’s my favorite. Kinda want to sum it up with a keysmash but I will actually explain a bit, since I know some people aren’t a fan of him and I want to explain why I am

Basically, I like the impression that they give off of him more or less being a deluded, messed-up kid given too much power without a real understanding of what it entails. What exactly does Bedman want? His sister, his only friend, and an Absolute World he can control for the sake of eliminating suffering. Unlike Relius, who I often see him compared to, he shows no interest in using the new world as a way to hurt people. Part of the reason he is so intent on fulfilling that goal is because it would also allow him to resurrect everyone he’s killed in the process of attaining it. His condescending nature is shown to be a side effect of loneliness, having only ever experienced friendship before with Delilah. Nor is he incapable of mercy or kindness in his own ways, showing sympathetic moments with Ramlethal and Axl (if there’s one thing I feel could have used some tweaking, I would have liked to see a more thorough relationship with him and Axl). The fight in Valkyrie Garden against Venom and Robo is by far my favorite across the series, as all three of them come from similar circumstances yet all react to it differently, giving off the implication that all three of them could have been friends if the circumstances behind their meeting was different.

And in general, I just really like his design and imagery he uses. I like nightmare and medical tropes quite a lot, which he uses plenty of. For what little we see of his backstory, there’s some not-so-pleasant implications concerning having a brain that literally works so well that it almost kills you and the medical imagery in his stage which literally exists in his own mental world, and whatever happened that lead to him being physically nailed down to a bedframe. I’m still pretty bummed about him getting offed, but based on the ending we see, there might be more to his storyline, which I am very excited to see more of.

[hauntinghilarity]

(FICTION) The Cosmic Lord, Joelene

First off, I didn't realize I misspelled the name until I looked up what outfits Dolly wore while singing this song. Given I kept referencing lyrics in order to write the parody song... i don't know how that happened either.

Anyway, I had often had the urge to make a song that implied Jolene from Dolly Parton's song was an Eldritch horror ever since I saw a post somewhere on the internet (likely on Reddit in the tumblr subreddit, leading to my confusing uncertainty) that suggested doing just that. It had been in my mind ever since.

So, upon finally doing that... I just felt it wasn't enough to just have the lyrics. Especially as I just rewrote lyrics that already existed. No, no a PARTICULAR damn muse decided that this was not enough. This particular muse had to be brought into the party!

So here is Doc and the woman I made up to sing the song sealing some Cosmic Lord that Doc decided to name Jolene because its horrible, mouth splitting name couldn't otherwise be turned into a song that he could force a human haunted by the said creature to sing. Possibly purely for his own amusement.

Enjoy, I'll add the lyrics alone at the end for those interested.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A hut deep in the middle of the swamps was certainly not where the average problem was solved, this was far from the average problem. Iris had, apparently, found herself in a cosmic love triangle. Not that it could be called that, her husband very clearly was just not that into her. This cosmic entity did not, apparently, take well to rejection.

A unique and maddening plight, Iris had never been one to back down so easily. She wouldn’t have gotten anywhere with that behavior, and her grandparents had taught her act in a far more civilized manner in such trying times. It was the only way to get anything done in these types of situations, especially the situations that one believed to be unique.

Lucky for her, while a strange case, it was not as unique as she believe. Similar instances seemed to be sprinkled through history. Easy to miss or shrug off as the superstition and legends of their more imaginative ancestors. Given the distressing nature of her comatose-yet-deliriously-screaming husband, she was forced to do her best to connect some dots.

To her delight, there seemed to be plenty of more in-depth entries on this and a number of other creatures sprinkled throughout different books she decided to look into. What one might find suspicious, should they not feel the time-ticking on the safety of their loved one, is that a number seemed to have been inserted. A modern book full of laminated pages did not often have a piece of parchment, with the script clearly having been handwritten, fused to the spine as if it had been manufactured in such a manner.

A desperate mind seeking desperate knowledge did not often have the perception to notice these details when time was an issue. Stress had a matter of forcing tunnel vision of even the most powerful of minds. Especially when, regardless of its origin, the details these entries gave her made far more sense compared to the superstition-laden legends she had previously been finding.

She did become rather disturbed when a note was clearly left for her. Just like the rest, it was implanted in the book in such a way that tearing it out would be noticeable, both visually and audibly.

‘Iris, yes YOU Iris,

‘This is getting rather tiresome, and you are reading plenty of notes that have been written for different eyes. This would be far less of an annoyance if you bothered to put the books back where they had been placed. Do you know how long it took for me to understand a dewey decimal system?

‘You meat-bodies have ENOUGh languages that are troublesome enough to learn. Maddening book math is not what I was signing up for. If I had signed up for anything.

‘The book YOU are, or were, supposed to read on your problem you just.. Kept avoiding. Now it is checked out, and I have to write ANOTHER one of these because my attempts to do this subtly and properly got thrown out of whack trying to understand the aforementioned book-math.

‘So, to save us on time and to get something out of this headache that highly benefits the both of us, reading to this point will have given you a sudden feeling.

‘Please do not fret over this. Merely some ink-based shenanigans. Nothing that’ll harm you, it merely saves me placing a map. It will lead you directly to me.

‘That is, if you want to get a particular cosmic parasite yanked from your husband’s dreams.’

Signed, much like the other letters, Doc Boots.

Iris wasn’t entirely certain what part of this bothered her more. The fact it was clearly, and pointedly, directed to her. The fact she was called a meat-body, or that fact that she DID have a very strong desire to take a walk down a particular path found on a particular street that would have her in a particular neck of the woods taking her into a peculiar neck of a swamp that had her find a particular hut.

Many would probably find coming to such a hut in the first place foolhardy, let alone irrational. Irrational problems required irrational solutions. This was far better than the option she was beginning to feel was the best, which involved finding books on Necromancy, deciding if Necromancy worked or not, and using this knowledge to bring a particular horror writer back from the dead to answer a series of pointed questions. This somehow seemed the better deal. If anything, the letter writer could deal with all this morally-gray-supernatural-foolishness.

Regardless, nothing could quite prepare her for what awaited her within the hut that the same odd feeling that lead her here told her was her destination.

The entirety of the inside seemed to be dedicated to the alignment of a single ritual sigil. A dizzying series of circular and fractal designs that weaved throughout the central floor of the hut. Various areas of the floor were raised or lowered with delicate precision to conform to the different areas of the sigil.

Dizzying as it might be, Iris could come to understand that there was a circular, flat area in the center of the entire design where every edge, curve, and rune converged on. The design was covered in runes and symbols that conformed to the shape like an artist obsessed with point-shading. A number of platforms, that took on a shape that vaguely made her note a solar system before all the strange details continued to keep her mind reeling, were raised and held a number of bundled objects. Given the darkened liquids of varying colors, though equally metallic smelling, she was certain she was comfortable being left in the dark.

Strangest of all, the structure was encircled by a number of... Vegetables. While the same size and shape of the numerous vegetables each individual entity made up, stubby stems sprouted from them in order to form the vague shape of limbs. Sunken pits in the shape of spiraling stems formed where they stared out into the world, and sharp cuts where their mouths opened.

The creatures swayed and bounced to a harmony they kept. Strange noises based on the vegetable they were grown from making up a unique melody. One she found oddly familiar. The gourds, such as the pumpkins and squashes, made up a range of deeper breathy tones while the smaller, stalk-like vegetables made increasingly higher pitches.

She was so taken aback by every eldritch detail she had to accept within the hut that it took her a moment to realize that she wasn’t alone, besides the strange sentient vegetables. An androgynous creature that, at first glance, was easily mistaken for a humanoid. The more she focused on him and more her mind allowed her to process, the more she began to second guess her decision. Especially thanks to the petals encircling one of the creature’s equally strange looking eyes.

Not so much out of fear, with her history Iris had become rather hard to spook. She was beginning to feel, at this point, that the supernatural shenanigans she had so rigidly attempted to avoid belief in, less out of a stubborn grip on pure material-sciences and more due to a brief understanding on the power belief held in such beings, were now becoming so… Silly in their abrupt in-your-face hijinks that it had long since plummeted past the point of ridiculousness and was spinning annoyingly around the pit that would send it going down to rock bottom.

Then the notable eye slid from the creature’s orbital cavity, connected by a series of spindly stems that spiraled into a rope that connected from the end of what turned out to be an actual flower and disappeared into the orbital cavity of the creature’s vine-infested skull. The eye that took the space that would normally hold the flowers pistil was intently focused on her, the vine connecting it to the creature’s eye extending outward. ‘Zooming’ in on her features while the other eye seemed to be keeping stock of what seemed to be his odd minions.

“Good. ‘ere I thought I’d been keepin’ de veggie cult practicing for an eternity. Ya meat-bodied creatures just neva’ seem capable on keepin’ a reasonable schedule dese millenia. Makes de plots I bake ta keep de balance HIGHLY difficult. I ‘ope ya know de ‘eadaches I take on ta keep ya bumbling evolved-baboons from killin’ yaselfs. Equally so de fumblin’ evolved-fools that make up what I think are my kind…” The strange creature piped up suddenly.

Iris had a bit of trouble following the creature’s words for a number of reasons. For one, the movement in the creature’s throat was highly distracting. Not only did it alert her to the slithering that seemed to happen under the creature’s skin with every movement, she was becoming increasingly aware that the vines seemed less like a strange quirk and more like an invader. One that was intent on talking to her.

She really hated fire-with-fire situations.

The second problem was that the creature’s voice was mildly off-putting. It snapped between sounding feminine and higher, to a raspy deep tone somewhere between a dying male smoker and a newborn banshee. The latter snapping briefly like the static of a rapidly tuning radio as the slithering vines beneath the creature’s skin worked to play and tune the creature’s larynx, vocal chords, and neck muscles in a complex dance it clearly only somewhat understood. It did not help it seemed to insist on trying its best to put on its best attempt at a Cajun Accent. She had to admit, it helped make the creature’s tone sound more melodic rather than like nails on a chalkboard run through autotune.

The final problem was the creature spoke at an annoyingly excited speed, which made it very hard to tell if the creature was complaining like he was being underpaid for a difficult service or impatient in his excitement to perform whatever service seemed to be on offer.

She finally had to hold up her hands in the hopes it would calm him a moment to interject. To her surprise and delight, he quieted immediately and seemed to be forcing himself to patiently wait for her to speak. She had a small suspicion as to what sort of creature she was dealing with. Her grandparents always told her that, in the case she was suspicious of, it was best to be polite. One catches more pixies with honey than vinegar, or whatever ‘nanaism’ it was.

“Not to disrespect the time and effort you clearly put into getting in touch with me…” Iris relaxed somewhat. The creature seemed to perk up when she spoke to him politely, it seemed it wasn’t the first impression he normally got. Strange as the situation seemed, it seem the perfect amount of lunacy to help her with the dream-whore currently lurking in her comatose husband’s mind. “What is it I may or may not be on time for?”

The flower extending from the creature’s eyesocket perked up a bit, as if it had been startled into remembering what it had been doing, before swiveling to look at the strange ritual that seemed to be waiting for her in the center of the hut.

“Right, right, dis. Well, long story short, I became aware of ya plight. Well, ta be honest, I became aware of de PREVIOUS couple’s plight. A hint too late, sadly. Life’s not to focus on our failures though, merely learn from dem. Dis gave me a startin’ point. It ‘as been a lil bit, but ya seem ta be de latest one bein’ bothered by dis particular problem. De stars merely aligned so dat I can assist. Merely assist thought. I can put all de pieces inta place. It is up ta you ta do de rest.” The previously annoyed sounding tone had been replaced with a far more excited, and somehow quicker, one.

The creature held out a rolled up piece of parchment, giggling to himself as he did. “As ya meat-bodied types seem ta ‘ave trouble wit’ de name dat rings ta mind for m’self, probably would ‘ave issues if anyone understanding dat type’a magic anyway, I been introducin’ myself as Doc Boots. A scholar, but goin’ by ya kind’s stories, I guess ya could call me a witch doctor? What some’a de ones I’d consider colleagues bein’ called. Dat’s besides de point. Dat.”

Doc pointed towards the parchment he had forced into Iris’ hand.

“Dat explains your part. As ya see, I been preparin’ for ya showin’ up. Just got de Veggie cult tuned.” He gestured to the group of sentient, singing, swaying vegetables.

As Iris eyed the scroll she was given, she had a sinking feeling. She recognized what tune the cult was singing. Something the freaky flower seemed to have noticed.

“Oh, good, ya familiar wit’ de song. It required some rewrites, but given de last one who got taken by dis problem it seemed de most fitting. Gotta honor a failed patient afta’ all.” Doc said with a simple, sweet smile. Even as Iris glared daggers at him.

“No, you are clearly messing with me. There is NO way this will work.” Iris protested. She didn’t consider herself much a karaoke singer. Nor a fan of parody, yet apparently, here she was. This could not be real, this had vto be an elaborate prank her husband had set in motion. He always talked about starting up a couple-prank youtube. Denial was hopeful in believing maybe, just maybe, Doc was just and elaborate costume.

Sadly, the creature followed her protested with a good point. “What about dis situation leads ya ta doubt me? Look at me. Would ya truly believe my concept’a a joke involves ya simply singin’ a song ta seal away a cosmic deity I may or may not have drawn de attention of?”

Iris narrowed her eyes. “Not until ya gave too many details.”

Before she could protest further, she found herself standing in the middle of the sigil. The creature returned to the outside of the sigil opposite of her. His hand being placed on a rune carved skull in front of him, placed on the outer ring of the sigil leaving Doc standing just outside of it. “Regardless of who did what, de point’a de matter is what do ya got ta lose from singin’ a song, when de certainty of not singin’ it is some cosmic boogun is gonna use ‘is soul ta decorate ‘er growing pocket dimension?”

Iris stared a moment, then looked at the paper. “Is that why this lyric here is..”

The freaky flower stomped the bundle of vegetable that had long since replaced his host’s foot. “Ya not ‘ere because I needed critique on my song lyrics! I personally think I did q-REGARDLESS of the origins of lyrics, ya must sing it wit’ conviction. Sing it wit’ anger and a need ta fight.”

Opening her mouth once more, Doc seemed to know immediately it wasn’t to sing. His hand snapped up, and with a snap of his fingers, a purplish green glow shot through the runes on the ground, lighting up any that the ‘pulse’ that radiated from the creature ran into on its way to the woman in the center.

Before she could react, the pulse interacted with her. She didn’t even have to look down. She knew in her gut and the immediate clear smart-ass nature of the creature she had to deal with what fate had been forced on her.

She found herself in a familiar white suit befitting a well-known country singer, with an elegant design created from what she assumed to be diamonds. It was magically created, it had to be diamonds. It had not been elegantly enchanted onto her. Instead of replacing her outfit, going by the bunched fabric of the outfit she had been wearing poofing from the open chest of the jacket. The creature had just shoved her into her and called it a day. As she lifted her head to protested, she was quieted by the fact the outfit included a well-secured wig. Going by how it shifted, she was certain she probably now looked like the singer of the song the ritual was clearly based off of.

Giving a deep sigh, her shoulders dropping, she figured she might as well. If anything, this entire damn experience had distracted her from her problems at hand. The vine riddled being would at least be useful to fling at a cosmic beast should all else fail.

“Should match de beat fairly well. De one writin’ it was mildly under duress. As I popped outta nowhere and demanded it. I always forget I need ta lead wit’ de money ‘n riches first. Otha’wise, for whateva’ reason, ya meat bodies just think Imma rob ya. If I am what I think I am, de place dat I draw power from wouldn’ take too kindly ta me stiffin’ someone on a deal. Especially not an artist. Now! De outfit should ‘elp inspire ya. Didn’ shove ya in it purely for shits ‘n giggles. As de beat starts, just get goin’ and ya should be fine.” The flower did its best to console her.

“De veggie cult is doin’ de work’a dancin’ ta keep de fabric’a reality around ya secure enough. Just keep singin’, me ‘n de sigil I built will do de work’a keepin’ ya protected. Oh, and before ya ask, no. De thing’s name ain’ exactly Joelene. Ain’ even spelled like de song, but I was able to put some loopholes inta de belief and understandin’ of de writer. None of us could pronounce it, and it’d make a rather poor song anyway. Luckily, de previous couple was rather obsessed wit’ de song ‘n de boogun decided ta roll wit’ dat. Dey really must learn ta stop leavin’ lil loop’oles. My kind’s king’a dem!” Doc giggled wildly and gestured to the singing vegetables.

The ‘cult’ of vegetables surrounding her stopped for a moment, before restarting the beat they had been practicing. Iris gave a heavy sigh and, otherwise without options, began to sing.

“Joelene, Joelene, Joelene, Joelene,

Invoke thy name because you took my man.

Joelene, Joelene, Joelene, Joelene,

You won’t take him just because you can. “

To her surprise, as she began to sing the walls of the hut, illuminated by strategically placed candles, cast shadows that made it appear as if a group were dancing around them, based on how everything had been lined up. The flicker of the candle and sway of the cult must have been the cause.

From the back of her mind she felt an odd tug. The world at the end of her perception flickered and swayed like the illusion cast by heated air. She did her best to cast her concern and sing with conviction, with strength. Her dearest depended on it, and she would be damned if her husband would be taken by something Lovecraft should have vomited out.

“A form humans can’t come to bare,

With captured souls turned into hair,

Eldritch Skin,

And eyes countless,

it seems…”

She could have sworn she felt something behind her. At that very moment, Doc slammed his vegetation laden foot onto the beginning to the sigil’s runic circle. A more concentrated and steady glow, like before, began to spread throughout the sigil. As it made contact with each pedestal, the runes scribbled over the cloth covering the bundle would glow bright enough to cover the object in its blinding light, before bursting into a sea of glowing balls.

These wisps of light buzzed around the circle, and they seemed to be collecting behind her. Iris held back a flinch, as she swore she could sense something screaming. She did not know how to describe it, as the only noise she heard was crafted for the ritual. The screaming, however, felt like it was radiating from her very subconscious. Like it was somehow coming from somewhere far, far away and only its faintest echoes could be felt behind her.

Somehow, this replaced her uncertainty with hope. She began to sing with more confidence. The concern replaced by the fire of her rage, which she pumped into the words. It seemed to have an effect, as the glowing runes at her feet added an orange hue to the show of color which rippled out to the remaining runes.

“Your smile cracks across their dreams,

Your Presence warps reality,

And yet here I stand against you,

Joelene.”

Bit by bit the offerings were consumed. Her vision warped in lines around the sigil. Something her mind refused to admit was surrounding her was moving in rapid, frantic trails. The screaming, she felt in her gut, was originating from this strange anomaly in her vision. This must be the beast that was tormenting her husband. This had to be her prey.

“You’ve come to take him in his sleep,

But there’s nothing I can do to keep,

From trying, as he screams your name,

Jolene.

From what I’ve come to understand,

You’ve stolen the souls of countless men,

To shape your own destiny,

Joelene.“

As the anomaly continued to frantically flail through her vision, she felt there was power in the anger she had begun to harbor for this creature. The despair and trauma her relationship had undergone due to this horror, she felt, could be pumped into her words in order to give them more power.

As all the runes that covered the sigil found their glow and all the offerings had begun to consume, the area directly beneath the rapidly moving anomaly gained a brighter glow, tracking and following it as the light pulsed towards the skull Doc held, his mouth moving rapidly in a quiet chant.

“You forced my little talk with you,

This song I sing will capture you,

Not matter what you try to do,

Joelene.

Joelene, Joelene, Joelene, Joelene,

The cosmic lord that tried to take my man,

Joelene, Joelene, Joelene, Joelene,

Sealed away, she won’t try that again."

Doc joined her, backing up the repetition of the name they had forced upon the entity. The blurring anomaly in her vision was forced into the glow beneath it. The sigil, glow, and runes slid rapidly beneath her, encircling the glowing bundle she assumed was the newly captured ‘Joelene’.

"Joelene, Joelene."

The final runes that lead to the skull seemed to be sucked into the upper jaw of the skull. The entire strange scene finally got sucked into the skull, which kept an ethereal glow in its sockets and runes, but otherwise, held no clues towards what the entity with in was. It seemed to have even sucked up the outfit and wig that had been forced on her.

Doc picked up the skull, beaming in delight. “Well, should I be correct on our timin’, ya husband shouldn’ ‘ave been so deep in ‘er clutches dat dat would’a caused ‘im de slightest bit’a ‘arm. Should be makin’ ‘is way back ta ‘is body through de dreamlands as we speak! Might not be awake when ya get dere, but will be soon enough.”

Now clearly preoccupied with the skull in his hand, the strange creature gestured to the door. Clearly indicating it was time for her to make her leave. “De contents of dis skull is all de payment I need. No need ta concern ya’self otha’wise. De danger dat could ‘ave befallen you or your husband and my choice ta withhold dat knowledge from ya until now will be considered enough payment.”

Iris was rather overwhelmed. She wasn’t even certain she was even living out this experience and not dreaming of it in a fury of sleep deprivation. She couldn’t quite feel any relief. In fact, she felt rather numb. She was rather certain, thanks to the lunacy of this entire event, she would find herself waking with a start huddled in her husband’s hospital room.

The vegetables began to force a line and hop, one by one, into the mouth of a pumpkin whose mouth had opened wide enough to accommodate them. She could swear that, instead of the inside of a pumpkin, she saw a strange and horrifying orange world filled with the strange, sentient vegetables. Maybe she would prefer it be a dream after all.

Shaking this belief and concern off, Iris quickly took the opening given to her and immediately fled from the hut and the swamp it was in, content to be back with her beloved and as far from this lunacy as possible.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Joelene, Joelene, Joelene, Joelene,

Invoke thy name because you took my man.

Joelene, Joelene, Joelene, Joelene,

You won’t take him just because you can.

A form humans can’t come to bare,

With captured souls turned into hair,

Eldritch Skin,

And eyes countless,

it seems…

Your smile cracks across their dreams,

Your Presence warps reality,

And yet here I stand against you,

Joelene.

You’ve come to take him in his sleep,

But there’s nothing I can do to keep,

From trying, as he screams your name,

Jolene.

From what I’ve come to understand,

You’ve stolen the souls of countless men,

To shape your own destiny,

Joelene.

Joelene, Joelene, Joelene, Joelene,

You made a poor choice trying to take my man,

Joelene, Joelene, Joelene, Joelene,

You won’t take him just because you can.

You could have had your choice of man,

But then you came into my den,

You can not keep him from me,

Joelene.

You forced my little talk with you,

This song I sing will capture you,

Not matter what you try to do,

Joelene.

Joelene, Joelene, Joelene, Joelene,

The cosmic lord that tried to take my man,

Joelene, Joelene, Joelene, Joelene,

Sealed away, she won’t try that again.

Joelene. Joelene.

[gurguliare]

Anyway I finally finally finished the TM post-mortem so have one last rundown

Really loved: Signet’s stupid relics runway show, Ali describing the Mirage/Splice resolution as “the most amazing Gift of the Magi fuckup,” and, oddly, Keith’s reflections on anarchism, though idk if enough of that made it legibly into the season---which is one of the ways Gig was underserved, I guess.

I also enjoyed and appreciated the discussion of TM’s utopianism as monumental artistic challenge. I obviously have criticisms wrt execution and I disagree with some of their analysis of TM’s failures and shortcomings, but I thought everyone was refreshingly honest about the sheer scale of the task, in a way that I often missed during the series proper---when the tone sometimes tended more toward “we’ve set ‘depicting a utopia’ as our goal, and of course we share a coherent (static) vision of what that entails, and know exactly how to get from here to there.”

I was dissatisfied at best with the conversation about redemption vs rehabilitation. I might be more convinced by the distinction if Austin had ever stopped saying “sin”... which, among other things, helps to selectively blur together abuse and other forms of violence. (I’ve given up on even dreaming of a world in which FATT covers its ass better in re: Christian-centric, frankly Catholic-centric readings of both morality and faith, and maybe it’s for the best that they lack the wherewithal to mask that.) That said, I think it’s very striking that Even Gardner’s violence and militarism seems dealt with in-story almost exclusively as a form of trauma and a thing that happens to Even Gardner, while Fourteen’s history with Castlerose is discussed (up to the time of the finale) almost exclusively in terms of Sins Fourteen Committed. I’m not saying those framings are ~flipped, but the ratio does seem off. Even has a fuckton of choices at every step of the way and experiences basically no material repercussions or visible change of heart, other than “once there are no Advent people left I’ll stop targeting Advent.” He’s also, notably, “brought back from the edge” by a played-straight romantic relationship, for some reason. Fourteen has like... half of a narrative about turning bad habits and even obsolete ideas to constructive ends, and half a narrative about reclaiming agency once safely away from your abuser, even at the cost of losing access to huge swathes of your life... but it’s an arc that goes so unacknowledged or unseen by the other characters that it never connects back up to the idea that, well, bound up in the problem of rehabilitation is the problem of forgiveness---or if we don’t like that language, then acceptance. It’s never clear on what terms Fourteen is judged and reintegrated into their community, and how and where their self-image aligns with others’ view of them.

Which is very, very lonely, and raises huge questions for me about the whole issue of Fourteen as ~disability representation and specifically as a test case for what terminal illness might look like in a utopia. It is just not clear what anyone’s goals were, as far as showing Fourteen supported in a systemic way and not just on the level of relationships. It’s very odd. I’m still puzzled by Jack and Austin’s remarks on this, especially the focus on what Jack had or hadn’t done with Fourteen in play. Literally every NPC (who has a stance on the issue at all) responds to Fourteen with undisguised horror at their memory dysfunction---the most sympathetic version of this is a lecture about integrating assistive technology into their daily routine! and the least sympathetic is the point-blank statement that Fourteen not remembering who they’ve killed is worse than killing those people in the first place. Like, what the hell? That’s a vision of morality that is entirely premised on repentance, and on the idea that expiation for a crime only comes with appropriate helpings of guilt. And it never really receives an in-universe challenge.

It was also weird to me that Grand didn’t come up at all in that part of the discussion. But then again it seemed like no one wanted to comment seriously on Grand’s arc in general; maybe Art was making really sad faces on the call or something. It’s a shame though, since you’d think it would be a good opportunity to go on some bullshit about “salvation NOT through good works,” or rather, salvation definitely through good works but everyone feels a little weird about it. Three bombs? Three bombs?

Finally, it is important that I dissect all remarks on shipping. I was a little perturbed by the discussion of Fourteen/Tender; I thought Ali’s IC reasons were perfectly valid but I found Jack’s slightly suspect, because I don’t think, uh, “this person flirts all the time but is too busy dying to pursue new romantic projects” really jives---either with Fourteen’s profound, active engagement with others (more active and deeper engagement the longer the season went on) or with Jack’s stated goal of presenting a dying person who, without being embroiled in regret or bitterness in the face of death, still loves their life. Obviously I don’t think romantic relationships are a requirement for that, but the blanket statement that Fourteen is Not That Person gave me trouble. Also, I just don’t think you can drop the “platonic relationship representation is so important” line in there without a LOT more unpacking of the pros and cons of that---who are the characters involved in that relationship, and are they people for whom nonsexual relationships are a top-of-the-line representation deficit? Also, is nonsexual vs sexual really the paradigm you want to cleave to here, in a discussion of the chemistry between an internet goddess and a hunk of data?

I’m a hypocrite though bc when they got to echogrand and went on about how it was important that Echo’s arc not center on romance I was like RIGHT ON

...

Okay. One more thing. Janine shooting down Signet/Blueberry; I was fond of this, though I obviously do not care about her opinion and will continue to do what I want---I don’t like “parental” as the trajectory for a dynamic whose foundational moment is the younger weaker party saving the older, that doesn’t do it for me. Of course children can save their parents, but they shouldn’t have to, and that certainly shouldn’t be the pattern that defines the relationship. And for Signet and Blueberry I think it really is; Signet offers Blueberry apologies, Blueberry offers Signet things Signet actually needs. That’s not parental. Nevertheless, I was fond bc it made me think about what a wealth of fun mentorship dynamics this season offered otherwise---with Tender and Morning’s Observation, and Fourteen and Sho, there are these really precious internal movements, or moments of slippage, from distrust to empathy and from faith to disillusionment, that I treasured as real, organic, slippery pieces of character writing and of writing about growth... My favorite example of this is when Morning’s Observation is FURIOUS with Tender after the fucking... rooftop debacle early on in the Wind’s Poem arc. And then again, more seriously, later, after he’s been essentially abandoned and has to save the day by drawing on parts of himself he wanted to give up. That feels like a moment of roleswap between “guardian” and “child” that is presented as appropriately bittersweet, pivotal, and rupturing, and which therefore preserves the logic of the original relationship even as it expands it. And I also love Grand’s awkward interference there, haha... esp in the context of Grand managing to disappoint Morning separately later on, when by that point it’s lost most of its oomph just because Morning has learned not to have expectations of these fucking geniuses. Which is its own mixed result.

(I wish there had been a bit more followup with Morning in the finale, actually, I don’t think he really got resolution on some stuff and I think “happy at the Brink with his moms” is more avoidant copout than anything, though not implausible or unreasonable avoidance from a character perspective. But like, the fucking... part in the Feast of Patina where it becomes increasingly apparent, throughout Morning’s glad monologue, that he did, in fact, do many of the same things as Grand? He betrayed former allies for an enemy faction in the name of convenience! That’s not all Grand did, but it’s not nothing. And everyone has to fall back on “but the Advent Group are fascists! Morning didn’t turn coat and join fascists!” when it’s like, well, would he have, if they had offered him spaghetti?

Not that I think Morning’s and Grand’s choices are remotely equivalent. But it was a very funny parallel for them to try to wriggle out of on the fly, and I wish they hadn’t---I wish they’d leaned into Morning’s lingering doubts, which would if anything have served to highlight that he does have good reason to stay. It’s just that those reasons don’t cancel out the doubts.)

[fatesdeepdive]

Entry 54: Demigod Shit Magnet

Got a lot of stuff to talk about, no time for intro.

Class Profile - Ninja

The Nohrian thief class and base class of Saizo, Kaze, Kagero, and Asugi. Has good speed and skill and that's about it. Wields shurikens, which make them work best for inflicting debuffs. Also oddly good at mage killing. Oddly enough, the game considers them to be the Hoshido version of a Cavalier. Their first skill, Locktouch, is a utility skill that allows them to open chests and doors without a key. Their second skill, Poison Strike, deals 20% damage to enemies after battle but cannot kill, helping establish their niche of injuring enemies from a distance so stronger units can come in and finish them off. Ninjas can promote to Master Ninjas or Mechanists. I like the Ninja design a lot; the light armor fits well and the scarves, headbands, and arm knife thingies look cool.

Class Profile - Oni Savage

This game’s version of the Barbarian class and Hoshidan rival to the Fighter class. Wields axes, can promote into Oni Chieftain or Blacksmith. Weirdly, Rinkah is the only Oni Savage in the game, making the fact that it has two exclusive promotion classes weird. Oni Savages have great strength, hp, and defense, countered by atrocious luck, skill, and resistance. They can do good damage, assuming they can hit anything, or act as a wall, assuming they don’t die instantly to magic or a crit. Their first skill, Seal Resistance, lowers an enemy’s resistance after combat. I do not know why this was given to this class. Their other skill, Shove, is a utility skill that can be used to move a neighboring unit one space away. I actually like the Oni Savage design, despite it being ripe for fanservice, because the male and female designs are similar. My problem isn’t barbarians being shirtless, it’s when the game does stupid shit like have the female version of a class wear a thong while the male wears pants. The mask and beads worn by generic Oni Savages are also a nice touch.

Class Profile - Monk/Shrine Maiden

This game’s version of the Priest and Cleric classes, Hoshidan versions of the Troubadour class. Sakura and Mitama are Shine Maidens, while Azama is a Monk. Oddly enough, despite this game mostly getting rid of gender-locked classes, these two remain separate. They’re basically the same class, though. Both wield staves, have the same skills, and have good speed, luck and resistance, hampered by awful defense and HP. Oddly, Shrine Maiden has 5% better magic, while Monk instead has 10% better skill. Regardless, the job of these classes is to avoid combat and heal allies using staves. These classes can promote into Onmyojis and either Great Masters or Priestesses. Their first skill, Miracle, gives them a luck-based chance to survive a fatal blow with 1 HP. Their second skill, Rally Luck, boosts the Luck of nearby allies for a few turns. They also secretly have a 10% extra crit evade. I enjoy the simple, modest designs, which fit with the class’s aesthetic. 

Conquest Chapter 8: Cold Reception

As Felicia leads the group to her village, Moron and Silas are separated by a blizzard. Moron faints from the cold and is rescued by Kilma, the Ice Tribe’s leader. Moron begins to introduce himself, but Silas reminds him that they’re here to crush a rebellion. Corrin bemoans the fact that everything is so morally grey. Honestly, I wouldn’t call this route morally grey, so much as it’s the same black and white shit as Birthright with Moron being to stupid to understand he’s on the evil side.

Kilma says he only let Moron into the village because he carries Yato, the sword prophecized to save the world. Kilma introduces Moron to his daughter, Flora. The fact that Flora and Felicia are the daughters of the head of a small country colonized by Nohr is kinda weird. Garon conquered the Ice Tribe, took the daughters captive, and forced them to work as servants for his other kidnapped prince.

Felicia and Elise show up and Elise blurts out that they’re there to suppress Kilma’s rebellion. Elis is an idiot. Flora sounds the alarm and the Ice Tribe rushes in to fight the Nohrians. Flora calls Felicia ignorant and says war is the only language Nohr understands.

This chapter uses the same map as Chapter 17 of Birthright. The gimmick of this chapter is centered on five villages spread around the map. A pair of enemy soldiers will try to go to the villages to summon reinforcements, while the player can visit them to get gold. At the start of turn two, Odin and Niles show up to save us, acting on orders from Leo. Moron has to convince them to not kill everyone brutally, because Odin’s a chunibiyo and Niles is genuinely morally grey.

Odin

Owain from Awakening, now a Dark Mage instead of Myrmidon and pretending to be an evil wizard instead of a legendary hero. He also switches his costume to this tight, garish yellow outfit with a v-neck that stretches to his crotch. I’d complain if it was any character other than Odin; for Odin, it fits. I did like Owain in Awakening, but I will admit his schtick can get old. His personal skill gives him a boosted crit rate when using a named weapon with a name more than 12 letters long, something ridiculous that fits perfectly for a guy obsessed with legendary weapons and powerful spells. Also, he can reclass into a Samurai, a Hoshidan class, which makes sense given his class in Awakening.

Niles

Leo’s other retainer, a sadistic Outlaw. His personal skill, Kidnap, works the same as Orochi’s capture. Conquest is a bit harder than Birthright, though, so I’m afraid I won’t be grabbing another Kenshi. Fun fact, Niles is the only non-promoted bow user in all of Nohr. Niles’s design isn’t half bad; I like the eyepatch, white hair, and hood, although I’d like to note that it’s a bit odd that the sadistic criminal has a noticeably darker skin tone.

Flora apologizes to Moron for standing by her actions, calls Felicia a moron, and tells Jakob she wishes she was meeting him under better circumstances. Felicia’s battle quote with Jakob is especially interesting, confirming she was a hostage and hinting that she has feelings for him. Kilma prays for forgiveness for fighting Felicia and says Moron deceived him.

Moron spares Kilma. In fact, he wins the battle without killing anyone. Somehow. Moron has Elise treat the enemy wounded. Kilma is shocked by Moron’s kindness. Moron negotiates a deal where the Ice Tribe stops rebelling in return for more autonomy, something he has the authority to do that totally won’t be ignored by the child kidnapping mass murderer Garon. Kilma says that Moron might be the legendary hero after all. Flora apologizes for defending her people from an invading army who kidnapped her and her sister as a child and swears fealty to Moron.

So, here’s my problem with Conquest. Nohr is evil. Garon is evil. But Moron is good. So every chapter has him win battles without violence or negotiate people into working with him. Rather than having Moron struggle with his morality, it has him keep his hands clean, even as he conquers neighboring nations for the glory of a brutal dictatorship. It’s idiotic. And it will only get more idiotic as this game goes on. But first, we have some Supports to read.

Support: Corrin/Odin

C: Corrin finds Odin posing. Odin says his stance needs a unique name. Corrin gets annoyed by Odin and walks away.

B: Odin asks Corrin to name his pose. Corrin says they need tome to think of a name.

A: Corrin tries to hide from Odin. Odin tracks them down and annoys Corrin for a while. Eventually, Odin comes up with a dumb name for his pose: Shadow Glitter. Corrin is relieved that they don't have to talk to Odin anymore.

S: Odin asks Corrin to marry him. Corrin gets tired of his long-winded proposal and demands he get to the point. Odin gives a heartfelt proposal and immediately gets back on his bullshit.

Review: Not bad. Odin toes the line between funny and annoying and seeing Corrin get sick of his bullshit is a good dose of realism. This is also one of the only times Corrin isn’t ridiculously friendly. Also, by marrying Odin, Corrin joins yet another royal family.

Support: Elise/Effie

C: Elise asks Effie to go on a walk with her, but Effie is full from eating and asks Elise to roll her like a barrel.

B: Effie uses Elise as a dumbell. The two of them reminisce about how they met: Elise snuck down to the underground and befriended Effie and, when the guards tried to take Elise back, Effie tried to fight em off.

A: Effie talks about how she trained for years to become a castle guard so she could protect Elise.

Review: This is what Corrin and Silas’s relationship should have been. That is, free from dumb bullshit about Corrin having the memory of a goldfish. Lore is always good in Supports and this does a great job establishing Elise and Effie’s friendship, while also having some great comedy bits.

Support: Felicia/Niles

C: Felicia spills some soup on Niles. Niles begins stripping seductively. Felicia offers to take his clothes to the laundry.

B: Felicia offers to give Felicia a special, heavenly dessert. Niles assumes she's coming on to him. Felicia gives Niles a cookie.

A: Niles mocks Felicia for not understanding his double entendres. After finding out about Felicia's childhood as a hostage, he apologizes.

S: Niles proposes.

Review: A fun, kinda dumb comedic Support.

Support: Arthur/Mozu

C: Arthur finds Mozu analyzing the soil around camp. Mozu rambles about how farming is awesome.

B: Arthur helps Mozu plow a field. Mozu corrects his form. A: While Arthur is plowing, a heard of dragons fly over and shit all over him. Mozu is overjoyed because dragon droppings are great fertilizer. Also, I'd like to note a script error in this Support: dragons and wyverns are not the same thing. Wyverns are the mounts with animal-level intelligence, dragons are ancient magic beings that can transform into humans. Unless a flock of demigods flew by to shit on Arthur, the game means wyverns.

S: Arthur proposes by giving Mozu a special flower that is supposed to be planted by a husband and wife. Mozu accepts because Arthur's bad luck is a good source of fertilizer.

Review: The start of this Support is a bit bland, but Arthur getting covered in shit is great.

[liarsguilt-a]

What is “fun” and what is “boring” to Ouma Kokichi?

From here on out, it’s headcanon and blog canon territory! This is merely based off of my Ouma’s backstory, and the experiences he goes through in canon. Any or all things that may not line up with him may be accidental or purposeful, but let’s all be respect, right?

We always see Ouma refer to people as boring or fun/interesting/amusing. It is a key component to his character, as he is ALWAYS referencing if someone is boring or not. 

It fits his supreme leader persona all too well, the one he decides to put on when he needs to. As sociopaths and psychopaths are seen, as he portrays his supreme leader personality, they are self-centered, not stopping even if they hurt people physically or emotionally. 

Selfishness flows from their image, it only matters that you are amused or you’re not amused in that logic, are you pleased, interested? If you are not interesting or fun, then you are boring, you are unneeded. No matter your redeeming qualities, how kind you are, how compassionate or talented, it makes no difference if you are absolutely boring. 

It is an incredibly harsh insult if Ouma calls you boring, or if you decide to call Ouma boring in return. As Ouma has somewhat been taught and raised, being boring is not a good thing. The reason you never see Ouma talk about what’s “good” and what’s “bad” is because that’s not what his image entails. What kind of villain uses hero terminology?!

(below are from the Danganronpa wiki)

(If you say “this is boring”)

You’re straight up saying Ouma is boring. That is incredibly harsh on him and you even get his fake cry (while he does it a lot, he tends to do that before he gets serious). And his last statement is just him scolding you straight up, saying that it is rude to say you’re bored with someone and they didn’t have a good time together afterwards.

(If you say that you might fall asleep)

You’re saying you are tired in the presence of someone else, you’d assume you’re not entertaining enough to keep them awake, especially when you literally JUST got to the damn place. 

(If you say you’re tired inside the gym)

The gym, while it isn’t incredibly interesting to him, Saihara took him there specifically and suddenly says “Yeah I’m tired,” something that seems kinda insulting considering you haven’t even been there that long. It tells Ouma that he’s boring and it isn’t worth exerting energy for him.

(If you decide to just sit down and take in the scenery)

You take the time to call Ouma out and take him out to do something with him. He seems to be bored here, which he finds somewhat insulting. It’s like taking someone out on a date in a filthy dumpster yard with flies swarming the place and it smells bad (which in itself is rude and insulting to the person you bring out), it’s just something he really does not like and possible makes him uncomfortable. 

In all these instances, Ouma takes deep offense to doing nothing and is slightly hurt when someone considers him boring (The second one was more subtle, as you are saying you want to fall asleep in his presence, which makes him jump the gun to “wow, this is so boring that I’m gonna sleep on you because you’re so boring”). When he is bored, he straight up insults you by saying that even his lie was horrible and that you’re boring him (which is an even more serious insult when you consider that Ouma holds Saihara very high on his standards of being interesting as seen on his whiteboard and a few conversations). 

What’s more noteworthy is that Ouma seems to get more serious than he usually is when you say these kinds of things to him. While his lying persona comes up, in the end of them, he just drops it and tells you the truth of how he feels, something he usually only does when it means something personal or serious to him. 

We also see that in Ouma’s final moments, he makes it a priority to ask that he wasn’t boring.. right? It seems rather odd that you’d be concerned about someone seeing you as boring or amusing when you’re about to die, especially when the only person who can see you or hear you at the time is one person. While he most likely knew Momota would share what he said, that was a question for him, and him alone. 

We will make an assumption that boring is an insult to him because of the way he reacts to people saying he is, and when he looks at someone he dislikes (like Shinguuji after he kills both Yonaga and Chabashira), he would most likely call them that in return since it is a very heavy insult from his persona who seems to take amusing people and making people have fun a very big priority. It is something that isn’t an okay thing to say, almost like a slur in his world as he even is concerned about how boring he is in death. To note, he also mentions that a game like this could never be any fun at all, further noting his hatred towards things that are not considered entertaining to him (of course, forcing people to kill each other).

Now, let’s go onward to what fun is to him. 

As we have looked into what’s boring to him, we can assume the opposite is what’s entailed, correct? Well.. I wouldn’t say that exactly. Being interesting seems to be a lot more loose to Ouma than the word boring is to him. 

When he talks about people being interested, I believe you had much potential to him of becoming closer. You are someone who has his eyes, someone who has the attention of someone on you, something he is often used to people doing to him. Being boring isn’t fun, so why not just be fun?!!!!! 

I believe his version of interesting has double-meanings. 

It’s his sendoff to Akamatsu, someone he did hold lots of respect towards in the end even for a murderer. It sticks to his persona while also telling Akamatsu, albeit too subtly, that he acknowledged her as a person and respected her before her eventual demise. It is incredibly important to note this moment in time, as he considered her action foolish but lightly respectable unlike the other two uninvolved murderers, a big feat considering his hate towards murder. 

This shows it can come outside of his supreme leader persona slightly, even showing admiration or respect towards someone even when they have done his taboo. Considering someone interesting or not boring is an incredibly big thing for him, for someone who did something he hates so much to be given this shows that it means a lot for him to say something like that. Saying someone is interesting to him is like giving the biggest compliment you could give in his entire life, aside from a few.

Being interesting is something you’d want to be if you want to get close to Ouma, so listen to him when he says you should be more interesting or offers you something to be “less boring.”

I’d say the second one is.. less impactful. It’s a bit more personal reasoning, as being interesting is something he was most likely forced to believe is his version of “good.” As you can see in your Salmon Mode results, there are four ways you can please or displease someone; best, good, bad, or worst. 

Let’s quickly go over what he says specifically.

(still from the Danganronpa wiki)

(Worst option)

I’d say it’s pretty self-explanatory, you’ve gotten him so irritated that he will literally call you out on it. In comparison to him, you’re so inconsiderate and boring, something he thought was in low possibilities as he even acknowledges his stature with the others.

(Bad Option)

It’s pretty obvious what he means here, too. He’s telling you to become more interesting so that you make him want to spend more time with you if you’re gonna keep trying. He’ll go back alone without you.

(Good Option)

Ouma admits he had a good time, an obvious good choice for him. While he doesn’t feel like he has to really be nice to you, he finds your presence alright and easy to have fun with, good job trooper. Casually suggests they head back.

(Best Option)

It’s actually REALLY good. You’ve gotten him teasing you and having fun with you, lying, even admitting that he had a lot of fun with you, even surprising him of all people. You’ve made him have so much fun that he most definitely wants to see you again. Ouma suggests that you should walk to the dorms together, happy.

The second definition of his interesting/fun/amusing is being wanted! That’s right, being wanted, as vague as that sounds. Well, being desired by people is important, being undesirable means that you’ll be left alone in his world (While he seems to accepted being undesirable to some, he puts the most effort into being interesting to people he respects, likely because he doesn’t always like playing the lone wolf). 

While they don’t seem all that different, being respectable and being desirable are very different things for him. You can still be respectable while not being recognized or love, and you can be desirable but not so respectable or lovable. 

So, now we’ve gone over what they mean.. What does that mean to my Ouma and his backstory? Well, I’ll go over some key components to my Ouma before we start going into the discussion on why it’s important to him. 

In my backstory, he has been under influence of his older brother, Itsuki, the leader of a cult-like organization who is very manipulative and narcissistic, a psychopath to boot who has negatively affected Ouma in many different ways. To him, being desirable and amusing is the only thing that matters as he only lives to have fun and enjoy himself, even going as far as to harm his younger brother and shape him into what he wants to satisfy his own entertainment.

When he was taken in by him, he was at a very young age. His entire life, he has been taught that being fun is “good” and being boring is “bad,” morals that aren’t exactly healthy for the regular world. Even so, no matter how much he tries to think otherwise, these have been implemented into his mind. 

It is very imperative that you understand that he has grown up with this mentality, not being corrected by anyone as he has had no one to correct him and is even encouraged to continue it (though he doesn’t seem to always like this mindset). He has always had to be entertaining, to make his brother happy and having fun by doing several mind games in order to get his approval in order to survive (getting basic needs such as eating and water, along with safety from physical abuse).

In his mind, this merely enforced the whole “fun” and “boring” argument into him. He feels that he has to be entertaining for people to consider him desirable or lovable, also as a means to survive and stay safe. There is clear discomfort and irritation if he is considered boring/uninteresting, even saying it’s rude to call someone that if he is confronting someone who doesn’t know about his policy. 

This rule is something that has always been with him and is incredibly difficult to erase. Expect him to come off as rude if you consider him boring or uninteresting.