#dnangel out of context

[dnangelic]

the thing about that panel too is daisuke already learned Not to go ape. the entire azumano joyland/argentine arc was to demonstrate that and the way that daisuke connecting/influencing dark with feelings like rage or serious negativity can straight up kill him. this is a shoujo series not a shonen so unfortunately going nuts and Actually Evil and Really Trying to Hurt people around him will always end up turning around and hurting him in equal or worse measure, especially given how dark works in relation to his body.

nobody makes it through the fairy tale by being cruel, they make it through by being kind and through the returned help of others. for dark too every day is him wishing for a kindness and tenderness he doesn't naturally have and can only obtain through daisuke; it's dark being inherently cruel and heartless himself yet also exhausted and depressed and having no choice but to exist the way he does in a way that can hardly be called living, while begging, pleading, asking and demanding daisuke to tell/show him what other way that he can live.

both of them in their own (unified) ways are so lonely and so oooooo sooo sooo empty and hollow. but dark before daisuke was never so kind. dark before daisuke was never so patient. even if the narrative insists that daisuke's doomed to 'get worse' in lawful aspects, to meet the struggle of his genes and accepting dark as well as his parts as a phantom thief (and therefore becoming yes an even more brilliant criminal, lmao) for dark it's a matter of positive personal change and growth. daisuke is a Nice Boy. it's just that dark will always serve as his fatal flaw and sin, making a fallen angel out of him!!

[edgybutnotveryedgy]

this THING

is in LOVE

[iiyanadesu]

Some opinions about 02TB's details now that I can rewatch it in its full glory. Under the cut we go. Rants and spoilers ahoy.

1. I still hate the OST setting used when the Digimons evolved. 2 Jogress Evolutions back-to-back and each evolution had to restart Beat Hit! from the beginning. Why not just continue the song anyway? Also the Jogress actions could use a bit more time before Imperialdramon changed into Fighter Mode (so I could enjoy Beat Hit! a little longer).

2. I saw how Ken's hair flutter in the wind and I squeal 🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂 it looks messy he looks adorkable I love him

3. Still cannot move on from Miyako's blatant flirting towards Ken while Ken be like, "Uh, yeah... Wait, what?"

All while Ken being not ashamed to praise Daisuke or hold him up from doing potentially idiotic stuff again, pls marry Daisuke

4. Why does Miyako call Ken "Ichijouji-kun" as if he's a work colleague? They are friends for a long time now, go call him "Ken-kun" if you really like him you idiot. On the other hand, the way Ken calls her "Miyako-san" may or may not mean she's his girlfriend; some guys call their girlfriends like that as a sign of love and respect (e.g. DNAngel's Daisuke calling his girlfriend Riku "Riku-san").

The whole Kenyako dynamic is weird; Ken has an affectionate way to call Miyako but he's also kinda clueless with her advances lmao what are you two doing, hold hands already if you like each other you idiots. Or were you waiting for Daisuke?

5. Lui is a pretty ok person. Just socially awkward after his damaged childhood. It was funny to see the others berate him for not being grateful Ukkomon saved his life by possibly killing mom - that's fcked up guys where's your common sense?. Also, kid!Lui sounds like Madoka (Madoka Magica). Ukkomon is definitely the Kyuubey of Digimon, yeah.

Wait. Don't tell me Osamu's death was also done by Ukkomon because Ken wished for Osamu to disappear. Shit.

Now who is the "higher being" behind Ukkomon's creation? May be Oikawa, maybe not. But then again how was he able to recognize Ken being a DD in a glance? Sus af.

6. There have been miscommunications and misinformations throughout the movie, but we can still analyze those and determine whether they really are retcons yeah. Nah not gonna analyze shit; I can do overthinking but "analyzing"? Nope.

7. The dub is good. There are some 🤨 in how the dialogue was performed but overall it's ok. I just lol'd at Wormmon's old-man voice 😂🤣😂🤣 Yes I watch both JP and EN versions. The EN movie could do some revision though, like the opening text. That could be translated yeah? Or narrated, if they can't slap English text on it / replace that part with English text.

8. Oh yeah I did not see Meiko & Menoa anywhere. Oh yeah they're part of the Adventure guys, of course they won't be in this movie like almost all other Adventure kids except Taichi yeesh.

(What's with this dissonance between Adventure and 02 teams? They're all part of the entire Adventure Universe, duh. They could do inter-teamwork in Kizuna but not in 02TB? What's with this writing?)

9. Best characters in this movie are Daisuke-Veemon team. They say some cool shit even Ken is impressed.

10. Miyako went, "What's with the flirting?" and Daisuke went blushing???? But. But Ken started it first!

And now some of my favourite blorbos Ken & Daisuke's shots in this movie. Yes I love Daiken so much. I like Kenyako too but I love my Daiken more

Take this line out of context and ask, "Do what?" 😏

Yeah and like I said. Ken's hair. *squeeeeeeeeeeee*

Ooooh. Look at the lighting. Romantic.

See what they did? Ken started it but Daisuke was the one blushing.

Ok that's all bye

[saturniiddae]

Now that DNAngel is officially My City Now, I'm doing a full outline for LaT and my favorite part of the process is trying to figure out how to do Hiwatari in the context of my plotline and---

"If Hiwatari good, why act so bad???????????" is probably my favorite motivation note in the whole thing

[dnangelic]

they can and will still be in love with the overall breadth of another person's life, personality, or physicality. they will simply fall in love with the fact that someone even exists. daisuke can transform if he gets too emotionally moved by quite literally anything, as is the base definition of [artistic] 'romanticism' itself.

the way someone just happens to look in the light for a moment. the way someone breathes, smells. liking animals, cooking well, being able to name flowers, passionately playing music. dai n dark can express these impressed sentiments of theirs without any intimate motive or intention beyond purely expressing said appreciations.

again, this is only important because in contrast to aro muses, i try very hard to demonstrate that dark and dai are examples of agape lovers: they're unselfish, they never, ever ask or demand anyone of love, they're fine WITHOUT individual romances yet still have an intense amount of affection and empathy for everyone and everything. in order to be a true romantic, you can't just love one person alone, you have to love anything that makes you feel, and that's what they're doing.

fyi, dai n dark will always respect anybody who's aro but that won't stop them from being in love with you

[dnangelic]

i have no idea if i can express exactly what i'm trying to get at properly but every once in a while i do think about how the niwa are Also dark's own fatal flaw and contamination. obviously it's easy to villainize dark as the only one making daisuke 'worse' (according to standard morals) by forcing his life into criminal behavior and constantly influencing him to steal, but when you strip away dark's being a phantom thief and isolate him he's nothing more than half the kokuyoku, created by the hikari, who also decided to betray said creators as soon as manisumea was broken for letting him out of her labyrinth that one time he was sealed. within dnangel's framework, 'perfection' always belongs to unwilling martyrs and empty, completely inhospitable and uncompromising ideals. it's an abusive, tyrannical framework: krad mocking any sort of sentiment or emotional attachment while constantly whispering cruel things to manipulate those strings, it's fukami completely alone in his destroyed studio expressing himself as a monster, it's hiwatari helplessly suffering against a destiny that's constantly consuming him, or the hikari ancestor lashing out and ripping apart both his artwork and himself for not being able to match his ("sold-his-soul-to-the-devil!" forbidden) standards. it's all about control and suffocation, the lock and key metaphor, the niwas being the keys, the ones with wings; freedom.

the way dark doesn't fit any of this is of course by being capable of love, having 'absorbed' the niwa's love and desire in the first place. the og dark came and 'stole him away', which is also a phrasing he uses in his conversation with baku about daisuke: "this guy's a descendant of the legendary phantom thief who stole away the kokuyoku / furthermore, he's now the great me, the legendary phantom thief dark." dark (or at least mine) definitely acknowledges the hikari as his creators and infinitely respects their artistry (especially when he can't do anything like it himself as the metaphorical death god/grim reaper/hell keeper!) but he's also definitely never calling the hikari ancestor his 'father' or claiming lineage. he's bound to the hikari in noblesse oblige as an artwork, but it's the niwa he truly feels he 'belongs' to, who he's been stolen by, who he exists through, setting him uniquely apart from every other hikari artwork that's born/created 'pure' - which, again, in this series' context, is not good, because said purity equates to loneliness, sorrow, and lovelessness. the effect of dark's temperature as wintry cold is a symptom of being a hikari artwork, but his inner longing for intimacy and his immense, albeit harsh or distant (tsundere) at times kindness, those are things that can only come thanks to being a part of the niwa; the niwa being a part of him.

[dnangelic]

the nature of dark's existence is still technically, inherently, one of a curse. within the context of dnangel dark and krad are literally the product of a mistake, but metaphorically can exist as the punishment for the hikari and niwa family line's fatal 'sins' : the hikari for crossing forbidden lines, playing god and instilling life and magic into their artworks; the niwa for being thieves and interrupting the process and letting things go out of control while attempting to steal the kokuyoku. both dark and krad are entities that are described as hindering their host clan's prospering; dark is meant to obstruct by the transformation gene (more specifically, how uncontrollable it is since the hikari can transform too,) while krad shortens his host's lifespans down to practically nothing.

i joke about daisuke being a magical girl and like he totally does fall under the classification (iirc even asuka tags dnangel as a magical girl manga odhgsbdfkjf) but his burden is much heavier and. well. darker because what he's hiding isn't just an alter ego or like, cute cat features that pop out sometimes, instead an entirely conflicting-seeming 'self' that's regularly guilty of crime and extremely easy to reject or revile and accuse. smth smth 'why was i bound in chains in this cold and dismal place / not for any mortal sin but the wickedness of my own abhorrent face.' dark can look scary! he can totally look evil! he's flat out not human! and this is something that can get daisuke into serious trouble no matter dark's own attempts to protect daisuke within him; even a monster with a human heart can still end up being treated as a monster.

conflicting appearances aside, dark occupies the entirety of daisuke's life: he takes it, possesses it for himself and his own inherited intentions; daisuke isn't saving the world or fighting crime or villains, he is the crime, the infamous azumano troublemaker; was destined and raised for it thanks to dark and his ancestors, and this is an inescapable truth, part of the curse that has remained unbroken for 2000 yrs. dark's appearance or personality being one that's easy to completely villainize is just another aspect of the curse itself; i know that just about every satoshi develops a sense of bitterness, envy, or frustration over dark and daisuke's relationship for their getting along with each other better than the hikari's relationship with krad, and for daisuke, the curse truly is, in a way, 'broken' thanks to his being surrounded by so many people who support and accept him (his family, the other artworks,) but dark absolutely still has aspects of himself that serve to be more curselike than any sort of blessing, something to hide, something negatively and maliciously-twinged, in tandem with the way dark is also daisuke's aspiration and dream. as much as dark constantly supports and goads daisuke on, pushing daisuke's back and helping him to keep going -

he's still getting in the way, in his own subtle, manipulative ways sometimes.

[dnangelic]

i don't even know where to begin but oh my god i can only try. argentine's dialogue is so important because the arts in dnangel canon are not just arts. they are all alive. they are basically, almost, practically people. they scream and beg for mercy and feel whenever they're destroyed, and argentine (alongside a fukami arc panel i'm too lazy to grab) gives just the tiniest glimpse into the literal picture of hell that was the cultural revolution, aka the dnangel art apocalypse. the kokuyoku (dark and krad) were decided too dangerous and monstrous for being born, and unlike krad, dark decided to take on the enormous, insane burden of guilt and responsibility for this all alone even though None of it is actually, technically his fault; he's never destroyed or burnt any artwork himself. this is massive complex number one, and there's no way that the sound and sense of it doesn't weigh dark down constantly: everything is always his fault all the time, it feels like to him. none of this massacre would have happened if he simply hadn't been born, even if he never asked to be born, and especially not 'wrong', as a mistake of a mistake, an artist's fucked up frankenstein and the thief who fucked up the magical ritual to give him life.

massive complex number two is manisumea. she traps him then frees him out of curiosity, and the hikari destroy her for saving him. dark gets soooo rightfully pissed that he finally decides to 'betray' the hikari by becoming a phantom thief and to start hoarding all the artworks for himself, initiating the overall 'war' between the hikari and the niwa. at a practical level, this is great for the other arts. they get their badass king, their lucifer. for dark and dark's mentality specifically?? manisumea's destruction probably only deepened his insecurities, his distancing habits. yes, he's going to start stealing away the arts, but now nobody's allowed to get too close to him or else they're going to get hurt; he's going to hurt them by sheer association. this was the final hammering nail into the coffin: he is a bad thing. he can't allow himself to ever truly have anything, no matter how lonely, no matter how miserable he really is. this doubles, triples, what have you the instant he really starts to become a criminal, because now it's no longer about being just a danger amongst the hikari. now even ordinary, innocent human beings can get into deep trouble by sheer association. this is the reality of things! he can never stay long beside anyone, he has to leave before something bad happens to them; dark genuinely cares, but after all this, he can't help except push people away in an effort to preserve them-- the manisumea incident happened when he was still extremely 'young,' and it shapes an enormous part of his psyche.

massive complex three is his overall abnormal state of existence. the first niwa dies and the kokuyoku takes the ancestor's name as phantom thief 'dark.' hundreds and hundreds of years pass of dark falling in love, never having his love returned to him, and separating from one niwa after another. in strictly the context of canon, the cruelest part of his existence is the fact that while unlike krad and the hikari he is in fact readily capable of love, dark and dark alone, he himself, can never fulfill his longing and have his loves returned to him. i generally ignore any separation for my own canon and writing (and maintain that daisuke had also in fact deeply changed and fundamentally made dark far, far more tender and kinder,) but it doesn't entirely shift the fact that for the longest, loooooongest most miserable time, dark simply wished he could die or disappear, that he could go back and fix everything, (a la 'turn back time' to solve his grief,) even if it meant erasing his own existence, and yet he couldn't; he had quite literally no choice but to remain immortal and to live and live and live, desperately keeping himself away from any ennui, trying anything and everything to fill the metaphorical hole of his heart. the way he 'lives' is so cumbersome, so heavy and hollow at the same time, who wouldn't want to die when they only know how to half-exist and drift through time without any true sense of 'life' or freedom from the start????

as a final note many many of these sentiments carry over into daisuke; when daisuke first inherited his curse he was terrified to his core that he would die, spiritually, in being taken over by dark and thereby simply vanishing without a trace or without anyone ever knowing. daisuke also consistently, continuously accepts responsibility for things that aren't actually his fault, and at his worst this sense of self-blame can turn outright self destructive in tandem with his self-loathing. dark never outright states that he hates himself, (though the signs are obvious) but he also does in fact state that he doesn't, couldn't possibly hate daisuke, the same way that daisuke outright admits he hates himself within the light novels and only wishes he could be more capable and composed like dark, the way dark wishes that he could be as kind and strong (willful) as daisuke. daisuke also expresses the exact same troubles and concerns that dark does, from pushing away others out of concern in regards to his criminal behavior to lamenting his abnormal state of existence externally; rather than as merely a solely internalized conflict like with dark. all of this is important because dark's suicidal tendency leaks over into daisuke; genuinely despite being such a sweet how's-it-going seeming kid all the time, he knows what it's like to want to die, to feel like you are going to die, complete with the absolutely terrifying psychological horror of this LN passage:

will i continue to be myself and no longer myself without anyone knowing?

i know i don't bring it up a lot in writing and it might seem shocking to come from a shoujo muse(tm) but this is all very much something that i DO keep stocked away in my mind with particular interactions. dark and daisuke have not only consistently failed to rescue others from death and have been forced to deal with the leftover grief and aftermath of it; they too have felt guilt, they too have even if only for certain periods of time, worried or outright wished they were dead.

i'm saying this as seriously as possible but whenever i stop to consider dark's more buried suicidal/deeply depressive aspects i feel like that post that has the part with like 'suicidal people: hey man how's it going' in it