#fucked up video game narrators>>>>>>

[random-autie-fangirl]

The holy quartet of video game narrators which are actually living beings (...and also kinda suck)

[danielnelsen]

so if you romance and ascend astarion you can kick him in the balls when he tries to turn you and it’s just very funny, he’s so pissy about it. so much for the most powerful vampire of all time or whatever, he stamps around like a toddler and then leaves forever

[oqulis]

so on the one hand: there is an immense shame I feel about bolting awake in a cold sweat due to a fucking. Five Nights at Freddy’s nightmare

on the other hand. scott give me the fucking reigns my subconscious can fix your lore

[neighbourhoodtwo]

the beginners guide (2015) good 👍

[ventique18]

IDIA MADE AN AMV TO EXPLAIN HIS PLAN TO YUU AND FRIENDS IU'M FUCKING DYING

HE EVEN HAS A GOD DAMN NARRATION OMFG

"Ahh~ Only good things are happening lately~ As if we're in a dream~"

"Eh. It's actually just a dream tho."

"Hello everyone trapped in this empty world of dreams."

"This is Idia Shroud."

"So today, I will explain the strategy to beat:

"I BUILT A DREAM WORLD USING CHEAT-LEVEL MAGIC AS THE MOST EVIL LAST BOSS MAGE MALLEUS DRACONIA"

"The magical domain that Malleus created is similar to a server running a huge MMORPG."

"That means everyone's dreams are ran individually. Malleus and his clones are keeping an eye on the server."

"In other words, Malleus is the server admin."

"And his clones crack down on users who commit violations like in online games."

"Malleus is the game master who has the authority to manage the entire server."

"HE REALLY IS A DEMON LORD WHO RULES THE WORLD"

"Under his control, we have no chance of winning..."

"HOWEVER..!"

"With the super geek hacker group STYX using ORTHO ATTACK, the server source code has been analyzed."

"So using this, we're building cheating tools [WARNING: DO NOT DO THIS IN ACTUAL GAMES]"

"So using these cheating tools, the administrative rights to my dream can be transferred to me."

"Then I'll lure Malleus into my dream where I can get rid of that god damned invincibility!"

I CAN'T FUCKING TAKE THIS OH MY GOD

"-- Well, it sounds like a perfect strategy but... The truth is there's just a few things about this cheating tool..."

"WHAT IF THE SERVER ADMIN FINDS OUT ABOUT THIS DURING DEVELOPMENT?"

"THEN,"

"GAME OVER."

"BUT BUT BUT--"

"The thing is, even though he's using autonomous clones to monitor each dream, it still shouldn't be easy to control the dreams of 20000 PEOPLE in Sage island."

"If problems turn up everywhere, he'll have to deal with them all!"

"Sooooo..."

"While I'm developing the cheat tool, I want you all to distract Malleus!"

"I want you all to gather party members to defeat the Demon King!"

"Once everyone's awake, I'll send out invitations to my own dream."

"Then I'll lure Malleus into my dream... THEN TURN ON THE CHEAT TOOL! As planned, Malleus' invincibility will disappear,"

"Then everyone will accept the invitation and gather into my dream!"

"THEN EVERYONE BEATS HIM UP"

"Then Malleus will have to take down his magic AND EVERYONE WILL BE FREE!"

"If you liked this 3-minute video, don't forget to leave a like!"

I'M GONNA FUCKING CRY THIS IS INSANE OMFG KASDJLKLDASLMASD

[manikas-whims]

Dad Xavier with twins (boy and girl)

i know there's a general consensus in the fandom with the LIs all being girl dads but idk guys..For Xavier, sometimes i see him as a girl dad but other times, he seems more like a boy dad. Then i said fuck it! Xavier is now father to twins 😌 hope y'all like these HCs ♡

⭐ Dad Xavier who gets emotional and teary-eyed at the first sight of his twin babies because he always felt like a wandering soul with nothing to call his own. Yet now, he has you, and you've given him these adorable babies..all of whom he can call his family.

⭐ Dad Xavier who uses his light evol to create adorable characters when narrating a bedtime story to the twins.

⭐ Dad Xavier who tells scary stories when trying to get the kids to fall asleep at the proper time (like he did in that one Secret Times with MC 🤭)

⭐ Dad Xavier who often himself tends to fall asleep while trying to get the kids to sleep 😆

⭐ Dad Xavier who regularly takes the kids to the arcade and wins them all the plushies they ask for from the Claw Machine.

⭐ Dad Xavier who has managed to teach the kids the names of certain stars, constellations and planets as well as taught them random space facts.

⭐ Dad Xavier who is calm and collected in his tone but his blue eyes seem to glow when scolding the kids. Even you shiver at the intensity of his piercing gaze.

⭐ Dad Xavier who is a master at all the video games but loses on purpose to watch his kids giggle and jump in delight at beating their Daddy at the games.

⭐ Dad Xavier who is as fiercely protective of his babies as he is when it comes to you. Will fight the world for them and for you.

⭐ Dad Xavier who hugs the kids to sleep when they have a nightmare or just a bad day in general.

⭐ Dad Xavier who isn’t particularly fond of the kids going anywhere near weapons but knows that it's essential for his kids to have self-defense skills. And thus, when the kids are of appropriate age, you two together train the kids in proper combat and a weapon of choice (we've seen Xavier's excellent swordplay and with Mountain Journey, that he's also amazing with a gun)

⭐ Dad Xavier who joins the twins for a midnight snack and tries his best to defend them from your scolding.

⭐ Dad Xavier who watches the twins favourite movies with them late at nights during the weekends.

⭐ Dad Xavier who let's the kids mess around his piano, even teaches them a few easy tunes.

⭐ Dad Xavier who teaches the kids all sorts of ballroom dancing, from Foxtrot to the Waltz. These sessions often end with him asking your hand, and two of you ending up slow dancing at your home in the late hours of the night.

⭐ Dad Xavier whose kids accidentally come across Mommy's stash of Lumiere merch, and end up watching some old commercials and content with you two. The twins later on stare at Xavier with sparkly eyes full of admiration and ask if their Daddy is secretly a superhero 🥺 (that night Xavier almost burns your entire stash of Lumiere merch).

another post that's been collecting dust in my drafts for so damned long..i’ll probably share one for each LI at some point 🤞

» MASTERLIST «

[randomthefox]

VERGIL. THE Vergil. The one Vergil to rule them all. The "rival battle" against which all others are measured against. He was not the first, of course, but he is the most defining. He solidify the concept. You may have heard of boss fights in a video game described as "Vergil fights", and he is the reason why.

A defining and seminal moment in gaming. The Vergil fights are designed to absolutely kick your ass using the same rules that you yourself as the player are restricted to. Vergil will never do anything that you the player are not also capable of doing. You fight Vergil three times in this game, and each fight is designed to be a measuring stick. In this first fight, Vergil only uses one weapon and does not have access to Devil Trigger. So you technically have an advantage over him, since you'll at least have Cerberus and AgniRudra by this point. And yet you will still probably die several times to this boss fight. You CAN use Holy Waters to soften him up if you want, but if you wanna be a Real Gamer (tm) you gotta beat him on his own level. Feel the motivation.

The meeting between Dante and Vergil has so many fucking layers to it I honestly don't even know where to start. The way they fall into snarking back and forth at each other about the "party." Whatever either of them was thinking or feeling about what's going on with this demon tower, when facing one another they fall right back into their familial persona. Suddenly they're bratty kids teasing and bickering. Lady describes in the games opening narration that they seem to derive some kind of sick pleasure from their fighting, and indeed as demons who are practically invincible it does seem natural that they would perceive a fight to the death like this as no different from a wrastling match. They're having fun. This is their love language. There's baggage, there's toxicity between them, but this is also all they've ever known from each other for so long that they probably don't know how else to function.

The theme of the ties that bind smashes into Dante in the concluding cutscene. We know from the first game that Mundus is responsible for their mothers death, and while this game is rewriting the brothers relationship to be that they both survived and were aware of each other, the tragic backstory from DMC1 of demons who warred with their father destroying their peaceful family life is the major motivating factor for both of these characters. The same events diverged with them learning opposite lessons from it though. Vergil was traumatized by watching demons from hell rip away his mother and brother, and he was ashamed of himself for his weakness. She died because of him, because he didn't have the power to protect his mother and his little brother. Power is everything, strength is necessary to be in control of your life, and the demonic blood that flows through his veins means he has the potential and entitlement to the ultimate power of Sparda the Legendary Dark Knight himself. He wants power more than anything else, because he wants never to be that helpless little boy listening to his mothers dying screams of agony ever again. And yet he's been so consumed by his ambition for power that he's lost sight of part of the reason why he wanted it in the first place - to be able to protect his brother, who he now rejects and is willing to destroy for his own self gain.

Dante went in completely the opposite direction. Watching demons kill his own mother and destroy his entire life caused him to reject his demonic lineage, to deny his own father. To reject his family, even rejecting his own name and living under the identity of Tony Redgrave for a time. If being a demon means being whatever those monsters that killed his mother were, then he wants nothing to do with it. He bought a shop and intends to open a business for the express purpose of killing demons, hoping one day to find and kill the one who is responsible for his mothers death. Like Lady, he rejects the familial bond between him and his father AND his brother, in a display of petulance. "I just don't like you." Like a immature little brat. Dante's refusal to seek power is a personal insult against Vergil specifically, and a divorce from the heritage of Sparda.

The little moment where Dante reaches out for the amulet as Vergil rips it from his neck, and Vergil casually swats away his hand with his sword. Will be reincorporated. Remember it.

Dante awakens to his Devil Trigger in the conclusion of their fight. In the end, Dante cannot deny what he is. He is Vergils brother, and he also thirsts for power. His rage and spite against his brother awakens the devil inside him, but it is overwhelming. It strikes me not altogether unlike a moment where a youth starts going through puberty. Their body undergoing changes that they don't understand and can take control of them if they are unprepared for it. Dante has taken his first steps into maturing as a son of Sparda, and this is reflected in the gameplay of the Devil Trigger mechanic now becoming available to the player.

[nokillbananashelter]

THE NEXT ZELDA

Things I Think The Devs Are Thinking About

This is going to be a series of posts digesting what Zelda has done/is doing recently, namely, with EOW, TOTK, BOTW (& AOC/AOI) and how that relates to the fandom and their responses to reception of these games and where the devs have clearly shown interest with their whims. I was originally going to post this as one thing, but we don’t need to be that insufferable and I’m still formulating some thoughts on the other ones. And please remember- This is speculation!

PART 1: DUO PROTAGONISTS

I think we are at the point where dual protagonist structure is on the doorstep. Echoes of Wisdom was almost that already and they seem very keen on addressing giving Zelda space to be the protagonist. It would be absolutely incredible to have this open format where you are either journeying through as Zelda in one part and Link in another, or you are actually united and have to figure out how Zelda or Link’s toolset fit into the puzzle in front of you.

It’s been a minute since we’ve had a narrator companion. Zelda has already been in that role so I think this time they have the opportunity to simply just have her be… a voiced protagonist. I’m not saying she needs to have a voice actress this time (she probably will) but it would be interesting to have dialogue happening in a more tangible light. Link DOES talk in BOTW/TOTK, but also….Imagine how they could play up the characteristic of being kind of quiet. Maybe link does not interact with NPC’s in the same way that Zelda would. Maybe he says things that are a little more simple, functional, and Zelda does a lot more negotiation and investigation. Imagine the comedy, drama, and development that can happen by having link reserving his words more and Zelda speaking very freely and openly.

Idk, I think they are trialing the interest of zelda with the voice memories too- do players have interest in Zelda lore dropping on us, as we explore the world? I think the answer to that is a resounding yes. Imagine as you’re exploring as Zelda, or with Zelda, and it gives you the option to let her lore drop if you wanna hear it. It’s not forced on you, it’s not required, it doesn’t stop you from doing what you’re doing. It’s there to engage in if you want. I think people would want that & the new totk content is probably gonna be wanted in the base game next time.

And I also think they already kind of trialed this in the BEGINNING of TOTK too. Link is there to make the path safe for Zelda so she can interpret ruins and offer context for what you’re going through. I think my only complaint about that beginning section was how she ripped attention away from moving forward to demand the player pay attention to what she was doing. It was necessary as an opening act in a video game where you wouldn’t necessarily know to not skip past that, but in a more sustained capacity, the ability to skip over it would be right in the heart of how they’ve been developing these games- and I think a lot of players would appreciate that.

Further on teamwork, EOW’s last dungeon felt like a prototype for swap-between puzzles. I honestly really liked it. And while I didn’t really like sword mode for EOW, a game starring both Zelda and Link has a lot of potential for that kind of switching dynamic to work out really cool and feels like a fertile ground for creating challenge and interesting puzzles. I genuinely wanted more puzzles where Link & Zelda got split from each other in a room and had to independently figure out how to solve it. That fucking owned, even though it was only like three rooms.

It also defines and reinforces their skillsets a little bit more. Narratively speaking, Link is not credited for all of the creative adventuring you do that often, despite you showing a lot of wit and creativity and wizardry as link. He’s credited as a swordsman most often, and Zelda is the priestess. It makes sense for her to have the wacky powers and being more oriented towards creative wizardry and sleuthing and for him to be a audacious Fliptastic acrobatic fighter. Obviously, they are also defining Zelda as being insanely capable in combat, as we see in EOW & soon AOI. Combat = Link and Puzzle = zelda do not need to be mutually exclusive to each other- they both can be forces of nature and creativity and wit. But I think it gives them a lot of space to be defined and complement their skill sets in navigating solving puzzles and doing combat. Dungeon items can be made to be more Linky or more Zelday. Link could get a hookshot, Zelda could get a superpower. It just makes sense to me. I would love it if Zelda retain some of her summoning power from EOW, and Link retained a lot of his cool adventuring gear. They both can be capable in every aspect of gameplay, but one is tinted more magically and the other is tinted more adventurously.

And although the Sages in TOTK are sloppy implementations, they are 100% a trial of what it feels like to have people follow you around, and how you may possibly interact with them to engage with their abilities. I think there’s a lot of successes and failures learned from the way that they were implemented. A second pass on reactive companions could work out in a really cool way, and it’s not like there aren’t 1 million other examples in other games that worked better that they can learn from. They’re thinking about this and I don’t think they’re done with it!

i know a lot of people probably wouldn’t like this, but the notion of having to look out for both characters & make sure that they can complete their task while you do yours is fascinating to me. Imagine you can even choose which character you want to use in a fight or troubling situation. When you’re link, you gotta keep the baddies away from Zelda, disarm bosses through their various phases, and deal the finishing blow. When Zelda, you gotta maintain and complete seals/spells, keep baddies away from link, and change the shape of the battlefield in your favor. You may even have players that end up preferring one or the other in the challenges that come from being one or the other. It could make the game more accessible in that way. Imagine sometimes you get separated, and have to find the other one and break them out of a situation. This is something that could happen in particular story beat points, or be a consequence/complication of exploration that entice you to solve puzzles or explore areas you may otherwise miss or skip over.

And Imagine how dual protags opens up the possibilities for co-op! I would love an open world Zelda, where my partner can just drop in and drop out however we please. Imagine one of you exploring one end of the map while the other explores the other end. It would be so insane if that flexibility was a primary feature of the next Zelda. I wouldn’t even mind if the game was relatively conservative structurally if that was the primary gimmick. I really think it’s worth exploring.

And this isn’t even to mention four swords and what they may have learned from that experiment.

Genuinely, I think this duo protagonist concept is eminent. Out of all the things that are going to happen next, this one feels like the idea they are coming around to most. It could please a lot of people and it could be done in a way that doesn’t require you to sacrifice Link’s or Zelda’s importance in the story, or even your capacity to play the whole game as just one of them if you really wished that.

[b0tsbby]

I realized I never actually shared this here but for the Drakengard fans, a while ago I was cooking up a Drakengard 3 au inspired by another artist who I genuinely can’t find anymore. Such doubled as a swap au cause Knives as a protag really did and still kinda does interest me.

The whole concept was kinda exploring things from a plant perspective and like, the world REALLY being bad…like bad…and if you’ve watched that 6-7 hour video on Drakenier lore on YouTube you’d KNOW, that canonically there’s constantly different timelines that sometimes converge or diverge so I can make a lot of executive decisions like the watcher’s cult and the flower and what not.

In the instance of Rem project Seeds, in this medieval setting is a lot more like the Cult of Watchers with slightly different intentions like weapon research and mana extraction. They really do weirdly praise the Black Flower though, despite honestly hurting it. After migrating from the city, Rem is very curious about its existence and how it can help with the constant war and environmental crisis befalling Midgard, but is actually more interested in the stars. She’s a scholar at heart and is one to question a lot so I mean, forgive her for falling into the clutches of a cult, it’s a very drab time to be alive. She did her best.

On the topic of Zazie I know we already have Accord as someone who is canonically everywhere all at once as a recorder, but I thought in this au Zazie would really fit that role. They aren’t an android like her though, and are closer to the magical side of the spectrum where dragons and intoners are, just a lil higher. Pure black and a coat felt like a fitting design choice considering they’d be the most enigmatic as the unreliable narrator.

So funny but I actually started with Elendira cause she kinda deserves to be a Drakenier character idk?😭😭 From the style to her personality she’d just do very well in that setting! That said I have the most fun with her in this au cause she’s a breath of fresh air from the melodrama and gives, very little fucks? Her goals are very simple: to live and not simply exist, and to have her own dragon…naturally. It is Vash who takes her in in this au…but that only makes her quote unquote ‘worse’ because she deeply can not comprehend his values. That said, as much as she hates him she respects him. She only barely respects Knives if she does at all.

And on the most important little duo we have the twins who are, Intoners. The only two there is. Like I said Knives is the protagonist and his goal is simply to kill his brother. That’s it. (“They don’t even know how deep this is gonna go” I say in the shadows). I pretty obviously related him to Zero for this design. And just like Zero, he’s a pretty unconventional and bitchy protagonist and the whole question of ethics was already out the window 20 min ago. Have some plant twins as little tiny guys cause I never figured a design out for Vash as a heroic antagonist.

While I consider this au abandoned I re listened to that 7 hour Drakenier lore video and kinda fell in love with it again. I also have Meryl, LR and Legato literally sitting there cause they’re practically almost finished designs. You can ask about drakengard lore anytime but for the love of god never play that game series (it’s peak). Genuinely don’t touch it (best worst games in history, actual art pieces). I have a whole lore doc and a 1000+ one shot on Elendira based on the Drakengard 3 novellas I don’t know what to do with it please someone tell me what to do with it.

[evilminji]

Okay, But, >.> Listen...

So MAYBE, just MAYBE, I am an incureable RoFan Isekai nerd. Shut up about it, maybe. What're you a cop? Mind your business. BUT! And hear me out...

W...What would actually? HAPPEN if Danny went into a Visual Novel? Some Otome game? You know, aside from being vague flustered by and then DEEPLY ALARMED by these walking Red Flag Fruitloops that girls are supposed to find "dreamy" or something?

Like we know how MMOs work for him. And probably OTHER open world games? But a visual novel? Would it be like the Christmas Episode? Would he hear narration? Be stuck in static "scenes"? Or would it be like a cut together "only the interesting parts" movie that he's somehow IN?

Like?? At SOME point his curiosity is gonna get the best of him. He's gonna want to know what different video games are LIKE on the inside? What's Pong like? Tetris? Mario? One of those Mama's cooking games? Etc etc.

He probably hits up a game sale. Buys a box or two. Figures he can always resell um or just give them away for free. Might even use them for parts. Who knows. And?

It's kinda cool!

It's even SCIENCE! See? Tucker's in charge of notes. Sam's in charge of hilarious commentary and pizza. Jazz is keeping them from drinking and doing ghost shit (terrible combination, we never speak of What Happened(tm) again). And the Dr's. Fenton got distracted by making fudge and debating what games should be counted towards which categories.

They've made an afternoon of it.

And NOW? They've reached the bottom of box one. It was "Survive The Villainess! My Rose for You!" Or... judging by Sam's climbing eyebrows and growing scowl? A DEEPLY unpleasant porn game about school girls.

You could not PAY him enough.

Yeah, he DOES realistically kinda want to know what happens.. if.. like? You know... sexy games... like would he? Or does he just WATCH or...? *awkward cough* But! That's NOT for Family Science Night! And DEFINITELY not THAT game, THANKS.

He'll find himself an ETHICALLY SOURCED smutty game full of consensual boning. For PRIVATE TIME. Those test results are gonna show up like MAGIC and we WILL NOT be talking about them! Got it? Good.

Now what the fuck is he look at here?

Jazz is surprisingly knowledgeable. They are not allowed to ask. They respect it. The main character "wakes up" inside the body of a "villainess" and must survive. Turn her terrible reputation around. Avoid "death flags". Preferably romance one of the hot guys?

Uuuuuuuh... you realize Danny's in a committed relationship, right?

Sam and Turker allow it. But they reserve the right to blast his taste in Fantasy Guy's. Chose carefully, for their roasting shall be BRUTAL. Luuuuuv yoooou~♡

He wants a divorce. They're not even MARRIED and he wants a divorce. You see how they mock him, Jazz? The cruelty he suffers? He's taking the Blobs and moving to Frightknight's. They always warned him about you living folks and your fast ways, but he didn't listen! *continued dramatics* *is smacked with a pillow*

But actually going IN? The weirdly, vaguely European over the top EVERYTHING? Giant jewels and ridiculous, fancy dresses? The walking red flag Romantic Archtype Leads? He wants to PUNCH half these guys! This is ABUSE! Are people OKAY!?

Like? I feel like he'd stay way, WAY longer then he needed too? Just out of morbid curiosity? W-where is this plot GOING? It's so dramatic. Why is my dress MORE dramatic now? Why is everything so... Sparkly.

It would be? AMAZING and baffling and I would pay real money to hear their live commentary. "Why not simply judo flip the crown prince off the balcony, then take over the country, sweetie?" "Solid plan, honey! He deserves it!" Beautiful. Flawless. Sage advice really. Too bad Danny can barely walk in his five million bows dress.

It's the BEST Au and I might be a genius. Or deeply sleep deprived. Meh. We'll 50/50 it, six of one, half a dozen of another.

@hdgnj @ailithnight @nerdpoe @the-witchhunter

[artsyfemale-writing]

I assume cause you liked my post about Erik that you write for him? Maybe something about cuddling while he plays mortal kombat. Just fluffy and soft. If you want! No pressure boo

Authors Note: I of course will write a cute fluffy and soft short for Erik. First request I love the idea. Thank you for your request. I hope everyone enjoys. I did my best having only watched the movie once, so I hope it's alright.

Cuddles and Kombat

Type: Fluff

Warning: Cussing, Erik being Erik, Erik slightly being ooc (I've only seen the movie once going off how I believe he would act planning on buying the movie for future posts)

Original Work DO NOT COPY

Narrator's Perspective

It was a normal day in the Campbell household, Y/n had been helping Mrs. Campbell prepare lunch for the family, while Erik was playing video games as he had nothing better to do at the moment due to his girlfriend being busy helping his mother. Y/n had flour on her hands when Bobby frantically came into the kitchen asking multiple times if anyone has seen Paco, Y/n cleans her hands, and helps look for Paco with Bobby.

 Bobby goes into the living room where Erik is laying on the couch playing a ranked game of Mortal Kombat telling Bobby to calm down, and that we’d find Paco but Bobby started pushing Erik to look under the pillows. Erik was getting irritated saying “I can’t pause alright, it’s an online matc… are you serious right now” Bobby was persistent, and Erik once again says “Can you do me a kindness, fuck off” 

Then Charlie walks in seeing Y/n, and goes to hug her, she smiles, hugging back when she notices Paco curled up by her bag, she giggles going to grab him.

Y/n’s Perspective

I noticed Paco near my bag, and I picked him up and started to baby talk to him “There you are Paco, you almost gave Bobby a heart attack” I smile, then Stefani walks in shocking her. I hand Paco over to Bobby, when Charlie starts chuckling saying “Oh, dude she's flunking out of school” I head back to the living room where Erik stands up saying “Hey, welcome to the club” with a teasing smile. I roll my eyes, and kiss Eriks cheek which makes him melt, and look like a love sick puppy. 

I ruffle Charlie's hair, and head back to the kitchen. “Here Brenda let me help with that” I offer my help once again, setting the table when Erik walks in with a golf club, I let out a small snort as he looked so cute with his messy hair. We all settled down to eat lunch. I sat next to Erik as normal. The meal was very lively as everyone was chatting, and having their own conversations. I however noticed that Stefani seemed out of place. Not that I blame her because she hadn’t been around much due to school. I started to include Stef in conversations until everyone had finished eating, I offered to help with dishes, and cleaning up.

 However Brenda waved me off letting me know that I could go relax, and that she appreciated my help. I nodded with a smile, and pulled Erik into the living room again, “Oh, feeling risky are we Peach~” Erik teased with that smirk he had when he wanted to tease, and see me blush.

Erik’s Perspective

Y/n pulled me into the living room, and I decided to tease her a little bit since it was just us in the room. I grab my Xbox controller, and lay on the couch opening my arms for Y/n wanting to just relax with her. I notice her beautiful e/c eyes soften, and relax. She finally curls up into my chest. I started a new match resting the controller on the small of her hip while I played, wanting to get my rank back up after Bobby rudely interrupted me earlier. I notice Y/ns breathing started to even out as she slowly fell asleep, I glance down, and smile kissing the crown of her head when Julia walks by heading upstairs to her room but not before saying “You are so whipped for her Kiki”

I was going to deny it, but it was true. I loved the beautiful girl who is sleeping on my chest, she was with me for who I am.

Time Skip: Y/n’s Perspective

You slowly open your eyes, and notice that Erik had fallen asleep probably after a few matches of his game. You smile, moving some hair out of his eyes, and I turn off the console, setting the controller onto the coffee table, and turning the TV off, grabbing a throw blanket, and pulling it over us. I curl into his chest again. When he groans softly, I kiss his cheek. “Sorry to wake you Kiki, was just turning the TV off” Erik doesn’t respond, and he just pulls me closer and slightly opens his eyes when he says “Don’t apologize I like being woken up to you curled into me” he teased in a groggy voice, and I giggle giving him a small peck on his lips feeling his stubble tickle my face. I smile when Erik deepens the kiss as he cups my left cheek with his hand as I place mine on his chest. Just then Charlie throws a pillow saying “Get a room there are children here” Erik glares due to the pillow hitting me and I get out of his hold and start a pillow fight with Charlie, chasing him through the house when he admits defeat and we all laugh.

Erik’s Perspective

After watching Y/n beat Charlie with a pillow, I walk behind her wrapping my arms around her waist kissing her neck softly, I throw her over my shoulder as she squeaks, and I carry her back to the living room so we can cuddle without interruptions. Halfway through the hall I feel a sharp smack on my ass. I hear a giggle, and the words “What!? You have a nice ass Kiki” I roll my eyes at her words, and I toss her onto the couch. I lay my head on her chest, she runs her fingers through my hair and in that moment I knew. Nothing could take this girl from me, I knew I was in love with Y/n, and I know I never want to let her go, she's my rock, she gets me, makes me happy too. 

I look up at Y/n and she smiles at me, that beautiful smile I get to see all the time. I kiss her again wanting to know I’m not dreaming because if I am I don’t wanna wake up. I wanna stay here, in this moment with her.

Y/n’s Perspective

You smile into the kiss with Erik, when he pulls away he looks at me with those soft bluish grey eyes that I love so much. “I love you Kiki” I say with a soft smile and Erik responds with a muffled “And I love you Peach” I kiss his hairline when I notice him reaching for his controller again and I laugh, “Can’t get a break from Mortal Kombat?” I tease. Erik just says, “Gotta rank up Peach, and besides I have you as my lucky charm” a slight pink color dusts my cheeks at his words. Erik turns around laying against me as I continue to play with his hair while I watch him win more matches of Mortal Kombat. While watching Erik with each match I absentmindedly start making small braids in his hair. Every so often I would take the braids out just to run my fingers through his hair again. When randomly I feel something crawling onto my shoulder, and I hear Bobby once again asking if anyone has seen Paco. I glance at my shoulder, and it’s Paco when he sits in the nook of my shoulder and neck, seemingly going to sleep. Bobby comes in asking and I just point to my shoulder, and Bobby leaves knowing Paco is in good hands.

Narrator’s Perspective

The day continues with Erik on Y/n while playing Mortal Kombat and Paco curled up on her shoulder. Erik wins more rounds ranking up like he wanted. When it starts getting dark Y/n gives Paco to Bobby, and Erik takes Y/n to his room where they listen to the playlist Erik made for her, and she changes into one of Erik’s shirts and shorts. While Erik changes into some black sweatpants and lays in his bed shirtless, they both get under the covers with a different playlist playing in the background as they were both just content in each other's presence. Erik holds Y/n as she traces his tattoos as he rubs her back and plays with her hair. Soon they both slowly start to doze off to sleep in a loving embrace clueless to the world around them. Little did they both know there were bets being made about when Erik would propose, everyone already knows that Y/n is the best thing that has happened to Erik, they all want them both to be happy. Clearly, they were made for each other, and that their love will last for a long time.

Author's Note: Hey guys it's been some time since I posted I'm still new on here, I will try and get some more stuff posted tomorrow as I have the day off, and I enjoy writing. Let me know what you guys thought of this. I would love to hear tips to help me improve.

[d3f3n3str4t10n]

New Year, New Update!

I hope y'all had a good New Year's feast. Ashley certainly has! We'll be eating too, it seems, thanks to this new update!

Firstly, the least exciting thing to someone that's already bought the game: Due to steam pricing jank, they're extending and increasing the discounts for now up until the game's price increases with the release of Episode 3A. Cool!

Next are some words typed straight from Nemlei's hands themselves, describing how working on the game has been like for the past year, and another content comparison between episodes. It's really weird to see it laid out in plain numbers like this, but it does a good job showing the scale of 3a! And they're not even done yet! It's good to hear that the team has gotten into the groove of things, now that all the development issues we saw lined out during the devlogs have been taken care of. Hopefully we won't have to wait too much longer! Now onto the REAL good stuff...

First, we see a pretty familiar corridor. The same one what Andrew confronted Ashley in, during the dream sequence that leads to Episode 3A's beginning. Fortunately however, at least according to Ashley, everything seems to be resolved. I'm honestly a little surprised that they'd share something so... blatant, like this, but maybe that's the trick. We only have Ashley's very untrustworthy words to go off of here, of course.

Next, we see a short reunion. One of Andrew's friends is back! It's unclear whether this is during the present day, or sometime before quarantine, however. Given Andrew's insistence that they drop all contact with anyone they knew during Chapter 1, I'd imagine that if this IS in the present day, Andrew isn't too happy about it. Probably NOT why he's throwing up, though. Either way, he still considers him a friend, so that's nice to see!

And lastly... a video!! Hell yeah! This one shows us the full context for a previous screenshot we saw in one of the devlogs. The video begins with a CG of a VHS rewinding. Whether or not it's meant to be something dietetic or not, it makes it clear that this is meant to be a flashback. We see Friend B and Andrew chatting in their highschool class after the bell has rung. Friend B offers to go to some non-descript event with Andrew, but he can't, because he has work. During this conversation, Ashley barges in, furious that some clique of girls is preventing her from getting a drink.

We then see the CG from the devlog, as well as Andrew's reaction. He tells her to just go with Julia, to then Ashley says they aren't talking at the moment. Something that I don't doubt happened quite a lot, in their "friendship."

On their way to the vending machine so Andrew can sort out the situation... somehow, Andrew realizes he left his notebook back in the classroom and goes back to get it. On his way, he overhears an interesting conversation...

Some guy, presumably an acquaintance or classmate of Friend B, starts talking with them. He calls Andrew a "fucking sissy", and mistakes Ashley as his girlfriend. Again, probably happens a lot. Friend B sticks up for Andrew throughout the conversation, calling out how rude the Douchebag is being to Andrew and how creepy his not-so-subtle suggestions to get with Ashley are. Friend B claims Ashley has "A few screws loose" which may be why he thinks she's so clingy, and why Andrew goes along with it. Because, why would he go along with it, if there wasn't some reason, right? Siblings aren't just LIKE that. The further the Douchebag seems to push it, the more Friend B tells him to knock it off.

Andrew is, at first, confused by the situation, not really understanding what the big deal is. Of course they're close, they're siblings. He has to look out for her, with all the bullies in this school, apparently.

His confusion quickly turns to anger, and he starts to work up the motivation to tell the douchebag off... but he doesn't. The narration then lets us in on another side of Andrew's thought process.

This is the start of Andrew's Denial. This is most likely before the "rumors" Julia brings up begin, perhaps they were even started by this Douchebag. Andrew is finally starting to realize how odd his and Ashley's relationship is. When they were kids, it could be excused and defended by adults as just, them being kids... but they're in High school now. That excuse isn't going to cut it anymore. Andrew though, still doesn't see anything wrong with it. They've been this way forever, and they're fine with it, so why does anyone else care? What's so weird about it? A very well written scene, if you ask me.

Oh, Also there's a Q&A! Check out the steam post to participate! My question was about what Nemlei thinks Andrew and Ashley sound like. Not very creative but eh. Happy New Year, everyone!

[girlfriendsofthegalaxy]

tuesday again 3/25/2025

~*migraine*~ so this is effectively half a tuesdaypost

listening

getting to a point at work where i can enter paperwork with mild distractions (listening to my own fucking music) and letting spotify feed me whatever video game adjacent it wants. this one does exactly what it says on the tin.

-

reading

could not finish this week’s frankly bonkers immediately post 9/11 lesbian thriller in time for this write up and do not want to worsen my migraine. so here we will chat about a book that made me…not homesick? for massachusetts and the boston area but did make me want to replay fallout 4, which was a very strange sensation.

audiobook corner proper, the 2005 Books on Tape version of Ponzi’s Scheme by Mitchell Zuckoff, narrated? performed? read? by David Birney. some very silly notes about the audiobook: not edited even a little bit from the CD version, so about every forty-eight minutes a different guy from the audiobook narrator will come on and inform you what disk you’re finishing and what disk you’re going to start next.

the narrator’s New England accent also comes out hard on place names which is considerately funnier than his decision to apply an Italian accent to direct Ponzi quotes in the first two chapters.

a book that was very successful at its goal of getting YOU the reader to understand why he was so successful: he had public opinion and all but one newspaper on his side. several investigations by nearly every level of law enforcement found it wasn’t technically illegal just uncool, but how are you doing this at the scale you need??? trade secret thanks bye! sows the field well in advance with a tale of a staggering act of generosity in his youth and how much of a wife guy he was. the ENTIRE book it has you sort of teetering on whether he drank his own kool aid. like he truly almost got away with it. and it beautifully recounts his own defenses in legal court and the court of public opinion. it waits until the FINAL TEN MINUTES and a deathbed confession for the reveal that yeah of COURSE he knew he was scamming the whole time. IDIOT. and i now more fully understand why so many people got so fully fleeced. extremely effective book!

-

watching

fallow

-

playing

not much! getting braver with genshin phone controls but they still suck shit compared to mouse & keyboard.

-

making

rounding cape horn to frisco bay (heel to gusset and instep) on this porthos sock. i already knew i hated top down socks (i love to toe up and then blithely knit until im out of yarn instead of playing yarn chicken) but im learning a new thing about myself, and that is i do not care for this pattern maker’s method of heels and gussets. i hate heel flaps and picking up stitches bc i feel like it never looks as neat or tidy as it could be. in other knitting woes, i ordered a ton of sock yarn for christmas presents THREE WEEKS AGO and it still has not shipped bc yarnspirations’ warehouse has suffered some sort of catastrophic admin breakdown. luckily these are for my brother’s summer birthday so i have some time but like. c’mon.

inside out bc that’s how knitting socks works

[aipurjopa]

So sorry to rant in your inbox but another part you brought up is spokes narration as this being a silly challenge. But if we’re dipping into the serious narrative and realistic story elements. Spoke is living in someone’s house without them knowing and driving the owners against each other and into insanity. That’s HORRIFYING. And because of the chipper music and the day counter and spokes silly attitude it’s less horrifying, it’s just a silly Minecraft video you don’t have to think too much about it!

But in the terms that the series goes into (with war, grief, all that) it’s something horrible, the fear that someone is watching you. Footsteps in the back of your mind, a shadow that’s moving just too much like a person. A subtle paranoia that you are being watched.

But to spoke it’s just a fun challenge! A game! That’s it, and now he has something to steal and it’s all so fun and silly (and think of how big of a shift this is from spokes season 1 episode, even there it was serious) it truly gives the effect he’s loosing it. And he’s torturing ash and squiddo too, effectively, he admits it himself in the description. That’s weird.

How I feel trying to figure out this episode cause it feels like a atomic bomb dropped in a sitcom haha slice of life episode:

no, yeah, EXACTLY!!!

i've been yapping about how this feels like the most... lifesteal!spoke thing we've seen out of uu!spoke since the whole parrot torture maze thing... it's so interesting to me. because the whole like... living inside someone's base and fucking with them and the whole paranoia is something that feels so lifesteal coded to me... (coughs) and like... the premise is very similar to that mapicc ls video where he lived in spoke's base for a while.

spoke treating it as a fun game/challenge is so reminiscent to how he operated in lifesteal almost? like in his 4hr wormhole video he ends it off by saying he enjoys the puzzle and trying to do something impossible and the challenge behind pulling that stuff off.

this video is like... when i watched those fucking spoke wormhole videos for the first time and thought to myself "haha, what a funny light hearted video haha poopies is a funny name for your endermite haha what a funny bit it is to place bedrock for every subscriber you get... hey how the fuck do you have op btw?"

btw i LOVE reading people's rambles never apologize <3

[strayheaven]

TENNAAAAAAA

ch3&4 spoilerss ↓

THE FUCKING LIVING ROOM TV FEELING LIKE HE'S A PART OF THE FAMILY WHEN HE GAINS SENTIENCE IS SO 💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💯💯💯💯. the way tenna is uncomfortably familiar with kris..... one-sided familial relationship is a fucking crazy dynamic to have. the way he seems like he's trying to connect with kris about the divorce as a shared experience when it's just so exposing to kris in front of others. and the way he apologizes for stuff as if he, too, aided in the divorce (what the fuck was in the pipes?? my bf said nubert as a joke lol but there's gotta be something there. i first thought he electrocuted kris by accident (considering kris played with the power cable) & toriel and asgore fought about that as a stand-in for bigger problems but tenna took it personally). i love the way that he presents the video game playing as part of the show because it was still treated as being done in front of the audience but it had the comfortability of playing games on the couch with friends/family, so the awareness of the audience starts to fade away & just be, like, tenna's quirk to mention. and the lighthearted narration was more like an older family member guiding a much younger one through a game they've played before (which is what i read as tenna instinctively playing the role of asriel)

& kris' frustrations with how intrusive the soul is feels like it says everything that needs to be said with how they must feel about tenna. he absolutely wedged himself into kris' family, which is what the player is doing to kris' relationships when you get to limit the ways they can react to people. kind of goes back to wondering who, exactly, is creating the options that you get when you talk to anyone in deltarune — personally, i'm thinking that it is kris expressing whatever control they can over the player as part of the tug of war between the soul and kris. & tenna likes kris but doesn't think they like him back! which is how it feels to play deltarune!!! that chocolate syrup bottle was so violent!!!!!!!!!!!!!! + bf and i totally sat and listened to kris playing piano in noelle's house for the whole thing, so going into the soundtrack and listening to the 'concert for you' song was very direct. idk if it's used in the end of ch4 anywhere but they set it up so that you want to listen to them play piano and get to know kris and they do not want that

and constantly being on display & being aware of an audience, never feeling like you have privacy? anything kris engages in being watched, while playing video games helped them forget that because they got to play the role of the soul controlling a video game character? aaaaughhhhhbbhjhjhj tenna has the same dynamic with kris that the soul does im BLOWING UP i was not EXPECTING THAT

[tobiasdrake]

Digimon Adventure 02x27 - The Unrivaled Combination! Paildramon / Fusion Confusion

Previously on Digimon Adventure: Ken left the fucking stove on when he locked up his fortress and now it's going to burn down the Digital World. Daisuke ordered him to get his ass over here and slapped him in the face. Then XV-mon ate Stingmon for a power-up.

The question that we have to answer today is: Will the combined power of XV-mon/ExVeemon and Stingmon be enough to defeat Oukuwamon/Okuwamon? I think Dub Narrator's got this one in the bag. I can't imagine this episode ending without a decisive answer to that.

Incidentally, the word in the title is 無敵 muteki. It's a combination of 無 mu which is nothingness, emptiness, and 敵 teki which is your enemy or rival. 無敵 Muteki means to be so powerful, so formidable, that no enemy or rival could ever stand against you. You have no enemies because none would dare.

All of which is to say that this is a wild way to talk about a Digimon who's only at the penultimate stage of evolution. The second combined Digimon thus far, the other of whom is Omegamon/Omnimon. Paildramon is cool but we might be overselling him a little bit here....

But enough of my pedantry. We're here to watch the Unrivaled Combination flex an asshole in half.

The episode opens by replaying Paildramon's evolution sequence just because it's so fucking cool. Then we go straight into the rundown.

Paildramon is a Perfect-stage Free-attribute Dragon Man Digimon. He's the Jogress Evolution for XV-mon and Stingmon. Well, one of. The other is Dinobeemon who we will not be seeing in the anime... pretty much ever.

The D-3 V-Pets gave Jogress evolutions to whichever of the six Partner Digimon you had, Jogressing with their Jogress partner in the anime. Tailmon and Patamon got their own Perfect forms to be their Jogresses, but Wormmon needed something separate from V-mon and so we got Paildramon and Dinobeemon.

But the anime only needed one Jogress from them so Dinobeemon was consigned to the annals of history, never to see the light of day. Well, outside of the video games, anyway, which typically include both Paildramon and Dinobeemon as redundant Jogress options for the same combination of Digimon.

In any case, Paildramon's name is a bit of a question mark. Wikimon speculates that it may be derived from the word "Pile". Piledramon, the pile dragon. That fits with the pronunciation, which is absolutely Piledramon.

Wikimon credits that to "pile" meaning javelin, which is not exactly correct; I believe they're referring to the Latin pilum.

I've also seen someone speculate that "pile" refers to a group of bees or hornets, which... so far as I can tell is just wrong? I am fairly certain that a "pile of hornets" is not a thing.

I personally speculate that it's because V-mon and Wormmon are piled on each other to form this Digimon, but that's just my guess.

One way or another, "Pilemon" would be an amazing thing to call, like, a group fusion of all of the Chosen Children's Digimon. Maybe Dogpilemon.

Why is he a pile? Is he even a pile? The world may never know.

Narrator: Paildramon! XV-mon and Stingmon Jogress Evolved to form this Dragon Man Digimon! His Special Attack is Desperado Blaster!

Weak. Even if this was my first episode, you just showed me the stock animation again; I know where he came from. At least tell me he's allergic to tuna or something.

"Paildramon inherits V-mon's bottomless stomach but also Wormmon's weak constitution. These traits combine to make him simultaneously needy and picky which can be very obnoxious to his friends at social gatherings."

There you go, I fixed it.

Once the rundown finishes, we then replay the last fifteen seconds or so of everyone reacting to him.

Daisuke & Ken: Paildramon!? Takeru: They combined.... Miyako: Jogress Evolution!?

I could literally have just used the same set of screenshots from the last section of the previous episode for this but then I'd have to pass up a chance to put Miyako on the screen, and that just isn't done. That's my kid's kouhai you're talking about! I will bite you.

The dub has the unfortunate task of needing someone to give a diegetic rundown for Paildramon. Who could possibly be up for the task? The answer may surprise you!

T.K.: (rundown) ExVeemon and Stingmon DNA Digivolved into Paildramon! His Desperado Blaster attack will defeat Okuwamon for sure!

Wow, I was being facetious but actually that answer surprised me. I thought they'd get Paildramon to do his own. T.K. feels like a very "name pulled from a hat" option.

As we've come to expect by now, the dub does not reuse the dialogue from the end of the previous episode but instead goes a different direction with the replayed scene. They also take advantage of Paildramon's lack of visible mouth to give him dialogue.

Paildramon: Take your best shot! Davis & Ken: Paildramon!? Paildramon: Thaaaaaaat's US!!! T.K.: They became one! Yolei: How can he possibly win!?

Everyone's excited except Yolei who's still panicking.

A note about Paildramon's voice: In both versions, he speaks with both XV-mon and Stingmon's voices. However, in the original, sometimes XV-mon and Stingmon will say things separately. They're both in there, rather than having a single shared consciousness.

This doesn't happen in the dub. I'm not sure if that's a conscious choice or if it was simply lost in translation; You might not notice the alternating voices while just reading a transcript from the third-party translator.

One minute into the episode, we're finished repeating the last episode and are ready for new action. The mystery woman gives the command.

It does not go well. For them.

Woman: Oukuwamon, finish this.

Oukuwamon roars menacingly at Paildramon. Paildramon counters its threatening exhalation with a kick to the face, knocking the colossal stag beetle on its ass in the sand.

Paildramon: It's tough....

Suddenly, Oukuwamon goes back on the attack. Surging up from the sand, it grabs for Paildramon. Paildramon catches its pincer, briefly wrestling with all his strength to push it back. Then, taking control, he finds the strength to toss Oukuwamon to his right, opening up some distance.

It occurs to me that we're still in familiar territory, in a sense. Though the faces and metaphysics have changed, the basic setup of the villain as a rival Pokemon Trainer showing up to test their latest acquisition against us is still pretty much what we're doing here.

It's just that the difficulty level's been heightened since enemy Digimon no longer have a targetable weak spot that will instantly win the fight if we hit it. With Dark Tower Digimon, we actually have to beat them the hard way.

At the start of the original, Paildramon makes a short kiai, little more than a "Hagh!" as he braces himself for the fight with Oukuwamon. The dub gives him a longer and more elaborate kiai.

Paildramon: HIIIII-YAH!!! Arukenimon: (sarcastic) Oh my. I'm so frightened. (Paildramon kicks Okuwamon into the sand) Paildramon: Ready for round two? Ha ha! (Okuwamon charges and gets tossed)

Original Paildramon is assessing Oukuwamon while they fight. Dub Paildramon is just having a blast being Ultimate level.

After tossing Oukuwamon, Paildramon follows up with cables from his fingers.

Paildramon's cables wrap around Oukuwamon's front legs. Whipping it through the air, Paildramon slams the creature down into the sand once more.

Armadimon: Amazing-dagyaa! Hawkmon: He's fighting the Perfect level Oukuwamon on even terms! Patamon: Ugh, if only we could still evolve into our Perfect forms! Tailmon: Paildramon has this in the bag! Iori: (bitter) Though he had to combine with Ichijouji Ken's Digimon to do it....

NO FORGIVENESS. IORI WOULD RATHER DIE THAN--

Well, no. Iori's glad we're going to win this fight. He just hates what we had to do to get here.

So far, Paildramon seems to be dominating the fight, but opinions are mixed. Tailmon has confidence in him, while Hawkmon thinks they're evenly matched and Patamon wishes he could get in there to back Paildramon up.

In the dub, Paildramon calls his cables as an attack.

Paildramon: CABLE CATCHER!!! (Paildramon grapples Okuwamon's legs) Paildramon: Sorry, you're GROUNDED!!! (Paildramon slams Okuwamon into the sand) Armadillomon: He fought something fierce!

For context, Armadillomon isn't saying that Paildramon's opponent is "something fierce". It's a Southern-ism; He's using "something fierce" as an adjective to describe the level of Paildramon's fighting.

Hawkmon: Yes, he's most certainly beating the tar out of that Okuwamon chap. Patamon: Yeah, but does he have to make it look so easy? It makes the rest of us look like weaklings. Gatomon: He's tearing up Okuwamon like he was a scratching post! Cody: But... I don't understand why he had to merge with Ken's Digimon....

Opinions are more one-sided in the dub. Everyone agrees that Paildramon is cutting through Okuwamon like a hot knife through butter. This will be over shortly.

The most important point of characterization here is Iori's bitter aside about Ken, which the dub captures perfectly.

Suddenly, Oukuwamon lunges from the sand at Paildramon.

Paildramon flits up, bounding over the lunge and kicking Oukuwamon in the back to send the creature tumbling back down. Still, he's not breathing easily after the speed of that attack.

Paildramon: It's fast....

While Paildramon braces for the next attack, Daisuke nerds out to Ken.

Daisuke: Don't you think he's incredible!? Ken: I don't know.... Daisuke: That is our Partner Digimon! Ken: Ours...?

For some reason, Paildramon is on the ground now. Oukuwamon tries to stomp him, but he vanishes from sight only to reappear delivering an uppercut to Oukuwamon's chin.

Ken: He's our Partners combined.... Daisuke: (throwing punches) Yeah! Like this! And that! Now finish it! Paildramon: (whirling on them) The Crest of Kindness! Hurry! Daisuke & Ken: (speaking in unison) ...oh yeah.... Got it!

Daisuke is so excited and Ken so stunned by this new evolution that they fucking forgot about the reactor meltdown that's about to kill us all. Paildramon has to take the time out of his busy fight to yell at them about it.

It's worth noting that Daisuke is definitely trying to amp Ken up here. He doesn't just say Paildramon is cool; He specifically asks Ken's opinion on Paildramon's coolness, then makes his "Our Partner Digimon" statement when Ken stumbles on it.

He's not just nerding out but specifically trying to get Ken pumped up and excited to be a participant in this.

Children!

In the dub:

(Paildramon kicks Okuwamon) Paildramon: Going down? (Okuwamon crashes into the sand) Davis: Our Digimon is great! Ken: Our Digimon? Davis: We're working together now! That's the power of friendship! Ken: I guess.... (Paildramon uppercuts Okuwamon) Ken: I don't know if I like this idea of a shared Digimon.... Davis: (throwing punches) Yeah! Take that! The left! The right! JAB!!! UPPERCUT!!! BODY BLOW!!! KNOCK HIM OUT!!! Paildramon: (whirling on them) Quick! Use the Crest of Kindness! Davis & Ken: (speaking in unison) The what? ...OH YEAH!!!

This is pretty good. Davis approaches it differently but he's still clearly trying to amp up Ken. And his voice actor goes hard on the "excited Davis throwing punches" bit.

Suddenly reminded of their task, Daisuke and Ken run for the derelict fortress.

Takeru: We're going too! Hikari: I'm sure there's still time!

The other Chosen Children and their battered Digimon follow after Daisuke and Ken. However, the team making a break for the fortress does not go unnoticed.

Woman: I can't let you do that. Oukuwamon, go deal with the children.

Turning its back on Paildramon, Oukuwamon flies into the air on an intercept course for the kids. This is a terrible idea and the woman was wrong to have ordered it.

Paildramon: I won't let you go!

Paildramon shoots his cables around Oukuwamon's hind legs and drags his ass back because of course he does that. Go fucking take care of them yourself.

I mean that. Mystery woman is Perfect level. There is absolutely nothing stopping her from chasing them into the fortress and jumping them. She's just being lazy.

...well, I suppose she probably doesn't want to be at ground zero when the reactor melts down. That's probably stopping her. She needs to get the fuck out of here at some point.

In the dub:

T.K.: Don't forget about us! Kari: Yeah, let's go! (The rest of the team follows) Davis: Hurry up! We don't have all day, slowpokes!

As the team runs for the fortress, the dub takes their first commercial break. On return, we pick right back up where we left off.

Arukenimon: Fleeing in terror, are we? Hmph! It's such a shame you'll never outrun Okuwamon. (Okuwamon tries to pursue) Paildramon: What's your hurry? CABLE CATCHER!!!

Then, as Paildramon pulls Okuwamon back, they add in a "Stupid Davis" joke.

T.K.: DAVIS, WAIT!!! Ugh, his feet are faster than his brains....

That was necessary, sure.

An oddity of the dub's take on Arukenimon's dialogue is that she doesn't tell Okuwamon to do things the way she does in the original. It just. Like. Acts on its own accord in the ways she wants it to.

Daisuke and Ken approach a hole in the fortress's wall and slip inside. By the time the others reach it, they're already clamboring their way across the debris within.

Takeru: We can't go further than this.

Takeru says that for some reason despite the fact that Daisuke and Ken are visibly in the middle of going further. Before long, the boys drop down onto the floor on the other side at the same time, then bolt for the next opening. Their footsteps are perfectly in sync as they run and hurdle the next chunk of debris.

Slowly crossing the debris, the others stop a moment to stare in amazement at the boys' perfectly synchronized obstacle clearing.

Miyako: Don't those two seem like a perfect match...?

It's almost like they've fused or something.

In the dub, Ken calls out the crack in the wall as they approach.

Ken: There it is! The entrance to the cave!

Weird way to describe an obvious fracture in the metal exterior that we're going to slip through.

Davis: Coast looks clear! T.K.: There's no way they'll get through all this rubble! (Ken and Davis make it to the other side and keep going) Yolei: Uh, I suppose Ken and Davis just didn't hear you, T.K....

T.K. remains as weirdly negative as in the original, but they don't call out Ken and Davis's perfectly synchronized movements. Which is a shame because... that is a thing worth noting. Because they're doing that. It's as if their hearts are beating as one, I wonder why that is.

Following the sound of a blaring alarm, it doesn't take long for Daisuke and Ken to find the reactor.

It's a large metal device glowing with radioactive green energy, emblazoned with the symbol of Kindness. Beneath the symbol is a small slot for the Crest.

Daisuke: The Crest! Ken: Yeah!

Ken climbs up to the generator and slots the Crest into it. The generator accepts the Crest and, after a moment, the energy and the alarm both die down.

With the reactor disabled, the crisis is over. The team finally has a moment to breathe as the others finally catch up to Daisuke and Ken.

Hikari: You made it in time! Daisuke: YEAH!!!

It was... probably close? We don't really have a solid estimate of how much time was left on the clock. Which isn't a bug, it's a feature, as the lack of knowing added to the anxiety. "We're running out of time" tension versus "We might already be, WHO KNOWS" tension. The important thing is, several hundred square kilometers of the Digital World are no longer about to become a smoking crater.

In the original, there is no music on the approach to the generator. The only sound is the blaring of the alarm. The dub has no alarm and plays the typical "dangerous situation" music. They also have some inner monologue exposition in to re-establish what we're doing in here.

Ken: (thinking) There it is. Davis: (thinking) Whoooooaaaaaa! Ken: (thinking) Now we just need to get the Crest of Kindness up there, right below its symbol. Davis: Well!? Quit stalling! (Ken climbs up and slots in the Crest; The reactor shuts down) Ken: Look at that! The power is shutting down. The reactor's going offline! It won't explode now! Davis: It worked! (The others arrive) Cody: Nicely done! T.K.: Excellent! Yolei: YAY!!! Kari: You guys did it! Davis: YEAH!!!

The original script assumes that you already know what the fuck this is and why it's important to shut it off. In the dub, Ken re-explains what we're doing right here and now, as the generator's shutting down.

An interesting note is that the original recap did mention that we're here to thwart the reactor from exploding, though it didn't bring up the Crest. In the dub, the recap is focused on Minotarumon and the big fight we had with him; This moment is the first mention the dub's made of any impending explosion in this episode.

Monitoring the readings from his computer at home, Koushiro confirms that the dark energy distortions have disappeared.

Koushiro: Yes! The distortion's gone!

When we saw him last episode, he was contacting them from the computer clubroom. So I guess he went home while we were waiting on Ken's tardiness. Might have felt self-conscious loitering at an elementary school alone after-hours, and now he doesn't technically need to do that.

One email chime later, Iori gets the message from Koushiro.

Iori: It's from Koushiro-san. The distortion's gone! Miyako: YAY!!! It should be safe now, right? Patamon: To be honest, I was a little scared because it could have exploded at any moment. Takeru: Me too. Daisuke: (to Ken) We're all safe now, thanks to you.

Daisuke's gratitude brings a smile to Ken's face. It's good to be part of a team.

In the dub:

Izzy: Prodigious! Way to go, guys! They managed to return the warp to normal.

The dub does not have the email alert chime as we switch back to the team in the Digital World.

Cody: Hey, it's a message from Izzy! Kari: What's it say? Cody: The warp's back to normal! Yolei: Alright! Score one for the good guys! Patamon: That's all we get? All that work and we only get one point? T.K.! T.K.: You get two. Davis: (to Ken) And it's all thanks to your Crest.

It's a little awkward that we're suddenly talking about "the warp" as if that's what we've been calling it this whole time, but that just parallels the awkwardness of suddenly talking about the 歪み yugami as if that's what we've been calling it. Neither of these terms were how we described the impending catastrophe last episode.

The dub swaps out a nice moment of emotional sincerity from Patamon and Takeru for a cute little affectionate gag.

Not a fan of the way they swapped Daisuke crediting Ken directly for Davis complimenting the Crest itself. Daisuke's still trying to puff Ken up, to build his confidence in himself and in his participation in their activities. "Great work having the keys to the reactor in your possession" is underselling it.

In any case, what matters most is that we've saved the Digital World again, that two more explosions rip out of the fortress, and that we've made a solid connection with Ke--

Wait, what?

Ken: What!?

The twin blasts shake the fortress, causing parts of the ceiling to collapse inside. The Chosen Children run for cover. Outside, Paildramon notices the blasts as well.

Paildramon (XV): Why!? Paildramon (Sting): The explosion hasn't stopped!

He's so distracted, he doesn't even notice Oukuwamon sneaking up behind him until the creature slams its pincer down on the top of his head.

Back inside, Miyako ducks behind a piece of machinery and covers her head, which is kinda funny because she's the only one on the team with an actual helmet.

Miyako: NOOOO!!! I THOUGHT WE PUT THE CREST OF KINDNESS BACK!!!

In his room, Koushiro sees the distortion wave returning on his screen.

Koushiro: This is a disaster!

He frantically types out a message to Iori, received on the other end.

Iori: (reading D-Terminal) "This is a disaster. The distortion has flared up again." That can't be! Daisuke: I thought putting Ichijouji's Crest back was supposed to stop the explosion! Ken: (spiraling) My Crest is useless... It couldn't help us.... Iori: No... I'm sure the power from the Crest of Kindness prevented the reactor from exploding.

That disagreement from Iori of all people creates a stunned silence in the room. Everyone slowly look at Iori.

Iori: (bitterly) I'm just stating the facts. It was plainly visible on Koushiro-san's computer.

Despite his personal feelings about Ken, Iori assesses the situation honestly. The distortion faded when we shut down the reactor. The reactor is still shut down, but now the distortion is back. The logical deduction is that something else is now happening to force the fortress to explode anyway.

In the dub:

(Explosions) Group: Ahhh! Kari: What's going on!? Cody: For some reason, shutting down the reactor isn't stopping the explosion! (The kids run for cover) Paildramon: Huh!? Oh no! The plan didn't work!

The dub uses a white flash to obscure the moment of Okuwamon bonking Paildramon. Okuwamon flies up behind him, white flash, Paildramon's plummeting into the sand. You still get the impression that Okuwamon hit him with something, though not specifically what.

They also apparently also had the "Wait isn't she wearing a helmet?" question because they use Yolei's line to address it.

Yolei: Ugh, my hat's great in the rain but it doesn't work on concrete! (Izzy sees the warp return) Izzy: (confused) What is happening? Gotta warn 'em! (Izzy sends email) Cody: Izzy says the warp is getting worse, not better. But... The Crest didn't work! Davis: How can that be!? We did everything we were supposed to do! We put the Crest of Kindness back where it belongs! Ken: (spiraling) I knew something like this would happen... My Crest is meaningless... Cody: No! The Crest of Kindness should have stopped the explosion! There must be something else about this place that we don't know! Davis: Huh!? Cody: Is there something you're not telling us, Ken!? Ken: Uhh.... (Everyone looks at Cody) Cody: There's something wrong here. And if there was anyone who would know what it was, that person would have to be you!

Iori and Cody have wildly different takes on this situation. Iori calmly assesses that the Crest shut down the distortion and then a distortion started again, meaning there is some other cause of this second distortion. He resists the urge to let his hatred of Ken blind him from following the facts where they lead.

Cody does not resist the urge. He asserts twice that the Crest failed, the warp never stopped, and that Ken must be complicit in it. He even rants over the moment of stunned silence the others give Iori so he can make his accusation. He is wildly off-base and letting his hatred run away with him.

Another explosion rocks the base. We're running out of time, but the others are coming around to Iori's train of logic.

Hikari: Then what's this explosion? Miyako: There must be something else! Some other reason for it! Woman: Oh, what a shame....

A TV sits amid all the rubble. The screen displays the mystery woman out in the desert, demonstrating her continued refusal to come inside and get blown the fuck up.

Hikari: Are you responsible for this!? Woman: Oh, quit pointing fingers. The important thing is, that measly little Crest can't help you now. The Dark Power has grown spectacularly.

Another explosion punctuates the woman's words.

Daisuke: What did you say!? Woman: Nothing can stop it now. Ehehehe... Isn't that funny? AHAHAHAHAHA!!!

She kills the feed there.

In any case, this is our first tipoff of what's really happening here. The Darkness has had its way with the fortress since Ken left and is going critical.

In the dub, the team starts accusing Arukenimon before she even joins the conversation.

(Explosion) Kari: That woman's behind all this trouble! Yolei: Yeah! Knock it off! You're a real bad egg, lady! Arukenimon: And soon you will all be scrambled. (Woman is on the TV) Kari: You don't scare us! We'll beat you yet! Arukenimon: Ha! You don't even seem to know if you're fighting the right enemy or if your friends... are really your friends. (Dramatic explosion) Davis: YOU'LL NEVER WIN!!! Arukenimon: Oh, but that's exactly what I'll do! And you... Ehehe... You'll blow up! AHAHAHAHA!!!

This is nothing. The Japanese cast is deliberating the secondary cause of the distortion that Iori speculated and being given an alarmingly plausible explanation. The dub is just doing throwaway Saturday Morning Cartoon banter.

The one meaningful statement made is that Arukenimon plants seeds of doubt about whether Ken can really be trusted. Continuing from Cody's wild accusations, that seems to be the direction the dub wants to go with this episode.

Reeling from his own helplessness, Ken looks down at the ground... Where he suddenly spots some pipes on the floor.

Ken: Ah! Those are....

Following the pipes with his eyes, Ken sees that they disappear down a hallway to the side of the room.

Ken: That's it! These pipes are....

Refusing to finish any of his sentences like an asshole, Ken explains nothing and chases the pipes into the hall.

Daisuke: Hey! Where are you going!?

Daisuke gets no answer and we cut outside to the mystery woman still not evacuating the vicinity of the impending meltdown.

Woman: Hmph... Those children don't know when to quit.

DO YOU!?!? WHY ARE YOU STILL HERE!?!?

SEVERAL. HUNDRED. KILOMETERS.

Woman: Go ahead and blow yourselves to pieces right alongside that broken toy. All that's left for me to do is to defeat you, Paildramon!

Ken. She means Ken. The "broken toy" is Ken.

Right on time, Oukuwamon erupts from the sand and into the air, clutching Paildramon in its pincers. Steadying his legs against one finger and using his left arm to push the other back, Paildramon's right arm is free to attack.

Paildramon: ESGRIMA!!!

Taking a break from kool exotik English words, here we get some kool exotik Spanish. "Esgrima" means fencing. The attack consists of extending the blade on Paildramon's gauntlets, jamming it straight into Oukuwamon's stupid face.

I'M ALREADY IN YOUR HAND; BLOCK THIS!!!

It's a solid hit; The blade cuts through Oukuwamon's exoskeleton and pierces what passes for its body, cracking the outer shell around it.

In the dub:

Ken: (thinking) She's trying to turn them against me.... Wait! The pipes! Ken: Why, of course! (Ken visually follows the pipes to the tunnel) Ken: We've got to follow these pipes! (Ken physically follows the pipes to the tunnel) Davis: Hey! Where's he going!?

Dub Ken actually explains his train of thought to the others instead of just yelling "The pipes!" and running off. Davis is still confused, nonetheless.

Arukenimon: Ah, just one little explosion and those nosy little brats will be out of my hair forever! But first, let's get rid of Paildramon, shall we? OKUWAMON!!! (Okuwamon bursts out of the sand with Paildramon) Paildramon: No more Mr. Nice Guy! STING STRIKE!!!

They censored out Okuwamon bopping Paildramon in the head earlier but not Paildramon stabbing Okuwamon in the fucking face. That part's fine.

As the fight rages outside, the children enter what I unaffectionately call the Meat Tunnel.

No, this will not be explained or even commented on, but I would hazard a guess that it's a product of the corruption bleeding out from where the Dark Power is most concentrated. It's corrupting reality around it.

Daisuke: What's down there? Ken: These pipes are probably what send energy to the reactor. So if we follow the pipes, we should be able to find the cause of this explosion.

"Probably". Ken doesn't fully remember the base is constructed. As someone who works with databases, I can relate. I've built many a database only to have to diagnose problems a year later and be like, "How the fuck did I code this again?" It's always a little embarrassing having to reverse-engineer something that you fucking built to begin with.

Assuming he did build it.

Outside, Oukuwamon slams into the desert sands hard and burrows deep, leaving Paildramon alone on the surface.

Paildramon: Where is it!? Where did it go!?

Back inside the Meat Tunnel, the team prepares to go deeper.

Tailmon: Something about this feels wrong. Patamon: I'm sure I've felt this way before....

Despite their misgivings, the Chosen Children progress down the tunnel until another explosion blocks their way. The blast causes the... meat ceiling... to collapse in a pile of wet muscley debris and what are definitely veins or intestines.

In the dub, Ken's more confident about his assessment.

Ken: These pipes send energy to the reactor above. Following them will lead us right to the source of its power! If we plug that source, we should be able to stop the reactor from exploding! (Okuwamon suddenly burrows) Paildramon: Come out, come out, wherever you are! ...where are you!? ...hello? (Back to the Meat Tunnel) Gatomon: These tunnels give me the creeps! Patamon: You know, this reminds me of something. (The team continues) Davis: How much further do we have to go? (Explosion) T.K.: What's that!? (Tunnel collapse)

The dub is no more eager to talk about the Meat Tunnel than the original is.

With the collapse of the tunnel, it looks like we have no choice but to turn around and find another way.

Oh, never mind. Hooray for violence!

Iori: It's blocked! Miyako: Agh! Now what!? Armadimon: Leave this to me-dagyaa! ROLLING STONE!!!

Armadimon rolls straight into the debris and grossly splatters it everywhere.

Hawkmon: FEATHER SLASH!!!

Hawkmon follows up by throwing the feather from his headband, which slices through the intestines and clears our path forward. What had been an obstacle falls into a gooey mess on the floor.

Hawkmon: (proudly) And now we can pass.

Hawkmon gloats but he's not the one who got Meat Tunnel all over his face to achieve this. Where's the props for Armadimon?

Outside, Paildramon's getting a little spooked waiting for the inevitable ambush.

Paildramon: Where are you!? Come out!

Suddenly, the sand shifts on a nearby dune. Paildramon whips around, preparing for the attack... which instead comes from below. Capitalizing on a clever distraction, Oukuwamon's pincer suddenly bursts from the sand beneath Paildramon's feet and drags him down below.

Woman: Mm, ohohohohoho! It's over.

THE UNRIVALED COMBINATION

...got outsmarted by an animate rock. Probably should have just stayed in the air and not put himself in this position to begin with. Sun Tzu says that if your enemy goes to ground, hover in the air for as long as possible instead of giving him the opportunity to sneak attack you with his giant monster pincers

That's a direct quote from the Art of War. You can look it up!

In the dub:

Davis: Oh no! Kari: The tunnel's blocked! What are we gonna do!? Armadillomon: Don't worry! Just leave it to ol' Armadillomon! DIAMOND SHELL!!! (Armadillomon crashes through) Hawkmon: FEATHER STRIKE!!! (Hawkmon slices the intestines) Armadillomon: YEAH!!! Hawkmon: Now, we may continue. (Cut to Paildramon's fight) Paildramon: OLLY OLLY OXEN FREE!!! (Sand shifts) Paildramon: Huh? (Sudden attack) Paildramon: WHOA!!! NO FAIR!!! (Paildramon's pulled under) Arukenimon: Ahahaha! Too easy.

When Armadillomon smashes through the meaty debris, the original sounds like he's crashing through a stone wall. The dub gives it a drilling through steel noise. Neither really wants to engage with the wet splorching sounds that he'd probably be making in actuality.

Anyway, that's the end of the Meat Tunnel. Hope you had a good time and let's never speak of it again. Hey, could have been worse. Could have been the Wonka tunnel. You know the one. In any case, this tunnel exits out to a... to the....

That. It exits to that.

Ken: That's it!

At their destination, the pipes wrap around a huge stalagmite sticking straight up with some sort of disgusting growth on it. A hideous maw on the end breathes darkness into the air. The whole thing seems to be radiating dark energy.

Daisuke: Does anyone else feel a chill? Takeru: This feeling...! Patamon: I remember! This is what I felt when we were inside that whirlpool!

Takeru flashes back on his and Pegasmon's descent into the Dark Whirlpool. Back when Pegasmon had to warn him away from looking directly at whatever horror lurked at the bottom.

Hikari: I know it too.

Hikari flashes back on the moment when she first opened her eyes in the Dark Ocean, looking out at the endless seas and that lighthouse with the black light.

Ken: That makes sense. The opening in that mouth is connected to the Dark World. Dark Energy from the Dark World flowing through that opening is what was powering this base.

The Crest of Kindness was never the fortress's power source. It was stabilizing the power source. Counteracting the Dark Power coming from this thing. And given how black and murky it was when we first found it as the Digimental of Miracles, the Darkness seems to have been winning.

No time for more discussion, however, because two small explosions shake the inner chamber. In his room, Koushiro sees the distortion pulses speeding up.

Koushiro: PLEASE HURRY!!!

The Chosen Children enter the chamber and approach the grotesquery, which seems to be approaching critical mass. The eye on the dark maw suddenly begins to glow white.

Iori: We're out of time! We have to do this fast or it'll explode! Daisuke: What do we do, Ichijouji!? Ken: We have to cut the flow of Dark Energy! There should be some kind of mechanism to cut the flow!

Suddenly another explosion, this time way too close, rips through the room itself. Time's just about up.

As an aside, I don't know if this is an animation error or not because this device is a weird gross eldritch thing. But when we see the maw in closeup, the flow of Dark Energy seems to be pouring into it rather than out from it, but the characters talk about it as if it's bringing Dark Energy from the Dark World and pouring it into ours.

It's inhaling rather than exhaling which doesn't really make sense for how its functions are described. Unless maybe the Meat Tunnel was a gateway into the Dark World or something. We do seem to have the Dark Ocean gray filter over us. That's a possibility.

In the dub:

Ken: There it is! The source of the reactor's power! Davis: Boy, if evil's got a color, that's it.

Felt, Davis. Super felt.

Yolei: It's so cold! T.K.: This feeling.... Patamon: I remember! This feels just like when we were near that whirlpool! (Flashback to Dark Whirlpool) T.K. (V.O.): Yeah! I remember now! You're right, Patamon. It is the same disturbing feeling. (End flashback) Kari: I've felt it too. (Flashback to Dark Ocean) Kari (V.O.): When I was pulled into the world that looked like a negative photograph. Everything that was supposed to be light was dark. Even the light! (End flashback) Ken: The World of Darkness. Kari: Huh? Ken: This is a doorway that leads directly to the World of Darkness. Davis: How do you know!? Ken: Because I've been surrounded by this energy ever since I came to the Digital World.

The dub takes that line as a dramatic mic drop to leave off on, and we go for the second commercial break. After the break, Kari re-establishes our predicament.

Kari: I can feel that thing's power building! We'd better do something quick! Yolei: Yeah, but what!? (Two explosions) Izzy: It's a...bout to explode!

Really noticeable gap in that word due to the lip flaps not cooperating.

Ken: COME ON!!! (The team slides down into the room; The maw's eye glows) Cody: Look! Up there! We've got to close the opening the Dark Power is coming through! Davis: So what do you think we should do, Ken!? Ken: I don't really know but we've got to stop that power flow! There must be something around here that we can use to stop it! (Surprise explosion)

The exposition here is pretty good. The maw opens into the Dark World and we need to shut it down. Bases are covered, we know what's going on and why we're exploding.

Outside, Paildramon and Oukuwamon erupt from the sand. Paildramon's still grappled in Oukuwamon's pincer.

Paildramon (XV): Daisuke and the others are still in there!? Paildramon (Sting): Ken-chan and the others are in danger! Paildramon: DESPERADO BLASTER!!!

Paildramon is officially done with this. Using his hands to pry apart Oukuwamon's pincer, he unloads the dual machine guns dangling from his hips. From his hoisted position, gravity easily guides his bullets right down into Oukuwamon's face The relentless assault tears through Oukuwamon's fleshy exterior and then through the Dark Tower mass underneath, until finally Oukuwamon explodes into pixel dust.

When the smoke settles, the only piece left of the false Digimon is the lone severed pincer. Paildramon lets that part fall, which then also disintegrates. But there's no time for celebration because Paildramon still has work to do.

Paildramon (XV): Daisuke! Paildramon (Sting): Ken-chan!

Turning around in the air, he guns it for the fortress.

In the dub:

Paildramon: Uh-oh! That looks like big trouble! Time to end this fight! DESPERADO BLASTER!!! (Paildramon's assault destroys the false Okuwamon) Paildramon: Now that's what I call going to pieces! (Paildramon drops the pincer, which also disintegrates) Paildramon: Okay, it's time to save some DigiDestined!

As I mentioned before, the alternating voices didn't make it across the pond. Paildramon confidently makes quips to nobody in particular but isn't talking to himself to the same extent as the Japanese Paildramon.

Inside the fortress, the team try to get their bearings after that last blast rocked the inner chamber.

Daisuke: Is everyone okay? Miyako: We're fine, but... LOOK AT THAT!!!

Miyako points up at the stalagmite, which is now pulsing with white energy. The dark maw cries a stream of glowing white fluid. We are out of time.

In his room, Koushiro stands up suddenly, knocking over his chair.

Koushiro: IT'S ABOUT TO BLOW!!! YOU HAVE TO GET OUT OF THERE!!!

Oh, we are way past the Point of No Escape. If we were planning on evacuating, we needed to start running like an hour ago. At this point, we won't even make it to the crack in the wall leading out to the desert.

Ken: It... It's hopeless....

Not so much! Paildramon crashes through the wall, locked and loaded.

Paildramon: DESPERADO BLASTER!!!

He pumps the bleeding maw full of hot lead until it shatters, destroying the Dark Energy intake and thwarting the meltdown.

Daisuke & Ken: PAILDRAMON!!!

Koushiro once again watches the distortion ripples fade.

Koushiro: (relieved) They made it....

He sends another email to Iori.

Iori: "The distortion has subsided. This time, everything should be fine."

Corroborating how fine everything is, we cut to the mystery woman outside, and she is livid about how not-blown-up she is right now.

Woman: Remember this, you wretched children. Now you've really pissed me off, and you're going to regret it.

She does not televise this proclamation. She's just threatening the wind. Everyone needs to vent sometimes. But she is promising escalation. We might even finally get her name.

From here, we go to commercial. This is a good spot to demarcate the two halves of this episode.

In the dub:

Davis: Whoa, what a doozy! Is everyone okay? Yolei: I'm fine but my pride is bruised. ...BUT LOOK!!! (Yolei points out the pulsing stalagmite) Cody: The power output is increasing! T.K.: This looks like the end! (Izzy knocks over his chair) Izzy: Oh no! RUN!!! RUN!!! WHY WON'T THEY RUN!?!? (They do not run) Ken: No! It can't be! (Paildramon breaks through) Paildramon: Someone call for a hero? DESPERADO BLASTER!!! (Paildramon destroys the maw) Paildramon: Do I know how to make an entrance or what? Davis & Ken: PAILDRAMON!!! (The warp ripples stop) Izzy: The warp's returning to normal. Whew... But my stiff neck isn't! I've got to learn not to get so excited. (Izzy sends email) Cody: Izzy says the warp is returning to normal and it's all thanks to Paildramon! Paildramon: Save the accolades. This was just a battle! The war is far from over.... (Cut to Arukenimon) Arukenimon: Enjoy your little victory while you can. Eat, drink, and be merry, little DigiDestined, for soon you'll be crushed!

This is pretty good.

After the commercial break, we return to find Paildramon dismantling the Kaiser's fortress in a hail of gunfire with extreme prejudice.

Paildramon: DESPERADO BLASTER!!!

An explosion tears outward from the fortress, blowing off its outer shell. The Chosen Children watch from a safe distance.

Ken: Smash it into pieces. Leave nothing behind.

When the work is finished and the massive fortress has been reduced to a field of smoldering rocks littered about the sand, Paildramon returns to the children. He's spent so much energy that he's reduced all the way to his Baby I forms, Leafmon and Chicomon! This is our first time seeing V-mon as a Baby I! D'aww....

The babies bounce over to their Partners, hopping for joy and mobility. It's dual-purpose hopping!

Leafmon: Did we do a good job, Ken-chan? Ken: Yes, thank you, Leafmon. Daisuke: You're... V-mon? Is that right? Chicomon: Ehehe! Right now, I'm Chicomon! So, weren't we really strong? Daisuke: Yeah, you were the best!

THE UNRIVALED COMBINATION!!! With many, many asterisks on "Unrivaled", but they just saved the day so we'll let them have this.

In the dub:

Paildramon: DESPERADO BLASTER!!! (Outer layer of base explodes) Ken: Yes, blow it up so no one else can ever use it again. (Babies come bouncing across the sand once the deed is done) Leafmon: Hey! We're over here! Did we do things the way you wanted us to? Ken: Yes, you did an excellent job, my friend. Davis: Um, you're Veemon, aren't you? Chibomon: Well actually, Davis, you can just call me Chibomon for now. Davis: Well, whatever your name is, YOU ROCK!!!

CHIBOMON

That was NOT a typo.

They shifted one letter exactly one placement to the left so that it wouldn't be the Spanish word for "boy". I don't even know why they did that. Is there something wrong with saying "chico" on children's television?

Chibomon has the hilarious honor of being halfway between Chicomon and Chibimon, two perfectly good Digimon names that the dub inexplicably refuses to use.

It's fine. He'll fit right in with his buddies Gawkmon and Armadikkomon.

Anyway, enough celebrating. It's time to turn up the pressure on Ken.

Chicomon: (to Leafmon) I look forward to working with you! Leafmon: Aww, thanks!

While Chicomon gleefully nuzzles Leafmon, Daisuke holds out his hand for Ken's.

Daisuke: We did it, Ichijouji.

Ken reaches for Daisuke's hand, but then pulls his own back.

Daisuke: What's wrong? Ken: Why did our Digimon suddenly combine like that? Why? Daisuke: What are you talking about? It's because we're teammates. Ken: Teammates? Daisuke: Didn't you feel it? When the Digimon combined, our thoughts and feelings flowed into each other. Our hearts beating together as one... What an amazing feeling of unity! It was at that moment, I knew that we'd become a team.

Daisuke's interpretation is a little biased because he's been advocating for Ken for several episodes. The word he's using here is, of course, 仲間 nakama. A tight-knit group of people joined together by a mutual activity or goal.

He overextended himself previously with this word. In episode 25, he made good progress in getting Ken to agree to an apology, but then scared Ken away when he whipped out the term 仲間 nakama. That was a bridge too far.

It's ironic that 仲間 nakama was also a concept that gave Yamato a lot of grief, but his successor Daisuke has no problem with it; It's Ken who struggles with it.

But given what just happened with Paildramon, Daisuke feels confident in pushing 仲間 nakama again. This proves to be a mistake, as Ken remains as uncomfortable with it as he was in 25.

Ken: I'm not qualified to join your team. Daisuke: What do you mean, "qualified"!? The feeling of unity wasn't enough!? Ken: Sorry.

Preparing to leave, Leafmon hops up into Ken's arms.

Ken: Give me more time to think about it. Daisuke: Eh!? Ah, wait a second, Ichijouji!

But Ken does not wait. Having said his piece, Ken turns and walks away, leaving a dejected Daisuke behind with the rest of his 仲間 nakama.

Paildramon was cool and all but that doesn't mean Ken's ready to join us. Nor are we ready to have him, given that we're still only at two of five confirmed approvals. Hikari and Takeru were on the fence and Iori was at Hell The Fuck No last we checked in.

In the dub:

Chibomon: We make a great team, huh? Hehehehe! (Chibomon and Leafmon nuzzle each other) Davis: We make a good team too! (Ken almost shakes Davis's hand but backs out) Davis: What's wrong? Ken: I just don't feel like I deserve to be friends with any of you. At all. Davis: Boy, that's a lot of bologna! Look, Ken, you've earned our friendship! Ken: I have? Davis: Yeah! Sure, you started out all mean and evil but you decided to change and become one of us! And working hard like that builds the strongest kind of friendship there is! Trust me, I know friendship and after all we've been through, we're friends! And I'm absolutely not gonna take no for an answer. Ken: I don't know. I've done a lot of bad things. Things I'm not proud of at all. Davis: Hey, all of us have made mistakes. Look at Yolei; She makes them all the time! Yolei: HEY!!! Ken: I don't know. (Leafmon hops up into Ken's arms) Ken: I need some time to think about this. Davis: Wait, Ken! No, don't go! (Ken leaves, carrying Leafmon) Leafmon: (dejected) Byyyyyye....

Oh my god, I love Leafmon's sad "bye".

Not so keen on the rest of this. Davis sidesteps the feeling of unity to instead talk more generally about Ken's redemption arc. Which doesn't... really sound quite right? Like, Ken is changing but the "and become one of us" is completely false. Ken isn't one of us. Whether or not Ken should be one of us is the main topic of discussion surrounding his arc right now, and Ken himself is in the anti- column.

Davis just comes across like he's describing redemption storytelling instead of talking about Ken's journey across these past several episodes specifically.

He also, for the second time in as many episodes, trivializes the Digimon Emperor's crimes with "You made some mistakes; Who hasn't?" It's literally the exact same bit as in last episode, except this time he throws Yolei under the bus for a joke rather than diving under it himself.

As Ken departs, Daisuke and the others are left to unpack his latest rejection.

Daisuke: I don't get it.... Hikari: You're too straightforward, Daisuke-kun. When you suddenly pressure him like that, of course he won't be able to give you a clear answer.

Poor Daisuke. First Hikari, now Ken. Forever rejected.

That's only half in jest. In seriousness, it's probably not a coincidence that Hikari is the one who can pretty clearly see what just happened. As a consequence of wearing his heart on his sleeve, Daisuke's problem is that he comes on too strong.

Daisuke: But we just fought together! Miyako: Maybe he was engrossed in the fight, but once it was over and he settled down, he suddenly thought "Wait, what's going on!?" and flew into a panic! Just a thought. Iori: Even I don't really know what's going on anymore. Hikari: We'll just have to wait and see what happens with Ichijouji-kun. Come on, let's go home!

Hikari, Miyako, and Iori turn and leave the opposite direction from where Ken's going. But one person conspicuously hasn't chimed in on this conversation. Daisuke turns to watch Ken leave and addresses Takeru, who's been silently watching him go this whole time.

Daisuke: He's trying, in his own way. Takeru: I just hope he isn't only doing it to make himself feel better.

Hikari seems to be softening on Ken, but Takeru remains conflicted.

This statement from Takeru seems to clarify some things from his earlier expressed opinion on the subject. He'd said previously that, like Daisuke, he does believe Ken is trying to change. But he still opposes letting Ken join the team.

Takeru's concern is that Ken might only be changing to soothe his guilty conscience. Just saying what he needs to say and doing what he needs to do to stop having to feel bad for what he did. Going through whatever motions he needs to go through to bury it and put it behind him.

Ironically, it's a potent counter for what T.K. said in the dub about wanting Ken to forgive himself. If you're just doing it because you feel bad, then once you do forgive yourself, there is a high risk of falling right back into old habits. That kind of mindset, the idea of just trying to repay your debts, is the sort of change that is ephemeral.

The problem is not what Ken did or how Ken feels about it; The problem is who Ken fundamentally was as a person, which motivated the things that he did. And unless Ken is sincerely motivated to change that core identity, to rebuild his beliefs and his way of experiencing the world, it's not going to stick.

The biggest peril of atonement/forgiveness/redemption/etc. is recidivism. People who did it for the wrong reasons and then fell back on old ways once they'd achieved what they sought to achieve. The "My S.O. said they were going to be better but then after I forgave them, they started doing the shit again" phenomenon.

We, the audience, have looked through Ken's eyes so we know that he is sincerely motivated to change his core identity. We know that he's already examined his beliefs and why he believed those things. We held his hand as he went on a soul-searching mission to rediscover who he is on a fundamental level.

But the others weren't privy to that. So Takeru's concern is factually wrong, but it is a valid concern for him to have. Having to face these sorts of concerns is just part of the redemption process.

In the dub:

Davis: But we're friends now.... Kari: You always come on so strong, Davis. You can't force him to be your friend if he's not ready. You have to let it happen naturally. Davis: Yeah, but we just fought together! That makes us friends, doesn't it? Yolei: Fighting's one thing, but maybe afterwards he realized he wasn't ready to be friends. Or maybe he's just upset with a certain someone for pointing out how he makes mistakes! Cody: Let's not fight. Let's just keep an eye on Ken and see what happens. Kari: Cody's right. There's absolutely nothing any of us can do about it now, so let's go home. (Kari, Yolei, and Cody start walking) Davis: Well, I hope he decides to become our friend soon.... T.K.: I hope he doesn't start thinking it'd be easier to go back to being evil!

Yolei shames Davis for that "we've all made mistakes" remark being too accusatory somehow. But I can forgive it because she's clearly projecting. The gag is that she's upset with Davis for throwing her under the bus earlier and she's using Ken as a vehicle to express it.

Iori didn't really have much of an opinion to express on the matter so Cody steals Hikari's line and hopes no one will notice.

T.K. expresses a shallower but similar concern to Takeru's. Despite its similarity, it's more jarring and feels like it comes out of nowhere. I... also hope that but I'm not sure what part of this conversation made you think that was the thing to worry about, my guy.

Back in the human world, we go straight to a closeup on a pay phone.

Miyako: Yes, that's right! The Digimon combined!

Then we cut to the team outside the phone booth talking to Miyako about her call.

Takeru: What did Koushiro-san say? Miyako: Well, he has something he wants to explain to us about Jogress Evolution, so he's asked us to come to his home tomorrow. Iori: What does he want to tell us? Miyako: Um, I didn't ask for details.

They leave the pay phone and start walking home with Iori immediately regretting letting Miyako be the one to talk to Koushiro.

Iori: What do you think, Daisuke-san? Daisuke: No idea. Hikari: Could it be...?

Hikari stops suddenly. She and Takeru exchange looks. Exchanging information through the telepathy of shared experience as veteran Chosen Children.

Iori: Do you two know something?

Hikari and Takeru turn around to face the group, but then they're interrupted by Chicomon jumping on Daisuke's shoulder and biting it.

Chicomon: I'm so hungry, Daisuke! Miyako: Me too! I'm starving! Takeru: It's late. We can talk about it tomorrow. Iori: But it's bothering me! Upamon: Iori, we need to get home in time for dinner-dagyaa! Iori: Ah, you're right. Hikari: See you all tomorrow at Koushiro-san's house! Team: Bye! See you!

With that, the team splits up and goes their separate ways. Takeru, Iori, and Miyako one direction, with Hikari and Daisuke the other. Why Iori doesn't use this walk to try and pump Takeru for further details, I can't answer.

In the dub:

Yolei: Okay, Izzy! We'll be there tomorrow! EW!!! Are pay phones supposed to be this sticky!? (After the call) Cody: What did Izzy say? Yolei: He wants us to meet him tomorrow so he can tell us all about DNA Digivolving. Davis: (frustrated) Sometimes I wish he wasn't so smart so he didn't have so much to tell us! Team: DAVIS!!! Davis: I'm sorry but it hurts my brain to hold all that information! Cody: ...can we trust Ken? Davis: I think! Kari: If we're going to be friends, we have to learn to trust each other, right? (Kari and T.K. stop, exchanging serious glances) Cody: I suppose, but there's just something about him that worries me.... (Chibomon bites Davis's shoulder) Chibomon: Hey, less speaking, more sleeping, kay? Yolei: Look, the sun has almost set! T.K.: Let's get some sleep, talk to Izzy tomorrow, and then we'll figure out what to do about Ken. Team: Okay! Upamon: But... Before that, we get to eat, right? I'm so hungry! Cody: You're always hungry! T.K.: Okay, I'll see you guys tomorrow! Team: Bye! See you later!

As with Daisuke and Ken's scene earlier, the dub is aggressively disinterested in talking about what happened with Paildramon. It throws out the script for this scene completely. We get some more discussion of Ken's redemption, with the one meaningful statement made being that we have to trust Ken if we're going to be his friends

I will say that it's good that the dub has figured out that Cody's supposed to be the one most against Ken's inclusion in the team. A lot of the stuff they changed for him these past couple episodes have been to play up his resentment and disdain for Ken.

This isn't awkwardly OOC like that time T.K. said we should all give Ken a second chance and then we just had to pretend he never said that. (Though Cody did have moments like that earlier)

But we are talking over the actual topic of conversation, which is unpacking what happened with Paildramon, to keep hammering the point that everyone loves, adores, and forgives Ken. Except Cody. And Ken.

That night, we find Daisuke in bed muttering to himself, unpacking his feelings from the day.

Daisuke: I know I felt it... That we're teammates.... Chicomon: I felt it too! Daisuke: Eh!?

Shocked, Daisuke rolls over to face Chicomon.

Chicomon: When we Jogressed, I felt like I completely understood him and it made me really happy. Daisuke: That's right! That's just what it was like! ...did he not feel the same?

Poor Daisuke. That is a good question, though. Let's go see what Ken thinks, as we move over to his room for the night. He's actually talking to Leafmon on purpose, rather than being overheard.

Ken: I thought I didn't have anyone but you, but then you went and combined with Motomiya's Digimon.... Leafmon: It made me happy, though. It made me think we were still needed. Ken: Despite all the awful things I've done? (Ken closes his eyes) Leafmon: Just take your time to think about it and do what you think is right, Ken-chan. Good night.

It might just be me, but I get just a hint of jealousy from Ken's first line. After all that stuff about Ken's Digivice versus Osamu's Digivice, and with Wormmon being his Digimon and no one else's? I feel like a part of his hesitancy stems from suddenly sharing his Digimon with Daisuke.

As a lone wolf, Ken doesn't have to navigate the complicated social intricacies of being in community with other people. Something that has only ever brought him harm, whether through neglect or adoration.

In a sense, the trauma of his complicated relationship with Osamu is still driving his behavior. He's pulled into himself, trying to re-establish his sense of individuality and personal identity, his sense of... of mine. This is me, this is mine and I can have this.

And then, out of the blue and with no clear explanation, what was mine became ours. And Ken's not emotionally ready for that. He's not ready to be a part of a community when he's still trying to rebuild his confidence in himself as an individual.

That's my read, anyway.

In the dub:

Davis: I don't understand what's wrong with Ken. I'd want to be friends with me. Chibomon: Don't worry! I'm sure he'll see how great it is to be friends with you and how great it is to DNA Digivolve with me! That was fun! Davis: That was some fight! ...but what if Ken never comes back again? (Cut to Ken's house) Ken: I was afraid that you'd disappear forever, Leafmon, when you DNA Digivolved with Chibomon. Leafmon: But I liked it. Ken: Huh? Leafmon: It made me feel like we were needed again. Part of something big. Ken: I don't know. Maybe they really could be my friends.... (Ken closes his eyes) Leafmon: Uh, Ken? You're sleeping on me!

The dub takes its third commercial break here.

Davis and Chibomon continue to talk around the specific sensation of Jogressing. I actually wonder if the reason they're avoiding that topic so heavily is to make it feel less shippy.

Because it is so shippy. Daisuke lying in bed wondering why Ken doesn't feel the same as him about their hearts beating in unison is super shippy. There's a reason these two are 02's #1 most popular ship.

So the dub refusing to talk about that sensation and also uttering the word "friend" about twelve times per minute is kinda starting to feel like a "No Homo" reflex.

Ken's first line feels like Dub Team taking their best guess at why Leafmon merging with Chibomon would have bothered Ken so much. It's a changed line, but feels specifically like an interpreted one.

The next day at Odaiba Mansion, four out of five team members assemble.

Iori: What's taking Daisuke-san so long....?

Yeah, well, that's what happens when you can't get to sleep. He comes running up shortly after, carrying Chibimon in his arms.

Daisuke: Hey, guys! Iori: YOU'RE LATE, DAISUKE-SAN!!! Daisuke: Yeah, my bad. Tailmon: Oh, you've made it back to Chibimon. Chibimon: All I needed was a good night's rest! Daisuke: (proudly holds up Chibimon) He's such a busy little guy! Team: Ahahahaha! Iori: Hurry, let's get to Koushiro-san's place!

Iori is still chomping at the bit to hear the big infodump. He runs on ahead, leading the others in.

In the dub:

T.K.: Boy, it sure is early.... Cody: Yeah, and Davis is late! (Davis comes running) Davis: Hey guys, I'm here! Cody: No sense running! You're already late! Davis: I'm sorry! Gatomon: So you're back to DemiVeemon, huh? DemiVeemon: Just needed a good night's sleep. Now I'm back and ready to go! Davis: (proudly holds up DemiVeemon) Yeah, you want to see him do his Pop Attack? Cody: Hey, watch where you point that thing! Now come on! We're already late!

Solid.

Inside, Koushiro begins the meeting.

Koushiro: What exactly does "Jogress" mean? I did my research, but I couldn't find any trace of the word "Jogress". So I had to figure it out for myself.

Inside, Takeru and Hikari are sitting against a wall on Koushiro's side while the three rookies sit opposite them.

On the screen of Koushiro's computer, he shows the team the words ジョイヌト joinuto and プログレス puroguresu. These are English words spelled in Katakana, so he explains their meaning.

Koushiro: "Joint", which means to combine, and "Progress", which means to advance.

As he explains, he deletes the イヌト inuto from the first word and the プロ puro from the second. Then he combines the two words to create ジョグレス Joguresu.

Koushiro: I believe it's a portmanteau made from these two words. Iori: Is that all you had to tell us about Jogress? Koushiro: No. As a matter of fact, Daisuke-kun, Miyako-kun, and Iori-kun... There is something else we haven't told you yet.

Hikari and Takeru exchange glances again.

Daisuke: Something you haven't told us? Koushiro: Perhaps we should have told you sooner. Cody: What is it? Please quit stalling and just tell us.

Probably should have told them sooner but this plot point didn't exist two episodes ago so Koushiro can be forgiven for having a retcon suddenly thrust upon him.

The dub has a bit of a snag here. The first explanation Koushiro offers is a definition for the made-up nonsense word Jogress, which isn't going to work the same with DNA Digivolving.

Izzy: DNA Digivolving. What is it and how does it work? I'm now creating a computer program that will explain everything but, until it's done, look at this.

They obviously can't use the footage of Koushiro demonstrating the two words, so they black out his computer screen and replay the stock animation for Paildramon's evolution on it.

Izzy: Look at this. When two Digimon DNA Digivolve, the most powerful part of one of them merges with the most powerful part of the second, producing a Digimon that's more powerful than either of them alone. Cody: Is that what you wanted to tell us about DNA Digivolving? Izzy: Well, actually I wanted to show off my new computer program. But there's also something even more serious I have to relate. (T.K. and Kari exchange looks) Davis: Don't leave us hanging, Izzy! What is it? Izzy: Mrrgh, I'd really hoped to find a way to tell you using my new computer program.... Cody: But we're here now! So please tell us the secret, Izzy!

To get away from the Jogress explanation, Izzy concocts his own explanation for how the process of DNA Digivolving actually works. On its own, it's not a bad explanation.

But taken alongside the dub's removal of all the "hearts beating as one" stuff, you can really feel the shallowness of the dub's engagement with Paildramon. This is as far as they want to take it: It's a cool power-up that makes the two component Digimon SUPER strong.

Having been through the dub of the first anime, this is familiar territory. The dub's always been comfortable in the realm of strength and battling but gets antsy when we have to talk about our feelings.

As Koushiro begins to explain the new backstory, he begins with Omegamon.

Closeup on the word Jogress on his computer, and then fade into a flashback shot of Omegamon

Koushiro (V.O.): Two Digimon combining into one... As a matter of fact, it's happened before.

Back in Koushiro's room, a flash of recognition crosses Miyako's face. After all, she was one of the participants sending emails during Omegamon's battle with Diablomon.

Miyako: Ah! I know about that! Koushiro: This happened sometime afterward. We were contacted by Gennai-san, and we all returned to the Digital World.

Koushiro enters into another flashback where the veteran team dressed in summer clothes reunites with their Partner Digimon. Except Taichi who dresses the fucking same year-round. Mimi and Palmon are crying together. Patamon's about to bite Takeru's nose off. It's sweet.

In the dub, they have to remove that shot of "Jogress" printed on Koushiro's screen so they instead insert a shot of Izzy simply facing forward and talking.

Izzy: DNA Digivolving has happened before. (Flashback to Omnimon) Izzy (V.O.): Omnimon! (End Flashback) Yolei: Oh! Omnimon! Izzy: Let me explain exactly how he came into existence. (Flashback to Digital World) Izzy (V.O.): Gennai called us back to the Digital World. It was great seeing our friends. We thought we'd never see them again!

Izzy claims that this backstory is going to explain how Omnimon was able to happen during Digimon: The Movie, so he's getting his sequence of events backward and raising new questions. As a matter of fact, what we're about to learn is as far removed from unlocking a new way to Digivolve as you can possibly get.

In flashback, Gennai explains the new lore to the flashback children while Koushiro's V.O. explains it to the Junior Team.

Koushiro (V.O.): We thought that defeating Apocalymon would cause the distortions in the Digital World to return to normal. But, in fact, that turned out to not be the case. In order to fully restore the distortion, we had to release the force that safeguards the Digital World, which had been sealed away by Dark Powers. (End Flashback) Iori: A force that safeguards the Digital World? Hikari: Yeah. We don't know what it is, but when that force is weakened, the Dark Power in the Digital World is able to grow. Koushiro: To that end, we needed to use the power from our Crests.

Ahh, Gennai. His intel proved to be as reliable as ever. Yeah, the new backstory begins by taking the climactic ending to the first series and slapping a "NOPE, NEVER MIND" sticker across it. Retroactively, they still hadn't saved the Digital World at the end of the first anime. So that's fun.

In the dub:

Izzy (V.O.): We just figured that, when we destroyed Apocalymon, that the warp was repaired and that was the end of it. But Gennai told us that we also had to "release the powers that protect the Digital World" in order to defeat the forces of Darkness. Gennai: First, you must-- Izzy (V.O.): He had a habit of telling long-winded stories that I'm not sure even he understood.

Pot, meet kettle. XD I do like that gag, though. Gennai gets three words in before Izzy's voice-over comes back and nopes us through another five-minute conversation with him.

Izzy (V.O.): But we all listened intently to what he had to say. And when he was done, we knew what we had to do. (End Flashback) Cody: The powers that protect the Digital World? Kari: That's right! Izzy told me this story once. He thinks those powers are the same forces that originally picked us to be the DigiDestined. Izzy: To defeat the forces of Darkness, we had to release the powers from our Crests.

What do you mean, Izzy told you this story? Kari, you were there. You were sitting right there with Gatomon listening to Gennai explain this.

Generously, she might be badly conveying that Izzy told her about Homeostasis in general. Kari missed out on meeting Homeostasis on account of being possessed by them at the time.

It's not unthinkable that the forces Koushiro/Izzy is talking about might be Homeostasis and those other higher program things that we learned very vaguely about in the first series. I wouldn't be surprised if that turns out to be the case.

The original doesn't necessarily say that here. But there is a point later in the conversation where it doesn't... not say that either. So I'm not necessarily going to mark Izzy down for making up his own lore again.

Returning to flashback, the eight Chosen Children channel their Crests one by one.

Their power rockets up into the sky and then expands into a wave of rainbow light that blankets the Digital World.

Koushiro (V.O.): The power from our Crests finally corrected the distortions in the Digital World.

Until the next time we need to go back and say nope, no, there was actually this OTHER thing causing it....

Which, to be fair, happened a bit in the first series too.

Most of this scene happens silently, with just the gentle background music and pretty visuals carrying the atmosphere. The dub has Izzy explain it in his own words.

Izzy (V.O.): The eight of us knew that this was the only way to save the Digital World from the evil forces that would threaten it.

And by "the eight of us knew", he means Gennai just told them. But sure, go ahead and take credit for it.

Izzy (V.O.): Our eight Crests combined to create a powerful force that spread across the Digital World. Kind of a coating of goodness, like the lamination on a baseball card or the plastic that covers a new box of floppy disks. It brought peace and beauty to the Digital World.

There are issues with the new lore being presented and we'll circle back to it but suffice it to say, what exactly is happening here is vague and confusing in both versions.

For now, Koushiro's story comes to a close.

Koushiro: The power from the eight Crests broke the seal on the Digital World. This was the true reason that we had been chosen. However, because we used the Crests' power to break the Digital World's seal, it has become very difficult for Tentomon, Agumon, and the rest of our Partner Digimon to evolve to the Perfect level.

This part is infamous for the plot hole it creates so bear with me but we have to talk about this. There are other issues with Koushiro's story and we're gonna talk about them, but this part right here is kind of important.

Every version of the show that I've seen translates this as Koushiro saying that the Digimon have lost the ability to evolve to Perfect. It is no longer within their capabilities. It cannot happen, ever.

However, this is what what he says about them here: The Partner Digimon "...それ以来完全体に進化できにくくなってしまったんです sore inai Kanzentai ni Shinka deki nikuku natte shimatta ndesu".

In this fragment of the very long sentence Koushiro just delivered, the word でき deki describes their capability to なって natte, to become or change or grow, into 完全体に進化 Kanzentai ni Shinka, their Perfect Evolutions. However, なって natte is being modified by にくく nikuku, the adverb form of にくい nikui which means something that is very hard or difficult to do.

"Very hard to reach Perfect" =/= "Lost the ability to reach Perfect". They technically can still go Perfect, but only under rare and exceptional circumstances.

Patamon: However, the hearts of everyone that the Crests came from aren't gone. Tailmon: So it's not as if we've completely lost the ability to evolve.

Patamon points out what we learned at the end of the first Adventure series; That the Crests and Digivices were only tools for helping the Chosen Children access the holy light that was inside them all along.

Tailmon follows up by literally saying, "だからまったく進化できなくなったというわけではないの Dakara mattaku shinka dekinaku natta to iu wakede wanai no."

Here, まったく mattaku is the adverb modifying 進化 shinka and it means completely, wholly, entirely. Again we have なった natta for our verb but this time it's being modified by the adverb できなく dekinaku. できな Dekina is the negative of でき deki; So, they don't まったくmattaku, totally, have the ability to なった natte, to achieve, their 進化 shinka.

But the sentence ends with a はない wanai, which is a negative modifier over the whole sentence. So it is not as if they've completely lost the ability to evolve.

Koushiro, Patamon, and Tailmon assert that it is very hard to evolve to Perfect, but that the ability hasn't been lost entirely because of the revelations from the end of the first series. For some fucking reason, this ended up translated in the fansubs as "They can't evolve anymore, but maybe they will again some day."

Holy shit! This actually means that Angewomon's appearance in episode 13 is in the clear, and basically the entire English Digimon fandom has been wrong about this being a plot hole for twenty years. There are Reddit threads and forum threads about trying to make sense of Angewomon's "impossible" appearance. There have been furious debates about whether it happening in the Dark Ocean means there are special exclusionary rules or something.

And the answer, it turns out, is just that none of us have ever fucking heard this scene correctly.

Today I Goddamn Learned.

Miyako: So that's why you couldn't become Perfect yesterday. Tailmon & Patamon: (nods) Mhm. Iori: Why haven't you said anything before now? Hikari: We didn't mean to keep it a secret. It was just too sad to admit that we couldn't reach Perfect evolution anymore. Takeru: In fact, it's not like they'll never evolve again. We're still holding out hope that, in time, they'll be able to evolve at will like they could before. Iori: (satisfied) Oh, is that right?

Daisuke nods along with that. The newcomers seem satisfied by Takeru and Hikari's explanation.

As am I because it turns out that massive plot hole was all a misunderstanding, right?

...

NOPE, we still have a problem here. Though admittedly not as huge of one. While the problem that the Chosen Children are explicitly able to evolve their Digimon to higher levels without Crests has been resolved, there's still one other issue.

The Chosen Children don't have Crests.

Apocalymon destroyed their Crests and Tags during the fight, and they never got those back. They awakened the power to evolve without them and used that power to defeat Apocalymon. There are no longer any Crests to sacrifice in this flashback.

So. What exactly did they sacrifice? It's worth noting that in the flashbacks themselves, they don't have the Tags either. Nothing is visibly dangling around their necks when they summon the Crests, as if the Crests just... emerged from inside of them.

So... was it their own intrinsic power that they sacrificed? The power that the Crests were channeling? And the physical Crests in the flashback were just a metaphor for them releasing and surrendering their virtues and light itself?

That's the only thing that really makes sense. But if that's the case, that they gave up their own intrinsic power, then... why can they still evolve their Digimon? It must, like... regenerate or something, right?

That's the only way this really works. They burned out the light they carry inside of them and basically leveled down, and now they have to develop their power over time again. Or something. But that's not how it's explained. It's explained as, "We sacrificed the Crests (that we don't have) and now we can't reliably evolve to Perfect at-will because we lost those Crests."

So this whole double-secret retroactive final mission past the end credits of the first series is a bit of a confusing mess in terms of what they actually did, what its effects are, and why those are its effects. And it's not helped by the total vagueness of the "power that protects the Digital World". Especially when the Digital World seems pretty unprotected, at that. Where was this protection power during the Digimon Kaiser arc?

It's not as continuity-breakingly messy as its reputation suggests, but it's still pretty messy.

In the dub:

Izzy: The Evil Shield stopped the forces of Darkness from spreading. It was great except there was a side effect none of us were prepared for. Because we had to give up the power of our Crests, our Digimon lost their ability to Digivolve to their Ultimate forms. It was a sacrifice that meant, in a way, they had to say goodbye to a special part of themselves. They all took it pretty hard. Patamon: We're not sad anymore. We know we'll be able to Digivolve to Ultimate one day! Gatomon: Until then, we'll even use balls of yarn to fight if we have to. Yolei: Yeah, there's nothing that will slow you guys down, right? Gatomon & Patamon: (nods) Mhm! Cody: Why didn't you tell us all this before!? Kari: It's not like we're trying to keep it a secret... but sometimes it's really hard to admit when you have a weakness. T.K.: In a way, though, it's not really a weakness at all! A DNA Digivolved Digimon kinda fights a lot like an Ultimate Digimon. Cody: I never thought of that!

The dub, of course, contributes a lot to the English Digimon fandom confusion surrounding this plot point because they do say with absolute certainty that the Partner Digimon can't evolve to Ultimate anymore.

The nuance of this plot point has been stripped out and replaced with quips, banter, and T.K. changing the subject to how cool DNA Digimon are.

Finally, Koushiro brings this back around to Omegamon.

Koushiro: Back when MetalGarurumon and WarGreymon combined, the resulting Omegamon was dozens of times more powerful. He was capable of defeating an enemy they couldn't have handled separately. Miyako: Uh-huh! He was so strong and so cool! Koushiro: In the same way, when XV-mon and Stingmon combined, they were able to gain the power to defeat Oukuwamon, which I don't think they could have achieved on their own. Miyako: So you mean that because they couldn't reach Perfect, they Jogress evolved instead? Daisuke: If that's the case, then we have no time to waste! There's no way that hot-blooded woman is anything but a new enemy. Hikari: Not to mention, she was able to make a Perfect Digimon out of Dark Towers to attack us. Iori: Who could she be? Takeru: We can't let our guard down.

There's a lot of splitting hairs in the fandom over whether Omegamon constitutes a Jogress or if that sort of same-level fusion is a different thing.

Koushiro comes down on the side of them being the same. He describes XV-mon and Stingmon's combining as 同じように onajiyouni, in the same fashion, the same way, the same kind of thing, as MetalGarurumon and WarGreymon's combining. The whole reason we're talking about Omegamon is as an example of what Jogress Evolution is capable of.

But that was over twenty years ago so the series may have become more pedantic since then. :P

In the dub:

Izzy: You're right, T.K. DNA Digivolving is very powerful. It's sort of like when MetalGarurumon and WarGreymon Digivolved together to become Omnimon. Yolei: Yeah! I saw that happen on the internet! Izzy: (snapping) Excuse me, but I still haven't finished my story here!

Oh yeah, that's right. It's been a while since we were last reminded of how fucking rude Izzy is.

Izzy: ExVeemon and Stingmon DNA Digivolved into Paildramon because of the threat Okuwamon presented.

That's it. That is all he wanted to say when he snapped at Yolei. He's getting tossed off a cliff again for being mean to my kid's kouhai. Even if she is... also technically his kouhai.

Yolei: So, can they only DNA Digivolve when there's a big enough threat? Davis: There's only one way for us to find out for sure. We've gotta go to the Digital World and fight that evil white-haired lady! Kari: But she's so powerful... I mean, she turned a Control Spire into an Ultimate Digimon. Cody: I wonder who she is and what she wants? T.K.: And how to defeat her?

You might notice that Izzy's story here was supposed to explain why WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon could evolve into Omnimon in Digimon: The Movie. And... yeah, we never even touched on that. Didn't even come close to exploring that as a topic of conversation.

The translation choices of the fansubs are responsible for a lot of confusion but the lion's share of confusion coming out of this episode weighs on the dub's shoulder. Izzy clearly established his flashback as being before the Diaboromon part of the movie. They sacrificed their Crests, something something something, then Omnimon was able to exist.

So in addition to Angewomon in episode 13, there's also a lot of questions in the fandom about why they could use their Ultimate evolutions in the movie. Didn't they sacrifice their Crests already? Episode 27 clearly stated that they couldn't have gone to Ultimate level while fighting Diaboromon.

...and the answer is plain as day. Koushiro, in the original script, expressly states that the flashback adventure is しばらく経った shibaraku tatta, a short time later. So that's that. The dub really screwed the pooch on this one by setting the flashback before Diaboromon and saying that the Digimon can't Digivolve to Ultimate at all anymore after it.

As the team sits and stews about this situation, Daisuke suddenly stands up and calls them to action.

Daisuke: Then let's hurry up and get to the Digital World! Who knows what she's going to do next?

Miyako stands up too.

Miyako: He's right! Come on, let's get going!

Repaying Izzy's rudeness, Miyako grabs Koushiro's chair and wheels him out of the way, then gives him a push so he rolls gently to the other end of the room.

Miyako: Out of the way please, Izumi-senpai! Koushiro: Hey, hang on.... Miyako: DIGITAL GATE, OPEN!!!

Armed with her D-3, Miyako conjures the Gate on Koushiro's computer and the team lines up to enter the Digital World.

Koushiro: Uh, my mom's about to-- Miyako: CHOSEN CHILDREN....

Suddenly, the door opens. Izumi Kae enters the room, carrying a tray full of drinks and snacks she prepared for Koushiro and his friends.

Kae: Go ahead and enjoy, everybody. Miyako: LET'S ROLL--huh?

At the very last possible second before activating the Gate, Miyako stops and turns around and sees the snack plate.

Miyako: DOOOOOONUTS!!!

Just like that, a crisis is thwarted by the power of baked goods. And they are actually donuts and not rice balls.

Remember that conversation we had about how it's really convenient that we can enter the Digital World from any computer but we also have to be really fucking careful about doing it from home? This is why. Daisuke and Miyako's enthusiasm very nearly doomed us all.

In the dub:

Davis: Hey, what are we all sitting around moping for? If Gatomon's willing to fight with a ball of yarn, I am too! Yolei: Davis is right. It's time to fight! (Yolei pushes Izzy away from the computer) Yolei: Excuse me, Izzy. Izzy: Hey! What are you doing!? Yolei: Ready, guys? DIGI-PORT OPEN!!! (The Digi-Port appears on Izzy's computer) Izzy: GAAAAAH!!! No! My mom will be home any minute now! (Kae suddenly enters the room) Izzy: Ah! Yagh! (panting) Kae: Who wants snacks? Yolei: ...huh? Donuts, alright!

The dub's decision to remove Miyako's catchphrase continues to haunt the show. Without some version of "選ばれし子供たち出動! Erabareshi Kodomo-tachi, Shutsudou!!!" the kids all end up just sort of... hanging out and waiting after Yolei says her other magic words, "DIGI-PORT OPEN!!!"

Why aren't they going through? Unclear.

So the gag loses something when the only sound being made while Kae comes in and slowly approaches the kids is Izzy making panic noises.

As an aside, it's also weird that Kae comes in with a plate full of snacks after Izzy said she'll "be home any minute now". When did she have time to prepare snacks if she just got home a second ago?

Koushiro never says exactly what his mom is "about to", but he clearly means "come into the room". She's been home. He may or may not have known that she was going to bring the kids snacks, and he also probably heard her footsteps in the hall just before she opened the door.

Kae takes a seat with the kids as they dig into the donut box. Koushiro slumps against the back of his chair. The crisis has passed.

Junior Team: I...Itadakimasu! Koushiro: (thinking) That was too close.... Kae: Huh?

Suddenly, Kae notices that something's wrong here. She sees the other kids with their "stuffed animals". Then looks around the room before looking up at Koushiro.

Kae: Tento-san isn't here today?

Everybody freezes in place. In an easily missed gag, a chunk of Daisuke's donut breaks off, falling from his hand straight into V-mon's waiting mouth.

Takeru: ...Tento-san...? Hikari: Ehehe.... Kae: (confidently) Tento-san. Koushiro: (sheepish) Eh... eh... you see... Ahahahaha....

They thought they were being so fucking clever, too. They were doing such a great job at dodging around their parents' notice, weren't they?

CHILD WE DID NOT FORGET WHAT HAPPENED THREE YEARS AGO. DRACULA BECAME SATAN AND TURNED ODAIBA INTO A PARKING LOT.

We close right here on the shocking realization that YOUR PARENTS SEE RIGHT FUCKING THROUGH YOU.

In the dub:

Junior Team: Thank you, Mrs. Izumi! Kae: You're very welcome. Wow, what big appetites you all have! You'd think that none of you had ever seen food before.

Why are you being passive-aggressive about the snacks you brought in? Were we not supposed to eat them/

Kae: Um, Izzy? What happened to that friend of yours, Tento? (Everyone freezes) Kari: Uhhhhhhhhhhhh T.K.: Heh... It's Tentomon. Kari: Ehehe! Kae: Tentomon, then. Izzy: Oh! Well... See, he... Uh... Ahahahahahaha.... Narrator: Will DNA Digivolving prove powerful enough to defeat Arukenimon and her forces of evil? Keep watching Digimon: Digital Monsters to find out.

Narrator wisely avoids making a "Next time" promise because he knows that question isn't getting answered any time soon.

I'm not sure the dub quite got the joke here. Why exactly Koushiro is so flustered and embarrassed when his mom suddenly asks about Tento-san's absence.

Their version of the gag is about Kae not getting Tentomon's name right, but the final bit where Izzy sheepishly trips over himself trying to answer is played totally straight, and it's not super clear why he'd be tripping over that question.

"What happened to Tento?" is an easy question to answer. He went back to the Digital World.

The question that's killing Koushiro is, "Why isn't Tento-san here like the other Digimon are?"

To wrap up, the question Dub Narrator left us with is whether Paildramon can defeat Oukuwamon. I am pleased to report that this episode did, in fact, answer that question decisively. The answer is that with XV-mon STANDING BY YOUR SIDE for Stingmon, their Jogress Paildramon proved more than ready to STAND UP TO THE FIGHT.

I'm a sucker for that old-school Show Me Your Brave Heart but Beat Hit is so good too.

Assessment: Well, this was a hell of a thing. Koushiro spends half of this episode explaining the plot and it still feels like a lot of what happens here is not very well explained.

At least Jogress makes sense. Two Digimon fuse because of the strength of their Partners' bond. In the V-Pet, Jogress can be used as a way to bypass the requirements to reach a Perfect or Ultimate level, which is pretty much exactly the way the show uses it.

High point of the episode was the developing bond between Daisuke and Ken.

Low point of the episode was "Hey let me tell you about the super-secret 53rd episode of Adventure that we didn't make but that I need to have happened."

You know, I'm not sure "sacrificing the Crests", whatever that means, was even needed. That the Crests were destroyed and the kids now have to evolve to Perfect without the training wheels seems like a suitable enough explanation for why their ability to hit Perfect is now unreliable. We retconned their Crests back into existence just to take them away again; It nets to zero.