#anxious koushiro

[izzyizumi]

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

[tobiasdrake]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Jou immediately decides to investigate whatever this is.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Red Alert. Everything is no longer fine.

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

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

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

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

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

Sora and Taichi have arrived as backup!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[ashxketchum]

MIMATO WEEK 2023 (Random Update)

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

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

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

~~ Listen to my Heartbeat ~~

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“So you would gladly leave me behind?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Yamato san, can you hear me?”

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

“Koushiro?”

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

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

“Mimi’s with me.”

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

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

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

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

“Let me explain the rendezvous location to you…”

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

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

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

- x -

[bokura-no-digital-world]

Koushiro Week 2022 - Day 4: Confiding, Fashion & Confidence

Days: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] Title: Rupture Characters: Koushiro Izumi, Mimi Tachikawa, Hikari Yagami, Sora Takenouchi, Yamato Ishida, Takeru Takaishi, Natsuki Kato (OC) and Akemi Murakami (OC). Summary: Koushiro turns to his friends for help, and decides it's time to be brave and follow his heart. Koushiro stomped his feet nervously as he waited to Mimi and Hikari to arrive at the cafeteria. He still wasn’t sure about opening up to them – since his first choice would be Sora, but she didn’t answer his call -, but he had to talk to someone or he’d go crazy. “Hey, we’re sorry for taking so long.” Mimi apologized. “Have you waited long?” “No, I arrived a little earlier.” “You sounded worried and anxious in your voice message. What happened?” “I need advice.” He couldn’t help but blush heavily. “You need advice?” The older brunette repeated in shock. “On what?” “Love.” Koushiro faked a cough, so the word wouldn’t be too loud. “I’m sorry, I don’t think I heard it quite well.” Mimi said with a grin. “What is it again?” “Mimi, we’re supposed to help him, not make fun.” “You know what? This was a mistake.” “No, no, I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I was just surprised you’d ask for love advice.” “What do you need help with?” “How do you know you have feelings for someone?” “Well, you feel extra happy seeing or talking to this person; you want to be around them all the time and feel sad when you don’t; and you get butterflies on your stomach as well.” “Does wanting to walk a woman home everyday and looking forward to seeing her on Monday again count as being in love?” “Probably.” Hikari confirmed. “Why don’t you tell us the whole story, so we help you in a better way?” “Alright.” He took a deep breath. “I met this girl in college and have been walking her to her house since day one.” “That was two months ago.” “I know.” “You’ve been in love with her since then?” “No, absolutely not. I realized something was different about two weeks ago.” “So what did you do?” “Nothing. What was I supposed to do?” “Tell her you have feelings for her.” “Are you kidding me? I don’t even know if she feels the same as me.” “That’s why you should tell her. It’s the only way you can know how she feels.” “Mimi, I don’t think it’s something Koushiro would do. We need to be sure first.” “Exactly. So you’re going try to find out.” “How?” “By asking her.” “He is too shy to do that, Mimi. It will hardly work for him.” “You have a point.” Mimi thought for some seconds. “Does she have a friend or something in college that can help you?” “Yes, Natsuki. She’s in my class and is Akemi’s best friend.” “So her name is Akemi, huh?” The older brunette teased and nudged him in the forearm. “Eh… yeah.” He blushed and refused to look at them. “That’s her name.” “So maybe you can get Natsuki to help you. She probably knows Akemi very well.” “I might do that. She’d help me.” “Oh and you might want to change your clothes a little. You know, dress a little better.” “What’s wrong with my clothes?” Koushiro stared at them. “Nothing really. But you’re trying to impress a woman here.” “I agree with Mimi in this one.” “Well, I guess it’s time to go back to my fashion app.” Keep reading it on FFN or AO3

[koushirouizumi]

Me, a Digimon Adventure franchise focused Blogger: *exists* Ppl TM who apparently can't stand any actual Adventure Chosen I like for some strange, Unknown reason that 'definitely isn't fan bias': *follows* Me, Laughing Nervously: "What the F*CK???"

(IMG by Me) {DO NOT Copy} {DO NOT re-post} (Please ASK to Use)

[seventeenlovesthree]

Okay, where do I even begin to describe what yesterday did to me? Following all the character descriptions that mentioned these two specifically to be “extremely” busy, I initally assumed that they’d be busy in university related stuff. Thanks to the trailer/other video material, I was proven wrong - and yet, I couldn’t have been more thrilled about it.

So what do we know? A giant digiegg appeared in the sky for approximately the twentieth time by now. And thanks to Takeru, we know that Koushirou has apparently been, once again, suffering from a severe lack of sleep, obviously being very invested in political affairs, explaining and managing the whole issue to the public. And it’s not only him - Taichi is there too, and, according to Hikari, being so stressed that he actively scolded her for calling him while he was busy. Quite the unusual behaviour for the Yagami brother, as Takeru also puts it himself...

Apart from the fact that I wish Toei would finally let these two get some deserved REST, the implications behind the set-up are pretty intriguing. We’ve been discussing whether or not it makes sense that Taichi (approximately 23/24 years old) is already involved in all the political stuff - since this is taking place in February 2012, just one and a half years after the events of Kizuna (Summer 2010), since he had, apparently, just finalized his thesis idea in Spring 2011 according to the end of the movie, but...

I think it makes sense to some degree - because this seems to be an emergency and they needed an excuse for him and Koushirou to not take up so much screentime during the movie again, soooo... Having Koushirou (approximately 22/23 years old) involved at this level is plausible, since he had been publicly invested in Chosen Children related stuff with the community, his company work, etc all the time. And heck... Knowing what direction Taichi was going towards to career-wise, he WOULD have taken him with him to settle things (while the other Chosen did the fighting part), even if Taichi was still in training. 

Because that’s what they are - partners in crime, always have been, always will be. Whether they stop missiles together, save the world(s) or take responsibility on a diplomatic level. And that’s EXACTLY what I wanted for them to happen, for us to actually see them working together due to their linked careers, because, it just makes so much sense.

Also their ties? I was very much delighted by the headcanon that Taichi’s tie is actually Koushirou’s, but the shade seems a bit more yellowish than the orange one Koushirou wore in Kizuna. (That aside, Taichi wearing a blue suit, still loyally rocking his associated colour so persistently, is amazing to me.) And Koushirou’s tie is a reddish-purplish shade, as far as I can tell - but that kind of purple doesn’t seem to be his signature colour. (I really wonder if there is anything but suits in his closet by now, but hey, it works for him.)

Instead, I believe that they represent Agumon and Tentomon respectively - and whether they’re both partnerless in this movie or not... It’d be a great homage. 

That is all just speculation on my behalf and I do assume that we won’t see any more of them in the movie aside from those 3 seconds, but I’m already happy with the (potential) framing. If I could ask for a happy end for the movie though, a scene like this would be very satisfying.

And they were work buddies...

[ahiddenpath]

Growing Up with You “Podcast”

Growing Up with You turns TEN this year, on September 30th!  To celebrate, and to show the fic to my newer followers, I wanted to talk about the fic, the development, what I liked, what I’d change, stuff like that!  There is a loose transcript beneath the cut.  The audio is about half an hour long (yikes!).  I commissioned the art above from Mitty.

Content warning for mentions of (nonspecific) emotional abuse.

Transcript beneath the cut!

GUWY Podcast

Intro

Hey, it’s Hidden!  I decided to talk about my fics, starting with the oldest and working my way up to the newest.  My oldest fic was posted on September 30th, 2012, meaning that it’s almost 10 years old! Folks come and go to the fandom all the time, so I wanted to shine some light on these older stories.

         I’ll be discussing things like themes, characterizations, where I was in my life when I wrote the fic and how that influenced the story, what I’d change if I could, what I like best, ect.  It’s a lot to cover, so I’m going to move right on.

GUWY Summary

         Growing Up with You is one of those dreaded “rewrite canon with an OC” fics.  It’s a complete fic that ran from 2012 through 2017 and is over 420,000 words long! It’s about 4 to 5 novels long, assuming the average novel is 95,000 words long (that’s an averaged length taken across genres).  

         GUWY follows the story from Digimon Adventure, 02, and some of the movies, but there is a lot of unique/new content.  It stars OC Eimi Anami, my main OC, and Koushiro.  For the majority of the story, they’re close friends, but they eventually become love interests towards the final arc.

         It’s difficult to summarize what this fic, maybe because it so expansive.  But -- it intimately shows Eimi and Koushiro growing up and coming into themselves- which introduces a wide variety of themes.

GUWY Themes

         It’s impossible to encapsulate everything here, but some thematic highlights include:

-Growing up in an emotionally abusive household and learning to cope with the resulting trauma

-Independence vs dependence, the dangers of taking either to an extreme

-Toxic self-sacrifice

-Valuing everyone’s strengths and understanding their weaknesses; not everyone has to be good at everything; certain strengths are not superior to others

-The importance of clear, open communication and the dangers of resentment and keeping quiet for the perceived sake of peace

-A long and winding exploration of what strength is, especially for a girl who is becoming a young woman

         And to really dig into these, we have to understand who Eimi is, so let’s move on to her!

Anami Eimi

         Eimi is the younger child of Anami Eiji and Umeko.  Her brother, Junichi, is about three years older.  She is in Koushiro and Mimi’s year at school.  She bears the crest of Integrity and is partnered to Galemon.

         Eimi is a steadfast sort. I like to describe her as the first to cry and the last one standing, simultaneously soft and strong.  She’s smart, cautious, and guarded.  Although her emotional intelligence is high and her social skills are strong, she isn’t very outgoing.  In a group, she is watchful and quiet- until something tugs at her sense of right and wrong, or triggers concern for safety.

         In the first arc of the story, we watch Eimi shift from a bossy, confident child to a shy, anxious one, dependent on Koushiro and Taichi for a sense of security.  The change is due to her increased understanding of the emotional abuse happening in her home.  During the beginning of her time in the Digital World, she hovers around Taichi and Koushiro and grows increasingly upset as they are (understandably) unable to attend to her emotional needs.  Her digimon partner, Galemon, encourages her to take action on her own, move away from her dependent behavior, and make new friends.

           Eimi is still growing by the end of GUWY, so it’s hard to say where she “ends up.”  Her story continues in Tri: Integrity Lens, where her steadfast nature is shining.  I’d say that, these days, she is still watchful, hardworking, and earnest, but she’s more confident and has a healthier attachment style.  Currently, she’s struggling with taking on too much, all while telling the other Chosen to lean on one another and avoid taking on too much, which I think is peak Eimi.

My Fandom Background

         For reference, I watched the English dub of Digimon Adventure when it first aired in the states in 1999.  I was ten (the same age as Mimi and Koushiro).  I wrote digimon fanfics from roughly 2000 to 2004, then left the fandom. I returned in September 2012 as ahiddenpath and launched my Tumblr blog in May 2013 to share art from my fics.

My State While Writing GUWY

         My fics aren’t necessarily a reflection of my personality, but they are a reflection of what I was going through while writing them.  When I say that I write to take care of myself, this is a big part of what I mean.  I work through my thoughts on things that are happening to me/weighing on my heart and mind at the time.

         GUWY was my first fic as ahiddenpath, so I guess I’ll get this out of the way here.  Eimi is meant to be an original character, not a self-insert, and no, my name is not Amy!  There is a lot of overlap between our personalities, but there are some big differences, too.  The main one I explored in GUWY is that Eimi responded to her abusive environment by becoming too dependent on the few people she deemed safe.  I responded to a similar environment by becoming hyper independent.  Independence vs dependence was likely the only intentional theme from day one. Everything else just kind of… evolved along the way.

         When I started GUWY in 2012, I had graduated college a little over a year ago, and mentally, I was in a bad way.  Sometimes, after you fully separate from an abusive environment and find yourself somewhere safe, you actually fall apart worse than when you weren’t safe!  When you’re actively in danger, people tend to focus on staying safe.  When you are safe, there is no longer a need to maintain a front, tip toe around, or just generally focus your energy into staying safe. You might suddenly have time, space, and safety to think, to feel, to reflect- which means that you might begin to understand the damage inflicted more clearly than ever.  And when it was inflicted by family, people who are meant to love and protect you most, that realization can be devastating.

         That, I think, is why GUWY is easily my most raw and visceral fic.  These days, I look at it and think, wow, I had no discretion or subtlety in my writing back then!  But I also know that the raw feelings are what readers respond to and relate to.  

         I think this is kind of… the strongest feature of GUWY?  Adults who went through emotional abuse as children don’t have much media showing a character separating and slowly struggling to cope with what happened to them.  Normally, the abuse is shown to stem from a misunderstanding, and the family reunites. We don’t often see what happens when this isn’t the case.

         In fact, most of the Chosen kids are going through some kind of family misunderstanding, and they grow in the Digital World and use their new experience to improve their family situations during Vamdemon’s Siege of Odaiba.  I think one of the things that worked out best about GUWY is that Eimi fills a unique space in the cast.  Her family problems can’t be improved by any amount of growth on her end, because her parents fail to see any problem, and can never be made to see one. In most families, damage can be addressed and healed.  But in some, it simply cannot.  Instead of using her new growth and strength in an attempt to remove salt from the sea, Eimi uses it to navigate her situation and slowly work towards a safer one- and then to recover when she finds herself there.

         Even in Tri: Integrity Lens, that recovery is ongoing, which is very important to me.  There is no complete healing from an emotionally abusive childhood.  We learn to cope and try our best ensure that the cycle of abuse ends with us.  It’s not a clean, happy ending, but I think the truth of it resonates with people who have been through something similar.

Characterization in GUWY

         GUWY is my biggest mess! I didn’t see the Japanese subbed until Netflix offered it around 2015, so some of the characterizations change drastically over time, as I began blending the English and Japanese characterizations.  There are more mistakes in terminology/honorifics than I can begin to name.  I also aged everyone up about two years, because I always assumed the characters were older than me when I originally watched the show.

The Development of GUWY and Galemon

         I wish I could tell you that I carefully and lovingly planned this story.  Alas, I did not.  It’s a visceral, 100% seat of my pants work.  In fact, I wrote the entire Glen introduction chapter on a whim!  Justice and the anomaly stuff were not originally planned.  I think the only bit that received proper planning was the arc where Eimi moves to the states, and where she begins to live more independently and recover directly after.

         There are also a few things that are just… dropped.  For example, Galemon was meant to never speak names because of the inherent power they contain, drawing from Irish faerie lore, but I never explored that.  Also, Galemon has no physical voice because Eimi felt that she didn’t have one when Galemon was made- ie, at the beginning of the Digital World arc.  Her bossiness is meant to reflect Eimi’s early childhood bossiness and assertiveness, which she loses along the way.  She uses shields because Eimi feels unsafe all the time, and security is what she wants most.  And her ability to see into Eimi’s mind was, I think, my way of making sure that there was someone out there who understood Eimi, despite her talent for keeping her thoughts to herself.

         Speaking of Galemon, I originally designed her when I was ten, and I think that shows!  I was an enormous fan of Lisa Frank, and a huge marine biology dork- I read marine life books the way many kids read dinosaur books- and I think I smushed those concepts together!  I also designed Eimi’s physical appearance and outfit at age ten, although back then, she was purely a self-insert with a different name and personality.  I loved how much she visually fits in with the other Chosen- she looks like a child dressing herself, is what I mean- so I kept the design.

What Would I Change About GUWY?

   I won’t lie; I’ve often considered editing GUWY.  Naturally, I’m a better writer ten years later, and I would love to make the fic its best self.  However, I’m aware that its rawness might be its greatest strength, so I’d have to be careful not to remove that.  I would definitely save the edited version as a new Scrivener file, so the old won’t be lost.

         Obviously, I’d fix the terminology/honorifics problems and make sure the names are all from the original Japanese, and not an awkward mix of English and Japanese (with a few exceptions).  I’d likely tweak some characterizations, too.  I’d keep the ages as they are, though, mostly because of the romance elements towards the end of the story.

         The largest element I’d like to add is an expansion on Eimi meeting the Chosen when she first goes to the Digital World.  At the time, I didn’t know how to handle scenes with so many characters- which remains a challenge- and I zipped right by it for that reason.  But establishing a baseline for how Eimi interacts with everyone is important later, so I want to give that area more love.

         Other than that, I’d try to fix the “show, don’t tell” issues that I so often had back then. For example, Eimi has a tendency to stand up and give pontificating speeches at the most dramatic parts of her arcs.  I’d like to tweak things so that her actions speak for themselves, instead of relying on grand speeches.

The Future of Eimi’s Story

         Eimi’s story continues in Tri: Integrity Lens!  It’s on hiatus at the time of this recording, but I will return to it either after I finish Puits d’Amour or when I hit a point there where I feel it’s a good place to swap to another fic while I develop the other in the background.

[lonely-paracosmos]

The feeling of pure bliss

prompt 2. voyage! for @digiweek

characters: Taichi Kamiya, Koushiro Izumi, Taimi Izumi (OC), Intanaru Izumi (OC)

warnings: none

words: 1,273

The Izumi residence goes on a vacation. Izzy is having a hard time finding peace without being bombarded by his husband and his two little kids. This fic is nothing but fluff and twists the "there is only one bed trope" into something cute!

((not beta read))

~~~~~~~~~~

It was just a small trip, not too far from home. just a cabin. in summer. with his husband and two kids. A five and two year old.

Koushiro felt anxious as he was driving along the dirt roads. Tai laid back in the chair looking at the map. "Take a left.. wait no right!" Taichi corrected himself. "Taichi.." The redhead warned sternly as the mistake caused him to swerve a bit. The toddlers laughed at the movement. "Ouch full name." The brunet replied.

He rolled his eyes, continuing to drive to the destination. It was sunset, the sun glistened beautifully, having an aura of peace, yet Koushiro couldn't focus on the peace, instead a soft thumping on his seat that was getting harder. "Taimi Izumi, this is the second time I told you to stop kicking the seat." His voice was stern and somehow still calm. "Sorry papa," Taimi replied.

Taimi had wild brown hair and black eyes. He was very smart and compassionate, but very energetic. Intanaru, his 2 year old sister, was smart as well as more calm. She was still finding out her own personality as she was so little. She has not spoken a word at all and is most likely on the spectrum, like her papa Izzy. Right now she tries to mimic everything her brother does which leads to sometimes very troubling situations.

Taimi looked out the window not realizing they just pulled right next to the cabin. It was petite and seemed rather cozy. "Bubba go help dad take things inside, I need to grab Inta." The digidestined of knowledge told his kid. He nodded obediently letting Tai unbuckle his seatbelt. He carries just a little bit, but enough to make him feel like he's helping.

"Daddy can we play a game?" The little kid asked his father. "Maybe when we get all comfy in here alright bubs?" Taichi told him. Taimi sighed, understanding and somewhat frustrated.

Koushiro came holding the two year old on his hip. 

The inside of the cabin was cute. It had a small living room area which shared the same room with the kitchen and had two more bedrooms- one bedroom with a king sized bed. "Tai I thought you said you booked the one with two bedrooms." he turned to his husband. The brunet rubbed the back of his neck "Oops.. Must have booked the wrong one. Sorry Iz" he responded uneasily. If Koushiro wasn't holding a toddler he would've slapped himself

-----

"Eh it won't be that bad. Taimi is basically glued to you Izzy." Taichi tells him while unpacking his stuff in the drawers. "I'm trying to stop that so he doesn't have separation anxiety. Did you even read the parenting books I gave you?" Koushiro snapped. "You bought like 10 parenting books and I'm gone a lot. It's only a few days babe. We'll get Taimi used to sleeping on his own after this. He hasn't gone to bed with us in a few weeks anyways." The brunet reassured his husband.

Koushiro knew Tai was right. He was constantly paranoid about being a bad parent. He knew there will be a time to fix things and every parent makes mistakes. He leaned forward to give his husband a kiss-

They were interrupted by the bedroom door flying open, Taimi and Intanaru were playing swords with sticks they had found outside. The older kid clearly going easy on the one younger than him. The little redhead didn't have the best balance and her grasp on the stick was a bit weak. "Papa, daddy!! Can we go outside?" The two adults looked at each other for a minute before nodding. Koushiro and Taichi got up slowly off the ground. "Keep close where we can see you." Tai finally told them.

Outside was a bit darker than it was when they had first arrived. The area was open, but surrounded by forests. Taichi and Koushiro sat next to each other watching their children play.

Intanaru pointed at something. Taimi's eyes widened. "A froggy! Inta you need to catch it!!" He tells her. She panics trying to jump to catch the frog missing it by so much. She quickly got up chasing it until the frog ran into the forest bog. The brunet fell laughing "let's be frogs!"

Izzy had to hold in his laughter as his kids were now on all fours jumping around like frogs. Every few seconds Taimi would loudly yell "Ribbit!" While Intanaru tried to copy the sound. Barely anything came out other than a squeak. 

"You know whenever someone talks she never looks directly at them." Tai said to him. Koushiro nodded he picked up on that too. Her eyes always seemed a bit glazed over and her coordination has never been the best at all. "Maybe we should check in with the pediatrician." he replies. Tai silently agreed.

They continued to watch the kids play frog.

-----

Bed time has never been easy for the Izumi's. Inta never wanted to go to bed, Izzy always had trouble sleeping, Taimi was glued to Izzy, and Tai was a bed hog.

Getting Taimi to brush his teeth was difficult enough, sleeping with everyone was a nightmare.

Taichi was on the right while Koushiro was on the left near to the door. Intanaru and Taimi were in between them with a pillow lodged between Inta and Tai. Tai was a hardcore cuddler and was always worried of crushing his daughter. The five year old brunet had his head on his papa's chest getting as close to Izzy as possible.

Taimi was a lot like Tai. He basically radiated heat causing Koushiro to sweat badly. He held him close anyways falling asleep.

---

"..apa….papa.. papa.."  Taimi was on his knees shaking the redhead awake. "Bubba.. what.." It had to be at least 3 am. "I has to pee…" Izzy groaned getting up helping the child off the bed. He held his hand as he walked down the small hallway to the restroom.

The light to the bathroom door was blinding. He sighed waiting for his son to finish his buisiness. The brunet hummed the tune of a song, possibling twinkle twinkle little start. He heard the flushing of the toilet. "Wash your hands." Koushiro told him. Taimi sighed very loudly turning the sink on washing his hands. 

"papi.." he said in a squeaky voice. "Yeah bubba?" Koushiro tried desperately to stay awake. "I left my teddy in the car.." He stiffined, shit. 

"Bubs.. you've been sleeping without it so far.. we can get it in the morning.." he tried to reassure him. "No! i need my teddy now!" he said a bit too loud. Izzy bit his lip. "Okay just this once, but we have to be quick." he said taking Taimi's hand using his other one to open the door. 

Outside was beautiful.. the fireflies roamed freely and the crickets and the toads sang. There was a light trickle of rain and the soft sound of the wind. He grabbed Taimi's teddy handing it to him shutting his car door. 

He didn't walk back to the cabin just yet. It was so beautiful out. He felt pure tranquility. Like he was riding on kabuterimon again. So far and so free.

"Papa.." Taimi said again. "hmm?" Koushiro kneeled down to him. The child kissed his fathers cheek. "Thank you.. I love you." he tells him. And even though he hasn't adventured in the digital world in years he knew. His adventure was far from over. That this was just a new journy.

He kissed Taimi's head. "I love you too,"

[dutchforstrangers]

Digiweek 2021 Day 2 - Voyage | Shades of red; a Taikoura fanfiction

Chapter 2/7. Sangria

Chapters [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]

Characters: Taichi Yagami, Koushiro Izumi & Sora Takenouchi Genre: Friendship, romance Rating: K Wordcount: 1.459

Art by Sanni @seventeenlovesthree

It was a Tuesday when Sora heard the news. Her ‘around the world’ collection was a real hit and she was asked to fly to Madrid for a fashion show and a symposium about Japanese culture and fashion design. The way she squealed upon hearing the news was a squeal Taichi hadn’t hear her make for a long time. Or maybe never, he couldn’t tell. What he could tell was that it was incredibly important to Sora and so it was incredibly important to him.

As well as it was incredibly important to Koushiro.

Taichi remembered how Koushiro had set up some fashion design software for Sora to use while making sketches a year ago. The two of them had grown closer over it, Koushiro helping her out with the software among other technology questions from Sora’s side and Sora helping him out with his fashion in general. They called each other ‘fashion buddies’ after. It had been something Taichi never quite understood, leaving them be, but he would lie if he said he wasn’t a little bit jealous in a certain way. Especially after finding out his true and shocking feelings towards both of the redheads.

He had managed to burry those feelings for quite some time, but as he started to see his friends more frequently in the past couple of weeks due to social gatherings and football matches they watched together, it became harder for him to fully hide his feelings. In some moments when either Sora or Koushiro had made innocent small talk with him, he had found himself blushing hard. Luckily for him he had a talent for casually waving things off which he did every time one of them asked him about his reddened cheeks.

They had their suspicions towards Taichi’s odd behavior, he sensed. However they never questioned him, by now very familiar with his antics. Of course this was all fine with Taichi.

Which wasn’t fine with Taichi was when Sora told both boys about the presentation she was asked to give in Madrid during the symposium, Koushiro casually offered her to tag along to Spain to help her out. It was a nice act from Koushiro, something Taichi thought both of them wouldn’t go through with. But in the end he was proved wrong and one month later his friends left to Spain. Not only for the fashion show and symposium, but for a, by them so called, ‘friendly roadtrip’ as well. Taichi would be happy for them if it weren’t for his own confusing feelings. So instead of just happy, he felt a heavy and dark blanket of sadness and jealousy descend over him and his happiness for them.

Acting on that jealousy he now found himself sitting in an airplane from Tokyo to Madrid.

Wanting it to be a surprise, Taichi hadn’t told both of his friends about his travel plans to Spain. He was a little anxious about how the surprise would be received by both Koushiro and Sora and so he stood a tad scared in front of the building where the symposium was taking place. He swallowed, the stupid flowers Hikari had convinced him to buy after he told her about his plans in hand, before he let his feet take steps to where Koushiro and Sora would be.

Luckily for him the whole surprised turned out fine and the flowers -and he himself- were received well. Koushiro looked quite surprised but happy upon seeing him, giving him a confused hug that felt truly welcoming and warm despite the awkwardness. Sora, because of the nerves, almost tackled Taichi down swinging her arms around his neck and fully pressing her body against his, talking all fast and exciting. Her eyes watering, but Koushiro reminded her she couldn’t cry because it would ruin her make-up. She quickly took back her composure, throwing one glance to Taichi and showing him that pretty smile of hers. Taichi could hear them tell each other good luck which was both a bit strange and cute in his eyes, melting his heart.

Seeing Koushiro giving Sora an innocent and sweet peck on the cheek made his heart flutter from surprise and excitement. A loving feeling he knew all too well. His eyes still glued to where Sora stood seconds ago and Koushiro still was, Taichi tried to make up his mind. As Koushiro raised an eyebrow his way, Taichi felt caught. With a red blush on his cheeks and one hand scratching his neck he followed Sora walking on the stage ready for the presentation. Proud feelings filled him up.

After the successful symposium and fashion show, Koushiro suggested to grab a bite together in a cute little Spanish restaurant he found with Sora while strolling through the city. Taichi listened to Koushiro and Sora’s stories from the past days. About the preparations Koushiro had helped Sora with, their little shopping adventure together and Sora’s slip with a Spanish guy in a dance club, which made Taichi jealous.

The warm night and good conversations were accompanied by the freshness of sangria. The deep red color with a hint of orange warming up their veins like the sun had warmed up their skin. The alcohol making their brain foggy, the sweetness bringing out the childlike impulsivity they needed for the road trip they were about to plan out; ten days with a stylish rental car city hopping from Madrid around the Spanish peninsula. Koushiro and Sora already had planned it partially, but with Taichi being there they grew even more excited.

One day later they took off to Barcelona. Driving in between the Spanish locals, enjoying the sight, listening to music and singing along to the songs. The redheads pestering Taichi with his hideous singing voice and Taichi in his turn pleasantly surprised with Koushiro and Sora’s duet in the car. Laughing together, digging up old stories from back in the days, getting excited only thinking about visiting FC Bareclona’s Camp Nou and dreaming of all the Spanish days and nights that were about to come.

They strolled through the streets of Barcelona, admired the Sagrada Família and the thousands of beautiful decorated balconies. Their journey led them to bigger cities and little villages they’d never heard of before while traveling to the south of Spain. Continuing their trip late in the night or early in the morning, driving alongside the coast line, the car following the sun as it rose and replaced the clear and starry night with broad daylight. A warm Spanish sun proudly beaming in the sky, the sunrays slowly browning their Asian skins. Along the way they stopped to have little picknicks, their bond growing even stronger by the shared vacation.

Bare feet walking through the sand as the salty seawater slowly flooded the beach they were taking a break at. The small waves bringing Taichi out of balance at moments he felt weak. Weak in the knees upon seeing his two friends walking in front of him fully invested in a friendly conversation. They looked happy to him which made him overly happy as well, a smile on his lips that wouldn’t come off easily nor soon. Seeing them walking in front of him was as if an old daydream played out in front of his eyes, making Taichi stop in his tracks. His eyes focused on the two in front of him, now looking at him questioning. But he didn’t move or speak, a familiar realization hitting him once again.

In Sevilla they were invited to a local flamenco dance night where Sora and Koushiro gladly accepted a little dance lesson on the spot in front of Taichi’s eyes. He observed the way the music made their bodies move in a way he could’ve never imagined before. Both Koushiro and Sora weren’t the extraverts, but from what Taichi could see they seemed to bring up the best in each other. Enjoying the fun they had, seeing how the sangria loosened them up once more. Taichi could feel his heart tripping over all the romantic feelings occupying his whole being since the beginning of this trip and before. Koushiro and Sora positively haunting his life and dreams since the moment he had met them.

And for a moment Taichi felt like a stranger to himself, his whole body heavily reacting to his friends. He barely recognized himself in the overhelmness of it all. A traveler in a foreign land was what he was, but right then and there he felt more like a voyager in his own head and body, trying to figure out his feelings as the with sangria filled redheads were unknowingly guiding him to unknown places he had not dared to fully surrender to yet.

[holyhikari]

Okay. Okay. It’s 2020, most of the world is shut down and the first episode of Digimon Adventure aired yesterday, missing a ‘Butter-Fly’ and with a colon to spare. Life sure is something. 

Gotta say I’m relieved. (For now, at least.) Sure, yeah, I got into the hype train for the reboot from the get-go and determined to just have fun, but. If I can picture all the ways something can go wrong — go BORING — down to excruciating details right from the first episode, why not? That’s what brains are for. So that’s what I did. 

Should have saved all that energy. 

I want to share with all of you my thoughts on this episode, break it down a little bit; how it made me feel, the few character introductions we got, the pace, the plot and its possibilities. 

As much as I want to approach this series keeping the idea of authenticity in mind, it is a reboot. They chose a certain set of (popular!) pre-existent characters to explore, to work with; a balance between creating and adapting. And I’m very interested in seeing how they’ll combine the core elements of Digimon Adventure with all there is unique to this generation of kids, teens and, you know it, adults who stuck around. 

Since all we’ve got is the introduction to the series, I’ll be contrasting TOKYO DIGITAL CRISIS to how the original Adventure kicked off back in 1999 with  ADRIFT? THE ISLAND OF ADVENTURE!

I did try to keep this as coherent and review-like as possible, but there’s a fair amount of fan-girling and it’s all seen through my very biased Adventure-stan-colored lens. Don’t say I didn’t warn ya. 

‘99 starts with an image of our planet, and  ‘20 starts almost the same. This time, though, we can see we aren’t alone. ‘The Digital World affecting the Earth’ is something that happens, I believe, in every Digimon reincarnation. In ‘99, it’s deeply affecting our climate. Now, the issue doesn’t seem so drastic that it’s able to reach influence organic matter and mess up many Nature’s cycles across the globe, but it’s still not looking so good for our kids. (It’s the first episode and Hikari and Yuuko almost get train-sandwiched, but I suppose that almost having your head chopped off, courtesy of Kuwagamon, isn’t lovely either.) 

Anyway. 

I think this Digital World/Network shot isn’t actually part of the episode? I think it’s part of the opening (I mean, not the OP sequence with the song, obviously), and that we’ll be seeing it before each episode starts. Still, it’s an interesting juxtaposition, isn’t it?

A Glorious World is upon us! I wasn’t actually expecting Butter-Fly or anything similar to it, don’t worry. I’m glad the new OP is its own thing! I want Digimon Adventure ‘20 to be as authentic as possible without losing the original’s heart. The song is nice enough. I don’t want to compare it to Butter-Fly, but I’m only human. Give me a few episodes. Gotta let go. 

The OP has way more Taichi than the others. No surprise there. He’s our goggle boy. (Still, since they went for a quick throwback to the original opening, it’s a shame only Taichi was shown falling down towards the Digital World). 

Everyone got a part, though. Shout out to Takeru and Hikari for being yet again the ominous, powerful baby-faced duo that is definitely up to something. 

It’s so interesting that, while the other crests are shown very clearly and surrounded by sparkles, Light and Hope are only shown briefly shining in their partners’ shadows. Why is Takeru so far away from us, why is this so sinister-looking. Hi, mysterious plot. Nice to meet you.

Wherever Hikari is by the end of the OP, it reminds me of Vamdemon’s castle. Maybe she feels connected to Tailmon and follows her somehow? Angemon wasn’t shown in the OP with the older six children’s partners, just Patamon. I wonder if they’ll try to make us grieve for Angemon a second time. It’d work with me. Either way, I imagine we’re in for another last-minute Patamon evolution when everything looks hopeless. 

This time, though, we’ve got Hikari from the beginning (yes, I am VERY excited about this, thank you for asking, THIS IS WHAT I DESERVE), and, while I think Patamon is more powerful in regular conditions (as in, Angemon can probably take Angewomon in a fight despite the level imbalance, but as soon as Hikari starts glowing you know who’s winning), he will now be sharing the spotlight with another Archangel evolution… as his friend or as his foe, considering that Tailmon might be a double agent of some sorts in the beginning. Welp. 

Anyway. Toei isn’t fooling around, in the OP we can see MetalGreymon in a very scary-looking, glitchy fashion that I’m LIVING for, WarGreymon’s silhouette and, good grief, there’s even a glimpse of Omegamon. Talk about too much information. Maybe chill out a little? (I say this, but the adults already know all of their evos, and the kids just want MOOOOOOORE monstahhhhhrrrrrrsss….which is fair.)

MetalGreymon looks dope here. The others, though, are only shown up to their Adult evolution, even Gabumon. I don’t think they will have only Gabumon and Agumon reaching their Mega forms, and then fusing into Omegamon while everyone else only gets as far as Perfect.  Again.

They wouldn’t do this to us. Right? Yeah, they would. Maybe we can have Holydramon/Ophanimon and Seraphimon later on, as a treat. Aaaaaand, depending on how many episodes — how many seasons — this new timeline gets, I’m not giving up hope just yet. Let me have Phoenixmon, Toei, you heartless thing. 

Moving on to the actual episode… The first non-Digimon character to show up is the true protagonist. Our queen is back. Our little Digivice thief, Miko herself.

Just you wait, you ain’t gonna be Hikari’s favorite cat-like creature for long. 

Speaking of Hikari, LOOK AT THIS WITTLE BABY GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2020 Taichi right off the bat was Taichi for me. He’s talking to Yuuko and yells “Hikariii~” so loudly Hikari hears it from where she stands, the short cutie. Their mom just hands down the phone for her without missing a beat so Taichi can comfort her through whatever she’s worrying about (her summer classes, probably). Such a sweet, natural little moment that flashes both characters out. I want more of that, please.

We’re then introduced to Koushiro! I’m not gonna lie, I cringed the first time I heard him speak. I thought the voice didn’t fit him very well. This impression faded quickly enough, though, and I’m already attached to his new voice. Later, I realized that part of the reason he sounded off to me was because of how nervous he seemed — around Taichi, of all people! In this version, they’re just meeting for the first time, so it’s very in-character for him. Guess I was kinda shocked seeing Koushiro not feeling at ease talking to Taichi. Poor thing is Anxious! And he’s overthinking about Summer Camp! And he’s happy Taichi is his neighbor! That certainly would’ve helped during the Vandemon arc back in ‘99. 

Koushiro gets a little bit over his awkwardness upon hearing the news regarding the cyber attack, something he’s curious about, and finally steps towards Taichi instead of away, which is spot on. These two fall into an easy camaraderie, as they SHOULD, and they head to the train station together, where Taichi decides to, I don’t know… run like crazy on the tracks until he gets to the rogue train where his family is and stop it with sheer force of will? Yeah! Sounds like him! 

And now to one of the most interesting parts of this adaption, is that they’re showing us the Crests early on and HOW they’re doing it. 

Taichi is able to meet Koromon because he’s being brave.

I mean, the first time, he was chosen because of his courage, too, but they all go in together. They’re taken. They’re washed off the Earth. And while Taichi had no idea he was going to be pulled into the Net, he chose to try to save Hikari and his mom (and, a few moments later, he chose to dive in towards Koromon). This time, it feels so much more personal. The screen switched back and forth between the Crest of Courage, Taichi and Hikari, who I believed called his name. The scene worked so well! (Following this pattern, Koushiro gets his Digivice when expressing curiosity, the will to pursue an explanation for what was happening!!!!)

On the other hand, it’s sort of bittersweet  they weren’t pulled in together. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad they didn’t try to introduce all of them AND the Digital World at the same time again. But… ‘99 established them as a ‘team’ within seconds. It’s interesting, though. I’m VERY curious to see how their bonding will go this time around!

Taichi and Koromon meeting was beautiful. I was worried the soundtrack wouldn’t even stand a chance against the masterpiece that is the original one, but the musing playing was so delicate, so majestic. I felt I was witnessing a precious moment. Also, Koromon’s ears twisting into how we represent the DNA while he was evolving was!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!SUCH A GOOD DETAIL!!!!!! 

It cracked me up when Koushiro said that what was happening was very surprising while not sounding surprised at all. I wonder how long the kid has been looking into the cyber attacks. Oh, and the Network is pretty. Prettier than I had anticipated, though not that different from Appmon’s style, I think? I can’t wait to get a look at the actual Digital World and see if it has that unique feeling and that odd, watercolor painting aesthetic. I hope I can trust the OP:

 Did you notice that Agumon giggled a few times? He looked at Taichi with such love, familiarity and devotion and like he knew something. It felt… right. My heart. My poor, poor heart. (I know this Agumon probably has met Taichi before inside of this very Universe, like the Hikarigaoka incident in the original version, but I like to think about Universe-hopping platonic soulmates.) 

Overall the sound work was fantastic, but this scene deserves a highlight. The noise of the Kuramon lookalike moving after evolving was genuinely disturbing. And look at how pretty this is:

Speaking of evolution, AGUMON EVOLVING INTO GREYMON WAS THE SHIT. I loved how straight-up FERAL it was, while still keeping the “Digital” part of “Digital Monster” very much present. It reminded me a bit of Hosoda’s Greymon (most amazing Greymon to this day!) in the Digimon Adventure Movie and, now that I think of it, of him fighting in some Tri. Reunion scenes. Scary Greymon is the best Greymon. Yes. I like it when the Digimon manage to disturb and scare me, okay? They aren’t called monsters for nothing. 

I mean we got to see his horn literally bursting out of his skin. This is low-key terrifying. 10/10.

BUT WHERE IS THE EVOLUTION THEME SONG

I am: deceased. Cause of death: Hikari’s soft smile when she realizes her big brother managed to help them. 

Alternatively, this first pic had killed me on the spot.

FINALLY, we get to see Yamato, and of course, he’s staring down dramatically at Taichi on top of Garurumon like the intense person he is. And, no big deal, there’s a cyber attack in a U.S military base and, uh, apparently the next episode is the 2020 version of Bokura no War Game?! 

I— WHAT?!

No pressure, am I right? I don’t know about you, but I’d rather be falling off a good ol’ cliff with my camping buddies. 

To be honest, if they intended to end it like this, it felt like this should’ve been a special episode. Maybe one-hour-long or so? Why……….HOW……….. They wanna go from the pilot straight to a Bokura no War game tribute?! The very movie that introduced Omegamon. I swear, if Omegamon’s debut is the SECOND episode, I’m gonna break. How is this gonna work. Well, at least they have us… intrigued? 

The ED is so Yamato-focused it’s almost weird that his voice actor isn’t the one singing lmao. That amount of Yamatoness got me by surprise. Some of the pics look like a PowerPoint presentation of CD cover ideas for his yet-to-exist (or not) band… and I say this lovingly, okay? I love him so much. 

This is my favorite one!

I lost count of how many times I listened to this song!! It also got me hooked up. What’s up with Takeru and how the writers took the whole Angel aesthetic to a whole new level?! Is he sick? Is he dying? Is this why Yamato is so sad and lonely throughout the ED?????? EVERYONE GO BEFRIEND HIM. I heard he’s a good friend.

Be right back, I’m gonna tattoo this pic to my face.

Bonus commentary!

I bet I wasn’t the only one looking for  random cameos whenever they showed us crowds. Didn’t find anyone we know, but I’m sure this will change. 02 characters cameos, I’m ready for you. 

Soooooooooo the Tachikawa own a tech company this time?? For all we know they own Japan. That’s scarier than the Diablomon-like virus giving Trump a headache. If so, Mimi is gonna be way more spoiled than before. Oh, dear.

I HOPE WE SEE MORE OF THESE PIXEL BABIES! That was a perfect Easter egg.

If none of these icons at the bottom is the Digimon Analyzer, then what’s the point of my entire existence? 

I can’t wait for next Saturday! Even if solely to yell “WHY??????” at my screen.  

I can’t thank you enough if you read this far!

[izzyizumi]

Digimon Adventures ~ Japanese version Adventure vs. 02 movies [Our War Game; Hurricane Touchdown]; tri. [Kokuhaku (“Confession”)], Adventure: [2020 Reboot] featuring CHARACTER: Koushiro[u] Izumi [Koushiro “Izzy” Izumi in US] + TRI!KOUSHIRO (with cameos from - Taichi Yagami [Taichi “Tai” Kamiya] as ship and/or friendship - Mimi Tachikawa as ship and/or friendship / mutual crushes + BODY LANGUAGE {Including with Others/FRIENDS} + CANON CHARACTERISTICS + COMPARISONS

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[digitaldreams0801]

Digimon Adventure x Fire Emblem Three Houses AU

AKA the AU in which I plop the cast of Digimon Adventure in to Three Houses and watch what happens. Neat. 

First of all, shoutout to my pal Ashley who schemed this whole thing up with me one night when we got bored. She proceeded to watch the entirety of Tri. with me in under twenty-six hours, so she’s one of the real ones. 

Second of all, none of the parents are in this. Why? Three Houses relies on parental angst, and all of the Digimon parents are too good to be involved with shit like that (yes I know we don’t know Jou, Daisuke, or Miyako’s parents shh it still applies). The exception to this rule is Hiroki (Iori’s father). 

Third of all, I’m adding daggers to this AU. Why? Because I said so. 

With that said, let’s get into this. 

First House: Crimson Lizards

The first house of this universe replaces the Black Eagles. It covers the region on the southern area of the continent known as the Adrestian Empire. Its leading family is the Yagami line. 

Taichi Yagami - House Leader - Minor Crest of Seiros Taichi is an axe fighter with a Crest of Seiros. He’s the leader of the Crimson Leaders and the future ruler of the Empire. He’s confident and optimistic, easily earning the respect of those around him thanks to his natural charm. However, this hides a few dark secrets involving the Yagami line.  Taichi’s courage is unmatched, and he fights with a bold battle style to prove this. He relies on axes and gauntlets as his main weapons. He has an advantage in both as well as authority. Meanwhile, his skills with faith and reason magic are poor, and he’s not great when it comes to flying either. He has the potential to be good at armor as well when trained. Taichi is fast with high strength, able to obliterate most of his foes easily, though he suffers from poor magical resistance.  Taichi was one of many children born between the emperor and his many consorts. He had a variety of older and younger siblings, but he was the only one born with a Crest, prompting him to be named as heir to the house. One by one, the rest of his siblings disappeared, and none of them resurfaced saved for his younger half sister, Hikari. He has grown incredibly protective of her as a result. Taichi also grew up as a close companion of Sora, and the two are close friends even years later. 

Sora Takenouchi - Noble Student - Minor Crest of Cichol Sora is Taichi’s childhood friend and heir to House Takenouchi, a powerful house within the Empire. One day, she will grow up to become the prime minister of the Empire, but she is far from being a typical noble given her personality. She’s Taichi’s primary confidant as well since they grew up together. Sora is a mercenary, fighting with swords and gauntlets a good chunk of the time. She is also good with lances, and she has a budding talent in both faith magic and flying. However, Sora struggles when it comes to heavy armor or horseback riding, and she’s poor with daggers as well. She relies primarily on skill and speed when fighting, though her strength and defense are also strong. She’s well-rounded, but she fails to excel in a given area.  Sora grew up with the expectations of the world on her shoulders, and she grew to loathe the way others ignored her feelings in favor of their own opinions. Taichi was the main person to listen to her when they were growing up, and the two became mutually supportive of one another. Despite this, Sora could sense that Taichi was struggling with other things, prompting her to start bottling her emotions from a young age. She has become so numb to her own suffering that she believes herself to be incapable of love. 

Koushiro Izumi - Commoner Student - No Crest Koushiro is the adopted son of two merchants within Adrestia, and he is the only commoner student in the Black Eagles this year. He is known for being incredibly inquisitive and curious when it comes to Crests. Koushiro admires all of his classmates, wanting to become closer to them after years of struggling to reach out to others.  Koushiro’s class is wyvern rider, meaning he has strengths in lances, axes, and flying. He’s not as strong in dagger, gauntlet, or horseback riding, but he does have potential in archery. Koushiro is a tankier member of the group, maintaining strong defenses and incredible strength. He is on the slower side though, and he is far from being strong in magic.  Koushiro’s birth parents were Crest researchers who stumbled upon a few things they shouldn’t have shortly after his birth. As such, they were killed by unknown figures who would later be revealed to have ties to the church. Koushiro was taken in by a few distant relatives, too young to remember his birth parents. He remained curious on the subject of Crests like his parents were, and he still tries to find out more about them despite not knowing of his true heritage. 

Hikari Yagami - Noble Student - Major Crest of Fraldarius Hikari is the younger of the two surviving Yagami children, though she is not set to inherit the Empire like her brother. She is on the shy side, but she is still known for her empathy and kindness. Hikari lived a rather sheltered life, so she is simultaneously curious about and afraid of the world at large. She hates the dark greatly due to her past.  Hikari acts as the healer of the class, specializing in faith and reason magic. Her skills with a bow aren’t bad either. However, she is poor in the categories of heavy armor, axes, and gauntlets, leaving her as the opposite of her brother. Hikari’s weaker constitution contributes to her being stronger in the magical fields, and she’s highly lucky as well, but her defense from physical attacks is very low.  Hikari was born without a Crest as a child of the emperor and one of his consorts. As the years passed by, her siblings started to go missing, and Hikari was one victim of such. She was taken away from the palace where she was experimented on by Crest researchers involved with the Church of Seiros. Hikari was the only person to survive the horrors, and she wound up with a Major Crest of Fraldarius despite not being great with physical weapons. Only Taichi is aware of the truth behind what happened to her, as he was the only one she told after returning from the experimentation. Hikari tends to avoid using physical weapons most of the time, claiming instead that she doesn’t have a Crest unless she is forced to reveal the truth. 

Second House: Azure Wolves

The second house is known as the Azure Wolves, and it consists of students from the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus. The ruling family of Faerghus is the Ishida line. 

Yamato Ishida - House Leader - Minor Crest of Blaiddyd Yamato is the somewhat stony and closed-off leader of the Azure Wolves. He isn’t a bad person in the slightest, instead being an incredible person to rely on when he gets to know someone, but he fears reaching out to others. Yamato is very defensive of his younger brother, Takeru, and such can drive him to extreme lengths at times.  Yamato’s class is soldier, meaning he is skilled with lances. He is strong with swords and authority as well, but he is far from being a mage, possessing poor skills in faith and reason magic. Yamato also suffers when it comes to flying, but he does show potential with daggers. He has high strength, speed, skill, and defense, but his luck and resistance are far from being the best.  Yamato’s life began with him living alongside his brother, Takeru, in the palace of Faerghus. This all came crashing down when his parents split in a bloody divide. His mother and Takeru moved away, and the two brothers didn’t see each other again for years. Yamato made friends with one of his guards, a young man named Kyukichi. Yamato found himself falling in love with Kyukichi, and the two became incredibly close over the years. However, Kyukichi was defeated in battle, leaving Yamato paranoid about reaching out to others in case they died as a result. Shortly after Kyukichi’s death, news reached the Ishida household of a tragedy in a nearby territory: Yamato’s mother had been assassinated, and Takeru was gravely injured in the attack. This was the first time the brothers saw each other after their family split, and Yamato was far from being happy. Yamato was dragged back to the palace without Takeru, but his concern for his brother only grew. The two were apart until they came to attend classes at the Officers Academy together a few months later. 

Mimi Tachikawa - Noble Student - Minor Crest of Daphnel Mimi is a kind, empathetic young woman with a strong distaste for violence. She is a firm pacifist even in the face of bloodshed, never wanting anyone around her to get hurt. She is prone to being overwhelmed by her emotions, causing occasional outbursts on her end, but she has good intentions. She is set to lead a noble family upon coming of age.  Mimi’s class is the pegasus knight. She is strong in lances, flying, and faith magic with a budding talent in reason magic. She isn’t anywhere near as strong where axes, horseback riding, or armor are concerned though. Her fighting style is reliant on skill and speed in particular, but she is otherwise rather well-rounded.  Mimi grew up in a life of danger, always fearing what could lurk around the corner. She knew that she was set to inherit a noble house, and the dangers of such became apparent to her from a young age. Many guards of her family’s estate were forced to sacrifice their lives for Mimi, and in some cases, she witnessed their demises. She grew to detest violence, wishing that she could give up her status if it would stop people from giving up their lives for her. She only fights because she knows that there is no other option. Unlike how Sora grew up as friends with Taichi, Mimi and Yamato were separated throughout their early lives since neither wished to reach out. 

Jou Kido - Commoner Student - No Crest Jou acts as the somewhat anxious over thinker of the Azure Wolves, always trying to think seven steps ahead. He can get panicky at times, allowing his fear to control him, and he is far from being a social butterfly. Jou still attempts to take responsibility as the oldest member of the house despite this. He comes from a family of merchants.  Jou is an archer. He has strengths in bows, faith magic, and daggers. He lacks prowess in heavy armor, flying, and authority, though he does have potential in lances. Jou is a bit of a glass cannon, relying on high critical chances and speed rather than his defenses. In particular, he is vulnerable to attacks from enemy mages.  Jou’s family is known for being a prominent line of merchants in Faerghus, but since Jou has older siblings (Shin and Shuu) to take up the family business, his parents wanted him to become a knight. Jou didn’t want this path for himself in the slightest though, instead wanting to heal others. He kept this idea private though, not wanting to let anyone down if he diverged from the path set before him. Jou takes up faith magic in private, and he secretly brews medical potions, though not even his fellow classmates are aware of such. Mimi is the first one to find out, but he swears her to secrecy. 

Takeru Takaishi - Noble Student - Major Crest of Dominic Takeru is Yamato’s younger brother and a noble of Faerghus. He grew up apart from his brother, explaining the difference between them. Where Yamato is dark and quiet, Takeru is optimistic and hopeful, making friends easily. He’s a bit of a flirt as well, though he primarily uses his skills on Hikari, Daisuke, and Ken. Much like Sora though, he has a nasty habit of bottling his emotions.  Takeru is a mage, and he has strengths in faith magic, reason magic, and lances. He’s weaker in the departments of heavy armor, gauntlets, and axes. He has budding talents in both bows and daggers. He has high magic, skill, speed, and resistance, but his physical strength, defense, and luck are rather poor to contrast such.  Takeru, much like Yamato, was born to the king of Faerghus and a noble of a nearby house. Following a sudden divorce, Takeru went to live with his mother, who chose to use her maiden surname. He began to develop attachment issues, not wanting to lose anybody the way that he lost contact with his father and brother. These came to a head shortly after the death of Kyukichi when an assassin snuck into the Takaishi estate. Takeru witnessed the murder of his mother before being attacked himself. He received an awful wound to his stomach, leaving him struggling to get by for quite some time. Yamato visited briefly, and the two vowed to become close since they never had the chance to beforehand. Yamato was forced to return to Ishida lands, leaving Takeru alone to recover for the next few weeks. When the two met up at the Officers Academy a few months after the assassination, they were practically inseparable. Takeru’s unhealthy issues with losing people have remained though, and he would do anything to defend the newfound connections he has formed with both Yamato and the other ten students. 

Third House: Golden Dragons

The third and final house is the Golden Dragons. It consists of students from the Leicester Alliance. The Alliance itself is led by the Motomiya family, and the house’s leader is Daisuke. 

Daisuke Motomiya - House Leader - Minor Crest of Riegan Daisuke acts as the eternally loyal and upbeat house leader of the Golden Dragons. He is kind almost to a fault, believing everyone has good within them somewhere. He has a special way of drawing people out of their shells with his infectious nature. Daisuke greatly admires Taichi and Yamato from afar, though the former is the primary subject of his affection. Daisuke is a brawler, fighting primarily with gauntlets and axes. He is strong with authority as well, and he has a budding talent in sword usage. On the other hand, he is poor with lances, reason magic, and faith magic. Daisuke relies on high critical chances and his overwhelming natural strength, but his defenses are poor, especially where magic is concerned.  Daisuke is the younger of two siblings within the Motomiya household. His older sister, Jun, was not born with a Crest, meaning he was left as the heir to the family. Jun married another nobleman within the Alliance, so the two didn’t interact much and as such have a rather rocky relationship. Daisuke’s father was from Almyra, so both Daisuke and Jun are half Almyran. Daisuke has suffered under common misconceptions regarding Almyran people throughout his life, leading to him hiding his heritage. He doesn’t wish to be abandoned or left alone by those who he would otherwise be friends with, so he keeps the secret close to his chest always. 

Miyako Inoue - Commoner Student - No Crest Miyako is a passionate spirit from Leicester, one of the few commoners at the academy for the year. She is talkative and open, always loyal to herself above all else. She can get a bit carried away at times, not thinking before she speaks in her worst of moments. Miyako comes from a prominent merchant family within the Alliance, but much like Jou, she is not set to inherit much of anything.  Miyako’s class is the thief, leaving her strong with swords and daggers. However, she has a strength in reason magic as well, contributing to her ability to become a dancer further down the line. She isn’t the best in faith magic, horseback riding, or axes, but she does have potential to get better in faith. Miyako has high resistance, skill, and speed, but she suffers from poor defense and being squishy where HP is concerned.  Miyako is the youngest of four children within her family, and she has always been regarded as the black sheep of the group, never quite living up to the expectations of others. Since there was never enough inherent trust for her to decide her future on her own, she was pushed into becoming a knight for the Motomiya family against her will. Miyako hates that her future has already been determined for her and longs to take back a sense of agency. Some find her to be abrasive and blunt, but this is truly a defense mechanism she uses to keep people from controlling her. Luckily for her, Daisuke has no wishes to completely manipulate her, leaving Miyako feeling most open and home around the other Golden Dragons. 

Iori Hida - Commoner Student - No Crest Iori is the quiet, introverted son of a knight from Leicester. His father was a fighter for the Motomiya family, but following his death, the Hida family was left feeling somewhat empty. Iori is distant and perceives most situations to be black and white. He is rather stoic as well, keeping to himself unless he is otherwise called upon.  Iori is a cavalier with strengths in lances, swords, and horseback riding. He has a budding talent in axes, but he lacks aptitude in daggers, faith magic, and flying. Iori is well-rounded with an inclination towards skill and strength. He never misses his target and is known to critical hit rather often, but his luck is somewhat on the lacking side.  Iori’s father was once a renowned knight for Daisuke’s father, but he lost his life when defending the archduke of the Alliance. Grief came to be too much for the family, and Iori’s mother and grandfather moved far from the capital as a result. This string of events caused Iori to become somewhat distanced from his emotions for better or for worse. Daisuke’s family offered Iori a place at the Officers Academy as a way of paying back the Hida family for the sacrifice of Iori’s father, and he accepted it. He wishes to become a fighter for the sake of defending the weak. Iori can unfortunately be prone to polarized thinking, believing that all things are either good or bad with no middle ground. 

Ken Ichijouji - Noble Student - Major Crest of Gloucester Ken is the son of a prominent family within Leicester, and his line is second only to the Motomiya family as far as power is concerned. Ken is kind and caring, putting the wellbeing of all others above himself. He is endlessly empathetic, but he can tend to keep his feelings inside at times. Ken is shy and requires patience to get to know, but he is a great supportive voice when he gets close with others. Ken is a dark mage, possessing primarily dark magic spells rather than elemental ones. He’s talented with daggers, reason magic, and authority with a budding talent in faith. He struggles with horseback riding and heavy armor, and he’s not great with gauntlets either. Ken is a glass cannon with high offensive stats, but he can easily be defeated between his lack of evasion and low defenses.  Ken is in truth the younger of two children within the Ichijouji family. His older brother, Osamu, had a Minor Crest of Gloucester and was regarded as a genius by many. Ken felt neglected when compared to Osamu, and the only thing he really had over his brother was having a Major Crest. Osamu gained renown as a knight, but he was defeated in battle after an unfortunate accident. Ken blamed himself immediately, feeling that somehow his inferiority issues had manifested in Osamu’s fall. When his parents were overcome with grief, Ken began to mold himself to be more like Osamu as a way of becoming the person his parents truly longed for. They didn’t notice a difference in his behavior, instead applauding the shift. Ken began to feel insecure in his true nature since he thought it wasn’t enough to be thought of as worthy by his family and people, and until he went to the academy, he made attempts to shove his true personality aside on multiple occasions. 

Church of Seiros

The church is the primary religious institution of the continent, and it is led by an archbishop. There are teachers at the church as well, and they are meant to preside over each individual class. 

Homeostasis - Archbishop - Major Crest of Seiros Homeostasis is the archbishop of the church, and she is known for being a kind, benevolent figure cared for by all. Her sweet nature is beloved by everyone. In truth, she is a child of Sothis and partially a dragon as a result. Homeostasis has ruled over the continent from afar for generations and has gained a perfect reputation over the decades. She has changed in recent years, becoming far darker because of the influences of...

Yggdrasil - ??? - Major Crest of Seiros Yggdrasil was once the ruler of the continent through the church, but he was forcefully usurped by Homeostasis nearly a thousand years before the current year at the academy. He spent countless decades attempting to regain his footing before getting rid of Homeostasis entirely. Thanks to his special abilities, he was able to seamlessly place himself in Homeostasis’ position, changing his appearance to match hers. In truth, Yggdrasil is Homeostasis’ sibling and one of the children of the goddess, Sothis. Yggdrasil took over after the death of the goddess, but he was a corrupt ruler. Homeostasis took over after usurping him from power, leaving him alive as an act of mercy. Yggdrasil took this as a chance to scheme for the future when he would return, and that time has finally come. 

Gennai - Archbishop’s Assistant - Major Crest of Seiros Gennai is an artificial being who was created by Homeostasis to act as her assistant in keeping the peace. He shares her blood since she crafted him. Gennai has kept the truth of his heritage secret for countless years, and as far as any history books are aware, he simply appeared from nowhere one day and has been serving Homeostasis ever since. He has grown nervous around Homeostasis as of late though, recognizing that something is wrong but not realizing it is Yggdrasil. 

Daigo Nishijima - Crimson Lizards Teacher - Minor Crest of Indech Daigo is the teacher of the Crimson Leaders. He was once a noble of a house within the Empire, but he stepped down after seeing how corrupted the system of nobles had become over the years. He is relaxed and laid back, caring greatly for his students. In particular, he has a close relationship with Taichi, who comes to him for advice whenever he is feeling nervous or unsteady.  Daigo is an armored knight with strengths in axes, gauntlets, and heavy armor. He has a budding talent in authority while he struggles in flying, horseback riding, and faith magic. He isn’t too fast, but his strength, skill, and defense more than make up for such a weakness.  Daigo was raised to be a noble for most of his life, but all of that came crumbling down shortly after he graduated from the Officers Academy himself. He realized after entering the world of nobility how corrupt the system was and knew that he couldn’t contribute to such in good conscience. He stepped away from his post and became a teacher. Daigo has grown increasingly suspicious of Homeostasis (now replaced by Yggdrasil), knowing that something has changed within her. 

Maki Himekawa - Azure Wolves Teacher - Minor Crest of Lamine Maki is the Azure Wolves teacher who hails from Faerghus. She was born as the youngest of many children, and she was not given the chance to rule over her house. She went to the academy alongside Daigo and wound up following him in becoming a professor at the monastery. She is known for being blunt and somewhat harsh, but Maki does ultimately care for those around her in her own way. Maki is a myrmidon, known for her speed and skill. She has immense strength with swords and daggers along with authority. However, she is lacking in faith magic, axes, and heavy armor. Maki has potential in gauntlets. She is difficult to hit and often criticals between her high strength and evasion, but she suffers from poor defenses as well.  Maki was once Daigo’s classmate at the Officers Academy, but seeing the horrors of war firsthand caused her to grow dark and pragmatic. She wasn’t sure of what to do with her life, not wanting to fight but not having a noble title to take up either. In the end, she followed Daigo back to the monastery to become a teacher. She and Daigo have a positive relationship, though the true depths of how close they are remains unknown. 

Yukio Oikawa - Golden Dragons Teacher - No Crest Yukio acts as the teacher of the Golden Dragons. He is a longtime friend of the Hida family, having once acted as a knight alongside Hiroki. He comes off as rather kind and positive, but he hides a secret dark side. All others know Yukio as a rather bright individual looking to the future in the name of progress, unaware of how scarily accurate this is.  Yukio is a dark mage much like Ken, having benefits in reason magic, daggers, and bows while struggling in heavy armor, axes, and swords. He has potential to get better in swords. He deals heavy damage but is rather slow and at risk of dying if he takes too many hits, especially from physical weapons.  Yukio was close with Hiroki leading up to his death, as the two attended classes at the Officers Academy years before Maki and Daigo did the same. They became knights for the Motomiya line together, but Hiroki fell while doing his job. This started to push Yukio off the edge when he couldn’t move past his grief, and he became obsessed with the idea of resurrecting Hiroki somehow. Yukio turned to dark magic, and he was eventually noticed by Yggdrasil, who said that such was possible if Yukio joined forces with him. Out of desperation, Yukio followed him, unaware that Yggdrasil had lied in order to manipulate him. Yggdrasil promoted Yukio to professor of the Golden Dragons as soon as he managed to take the place of Homeostasis. 

Meiko Mochizuki - Monastery Assistant - Minor Crest of Cethleann Meiko is an assistant at the monastery who has taken shelter at Garreg Mach ever since a tragic incident left her an orphan. She is introverted and shy, hesitating to reach out to others due to her own awkwardness and paranoia. Meiko hates feeling alone despite her aversion to reaching out to others, leaving her a bit of an anxious wreck a strong majority of the time.  Meiko’s class is the dark knight. She has strengths with reason magic, faith magic, and horseback riding with budding talents in lances and swords. She is weaker in authority, heavy armor, and dagger usage. Meiko boasts high resistance, skill, and magic, but she can be rather slow and suffers from poor physical stats.  Meiko’s parents were killed in what seems to be a tragic accident at face value. In truth, they were killed by agents of Yggdrasil who were trying to get at her. Meiko was taken in by the church after the incident with Homeostasis treating her kindly. However, this was all a mask, as Yggdrasil had already replaced his sister as the archbishop. Meiko was essentially gaslit into staying at the monastery by Yggdrasil, who said that nobody would believe her if she spoke out. Gennai took particular interest in her, taking her under his wing unofficially. In truth, Yggdrasil was planning on using her for her skills with magic. She showed signs of being a prodigy from a young age, and Yggdrasil was planning on shifting such to fit his plans. However, Meiko wound up turning against Yggdrasil at the encouragement of Gennai when the moment of fate came. 

Other

Yggdrasil’s Crimes Yggdrasil was responsible for the deaths of Koushiro’s parents. They were getting too close to realizing the truth behind his plans, so he had them killed and covered it up as an accident. In that way, Koushiro is rather similar to Meiko. Yggdrasil was also the one who sent the assassin to kill Yamato and Takeru’s mother. The plan was also to kill Takeru along the way, but he never got the chance to do so when Takeru unexpectedly survived the attack. Security was too high in the months afterwards for him to make any further attempts.  He also had the Crest experimentation performed on the Yagami children aside from Taichi. He spared Taichi only since he already had a Crest. Hikari was never meant to be rescued, and she was instead planned to be yet another powerful soldier as Meiko was. Empire soldiers saved her before she could fall to such a fate though.  Osamu did not die in battle as was explained initially. Instead, Yggdrasil kidnapped him and reached out, intending to use Osamu for his own purposes. However, Osamu lashed out and attempted to escape, prompting Yukio to kill him. At the time, Yukio was already under Yggdrasil’s thumb and willing to do his bidding. The truth behind Osamu’s death was covered up immediately under the guise of an accident during combat. 

Kyukichi Kyukichi did not die as was once expected. In truth, he was born to a few firm followers of Yggdrasil, causing him to be raised under the idea that Yggdrasil had to rule the world. He was told to become Yamato’s friend to eventually stab him in the back, but Kyukichi was given orders to retreat before the full betrayal could play out, prompting his death to be faked as Yamato fell into despair. Kyukichi continued to work for Yggdrasil afterwards, though his faith began to waver after his next mission. He was told to infiltrate the Takaishi household as an assassin, meaning he was the one who killed Yamato and Takeru’s mother. After he nearly killed Takeru, he began to grow unsteady in his confidence, but he hid such for a while longer.  Kyukichi acts as a figure similar to the Flame Emperor, appearing somewhat often throughout the Academy Phase as an enemy before being unmasked shortly before the War Phase begins. He escapes only to return after time skip. 

Plot

Academy Phase

Throughout the Academy Phase, the students do things that walk the fine line between helpful and harmful to Yggdrasil, not doing any serious harm to either Homeostasis or Yggdrasil to not draw too much attention to Yggdrasil while not damaging his schemes. Kyukichi appears a few times as a masked figure who seems to be neither friend nor foe, but he does cause some serious harm later on when given instructions to finish his previous mission of killing Takeru. While he doesn’t succeed in killing Takeru, the boy is once again horribly hurt. Yamato finds him soon after, and Kyukichi is unmasked in the struggle. Yamato goes into shock as Kyukichi escapes and Hikari heals Takeru’s injuries. Taichi wonders how Kyukichi was able to invade the monastery, and Yukio reveals his betrayal as well. Soon after, Yggdrasil arrives and reveals his true plans to the group, prompting them to scatter and go into hiding. The three nations are told their heirs are dead shortly before Yggdrasil’s forces lead a widespread invasion of the continent. 

War Phase It isn’t until five years later that Daigo and Maki bring the students back together alongside Gennai and Meiko with plans of defeating Yggdrasil once and for all. The twelve students come together after spending years running from Yggdrasil’s forces and decide to help Homeostasis. In the end, they succeed, and Homeostasis is once again honored as the archbishop. Yggdrasil and Yukio are killed in battle, and Kyukichi is defeated at Yamato’s hands as well. Peace reigns over Fodlan at long last, and the lost heirs take over their thrones at long last. The rest of the students stand by them as well. Meiko and Gennai work with Homeostasis to properly reform the church with the former becoming the professor of the Golden Dragons in Yukio’s stead. 

Ending Thoughts

I hope you enjoyed this big old tangent from me! If you’d like more from this AU, feel free to say so, and I can try to whip up a solid plot structure for it in the future! Now, I’m going to sleep since it’s 4:30 AM. I hope you liked this mess of a rant!

[ashxketchum]

oof did i come in late? can i have "do you want a hug" with either mimato or taiora? whichever you prefer! :D

I know you sent this ask eons ago, and I’m so sorry I never got around to writing something for this prompt!

I signed up for Camp NaNoWriMo today and well this seemed like a good place to start, and luckily I was able to include both Taiora and Mimato, though the latter should be read with a comical lens.

The setting is a filler episode in the reboot where Taichi and Agumon end up doing their own thing and the other kids rush after them to help them as things get out of hand, but Yamato is the only one who reaches him on time and even he has his hands full and isn’t able to rescue Taichi from an explosion, so this is what happens after that ⬇️

Sora’s eyes sought him, in between all the dust and the rubble, his brown, unruly hair easily distinguishable. She drew in a sharp breath as the dust started to clear gradually and the rest of him came into view as well. Moving faster than the others, she was by his side in an instant, swiftly navigating her way around the debris, she stretched out her hand the minute she reached him and even despite his eyes looking out of focus and his vision disoriented, Taichi immediately grabbed onto her hand and with all her remaining strength Sora pulled him to his feet. He staggered as he rose slowly, but she reacted instantly and supported him by putting his arm around her shoulder and letting him lean onto her frame. The other kids, and their Digimon, were probably watching them, but right now the embarrassment of being so close to Taichi did not matter to Sora, since the guilt of not being able to protect him in time was gnawing on her insides at a ferocious speed.

“Are you okay, Taichi? Where does it hurt the most? There must be a first aide kit in Jou’s getaway bag, I’ll treat your wounds right away!” She spoke as quickly as possible as they dragged their feet along the ground, there was no time to waste after all, she had to make up for the delay in their arrival.

“Sora...Agumon, where is he? And Yamato, is he okay?” He replied with his own questions, his voice was slow and drained and when she turned to glance at his face, she saw that he could barely keep his eyes open.

As much as Sora wanted to get started on his upkeep, she knew Taichi wouldn’t sit still and only damage his wounds further till he knew everyone was okay, so she quickly scanned the debris again, in her rush to be by Taichi’s side she had completely forgotten about Agumon, but to her relief, she saw Piyomon and Tailmon had already pulled him out of the rubble and were attending to him along with Koushiro and Hikari.

“Agumon’s okay too, look!” She said, pointing with her free hand in the Digimon’s direction, but it took Taichi some time to lift his head and follow her gaze, “And Yamato’s perfectly okay, MetalGarurumon was able to fly him out of the explosion just in time.”

“That’s great.” Taichi whispered with whatever remaining strength he had, with his heart soothed, he relaxed further into Sora’s hold, leaning towards her more heavily than he had at first, with his eyes half-closed he murmured an apology to her.

“You need to worry about yourself for now,” Sora muttered to herself under her breath, but heard Taichi let out a chuckle, and she couldn’t help but send a frown his way, how could he be reckless with his own self and still have the heart to care about others’ well being first?

“Coming from you…” Taichi chuckled, and attempted to form a grin but could barely manage half a smile and the whole attempt ended up with his face looking contorted out of pain.

“This isn’t the time to joke around, Taichi,” Sora gritted her teeth as anger flashed through her ember eyes and they came to a halt, she turned her body slightly to face him, her voice cracking slightly and eyes shining with latent tears, “You could’ve seriously hurt yourself back there, and Agumon too! Just because you got a lucky break doesn’t make what you did okay.”

Taichi remained silent, out of exhaustion or because of a lack of excuse, Sora didn’t know, but she did know that the kids had spent the past hour in a wild chase attempt to find him and help him after he had rushed out on his own while they had been asleep. She didn’t know what would’ve happened if Gabumon hadn’t been woken up by Agumon’s voice and alerted the others, she didn’t know what would’ve happened if Yamato hadn’t sped up ahead from the rest of them to lend Taichi a hand, she didn’t know what she would’ve done if they’d arrived just a moment later.

“I’m sorry I made you worry, I thought I was doing the right thing…” He trailed off as the hand that had been wrapped around Sora’s neck slid down suddenly, “Thank you, Sora.” His voice was just above a faint whisper and before she knew it, Taichi had both his hands around her neck and his head resting on her shoulders as he let out a deep, relieved sigh that made Sora’s whole body freeze on the spot.

Out of all the time and places in their lives did Taichi really need to pick right now to give her a hug, Sora screamed inside her head, as she felt her face heat up under the watchful gaze of all their friends and their Digimon, she turned her head in an attempt to tell Taichi to back off a little bit so she could help him out of the debris and onto plainer ground and finally begin looking after his wounds, but she saw that his eyes were now comfortably shut with a small smile playing on his lips as he took deep, routinely breaths that made Sora realise that he had fallen asleep in her arms. She struggled to keep him upright, as he was heavier than he looked and had no choice but to put her own hands on his shoulders to steady him, making their position look more and more suspicious to the spectators surrounding them and her cheeks turn redder at the thought of all the misunderstandings that this might cause.

“Taichi, you idiot!” She cried out, embarrassed by his actions and frustrated that she could barely move a muscle and yet no one else come forward to help her, “Jou, a little help please! He has completely passed out!” Sora called out, she couldn’t see where the rest of the kids were because Taichi’s big hair was blocking her view, but she could trust in her senior to jump into action if asked to.

And sure enough, the navy haired senior was at her side in a moment, helping undo Taichi’s hold on her frame, when she sneaked a look at him in the process, Taichi’s face looked peaceful and content, and displayed no signs of being caught in an explosion and being stuck under heavy debris up until a few minutes ago. And while Sora was grateful to know that he was happy and healthy, and most of all, safe, she decided she would still hold him accountable for his sudden and intimate actions when he woke up, whether he’d done it intentionally or not, was something she didn’t wish to ponder on.

~

Mimi quietly watched the scene unfold in front of her, she’d always thought that Taichi and Sora had been a little too upfront with all the smiles and deep gazes they sent each other’s way on a daily basis, but hugging in plain sight was a little out of bounds even by her standards, they were still only 10 years old after all. It did however, manage to perk up everyone’s attention as the recent events had left everyone tired and exhausted, both mentally and physically. So it was a bit relieving and exciting, when Taichi suddenly wrapped his arms around Sora’s necks and grabbed everyone’s attention, even Koushiro and Hikari, who had been concentrating hard on getting Agumon to regain his energy, stopped their attempts to turn and pass a surprised look in the couple’s direction. Next to Mimi, Jou’s mouth fell wide open and their Digimons, Palmon and Gomamon, let out surprised squeals.

Yamato, who had been sitting crossed legged with nothing but exhaustion filling his azure eyes as he stared blankly at the sky, while Takeru and Patamon consoled Gabumon with compliments over his quick rescue next to him, straightened up and turned his attention towards Taichi and Sora, which made Mimi want to turn to the blond instead, because she hadn’t ever seen him this interested in his surroundings right after a battle and that piqued her interest.

She studied his face carefully, there was a flicker of emotion in his eyes, which went away as quickly as it appeared and left Mimi with no choice but to speculate about what it had meant. Was Yamato annoyed by what was happening in front of him, did he too disapprove of this bold move from Taichi, or was he jealous that his friend had beaten him to the task? Mimi just couldn’t come up with a correct answer, no matter how much she peered at Yamato’s deadpan face. And then Sora cried out for help and Jou rushed over to assist her, and soon Taichi was being carried over towards them on Jou’s back as Sora trailed behind them, her bright red cheeks and ears visible to anyone with a decent eyesight.

So Mimi once again turned her attention towards the seated blond, this time she even lowered herself to level her gaze with him for a clearer look, and noticed that while his face was still as devoid of expression as ever, there was a sense of dissatisfaction in the blankness, as he watched the trio make their way towards them. Sensing her presence however, Yamato leaned back as he noticed that Mimi was sitting down quite close to him, immediately his face was taken over by an annoyed expression while his eyes darkened as he put his guard up.

“Can I help you with something?” He asked her, his voice agitated but also a little anxious, and Mimi wasn’t sure what to attribute the latter to.

“No, I was just wondering.”

“Well can you do that from a bit far away?” He demanded, a pinkish tint settling on his ears as he did so, making Mimi more confused about what was causing the blond, who was usually so adept at keeping his cool, to get so fidgety.

So of course she leaned in further towards him, in an attempt to study him even him more carefully, and immediately he leaned back and the tinge around his ears deepened. His whole body was radiating exhaustion which made Mimi feel a bit guilty about not being able to assist him enough during the battle, she was grateful however, that Yamato and Gabumon had given their all to make it to Taichi and Agumon on time and that both the duos had managed to come out of this safe and sound, with some injuries to boot in the latter’s case. So she smiled brightly at him, hoping to convey that she appreciated his efforts, but it seemed to make him even more flustered than before, and Mimi was taken aback by his expression, she’d thought Yamato was as smart as Koushiro and yet he was acting extremely dumbfounded and peculiar right now.

Then it clicked, the content look which had been visible on Taichi’s face after the hug, the one that made it seem like all the fatigue and weariness of the battle had disappeared from him, that could be what the blond was pining for too, to feel relived and refreshed after a hard day of work.

Satisfied with her conclusion, Mimi grinned as she tilted her head and met Yamato’s panicked gaze with a cheerful one of her own, “Do you want a hug too?”

And before she knew it, Yamato’s whole face turned a deep shade of red as his eyes went out of focus and he passed out in front of her.

x

[bokura-no-digital-world]

DigiWeek 2022 - Day 5: Festival/Crossover

Days: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] Title: The Spring Festival Characters: Hikari Yagami, Katsuo (OC), Yamazaki (OC), Takeru Takaishi, Kimi Takaishi (OC), Yasuhiko (OC), Taichi Yagami, Yuuko Yagami. Summary: The whole Yagami family attends to the Odaiba Elementary School Spring Festival.  Hikari had a bittersweet sensation in her chest when she walked into the Odaiba Elementary School that Saturday morning. She was there as a teacher, a mother and an aunt. She was feeling very proud of her students' hard work in bringing their project into life and couldn't wait to see everyone's reactions about it. Her students had created musical instruments from materials that could be recycled and have been rehearsing some J-pop and worldwide famous pop songs to perform on stage. She was sure Mimi was going to freak out when she saw Yasuhiko playing a fully handmade recycled guitar. She understood that feeling quite well. Hikari was really anxious and excited to see what Yamazaki was doing with his classmates. She tried to find out about it, but her son simply told her he wasn't supposed to tell and it was a secret, so she simply waited for the festival to arrive. She wondered what the other children were doing. Her nephew, Takeru's and Jou's sons and Koushiro's and Sora and Yamato's daughters also attended there, so there would be a reunion that day and they all would get to see everyone's project. Keep reading it on FF.net or AO3

[o-w-quinlan]

Digimon Adventure 2020, episode 8 reaction (and over-analysis)

This week, a full-episode action scene, some introductions and character dynamics. If this is how an average episode will be, I’m fine with it.

Was Yamato this cool last time around? Back in OG Adventure, he always seemed more “perceived as cool” than actually cool. He was too much of an anxious mess to qualify. Maybe it’s because Takeru isn’t around this time, or because he already has a solid relationship with Gabumon, but 2020 Yamato is a lot more confident. Besides, he’s capable of holding onto a gigantic wolf doing several cartwheels without feeling the slightest bit dizzy. Cool. Taichi and Sora agree, and so should you.

This wasn’t Yamato’s introduction but it certainly felt like it played the same role for his character as the previous two did for Mimi and Jou: establish it and immediately get some minor character development rolling. His arc was a fair bit more standard than the other two but they got it out of the way fast enough that I enjoyed it instead of finding it annoying like I normally would. It helps that literally everyone saw through it and was willing to work with it. One of the things I like about Koushiro’s arc in the original series was how it, for the most part, completely refused to go for the most melodramatic option, and that seems to be the case for Yamato at least in this new series. Even that brief “friendship” sequence is a lot more restrained that it could have been.

Anyway, we got Yamato. He’s cool, very cool. He cares a lot, but refuses to show it. He tries to distance himself as much as possible from the others but fails, and he’s glad to have failed by the end. He’s dumbfounded to have received help. Good start for his character arc.

Gabumon didn’t have much to him (unlike Gomamon or Tentomon, even Palmon considering she has the butler routine), but we did get more confirmation that he and Agumon know each other from somewhere. He’s also the one who explains the situation to Taichi’s group, so perhaps he’s Yamato’s voice whenever the boy doesn’t feel comfortable speaking. We’ll see.

I guess I should also talk about the fight, since that was the main focus of the episode. It achieved the best thing it could have: it made sure everyone had a role and a time to shine. Yamato was the obvious star, up to and including throwing his cloak at the Solarmon to stop their attacks, but Taichi and Sora weren’t much behind, gaining points with how comfortable they were in a supporting position. Gomamon and to a lesser degree Palmon had some good non-battle contributions, which makes them feel like more complete characters than Piyomon and Agumon. The final “friendship boost” against Gorimon was well done.

Anyway, other observations:

We’ve settled on roles for the main cast (minus Yamato): Taichi leads at every point, Sora seconds him and is pretty observant herself, Mimi does “girly” stuff in the background that is played as completely charming rather than annoying, and Jou has the normal reactions people would have, but over-the-top. As far as the digimon go, Agumon and Piyomon do whatever their partners do, but Palmon is always trying to help Mimi or Jou and Gomamon flipflops between being worried about Jou and playfully teasing him.

Taichi was, as ever in this series, pretty much the perfect leader for the group, taking lead whenever needed, knowing when to defer to Yamato’s experience, making sure Jou didn’t feel ashamed of his surrender attempt, perfectly okay with playing a supporting role. He thrives in combat situation, even his fear when faced with Gorimon being forgotted quickly. He’s, as admitted by Tomioka, clearly inspired by V-Tamer Taichi (not in particular skills but in how competent and confident he is), which does make me worry that, much like in V-Tamer, he won’t have much of a character arc here. In the meantime, he‘s pretty good, but let’s see where it’ll lead.

It might just be me overthinking it, but Sora seemed noticeably more worried than the others when the situation in Tokyo was mentioned. I have a feeling she’s not going to deal with the eventual pressure well.

Not much Koushiro, other than him making more exposition and trying to not make Jou feel inadequate (and failing).

The humor with Jou wasn’t to my liking, but it does help that it all comes from reactions and decisions that, while certainly over-the-top, are rooted in understandable insecurities and fears. So, bad humor, good characterization.

Mimi's precious as ever, and she and Jou are established as the “normal” ones of the group. Well, not everyone can be an ultimate badass, or Koushiro.

Gabumon’s attack wasn’t capable of overpowering the Tankmon’s missiles, but it was capable of overheating them and causing them to explode. This repeats itself with the Gorimon, making him the first digimon to have been killed since the first 3 episodes.

That howl was awful. Sorry, no if or buts about it.

Before I forget: Mimi and Yamato talked. Not indirectly, they actually directly addressed each other. And just like that, Mimato is infinitely more plausible here than in OG Adventure.

Not that I think it’ll happen. If anything, Sora’s introduction to him was a bit too significant-seeming to me. Boy looked shook from it.

Next episode, Koushiro finally joins, Ogremon is back, and we get our first Perfect-level. What are the odds that MetalTyranomon is the same one who just got shoved out of a cliff?

[koushirouizumi]

Hiro Masaki, wrote for Koushiro: "He has crippling self doubt and separation anxiety, which he hides by masking."

Hiro Masaki, /also wrote for/ Chris, barely 2 years later: "He has crippling self doubt and separation anxiety, which he hides by masking."

Me, realizing, years later, the same person almost definitely mainly wrote both (especially as he /mainly/ wrote for... Koushiro...):