#eye injury cw 456123

[beginningobserver]

Hey, Kimeramon Guy here again. So, I'm going to be honest, I've been putting off actually watching 02 due to executive dysfunction since forever, and thus I never went out of my way to spoil myself on The Beginning like I've done a lot of other media. So I'm working off a... limited palette here, but I really do want you to get to enjoy yourself talking about this AU.

So, what I've gleaned (and correct me if I'm wrong) from secondhand stuff is that Ukkomon's main motivation is to keep Rui happy, to the point of brainwashing his parents until they literally burn out and get turned into meat puppets. And something involving a replacement eye.

All this to say, does Rui ever figure this out in √02 (since you said he doesn't when he normally would)? Does Ken discover it first, somehow?

Ooh... Uh... Sorry for the spoilers orz -- I used some elements from the movie, so the ones *with* movie spoilers have the "02tb spoilers" tag... Just in case💧

I'm sorry to hear you struggle to (re)watch 02 due to that, I feel you here (yeah... sometimes it hits me too, orz).

Also, thank you for trying to help me elaborate and explore more about this AU 😭💜 But you don't have to push yourself for that…!

I think The 02 Kids are smart enough to figure things out about what Ukkomon did, but Rui here had his beef with Ukko changed (see read more for details) and solved differently... Maybe you do not want him to know the truth, right? :')

Like I said, there are a few changes from the movie, but...

[Spoilers ahead, albeit vaguely, so as not to spoil the fun for anyone who hasn't seen it yet]

... Yes, the 02 kids come to the conclusion that Ukkomon did all those things to keep Rui alive and happy, and after Rui told them his story, and they all sided with Ukkomon, though they didn't neglect Rui's feelings (the only person who was just a little insensitive was Hikari, but I think everyone who watched the movie took that line too seriously when she possibly meant that Ukkomon was pathetic for doing a lot of wrong things to keep Rui happy and safe/satisfied). Later, at the end of the movie, when Rui gets to talk to Ukkomon again, the mon himself confesses that Rui needed him and that he wanted to make Rui happy to the point that he thought everything good was better for Rui. Ukkomon was aware that he did bad things and doesn't try to defend himself. The Audio Drama 3 (released as a bonus in the JP theaters and now in the JP Deluxe Blu-Ray box set) also points out Rui's share of guilt, so they both think it was their fault in the end.

To be fair, the part about the parents' death is pretty unclear to me. But the same drama CD kind of confirms it, yeah, Ukkomon's power might have killed them. But in the movie, Rui's dad is on his deathbed, and Rui's mom is always distressed, so I wouldn't rule out that they suddenly die and Ukkomon just starts to meat-puppet their bodies so that Rui doesn't get orphaned or sad/desperate…

Since in the movie Rui learns what Ukkomon did, and it's the scene that a lot of people played up while trying to describe it and warn people about the "blood", "eye injury" and "body horror" parts -- it's nothing what people meant. All of those are tamed and on the level of "well, there should be some blood here if you got hurt like that", and I think this movie is even more tamed than Ghost Game -- which was for children ages 12-13. And even I had to skip certain episodes because they were TOO MUCH for me. But 02TB was fair game for me? I can watch it again...at least the RAW I have 💧

The scenes in question happened in connection with a canon 02 event (to be exact, a movie that takes place a year after the 02 events, Diablomon Strikes Back/Diaboromon's Revenge), so he's around the age of the 02 kids -- the AU would sound weird because the events of the TV series take place in 2002, while DSB in March 2003. I debated how to use the exact same scene/context in the AU, but had no success, so yeah, I changed it completely 💦.

√02 Rui does not witness Ukkomon puppeting the corpses, and when Ukkomon confesses in the AU version, Rui does not believe it at all. If canon Rui (adult Rui) had met AU kid Rui, he would have been disappointed that his other self is kind of naive?