#Shinonome Kaito

[cypreus-and-willow]

Happy Anniversary to Digimon Survive

I had something else planned for today but I left my tablet at home and will be away for a while. So I had to borrow my little sisters tablet again for this one.

[kingskyless]

digimon survive: HARMONIOUS

speedpaints: (x)

[viridian-sky]

siblinghood

a redraw of a past fanart from last year. fun fact: I watched a local musical the other day and felt inspired by the lighting direction.

[justcypreus]

Miu and Shuuji Parallels

Originally posted to Twitter - I guess this is the extended edition.

Well… I told myself I cant write think pieces but if I'm gonna think this much, I might as well put it on tumblr 🤣

In short:

Oldest & youngest of main cast

Younger siblings to older brothers

Leaves home to prove they can make it on their own

And then there's:

Self blame

Loss of identity

Anger in place of grief

But mostly when Shuuji defends his brother, Miu is the only one who GETS IT.

Younger siblings to older brothers

They’re both youngest siblings that don't always get along with their older brother. But the difference is in how they clash. First time we meet Kaito, his description of her is already so far off from the Miu we see at the start. Small, timid and scared is how he sees her. Already, there is a clash of ideals on who she is and who she wants to be vs how Kaito sees her and how he's projecting that image onto her. This leads to some pretty explosive fights between the two, as Miu refuses to mold herself according to how Kaito wants her to behave. Even if it's for her own protection. Whereas Shuuji tries to mold himself into whatever his dad wants him to be. Even to his own detriment.

With the brothers, we never meet the older Kayama but Shuuji first mentions him at the amusement park in line with how we reunite the in-game siblings. In the conversation, he tries to reassure Kaito that not being able to know what Miu is thinking at all times does not mean he is lacking as an older brother. He's speaking from the perspective of the younger who holds his brother in high regard despite telling us they don't get along.

It's no secret that Miu is bothered by Kaito’s behaviour and is not afraid to call him out on it. Kaito of course is openly upset to which Shuuji says he's jealous that Miu and Kaito have this kind of relationship. We learn that he and his brother don't even fight since his brother doesn't 'stoop that low'. Where the Shinonome siblings clash, for the brothers there is simply nothing there (in terms of airing out and fixing your problems).

Living in a household where siblinghood is treated like a competition rather than a source of support, there is a distance caused by that 'competition'. Like he says to Agumon, it's not as simple as liking or disliking your sibling.

(Can I just say, I love Agumon's innocent yet intrusive questions. Takuma too, but he's a bit more passive and sometimes beats around the bush. Probably a learned human behaviour lol)

I don't know how to put it but that scene where he's telling Miu and Kaito to stop fighting and get along, and he gets told that is how they get along kinda made me sad. He's never had a proper fight with his older brother so they've never had their problems laid out in the open. By now, the game hints at a sibling rivalry fueled by the feelings he holds for his dad which in game calls a 'complicated relationship'. Any visible fighting is probably stopped because it's bothersome. No one else seems bothered by the Shinonome sibling rivalry and Shuuji's genuine confusion at how this is allowed, and deemed ok shows that being silenced is the norm in the Kayama household, and not talking about your problems is 'getting along'.

Leaves home to prove they can make it on their own

Kaito tries to protect Miu by threatening anything that might hurt her with physical violence. Telling her to 'get behind me' a couple times in the game. Shuuji's brother takes on the tasks their dad demands of Shuuji (whether or not this is to protect him or shut him up, I don't know. It feels like both). They might be well meaning, but this leaves Miu and Shuuji are incapable and can't be trusted to do anything on their own. That they're weak and lacking.

For Miu, it causes her to avoid her brother. To get away from his ‘helicopter parenting’. We first see her I'm the prologue having run away from home. A straw doll taking her place in bed. Clearly she's been planning this for a while.

Side Note: I want to point out that Kaito is dealing with their parent’s perceived betrayal. I don’t remember if they talk much about their life before the incident but it could be that they had a relatively normal life - one their parents are willing to put on a facade to keep that image of a normal happy family. (I don’t know if it’s intentional but even their family make up is father, mother, son, daughter - dynamics usually depicted as ‘normal families’ in children’s media). Whatever idyllic family life they might have had is shattered by an incident beyond their daughter's control. And what do they do? They move to a place where nobody knows what happened, where they can pretend it never even happened.

From Kaito’s perspective, this is not good enough (he's right) and he has had to step up. Is he being overprotective or just compensating for his parent’s lack of action? Anyway, he's trying to be a parent without knowing how to be a parent is what I'm saying.

For Shuuji, it's a bit more clear-cut as he does make mention of trying to prove himself a few times. In his prologue story, we get to see his motivations for joining the campers. He's there to prove himself capable.

Saki mentions that it's stifling to be so coddled and I'm sure she either says this to Kaito or about Kaito.

They attempt to gain independence from their brothers. Both want to be 'stronger', to prove that they can do things on their own w/o being coddled by their brothers.

This is technically part 1 as there's a next section that's a bit harder for me to post... I've written it, but since they're sensitive topics I find myself self-censoring a lot. And I cant post it as it is.

[lanlllan]

the club(?

[trashyvanillabean]

Behind some little girls (Miu) is an overprotective big brother (Kaito).

Behind some overprotective big brothers is a more easygoing but easily more savage brother figure (Takuma) armed with a baseball bat, a bamboo stick, pepper spray and a fire-breathing baby dinosaur (Agumon) that can potentially become a giant fire-breathing undead dinosaur skeleton (SkullGreymon) if you piss off both of them.

[chroniclesmacaque]

A look into the kaleioscope: Aoi in the Wrathful route.

In which I set out to talk about the wrathful route but ended up talking about everything I have seen of the game with a focus on Aoi.

Word count: 5417

(Spoilers for the events pre-timeline branch, the Wrathful Route and part of the Moral one, plus mild allusions to Truthful and Harmony.)

Being a big fan of Girls with Problems and Issues™ (see: Rue from Princess Tutu, Any Girl from Revolutionary Girl Utena) and having gotten word about the focus of the Wrathful Route, I was naturally very curious and hyped for it.

There’s appeal in watching a girl go apeshit: showcasing their flaws in ugly and unpleasant ways not only makes for good drama, but is also refreshing in a (mainstream) media landscape that more often than not smooths out any hint of a rough edge. It’s humanizing. It’s a powerful and cathartic acknowledgement of how destructive Problems and Issues™ can be through showcasing inherently immeasurable internal issues in extreme portrayals that symbolically illustrate the Lengths of the Struggle. 

Does the Wrathful Route live up to this?

TL;DR: Yes, and in a thematically rich way.

The Heart of Digimon Survive.

Whatever your opinion on Takuma, he is the lense through which the conflicts of Survive are colored. His narration and internal monologue betray a deep concern about navigating appropriate social distance and boundaries while still being able to effectively check on and care for all his friends. This is at the heart of Survive’s thematic: the clash between social propriety, duty and cooperation versus the personal wants, needs and struggles inherent to individual identity. 

The need for balance and the dangers of the extremes on either side of the dichotomy show repeatedly through the events of the game. An artificial and stagnant harmony for the sake of the rule of majority often ends in the needs of the kids being neglected to tragic results, which itself diminishes the longevity of the group and polarizes the dynamics within it. The opposite is also true: not only overtly self-centered, confrontational and stubborn individualistic approaches divide and fracture the group, they also prove detrimental for the long-term chances of success for personal goals and survival. Ryo and Shuuji are early-game poster children to these conundrums. 

The beginning of the spiral. 

Ryo’s introduction leaves clear he’s hard to get along with: he’s often irritable, uncooperative and antisocial. When it comes to doing his part within the group, Ryo often fails— he refuses to step up to his responsibility as senpai to Takuma and Minoru, he doesn’t help in group discussions and is frequently contrarian and combative to any course of action as well to being told what to do. He’s disruptive to the group’s goals of rescuing Aoi in part 1 and looking for the Professor, Saki and Shuuji in part 2, which is met with Minoru’s taunts and mockery and, potentially, Takuma’s clueless disregard (RIP to those who did try to comfort him on their first play through LOL But I still understand where Ryo is coming from).

This furthers Ryo’s alienation from the group and forms part of the vicious cycle Ryo has found himself in even before attending camp: the intense grief and loneliness stemming from his mother’s death express themselves through high irritability and anxiousness that difficult coping with daily-life activities and socializing. He’s aware his attitude drives him away from others but retiring from public life is simply not an option— even when his mother was still battling her illness, he got pushed to keep up with his responsibilities, as evidenced when he laments right before dying about being encouraged to be strong no matter what (giving thoughtless encouragement to people who are struggling is so prevalent even Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare has issued a guide advising healthcare professionals not to push phrases like 頑張れ/頑張って onto patients. Incidentally, another Digimon installment that deals with the struggle to open up in the face of thoughtless encouragement and positivity is ReArise’s season two! Worth checking out!).

Ryo’s is a case where personal struggles disrupt the harmony of the group, but also where not respecting social propriety (Minoru treating him badly, doubly glaring due their age difference) and the failure of the group to look after one of their most vulnerable members creates a spiraling effect that locks the player into the three vanilla routes, two of which end up quite tragically. His death serves as a powerful statement of a very important thesis of Survive’s: that even when the kids act out in unpleasant and disruptive ways, they still deserve to be taken care of, and failure to do so heavily limits what the group can accomplish. The contrary also proves true: looking after all the members of the group strengthens the dynamics within it and brings out everyone’s best (Hey! Who would’ve thought? Ryo is actually a pretty great and supportive guy! Really looking forward to Truthful).

The side from which Aoi pulls.

Where does Aoi fall in this tug-of-war? 

She is, simply put, the mom friend of the group: she cooks for them, her partner is the only one that naturally has healing ability in child stage—not to mention she herself will patch others up with her own hands— and she will often keep in mind the needs of the group and what course of action will be most beneficial for all. She’s gentle, values cooperation and has a strong sense of responsibility that will lead her to pick up the slack from those around her. 

She prioritizes harmony so much she loses herself to it: she laments her personal identity revolves around being an honor student and a class president always forced to go several extra miles for the sake of the class with no expression of individuality or personal warmth. Her struggle to maintain her personal identity extends to being unable to express or assert herself: she gets self-conscious of her interests, she can’t stand up for herself and refuse extra work load, she won’t share her misgivings out of fear of being a burden and she has great difficulty sharing her input and defending it during group discussions. 

These struggles will haunt her through the events of the game: her eroded self-esteem and her self-image as a supporting side character causes her to shrink out of the responsibility of leading the group in part 2 and to be unable to speak up when the group is openly antagonizing Shuuji in part 5. This exacerbates her sense of inadequacy upon both boys’ deaths, where she will continually beat herself up for failing to respond to the situation optimally and will always minimize her contributions to the group. The extent of these regrets can be fully appreciated through her Wrathful event-horizon realizations: she should've been more assertive from the start in order to prevent others from being wrong. 

It becomes apparent Aoi's character revolves around duty and responsibility (which is heavily reflected in her partner's evolutions), something she shares in common with Shuuji. 

Overachiever syndrome.

Shuuji’s first appearance firmly places him as someone who’s responsible for the rest of the cast: he’s older and their chaperone—as such he needs to make sure no one wanders off, everyone stays on schedule and generally out of trouble. The way he goes about leading them is strict and even nagging. Similarly to Aoi, Shuuji places the well-being of the group and its harmony over himself and others’ individual drives. This is evidenced through his argument with Kaito in part 4: concerned for the safety of the other kids, he opposes venturing outside to search for Miu, which can come off as cowardly at best and callous risk-calculating at worst. However, neither view describes his character accurately: while he's risk-averse, it's an attitude coming from watching two people die before him. He's acutely aware of the dangers that loom over the group but, nonetheless, remains committed and dedicated to look after them. It's thanks to his scrupulous nature that he pushes himself to the extreme: even though he's suffering from nightmares from the intense pressure he's under, disagrees with the course of action the group has decided by majority and is struggling to cope so badly he can't keep his emotions in check, he won't ask for a break or any sort of help that'd alleviate his burden. Ironically, the way he disregards all his individual needs for the sake of his duties backfires and turns his behavior into something that upsets the group greatly. 

Shuuji’s intransigent morality is a source of constant friction with Kaito all the way to his death in chapter 5— a clear example of how an imposed and forced unity on the group causes division within it and hurts its specific individuals: with Kaito’s already fraught trust in the group failing to cement and Shuuji ending up openly antagonized by the rest. This extreme view on duty and authority is something that we’ll see further elaboration on through Plutomon’s extremist morality and pathos.

Shuuji’s conflation of leadership with authorianism speaks volumes of his own upbringing—as do his harsh and relentless criticism towards lopmon and his constant nagging to the group to steer them to act responsibly. He mirrors the way his own father treated him growing up, and, as such, his problematic behavior is once again a symptom of deep hurt and unmet needs, a wrong that needs to be communally righted before the group can live up to their best potential. 

His leadership serves as a point of contrast to Aoi’s own approach to it: unable to put up with Kaito and Shuuji’s arguing any longer, Aoi uncharacteristically explodes and puts an end to their discussion. The way she engages them, however, isn’t through anger, belittling or mockery— she reminds each of their goals and invites them to question whether their actions are conducive to their success. She’s able to guide them to better behavior instead of upsetting them any further. This is again observed when she’s able to get through the child digimon trio pestering them at the park, and is generally an approach that is highly conductive to harmony for a group that’s highly emotional and under a huge amount of stress, evidenced through Takuma using a similar leading style. 

Aoi’s full potential won’t be realized until near end-game stretches, for good reason: her debilitating self-doubt hampers any ability to assert herself, another trait she and Shuuji have in common. While Aoi clams up and fails to respond to the challenges before her, Shuuji tries to force his way through them. Similarly—the way Aoi’s identity revolves around fulfilling the high demands and expectations others have of her mirrors Shuuji’s sense of worth being rooted on meeting his father’s unreasonable standards for him. This leads both to second-guess their decisions, but also to foster a bubbling and potentially monstrous anger within them out of resentment of their grueling workloads, others’ selfish behavior and the unfair treatments they endure. 

Both their responses to the stress and the nature of the external expectations over them are indicative of a gendered pattern of socialization that actively stunt their development (think of the lenient, devoted and quiet mother versus the bold and imposing leader). Shuuji’s survival hinges on him being able to embrace the “softer” sensitive and nurturing side of himself embodied by Lopmon as much as Aoi’s healthy development necessitates her to allow herself to assert herself and lean on the honesty encapsulated in Labramon.

Their refusal to burden the group with their personal struggles plays a key factor in both of their downfalls. Their better end-games have them relying on other characters such as Ryo, Takuma, Kaito and Saki to cross the bridge they didn't know they needed to cross to begin with. 

Oil and warm water.

If Aoi is someone who will prioritize harmony above all else, then Kaito is someone who often has trouble adhering to it. His irascible, aggressively independent and headstrong personality often puts him at odds with the group, specially during times when they're scared and indecisive (which is often). However, this doesn't mean Kaito is such a selfish guy that he won't care about imposing on the group or about their well-being. Quite the contrary, if left to his own devices, he'll try to handle his problems alone so as to not to disturb the others— after all, Takuma did have to talk him out of leaving alone to look for Miu twice in chapter 5. His affinity dialogue shows time and time again that he will fight tirelessly to defend his sister even if that isolates him from the rest of the world. The lack of external support for both Shinonome siblings to deal with their traumatic past informs Kaito’s difficulties with respecting authority— especially if it doesn't align with his goals— and with fully integrating and leaning on the group. 

While seemingly irreconcilable opposites, Aoi and Kaito, at their core, are all about a strong drive to look after other people. Their different approaches can paint them either as tragic foils or a complementary leading duo.

Kaito’s steely resolution to fight doesn’t always have to be a divisive force in the group, as illustrated in the Moral Route: when they’re cornered at the throne room, he has the head not to run off and influences the group to snap out of their fear-induced paralysis to protect themselves against the kenzoku. Aoi benefits from his snappy decisions— where she’d usually have difficulty making up her mind under intense pressure, she can ride his confidence and rouse the rest of the group behind this directive. Similarly, when they’re back at the school, Kaito can take cues out of Aoi’s tirelessly behind-the-scenes managerial work and listen to her concerns about their food supply and provide much needed help to cover the group’s needs. The way they share the burden of leading and caring for the group illustrates Survive’s ideal of a balance that allows both the harmony of the group and individuals to thrive— the burden of looking after a group shouldn’t fall on a single person. This stands in contrast to Aoi deciding to take it all on herself in Wrathful: being able to trust others with her burdens and worries and delegate work is essential for her healthier development in Moral.

Their differing stances also help illustrate the extremes in Survive’s dichotomy in the Wrathful and Harmony routes. Wrathful illustrates a kind of extreme, imposed Harmony that oppresses any dissent and threatens to erase any and all individuality. 

The free-spirited optimist and the older serious-minded girl.

Saving the catalyst for the Wrathful route for last, we have our cheerful and radiant personality, Kimishima Saki. The very prologue of the game makes it clear that Aoi likes Saki quite a bit.There’s a palpable sense of admiration for her junior’s refreshing honesty that’s amicable, keen and direct in a way that still jives with Aoi’s personal values. It’s easy to see why Aoi, who struggles to assert herself, would marvel at those traits in Saki. Aoi’s high regard for her shows up again during her passionate defense of Saki in part 5, much to her junior’s delight and surprise. This admiration is very much mutual: for Saki, who struggles with her sense of belonging and relevance in her interpersonal connections, Aoi’s commitment to caring for the group stands as both an example to follow as someone who can easily adhere to a group’s harmony and nurture it as well as a comforting presence that makes her feel accepted and healed.

It’s no surprise, then, that a close bond blossoms between the two. Their relationship balances each other out on a personal level: Saki will actively seek to alleviate Aoi’s workload even when she doesn’t ask, as well as look after her so she doesn’t run herself ragged. Additionally, Saki is capable of comforting her when Aoi is beating herself down or is generally affected by the grueling situation they’re in, as seen when she patiently comforts her after Ryo’s death. Aoi will reign Saki back in (or try to) when her bluntness is crossing the line and will serve as her confidant and care for her as a whole person. It’s no hyperbole to say Saki is the only camper Aoi manages to open up and bond with on a deep level, and a key figure in her budding support system. It’s only natural, then, that losing her would break Aoi’s fraught mental stability.

 The momentum of the Wrathful Route.

Why do Kaito and Saki run off on their own during the amusement park debacle in the Wrathful route? Why are they able to keep their cool in Moral and not here? To answer this, we need to take a look at the function of the Karma System beyond triggering Agumon’s evolutions and showing the timeline options during the part 8 split, as well as the meaning behind the Wrathful route.

The Karma system allows for a cumulation of momentum, so to speak. Karma shouldn’t be seen only as a straight-forward system of retribution and rewards for one’s actions and decisions, but as the conjunction of all the moving parts in the universe that allow the destiny of a person to be forged, which includes one’s legacy, community and the way one interacts with it. Digimon Survive uses this concept to shape the energy the group will move through each specific route. Simply put, it shapes the mood of the group. If one balances the Karma points for all of three options, then the group’s fate can go either way. If one leans heavily into any of them, then, that heavily restricts the fate the group is able to forge for itself.

What is that fate in the Wrathful route?

Let’s start by remembering the words of the man-behind-the-project himself, Habu Kazumasa, who states in an interview that the staff tried not to think of the different timelines as the bad ones or the correct ones, and rather gave a theme to each of them; the Wrathful route being about “acting on one’s emotions”  (citation pending lol). This is certainly reflected in the original name of the route itself: 激情, a term pertaining to passion: strong and/or violent emotions and convictions. 

What this means for Survive’s narrative is that most of the group is favoring acting based on their individual drives and values, without prioritizing the unity of the group, which places Aoi’s harmony-based approach as the isolated attitude within it. This helps us make sense of Kaito’s hot-headedness getting the best of him, then, being an individual who already prominently acts based on his personal goals even if it puts him at odds with the group. It also informs Saki’s anxious emotions coming to a head with her impulsive urge to help out the vulnerable digimon at the park: while a noble effort, it’s informed by her antsy-ness with regards her sense of belonging, the meaningfulness of her existence and her fear of death. Aoi’s own failure to rouse the group behind a clear order reflects her being lost in her own strong fear as well as Miu’s similar mental block to open up the hidden throne room hidden pathway.

Saki’s tragic end directly parallels the cutscene containing the evolution of her Floramon into Vegiemon (lol). Back then, Saki still hadn’t experienced what it meant to truly belong in a group and to be able to interact beyond what she knows will outwardly, yet superficially, get her to be socially accepted. As a result, she wasn’t sure of the sincerity of her own emotions and actions towards others, doubting her own intentions when following Ryo around. What lies at the core of Saki’s teetering act between refreshing bluntness and faux pas leading to rejection is the isolation, and the social inexperience this brought as a result, her chronic illness has imparted Saki. 

By contrast, when part 9 rolls in, Saki has experienced working together in a team for the sake of the communal good of survival. With stakes so high, she’s bound to feel united to the group. She has also gotten a taste of a deeper self-acceptance through her bond with Floramon, the budding confidence to be herself unabashedly through Takuma’s assurances, the group’s continued acceptance of her role in it and Aoi’s warm, intimate and caring support. She’s becoming someone who has a place in the world and can start acting based on values that go beyond herself, and this is what her self-sacrifice epitomizes: she’s no longer insecure or indecisive about her commitment to the group and the greater good.

Into the mist.

The Wrathful route is characterized by thorough elaboration on Aoi’s interiority and inner monologue. This allows us to see the inner turmoil, conflicting viewpoints and the full extent of her self-depreciation that she usually keeps behind locked doors while she spirals.

Upon Saki’s death, Aoi experiences intense guilt over failing to keep Saki safe, as she was her leader calling the shots and guiding her through the rescue efforts, for mistaking the kenzoku for digimon in need and for losing grasp of her hand during the tug-of-war deciding Saki’s death. She isolates herself from the group due her grief, her continuous ruminations over the mistakes she did consume her thoughts and prevent her from continuing her duties as their leader and her managerial work at their base. 

Now that Aoi it’s out of commission, Kaito belatedly comes into full appreciation of the labored support Aoi has offered the group. Knowing Saki was her moral support, Kaito attempts to reach out to her in order to pay the favor back despite his advice to Takuma to give Aoi some space. Takuma’s timid, soft-spoken approach wouldn’t be befitting to challenge Aoi’s spiraling thoughts, so it’s up to Kaito’s more direct approach and his understanding of what it takes to shoulder such responsabilites to step up to the task.

He bluntly refutes her self-blaming beliefs, pushing her to recontextualize Saki’s death from her personal failure to something Saki had agency in. It’s during these exchanges that it comes to stark light how much of Aoi’s inner world never gets expressed to the others, as her replies to Kaito are merely a small fraction of all the swirling emotions and thoughts festering in her head. 

While Kaito’s efforts aren’t completely fruitless, they run into the Aoi’s emotional wall and don’t manage to address her perfectionist beliefs before Harumode reappears to lure them into the library. The seed towards Plutomon’s black and white thinking is already taking root: Aoi can’t afford to let herself falter or make mistakes anymore in order not to lose anyone else, or it’d keep reflecting badly on her own integrity as a person. So she runs off on her own despite being antithetical to her own values. Kaito’s decision to go back to the group and gather them despite running off on his own being more in line with his usual Modus Operandi shows his commitment to keeping the group together and leading them in Aoi’s place, placing his development as a foil to Aoi’s spiraling.

The illusions Aoi sees within the library reflect that guilt is still ravaging her heart and fuel her self-berating back to full strength. However, Kaito’s words are not lost on Aoi and her thoughts soon start blaming Saki for own death, much to Aoi’s chagrin. Examining the root behind her reasoning reveals that just as much Aoi blames herself, she’s also intensely angry at the others for always taking unnecessary risks without sparing a thought for unity and responsibility. This touches on a sore spot for her, since being taken advantage of or having her authority diminished by others’ selfishness has been an open wound from before she even attended camp. Unable to bear being with other people, Aoi wanders into the misty woods to get lost further into her ruminations.

Each time Aoi replays the events in her head, another edge that hurts her seems to surface. Instead of coming to terms with Saki’s self-sacrifice, Aoi distorts it into a rejection of herself and her feelings. Instead of reaching the conclusion that she should’ve been more assertive out of a genuine growth in her confidence,the conclusion is fueled by her intense disgust over being the same always weak, flawed her of the past. Instead of learning to share the responsibility with her peers, she concludes she should’ve prevented other people from being wrong. Instead of understanding how her intense self-censoring stunts her growth and makes it near-impossible for her friends —specially for Kaito and Labramon at the time, the other key figures in her support system— to reach out to her and help her, she concludes bottling up everything was for the better. If everyone is already this selfish, adding to the pile would simply be unbefitting and irresponsible of her. This makes for a highly striking and effective portrayal of grief, with Aoi being unable to relentlessly revisit the event and find more and more shortcomings in herself and everyone around her. Her trust in others is fundamentally broken at this point.

Yet, despite her increasing mistrust of others, Aoi is finally able to internalize the depth of Labramon’s love and support for her. How could she not? Even though Aoi is at her most closed off and lowest mood, Labramon is still by her side, begging her to let her know the entirety of her heart. While a moving moment, this also symbolically marks the moment where Aoi has decided that the only beings she can trust are herself and her partner. This self-aggrandizing posture fueled by her self-loathing and guilt form the basis of Plutomon’s utter self-righteousness. 

Her conviction that only her harmony-based posture and feelings are right to solve the conflict between humans and kemonogami, prompt her to take the extremely ill-advised decision to try to appeal to Piemon, as well as to cure him in a show of good grace. This, of course, backfires immediately, as Piemon brutally attacks her and her partner. This last ditch-effort for a pacific resolution of the conflict informs Plutomon’s posture that if she can’t talk others into Harmony, then she will just have to force them and it’s the last step into the complete corruption of her values and growth.

Death evolutions.

Who doesn’t love a good symbolic death in their narrative? Survive generously offers two for the price of one. However, Aoi and Labramon’s gruesome agony isn’t the only time death shows in Labramon’s evolution line. It’s finally time to look into the themes woven into Labramon’s evolutions and how they relate to Aoi’s character.

Starting with Labramon herself, what we can learn from her official profile and debut is that she’s a digimon with a duty. Being an artificial digimon means she was specifically created to fulfill a function, which is further cemented by the fact it’s a literal living vaccine program. Her only skill movement in-game is Cure Liqueur, a healing skill that aims to restore and optimize weakened data (put a pin on this). Her fierce loyalty and dutiful origins already fit Aoi to a tee. 

In general, devotion to one’s duty is a key theme to Labramon’s evo line. Dobermon takes this a step further being a digimon whose only purpose is to hunt viruses. Originally consumed by viruses itself, its strong vaccine nature broke through and it learned to harness violence to fulfill its mission. This adult stage marks the start of a consistent theme in the evo line about harnessing monstrous power in order to fulfill one’s duties, much like Aoi needs to embrace assertiveness and authority to be able to properly respond to the situations before her and achieve her goals. This is also the first time the theme of death as transformation will show up in the evo line. Dobermon’s evolution dialogue encourages Aoi to take pride in her efforts and work to push her into this ever on-going journey of embracing her own agency. 

Cerberumon is the guardian of the Dark Area, a duty that goes a degree higher in importance than solely hunting viruses, much like Aoi will eventually have to step up into the heavier responsibility to lead the group. Cerberumon’s ferocious appearance is remarked upon in the evolution dialogue: where Aoi openly admits her desire for power— power as having the agency, authority and self-confidence to assert herself—. Cerberumon’s words encourage her not to be afraid of using this latent power already present in her heart.

Anubimon, the other possible ultimate available to unlock in the vanilla routes, is the judge of the dark area, who weighs over fallen digimon’s data to either banish them forever or grant them the chance of rebirth. Its role as a fair judge relates to Aoi’s role as a leader who listens to everyone’s input so everyone can reach either a unanimous decision or call for a timeout so the group can put their feelings back in line. (ALSO. I couldn’t unlock it in my Moral run, so this as much as I can glean from lore and plot alone.) This position as a fair judge stands in direct opposition to Aoi’s pathos as Plutomon.

Now, onto the dramatic ultimate evolution of the Wrathful route: Plutomon. Plutomon it’s a virus executioner that’s known for attacking with intense terror and violence. It’s a Death God itself that governs tyrannically over the realm of the dead. Unlike Anubimon, who weighs digimons’ worthiness, Plutomon mercilessly slays anything it deems evil and takes pleasure in it. Its cruel nature is reflected in it having become a virus itself. All of this lore is directly reflected in Aoi’s Wrathful ethos: as Plutomon, she has cast off her humanity to transcend her weaknesses, becoming scheming and even taking pleasure in venting her pent up bitterness by playing her friends like a fiddle— both when she intentionally makes them waste time arguing with her while Miyuki is dying on the floor, and when she emotionally manipulates them into avenging her by fighting the Master. Plutomon’s tyrannical rule is reflected in Aoi’s utter self-righteousness, where any dissenting opinions are deemed mistakes she needs to strong-arm others out of. She’s reached the ultimate black and white vision of her ideals, convinced she’s being the best version of herself she could possibly be. Despite Aoi!Plutomon’s goals for perfect harmony and oneness, she has become the embodiment of violent convictions herself. 

Plutomon’s evolution cutscene involves Aoi and Labramon slowly and painfully agonizing after being attacked by Piemon. Since the two are the healers of the group, their friends are unable to help them beyond fighting Piemon for them. This epitomizes the isolation Aoi has felt both in the human world and the kemonogami one: in the human world, she felt alienated because only she would get admonished for undone work as well as if she went the extra mile to get it done herself. In the kemonogami world, after losing Saki and thus having lost her own confidant as well as internalizing a sense of rejection from her self-sacrifice, she laments no one can understand her heart and look after her the same way she does for the group. In a morbid parallel to how she takes on all the group’s burden upon her shoulders, if Aoi wants to live, she alone will have to drag herself through the ground to reach her partner. Driven by her loyalty and duty to Aoi to the very end, Labramon does the ultimate act of self-sacrifice by using her remaining life energy to restore Aoi (very bittersweet use of the function behind Cure Liqueur! Incidentally, Plutomon’s self-healing ability forms part of this theme as well:where Labramon heals the party, Plutomon only heals itself). The evolution that takes place responds to Aoi’s heart passionately clinging to life as well as her inner turmoil. Thus, comes Aoi back to life in a terrifying miracle marked by her deep bond with her partner and all it represents. Plutomon is the most extreme externalization of her hidden unresolved struggles to open up, her perfectionism, her self loathing, repressed emotions and extreme morality.

Acknowledgements.

Shout out to digitalsurvivor for consistently putting out helpful information that gets lost in translation and cultural differences, as well as having long talks with me that help me enrich my perspective on the topics covered.

Special thanks to all my dear friends that allowed me to explain the events of the game in detail and wall-text their inboxes with my interpretations of the narrative. Their kind and patient dialogue helped me greatly to flesh out and complement my analysis.

[fearowkenya]

Ocean Wave, Part 2: A Winding Current

“I was curious.” Dracmon fidgets idly with the little golden loop near the spike on his right wing. “Somethin’ about you drew me in… and I couldn’t walk away. When we fought together, it felt right. More right than anything I’ve ever, ever felt. And now… I just want to be with you.” Dracmon wasn't always by Kaito's side. Which begs the question: part 1 - footprints in the sand Who was he, before the arrival of his other half? part 2 - a winding current And what was he doing, on that fateful day?

Part 2 covers the moment that Dracmon and Kaito met for the first time. once again, tumblr dot shit hides posts with external links in tags, so the ao3 link is in the source.

EDIT: fixed formatting on ao3 - indentation on mobile should look better now. extended authors notes under cut!

SO there was a TON of ideas that went into part 2, mostly stemming from, as i've mentioned, me being mad that kaito and dracmon were the only ones not to get a fancy champion evo sequence on-screen. i said in my authors note on ao3 that as i was playing, i just assumed it happened off-screen, but then i asked myself "what if it didnt?" and the answer i came up with was "maybe dracmon could already innately reach champion" and then i worked backwards from there.

next - aesthetic changes to dracmon. i am a HUGE sucker for digimon being matchies with their partner. before dracmon met kaito, i think all of his eyes were red, both the ones on his face and the ones on his hands, and the ones that are green only became that way after meeting kaito and devolving from sangloupmon. it's kind of like in tamers when beelzemon's eyes change colour after he makes amends with his partners. i also made changes to the accessory situation - after meeting kaito, instead of the little chain with the green gem in the middle, dracmon would have piercings on his wingtips that are the same shape and on the same side as kaito's. i have like... a written list of all aesthetic changes across all stages for all the partner digimon at this point (except for renamon and gabumon - still thinking about those ones) so i will accept any invitation to blabber about them! i LOVE that shit, i cannot emphasize that enough!!

formatting this time was a little less intense - i only had one table i needed to work with, and tbh, most of my formatting issues were about indentation. im actually not really a fan of the standard ao3 formatting patterns, where there's double spacing after each paragraph and no indentation. i much much prefer how it is in most novels, where there's no double spacing and every paragraph is indented. i know people tend to be fussy about formatting in fics, and most of the ones ive seen use the double-spacing no-indenting situation. it's understandable, formatting is something i'm fussy about as well, so im trying to strike a balance between the way i like it and the way i've noticed that most others like it.

i like indenting. i use it to like... give a sense of flow to conversations and/or differentiate/shift between spoken word and narration. the vibe im trying to give when i increase indentation from line to line is that the conversation speed is picking up. im not sure how well that was conveyed, but i think it works all right.

once again, like in alligators, i left some deliberate loose ends. the most obvious one is "if that first tether pulling dracmon toward the ocean wasn't kaito, then what was it?" and listen. dont even worry about it (:

as im replaying the game, im noticing some really interesting stuff about the state of the digital world. in like...part 7, i think, there's an optional free time event where you can recruit a tentomon, and it mentions that a lot of other digimon have been behaving aggressively lately. paired with the fog, i think that what's happening is that the shrinking digital world is causing a lot of digimon to have to live in close quarters, and that a lot of them are "young" in the sense that they're still feral and incapable of speech or reason. that, plus the continuous spread of the fog, would make for a really hostile environment for the remaining areas of the world. im quite happy with the theory i've got that digimon might sometimes lose a bit of memory every time they regenerate. if you subscribe to that idea, the unusual aggression among the wild digimon makes a lot of sense - they're all young, they all keep getting exploded and forgetting what's going on, theres this terrifying fucking fog EVERYWHERE, which just feeds back into wild digimon being more on-edge, and therefore more aggressive. thats why tsumemon is a little unsure of hanging out with koromon at first in part 1 - it's a dangerous world for little guys!

this is kinda connected to why i have the digimon half of the cast crossing paths with one another. tsumemon and koromon have met, yeah, (even though they don't remember anymore) but also i think a few of the other characters have met too. i didn't linger on it, but kunemon was in part one of ocean wave , albeit very briefly, trying to warn dracmon about seadramon lol. Now Why Would He Do That? again. don't worry about it (:

and at last - what's next? i mentioned in another text post a few days ago that ideally id like to go back to some shuuji and lopmon stuff. ocean wave set up some context about a couple of things i want to explore about shuuji and lopmon's relationship, as well as some . hmm. alternate events. and what effect those alternate events have on the two of them. "what do you mean" dont worry (: mostly it is just me self-indulgently fixing a few gripes i had with truthful route's part 6. i'd also at some point like to post some doodles of aesthetic changes. i have a few sketched out but they're very messy lol

anyway wow this was a big ol comment post. thanks for reading this far !!

[digisurvive]

I was gonna send this ask days earlier (but then I forgot) but actually the Kaito scene I was referring to was the one in the factory. I just think it's a nice insight into Kaito, he knows he's fucking up and he's trying Really Hard Not To but it's not easy.

I really appreciate what they did with Kaito I think they could of made both of him into just...horrible irredeemable pieces of shit and not make him part of the main cast (or kill him off). But he isn't, and I like that the game doesn't write them like that.

Maybe I just care a lot about siblings in fiction but I really like Kaito because of how much he fucks up! Because he really does try, the game does Not let you brush him off as just a terrible brother.

Kaito is Hard to Talk To and is a Jerk but he's genuinely trying his best and carrying loads of baggage. You could brush him off but that won't actually...solve anything, Kaito will still be stuck where he is which is bad for both him and Miu.

Though, what I've seen Kaito is a more lukewarm character, not hated in the same way a certain glasses boy is but definitely not as liked as the rest and it's probably because 90% of the time he's Violence Protect Miu Violence ohmaybeIdocareaboutthesepeople Violence.

Though...Kaito is kinda in a situation where it's hard to write him outside of his relationship with Miu, because he as a character is just so centered around Miu and, again he is horrible at expressing his emotions which makes him seem less complex than he actually is.

Honestly like most people I wish they killed Kaito in Harmony instead of Miu. I can imagine him swooping in to protect Miu at the last second and getting dragged off, so he still gets killed by his goal to protect Miu while we get to see how Miu really really feels about his brother and, in a roundabout way, more insight into Kaito.

(I'm now also vaguely reminded of this one VN that had a character who's main flaw was not trusting anyone so they couldn't write him getting into any close moments with the other members of the cast so using ghosts (whole thing) they change the POV character in his route to him so they could keep that trait while still letting you get insights into his character.)

Oh I rambled a lot...very sorry! I Just...Kaito....ough...

Ah, I know what scene you're talking about now!! My bad for getting confused, I had recently replayed act 9 and I was like akdkdkkdkg *foaming at the mouth about the slap in the gym :[*

But I see where you're coming from, particularly in this franchise with a lot of protective older brothers, we tend to see them in right for wanting to protect them little siblings and Kaito is just.... So wrong even when you understand where he is coming from.

I don't know about how the fandom feels about him despite the fact I do check the tag (in general, I don't think there's that much fan engagement for this VN </3), so I'll only talk about my thoughts about him. I tend to go through periods where I really like him and periods where he really gets on my nerves because of the stuff you wrote in the ask. He can be difficult in the sense you wish Takuma would confront him directly (but in true Takuma fashion, he's very mindful not to overstep his boundaries most of the time), but I think the fact one of the more consisten ways to raise his affinity is to leave him alone speaks volumes about how he's used to getting by, trying to solve everything on his own and not being used to be relied on by other ppl nor relying on others. He's also a kid who's really been neglected and has had to shoulder a lot of responsibility so it makes sense for him to be more than a little neurotic 😂 I think it's a feat for the writing to still be able to portray his proclivity for violence in a way that feels unsavory when this franchise is all action and fights (Thats one thing I did wish Survive had been able to pull off better. To give you feasible alternatives that aren't fighting for some of the plot beats, but that's for another post).

He does have his nuances, like how he's aware that he can be a pain in the ass and difficult to deal with. And wrong, most importantly. I think a lot about that Wrathful dialogue he has with Aoi where she's lamenting her final defeat as Plutomon bc... She was supposed to finally have the power and agency not to make mistakes anymore! And Kaito tells her there's no such a thing as someone who doesn't make mistakes and he himself has had to rely a lot on the others to tell him he's wrong 💔 (which really reminds you of how hard Takuma works to get him to go with the group to the amusement park in pt4, how he has to very timidly set the example for him in act 6 and etc...) I honestly like him a lot in Wrathful, I think it's where you get to see a new side of him even if in a really bittersweet way.

Speaking of how he knows he's in the wrong, I do like a lot that moment in Truthful where to raise affinity with him, you have to tell him to give Miu some space while they're looking for the Northern shrine. I think it speaks volumes about how his friendship with Takuma has evolved that he's at a point where he won't see it as a stranger sticking his nose where he shouldn't. He's just such a family little man, In a US vs the world mentality, it's interesting to see him grow to consider Dracmon family too and slowly reconsider who's important to him beyond that narrow social circle.

Switching Kaito's and Miu's places would indeed be interesting (and I Def Get where People are coming from with this angle for a myriad of reasons), yeah, but I also Love Aoi and Kaito as foils so I still like what we got 😂😂

ANYWAY. thanks for the ask, I love talking about digisurvive w/ u, so ur welcome to ramble anytime

[dats-hq]

Getting Older All The Time (Miu’s Birthday Drabble)

@surviveweek Day 5, Relationships

Ao3 link

"Wasn't yesterday your birthday?"

Miu glared at her insolent subject with a devilish smirk. "I am your queen! Every day is my birthday! Now bring me more candy before I turn you to stone!"

"Ah!" Palmon yelped, bowing her head in reverence. "Right away, your highness!"

As the peasant scurried away to retrieve the royal breakfast, Lady Syakomon looked to her partner. "So that makes you 13 now, right?"

"Ew, no! Teenagers are gross!" Miu spat with a pout, crossing her arms. "Although, at this rate, I'll be older than Kaito soon. Then he'll have to listen to me!"

[cypreus-and-willow]

Digimon Survive Week 2024

Day 2: Cooperation

Dracmon looks up at him from the floor, big eyes full of sorrow. "You can't just be angry anymore Kaito. Look where your anger leads you." The defeat stings worse than the bruises on his knuckles. Losing over and over and over even when he wins the fight. "I don't know what else I can be." 

or - things have gone horribly wrong and in typical Shinonome sibling fashion, Kaito and Miu are beating themselves up over it

@surviveweek

I am once again writing about this one particular scene. I've posted the first part for Survive Week last year. These are meant to be excerpts from my longer fic but I can’t help it.

[soapyakships]

zukizukizuki zukizukizuki zukizukizuki ZUKIZUKI zukizukizuki zukizukizuki ZUKI ZUKI ZUKI

[justcypreus]

I feel like the beach is something I wanna use for Shinonome sibs more in my fics. Mostly for Miu bc of Syakomon. But like, I imagine them at the beach making sandcastles and collecting shells.

And it sounds so simple but thinking of them pre-incident being happy and content and working together to make the biggest, prettiest sandcastle whilst burning under the sun

And something about sandcastles being a metaphor for a fragile childhood or something.

I can't articulate what I mean, but I wanna use it for a fic one day.

[xulips]

happy pride month everyone

[hey-its-puddlesock]

i haven't been able to find a good comprehensive project sekai height chart, so i made my own. used screenshots of the 3DMV models since a lot of the official renders are in weird positions for measuring

[kbondoxxxxav]

happy 2nd anniversary digimon survive! i’m sorry for no new survive artwork so i reposted my fave survive pieces ive done