#(also going by this like. Iori is closer in age to TAKERU and Miyako than Miyako is to Mimi. Miyakos like 11 MIMIS like *13~) | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

shihalyfie · 4 years ago

Text

Neverland, the role of “nostalgia” in Kiuzna’s narrative, and the 02 quartet’s unusual immunity to it

In general, the 02 quartet (my shorthand for the four human characters introduced in 02 who weren’t in Adventure, namely Daisuke, Ken, Miyako, and Iori) have a position in Kizuna that you can call “shockingly favorable” in that they’re kept safely out of the most dangerous parts of the plot in ways the others aren’t. This especially sticks out when we get to the Eosmon incident reaching its climax, when Takeru and Hikari are placed in the same situation as their Adventure seniors, despite the movie and its surrounding media generally portraying them closer in line with the others in the 02 group than the Adventure group.

To be a bit blunt about it, the obvious main reason the story is set up this way is meta -- a lot of the climax’s effectiveness depends on the audience getting sensory impact via recognizing things from the original series (including 02 as well; how convenient it is that all of the international Chosen are in the positions 02 fans would recognize!), and so it’s obvious that said climax would evoke imagery related to the series that was Digimon Adventure, while the 02 quartet would be treated extra-kindly by the narrative due to the need to give them compensatory action screentime given certain real-life events. But just because the originating reason is meta doesn’t mean there isn’t also a story reason for it, especially considering the relevance of 02′s themes in Kizuna’s narrative, and the surrounding circumstances regarding both series.

Before we get into anything else, the first thing that needs to be established is that Menoa and Eosmon’s lure is pretty obviously depicted as working on a subconscious level. This is why everyone else in the narrative agrees that what they did is “kidnapping”, despite her insistence that she’s just doing what they wanted. While they can’t not admit to having moments of weakness, nevertheless, it’s likely that most if not all of the people Menoa kidnapped consciously knew better and had learned better lessons than this a long time ago; if Menoa had consciously offered Neverland to her victims, most of them would have probably said no! But as Daisuke said back in 02 episode 49 -- when he witnessed his own friends being subjected to something similar at the hands of BelialVamdemon -- there’s no sin in having feelings of worries or troubles (and, by extension, irrational feelings in general), and Eosmon’s abilities and Neverland happen to be able to directly target them. In fact, we ourselves got to witness this internal conflict when Menoa made her direct offer to Taichi and Yamato to join Neverland; they briefly considered it because of the circumstances, but were snapped out of it quickly with Agumon and Gabumon’s intervention, and were really, really mad at themselves for considering it shortly after.

We saw the process of how Ayaka became one of the kidnapping victims at the beginning of the movie -- it happened right after she complained that she wasn’t fond of the idea of becoming an adult at this point. So it does lend some truth to the idea that Menoa’s working off something with these cases, and that Eosmon did specifically target people who had those wishes to some degree. Moreover, note carefully how this kidnapping (and some others in the movie) is portrayed; Eosmon doesn’t actually emerge from the device in question (it’s obvious that nobody notices the giant butterfly monster), and the victim’s consciousness and partner are whisked away thanks to being caught by the device camera. In Ayaka’s case, because her phone was sitting on the table, pointed at her. The fact that this is not how the kidnappings are portrayed all the way to the end of the movie is a very significant point.

So let’s talk about Neverland and its construction. The whole thing is based on Menoa’s own very, very warped view of what “happiness” is. This means that Neverland is only an “ideal world” or “utopia” in a way that makes sense to her -- and once you learn the full extent of her backstory, it becomes apparent how she came to the mentality she did, and, more pertinently, how she ended up projecting that on everyone else. Hence, how she came to decide that she knew better and should decide for everyone, because she thinks she gets the right to decide on everyone’s happiness based on her own experiences. (She doesn’t.)

The way Neverland is constructed is that everyone has “their own places” -- their own individual islands that recreate “memories” of everyone being able to be together with their partner, forever. So in other words, it’s not just that everyone’s being turned into children; it’s that they’re being kept in an eternal loop of their best memory and unable to “move forward”.

Here are three very significant parts about this, which will be important to keep in mind as we go deeper into this analysis:

Menoa’s view of this utopia requires people to be separated -- for all she claims this is a utopia where people can play together, she discourages fraternizing and encourages everyone to stay only with their own partners. This is, presumably, to lessen complications with said memories, because what might be one person’s best memory might not be for another, and also because she thinks one person being alone with their partner is happiness enough in itself. As we’ll be seeing later, this is very much not the case for everyone.

A lot of these memories in Neverland -- and Menoa’s own mentality, as we eventually find out -- are heavily dependent on the concept of rose-colored nostalgia, or, that is to say, conveniently omitting or forgetting about all of the bad things about one’s past in order to portray it as such a wonderful thing that nobody should ever move on from. And in the end, that probably applies to real-life childhood in general, too; as much as it’s so often put on a pedestal for being a time when “everything was simpler”, you can also easily argue that it wasn’t actually all sunshine and roses, it’s just that the process of forgetting things or the grass-is-greener phenomenon makes you conveniently forget all of the bad things and frustration that came with it too.

Because the concept of needing to stay in the past forever is based on the idea that it’s preferable to growing up, these memories thus have a strong premise of “things you cannot do anymore” -- something that, bar going back to the past and never moving from it, you will never get back or be able to sufficiently recreate. It’s unlikely the islands themselves are one-to-one recreating their specific memories in the way they happened, but rather seemingly presenting them the opportunity to “constantly do over” things they want to recreate or do again, as long as those things are associated with a happy thing that isn’t as easily accessible anymore.

In the case of the five Adventure group members who were brought into Neverland, these “memories” that they’re seen trapped in are, of course, from Digimon Adventure.

It is of course foolhardy to pretend that the main reason for this wasn’t meta, since, of course, there’s a huge point to be made here about the relationship between Adventure and nostalgia, plus the simple fact that this is what we’re most likely to recognize and be nostalgic for, but it also makes sense within the context of the narrative; Menoa has an extreme bias towards the happiness of her childhood revolving almost entirely around her partner, and, of course, Adventure was when these kids first had their most formative meetings with said partners. (This is also probably the in-story explanation for why the other international Chosen from 02 appear at or close to their 02 selves; beyond the meta reason of it being a way to make them recognizable when we only knew them for such a short time, it also approximates when they met their own partners.)

On top of that, Adventure was not all sunshine and roses for its cast! After all, there was a ton of drama and emotional trauma and stress from running away from enemies trying to kill them, or trying to save the universe, and glossing over that is also foolhardy -- but this is also where our concept of “rose-colored” comes in. Menoa’s not offering the kids the entire adventure; she’s offering them a small slice of the moments when they were able to be happy, the moments that made them want to stay in the Digital World for a whole 110 years’ worth of time at the end of Adventure -- she’s basically offering them that very thing they wanted and had ripped away from them at the end of Adventure when the time dilation phenomenon stopped. Take out all of the bad stuff, and suddenly, the events of Adventure seem outright romantic -- it’s the whole school of thought that fueled Adventure’s inspirations of Two Years’ Vacation and Stand By Me, in which a lot of stressful stuff happened and yet you still can’t help but think there was something magical and romantic about it. (I cannot emphasize enough how much of a cultural impact Stand By Me in particular had in Japan, to the point where it’s considered the epitome example of a “coming of age story” and “summer adventure”.)

Let’s take a closer look at what’s on each of the Adventure kids’ personal islands:

Hikari is probably the one in the most unusual position among this group, since she didn’t join until over the halfway point, and the first arc she got involved in revolved around everyone wanting her and Tailmon dead. Thus, the memory we get to see her involved in is the Numemon factory in Adventure episode 49. Although this was in the middle of the Dark Masters arc (and, uniquely, very close to the end of the series where a lot of stress was involved), due to the limited amount of time she got to be in the Digital World, this was the one time she got to do something really cool and awesome and impressive for herself that had nothing to do with the others (again: see how the requirements for these islands require not fraternizing with friends and being isolated).

One thing that the Adventure kids got to do that wasn’t in play in 02 was that there were a lot of “romantic experiences”, involving strange adventures and things like phone boxes on the beach, and, very significantly, “Digimon friends” -- ones that the kids made a huge note of bonding with over the course of the series. This contributes to a certain sense of whimsy that was involved in this adventure that the 02 quartet ultimately never ended up getting to foster, because the lack of the time dilation phenomenon meant that they spent much less time in the Digital World overall (more on this in a bit), and once the time dilation stopped, it meant that these kinds of “whimsical” experiences were ones the Adventure group was permanently torn away from once that adventure ended. That dropping of the time dilation phenomenon not only cut that initial adventure short, it also prevented any future ones like it from ever happening again.

And, of course, this is an extremely rose-colored memory, because shortly afterwards, the Numemon ended up all sacrificing themselves for Hikari. But hey, when you’re in a space that can eternally loop good memories forever, everything’s fine as long as we conveniently never get to that part, right?

From this point on, you’ll notice that all of the memories that show up on these islands are from before the halfway point of the series, because after that, things started getting increasingly pear-shaped and much more difficult to disentangle the stress, mental breakdowns, and witnessing of deaths from. (Hikari’s probably wouldn’t have come from such a late incident if she hadn’t joined the party so late.) Although there still were looming threats around the horizon in the beginning of Adventure, they weren’t always immediately apparent to the kids at every turn, and in fact, the beginning of the series involved more of a “well, we’re in this situation and probably need to get home somehow” aura than it did a “the world is in danger and all of us might die” aura. (It’s also in direct contrast to the 02 group, who were given the details of the crisis and what they needed to do roughly from the get-go.) So in other words, if you want to have some rose-colored nostalgia about the romanticism of this adventure, these are some of the best episodes to pull from.

Takeru’s is obviously from the Village of Beginnings, corresponding to Adventure episode 12, when he and Patamon got to have a fun romp through the village, play together, meet Elecmon, and learn about how Digimon are born. It’s also very much something he did without the others, only with Patamon, and had a lot of “fun and happiness” associated with (later solo episodes with Takeru had a lot more upsetting events more intrinsically tied with it), and, again, it’s extremely rose-colored -- it wasn’t even a day later when Angemon died in front of Takeru’s eyes. But hey, that’s even more reason to pick a moment from before then to stay in forever! Can’t have trauma if that trauma never happens, right?

Also, note that Takeru is one of the few here who’s confirmed to be aware of the partnership dissolution issue at this point, and, unlike Koushirou, isn’t confirmed to have accepted a forward-thinking mentality about it yet -- this is a very, very prime time for his fears of being separated from Patamon again to have a nasty relapse.

Mimi’s is the closest to the midpoint of the series, from the affair with the Geckomon and Otamamon castle (from Adventure episode 25; the metal railings here resemble the stage railings from that episode). It’s from the period of time that was a “lull” -- when nobody actually knew about the encroaching threat of Vamdemon quite yet, and for all it was worth, there was no longer any danger. So Mimi got to live happily in the comfort of the castle and play around with the Geckomon and Otamamon...which, of course, also conveniently excludes the affair where she went on a power trip, made everyone miserable due to her selfishness, and immediately felt guilt over it.

Mimi’s associations with this incident are not entirely negative; she was clearly still having fun singing for them in the end (note how her clothing during that scene involved her regular outfit, which she has on here), and she still had a positive impression of her relationship with the Geckomon and Otamamon as per Adventure episode 47 and 02 episode 6 (and as per 02 episode 15, even though everyone’s initial encounter with TonosamaGeckomon ended badly, nobody actually has any lingering grudge against him). So if you filter out that whole affair with the power trip and the resulting embarrassment, it was a meeting with a bunch of fun Digimon friends, a romantic little castle, and a fun stage session where Mimi got to sing.

Jou’s refers to the Infinity Mountain incident in Adventure episode 7, and even from the get-go you can already see the level of rose-coloredness in Jou’s gesture -- in the actual incident depicted, Jou went to the mountain out of a sense of obligation and stress, and the initial climbing involved him having a bit of a bickering moment with Gomamon. But once they did get up there, it was actually their first time the two of them got to really “bond” -- and not only that, their encounter with Unimon had Jou even look on it with fascination, before the Dark Gear had ever come into play.

So in the end, Jou really would have found the incident enjoyable and worthwhile if not for that, and from there you can understand why it would be appealing for him to revisit that setting and finally get to have a bit of calm fun with Gomamon there -- especially since, again, the Neverland islands have a very strong preference for isolating the kids from others, and this was one of the few times Jou got to have a major moment of calm like this alone with Gomamon, with a slight reprieve from the constant feeling of stress and duty.

Koushirou’s most prominently resembles the “sealed room” in the factory in Adventure episode 5, and while Koushirou certainly continued to make a large number of exciting discoveries after that, this was the situation where Koushirou, with no one else but Tentomon to worry about in the immediate vicinity, got to have the largest sensation of “novelty” -- where he first came upon the fascinating discovery of data manipulating reality around him, and he actually got to see the world change around him by wiping things off a wall.

And, of course, there were other things going on like Tentomon confronting him with his first existential crisis, and how things quickly went south with Andromon...but we don’t have to remember that part for now, right?

An interesting thing about Koushirou: the circumstances of how he was “kidnapped” in the first place are actually somewhat obscured compared to the other four in this scene, since Menoa presumably needed him conscious in order to get his list out of him, resulting in his kidnapping scene also involving an emerging Eosmon and not having him be instantly taken the way we see Takeru and Hikari (more on this in the section below). It’s thus unclear whether he’d be in their boat had his position in Menoa’s plan not been unusual -- said memories in Neverland involved “gathering information and learning more”, something he still actively involved himself with even after the events of Adventure, and he’s also the first one to reach a forward-thinking mentality about the partnership dissolution phenomenon. Either way, once he was already dragged into Neverland, it’s natural that the place could find a good memory for him in the same way it did for the other kids who were “manually” dragged in, but the actual method of entry and whether Koushirou's post-Adventure life put him in a mindset similar to that of the 02 quartet (again, see below) is a bit ambiguous.

So here’s an interesting part about how the 02 quartet gets involved in this story: their own encounters with Eosmon happen during a part where the method of kidnapping has abruptly changed. As many have pointed out, this is also when the degree of the targets Menoa wanted had also suddenly escalated, because while her previous claims had involved the idea of kidnapping like-minded adults (who, indeed, were entertaining thoughts of nostalgia to even some degree), she was now kidnapping actual children, ones who weren’t even nearly at the point of the supposed drudgery of adulthood that Menoa claimed they would eventually have, and with her arrogantly deciding she knew better for all of them. The part that becomes particularly intriguing about this is that the exact same thing happens with Miyako -- she is explicitly stated to have connected her laptop to the Internet, resulting in an Eosmon physically emerging and chasing her instead of instantaneously snatching away her consciousness through a camera like her own fellow 02 group members Takeru and Hikari.

So in other words, the 02 quartet’s favorable position in this incident doesn’t just have to do with being lucky enough to have gotten Koushirou’s warning about the Eosmon early; they (or at least Miyako) also seem to have a certain degree of outright immunity to it, much like the young children who aren’t old enough to have nostalgia yet. (Also, keep in mind that Takeru was caught thanks to a security camera; “excess caution with electronic devices” alone wouldn’t necessarily have guaranteed their safety.)

Recalling that, for the most part, Takeru and Hikari are usually treated more like 02 group members in the context of this narrative yet are, in this one case, treated as being potentially nostalgia-prone, it stands to reason that the main difference between the two of them and their fellow members in the 02 group is the fact that Takeru and Hikari went on the adventure in 1999, and the quartet did not. So in other words, the reason the 02 quartet isn’t as prone to this is not so much that they’re fundamentally different-minded people, as much as they have a distinct lack of an experience they can be attached to the way the Adventure group is to their own 1999 adventure. (Remember that Menoa’s kidnappings work heavily on subconscious feelings; you can’t blame anyone for having these kinds of feelings no matter how much they’ve consciously learned.)

As I said earlier, it’s foolhardy to pretend that Adventure was all sunshine and roses, and, likewise, it’s also foolhardy to pretend that 02 was nothing but suffering for everyone involved. Both series involved a lot of balancing of funny, silly moments to be treasured as much as they involved stress (which is why people are so attached to both, after all). So the question is not so much how happy they were in their childhoods as much as the nature of what that happiness came from, and what relation it has to their current lives. And when you look at what experiences the 02 quartet had back in 02, you might notice a thread of the fact that it is significantly harder to romanticize the events of 02 than it is Adventure.

Let’s put it this way: Let’s say that the 02 quartet was kidnapped into Neverland and placed onto islands that fit Menoa’s view of happiness. What, exactly, would you pick from 02 itself that would work? What kind of “happiness” did they have back then that’s so romantic, so impossible to replicate now, that they’d want to go back to because it’s better than their lives now once you disentangle all of the bad stuff?

...Not much. Not much at all, actually. Hanging out in the computer room together? Doesn’t seem like they cared that much about the computer room part as much as the fact the others were there bantering with them (which would put a huge nail in Menoa’s islands mandating isolationism). Going out on a picnic together? No reason they can’t just go on another picnic again (and if the BD box is to be believed, that’s exactly what they did, and they even added Ken to it while they were at it). Hanging out with their Digimon in real life and doing silly hijinks? They’re...probably still doing that now, actually. Getting to find true happiness at a Christmas party? That’s a party from the real world (again, something they most certainly continued to do thereafter), one where the happiness came not from the romanticism of anything that happened to do with some adventure, but just the happiness of being surrounded by true friends, which, again, Ken is still clearly getting to do by the time of Kizuna.

Once you look at the circumstances of what the “adventure” of 02 was to the 02 group, you may realize that it doesn’t really resemble the traditional romantic image of an “adventure” much at all. Sure, they were blessed with being able to regularly go back and forth between the Digital World from the get-go, but it meant that -- especially without the time dilation in play -- the Digital World became much less of a picturesque area associated with a one-time memorable adventure as much as something they had to squeeze in their after-hours while juggling it with their school. The circumstances they encountered their Digimon and the Digital World in were at a point where it had a certain level of “mundane” to them, compared to their seniors; it wasn’t a “fantasy adventure in the Digital World” when so much of the story also revolved around real-world events as well, and you can’t really find many “mysterious fantasy” events in 02 that resemble much of those in Adventure. The closest might be...Daisuke seeing Numemon pile out of a vending machine in 02 episode 1? (Not very romantic.) Daisuke getting chased around by a Tortomon in 02 episode 22? (Really not very romantic.) Iori getting to tour the ocean with Submarimon? (Implied to more about relief from how much he was holding himself back than the uniqueness of the experience in itself.) Ken’s long-time-ago flashback from 02 episode 23 about meeting Wormmon for the first time? (Defeating a Gazimon is hardly that impressive; the important part was him bonding with Wormmon, which he’s...uh...still doing now?)

There weren’t any lasting relationships with Digimon friends like the ones in Adventure, maybe encountering some civilians once and not seeing them much again after that, especially since the lack of time dilation meant not getting to spend as much time visiting them much at all (think about all of the really fun experiences that the Adventure group probably had that weren’t shown in the actual Adventure TV series, just because it probably didn’t have enough drama that would make a good TV episode plot). This means that there’s very little, if at all, of 02 that represents something this group would want so badly to recreate that they can’t already do now; everything from back then was either something comparatively mundane, or something they actually would not want back. Unlike with Adventure, where a lot of the kids had irreplaceable moments that only happened to be spoiled a bit later, a lot of the “really awesome accomplishments” from the first half of 02 were explicitly against Ken, someone whom they’d probably rather not dwell on fighting again because of how much they love him now; many of those good memories are “retroactively poisoned” because of that, and it’s much, much more difficult to make a rose-colored version of those memories disentangled from the bad, because of how fundamentally intrinsic that retroactive poisoning becomes.

And, when you think about it, the mandate of “you have to be alone on your own island” would pretty much break these four in particular, especially since the 02 group is portrayed as the type to need mutual support more than anything else, and so many of the events that represent “happiness” specifically involved the happiness of each other being present. It’s not to say that the 02 quartet had no moments of happiness when alone with their partners, but, rather, being with each other provided so much more fulfillment to them that Menoa’s offer of a memory of their past that requires them to be alone probably pales in comparison to anything they could do now in each other’s presence. Maybe, like with the other kids depicted in these scenes, they could be buttered up with something nice if you successfully got them into Neverland, but it’s not like they have any real wistfulness about anything from back then to the point that they’d be subconsciously drawn towards it instead of having to be dragged in kicking and screaming -- and especially in the case of Miyako, the same one who managed to evade an Eosmon here, who was offered a similar “chance to be alone” back in 02 episode 49 and didn’t take very long to decide she hated it because of how much of her happiness comes from getting to be with others.

By the time of the end of Adventure, the Adventure kids’ ideal situation was to have a romantic and fun 110-year adventure with the sights and fun of the Digital World, with all of the weird fantasy surrealism and less of the world-saving, and that’s something they never got to have (and that Menoa was inherently offering them). By the time of the end of 02, the 02 quartet’s ideal situation was...to find a way to get back to normal life and hope their friend feels a little better, and that “ideal situation” is still persisting even into the time of Kizuna, so it’s hard to imagine they really want more than that.

And, again, when you extrapolate this into what Kizuna’s trying to say about real life, adulthood, and nostalgia: it is true that Menoa’s projecting a belief that absolutely does not apply to everyone. While it’s true that many people feel that childhood had a certain kind of magic that you can’t get back in adulthood, there are possibly just as many people who aren’t really all that nostalgic to begin with, either due to trauma or something about their childhoods being miserable, or, even in the lack of such miserable events, simply enjoying the added freedom and expanded range of ability that comes with adulthood to the point they consider it to be more than worth the tradeoff. The 02 group basically represents this crowd -- Ken’s life right now beats out his past in pretty much nearly every respect, and while there are certain concerns about not being able to meet up as often, they’re finding the same ways to do the same kinds of over-the-top hijinks they did back in 02, with arguably even more range now that they get to exploit Digital Gates to do world travel and act without worrying about their parents. They’re basically like the adults who see Menoa’s creed of “childhood is better because adulthood sucks” and go “sorry, can’t relate.”

That said, remember: this isn’t because the 02 quartet is somehow mentally stronger or anything, but rather just a byproduct of what experiences they've had and haven’t had. Takeru and Hikari’s position is unique here -- for all intents and purposes their mentalities are portrayed as closer to the 02 group’s, but they did still have the experience their seniors had and are thus still capable of being close to their position in this one regard. In the end, everyone is different, it’s no sin to have feelings based on those differences, and “being able to relate” to one’s position is also an important key here; because the 02 group’s position is so alien to Menoa’s, it’s unlikely they could have tackled her problems nearly as intimately as their seniors could.

What we learn about Menoa’s backstory establishes that she forced her vision of nostalgic happiness on everyone based on her own perception of her past in such a warped, rose-colored manner. She conveniently omitted or forgot about details such as the fact that her life as a “child” involved feeling ostracized from everyone and that she herself was guilty of neglecting Morphomon. Not only that, she herself claims that she’s the only one who knows what this feels like -- that nobody relates to her -- and thus, you can see that she came to her conclusion that her experiences are universal by the power of sheer extrapolation, hence why she thinks everyone inevitably loses their partner upon reaching adulthood despite pretty significant amounts of evidence to the contrary. (For all it’s worth, the fact that she still considers herself as having “become an adult” at 14 just because she got into university at that time is pretty conceited.)

Menoa’s existence as being so starkly in contrast to the 02 quartet’s is very likely because her entire character was built up from the ground that way -- her entire backstory of skipping grades into university is heavily based on 02′s initial development premise and Ken’s own backstory, meaning she explicitly represents the path that Ken and the other 02 kids chose not to take, and the timing of certain events in her backstory seems almost deliberately engineered to prevent her from witnessing some of 02′s important answers to Kizuna’s conflict, most notably her inability to witness the final battle and the important lessons everyone present learned about following one’s dreams without restraint, and how that relates to one’s partner. Menoa’s mindset is basically that level of incompatible with 02′s themes of “moving on from the past” and “not caving to arbitrary societal expectations”, to the point her character could only get to this point by going out of the way to exclude her from 02′s story and events, because she’s fundamentally built as a character who started off on a very similar path as them (getting to integrate her Digimon partner into normal life, having a similar backstory to Ken) before veering off on a very different one.

Moreover, about that backstory, and the reason why 02 was conceived as such a criticism of the concept of “skipping grades into university”: the concern that someone in this position will be kept from making any friends their age. Menoa puts the moment of “being with one’s partner” on such a pedestal and considers herself to be “the only one who knows what this feels like” partially because she has a fundamentally warped view of friendship itself. Even the Adventure group, which may not have had quite the absurdly tight level of bonding the 02 group had, still broke out of the illusion via Taichi and Yamato reaching out to them, and Taichi and Yamato giving each other mutual support helped them make the decisions they did in the movie. The movie is titled “bonds”, and “bonds” doesn’t just refer to those between human and Digimon partner, but also bonds between each other; Taichi, Yamato, and Sora slowly drifting away from the others at the start of the movie has very strong relevance to their respective existential crises, and the role that Taichi and Yamato play in supporting each other, and Mimi’s in supporting Sora in To Sora and even beyond that, say a lot as to how they’re already expected to be much better off than Menoa was.

It’s not that adulthood is inherent drudgery; it’s that Menoa’s own circumstances really are that warped to the point where she sees her very unusual experiences as fundamentally synonymous with how life is supposed to work in general. She was so obsessed with “being independent”, “being useful to the world”, and “being on her own” that she had no mentality of making friends or connecting to others besides her own partner, and once her partner disappeared, she seemed to make no attempt to rectify that. So of course her life in university following that ended up being not nearly as fulfilling as she’d hoped, since she was getting no real emotional support from anywhere, and, as 02 itself also drove home, apparent “approval from society” only ever makes you as “happy” as a Dark Seed-implanted child if you’re not also being supported by your loved ones in the process. Her adulthood sucked, and she decided that everything about her rose-colored childhood meant that childhood is fundamentally superior in every way, and thus decided that keeping everyone else in it would be “saving” them from the terror it involves -- even though (even if they’re not aware of the specifics of everything) the 02 quartet is not the kind to be able to relate to this at all, and, eventually, Taichi and Yamato, who do understand her position a bit better due to their own experiences, are able to get her to reconsider a little.

#digimon #digimon adventure #digimon adventure 02 #digimon adventure last evolution kizuna #kizuna spoilers #shihameta

104 notes · View notes

rockthistowninsideout · 3 years ago

Text

DigiWeek 2021

Day 4 - Dark/Light

The Story

part 1 part 2 part 4

We woke up early the next morning as the sunlight sent its rays into the cave.

When we had reached it yesterday, dusk had fallen already and the temperatures had dropped significantly. So I had helped Kamemon gather wood which Ryudamon had set ablaze with its fiery breathe. As the fire illuminated the cave, it peeled out archaically drawn illustrations out of the dark. With them, Ryudamon explained to us the history of the Digital World and its most prominent landmarks. File Island, Spiral Mountain, Primary Village, the ocean, the jungle, the ice wastelands, and so much more.

How darkness and light had always lived side by side because one couldn’t exist without the other, but repeatedly dark forces had tried to overthrow this balance and spread gloominess across the Digital and also the human world. When that happened, ancient powers had called humans for help – those children were called the DigiDestined. Usually they were younger than us, aged sixteen we were old hands. In terms of Digimon, though, we were nearly completely ignorant.

Ryudamon couldn’t explain why we had been chosen. Both Digimon had simply felt the urge to go to the meadow where they’d met each other for the first time and waited for their partners to arrive. They didn’t know it would be us specifically but they felt an undeniable connection the moment we had stepped off the trolley.

We had discussed why the other DigiDestined hadn’t been with us but we hadn’t reached a satisfying conclusion so we had decided to go to sleep and see what the new day would bring us.

Now we had breakfast with the remainders of our lunch and with frost berries Kamemon had picked in a small piece of forest around the corner of the cave. It didn’t look like it but it knew the ice wastelands inside out.

“I’m a passionate traveller”, it explained. “The other Kamemon like to stay in our village their whole life – and that’s fine. But I have an adventurous soul that needs to roam free. What about you, Ryudamon?”

“I also rather stay put but this force that dragged me here like a magnet had been too strong and important to ignore. Thank the Digi Gods I have thick fur and my armour, otherwise I would be freezing.”

“Just like me!” Taki chimed in. “But Miko is like a portable heater. I always rely on her.” She smiled brightly at me.

I smiled back because I didn’t mind. On the contrary, I was happy when she was comfortable. Then I asked “How far is it to the place Frezamon indicated yesterday?”

“At least half a day’s march”, Kamemon said.

I grimaced. What was it with me and endurance sports again? “You’re not, by any chance, a flying Digimon when you evolve, Kamemon?”

It shrugged. “I have never evolved before but I don’t think so.”

“And I wouldn’t recommend riding on my back when I’m DexDorugamon”, Ryudamon said.

“A pity.”

So we had no choice but to set off on foot. Immediately as we stepped out of the cave, a beastly wind nearly swept us off our feet.

Taki and I huddled together as we marched through the snow. Kamemon was leading us up an ever ascending slope while Ryudamon was our rearguard. There was no point in stopping, all around there was only snow and wind – and more snow and more wind.

When I thought I couldn’t possibly take it any more, Kamemon announced “Look, up there!”

Taki surprisingly had been holding up pretty well but now that I looked at her I discovered just how tired she was. Then we both looked up to the point Kamemon indicated, and gasped. A round hut, not unlike a yurt, squatted in a nook of the rocks. Smoke rose out of a chimney. “Let’s go up there!”, Taki called, her exhaustion having vanished all of a sudden.

We began to move again but only had climbed a few metres higher when we all froze simultaneously. There wasn’t smoke rising from the chimney anymore, it had been replaced by the deepest, darkest black I had ever seen. It curled and writhed like a single tentacle, until it split itself into at least a dozen tentacles, they all had the same thickness for some reason even though that was physically impossible. Then again we were in the Digital World, and even though there was lots that resembled our world that didn’t mean it adhered to the same laws of physics.

The tentacles stretched until they tore themselves out of the chimney, transforming into solid spikes as soon as they left it. Swishing, they flew through the air in all directions. They disappeared from our view except for one that came straight racing towards Kamemon. It stood there transfixed, the spike coming ever closer, until it became clear to me that it would be pierced by it. Even though we only knew each other for barely a day I had grown quite fond of the little fellow and also I had sworn to be its partner. So just when Kamemon was about to be hit by the spike, I stepped forward and yanked it away. The spike drove itself into the stone with a nasty crack.

“Thank you! Oh thank you!”, Kamemon yelled and hugged me tightly which was easy because I was still holding it in the air.

“Of course”, I said in a casually but I still had to smile. Though only for a second until the cold of our surroundings started to seep into my collar and let me remember why Kamemon had been in hugging distance in the first place. I looked up to the yurt. “We gotta be careful”, I said before I started to walk again.

“You’re right. I don’t what’s wrong, if the other DigiDestined has been kidnapped by that evil force or if they’re even in there”, Ryudamon confirmed and adopted leadership. Kamemon was still shaking from the attack.

We ascended in crouched positions, ducking behind ledges and when there was nowhere to hide we were crawling up the mountain on all fours. Finally we reached the ledge closest to the yurt. I dared to peak over, only to shirk away again when another black spike came flying from the entrance door.

“Did you really think I wouldn’t see there, creeping up the mountain like insects!”, someone shouted. It was a pearly voice, it sounded as if it wasn’t actually made to transport the resentment dripping from the words it had said.

We communicated with each other using our hands and decided, despite all curiosity, that it was best to stay low. Then Ryudamon indicated a sheet of ice wedged at an angle between two rocks. It reflected its surroundings somewhat distorted – but it reflected them. That way we were able to see who was standing in the entrance of the yurt. It was a blonde girl, about our age, though she looked Caucasian in the makeshift mirror, neither Japanese like me nor Afro-Japanese like Taki.

We were anxiously watching her moves, in fact we were transfixed on the image in the ice that we didn’t notice something was drawing near until it was too late.

With a roar, a bear-like Digimon with purple-blueish fur and red and silver claws jumped up from behind our ledge. The world seemed to move in slow motion for a second. The bear Digimon – I learned from a quick glance on my DigiVice that it was called Grizzlymon – sailed above our heads and time resumed its natural flow when it landed in the snow, merely a two metres away from us.

“Uh-oh”, Kamemon gulped.

I could only second that. Uh-oh.

Grizzlymon

What if the villains “see the new light”?

“Come on! It’s only a small step!”, Iori urged. He tried to hoist Yukio Oikawa higher up his small shoulders.

“I can’t.” Oikawa’s voice was barely audible. He looked drained, his already pale face had now lost all its colour. He resembled a ghost more than a human being.

Suddenly a light appeared in front of them but behind the border between the intermediate world both were still in, and the Digital World. A round light-green Digimon with a halo of leaves on its head was born from the light. It smiled cheekily at Oikawa. “Finally we meet! I’m so glad, I’ve waited for so long”, it squeaked.

A spark of hope flashed across OIkawa’s face. “What do you mean, you’ve waited for me?”

“Isn’t that obious?” the Digimon said in a tone as if it was talking to a small child. “I’m Datirimon, your Digimon partner.”

Iori smiled desperately at Oikawa. “Isn’t that something? Come on, it’s only another step.”

Oikawa didn’t move and Iori feared that he would lose him right here but then Oikawa put his limp arm down. His hand groped around for support until it crossed the border. Now he dug his fingers deep into the soil of the Digital World. He pulled himself forward, and Iori pushed him.

Pull and push, pulll and push, until only his feet were still in the intermediate world. Oikawa’s face was flush with Datirimon, all remaining strength had been consumed by his way into the Digital World and his limp weight was too much for Iori to carry now. He knelt beside Oikawa, both were panting.

“I knew you would make it!”, Datirimon happily exclaimed. It hopped forward and bumped Oikawa’s nose.

Tears streamed down Oikawa’s face. His eyes were transfixed on the small Digimon before him. “I... have made it”, he whispered. He had no eyes for his surroundings, only for his partner, it was all he could still muster. That’s why he missed the rebirth of the Digital World.

Daisuke pointed his DigiVice at the spot MaloMyotismon had been standing on until its defeat. A new ray of light shot from it, representing the never-ending resolve he had proven to possess in the past hours. His friends followed him, Miyako, Hikari, Takeru, and the older DigiDestined sent rays of their own, and they were joined by all the children who were in the Digital World right now.

From the point where the rays touched, a soft golden glow started to spread as if the surface of the Digital World was cracking up. Where the old and lifeless soil had been torn away, the first bit of greenery started to grow. Butterflies rose and set off to shed the light all around the world.

@digiweek (didn’t tag it right the first time so it probably slipped through)

#digiweek2021 #dark/light #digimon adventure #digimon adventure 02 #iori hida #yukio oikawa #my oc #my stories #digimon

10 notes · View notes

higuchimon · 4 years ago

Text

[fanfic] A Kiss To Distract

The Kaiser pressed Daisuke against the wall, one hand pinning him there, while far too intense violet eyes stared down at him. Daisuke hadn’t thought about a height difference between them – he’d not much cared, either. What he worried about was the chains that kept his wrists from stopping the Kaiser from doing this, kept his feet from moving more than a few breaths from the wall.

He’d been here for ages – too long. It had been a fierce battle against some of the Kaiser’s goons, and a blast from one of them threw him far away from the others. He’d barely had time to get back on his feet before he’d been pushed down again.

The Kaiser, Ichijouji Ken, stood over him, foot pressing down between his shoulder blades, a wicked smile on his lips. He’d said nothing else. He’d just struck Daisuke on the side of the head, sending him reeling. Enough so Daisuke couldn’t resist being scooped up and carried away.

After that, he’d been kept here in the dungeon. At least he thought it was a dungeon. He hadn’t seen anyplace but the four gray walls. Kaiser came in every now and then, mocking words on his lips, relating how the other Chosen had done only a cursory search and then apparently given up, going home.

“They’re not looking for you. They don’t care what I do with you,” Kaiser said. Far too often, his hands rested on Daisuke when he said that, touching the side of Daisuke’s face. “Your own partner would rather return to being a free Digimon rather than connected to you.”

Daisuke shook his head as fiercely as he could. “You’re lying! You don’t know them!”

“Are they here? No. They could find me or you if they tried hard enough. But they’re not, are they?” Kaiser’s smile never faded “They still fight my slaves, but that’s all they do. They don’t talk about you. They don’t care about you.”

Daisuke refused to give up his faith in his friends. He wanted to believe that his friends would find him, somehow.

But now the Kaiser smiled that terrifying smile at him, then snapped his fingers. A screen appeared behind him where Daisuke could see it. It revealed the rest of the Chosen walking through a forested, hilly area. Hikari and Miyako chatted together, laughing about something. Iori and Takeru also talked. V-mon wasn’t with them. Their partners were there, of course, ready to evolve at a moment’s notice, as he saw when one of Kaiser’s patrols roared up in front of them.

In a breath, Pegasumon and Armadimon, Holsmon and Nefertimon stood ready to fight a troop of Digimon that he didn’t recognize. Daisuke tried to focus on the battle instead of the way that the Kaiser's hands combed through his hair.

It wasn’t that easy. He’d always had a sensitive scalp and Kaiser seemed to have somehow figured that out. So gentle, so teasing, and Daisuke twitched, to no avail. Nothing he did could keep the Kaiser’s hands off of him.

The caresses kept going even when the battle ended. Kaiser leaned forward and whispered, “Do you see? They don’t need you. They don't care about you. You offered nothing to them. You were an annoyance. Someone they had to drag along but wished they didn’t.” His tongue traced against Daisuke’s ear, his words falling relentlessly in. “Did you know? They all like their siblings. And their siblings care about them. But you and your sister?”

Daisuke shuddered harder, the chains keeping him from doing anything else. He wanted to scream and to fight. Not possible. The words froze in his throat. Kaiser did not suffer from that.

“I know how you feel. I never liked my brother, either. He never liked me. We have that in common, Daisuke.”

From somewhere, Daisuke managed to draw out words. “You – have a brother?”

“Had. He died a long time ago.” Kaiser shrugged briefly. “It doesn’t matter. What matters is that I know you as no one else does. I can help you – if you choose to help me.”

Daisuke wanted to understand. It was hard to get his thoughts going when the Kaiser kept on touching him, first in his hair, then tracing down his cheeks, and caressing over his neck, both front and back. Never below that – and Daisuke found himself wondering what would happen if he did.

“What do you mean?”

“What do they mean to you? What do they matter to you? You don't matter to them.” Kaiser’s hands did not stop their endless caresses. Daisuke found it harder to breathe with each moment. “But you matter to me a great deal. Belong to me. Help me finish what I’ve started. I can bring V-mon to you. He won’t ever leave you again. I won’t allow it. I will never allow anyone to hurt you ever again.” He tilted Daisuke’s head up by the chin, smiling down at him. “Except me, of course. But you’ll enjoy that.”

Daisuke started to shake his head. Kaiser didn’t allow that, of course. Instead, he whispered, “Think about it.” And he leaned forward to press his lips against Daisuke’s, so soft, so warm, so passionate, a kiss that should never be and yet it was, draining all of the resistance out of Daisuke.

Slowly, ever so slowly, Daisuke began to kiss back. He didn’t believe a word of what the Kaiser said – he wanted no harm to come to V-mon or the others – but that kiss ignited a flame inside of him that he’d never known could exist, and he wanted more of it. All of the tight resistance began to fade away and he leaned closer to Kaiser – he was allowed that, it seemed – and kissed slowly and deeply.

Kaiser's fingers slipped onto the back of his neck and for a moment Daisuke thought he felt something there sink underneath his skin. Then all of his worries faded away, replaced by the burning need to kiss Kaiser.

And he really had nothing else that he wanted to do anyway, except whatever his master wanted him to do.

The End

Notes: I also wrote this for a prompt from robo-whiskers on tumblr: a kiss to distract/a kiss to give up control. It’s sort of a combination of them both. And this ends DaiKen Week 2020. I feel very proud of my efforts!

#fanfic #higuchimon writes #daikenweek2020 #digimon adventure 02 #aged up au #Motomiya Daisuke #ichijouji ken #digimon kaiser

4 notes · View notes

izzyizumi · 5 years ago

Quote

The only [one/Digimon Adventures character] with a set birthday is Miyako [Yolei, who is zodiac sign Gemini]. The other characters don’t have set birthdays.

Hiroyuki Kakudou, Director/Head Writer of Digimon Adventures + 02 on the Chosen Childrens’ lack of official birthdays.

(Old post, original commentary + theorizing under ��read more’)

* Friendly reminder the Japanese school year begins in April and ends in the following years’ March. Do not calculate this timeline like you would a U.S. school year. Japan =/= America, and this is a Japanese anime set in Japan where the characters all have clear Japanese names. DO NOT CALCULATE THIS TIMELINE OR AGES LIKE YOU WOULD A SCHOOL YEAR IN THE UNITED STATES OR OTHER WESTERN COUNTRIES. * Friendly reminder 02 begins at THE BEGINNING OF APRIL when the school year has just started. - Miyako is later seen talking about her Gemini birthday with her siblings in the original Japanese version of 02. - Gemini occurs between about May 21 and June 21. - Therefore, Miyako’s birthday would be around May 21 and June 21. - Miyako is officially 12 in 02, but because of this, it’s much more likely she started her school year at age 11, due to aging right after the school year begins (April -> May).

* Friendly reminder that Iori Hida begins the series at 9 years old (officially, he is always listed as 9). However, he too has no set birthday. - 02 ends in December, which is clearly stated and seen in-show in the original Japanese version, with exact dates listed. (see: World Tour arc and after. It is already December by World Tour arc.)

- Iori is always two years apart from Daisuke, Ken, Hikari and Takeru exactly when going by official ages. - Daisuke and Iori had 7 [Daisuke] and 5 [Iori] years in Vamdemon’s Arc. If putting together a timeline for them that actually makes a decent amount of sense, Their birthdays should be after August 3rd to December 31st. So, you should put away dates from January 1st to Agusust 3rd. - We know this because of another official scan linked above, where Iori is clearly listed at 5 during Vamdemon arc, and Daisuke at 7. Around two years apart in all instances, and no more. - This also matches their grades, as Iori is in 3rd grade while Daisuke is 5th, two grades apart. - This means Iori would have likely aged to 10 by the time 02 has ended, putting him even closer in age to the 02 group (with LESS THAN TWO YEARS between him, Daisuke, Takeru, Hikari, Ken, and even Miyako, who would be 12 by the end of 02).

* Friendly reminder that the characters were basically just starting school at the start of 02. This includes all characters seen in 02, including Jun Motomiya, who also has no set birthday, and is seen very early on in Episode 04, when it would have still been APRIL. * THIS MEANS Jun could very well chronologically be much closer to 16 than she is 17. Even if she had just turned 17 somehow, it would be newly turned 17. LIKE THE 1ST WEEK OF APRIL. * It’s incredibly unlikely literally all of the characters have birthdays in the last week of March through to the 1st week of April alone.

* Friendly reminder that Ken literally has a scene where it’s discussed you can’t skip grades in Japan (as of that point of the series, 2002). - this means Jun obviously wouldn’t have as well. - especially considering Jun’s intelligence in comparison to KEN’S. - this would also be the case for literally all of the other characters, as even Koushiro mentions similar to Taichi in “Our War Game” about how someone in America had skipped grades, and expressed surprise at that.

* Friendly reminder that it’s possible that Jou could be considered on the younger end of his school year according to the Novels. And even if the Novels are set in a different continuity - Though he was given the age of 12 in Adventure (where the younger end of the school year, or January 1st - April 1st, would have placed him at 11) and 15 in 02 (where the younger end would place him at 14), in Tri he is confirmed 18 at start (when the younger end would have placed him AT 18 instead of 19). * THE NOVELS DIRECTLY CONFIRM JOU AT 11 despite his official age in Adventure (12). * If following the “younger end” pattern, this means Jou also would have been closer to 14 in 02, if not outright 14 when going by chronological timeline hintings.

from the novels: “Anyway, Jou,” Yamato said. The reason he didn’t add honorifics to Jou’s name was because he thought they were in the same grade. “Has the snowstorm passed?” - from here

In all ELEVEN years of his life, Jou could honestly swear that he had never dealt with anything as utterly and inexplicably bizarre as this. A strange animal that looked like an experiment between a seal and a sea horse gone wrong was chasing after him. In a mischievous voice, they cried out, “Jooou!” as they floated in the air. - also from the very first chapter. (note the directly stated “eleven”)

* Friendly reminder that Taichi, Yamato, and Sora are nearly always and particularly shown as the same ages. In this scan for example, they’re all listed as 7 years old when their younger forms are seen. - This is very much despite “Our War Game” and Sora’s supposed “birthday” (refer to the quote by Kakudou re: birthdays). - In the official Tri profiles, they’re all listed clearly as 17 as well, implied to be at the very start of the show. - �� Taichi Yagami, 17, high school days ” is literally stated during the very 1st Tri announcements and also in official summaries. - If Taichi, Yamato, and Sora all begin tri at 17, they’d likely be aging to 18 throughout the school year. - If Taichi, Yamato, and Sora all begin 02 at 14, the same happens here; they’d be closer to 15 by end of 02, likely earlier on. - This is especially the case re: Taichi (”17, high school days” in Tri - remember this is supposedly CLOSER TO THE START.) - This is likely also the case re: Yamato, who at the very least is implied to be older than Sora if going by “Our War Game” despite its own issues when it comes to timeline inconsistencies and Sora’s “birthday”. Even if her birthday occured a bit later on in March, Yamato would likely still be older. - Jun Motomiya also is only 2 grades higher than them (11th grade in 02, Taiorato are 9th), and only 1 grade higher than Jou. She is just starting 11th grade in 02. - In the same scan, Jou is shown to be only one year older than Taichi, Yamato, and Sora, not two, which also matches up with his given Tri age. - Koushiro and Mimi are usually seen around the same age, exactly one year less than Taichi, Yamato, and Sora always in all instances of their official ages and age ranges being shown. Neither have set birthdays. - Maybe relevant to Koushiro’s possible age/birthday range, but in the Japanese version of Adventure, Mrs izumi states to Koushiro, “ Twelve years ago, [your real father] married your real mother and they had you. ” - Koushiro’s canonical age is 10, but he too has no set birthday. * Friendly reminder that Meiko is canonically in the same school grade as Taichi, Yamato, and Sora, and likely around the same age:

Q: How long have Meiko and Meikoomon been partners? A: Meiko’s digivice are the same model as Taichi and party’s, and she’s also the same age as them… based on that, I’m sure we can theorize that they’ve been partners for about the same amount of time.

Though she hangs out around Mimi a lot during after-school activities, She is seen in Taichi’s class in Saikai/Ketsui. Taichi + Yamato + Sora are a grade higher than Mimi + Koushiro.

* Friendly reminder Takeru and Hikari are the same age. - In Tri they’re both 14, but still have no set birthdays. - Takeru particularly never had his age in Adventure confirmed despite the rest, so he could have easily started his grade a bit earlier (i.e. 7 instead of 8 in Adventure’s start, 10 instead of 11 in 02.) - Hikari’s age of 11 in 02 was confirmed in the 02 Memorial Book. However, only Takeru’s grade was mentioned in the same book. - A Tri article/interview confirmed Hikari to be “older than Takeru” though they are still around the same age if going by Tri ages (~14).

* Friendly reminder that I really hate the Adventures timelines’ inconsistencies and total lack of official birthdays.

* Friendly reminder that if you’re trying to claim the characters have 100% “set” birthdays in regards to their ages, Kakudou himself literally confirmed you’re wrong. THE ONLY ONE WITH A 100% “SET” BIRTHDAY IS MIYAKO. THE ONLY ONE WITH A 100% “SET” BIRTHDAY IS MIYAKO. Estimating the ages going by timeline hintings is fine though. If you do this however, actually be aware of all the timeline statements and inconsistencies throughout.

* Friendly reminder that I seriously understand how important ages and the like can be to many fans, but if you’re trying to use the information given as 100% “proof” of anything, you’re very much doing it wrong.

* Friendly reminder that if going by all of the ages given, however, Iori is 17~ in *KIZUNA, the exact same age Taichi was in Tri.

* Friendly reminder that we literally have a canon epilogue where everyone is seen as adults with adult designs and these have all been in use since 2002 by this fandom.

* Friendly reminder that despite this, your headcanons regarding them at those ages are fine. Because the epilogue ages are, you know, official.

* Friendly reminder that I still hate the timeline inconsistencies and I am listing these mainly for my own convenience because I hate them that much.

#digimon adventures #motomiya jun #hida iori #inoue miyako #takaishi takeru #timeline inconsistencies #timeline #advs timeline #advs #profiles #tri profiles #tri ages #ages #(DOIN' THIS AGAIN APPARENTLY)#(WHOA I HATE ADVENTURES' TIMELINE)#(BUT YEAH IT'D BE COOL)#(IF PEOPLE COULD ACTUALLY USE REFERENCES..... YEAH..... YEAH)#(ok seriously though I WOULD GENUINELY LIKE TO DISCUSS TIMELINE THINGS with people curious but yeah)#(NOT if you're going to use them to prove yourself right or whatever in regards to basically anything mentioned here)#(anyway the notes re Jou Iori and Jun's are especially important)#(tired of pointing all this out tbh like dang am I going to have to put together an entire timeline myself)#(because no one knows how to calculate the Japanese school year apparently)#(ANYWAY 'THE ONLY ONE WITH A SET BIRTHDAY IS MIYAKO')#(fanon birthdays are fun and all but seriously please TAKE NOTE your FANON is not CANON)#(also friendly reminder Taichi is always only 1 year apart from Koushiro and Mimi as well)#(regardless of all these issues)#(but yeah this list is mainly for my own reference ok. you can use it BUT please recognize Adventures' inconsistencies)#(but yeah Iori is 17~ in kizuna like..... Taichi was 17 in tri...... just saying)#(also going by this like. Iori is closer in age to Takeru and Miyako than Miyako is to Mimi. Miyakos like 11 Mimis like 14 going on 15)#(also going by this like. Iori is closer in age to TAKERU and Miyako than Miyako is to Mimi. Miyakos like 11 MIMIS like *13~)

3 notes · View notes

wingsporkhalo · 6 years ago

Text

The Winter Non-Vacations: A Digimon Fanfic- Part 28

Wow, it has been a minute. Anyway, I haven’t posted any more of this fic by @carochinha in ages, so... time to get back to it!! I’d also like to promote my Patreon, where you can hear me read a friend’s fantasy novel with several stupid voices. I am so poor, tumblr friends. Please help me.

In this one, there are some extraordinarily uncomfortable memories! I mean it! They’re terrible!!!! Warning for poorly-described sexual content!!

Chapter 28: Memories [ALL ALONE IN THE MOOOOOONLIIIIIGHT~] In that night, the plan had been discussed. They were going to attack them, with all the strenght they could get. [If they can get this legendary “strenght”…] In that night, a little before the plan had been decided, they had received an e-mail from Gennai telling them bad news. The forces of evil were strong. [OH SHIT I’M SO GLAD WE HAVE THIS LIFE-ALTERING INFO THANKS OLD MAN] Strong enough that tomorrow was maybe the last day they would live... - Ken? - Hum? - I just wanted to say that... - ... - If we die tomorrow, I’ve always loved you... [“Except for when you were a small-creature-abusing dickparade.”] And I will always love you... [HAND IIIIIIIII~IIIIIIIII~”]

- Miyako... [” He wondered if he should tell her that he was incapable of loving a woman. “] Well, I’m not going to tell you to stop saying that we might die tomorrow, because it’s true... I’m going to tell you that, living or not, I’ll love you for all eternity. He envolved [sigh…] her in what could be their last hug and both feel asleep, [I feel asleep, too. Well, it’s more like dead inside, but…] conscious of their love... [so wait are they conscious or not?] - Penélope? - Yes? - I know we don’t know eachother for a long time, that we actually know for a little, but... - Yes Daisuke? - I love you... [Ugh. What is there to love, seriously. Answer me that.] - Oh, Daisuke... I... - Forget it, if you don’t fell the same [tree] forget it... - No, that’s not it... I love you to [fell those trees]... - Penélope... - And, since tomorrow we might as well [you might as well.] die... I... wanted to [go fell some trees with you] if... If... - Penélope? - If you wanted to spend this night with me... If you wanted to sleep with me... [You know, love =/=sex. They are actually two very different things. One just happens to lead to the other, IF you’re lucky and have compatible orientations/needs, EVENTUALLY.] - But Pen, [Who the fuck calls her that] I’m already sleeping with you... She looked him with a look slightly different [than her usual eerily expressionless, half-lidded gaze] and he undeerstood... [Why did he undo that standing deer?] And, bending over here, kissing her and took her in his arms. He wasn’t going to do what she asked him.. If they survived she might regret it... But in the same way he was going to make that night unforgetable for both of them... [Then why don’t you go fell some trees?] He felt her sliding down slowly, so that he’d be inside of her [small cage that she had made for him because he wouldn’t stop peeing on the carpet]... - Taichi... – she moaned quietly... [“why do you keep doing this?!”] - Sora... I... I... I love you... - [“That is irrelevant!] Oh, I know... I know Taichi, and I love you too! – she said not so quietly. [“But please stop marking your territory everywhere!”] She bent her forward and kissed her... A little while later they were both satisfied, and she curled up in him, [ew] feeling his heart beat next to hers... - Taichi... Tomorrow... - Don’t think about tomorrow... Now is now, and we are alive, and we together... - Taichi... [If you pee on the floor during the night, I will have you euthanized.”] She huddled closer to him, absorving his smell... This ways, even if they died, she’d die with the memory of his smell on her mind... She’d die happy... ----

She cried quietly, huddled against his chest. He hugged her, caressing her hair...[She tried to do the same with his hair, but it only came off in brown smudges on her hand. “Please don’t rub off my hair paint,” said Iori.] - Shhh... Everyone is going to be okay tomorrow... - How do you know? - Because, even if we die, we’ll die together... - Iori... - Besides, we’re together today... Right Susi? - Right! – she said, cleaning her tears. [When they had emerged from her hideous tear ducts, they were an evil and inky black.] - You know, I only noticed it now... - What? - With the tails, your hair is really huge... [Do you think you can give me some of it? I went bald at five years of age.”] - Iori! Leave my hair alone... - I didn’t say it looked bad... Come here... She threw himself against him again, [upon which he said “ouch,”] and he hugged her... - You’re right... Everything is going to be okay tomorrow... And so they feel asleep... - Mimi? - Hum? - Are you afraid? - Of tomorrow? No... - Why? - Because I have you here... And I know that if I have you, everything is going to be okay... And I know that, even if we don’t get married here in Earth, we shall do it in Heaven... [That’s nice I guess] - Mimi... - Don’t you agree? - Of course... But you know, I have the feeling we are getting married on Earth... She smiled and hugged him. He hugged her back, and waited for her to sleep before sleeping...

She cried a little on his should...[on his should? I dunno, maybe she should have cried on his shouldn’t.] - I can’t believe we’re really going to fight... I’m scared Yamato, I don’t want to die... - Me neither... But [get] out[; my] only hope is to attach [myself to Taichi] now... If we attack now we might die... If we wait we’ll certainly die... - Yamato... - Hum? - I love you... - I love [Taichi, so I’m afraid I cannot love] you too Inês... - Yamato? - Hum? - Can I ask you a favour? - Which? [There are three of me.] - I don’t... I don’t want... - ... - I don’t want to die a virgin... - Inês... He was perplexed for some seconds, but then he picked up the girl laying next to him and [put her next to a random Digimon, and watched while said Digimon] kissed her. - Yeah. Me neither. [Good thing I had those slumber parties with Taichi and Sora. Tentomon may or may not have been there too.] - We are going to fight. We might lose or not, but we won’t stop believing, [*faint echoes of Journey in the background*] we won’t stop having Hope... - Of course not... While the Light illuminates our hearts, we are going to win... [How are they capitalizing words in their speech like that] They both smiled. - Takeru? Sleep well... - Tomoroow [To-mor-oow?] will be a weird day... - But Hope will prevail... - So will Light... He hugged her. He had almost lost her too many times... She looked so down... He passed a hand trouth [trouth? That’s a new one] her back, trying to calm her. He circled her body with his hand and caressed her belly... [she kicked him in the gut reflexively, being very ticklish. After recovering from having the breath knocked out of him,] He started going up, trying not to go overboard... He got to her breasts, and while he caressed one with one hand, he did the same on the other with the other. [He quickly got bored of this and started playing Pokemon on his DSi.] Her back was against his chest, and his arms were around her... - Koushirou... – she whispered while [s]he caressed her [own] breasts... [He ignored her, as he was finally going up against the legendary Pokemon Dialga. He had thrown a Quick Ball and three Ultra Balls so far, but to no avail.] He tried a little bit more and used a little bit more of pressure [on the A button]... But then, accidentally, she thrust herself back, making him use too much strenght [and knocking the DSi from his grasp]... The problem is that, with the little bit of pain that caused, [as the DSi landed on her head,] she remembered... She remembered the only thing she’d rather not remember... He let go of her, knowing she’d hurt her[self if he left her alone long enough. Or near some stairs]. - Carol? Are you okau? [If okau means dead, I hope so.] - I... I remembered... - What? - That which I’d tried to forget... [Oh, thanks for clearing that up.] Oh My God Koushirou, I’m sorry! [You should be.] - Why? - I don’t deserve you... [You don’t deserve anyone.] - What? - You don’t know... You don’t know what I am... [Are you a soul-consuming she-demon? Because that’s my theory.] - What you are? - Yes... If you knew, you’d never want me... You’d be as all the others were... [Oh, lemme guess, a sparkly vampire, right? No?] - How? - You’d be disgusted with me... [Oh come on. Feasting on the blood of the innocent is just an unfortunate habit. We can totally fix it with enough therapy.] - That was not what I was asking, but... I’d never be disgusted with you... - Oh no? Well, maybe you should know what I really am, what I am since I’m thirteen... [Actually, I’m 394, but I still look 13 because vampire] - What you are? - Yes, Koushirou, what I am. - And what are you? - I am, and there’s no other word to describe it, a real slut. [A vamp, if you will.] - What do you mean? - What do I mean? Well, maybe I should tell you the whole story... In the Summer vacation when I was thirteen years old, I went to a private school in London for a week. [Holy fuck.] In that time I was... And I still am... a girl that no one liked, that was made fun of by everyone and that no boy liked... [Make it stop] So, when I went to London, a boy liked me... I was so happy that I did everything he asked me to... I undressed in front of him the first day I met him... [This is awkward as shit] We were always making out, and it was a close shot I didn’t lose my virginity there... [Like, really awkward shit] But the vacations were over and I went back to my life... But I’d learnt something I didn’t know before... [A shit you take in a really fancy baby-powder-scented bathroom and then are unable to flush for mysterious plumbing reasons] If I talked about sex, I’d have guys after me... I started to blowjob half the guys in my school... [I’m going to go drown myself] Some of them referred to me as “The whore that doesn’t take money”... I didn’t care... For some time, they made me feel special, and important... [Please no this is not what fanfiction is supposed to be for; this is for counselors] Of course some of them were a bit rough, but I didn’t care... I almost lost my virginity several times... Oh, who do I want to trick, [sweet baby CHRIST IN A MANGER WHY IS THIS SO LONG] I stopped being a virgin the moment I removed my shirt in front of that boy in London... For some months, I was mistreated, like an object by so many guys... I was late to class so many times because they’d came, they’d leave the garage or the stairs or wherever we were, but I had to stay behind getting dressed or cleaning myself... [I can’t even read this as part of a fanfiction; this is not okay to write down and share with everyone on the internet] And... All I ever wanted was... Someone to hug me and tell me they loved me... Someone who cared about me... They vacation came, and I realized... What I was... There was no way to stop being it... The marks it’d left on me, on my skin and my heart, were too visible... I would never have anyone hugging me with love... Then, in the beggining of the school year, I was attacked... Inês saved me by little, and Gennai thought it was a good idea to tell us the truth about ourselves... In Christmas vacation, we came here to be more protected... We were attacked and we lost our memories... And now, here we are... They don’t need my blood because it’s pure... They need my blood because it’s tainted... And... all I ever wanted... [I have to go cry in a corner and get some anger management training now] [Also why the hell were there so many ellipses???] She started to cry... But stopped when she felt Koushirou’s arms hugging her from behind... She turned around surprised, laying her head against his shoulder... - I love you... [You’re the only one who can monologue that long of a paragraph. You’re the only one for me, baby.] Hearing these words, her heart started to slowly recover, and she dropped [the bottle of man-]tears [she’d gathered from her former victims] again, these of joy... She huddled against him and thus fell asleep... She woke up a little while later, when everyone was already asleep... She felt weird... She started thinking about all those that she loved, now risking their lives for her... She had heard Inês, her best friend of all time, saying that she didn’t want to die... She had heard Jou and Mimi talking about their wedding... She had seen the tears Susi had shining in her eyes... And she understood what she had to do... If she gave herself up, if they killed her, everyone else wouldn’t have to die... They could have wedding, they could have kids... And Koushirou... He’d find someone better... [Nope because no one is as good as Author Insert and all others throw themselves from the cliffs of despair because their freckles will never be as stupidly adorable and they will never fall down the stairs as gracefully as she]

Next time: A really fucking short chapter to make up for this monster-sized one with all the uncomfortable shit!!!

#digimon #badfic #bad fanfiction #winter non vacations #wingsporkhalo

2 notes · View notes

shihalyfie · 4 years ago

Text

A meta on Miyako, and her position in the 02 group

One piece of cultural context that tends to get lost in translation a lot when it comes to Digimon is the relative order of who’s older than whom. Of course, in any country, the difference between an eleven-year-old and a twelve-year-old is still pretty significant, but in East Asian culture, that single year is A Big Deal. (This is why Adventure’s first episode has everyone introduce themselves with their grade levels, even though it seems pointless to do this with otherworldly creatures.)

So Miyako’s the oldest in the 02 group. Let’s talk about Miyako!

Digimon being a series that loves to play with preconceived expectations, it’s probably no surprise that the oldest one is...not exactly the stellar example of an esteemed elder. Despite being the oldest, Miyako is one of the biggest disaster children in the entire group, with only Daisuke competing for that position.

On top of that, we then start bringing Japanese honorifics into play, which throws another wrench into it, because that single year can be the difference between a -san and a -kun, and that will be drilled into your head as the kids talk to each other over the course of the whole series. This is why leaving honorifics in translation is such a disputed topic in localization debates to this day (because it does have a lot of information on how characters see each other), and even I have to admit that while I’m normally in the “cut them out!” camp, I’m so accustomed to their usage in Digimon that I’m still using the honorifics in fanfic because of how weird it feels to drop them now (even though this relegates me to the hell of maintaining an Excel spreadsheet).

Let’s look at the honorifics chart for Miyako. What do the others in the team call her?

Daisuke: Miyako

Iori: Miyako-san

Takeru: Miyako-san

Hikari: Miyako-san

Ken: Miyako-san

Well, would you look at that. Every single person except for Daisuke uses -san on her. By the time you’ve gotten to the end of the series, the association between Miyako and the “respect honorific” is probably going to be pretty high. And in fact, Daisuke did accidentally slip into using -san on her, in a moment of being a bit out of it in episode 30. Miyako’s response? “It feels weird when you add the -san.” Really, the only reason he doesn’t use the honorific with her seems to only really be because of how close he is with her -- he uses proper honorifics on all other elders, but Miyako’s enough of a fellow disaster child that he’s comfortable getting a bit more in her face.

This isn’t the first time the series had pulled out the idea of “the oldest one is actually not very reliable”, of course -- infamously, Jou was the oldest in the Adventure group, something he even took as a reason that he was supposed to be the most responsible, but unfortunately was...simultaneously the most reliable and unreliable. In the end, of course, everyone came to learn that he’d pull through...eventually, but he (especially in the first half) had a lot of an aura of exasperation and occasional “uh...is he gonna be okay...” doubt around him.

But this isn’t quite the case for Miyako.

One interesting thing about Miyako is that even when she shows off some of her worst traits in front of them -- being shallow over appearances, being a little too over-the-top, or sometimes losing control over herself...nobody really holds it against her. Even when she was fangirling over Ichijouji Ken in episode 8, Daisuke seems more taken aback than he has any criticisms about her behavior, Iori only points out that she normally wouldn’t be into younger boys, and eventually everyone moves on from the topic.

In fact, people getting exasperated over her only generally seems to happen on the actual spot, and only when things really hit peak. Nobody ever really holds things like “Miyako’s into hot guys” over her head once all is said and done -- in fact, nobody ever really criticizes Miyako’s personality or behavior or expresses doubt in her ability to do something much whenever there’s no need to. Whenever Miyako does do something disastrously bad, nobody brings the incident up again. It’s more like an “oh, dear, please help us” whenever things do get bad...and then they all move on and forgive her.

In fact, the only times any major criticisms or doubts about Miyako’s personality or reliability come out are from episode 31, which, of course, was also a major character building episode for her...

...and note the contexts these came in: the first is from Daisuke, who’s the one person on the team known to be comfortable with constantly bantering with her (and is also comparing her to Hikari, whom we know he puts on a pedestal), and the second is Hikari laying down an extremely mild criticism of her character that actually is quickly followed by an admission that she envies her for that aspect of her (because Hikari is on the other extreme, being emotionally repressive and unable to voice her feelings well).

Ken joins the team halfway into the series, and although he’s a polite person in general (he also calls Hikari “Hikari-san”, even though she’s the same age as him), there’s actually enough to indicate he also looks up to her with respect.

I say that Miyako was the second person after Daisuke to bid for Ken joining the group, but one of the really, really important parts that shouldn’t be forgotten here is that it was the exact same episode (25) -- Daisuke starts making proposals to the other kids to bring him in and makes his first move to reach out at the beginning, and Miyako at the end. In terms of the actual series’s chronology, this was only a single day of difference...and it’s not until six more episodes when we get our next person (Hikari) openly showing receptiveness (even then, Hikari doesn’t actually vocalize this besides dropping him a line in 34, so Ken may not have really felt anyone’s opinion on him really changing until then, or until Takeru in 37).

So we have Daisuke and Miyako openly accepting Ken at virtually the same time (Miyako made it very clear to him that she was open to him through her email at the end of episode 25). The two of them took very different approaches in reaching out to Ken thereafter -- Daisuke decided to be a bit more aggressive and in-your-face, and, ultimately, became the one who emotionally connected with him the best (because with someone like Ichijouji Ken, there are barriers you need to be breaking). Miyako’s stance was to give him space and let him join on his own terms, and while this didn’t get her nearly as emotionally close to him, it did actually have an interesting side effect where he initially seemed to be a lot more comfortable about approaching her (because she’s a little more gentle in approaching him, so she’s not as intimidating and doesn’t bring up the Complicated Feelings associated with his changing relationship with Daisuke, at least until he finally does figure those out in the end).

He actually “tacitly nods” at Miyako in battling with her during the events of episode 25 (and this is notable in that this was before she sent her email to him at the end of it).

Which means that he actually gets two “one-on-one” scenes with her in episodes 30 and 33, which is actually pretty surprising when you consider how this entire thing was during an arc when he was still pretty stilted and awkward when dealing with the other kids directly. 33 is interesting because it actually would mean very little by itself if it weren’t for the context this scene is in -- three episodes prior, Miyako slapped Ken in the face, and one episode after that, Ken saw Miyako at her absolute hysterical worst, throwing a panicked fit, infringing on insensitivity in all directions, and generally being a mess...but not only does he seem to be absent a grudge about any of this, he’s still more than willing to be her partner’s caretaker and dash all the way to Kyoto in an “I trust you with this” manner.

Basically? Despite everything, he actually trusts and respects her abilities quite a lot.

So why does Miyako get to be a complete mess and all over the place, and yet still seem to command this much respect among the 02 crowd? The answer is, quite simply, that they like her a lot.

Let’s look at what Miyako calls her friends.

Daisuke: Daisuke

Iori: Iori

Takeru: Takeru-kun

Hikari: Hikari-chan

Ken: Ichijouji-kun (until episode 30), Ken-kun (episode 25 and after).

Interesting web of relationships here. Miyako presumably omits the honorific with Iori because she’s known him closely as her neighbor since prior to the series. In a similar vein to how she doesn’t want Daisuke to use an honorific on her, she omits it on him -- the two really are very close, even if they don’t give off that aura at first. She’s respectful with Takeru, and endearing with Hikari, and, notably, she is the first person in the entire group to switch to given name basis with Ken (Daisuke doesn’t do this until episode 30, and not regularly until 39), indicating that she very, very much wanted to go out of her way to reach out to and get closer to him.

Unlike Jou, who sometimes tried to use his position as the oldest as proof that he should be commanding that kind of respect, Miyako doesn’t really have any conscious awareness that she’s the oldest (the only time she consciously pulls it out is episode 8, when she’s talking about Ken being younger than her, and it’s otherwise implied by the way she acts in episode 7 that she actually forgets about this regularly), because she’s too busy doting on everyone. Miyako is extremely affectionate, and one of her first actions in the entire series was to bring food for everyone, even though she’d just met them all. For all intents and purposes, she actually basically is the mom of the group (it’s just...she’s more of a disaster than you’d usually expect the archetype to be). And on top of that, she’s bright, and cheerful, and brings everyone’s spirits up -- that same overly dramatic, all-over-the-place nature that causes her to sometimes lose control is the same exuberance that leads her to go “Digital Gate, open! Chosen Children, let’s roll!”

Her ridiculous antics make people laugh. This happens twice at prominent plot points (Hikari in episode 31, and Ken in episode 38), and, heck, even her depiction in the epilogue is another moment of her causing her family to laugh. Miyako always has her heart in the right place; she cares about her friends deeply, and makes this very clear.

And Ken certainly must have come to recognize this himself by the end of the series, considering...

“Please don’t worry about me” -- or, in other words, what you say when you know someone is going out of their way to be emotionally invested in your welfare. Ken, still soft-spoken, polite, and respectful, by this point was well aware that Miyako was a fundamentally good person looking out for him -- so, in other words, he’d also hopped on the Inoue Miyako respect train.

And as I’ve pointed out many times, the 02 group was a little different from their seniors in that they were “social-life” friends -- people who enjoyed each other’s company even when it had nothing to do with Digimon incidents -- and so it meant that, in the end, they all really did have a lot of fondness for Miyako as a friend, and it really is that much easier to “forgive” your friend’s faults when you care about your friend that much. You have a friend who dotes on you and cares about you, and although she’s a little high-strung and off her rocker at times, she’s also bright and funny, so in the end, can you really fault her?

#digimon #digimon adventure 02 #miyako inoue #inoue miyako #shihameta

139 notes · View notes

higuchimon · 5 years ago

Text

[fanfic] Grooming Night

Kaiser’s hands moved through Daisuke’s feathers, carefully checking each one of them. A few of those he lingered on, picking up the feather brush he kept nearby and smoothing them out. Others he gently worked out and set aside. Daisuke twitched and shivered each time he did that, his shoulders shaking whenever Kaiser’s fingers got too close.

They shook a lot. Any time Kaiser’s fingers touched him was too close, in his opinion. It also did not help that his molting season had finally arrived and Kaiser was grooming him. He did this for hours every day, making certain that Daisuke’s falling feathers were cleaned up and the newly growing ones came in nicely.

Molting itched. It was a part of growing and he needed a lot of food when it got started – food that Kaiser still insisted that he beg for. Daisuke couldn’t even begin to try to resist for that now. He’d considered it for a few hours, until the clawing empty gap in his stomach demanded food so strongly in between breakfast and lunch that he’d broken down and begged Kaiser for a mid-morning snack.

“How does that feel?” Kaiser murmured, one hand resting on the top of one wing. Daisuke closed his eyes and shivered all over. He had to stay where he was during the whole grooming operation. That made him wild to get moving – wilder than he normally was, with so much pent up energy.

He held it better than he had when he’d first been taken. Kaiser gave him times and places where he could burn it off, but grooming was difficult, more so than now.

“It feels all right,” Daisuke said at last. “They do itch over here, though.” He raised his left hand to indicate that side of his wings. “There’s a bad patch right in the middle.”

Kaiser now brushed his fingers through that area. “Here?” Daisuke nodded and Kaiser probed. “I see. Let me try this. I’ve been preparing it for you.”

Daisuke wondered what he meant. He didn’t have long to wait before something a bit chilled began to be smoothed into the feathers. The itching soothed almost at once and Daisuke heaved a deep, rested sigh.

“That feels wonderful, master. Thank you.” It did. He didn’t argue with himself about telling the truth to the Kaiser. It wasn’t really worth the energy that it took. He wasn’t ever good at lying; he never had been. If he thought about it, then being here meant he didn’t have to keep lying to his parents about where his bruises came from or where he got in his flying practice or why he kept bringing extra food back to his room.

“You’re quite welcome,” Kaiser said, satisfied. “I made that cream for you. I’m glad that you liked it. Since it does such a good job, I’ll have more of it made.”

Daisuke wasn’t so dense he couldn’t figure out the meaning behind those words. What Kaiser meant was that he’d need more. Not just this molt but for many molts to come. Molting happened more frequently when a Flier was growing up – like he was now – and tapered off until an adult Flier molted about once a year or so. The idea of spending years and years restrained, chained, under the Kaiser’s unyielding domination – he’d have nightmares about that. He’d already had a few but there were clearly more to come.

I wish I could talk to V-mon. He really wanted to do that but so far the Kaiser hadn’t seen fit to allow that. He wasn’t sure if he ever would. Kaiser was very, very possessive of him, after all. Those few times he got to see the others at distance grew rarer and rarer. Even if V-mon couldn’t stay or he couldn’t leave, he just wanted to see his partner again and talk to him, to know that he was all right. To let V-mon know that he was all right.

Even though he wasn’t. Being the Kaiser’s prisoner and pet meant that he’d never be all right and he refused to let himself forget that.

But then the Kaiser’s hands brushed over the arc of his wings and down the sides of his neck. Daisuke arched his neck backward, shivering, a frisson of pleasure rocketing through him that he wished he could ignore. The longer that he stayed at the Kaiser’s feet, the more the Kaiser touched him and the more often the Kaiser touched him, the more Daisuke liked it. Every moment of contact set every sense and every part of his body on unquenchable fire. At least not by himself…

Most people didn’t touch a Flier's wings. At least not with permission from the Flier. Kaiser never waited for permission. He ran his fingers through Daisuke’s wings whenever he chose to do so, finding all the places that made Daisuke make noises. It didn’t take long. Daisuke hadn’t ever had much in the way of self-restraint and when it came to his wings being played with – or parts of his hair being played with – then he had even less.

Kaiser had very talented fingers. Daisuke already knew that, from when they’d played soccer against one another in that time before. He knew it in an entirely different way now as Kaiser brushed and tended each one of his feathers and ensured that he was in perfect condition in every single way.

He wasn’t sure of how long he sat there under the Kaiser’s hands, his feathers being set in order, but at some point, Kaiser tapped him in the shoulder and he twisted his head around to look up.

Kaiser held something out to him – a bracelet. A real bracelet – not like a fancy piece of chains or shackles. Daisuke blinked at it and stared closer.

“Take it,” Kaiser said, voice a trifle gruff. “I had it made for you.”

Slowly Daisuke picked it up, not sure of why but certain if he did it, Kaiser would force it on him regardless. The bracelet was of a material he didn’t recognize, but as he turned it over, he could see one of his own feathers encased within it, wound about with a strand of blue hair. He blinked several times, trying to wrap his head around this.

“What -” He knew that shade of hair. He saw it whenever he looked at the Kaiser. He could hardly forget it when it was such a part of his life.

“Your feather and my hair,” Kaiser said, voice still gruff. “Encased together, forever. Just like you and me. It’s been six months since I brought you here. An anniversary present.”

Oh. Daisuke swallowed. Six months. He’d been away from home, his friends, his family, and his partner for six months. Half of the year. He thought he remembered what they all looked and sounded like but if he really tried hard – they seemed so faint. What he remembered clearest of all was his time here with the Kaiser. It was all but impossible to forget a moment of his time here. Held and bound, kept restrained in whatever way the Kaiser pleased, and unable to really do anything about it.

Some anniversary. He didn’t even get cake.

“That’s – yeah.” He wasn’t going to say it was nice. It wasn’t thoughtful. It was pretty much a nightmare that he lived on a daily basis.

Kaiser reached down, picked up Daisuke's wrist, and slid the bracelet onto it. He admired it for a few moments before he turned Daisuke’s wrist around and pries his fingers open, then dropped a kiss down on Daisuke’s palm. Daisuke closed his eyes. Kaiser kissed him there again, then did the same thing to Daisuke’s other hand.

“Tonight I have a feast planned for us,” Kaiser told him, eliminating Daisuke’s mental pouting about not having cake. Sometimes – all the time – Kaiser read him far too well. “Tomorrow we’ll take care of your wings again. And every day until your molt is finished.” Kaiser now tilted Daisuke’s head to stare at him before he pressed a kiss to Daisuke’s lips, tongue tracing along before probing between them. Daisuke tried to close his lips but Kaiser’s tongue kept him from doing so. Kaiser broke the kiss when he was satisfied, leaning back to run his hands through Daisuke’s hair. “Then I’ll take you flying. Don’t you want that?”

Daisuke breathed a sigh outwards. He knew the only answer that he could use right now. “Yes, master.”

Kaiser smiled. It wasn’t a terrifying expression, nor one of anger. It made Daisuke’s heart sink to see it regardless, even as it pleased him. He didn’t want to make Kaiser happy but he couldn’t seem to stop himself.

“Very good, my pet. Very good indeed.”

Daisuke leaned back against his master’s legs as the Kaiser got back to work. He had to stay in flying condition. He had to be ready when the chance came. That was all.

The End

Notes: Poor Daisuke. Random dice roll was three & the words chosen were: order, perfect, and sense.

#fanfic #higuchimon writes #digimon adventure 02 #ichijouji ken #motomiya daisuke #kendai #daiken #au: wings #series: take to the skies

0 notes