#koushiro being wonderful

[taichi-x-koushiro]

Just Koushiro Izumi Things

Concept, or, an A.U. I Haven't Written Yet: One day, Koushiro just isn't responding to any of the Chosen who try to get in touch - including the 02 Chosen, who were currently heading the group in the Adventure Chosen's various absences. They begin to panic a bit, because a Situation is happening, and they Can't Get In Touch With Koushiro, The Only One Who May Have A Semblance of Whats Even Going On (Technologically) Here. Taichi tries to get to the bottom of what's going on, by attempting to find out where Koushiro is, trying to get in touch more directly - but Koushiro isn't even answering Koushiro's personal cell number. It's only after Koushiro's left for a couple days - and after Taichi finally gets back in touch with the Izumi household (Mrs. Izumi had answered calls from Taichi before, so Mrs. Izuzmi knows Taichi enough) that they finally find out what's going on - Koushiro took a days+-long trip to visit the cemetary where Koushiro's biological relatives are buried. (Koushiro does this every year, after all. Notably for ohigan.) But now the Situation is getting out of hand - and Koushiro is somewhere with bad cell reception - so Taichi's the one who has to go help pick Koushiro back up (and FAST). There's just one other problem - Koushiro hasn't actually told the Chosen about BEING an Adoptee yet.

[koushirouizumi]

* V . E . N . T {D O N O T re-blog}

I told people to not bother me today.

That was your warning.

It has only barely been 24 hours.

{Aggressively goes to report spam comments to OPEN A.O.3 ticket.}

AND ALSO F*CK YOU.

[general-cyno]

apparently it's the 15th anniversary of zoro's sacrifice in thriller bark (not sure if manga or anime though) so yknow. time for more zolu of course

one of the many things about zoro and luffy is that despite how their approach to certain situations might differ at times, they're still pretty similar at their core, sometimes to a comical degree (see: their definition of what a hero is back in fish man island arc). and this understanding of how the other works is what leads to moments like jaya,

this little one in water 7/enies lobby,

and follows consistently all the way to wano arc.

and I was thinking the other day about how their childhoods too kinda mirror or parallel each other's in a way that emphasizes (to me, at least) how special zoro's particular protectiveness toward luffy is, and why luffy relying on zoro that way is just as special.

the specifics of their childhood stories are different but both luffy and zoro have a turning point of sorts that's marked with the grief and loss of sabo and kuina, respectively, which leads them to say these:

(I cropped the panels, but luffy's also crying here)

it's important to note zoro and luffy had dreams/aspirations before this, to become the greatest swordsman and luffy's secret thing that we've yet to learn about (that ace, sabo and the crew now know). however, losing kuina and sabo is what prompts them to, on top of that, strive to become stronger for other people's sake. for zoro, it's his way to honor his friend and fulfill their shared dream. for luffy, it's to avoid losing the people he loves.

throughout the story, zoro and luffy end up expressing similar frustration and sentiments due to this. there's zoro innerly chiding himself for being too weak as he trains in the aftermath of arcs like little garden, alabasta and thriller bark, where the crew get stuck in situations in which zoro isn't able to help as he wishes he could (the wax cake, the sea prism stone cell, kuma). there's luffy swearing he won't lose a single member of his crew even if it kills him (the davy back fight) and reproaching himself for not being able to save any of the straw hats in sabaody, with the worst of it right after losing ace in marineford.

(and man do I have thoughts about bon turning into zoro, out of all the straw hats, back in impel down.)

anyway. as to why all of this is meaningful - when zoro agrees to join luffy, he mentions that his goal to become the greatest swordsman is all he has. yet as the straw hats go from journey to journey, and with a certain emphasis in luffy, you can see how zoro's view slowly shifts. he's now driving himself to become strong to protect them as well, to the point he's willing to set aside his ambition and offer his own head in exchange for luffy's, if it means he can ensure luffy's life and safety. that's huge. as mihawk inwardly points out, zoro has something, someone he values even more than his ambitions and pride. and it's through his adventures with luffy and the crew that he becomes closer to achieving that initial dream of his.

whenever people wonder why zoro's as loyal as he is to luffy, aside from all the reasons why luffy as a character has earned that loyalty through his actions, I also remember that one line koushiro said to zoro in a flashback: "the pinnacle of swordsmanship is the power to protect what one wishes to protect and cut what one wishes to cut. a blade that injures all that it touches isn't really a sword." while sure, it works in the context of later power ups like haki, imo it perfectly captures zoro's character growth too and what luffy's given him. the current zoro isn't lost or directionless with only one purpose in mind or to live for, bounty hunting as a means to survive. he has a home to return to, people to cherish, to protect and keep getting stronger for, people who nurture him in turn. kuina's death is something zoro couldn't have prevented, and losing people in accidents like those is something that could happen again, but still within the limits of what's preventable - zoro can protect his friends now.

as for luffy... zoro kinda steals the spotlight when it comes to grand gestures of loyalty/devotion and being the MC of the story means luffy fights for different people (both crew and non crew), carrying their wishes and hopes as if they were his own. he gets help and learns from others as well and all members of the crew are important for luffy to achieve his dream one way or the other, but the way he relies on zoro specifically is so subtly meaningful to me. we don't get as much insight on luffy's inner thoughts, still, we do have context.

for someone like luffy, who is at his innermost genuinely terrified of being alone and losing the people he loves, the fact that he trusts zoro to protect and keep everyone safe (even luffy himself) is so good. as shown above, luffy vowed to become strong in the first place to ensure he'd never go through loss like sabo's again and this vow is all the more renewed after ace's death. luffy has to be strong for everyone but... the fact that he can trust zoro to follow his lead even when others might not understand his reasons to do x or y, that he's so unwavering in his faith that zoro will protect the others when luffy can't, entrusting the people he cares about to zoro, whom luffy also cherishes - it's all pretty special. everyone in the crew has their strengths and zoro may not be the only fighter, but all of them, including sanji, fall under his protection whenever it's needed.

it's not only about raw strength though. zoro's also there to set luffy straight and remind him of what's important when the circumstances arise, like in water 7 or punk hazard. and even when they don't necessarily agree, like wrt vivi's situation after the reverie in marijoa, luffy knows when zoro's right and acquiesces (albeit grumbling a little) because, once again, he's also aware that zoro wouldn't just risk everyone's safety. luffy listens to him. and their reunion in wano too, luffy's sheer happiness at the sight of him again, is a very clear example of how much luffy adores zoro even beyond all that.

although luffy isn't aware of what happened in thriller bark (that we know of), zoro's actions are proof of why luffy trusts, has faith in, and relies on zoro as much as he does and why it's so important for luffy to have him by his side, considering how afraid he is of being unable to keep his loved ones safe. this is more on a speculative note, but I can imagine how comforting that must be for luffy - to not shoulder that on his own.

happy anniversary!

[reliablejoukido]

my feelings on The Beginning. I welcome discourse and dissenting opinions, but I do NOT welcome hate. Also I'm going to bed literally right after publishing this, so I will talk to y'all tomorrow.

I loved Fullmetal Alchemist: Digimon The Beginning a lot. Seeing the English dub was a wonderful experience and it brought me back to the reason why 02 was my favorite season in the first place. I also appreciated seeing the subbed version tonight, as it helped solidify the plot in my head.

I adored Daisuke especially. I loved Daisuke's emotions and his dialogue and his ability to strike friendship into the heart of anyone. I loved his adorable interactions with Ken, his chaotic interactions with Miyako, and his extremely ship-worthy interactions with Lui. And that scene where Ken pointed out how calm he was? Extremely powerful. Also Daisuke's queer energy was off the charts in this film, just saying. That alone means so much to me.

Also Takeru was SO in character when he was like "I know there is the possibility of Digimon partner-induced nuclear war, but hello??? Patamon might die????" I realize that's an oversimplification of his point, but it felt so right for him.

So like... I don't want to get into arguments about this, because I always feel like I'm wrong about lore and people yell at me just for thinking things they think are "wrong". So these are just my personal opinions which are obviously in no way accurate.

But in my opinion, Lui wasn't the first person to partner with a Digimon. I felt that Ukkomon was unreliable and untrustworthy and unstable, so I don't trust anything he claimed was true. I don't trust Ukkomon's concept of being the reason for Digimon and human partnerships to be accurate. I mean, I could bring Hiroki Hida and Oikawa into the mix. Or Maki and Daigo (if you try to tell me tri isn't canon just because of some interview, I'm going to block you just fyi).

I also don't entirely buy Ukkomon to be the reason the Chosen Children were even Chosen. Wouldn't Lui have been part of their adventure if that was the case? There are so many reasons the Digital World needed the Chosen Children that had absolutely nothing to do with Lui and Ukkomon. The whole Digital World's existence wasn't even mentioned regarding Ukkomon.

I really just don't trust anything Ukkomon did or said. He litterally brainwashed, manipulated, and eventually killed Lui's parents, so forgive me if I find what he says hard to believe. But I seriously loved that Ukkomon was chaotic and untrustworthy. It made for a fascinating "villain". I loved that we were lead to believe some new lore that may or may not be true, depending on how much you believe Ukkomon and Lui.

I also want to believe that now that the digivices are gone (which already happened to Sora, Taichi, Yamato, and implied Mimi, Jou, and Koushiro), that they will receive Digi-eggs soon, perhaps after they go through more important situations in their adult lives. If you know me, then you know I'm not the biggest fan of the ending of Kizuna, because I felt like it was a personal attack on my adulthood. I want more than anything for there to be a reason for Taichi and the others to see their Digimon again. I believe the ending of The Beginning gave us hope that Taichi's bond with Agumon transcends his own broken digivice.

So that's it, mostly. You can all stay tuned for when the movie is available on streaming/blu-ray, because you KNOW I'll be photoshopping ponytails onto Ken again. Also I'm planning a Daisuke/Lui fic at some point.

[chromatic-lamina]

Episodes 5 & 6 of OPLA! I think that anyone who comes to the manga or anime after watching OPLA might be disappointed. I mean, it's kinda genius for Arlong to have Buggy's head, and then for Luffy to steal Buggy's head when the Arlong Pirates attack the Baratie, but, like, none of it happened in canon. The one piece wiki is gonna need a separate wiki for OPLA, I guess.

I liked, nay loved, that they kept the fact that Zeff ate his leg in OPLA, to save Sanji. Love that Sanji is foul-mouthed from the beginning and that the love-hate relationship is there from the beginning. The oregano thing is fun, but, really, Sanji? I doubt a chef or cook anywhere would hold that opinion, so I want Sanji's backstory on it. Maybe it was Judge's favourite spice!

The Sanji and Zeff story packed a lot more weight than Kuina and Zoro, although it shouldn't have. Maybe it's just that adult actors have a much better handle on their craft than child actors (although child Sanji, and child Kuina were pretty good,

but child Zoro was a bit lacking). Or they should have maybe started Zoro's story a little bit earlier, with him being a child and coming across Koushiro Shimotsuki's dojo.

When the fishmen appeared at the Baratie, and when Nami didn't secure passage with the guy she'd organised to go away with, I thought they were going to water down her story somewhat. But the way they did it still smacked of betrayal for those who don't know her story, and it was a nice touch to have her read the North Blue stories to Zoro. Nice way to plant future arcs and chances to expand. Also good to also seed viewer sympathy when she kinda explains her actions to the supposedly unconscious Zoro.

Luffy seems a little too self-aware, maybe, but it was the first season without guarantee of season two, so I guess the Zoro and Luffy bond needs to be laid on a bit thick at this point. I kinda remember from the manga that Zoro was badly hurt, of course, but I can't remember the angst. I'm sure parts of it are there. It'll be interesting to see how that kinda thing contrasts with Ace's death in the future (if the series gets that far), cos' that's when Luffy canonically and importantly really goes deep.

Mihawk was camp and wonderful as fuck. Those golden eyes pretty freaky, but definitely hawk-like. Really leaning into that whole thing. Our boy's pretty pasty, but that's fine. I also would've liked to have seen Zeff fight a bit more. He did a good job of that in the manga, as I recall, and I understand missing out on the Luffy and Zeff conversation about Sanji, but I liked that in canon too.

Also, I'm glad that Gin appeared, considering Mihawk took out Don Krieg off screen-ish. Series shoring up against possible future inclusion, although we're still waiting. Very cool to have Zeff help Zoro too, and the way it was done with the fish skin (and that Sanji cooked that yellowtail soon after, I think!).

I think Zoro was shown plastered in bandages, right, and that was the extent of his recovery process in the manga? Again, could be wrong. He was in pain, and took on more, up to Thriller Bark and Sabaody.

Also, practically, I understand why Sanji needs to strip in a live action to save Luffy in the water, and I'm not complaining, but just a difference. I did like Taz Skylar! (I love all of the actors). Love Usopp's stories, that he has his slingshot with him, but is also cowardly (at the start) as in keeping with his canon character. It's funny that Luffy seems to understand that they're stories, but it's true, I think he only believes some of Usopp's stories in canon (like Sogeking)

I'm wondering if Jinbei will sound like Arlong if we get that far. It was probably very pointed, but the Arlong exchange with the fishman waiter carried a punch.

RIP Johnny and Yosaku! The live action is doing a good job of condensing the arc. They really would've had to have done their homework.

[that-green-haired-swordsman]

Honestly my brain was racing yesterday after seeing the reveal of Zoro‘s bloodline. Instead of making Zoro‘s lineage to the Shimotsuki clan the subject during the actual Wano arc, Oda decided to reveal zoro‘s linkage to the Shimotsukis only in the SBS 105, but you would assume that a character like Zoro, who is immensely popular among the fans would get a proper reveal or arc like many other of the straw hat pirates. But instead, Oda handles this subject of Zoro‘s bloodline like he handled so many other questions he received during all those years. It‘s not that Zoro being related to the Shimotsuki clan is such a big surprise, right? Oda has been dropping hints left and right, and it’s also common knowledge that Ryuma was kind of like Oda’s first ever created character in the One Piece universe (iirc) who was basically the model for the Zoro character. Of course it's a bit wild to just relate everything samurai to Zoro, but that just underlines that Zoro is being a part of the samurai order and closely related to it.

What we don't know is how old the question about his family actually is, we also don’t know why Oda or his editorial team decided to answer this question by the time they did. I like to think that all of this timing happened for a reason bc Zoro being a Shimotsuki descendant isn’t the big surprise here - it's his mother that causes some questions. Oda revealed that his mother was the daughter of a criminal. It would be interesting to know if we've already seen her father, if we will ever get to know him and if this criminal is important to the story.

As for his father Roronoa Arashi, what Oda told us that he also was a swordsman and maybe he inspired Zoro to be a swordsman as well. Why Arashi would be involved with fighting against pirates is another interesting subject. It kind of serves my personal headcanon I’ve been having for years that Zoro became a pirate hunter because his family was attacked and / or killed by pirates. (I wonder what happened to Arashi’s sword after he died?) It would also fit to my headcanon in terms of Zoro’s motif to become stronger, as we’ve seen him practically storming into the Dojo of Shimotsuki village, yelling „who wants to fight me?“ and then challenging the other combatants. Becoming stronger has been Zoro‘s main motivation since he was a child and I’ve always been wondering why that is, assuming it must have something to do with his parents or their destinies/ fate. My headcanon was that he was present when his parents got attacked by said pirates, but he was too small and too weak to do something against them and could only hide and witness how his parents were killed and so he decided two hunt pirates to avenge his parents, and because he hasn’t been strong enough to protect his parents or his mother, it became his ultimate goal to become the strongest person known to man so he would never lose someone because of his personal weakness ever again.

Would also be interesting to know when his parents died, how old he was. What his relationship was to them. What happened to him after his parents died. Where he has been grown up. If he had to provide for his own. Or if he had a place to go to. I always assumed that Koushiro was kind of a father figure to Zoro in his early years just as Mihawk probably was when Zoro stranded on Kuraigana Island.

Zoro being of Shimotsuki heritage probably won‘t be revealed during the actual One Piece manga, and I’m not even sure how Zoro would find out about this as he has left Wano without anyone recognizing him, of course, and none of the citizens could have provided him with this information. The only other person around I can imagine to have knowledge about Zoro‘s lineage with the Shimotsuki clan would be Shimotsuki Koushiro, whose father was the brother of Zoro‘s grandmother if I’m correct? Which would result in Koushiro being Zoro’s great uncle and Kuina his second cousin?? (wow) If Koushiro knows about Zoro’s heritage, there has to be a reason why he (or Zoro’s parents) never informed Zoro about this since Zoro seems to be completely unaware of this, which Oda confirms. You would assume that the Shimotsukis would be closely connected to each other and know the families of one another. But Zoro not only seems to be unaware of being partly a Shimotsuki, he also seems to be unaware that he is distantly related to both Koushiro and of course Kuina.

Probably the most interesting reveal about the Zorro lineage is Kuina‘s mother who Oda didn’t even tell us her name. My guess is that either she plays a bigger role in the future or is simply unimportant enough that Oda couldn’t even be bothered to think of a name for her. 🙈

Personally, I would like to prefer if Tashigi was not Shimotsuki as well, but given that there are still like 15 Shimotsukis who left Shimotsuki village and went somewhere else, I do consider it to be a possibility. Plus she’s a swordswoman. I would prefer that they wouldn’t be related as well, not only for shipping reasons (😅) but given her resemblance to Kuina, I’m practically waiting for that reveal. It would be nice for Zoro though if he would meet another member of his family (even if distant) since he's one of the straw hat pirates with no close or distant relatives or adopted family at all. (except for Koushiro) As for the other Shimotsukis on Wano, we can’t safely assume that they’re related with Zoro. I’m also not sure how those clans work, if sharing a clan name means that everyone is related in some way or if they’re not and just sharing the clan’s name?

So far, Zoro‘s theme is all about loneliness and that he had to care for himself and to live on his own, that he doesn’t want to form bonds with anyone out of fear of losing them, it‘s what he's used to and who he is and how he decided to live like after losing Kuina, until he met Luffy and the others in the „found family“ way that he did, but personally I like the idea that Zoro found this new new family with the Straw Hat pirates and therefore wouldn't be alone any more, no matter how the crew will proceed endgame. Like „So far away, but always close“. I do think, though, that there has to be a reason why Zoro and Tashigi run into each other when they do, and I’d like to think that it‘s some kind of destiny (also Zoro’s theme) we don't know about yet that connects them and that they are unaware of as of now, a connection that is going to unfold as the story goes on and we are closer to reach the final arc. I plan to make another post on Zoro‘s and Tashi‘s relationship and their connection, just wanted to add my two cents to the Zoro bloodline being revealed, hoping it’s not toooo confusing lol.

I have to admit that I’m kind of salty that Oda chose to tell us about Zoro’s family in an SBS instead of doing it in the actual storyline, because this way we will never get to see Zoro‘s reaction to everything of it, we will never hear him talk about his parents and how he had to live as a child (or will he?), although personally I’m convinced that it’s nothing he would ever talk about on screen, not even to his friends from the mugiwara pirates and I‘m not even sure if any of them, not even Luffy, knows about Kuina and the promise he made to her. I can imagine that Zoro dodges each personal question and there’s not willing to talk about his past, either because of trauma that he has not been able to solve or because he doesn’t want people to be worried about him. That way, Zoro will remain the mysterious person he's always been, I guess it’s just Oda’s move to show us that it’s not important where he came from or what he has been through, it’s important where he is now and where he is going to be.

Doesn’t exactly help my personal feeling that the reveal of zoro‘s lineage does kind of feel cast aside in order to reveal this for the sake of it being revealed at all. I think also that Oda doesn't have neither the time nor the opportunity to introduce Zoro‘s family via the storyline, but he still wanted to share this information so I guess giving us Zoro’s origin family via SBS is better they're not giving it us at all (why did it take you so long though Oda why). Maybe Oda’s only intend just was to show us that Zoro absolutely has no idea of his Shimotsuki lineage. Doesn’t change that he was and ever will be a Roronoa, not carrying or passing on the Shimotsuki name. Also RIP to my headcanon that he had a fake name to hide his true lineage and the name Roronoa Zoro was just made up lol (which he didn’t know about either)

Also Pinzoro. WHAT A NAME

[shihalyfie]

hello! i'm rewatching 02 again and discovered your blog midway through -- really impressed with your meta! i was wondering if you had an answer to something that's always perplexed me about the second series. is there a reason the OG chosen children go to such great lengths to hide their continued adventures from their families? i can understand why daisuke et al would need to hide those things, but didn't koushiro's parents literally meet tentomon during the tokyo arc? why all the secrecy?

Thank you for reading and for the kind words!

I think it's simply just to not worry them and to avoid the awkward questions (mainly because the monsters were associated with stressful fighting and all, and they know their parents have those associations). In fact, there's even that moment in 02 episode 27 where Koushirou's mom walks in and flatly asks where "Tento-san" is, and the entire atmosphere gets awkward; it's partially because of the cute nickname, but there's also a nuance that they did all that flailing and cover-up only for it to not be a big deal.

Likewise, I think it is likely that Hiroaki was told what the "camping trip" in 02 episodes 18-21 was, and that one of the reasons they decided to ask him in particular was that they knew they could convince him not to spill. And while Natsuko clearly knew Patamon was around, Takeru had withheld the details about the reason he was there and the Digital World territory war until she confronted him in 02 episode 39; of course, she responded by saying she trusted him to take care of it, but I imagine he'd probably had a real worry that she would protest or try to stop him.

So basically, it's kind of like how it wouldn't really be easy to tell your parents "hey, you know that really scary incident from three years ago where the town nearly got destroyed? We've decided to involve ourselves in that again, except on a weekly basis!" Their parents naturally didn't have any issue with the Digimon themselves (hence them being depicted as joining the family Christmas parties in 02 episode 38), but it was specifically the part about getting involved in fighting and violence and traveling between worlds that was being kept from them, and given that one of the reasons Mimi's parents moved to the US was that they didn't want to be involved with monster fights anymore, you can see that the kids probably wanted to avoid any chance of being obstructed for as long as possible.

[seventeenlovesthree]

And a follow up ask: how would you describe the differences and similarities between Koushiro and Iori (as they are my 2 favorites of the Adventure 01 and 02 kids)

Since we were already talking about Iori's traditional upbringing vs. Koushirou's self-imposed correctness causing both of them to be overly polite, I will try to dig into this a little deeper. I was looking for a screenshot of them together, but then I found this pic, which I've never seen before, so I'm gonna use that one:

About their similarities:

Since Iori is meant to be the heir of the Crest of Knowledge, they're both initially shown to be equally curious people. They both wonder about the whereabouts of the Digital World, what the Chosen Children business is all about - and that's where Koushirou himself notices Iori being a great kouhai for himself, so he offers him advice and guidance whenever he needs it. So yes - the easiest comparison to make is that they're both smart and coming up with ideas that help the others along.

On a purely physical level, when they're initially introduced, they're among the youngest AND shortest members of their respective groups. And it is yet to be seen whether they'll actually surpass any other of the male characters in height.

They're both not only very polite in their speech and approach patterns overall, but also highly responsible, studious, goal-oriented and resourceful and want to do things right - to the point of losing themselves in details and (self) doubts, when things are not going according to plan.

They both have strong moral codes, are very kind at heart and highly opinionated; they definitely know what they don't like (and are more or less able to put their feet down about it, but sometimes they get overlooked by others, unfortunately).

Despite usually being level-headed, they can both get snappy/angry/witty (read: EMOTIONAL) if someone annoys them/grinds their gears.

In regards to the former point: Something they have in common I wish didn't exist to that extent is that official art tends to depict them as "too emotionless" - which definitely contradicts their multi-faceted personalities in the anime. Yes, as mentioned, they are more level-headed and calm, less outgoing than other characters - but they can have their cheerful moments with the people closest to them (including their Digimon partners and characters such as Taichi and Takeru).

Family and their bonds mean more to them than one might assume at first, since they are generally more closed-off about their private issues.

Also very similar in choosing simple, work/school-compliant clothing (read: shirt, pants, tie, nothing TOO colourful, even if they have preferences in their colours being either more muted or autumn-based).

About their differences:

As mentioned above, they are both highly curious in nature - however, when it comes to the things they want to figure out, their approaches are a little different. While Koushirou approaches everything in a mostly rational manner, Iori's questions are a little more philosophical. While he tries to be rational too, his black-white thinking tends to actually cause him to be more emotional than he'd like to. (Which shouldn't be surprising if you encounter artificially created Digimon that destruct everything mindlessly while asking about the meaning of life... Granted, Koushirou approached an entity like that too, but he ALSO tried to answer to that one more rationally...)

Despite their polite attitudes, the respective origins of their behaviours are a little different. Koushirou's politeness was self-imposed, he forced himself to act like "the perfect son" towards his adoptive parents, not knowing why he was adopted, who his biological parents were, who he even was, and so he kept a distance to everyone else, not knowing how to interact or let alone understand others when he didn't even understand himself. When he reconciled with his adoptive parents, they let him know that he could be what- and whovever he wanted to be and he's still be loved. While Iori's biological father had passed away as well, he was mainly raised in a very traditional household, being taught the customs of kendo - and developing a very black-and-white-ish moral code at first. He may have a hard time understanding other's reasonings if they don't align well with his own - but that also applies to Koushirou if somebody is not acting in reasonable ways. So something I would assign to both of them again is that they slowly but steadily have to learn to pick up cues and to be more compassionate and less rational due to their experiences. Basically - the people they willingly surround themselves with FORCE them both to think outside the box naturally.

They're both overthinkers, mainly keep their emotional states to themselves - however, if Iori bursts out, he absolutely DOES burst out. Koushirou on the other hand is more prone to ramble and talk about non-emotional things he actually wants others to know about, whereas Iori is not that generally chatty at all.

Despite "The Beginning" suggesting otherwise, Iori used to be depicted as being not very computer-crazy - he had a computer, yes, but Miyako was the one who fixed it a lot and used laptop usually, paralleling Koushirou more closely in that regard.

Speaking of "The Beginning", it can be assumed that Iori is more athletic at this point in time in comparison to Koushirou - not to call the latter an office-dweller, especially since he DOES coordinate the Chosen Children business and may participate in that as well. But Iori, despite studying hard to become a lawyer, is definitely actively putting in the energy to stay physically fit as well with kendo training.

Tl;dr, I'm not sure if that makes sense and I hope I didn't forget anything crucial.

[dutchforstrangers]

Rouge - Taikoura one-shot for Shades of Red

For @taioraweek 2023 Day 8

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]

A/N: Shades of Red is a very precious little story I wrote for digiweek 2021 about Taichi falling for not only Sora, but for Koushiro as well. A story about the wonders of polyamorous relationships and that it takes self-knowledge to take that one courageous step towards a life full of love. So have a new shade of red <3

Based on a little Taiora-scenario I wrote in early 2021 which @seventeenlovesthree made sure to provide with beautiful art which I'm still so in love with :3 You can find it here: [x].

Day 8: Rogue or Blush | Characters: Koushiro Izumi (POV) x Sora Takenouchi x Taichi Yagami | Genre: Romance, some sort of hurt/comfort | Rating: T | Wordcount: 1.293

A yawn escaped him as he stretched his slender frame, the office chair rolling slightly to the back. Koushiro was still up, the different monitors on his desk lined up and on. After much complaining from Sora, who was according to him unnecessarily way too worried about his health, he had installed a filter on the screens. That way he could protect his eyes, but still work during night time.

It wasn’t that he couldn’t work in the day time, no, he had grown fond of working with both Taichi and Sora around. However, they had the tendency to distract them and so, being the night owl of the three, he decided to catch up on work during the night. Koushiro liked the quiet, the only sound interfering his endless thoughts the sound of keys clicking.

Time had already gone way past midnight when the sound of his fingers flying over the keyboard was interrupted with bare feet entering their shared office. Koushiro peeked over his computer screens, his eyes picking up on red-colored messy sleep hair, his nose smelling Taichi’s perfume she was bringing with her into the room.  

“Sora-san, shouldn’t you be asleep?”

His fingers left the keys as he decided to check up on her. He watched her closely and concluded she looked stress. It wasn’t a surprise with the big deadline that was luring from behind a bush called Friday. Koushiro remembered all of her speedy talking which wasn’t very Sora-like, her calm demeanor sliding off.

“I couldn’t,” Sora answered sounding sleepy yet stressed. “Tomorrow’s the first draft for the collection and it feels like I missed a few details. I have to check it.”

Not for one second did she look at him. As if pulled to her drawing table, she walked towards it, her right hand frantically searching for the right pencil underneath the pile of designs. To Koushiro they were all equally wonderful and knowing Sora, he knew she didn’t miss any details. He also knew she was stubborn, perhaps even more so than Taichi, and so he didn’t ask further. Instead he kept a close eye on her while he kept working, thinking it would only be a few minutes before she would return to bed.

But a few minutes turned into over half an hour and Koushiro grew worried. Without saying anything, he stood up to grab the both of them some tea.

“Thanks.” Was all Sora said as he carefully placed the cup on the only empty spot on her drawing table. Her eyes were wide, completely focused on her work. Koushiro looked over all the colors and lines dancing on the papers forming beautiful designs for modernized kimonos.

“I truly admire your skills and ambition, Sora-san. The designs look unquestionably stunning, I’m convinced that they’re enough for a first draft. I’d like to escort you to bed so you can sleep some more.”

“Tell that to yourself, you always stay up late,” Sora snapped back, but immediately realized how mean that was. She finally looked at him. “Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that.”

“I’m aware. You must be tired, hence why I wanted to bring you back to bed,” Koushiro explained calmly.

Sora smiled in return, her tiredness didn’t allow her to keep her lips curled up for too long. “And I appreciate your worry over me. But I just can’t sleep yet.”

Koushiro nodded in response. She gave off a tired look, the determination however made her glow all the same.

A little bit defeated, Koushiro headed back to his seat behind his desk. He sighed before his fingers went back to the keyboard, then started typing once more, the room filled with the tapping sound again. Per usual, it made him loose track of time.

Eventually from the corner of his eye Koushiro could see Taichi’s sleeping body dragging himself into the office. The brown haired man rubbed his eyes and a yawn escaped him as he placed himself next to Koushiro, looking over the computer screens in Sora’s direction. A worried expression emerged on his face and Koushiro looked up to Taichi.

“How long has she been up an working?” Taichi asked with a hoarse sleepy tone followed by another yawn.

Koushiro checked the time.

“It could easily be over an hour now.”

Taichi sighed. It was all he needed to know. He kept standing there, watching her work, worried yet the fondness in his eyes easily outdid the worry.

Even though Koushiro was well aware of Taichi’s adoration and admiration for both him and Sora, he could never get enough of Taichi staring so intensely to especially Sora. It was something he could observe day in and out, it would never grow old.

“What?” Came Sora’s voice. Clearly she had been taking notice of Taichi’s staring. It made Koushiro snap out of his thoughts, however, Taichi only intensified the eye contact he now had with her. “Do I have something on my face?”

“No.” He replied. The features in Taichi’s face changed from intensity to softness accompanied by a cheeky grin.

“Then what is it?” Sora asked, the annoyance in her voice returning.

In a way, even though Taichi meant it well, these little exchanges of words between his two partners made Koushiro feel uncomfortable. Simply because it could go two ways. They would either start bickering, or…

“I just think you’re beautiful.”

Or they would jump each other in a more sexually physical way.

Yes, Koushiro loved them both very much, but their intensity could sometimes be a tad too much. Making him blush in frustration or ecstasy. Often it was both though.

He looked from Taichi to Sora and back in anticipation. Because with Sora being stressed and tired, you could never predict how exactly she would respond.

Koushiro had not expected the cherry red blush on her cheeks radiating warmth and surprise.

“Go back to bed, Taichi,” she stumbled, failing to hide how that one compliment had gotten to her.

“Well, you’ve heard the boss,” Taichi said to Koushiro, taking Sora’s words as his cue to go. “Can you tell her I’d like to see her back in bed soon? And you too by the way.”

Taichi winked and gave Koushiro a sweet small peck on the top of his head before he turned his heel to return back to bed. Alone.

Or so Taichi thought.

Right before he would have left the office, Taichi was stopped by Sora hugging him from behind. Her graceful arms embraced his athletic body, her one hand just able to hold the wrist from her other hand. She pressed her head to Taichi’s back and rubbed her nose into the fabric of Taichi’s sleep shirt, a genuine smile happily dancing on her lips before she spoke.

“Thank you, I needed that.”

Koushiro looked at the both of them, standing in the door way exchanging love in a to him beautiful way. It was tender and fragile, grand in its simplicity.

Where Sora’s blush turned into a warm and grateful pinkish one, Taichi showed a knowing one. Accepting the love he felt for her. For them. And all Koushiro could do was take in the little loving still he was treated to.  

He recalled how their love wasn’t self-evident from the beginning, especially to Taichi. But the road he had followed together with Sora and Koushiro had led him to being his happy and cheesy self again. Where his blush first was one of confusion and shame, it now showed his pride and a genuine love.

Koushiro smiled, a shared blush like rouge now complimenting his own face. Happy he was here with them, being able to see the love unfold in front of him over and over again.

[otakween]

Digimon Adventure 02 Best Partner Series - Part 1

More image songs! This time for Adventure 02, but I'm starting out with the older kids. I had a lot of fun listening to all of these. They really went all out this time. 12 CDs with 3 songs each (solo human, solo digimon & partner duet)!? Madness!

Taichi & Agumon

New Sun - Taichi (listen here - subbed)

Taichi singing to Daisuke (or maybe the whole new squad) about how they're taking over the original kids' legacy. The lyrics make him sound very wise.

Took me a second to adjust and picture Taichi singing this because his VA kinda sounds like a granny lol

This had very "Mufasa talking to Simba" vibes. The chorus was catchy and empowering.

Agumon Ondo - Agumon (listen here - subbed)

Agumon singing about how he needs/wants to eat a bunch to grow big and strong. Also, apparently he dances to help digestion lol.

Agumon talking to random kids during the song and then having them sing along was adorable. Also made me feel old.

Team - Taichi & Agumon duet (listen here + translation here)

A very generic song about how Agumon and Taichi make a great team, but it's always charming to hear digimon/partner duets.

Yamato & Gabumon

The Key to Granting Wishes - Yamato (listen here - subbed)

A cheesy shounen song about following your heart and friendship and what not. Comparing it to Yamato's image song from the first season, you can see he's grown past his emo, lone wolf phase.

Wasn't crazy about the song itself, but the music was great, especially the guitar solo. Had a nice bombastic intro too.

It's Alright - Gabumon (listen here & translation here)

Gabumon singing about his bond with Yamato. They both hide behind facades (Yamato's coolness, Gabumon's fur) and are misunderstood. I feel like this was a lot stronger as a character song than Yamato's solo song.

Gabumon's one of the quieter digimon so hearing him sing is a treat!

Our Melody - Yamato & Gabumon duet (listen here & translation here)

A touching (and CHEESY) ballad between Yamato and Gabumon about all the good times they've had together. It had strong drunken karaoke vibes haha.

Although cheesy, the lyrics did warm my heart a bit :') I think digimon/partner bonds get to me more than human/human bonds.

Koushiro & Tentomon

Open Mind - Koushiro (listen here - subbed)

Meh, not a fan of this one. I felt like the lyrics were clunky and didn't flow well with the song's melody.

The song is about Koushiro learning new things about himself and his emotions through his journey in the digital world. Even though I didn't like it, I'm happy to hear Koushiro's voice again :')

Dengeki Rhapsody - Tentomon (listen here - subbed)

Tentomon 😭😭😭❤️❤️❤️ I love him so much. This song was really cute and plucky. Basically just Tentomon singing about being a good partner and appreciating Koushiro.

The only thing that bugged me (hehe) about this one is that it implied that Tentomon is always obsessing over food but like...I don't remember that ever happening?

The Scenery of the World! - Koushiro & Tentomon duet (listen here - subbed)

Another banger! Mostly just because I love these two and relate to Koushiro's passion so much. He's singing about how excited he is to absorb all of the world's knowledge and to see the whole world with Tentomon. Koushiro would make a good librarian haha. I too have strong urges to learn everything ever (currently reading every page of Wikipedia).

Tentomon's part of the song is kind of exasperated but in a loving way. He sings about how Koushiro is always staying up late glued to his computer, but that he'll still always stick by his side and pep him up when he gets tired. So wholesome <3

Joe & Gomamon

Towards the Wind - Joe (listen here - subbed)

A lot of these solo songs have the same, general theme about growing as a person. I wonder if the vibe will be different for the younger 02 kids?

I liked the mellow vibe of this song. A nice, easy listen. Joe definitely has the most mature vibes of the gang, despite being dweeby.

Invincible Flutter Kick - Gomamon (listen here - subbed)

Gomamon singing about how helpless Joe is and how he'll always be them to protect him and lighten his load. So cute :3

News to me that Gomamon has an "invincible flutter kick" lol. I mean, I can picture it, but usually he just summoned fish.

Crawl the Sky - Joe & Gomaon duet (listen here - subbed)

Joe and Gomamon singing about their unlikely friendship. They balance each other out. I kind of wish the chorus wasn't the usual, cheesy "we can do anything if we're together!" lines. The first part of the song was a little stronger when they were comparing each other's characters.

These songs are making me wish I had a little buddy to explore the world with :'(

Mimi & Palmon

Super☆Girl - Mimi (Listen here - subbed)

Mimi singing about her personal growth. It was a pretty generic, motivational song about being brave to be yourself and not fear mistakes.

I do really enjoy how unabashedly girly Mimi is and her songs always reflect that.

A Little Pinkie's Fantasy - Palmon (Listen here - subbed)

This one was just weird. The lyrics were super awkward. I think they're alluding to a pinky promise when Palmon talks about a "pinkie's fantasy," but the metaphor doesn't really work. Also the line about glittering lips also seems like a non-sequitur.

I've never been a huge Palmon fan, so I think that's mostly why this one was no good for me. (She's also a little tone deaf lol).

Happy Smile - Mimi & Palmon (Listen here - subbed)

It's nice to hear a song where Mimi and Palmon are talking about their friendship cuz Mimi could honestly be kinda nasty to Palmon in the anime lol.

Some of the lyrics in this were a little clunky (they basically said stuff like "fun things are fun!" "Smiling is nice!" "Pretty things are good!") but I liked the sentiments about distance not weakening their bond. That resonates with me as an adult who doesn't have many opportunities to see my friends in person.

Sora & Piyomon

Shiny Days - Sora (Listen here - subbed)

Uhhh I think mostly this one was just poorly translated because it was literally like a word salad. Like, read the lyrics here (or in the video subs) and you'll see they straight up make no sense --> https://www.animelyrics.com/anime/digi02/shinydays.htm

Sora is my least favorite Adventure character so it checks out that here song kinda sucks lol (sorry).

Wait this song has the same title as the Yuru Camp opening!

My Music Score - Piyomon (Listen here - subbed)

A nice straightforward song about Piyomon's love for Sora. I like how they incorporated her name into the song with all the "pipipi" and "piyo piyo." Very cute.

If We Fly Together - Sora & Piyomon (Listen here - subbed)

I feel like there was some nice harmonizing on this one. I hope the VAs had fun haha

The lyrics in this one were sweet. I especially liked this line about "telling each other secrets we hide from the stars." That really illustrates Sora and Piyomon's close bond.

[khepiari]

Why Kuina’s Death Still Unsettles Us?

TW: mention of suicide, references teen/child suicide.

[I read a post about "falling down the stairs" might actually imply death by suicide. Kuina's death always bothered me a bit, and when Shimotsuki Koushiro said to Zoro, humans are fragile, did he really mean our bodies or our hearts? I still wonder. A few months back I had written a fic, a retelling of the events which led to Kuina's fall from the stairs, and I had done a lot of thinking while writing the fic. So all those ideas and thoughts I had then, have been rearranged and put here today.]

I remember watching the Kuina episode like 19 years back. So for an 11-year-old me, that was it. I was sad that she was gone too soon.

But over the years as I grew up, read the manga and then kept rereading it over and over. I did feel her death was surprisingly given the off-stage treatment that was given to Lady Macbeth! Only an announcement was made of her death, and her face is covered in a piece of cloth! That was too sudden, unlike so many other deaths that followed in the story.

I did brainstorm this over the years, it really felt odd, she was a physically strong 12-year-old girl and as far as I know swordswoman/man have to be good at balancing and footwork, because the art of the sword is about full body movement so her falling down is really really really iffy.

Image from chapter 5

And if we look at the Dojo architecture, there were no visible storeys to the building, I am sure she didn’t fall off a library step-stool or carpenter’s ladder. Then I found this Tumblr post, by Heeheemugee which said, falling down the stairs is a euphemism for suicide. Which makes sense! Like it totally connects in my head.

Though, sadly, I didn’t find any source to confirm this, as everyone on the internet told me it's untrue. But, you see, “falling down the stairs” is a euphemism which has been used for domestic violence victims, like in my mother tongue, when it's hard to explain to a child what happened to someone who died, we say the person has gone somewhere far, so may be falling down the stairs is more of an undocumented euphemism or an old reference Odachii picked from somewhere— he is known for this!

Image from chapter 5

Another thing we should remember Kuina was onset of puberty, the stress of future, her father’s general view of female body being weaker, and changing bodily features might have plagued her more than we think— since after 1000 chapters we know Zoro’s teacher is likely from Wano, I think internalized and cultural misogyny was at play too.

Teenage and puberty is a vulnerable time, one misstep can lead to drastic actions, so Kuina taking her own life is not farfetched. Because we have young children who are so stressed or vulnerable or suffering that they think ending it is better than enduring it.

Image from chapter 5

What has bothered me the most, is the offstage treatment of her death. I mean—we have seen most of the “characters whose death impacted the main characters' life decisions” die on stage in backstories so far, or we got a proper explanation of why someone is dead. We know Banchina died after an illness, Bellemere was killed by Arlong, Hililuk was poisoned and blew himself up. Only Kuina’s death we didn’t see, and it immediately happened just after both Zoro and Kuina had a heartfelt conversation about becoming the best swordsman/woman in the world!

I guess Oda chose “fell down the stairs” as the series was like 15 chapters till then. Or it maybe as simple as Odachii wanted to wrap Zoro’s backstory fast with typical “dead girl-friend of the grumpy emotionally suppressed lone wolf” to establish Zoro’s narrative as the one who carries the will of others!

Image from chapter 5

Otherwise, we know Eiichiro Oda doesn’t shy away from depicting gruesome, terrifying or horrible deaths which parallels real life issues, he sneaked in a little panel of a grandmother praying and a mother holding a knife with an infant in her arms in Wano arc, because they were starving for days!

Image from chapter 918

Or a pirate in human auction house biting his tongue to escape the humiliation of being sold as a slave!

Images from chapter 502

Hence, I think Kuina’s death doesn’t seem like an accident and feel like something sadder and heavier than we were led to believe.

[detectiveichijouji]

How would you guys react if Tai, Daisuke, and Takeru suddenly vanished? Like, up and gone, with almost no trace, not knowing what actually happened.

The Day Taichi, Daisuke and Takeru went missing for a whole day… They all just went into panic mode – Had Ken, Iori, Jou and Sora trying to contain their panik fiesta but it wouldn’t work very well.

It all started because Yamato friggin entered the Koushiro’s office KICKING the door in despair screaming HAS ANYONE SEEN TAKERU TODAY?? HE DIDN’T MESSAGE ME SINCE YESTERDAY!!

Koushiro says Taichi had sent them a message yesterday about having something IMPORTANT to say but he never answered past 1 AM. Miyako believes it was Arsenemon’s fault. Iori thinks it might be another reason, and Mimi wonders if they got a triple date with people they have a crush on (Hikari: Are you implying Daisuke-kun would like someone else than me??)

Jou think they might have forgotten their phones at home (Ken: Would all of them do it at the same time!? | Iori: I suppose Taichi-san and Daisuke-san would, but I’d be surprised if Takeru-san did forget his phone at home too… | Yamato: TAKERU NEVER FORGETS HIS PHONE AT HOME, I KNOW IT I’M HIS BROTHER!)

Sora’s theory is that they’re in a place with too much noise that they can’t hear their phones ringing… Or are on silent mode. Hikari thinks this is plausible, because sometimes she can’t hear her phone ringing in the middle of the crowd in Shibuya Crossroad.

Miyako keeps insisting it’s Arsenemon’s fault, only to get a Calling Card saying… “Nope. Try again, mademoiselle Miyako 😐” – mysteriously Noel pops in seconds later because he was instructed by Daisuke to come gather with them, and then Daisuke suddenly stopped messaging him.

None of the Older Chosen know Noel, but they just accept he’s just another of Daisuke & co’s friends. Ken suspects Noel of eavesdropping on them. Noel denies, and shows his phone – The last message Daisuke sent was last night, telling him to gather with the group for something. Iori knows Noel is just a recent Chosen Child, so he assumed Daisuke wanted to introduce them to Noel.

(Soleil and Lune are not there, and they don’t give a frick to Taichi, Daisuke and Takeru either. None of their business. However Noel does care about Daisuke and Takeru, and to some extent Taichi – Daisuke’s friends are his friends in some way)

Everyone was losing their minds, having wild guesses for HOURS until Yamato started calling the police, Miyako and Koushiro trying to ask the Chosen Network, Sora and Jou trying so desperately to keep everyone CALM but getting headaches, Mimi teasing Hikari even more with the idea of the three boys being on a mixer in secret, Ken and Iori just believing Noel might be lying to them about further details WHEN…!

The door opens. Taichi, Daisuke and Takeru come in with snacks and a cake. It was a surprise for Hikari but all they see is CHAOS AND EVERYTHING BURNING. (No, the digimon didn’t set things on fire, they were just also arguing between each other about what happened to the trio and Agu-Vee-Pata too)

Yamato SCREAMS “WHERE DID YOU GO TAKERU!? WHY DIDN’T YOU MESSAGE ME THIS MORNING!?” – Takeru answers he was out with Taichi and Daisuke, but then Daisuke squints at Taichi, who was the one supposed to gather everyone for the surprise PARTY AND….

Nope. Taichi forgot to send the message talking about HIKARI’S SURPRISE BIRTHDAY PARTY to everyone but Hikari herself. Hikari then smirks at Mimi, “See, they weren’t on a mixer, I know none of them would enjoy that kind of activity!!”

Everyone is now staring at Taichi. So, the important thing Taichi wanted to tell them was that? Oh it was to celebrate Hikari’s birthday (Sept 26) and HE DID NOT SEND THE FRIGGIN MESSAGE!? Taichi protested that it was too late and he was tired from work.

Crisis averted, they had a double feature party – one for Hikari’s birthday, and one to introduce Noel into the group.

The End.

[ashxketchum]

MIMATO WEEK 2023 (Random Update)

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

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

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

~~ Listen to my Heartbeat ~~

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“So you would gladly leave me behind?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Yamato san, can you hear me?”

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

“Koushiro?”

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

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

“Mimi’s with me.”

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

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

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

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

“Let me explain the rendezvous location to you…”

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

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

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

- x -

[timotey]

Voice: This is the entrance to death. Do you see that? Those are the memories you've lived through. Countless battles... of various kind. Ikki: I was able to live my life because I wasn't alone. Voice: You're right. But you've done enough. You can rest. Your work is done.

Kamen Rider Geats × Revice: Movie Battle Royale

This is what Ikki's mind looks like on the inside. Holy smokes 😨 Even after years of living a "happy life" as he claimed to Vice, his gosh darn mind is an inferno of heat and flames and memories of the battles he fought. Just how tired he must've been feeling this whole time if the voice of what - Death itself? his subconsciousness? - tempts him with peace should he choose death?

Because this is what his choices look like:

Death and the end of everything: serenity and light. Continued life: heat, flames, cracked earth and ashes. Die and be at peace or live on and continue suffering; even if living means returning to his beloved family, it's still shown here as the worse of these two options. Wow, if this isn't the perfect depiction of the mind of a severe depressed person.

And it clears only when he reconnects with Vice. Without Vice, it's hell for Ikki. Only Vice makes it bearable. I guess that's what makes Ikki so different from all the other Kamen Riders, why he's so strong when he's with Vice. The others can live without their devils just fine - Daiji even said that leaving your devil behind is actually not bad, it's simply a part of maturing - but Ikki needs Vice. Being without Vice means living in pain. No wonder the others don't truly get the bond between Ikki and Vice.

I wonder if it's because Ikki made a deal with Vice as a kid whereas the others actually grew up on their own. He made a deal with Vice and then forgot about him, so he locked one part of himself away, basically he grew up incomplete whereas the others grew up whole and only split as young adults. Also, it's interesting that even though Ikki was a child, his demon was an adult whereas Koushiro's - their little brother's - demon is also a child. Goodness, the psychological implications of that!

[ahiddenpath]

My dear and talented and wonderful friend @llamavillana collaborated with me for an @izumikoushiroweek project!  I wrote a little oneshot about 2,500 words long called Sans San, and she drew the incredible cover art above:

It's New Year's Day, and Koushiro and his parents are observing Hatsumode, the first shrine visit of the year. There, he runs into Taichi, who helps him achieve last year's resolution. A short story about support and being loved as you are while still committing yourself to growth <3

The work stars Koushiro and Taichi, with a little Hikari.  It’s based around a few Koushiro week prompts, including formal speech, everyone loves Koushiro, and confidence.  I hope you’ll check it out on AO3 or FFN!

As a quick notice, I am in the middle of prepping for a rather intense job interview process, so I haven’t been able to properly enjoy everyone’s Koushiro Week content.  I absolutely will give them all the love and attention they deserve when the interview is over <3  I cannot wait!

And special and most appreciative thanks again to Llama, who finds ways to make me smile even when I’m stressed and struggling.  LOOK!  LOOK, KOU-CHAN IS SMILING AT US, IT IS THE MOST PRECIOUS THING I HAVE EVER SEEN!  Thank you, my dear <3

[citrus-cactus]

For the character ask game - Haru (appmon) 1, 2, 11, 12, 23!

HAAAAAAAARU! THANK YOUUUUU~! <3

The character ask game is here!

1. My first impression of them

Honestly my first impression (from seeing promo images and such posted on this very website!) was something like “Whoa. Clashing colors much?!” So I guess you could say it was not the best 😂

Obviously I got over that, but I did learn recently that trying to apply his color scheme to any other character is still quite a shock! ROTFL Click for proof if you dare!

The rest is cut! For! Spoilers!!!

2. When I think I truly started to like them (or dislike them, if you've sent me a character I don't like)

The first time I watched Appmon, I felt like basically the whole first half of the series was a bit of a crapshoot, quality-wise (not in terms of the animation or anything, but how I felt about it). Like, if you tried to graph my enjoyment of each episode right after I watched it, it would look like a jagged mountain range. The first episode was ok, the second episode was “eh,” the third and fourth episodes was pretty good, the fifth was back to “eh,” etc. I don’t know, pacing and tone and kind of unsympathetic character introductions and it just being “different” were all things that were working against it at that point in my mind, and made me wonder what the writers were really trying to do (honestly, what REALLY sold me on watching Appmon at all was @firstagent’s pitch at a con, which explicitly plugged Offmon and Yuujin’s dynamic!).

(I should say here that despite those rough beginnings, Appmon is probably my favorite Digimon series now, so yeah I take time to warm up to things sometimes but the right combination of factors makes me fall and fall HARD)

All that said, I know exactly when I really start to like Haru, and it was during the third episode (the dungeon one with Roleplaymon). He’s just so excited and happy throughout, while also being a complete nerd, and instead of a big Appmon fight at the end (well, being unable to have one due to an evolution whoopsie), he just talks to Roleplaymon… and it works. That felt kind of revolutionary, and it was the episode that I started to not only understand his character, but (maybe) gain a bigger picture view of the series and what the show was going for. This episode just crystallized a lot of things for me.

Me after episode 3: Haru is kind. Oh, and also he’s my son now, I want to see him grow up strong, I WILL keep watching FOR HIM actually (best decision ever!!) 💖

11. What’s the first thing you think about when thinking about the character?

Joke answer: “Do I need to be working on the blog queue right now, or can I procrastinate a few more days?” 🤔

Real answer: No thoughts anymore, just feelings (rotfl). After watching every episode in order to look at every single shot of Haru and find the very best frames, I can still say definitively that he’s so cute and I love him and all Harus are good Harus 🥺🥺🥺

12. Sexuality hc!

Bisexual! And uh… one specific android-sexual? You cannot deny his crush on Ai, and Haru/Yuujin is so good. They’re one of my OTPs, they’re soulmates (by some definition of the word “soul”), they were made for (and made by) each other, they’re actually making eyes at each other from across the room in my head right now 🤫

23. Future headcanon

Oh, he’s definitely going to be an AI researcher, that much I believe! One who is very literature- and ethics-minded, and thinks a lot about what what “existence” means, and is hyper-aware of beings’ rights and the need to advocate for both humans AND AI, in a world where both appmon and general artificial intelligences actually exist. These beliefs are the cornerstone of his work, regardless of what he actually does with AI. Would he follow in his Grandpa’s footsteps in being an academic designing his own? Maybe borrow a page from Koushiro Izumi’s book and start a company? Or go the Susan Calvin route and become an AI psychologist? Any! All! Idk 🤣

Honestly, so much else about specific future headcanons depends on how you interpret the very last moments of the series (literal or symbolic), and for me it could go either way. I really like interpreting it as literal, if only because it’s such a great hook into the nebulous Appmon Season 2 that exists in my head. Yuujin’s back, but how? Cue mystery and more Appmon shenanigans.

Regardless, I’m most interested in the future where Yuujin comes back in some form at some point during Haru’s lifetime, and no matter how, when, or why that happens it’s going to be a joyous occasion, but also a bit of a rough transition. Yuujin may have changed. Haru may have changed. There would be a LOT anxiety about “is this ok?” and “how do you feel?” and “what does it MEAN that this is how you feel?” and “what does ANY of this mean for us as individuals, and us together?” because it’s all very complicated when you bring the android that was programmed to be your best friend and your ideal version of a person back to life. Is there even a happy ending out there for them? Again, for me it could go either way.

So yeah, a bit rambly, because to me there is no one answer I could ever 100% decide on. They’re all possible. And that’s kind of the great thing about the vagueness of the ending! I will say I like drawing them in happy-ending mode best though, even though I would probably write their future in a way that involves more drama, because it’s way more interesting, and nothing in life is ever that easy (I’m rooting for them though!).

Again, thanks so much for the ask!!