#i know i could just. change it independently

[hueseok]

can’t stop thinking about boyfriend!yoongi who in a way, found his match with you.

for decades, his oldest friends always teased him for being the textbook definition of ‘nonchalant’, labeling him as a stoic man who loved to pretend that he didn’t care about anything—even though in reality, there were always a few tells that made it obvious that he did.

he was the type of guy who made it seem like he didn’t care if you forgot about his birthday, but would send a joke afterwards saying that he was disappointed that you didn’t remember.

or the type who acted like it didn’t matter to him if the meal he worked hard on cooking tasted delicious for your taste buds, only to grin really wide as soon as you complimented him and uttered a string of praises afterwards.

it was an endearing quality of yoongi’s, a rather fascinating trait that also became the butt of the joke at times whenever the topic was his love life and his bad luck when it came to relationships.

“you can come off as emotionally unavailable,” hoseok told him over beer once. “ladies don’t like that. they want men who can tell them how special they are.”

“isn’t it enough that i show it?” yoongi asked, having just been dumped by the girl he was dating. “i mean, i drive her to work every single day. i fetch her from work whenever i can too. i buy her stuff if it’s necessary, like shampoo or paper towels.”

hoseok stared at him. “paper towels?”

“yeah.”

“wow. i take it all back. you are the most romantic man on the planet.”

yoongi rolled his eyes at the sarcasm. “she mentioned she was running out of them so i bought more for her.”

“are you her dad or something?”

“i heard ladies like a provider.”

“yes, but not in that sense. it’s more like… you get the bill whenever you’re having lunch or dinner at a restaurant, or buying her a bag she’s been eyeing, or paying for her nails when she gets them done. doing all of that without not being asked is the key aspect of it, really.”

“how do you know this stuff?”

hoseok shrugged. “i have an older sister,” he says. “also, i’m engaged to my girlfriend of 6 years. being in a relationship that long ought to teach you a lot.”

thanks to that conversation, yoongi began understanding what it really meant to be a great and affectionate boyfriend without sacrificing his rather reserved personality. he knew what the right gestures to do, what the right things to say, what the right gifts to buy—and he did all of that with utmost sincerity, genuinely wanting to be a better partner for his current girlfriend, which also happened to be you.

the funny thing, though?

you couldn’t seem to recognize the nice boyfriend things yoongi was doing and how much he improved compared to his last relationship.

you were just… independent, he thought. a strong woman who didn’t like to be coddled and didn’t like asking help from anyone regardless of how much you may be already struggling. he had a realization that you were naturally like this because of the stories you used to tell him that made him understand that you just weren’t used to relying on others, a trait that he didn’t have an issue with and sometimes even admired.

however, he couldn’t lie and say that it wasn’t sometimes frustrating as well.

for example, just last week, the both of you had a semi-big fight because of how you constantly insisted on changing the broken lightbulb in your bedroom yourself even though yoongi was already telling you that he could do it instead. in the end, since you were stubborn as hell, you still tried changing it on your own but had a very minor injury due to falling off the stool you were standing on for extra height.

yoongi was furious when he found out, and you ultimately became furious because it seemed like he was being unfair to you, the negative energy impacting your mood and rationality that you didn’t get how he was more mad on the fact that you let your pride get to you than just asking for his damn help for the freaking lightbulb.

when the both of you calmed down and said your apologies, yoongi took your hands and looked directly in your eyes. “babe, you have to start depending on me,” he said.

the straightforwardness caught you off guard. “huh?”

“i mean…” you felt him squeeze your fingers softly, “i understand that you’re used to doing things all on your own… how you don’t like being treated like some baby… but that shouldn’t be the case with me, okay? i’m here to take care of you, to always help you with whatever you need.”

you opened your mouth, about to say something he knew was not going to align with his point, so he took the liberty to cut you off.

“i’m serious. you know what i’m talking about. let me take care of you, ____.”

“but—” you couldn’t continue with your sentence, a wave of emotions suddenly flooding you that made your throat tighten and voice quiver as you began speaking again— “how? i… i don’t—i just… you don’t need to. i don’t want to be a burden.”

yoongi gave you a look, a mixture of fondness and disbelief. “you? a burden?”

“yeah. you don’t need to take care of me.”

“i’m well aware that you’re a grown woman who doesn’t need taking care of.” he joked. “but that doesn’t stop me from wanting to do it. that’s why if i were you, i would just start depending on my poor boyfriend and learn how to be comfortable in being taken care of because it’s definitely how things are going to be now that he’s here.”

you snorted at the use of third person. “fine,” you sniffled, “okay, i’ll try to be better at asking for help next time.”

he sighed in relief, releasing your hands to instead engulf you in a tight embrace. “thank you, baby. i appreciate it a lot.”

****

the first time you willingly asked yoongi for a favor after that talk—regardless of how small and trivial it was—it still affected him big time.

“can you help me assemble the drawer i bought?” you asked him over dinner, ever so casual and nonchalant.

he almost dropped the chopsticks he was holding. “what?”

“i said, can you—”

“no, i heard that perfectly well. i’m just surprised at what i’m hearing.”

your lips twitched while your face visibly burned. “don’t start teasing me or else—”

“i’m not.” he laughed, a little too loudly than usual, before reaching for your hand and kissing your knuckles. “i’m not, i swear. i’m just happy.”

“you’re happy because i’m asking for help?”

“i’m happy because you’re letting me take care of you,” he corrected. “it’s a bit overdue in my opinion but who am i to complain?”

you playfully shoved his hand away, which made yoongi laugh harder and lean towards you to give you a chaste kiss on the cheek, letting you know that your simple effort of trying to let him in meant so much more than words could ever say.

note. this blurb is unedited and has been in my drafts since december because it's always yoongi missing hours!!!!! but for real though, i wish yoongi is doing great and is always surrounded by good people who can give him the support he needs + remind him how loved he is :(

[thanosscross]

Baby - Choi Seung Hyun/T.O.P x reader Part 3 Smut

Summary: After months of being together, everytime you sleep together it feels just like the first time still, but Seung Hyun throws a twist in this time

Warnings: Smut, lots of smut

Seven and a half months, that's how long it had been since Seong Hyun asked you to be his girlfriend, and while you were both reserved in public, you didn't hold back in the bedroom, as more time passed though, the more you learned about your lover, that in reality, the big ego, cocky, outgoing Seung Hyun was just for show, in reality, your boyfriend was basically a big teddy bear, one of the first males you met that was actually in touch with his feelings and fears, and wasn't afraid to admit it. He was your everything at the moment, you both came dependent on each other while still keeping to your independent natures, you could go days without seeing each other, but neither of you would really sleep well or truly relax until you were together again.

"Seung hyun" You whined, desperately trying to wake him up, it was a Saturday, meaning you both had the day free of any responsibilities, and while you had planned a day with your boyfriend, it seemed he had other plans of sleeping all morning. You couldn't lie though, he looked adorable laying curled up under his fluffy comforter, not to mention relaxed and peaceful, sighing you just climbed out of bed in defeat "Fine, I'll be back at noon" You threatened kissing his forehead gently, he just turned away tiredly, pulling the stuffed animal he had used as a pillow with him. You rolled your eyes giggling to yourself as you made your way out of the room looking around for anybody who was awake. "Bo-mi!" You heard the boys shouting in chorus, you just raised your eyebrows at them in confusion "Oh! y/n! We thought you were Seung hyun" Dae-Sung apologized sheepishly, blushing softly "You're fine, you guys are pretty too" You offered with a smile before making your way to the kitchen to get your morning (coffee or tea, just your choice of morning drink). Walking back with the mug, you sat next to Ji-yong glancing at the game they were playing on the tv.

You ended up playing with them for a good two hours before you all just ended up talking, it started out sweet, them complimenting you on how much you've changed Seung Hyun to where he's been a little more outgoing with things, you complimenting them on how hard they've been working lately, until they started interrogating you. "We never you see you anymore!" Ji-yong groaned "Seung Hyun stole you!" Dae-sung added, you laughed loudly hiding your face in your blanket you had wrapped around your body "He's my boyfriend!" You giggled loudly before looking towards him again "We miss you!" Tae-yung agreed crossing his arms "I miss you guys! But I practically live here! I'm right down the hall" You giggled, you could feel your face heating up as they continued "Don't think we can't hear what's happening in there! Oooo Seung hyun!" Ji-Yong teased mocking your words from the other night, whenever you thought you both were alone.

You squealed hiding your face again "Leave me alone! We're literally together! and adults!" You argued giggling loudly before looking to them "You all wouldn't understand, you're children" You giggled, they gasped at your comment before jumping and screaming out whenever they heard your boyfriend cough from the hallway "If I remember right it was, yesss, seung hyun" He stated making his way tiredly to you "You said you'd be back at noon" He frowned, you smiled at him, trying to hide the fact you were extremely flustered by the others knowledge of what exactly you sound like during sex. "Sorry, the boys are upset they don't see me as much" You giggled, Seung Hyun taking his rightful spot next to you on the couch, wrapping his arms around you tightly "They live with you?" He questioned before catching on laughing "Oh my!...you know..you guys are more than welcome to invite her to game or hangout, you just don't" He chuckled, you agreed, resting your head on his shoulder, only now realizing he had no shirt on, Not wanting to put him on the spot about his new found confidence you just smiled even wider hugging him "Not whenever you steal her!" Dae-sung whined, Seung Hyun just smirked "What you mean like this?" He asked before scooping you up with ease rushing to your bedroom, you screamed holding onto him tightly, not liking the fact he was running around corners with you in his arms.

As you got back into your room he smirked at you "Oh god, what do you want, my love?" You asked resting your hands on the base of his neck, admiring his eyes as he slowly lowered you down to your feet "You look really good in my clothes" He whispered stepping closer to you "You look really good with no shirt" You complimented, your words brought a bright pink hue to his cheeks as he blushed "You had my shirt" He protested shyly, you just shook your head giggling kissing him softly, Seung Hyun had other thoughts, taking the back of your neck in his hand as he pressed his lips against yours needier and rougher than you did. You just placed your hands in his hair, his other arm going around your waist to pull you closer to him if possible. "What has gotten into you?" You teased as he pushed you down onto the bed "You have changed me" He growled against your neck, you tilted your head to the side allowing him more access as he continued "I feel..more myself with you, you let me live my life while still being a big part of it, you know just what to say, you're perfect" He whispered, you just now realizing his lips were pressed against your jaw "You're so sweet, but I didn't change anything, you did that, Seung Hyun" You smiled, moaning softly whenever he started to leave a trail of hickeys across your neck "See? Just what to say" He smirked against your skin, before pulling away to make eye contact with you "I love you" He said, causing you to stare at him in shock, you watched the emotions run over his face "I love you too" You finally found yourself saying looking into his dark eyes, his smirk returned before you pressed your lips to his.

Gasping as Seung Hyun lined himself up with your entrance, you glanced up to look at him, his eyes were trained between the two of you, more concerned about getting everything right so he didn't hurt you. You slowly raised a hand to his cheek, tilting his head slightly to look at you "You're okay" You smiled, nodding a bit before leaning up kissing him deeply, Seung Hyun took that as his sign to ahead, pushing his dick fully in, bottoming out before he brought his hands to your face, cupping his cheeks as he kissed you deeply.

It didn't matter how many times you guys fucked each other, it would always take you both by surprise, Seung Hyun groaned quietly panting against your lips as he slowly started thrust his hips, You weren't doing much better to compose yourself, running your nails down his back and chest, trying your best to stifle your moans so your eavesdropping roommates wouldn't hear. "gongjunim, baby, easy" He groaned against your lips, it wasn't that it hurt him, he just didn't want to cum this early, not only would it be embarrassing, but he also wanted to savor the feeling before he had a whole new week of writing and recording. You turned your hands from his back to his hands, which he quickly used the advantage to pin them above your head, interlacing your fingers together as the speed of his hips thrusting increased, you whimpered loudly wrapping your legs around his hips, his hand finding it's way to your clit, rubbing a mixture of circles and figure eights against it, pulling away from your lips, he leaned back, getting a full view of you underneath him.

Feeling conscious of everything on your body settled over you as you noticed Seung Hyun's staring, you bit your lip, looking away from his gaze "Baby..look at me" He whispered, resting his free hand on your stomach as his thrusts slowed, whimpering as his dick basically slammed in and out of you. Slowly you looked over to meet his gaze "You're breathtaking my love, just like the most beautiful waterfalls, the most expelling art piece, just like the beauty of true unfiltered pure art, and it's all mine" He whispered, you wanted to giggle, even as he basically taking away your ability to properly walk for the next day, he still finds a way to be as charming as possible. "I love you Seung Hyun" You giggled, pulling him closer to press your lips against his hungrily, between his fingers on your clit and him inside of you, you were desperate to cum, but his speed was like a constantly tease, bringing you to the edge before ripping it away. "Fucking Please Seung Hyun" You moaned, growing frustrated with his teasing antics you threw your head back "Huh?" He teased, smirking, you rolled your eyes, of course, you had done it once before, as a joke, and of course he wanted you to do it again. "I'm not doing that" You giggled "Please just actually fuck me, baby" You asked, purposely pitching your voice lower with a slight seductive tone, Seung Hyun squeezed your hip tightly, not liking the reaction his body had to your voice. He just persisted, only now his lips were attached to your nipple, swirling his tongue to match the movements of his fingers on your clit, you whined loudly, cheeks growing hot with a blush, of course he had to think one of your cringiest jokes was hot.

"Please fuck me, Top, I swear I know all the words to your songs, you're so fucking hot- God damnit please!" You whined, your tone going from annoyed to just frustrated, he just seemed to find enjoyment in your neediness and frustration. "I guess" He smirked against your skin, pulling his lips off with a pop, replacing them with his hand that wasn't between your legs. "Just remember, whenever your legs hurt later, you wanted it this badly" He teased before moving his hips at a pace you swear you had never felt before, you couldn't stop the moan that was pulled from your lips as you arched your back, his fingers increasing their speed on your clit as well. You ran your hands down his back, feeling it arch under your touch, you whimpered as he groaned against your collarbone, trying to stay mindful of the headboard not smacking against the wall.

As you got closer to your orgasm you felt Seung Hyun move your legs slightly higher on his waist, his hand going right back to your nipples after words "I'm not cumming until you do, Gongjunim" He grunted, you just squeezed his shoulders tightly in reply, knowing if he kept up with the abuse on your clit you'd definitely fall apart soon. Before Seung Hyun could say anything else you pulled his lips to yours, desperate to try and muffle your moans any ways you could, your legs squeezing tightly around his waist as your pussy squeezing his cock even tighter if possible. Seung Hyun moaned himself for the first time with you, tilting his head down as he dropped to his elbow propping him up "That's it baby, use me for anything you need" He whispered leaving a final hickey right above your left nipple, you whimpered loudly as you came around him, Seung Hyun waited a moment to catch his breath before grabbing your hips, groaning, still in love with the fact your hips fit perfectly in his hands. You bit your lip looking up at him, this time as he looked between the two of you, he had a different look in his eyes, he bit his lip as he started his pace again, this time alot more sloppy, he felt like he was about to explode, somehow harder than he had been in months, and the way you felt around him wasn't helping the situation, the closer he got to cumming, the worse it got. Noticing his pace starting to falter, you placed a hand on his chest pushing slightly to roll the both of you, positioning yourself to straddle him, you started to roll your hips against his. His grip on your hips tightened as his head fell back "Fuck, please don't stop, baby" He begged, his tone pitched slightly higher "Why would I stop, my love? You look fucking amazing like this" You asked pressing soft butterfly kisses down his jawline and neck, leaving hickeys as soon as you got to his collarbone, knowing that they needed to be hidden in order for him not to be in trouble.

Seung Hyun never realized how hot it'd be to have you on top, especially while having you try to boost his confidence, but here you were and he'd be lying if he said it didn't make his cock even harder if possible. "Fuck! Fuck! Baby I'm so close" He groaned sitting up to bring your lips to his for a very sloppy kiss, a mixture of tongue and teeth connecting as you copied your previous movement, squealing as he dug his nails into your hips, holding them where they were, his hips lifting up to meet yours as he started to cum, you kissed him deeper as you felt the warm liquid spill into you. After a few minutes, Seung Hyun slowly shifted to lay you onto the bed and pull out of you, much to your dismay, you let him, not without giving him one last short kiss. "I swear..everytime is like the first time" He panted as he hid his face in the curve of your neck, you trailed your nails over the back of his hairline and down his neck, feeling him slowly catch his breath, you couldn't shake the thought you had the entire time Seung Hyun said I love you. "Baby?..are you okay?" His deep voice pulled you from your thoughts "I'm amazing..trust me..but..did you mean what you said?.." You asked nervously, now twisting his messy hair in-between your fingers "That I love you?" He asked, almost like he could read your mind, you just hummed in agreement "Of course I meant it, I wouldn't ever say something to you that I don't mean" He said, leaning away to be able to look you in the eyes "I love you, Y/n, You make me feel like a good..happy person" He smiled softly, pressing a gently kiss to your forehead "I love you too, then" You smiled, before starting to sit up "Shower with me?" You offered, he just smirked standing up offering his hand out to you, taking a moment to admire how truly amazing he looked naked. "Oh Y/nnn.." He called out in a teasing tone "You like?" He smirked turning to face you to pull you up out of bed "I very very much like, sir" You replied, placing your hands on his chest as you walked him backwards into the bathroom.

--

You like? No seriously though, I tried my best but everything today kept snapping me out of the zone, so I apologize it's not my usual smutty work

[sweetdispatch]

Rookie love - C. Bedard

pairing: Connor Bedard x Hughes!reader

summary: You and Connor live in the same building and work for Blackhawks. Slowly, you two are falling for each other and he made a cute date for you

warning: none

words: 2.5k

note: my first connor fic yay! based on this request and honestly it lowkey makes me want to do a whole AU with this theme haha

hughes!reader masterlist

---

It was a tough decision for you. You were just an 18 year old girl who decided to move out all the way to Chicago to study public relations. You could stay in Michigan but the vision of being compared to your older brothers, Quinn and Luke who also had been studying there, wasn’t tempting. You wanted to work on your own brand and name far away from there.

Your parents weren’t the happiest when you announced your decision because you were the youngest kid and with your moving to Chicago, it meant that they will be alone without any kids around. Despite the fact, they had your back and fully supported you and understood your point of view. They even helped you to rent an apartment so you don’t have to live in a dorm. 

Quinn, Jack and Luke weren’t surprised when you shared the news with them, knowing how much you had been struggling in high school with questions about them and being used by your “friends” in the past only because you had famous siblings. Quinn proposed that you can always move to him in Vancouver but you wanted to be independent and the vision of moving to Canada wasn’t something you were craving. 

The year you arrived in Chicago, Connor started playing in his rookie season for the Blackhawks. In fact, he was your neighbor and lived right across the hall from you. He also moved there without his family and had to be independent. At first, you didn’t care about it. You were always saying hello to each other when you two saw each other in the hall but nothing more.

Things changed with time when thanks to your great results in college you got an internship in social media for the Chicago Blackhawks. You were excited and grateful for the opportunity. Your dream always was to work in social media and being capable of doing this in a hockey team when you were raised in a hockey family was incredible. You called your parents to tell them about this and they were proud of you. Finally, your hard work paid off.

In January, you started your internship and quickly became one of the most important people in creating content for social media. Thanks to your young age, new ideas and jumping into trends, the Chicago Blackhawks became one of the best teams in social media. Fans loved the content and people rooting for other teams also found it funny. 

Connor was 1st overall pick and star of the team so you pushed him to do some of the videos for the social media. He wasn’t the happiest because he was shy in front of the camera but you always tried your hardest to make him feel as comfortable as possible. You were also a shy person and you totally understood him. He was delighted to have you as a support and creating content with you wasn’t as scary as it was earlier. 

You and Connor lived in the same apartment building and always were returning from his training or games together. He was more than happy to give you a ride back home. In the first two weeks of your internship, you two bonded and became friends. Both of you had been the same age and lived alone, far away from parents. During roadies, you were staying in Chicago since you had college and many times you received texts from Connor.

They tell me to do this and I don’t want to.

Why have you abandoned me? 

Can you tell them to leave me alone? 

Promise me that you’ll go on the next roadie so I can have support from you behind the camera.

With every message like that, your heart was growing bigger. You didn’t know how much of an impact you have on him and feeling comfortable. You wanted to be there for him but you couldn’t drop college because Connor was shy. You promised him to talk with the others to leave him alone during away games but it wasn’t in your competence to dictate who’s gonna be on the video.

While Connor was away, you were taking care of his apartment and basically cleaned and cooked for him in your free time. When you entered his place for the first time, you could tell that he’s struggling being alone just like you and you wanted him to feel that he has someone on who he can lay on. You had experience with boys since you had three brothers and knew what to do so he could open up. 

Connor was more than grateful to have you. At first, he thought that you’re just a social media girl who’s living in the same building but with time, he saw how much you’re doing for him inside and outside of the work. He wanted to pay you back and always surprised you with flowers and coffee when he knew that you had a rough day in college. 

These small gestures turned into daily dinners and movies. After games, Connor was taking you out on a dinner to later finish the day with a movie in your apartment. It was a cute but meaningful moment between you two. You started talking more and more, he finally opened up and felt that he has a real friend and is not alone. 

Both of you were falling for each other. You two had similar personalities and tried to stay out of the spotlight. You were Connor’ biggest fan and he was your rock. Almost every single day you two were seeing each other even if it meant only for 5 minutes. He knew your schedule perfectly and always tried to give you a donut with coffee before you were heading on college. You also knew his schedule and after every roadie, you were at his apartment preparing meals for him, knowing that he must be tired from flying around America and Canada. It was like an unwritten rule between you. 

When you had been working with the Blackhawks, Connor was more than happy to see you there and was willing to do a content with you. The rest of the team was surprised but no one questioned it. They all thought that it’s because he feels more comfortable around you since you are the same age. It was partially true. He was willing to do content while you were around because he loved to spend time with you. 

Connor’ teammates and other people working in social media never noticed anything unusual in the behaviour between you two. You two kept the friendship and feeling privately and shared it when only two of you were alone. In March, your internship was over but the team offered you full time work in social media. You were beyond happy for this and couldn’t wait for the 2024-2025 season to start so you can work there. 

When you told this to Connor, he smiled like a kid in a candy store. At first, he was sad that you won’t be around for the next 1,5 months but after he heard that you’ll be working there full time, he was the happiest person. You were confident that he was happier about this than you. In that moment, he gained confidence to ask you out on a date. You gladly accepted his invitation and the two of you spent an incredible evening the next day. 

After the season was over for Chicago, Connor decided to stay there for a little longer knowing that you have exams in May. You were always there for him in his lows and highs and he wanted to do the same for you. He was hanging out in your apartment all the time, even if that meant that he had to watch a tv show while you’re studying. Those silent, cute moments made him realise that he wants you as his girlfriend. 

Connor started planning a cute date after your exams when he could ask you to be his girlfriend. In the past 5 months, you two shared a lot of moments together and learned a lot about each other. That’s why instead of a boring date in a restaurant, he planned a day full of attractions to ask you to be his at the end. He was proud of himself but also scared of your reaction. 

“Since we're leaving in a couple of days I was thinking that maybe we could spend a day together?” Connor asked you in the middle of a movie that you two had been watching. 

“But we’re already spending everyday together” You giggled and saw redness growing on his face.

“Yeah but I was thinking about going out, more like… exploring the city” He replied shyly and you smiled at him. 

“I would love that, do you have a plan what to do or are we gonna figure it out tomorrow?” You asked excitedly. 

“I… I actually have a plan already but if you want we can change it” Connor started to ramble and you stopped him.

“We don’t have to, I trust you with your plan” 

“Great, umm how about I’ll pick you around 10AM tomorrow?” 

“Sounds perfect” You smiled and the two of you returned to watching a movie. 

It’s now or never Connor thought.

As Connor promised, he knocked at your door at 10AM. He had flowers in his hand that he bought earlier. He was nervous but he knew there’s nothing scary in you but he was still overthinking this whole day. You opened the door and welcomed him. He was in awe of how gorgeous you looked in your dress. From the nerves, he kept the flowers in his hand instead of giving them to you. 

“Are those flowers for me?” You asked shyly.

“Yeah, sorry” He gave you the flowers and you quickly put them in a vase.

“Shall we go?” You asked him. 

“Yes, I’m right behind you” 

Two of you left your apartment and went into a parking lot. Connor opened the passenger door for you and you thanked him. All the nerves went out of him when you started talking to him about your summer plans. It felt natural between the two of you. The next 20 minutes you were talking about how you are gonna spend the free months. He stopped the car and opened the door for you. 

“I know you didn’t have breakfast so I thought it would be nice to grab donuts and coffee and go to the park” Connor said and you smiled at him. 

“You know me too well” You joked.

Connor ordered your favorite donuts and coffee and you were smiling all the time standing next to him because he remembered those little details about you. When you two got the order, you walked into a park and sat on a bench while eating and joking. After you finished your breakfast, he stood up and you followed him. For the next hour, you two have been walking around the park with coffee in your hands. 

When Connor saw that you’re getting tired, he knew it’s time for another attraction. You two went to his car and he drove you to a place that you always wanted to visit but never had time. It was the Museum of Illusion and it was on your bucket list to get here one day. You were surprised that he remembered this detail because you told him about it months ago. 

You were so excited to go there and Connor was excited for you. For another couple hours you two had been walking around the museum having fun and taking lots of pictures. It was the first time you saw him fully comfortable with taking pictures and you couldn’t be happier that he feels safe around you. Smiles couldn’t disappear from both of your faces.

It was already 4PM when you two left the museum and you were starting to get hungry. Connor had this already planned and drove you to McDonalds to get food. Again, he remembered that you said to him that this is your guilty pleasure food and you could eat it every single day. When you two got the food, you decided to sit in the car and eat in a parking lot while chatting. This day was already perfect but he had one more thing planned. 

Now it was the most nervous part for Connor. He booked a boat trip for you two and after it he wanted to ask you to be his girlfriend. The day was perfect and he didn't want to ruin it. He started to overthink this again but your monologue about wanting to adopt a cat brought him back to reality. He was smiling at the thought of you having a cat because he knew you'd be great with him. After 30 minutes, he parked a car and led you to a boat. 

“You mentioned how much you miss home and spending days on a boat so I thought we could have a boat evening here” He shrugged.

“It’s perfect, I love the idea” You hugged him and he swore that he felt butterflies in his stomach. 

You two walked on the boat and sat here quietly watching the busy city. It was incredible to stop and just relax while enjoying each other's presence. You cuddled into him and he gladly put his hand on you. It was a gentle move but you loved it. You were so in love with him and this day just proved to you that Connor is the guy you want forever. After an hour, you returned to the land and you smiled at him widely.

“Thank you for today. It was the best day of my life” You pecked his cheek and saw a blush on his face. 

“It was a pleasure for me to make your day better but I need to ask you something” He took a deep breath. “I really like you Y/N and I want you as more than a friend. Would you be my girlfriend?” He asked you and you froze in a spot. A boy that you love wants you. After a couple seconds you threw yourself into his arms. 

“I would love to be your girlfriend. You mean the world to me and I’ll be more than happy to be yours” Connor felt relief when you agreed. 

“Can I kiss you?” He asked you shyly.

“You don’t have to ask, you’re my boyfriend” You chuckled and the next thing you felt was his lips on yours. It was a passionate kiss full of emotions and love. You couldn’t be happier than today.

yourusername

liked by _connorbedard and 2352 others

yourusername I think I fall in love...🤍

jackhughes You what???

lhughes_06 You have a lot to explain young lady when you get back home.

_quinnhughes That the reason why I was against you going to different city

25 May 2024

[auguryofjellyfish]

i read something that made me think deeper about Kamimura's death and how i feel about it....Tsuno's death left me catatonic on friday because i love her deeply, but Kamimura's got wedged in my gut like a shard of glass. or: why Kamimura's death feels worse to me than Tsuno's.

it mostly comes down to the matter of his potential as a person and the circumstances of his death put together.

Tsuno…she had already found herself. just as some other characters, we have met her after she had already grown into herself, and "completed her arc". she knew who she wanted to be and worked tirelessly to uphold that ideal. she had loving family and friends and lived her best life, one that brought her fulfillment. she kept being herself in the killing game. connecting, caring, and loving with all her heart. she remained true to herself until the end.

she died doing what she's always have…trying her best. losing her is deeply tragic because she shone so brightly in life. she didn't manage to do everything she wanted, and it's not like she didn't have problems or flaws, she could have grown further. she didn't die with 0 regrets. it's not like she was done, no, nowhere near. but she was complete.

but..Kamimura... what…did he have? years of suffering and depression, multiple suicide attempts, shaky and uncertain future. barely any family, no friends. Kamimura entered the killing game having almost nothing. but that's not the worst thing.

it's that he was just starting to grow. the killing game and the motives made him absolutely miserable but at the same time...he was starting to form positive relationships. he had started to accept at least some level of support, after years of having to be independent. and obviously, there's Ken- who, if they all had gotten out, would 100% have stayed in Kamimura's life.

he contemplated his life and his dreams. he set a goal. even if small, he was still looking forward. he was starting to become more connected, to gain things he didn't have before...ever so slowly, he was starting to change...and i'm sure, despite his cynicism and ever-present struggle, despite the possibility of dying at any moment...that deep down, the littlest seed of hope for his future was just starting to grow.

and then he died.

it's not only him. it's also his massive unrealized potential. unexpressed feelings, unsaid words. un-lived life. he didn't manage to build a life that brought him satisfaction. he didn't…he didn't manage to do a single thing with his life that he wanted. he was nowhere near his full potential. he died as he lived and he's just gone and he got NOTHING. JUST after he was presented with the hope of his life possibly becoming different.

if Tsuno was at her best, a beautiful tree in full bloom cut short, then Kamimura was a little sappling slowly unfurling, and then getting stomped on and set on fire.

and you know what the worst part is? it didn't need to happen.

none of the previous deaths needed to happen, but they were forced to. this time, nobody snapped. nobody made a mistake, it was an active choice. there was NO good reason for him and Tsuno to die. just one person's selfishness, not even only to save their own hide but to also cause suffering. Tsuno's death was senseless and cruel but compared to Kamimura she at least retained some dignity. he didn't HAVE to be disrespected even in death, body torn apart and desacrated, like he was NOTHING. but he was, for the sake of a convoluted ass bullshit fucking plan.

yes, someone would have to die eventually with this motive. yes, not traumatizing hasegawa this badly thus incapacitating him would have added more risk for the culprit. idgaf. i'm not this upset that he died per se, it's that he died like this without being granted peace in death, with Hasegawa and everyone else unable to say proper goodbye because Kamimura's body's in fucking pieces.

[oddly-casual]

A thought I have pretty often but don’t have the brain to properly express is the fact that between the Girlymatsu’s and the regular matsu’s the only one who doesn’t share her signature color with her counter part is Osoko.

Like obviously it’s in the back of her intro card, and it’s Osoko so we know red is supposed to be her color.

She wears red in all the added merch and bonus content too. Off the top of my head there’s the Jyushimatsu dolphin episode, Tabimatsu, and hesokuri wars. All of which she wears red unless it’s a special set or she changes back into her work uniform.

It could really be nothing, but it always kind of threw me off. All the other girls get their signature color, why not Osoko?

Even if it’s in a subtle way they could’ve done it. Like with the pine pattern on ichiko’s dress or Jyshiko’s bright blonde hair and colored contacts.

Osoko’s makeup is more pink than it is red. So where’d her red go? I had a few thoughts on this so I’m gonna spit some shit.

1. Shes trying to blend in

In the episode she’s introduced in, she gives this big talk about how woman are supposed to be. Being independent, knowing when not to let other men pay for you, being young and approachable. She says all this but so easily snaps the next second. My only guess for why she snaps so quick is because she does that with friends.

With her friends Osoko has no problems being angry, making faces, yelling at them, etc. We don’t know how she is outside of her friend group, but from the way she describes herself it doesn’t seem like she acts the same around everyone.

Osoko is a working woman, she has to be all those things to survive the work place. Bold, but not too bold. Red is a very bold color.

Red lipstick is mature, but it also might hint at promiscuity for some older folk and people who like to talk shit. Meanwhile pink is a more cuter and toned down version of red, that’s why Osoko wears it as makeup instead. She wants to come off as light and fun and cute when that’s not who she really is.

2. She wants to seem younger

It’s brought up a couple times and the show kind of hints at it, but Osoko and Karako are supposed to be the older so believe.

They dress more mature and scold the others for being immature, and the comment jyushiko makes about them being old and unable to have children looks like it seriously pisses them off.

Osoko talks about youth a lot in her first episode, especially about how it makes her seem cuter. You’d think it would be a Todoko thing, but Osoko mentions it more than once when she talks. Meaning being cute and young (compared to her older male coworkers) instead of being headstrong or beautiful, is important to her.

Karako wears red heals and red lipstick but I think that’s just her style. She is bold, her personality is loud and just like how Karamatsu likes wearing shades and leather jackets to seem like a cool guy, Karako probably wears red to show maturity and maybe even a bit of sensuality.

Meanwhile Osoko, who doesn’t like the fact that she’s getting older, wears a more youthful color. Being pink. Even putting it on her cheeks to add to the youthful look.

3. Identity crisis

Pretty much everyone knows about Osomatsu’s identity issues. He very obviously has no personality of his own and it shows- mainly in the fact that while everyone has their own casual outfits that show off their identity, Osomatsu still wears the family symbol on his plain red hoodie.

I don’t think the girlymatsu’s are supposed to be sisters, they call each other friends and have never been mentioned to be related. They are all very visually distinct from each other, and their personalities are on full display all the time in just how they dress.

There would be no need for the girlymatsu’s to wear distinct colors because there would be no need to differentiate them from each other.

The show does it anyway, obviously, because fuck it why not it’s cute- but again, Osoko doesn’t.

It could be because, like Osomatsu, Osoko has no idea who she truly is. She pours herself into this older sister persona to lure men in (her words), but she’s loud and crude and judgmental when separated from that.

Just like how Osomatsu makes his family his identity, I think Osoko makes work her identity. She wears her work clothes out and about, even when she’s on vacation. In season 2 when she dresses out of her wet suit she’s in her uniform again- and we know nothing about her personal life, not even in the small tidbits we get from the other characters.

I truly think identity issues is something every version of Osomatsu is faced with. Even if it’s not that, idk I just think it’s interesting. If you made it this far, kiss kiss.

Live laugh love Osoko.

[rowie264]

Councilors vs Chem-Barons

Remember that creators wanted to "show there is merits and flaws on both sides"? While I still feel that agenda in the first season, the second season is... well.

The easiest way to see that creators wanted you to be more sympathetic to Piltover is to look at the rulers of both cities. The Council is flawed but mostly fine, while Chem-Barons are purely bad.

You can protest that 'wait, but in s1 we saw that the Council is corrupted' and... i agree with that. But let's take a closer look at all members with information from both s1 and s2, hmm?

Torman Hoskel was portrayed as silly and easily manipulated person. He is the worst among them.

Salo makes the same appearance as Hoskel in s1. But in s2 he becomes disabled. This is the easiest way to manipulate you into sympathizing him. Of course, this wouldn't change your view of him completely, since his personality remained the same, but you can understand his anger (his suffering is shown on the screen). Besides, later when Viktor heals his legs, Salo changes, losing his arrogance and becoming a good person.

Irius Bolbok is strict, composed and slightly harsh ruler (remember him saying to find the culprit no matter what). But he isn't shown as bad as Hoskel and Salo in s1. He is quite decent.

Shoola was portrayed as reasanable ruler from very beginning. She was the first who said "They [zaunites] may not be your preferred consituents but they're still our people." She was the first after Mel who voted for Zaun's independance. In s2, we see how she cares about people rather than acting in the interests of revenge like Salo.

Cassandra Kiramman was also showed as good person even in s1. She might not be active Zaun's simpathizer but she did schedule an audience for Caitlyn and Vi giving them a chance to change Councilors opinion about Zaun (ofc it's bc Cait is her daughter but Cassandra could just deny her). Also in s2 we learn that she built a ventilation system which makes her the only Councilor (beside Jayce) who actually did something for Zaun.

Mel Medarda is shown as a woman who does things for her own benefit, manipulating others. But she still did vote for the independence of Zaun (albeit for personal reasons). You also can't say that she's a bad person or that she's done really bad things for her cause (like Silco for example).

Jayce is a bad politician and has made few mistakes, but at the end of the day, he is a good man.

Heimerdinger is portrayed as good person as well.

Even though we know that all of them are corrupt (except Heimer) and that they have ignored Zaun for decades, only one of them has no good traits and completely unlikable (Hoskel).

But what do we have with Chem-Barons?

Finn is an idiot and power-hungry.

Rennie is too. She lost her son, which to some extent makes you understand her attacks on memorial (not justify, just understand), but the show itself does not even focus on this fact, ignoring that little nuance.

Chross's goons force children to work in the mines. He also fights for Silco's chair to gain more power.

Smeech's business is connected to shimmer (i guess he provides it after Silco's death?). Only, unlike Silco, Smeech isn't shown as someone who uses shimmer simply as a tool to achieve a higher goal (nation of Zaun). He is just power-hungry like others. Also s2 shows that he doesn't value his own people.

Margot is unloyal as well. "I'd rather favor my chances with Topside". She fights for power like others.

Silco is the only one who commits bad deeds for a higher purpose. All he wants is an independent Zaun, not power itself. We see his positive traits such as dedication to his city, love for Jinx and others, which makes him the only really likable among other Chem-Barons.

Of course the government doesn't represent people themselves. We saw that there are good people in Zaun and there are bad people in Piltover. But you know what it does represent? Creators' true view of Piltover/Zaun conflict.

Despite everything Piltover was ready to grant Zaun independence. The Council was shown flawed but the characters themselves were not completely bad persons. You, as a viewer, can understand and sympathize them. Creators made sure you will sympathize them.

But Zaun? Bandits and criminals who don't think beyond their pockets. The only person who did and tried to do something good for Zaun was wrong, bc s2 promotes us "violence is not the answer" and "power of forgiveness" agenda.

So where are the "merits and flaws on both sides" again?

[tobiasdrake]

Digimon Adventure 02x07 - Memories of Hikari / Guardian Angel

Previously on Digimon Adventure: Mimi went on a picnic with the new kids where she drank way too many sodas, ate a rice ball so good it filled her with national pride, and got harassed by Digimon again.

We open on a montage of righteous devastation. The Chosen Children are beating the Digimon Kaiser's ass at playing Risk. The new team's Digimon converge fire on a Dark Tower, toppling it.

Narrator: The Chosen Children continued their advance, liberating areas controlled by the Digimon Kaiser one after another.

On the map of territories, several black squares blink over to white. Then several more. Bit by bit, the Kaiser's forces are being driven back. Koushiro, sitting at the Gate computer in Computer Club, calls out the group's movements.

Koushiro: Send Birdramon to this area. Next, move Greymon to that area. And Garurumon to this area.

More and more towers come down, toppled by the Digimon he named.

Finally, we cut back to everyone reconvening in Computer Club. All the elementary kids plus Taichi, Sora, Yamato, and Koushiro. With Takeru's hand in shippy places.

Koushiro: I won't be able to come in tomorrow. Yamato: Yeah, I have band practice too. Taichi: Well, we'll be fine with just Hikari, Daisuke, and the others. Daisuke: Yeah, we can handle it!

This will be the elementary kids' first time having to handle things without an experienced veteran to guide them. Except it won't because Takeru and Hikari are experienced veterans, so they'll probably be fine.

In the dub:

(The elementary kids bring down a Control Spire) Cody: Yeah! Izzy: Alright! That's twelve more Control Spires destroyed! (Birdramon brings down a Spire) Sora: Yeah! Izzy: According to the map, Greymon is finished in this area and is moving on to the next. Garurumon's doing the same thing!

Izzy is not calling any shots in the dub, and is instead passively narrating what the teams are independently doing to nobody in particular.

Izzy: There's still one more Control Spire to destroy today. Matt: Maybe Greymon could get that one too. Tai: I don't think he can. It looks like he's too far from that area. Izzy: Tai's right. Davis: In that case, we'll do it ourselves!

They give Tai this line as he turns away from Izzy and is visibly addressing Davis and the others. Also, the computer screen has the Gate on it, not the map, so I don't know how Tai's reading Greymon's location.

In fact, the map can't even be used to read Digimon locations. It just shows controlled and uncontrolled territories. I don't know what part of Davis's face is giving Tai geographic coordinates for Greymon relative to the Control Spire in question.

This isn't a huge deal but if this was the direction they wanted to go with this scene, it might have worked better to have Tai simply say that he left Greymon too far away. The way the line's written makes it sound like he's drawing conclusions based on data he's analyzing but his animation doesn't give him anything to be drawing it off of.

In any case, we see here a stark change from the original. In the original, the impending mission is going to be tomorrow's activities, which the older kids won't be able to chaperone. The dub has the younger kids going back in to finish up today's workload due to poor strategic planning leaving the older kids' Digimon too far away.

We're cutting straight from this scene to the kids' mission, which creates a bit of a plot hole as to why Izzy isn't hanging out to do mission control for this one last Control Spire. He's offered no explanation for bailing.

Cut to a domed city inside the Digital World. An alarm blares throughout the city. Guardromon units roll out with Evil Rings around the valves on their chests.

Guardromon: INTRUDER. INTRUDER.

A squad of Guardromon flood into the city, opening fire on an unseen trespasser.

Guardromon is an Adult-stage Virus-attribute Machine Digimon, though the first anime listed them as Data-attribute. It's unclear if they still are Data-attribute because 02 removed Attributes from the Digimon Analyzer entirely. No idea why.

(Maybe they just didn't want to have to explain Free-attribute after making a point to have Gennai teach Koushiro about Virus, Vaccine, and Data in the first series. So they quietly buried attributes and hoped no one would notice?)

In any case, we know Guardromon from Mugendramon's Metal Empire on Spiral Mountain. Alongside Mekanorimon, Guardromon were Mugendramon's foot soldiers.

Narrator: Guardromon! An Adult Digimon that boasts ironclad defenses. Their special attack is Destruction Grenade!

This is almost word-for-word Guardromon's rundown from the first show. The only difference is that they tell us Guardromon's level instead of their Machine typing.

Once the rundown's over, we see what they're shooting at.

Digmon: GOLD RUSH!!! Pegasmon: SHOOTING STAR!!! Fladramon: KNUCKLE FIRE!!!

The Armor team has gotten good at this. Each of their shots is precisely aimed to break the Evil Rings off their targets' valves. Digmon frees four Guardromon, Pegasmon frees another four, and then Fladramon gets two.

But despite their best efforts, more Guardromon emerge to replace the liberated ones, which simply stop moving and go to standby on the spot where they were freed.

Guardromon: INTRUDER. INTRUDER.

The dub misses the part about the blaring alarm, of course, but still captures the vibe.

Guardromon: INTRUDER. INTRUDER. Guardromon: (rundown) I am Guardromon. Whoever tries to enter the premises shall become victims of my Grenade Destroyer attack. Digmon: GOLD RUSH!!! Pegasusmon: STAR SHOWER!!! Flamedramon: FIRE ROCKET!!! (Their attacks release ten Guardromon but more swarm in) Guardromon: INTRUDER. INTRUDER.

Why would you rename Destruction Grenade to Grenade Destroyer? It's one of those small changes that are so minor that it raises the question of why you even bothered. Is it because the little bullet guy doesn't look at all like a grenade? Or are the censors just happier if we imply the little bullet guy is neutralizing enemy grenades?

Reinforcement Guardromon roll out and the team is beginning to tire.

Daisuke: What the hell is with these guys!? Miyako: They just keep coming, over and over! There's no end to it! Iori: It would be unwise for us to continue this battle of attrition. We should withdraw immediately. Miyako: I think so too! We're outnumbered. We should retreat. Daisuke: Retreat!? Why are you acting like cowards!? The Dark Tower is right there!

First junior mission is not going well. Daisuke disagrees with withdrawing, but the decision is quickly made for him.

Fladramon: G...Getting hungry.... Digmon: ...me too....

As the endless wave of Guardromon continues to advance, Fladramon and Digmon can't sustain their Armor forms any longer and degenerate into their Child stages. Like it or not, we have to leave.

Takeru: Daisuke-kun, we need to go back. We can reconsider our plan of attack with Koushiro-san. Hikari: Tentomon might be able to provide us with new intel. Daisuke: ...we don't have a choice. Retreat!

Reluctantly, Daisuke agrees with the withdrawal and the Chosen Children flee from the advancing Guardromon army.

In the dub:

Davis: There must be a hundred of 'em! Yolei: Wow, you counted that high without even taking off your shoes and socks! T.K.: I think now is a good time to go back to our world. We can come up with a new plan. Yolei: T.K.'s right. We can talk to Izzy! Guardromon: INTRUDER. INTRUDER. Davis: Are you guys out of your minds!? Quit now!? I've never been a quitter! Flamedramon: I agree. Davis, let's regroup! (Digmon and Flamedramon degenerate to Rookie forms) T.K.: Davis, don't be so stubborn! There are far too many of them! We have to get out of here while we can! Kari: I agree! We have to hurry! Davis: Urggggh... Alright, head for the Gate!

Cody doesn't get to offer any input in this version. He silently goes along with whatever the group decides.

This dialogue covers the broad strokes: There's too many enemies, so we have to run for it. But we lose some of the tactical considerations.

That the team's been steadily fighting this onslaught for some time and is exhausted beyond the point of being able to keep going gets skipped over. No mention is made of this as a "battle of attrition" or that "they just keep coming", and Flamedramon deliberately degenerates because he wants to retreat.

T.K. does suggest regrouping with Izzy. But Kari makes no mention of Tentomon possibly having more intel for them; She passively agrees with T.K.

And Yolei manages to slip in a barb at Davis for no reason.

The team withdraws to the Gate television. Miyako opens it up, and one by one, they escape across realities.

Well, four of them do, anyway.

Miyako: What the--!? Did something just explode!? Patamon: I saw it! A Guardromon attacked! Daisuke: Huh? Where's Hikari-chan? Iori: Oh no. Is she still in the Digital World?

She is indeed. Hikari and Tailmon take cover around a corner while Hikari emails the others on her D-Terminal.

Hikari: And sent. Tailmon: Hikari, if anything happens, I'll Armor Evolve. I can still fight. Hikari: Mhm! Thank you, Tailmon.

In the dub, Yolei remembers to say the thing while they're approaching the Gate.

Yolei: DIGI-PORT OPEN!!! (Everyone but Kari makes it through) Guardromon: GRENADE DESTROYER!!! Kari: Wait for me! (TV explodes and everyone but Kari escapes) Yolei: Ouch! Say, shouldn't we put pillows here if we're going to keep doing this? Patamon: Guys! I saw that the TV was blown up as we came through so we can't go back. Davis: Wait a second! Where did Kari go? Cody: She's trapped! In the Digital World!

Yolei makes a valid point.

Somehow Patamon managed to see the TV explode? In the original, they heard the explosion while they were transiting between worlds and Patamon saw the Guardromon fire just before he and Takeru went in, but here Patamon somehow managed to witness the entire thing.

The dub takes its first commercial break here, on the proclamation that Kari's trapped in the other world. We come straight back to Kari on the other side.

Kari: I'll send the others a message saying that we're okay. (typing noises) ...I don't think this has spell check. Gatomon: Kari, if we find ourselves in any kind of jam, I can always Armor Digivolve. Kari: Well, let's save that for a special occasion.

The key points are covered. She's sending a message and Gatomon can Armor Digivolve if they run into trouble.

That said, I don't know why they had Kari disagree with the plan. Next time we see Gatomon, she'll be in her Armor form. They aren't saving it for anything.

Back in the human world, Miyako tries but the Gate simply won't open to that region anymore. Because it's gone.

Miyako: No good. It looks like the Gate we used can't open anymore. Daisuke: Takeru, wasn't HIkari-chan right behind you!? Takeru: Mhm. Daisuke: What were you doing!? Why didn't you make sure she came through with you!? Iori: Daisuke-san, this wasn't Takeru-san's fault. Daisuke: Keep out of it, you noisy brat! Iori: (sternly) Please do not speak to me like that. Daisuke: (gently) S-Sorry, I was out of line. Takeru: No. Daisuke's right. It was my fault. I should have been paying more attention. Daisuke: No, when you put it like that... None of us even noticed. Not even me.

Iori successfully defuses this situation by accidentally provoking Daisuke into crossing a line that Daisuke immediately realizes he shouldn't have crossed, causing his rage to break.

Despite his general hostility to Takeru, Daisuke ultimately agrees that it's not Takeru's fault that Hikari got left behind. They didn't carry out on orderly retreat; They routed, with every child for themselves. The fault is on everyone.

In the dub:

Yolei: The Gate to that area is closed! We can't get to her! Davis: T.K., wasn't Kari right behind you when you went into the Gate from the Digital World!? T.K.: Mhm. Davis: Then it's all your fault! Why didn't you let her go first!? Cody: Stop! It was no one's fault! It just happened! Davis: What do you know!? You're a little kid! Cody: Yeah, but I still know when someone's being a jerk! Davis: (gently) Ugh... I guess that's me.... T.K.: The truth is, Davis is right. Davis & Cody: Huh!? T.K.: It really was my fault. I should have been watching out for her all along. Davis: Well... I guess I could have too. Cody: So could I. That's what I mean! There's no one to blame.

Pretty solid.

A sudden indicator from the computer alerts Miyako to a new email.

Miyako: Huh? Ah! An e-mail from Hikari-chan! "I'm safe. Don't worry. Takeru: Miyako-san, switch with me for a second.

Takeru suddenly gets an idea and takes over the computer. He scans through the map of the Digital World until he finds what he's looking for.

Takeru: Even if we can't go back to that area, we can enter the area next to it and cross over.

Takeru finds what he's looking for somehow, and I cannot make heads or tails of the map. He settles on a black square surrounded by gray squares which... I kinda thought gray squares were, like, the ocean or something and white squares were free territory, so I am lost.

But apparently this makes sense, so I'll go with it. Takeru finds his destination and holds his Digivice up to the screen.

Takeru: I'm going! Patamon: Wait, Takeru!

He's in such a hurry, he almost leaves Patamon behind. Fortunately, Patamon's able to flap over to him quickly enough to be caught up in the transition.

Miyako: Takeru-kun! Daisuke: Tch! I'm just supposed to let him take care of it!? Let's go, Chibimon! Chibimon: Yeah!

Daisuke, too, crosses over with Chibimon.

Miyako: Ah! Poromon, we should-- Iori: Please wait! It's almost dinner time. If Hikari-san and the others don't make it home, their families will worry and make a fuss about it. We should notify Taichi-san and the others first. Miyako: You're right... I'm the oldest here, so I should try to think more clearly. Upamon: If that's what we're doing, then hurry up! Poromon: Let's go! (Upamon and Poromon flee the room) Iori: AH!!! Don't go out on your own!

Iori and Miyako chase their excitable Partners from Computer Club, leaving Daisuke and Takeru to carry out this rescue mission by themselves.

In the dub, there is no email alert noise. There is, however, this ongoing AOL dial-up noise that starts playing and continues through the scene. Which is kind of like an email alert, I guess.

Yolei: Huh!? Hey, guys! It's an email from Kari! Davis: Huh!?

In addition to Yolei reading it out, the text onscreen is rewritten in English.

Yolei: It says, "Don't worry, I'm alright. And I'm sorry if any words are misspelled. Sincerely, Kari."

No words are misspelled so I didn't really get that joke.

T.K.: Yolei, I've got an idea! If I can find an area close to the one she's in, then I can reach her! (T.K. finds his destination) T.K.: Got it! I'll be back soon. Patamon: I'm going too! (T.K. and Patamon cross over) Yolei: What should we do? Davis: If he thinks I'm gonna stand by and let him be the hero, he can forget it! (Davis crosses over) Yolei: Haha what!? Then I'm going-- Cody: Yolei, wait a minute! Listen, it's almost dinner time right now. Somewhere between the green salad and the green gelatin, their families are going to wonder where they are! We have to tell Tai and the others! I think that's the best thing you and I can do to help Davis and T.K. right now. Yolei: Cody, I know you're just a kid but sometimes you have the wisdom of an old man of twenty! Upamon: Alright! What are we waiting for! Poromon: Let's go! (Upamon and Poromon go on their own) Cody: But wait! You can't just go out in public!

They had way too many lip flaps for what they needed Cody to say. XD

T.K. is a lot more reserved and in control of himself in this version. Takeru is clearly rushing off recklessly on an emotional impulse. He is, ironically, being the Courage boy right now.

The other side of the Gate opens into a vast stretch of desert. The boys make their way back to the machine city where they left Hikari.

Daisuke: (calmly) Hey, Takeru. Takeru: Yes? Daisuke: The sun's going down. You should head home. Takeru: I'm fine. My mom will be out late today. But won't your parents worry if you don't make it home, Daisuke-kun? Daisuke: It doesn't matter.

That's an ambiguous statement. It's not clear if Daisuke means his parents won't care that he's gone, or that he himself doesn't care if they worry. Given the earlier "Jun always badmouths me" incident, either Daisuke's family kinda sucks or Daisuke's a little shit. Either is honestly plausible.

Daisuke fishes a coin out of his pocket.

Daisuke: So, who's going to go rescue Hikari-chan. We'll decide with a coin toss.

Daisuke tosses the coin and claps his hand over it.

Daisuke: Tails, you go home. Heads, I go home. (Daisuke reveals Tails) Daisuke: Tails! (gloating) Looks like I'll be the one to save Hikari-chan--

With a shit-eating grin, Takeru snatches the coin from Daisuke's hand and inspects it himself. He clearly knows exactly what he's going to find.

Takeru: Both sides of this coin are Tails, right? They sell these at Kadoetsu. Daisuke: (embarrassed) Y-You knew...? Takeru: (smiling) Let's go together. Daisuke: ...okay.

Takeru once outsmarted literal bullets. You're gonna have to get up a lot earlier in the morning to pull a fast one on him.

As the boys make their way into the city, their Partners briefly unpack what just happened.

Patamon: Why not do that from the start? This was stupid. V-mon: Don't say that. He was just trying to look cool....

Daisuke still feels like he has a lot to prove.

In the dub:

Davis: (bickering) This was a great idea! Crossing the desert without any water! T.K.: (bickering) Look, I didn't ask for your help! Davis: There's the city! T.K.: Looks like one of those things you shake and it starts snowing! Davis: I'll go get Kari! You wait here. T.K.: No, I'll get Kari. You wait here. (Davis fishes a coin out of his pocket) Davis: Alright, I'll tell you what. We'll flip for it. Winner goes, loser stays here. Since it's my coin, I get to call it. Tails! (Davis flips) Davis: Okay, if it's Tails, I rescue Kari. If it's Heads, you get to go. (Davis reveals Tails) Davis: Tails! (gloating) I'll tell her that you were worried about her and that you-- (T.K. snatches the coin and inspects it) Davis: WAUGH!!! T.K.: Huh. A coin that has Tails on both sides. That's how I used to beat Matt. Davis: H-How about that.... T.K.: Let's both go. Davis: ...okay, T.M. Did you really use one of those coins on Matt? T.K.: Yeah, that's how I got all my baseball cards and his old guitar. Patamon: T.K. and Davis sure argue a lot. How come? Veemon: Something about Kari. Human girls make human boys act sorta weird.

Let's start with the good. Takeru recognizes the trick coin from seeing it in a store, but T.K. has a more personal anecdote about it that adds a bit of depth to his relationship with his brother. This is good, especially with the way Davis and T.K. use added dialogue to bond over it.

Now for what I don't like. I don't like that they're playing Daisuke's one-sided rivalry with Takeru as a more traditional Love Triangle, with both boys aggressively locking horns with each other. The first anime dub papered over a lot of Takeru's growth, strength, and developing maturity and this scene continues that trend.

This is a strong moment for Takeru. It's the first time he's been alone with Daisuke. He wastes little time cutting through Daisuke's childish obstinance and jealousy, and bringing him around on-task. Takeru takes Daisuke by the shoulder and lifts him up to Takeru's level, while the dub drags T.K. down to Davis's level.

Meanwhile, in the city, things are already going south for Hikari.

Guardromon: INTRUDER. INTRUDER.

Hikari flies through the sky on Nefertimon's back, fleeing enemy Guardromon. One Guardromon pops out ahead of her, firing Destruction Grenades her way.

Nefertimon: NILE JEWELRY!!!

Nefertimon returns fire, blasting the enemy projectiles out of the air and giving her cover to sweep past.

Nefertimon: Where the hell is that TV!? Hikari: There really aren't any left in this area. We have to find a way out of here!

In the dub:

Guardromon: INTRUDER. INTRUDER. (Guardromon up ahead fires) Nefertimon: ROSETTA STONE!!! (Nefertimon parries the attack and sweeps past) Nefertimon: Kari, there aren't any TVs left in this area. Kari: We'll have to go to another area to find one. Nefertimon: But we don't even know which direction to travel.

I mean. If the destination is "somewhere else" then any direction is good, really.

As with Takeru's more neutral decision to return, the words are the same but the emotion is lost. Kari and Nefertimon don't sound pressured as heavily by their situation; Instead, they calmly explain their predicament to each other for the audience's benefit.

Unfortunately, it quickly becomes clear why Hikari can't lose her tail: From his control room, the Digimon Kaiser has eyes on her. In fact, he has a frankly ludicrous number of monitors dedicated to differently angled closeups of her face. That's weird. You're weird, Digimon Kaiser.

Kaiser: Huhuhu.... Wormmon: Ken-chan, shouldn't you be getting home?

More and more, Wormmon's starting to get a response from the Kaiser. He turns his head away from the screens to glare at Wormmon for a second before responding.

Kaiser: HAVEN'T I TOLD YOU NOT TO CALL ME THAT!?!? Wormmon: (cowers) ACK!!! I'M SORRY!!!

Wormmon tenses up as if bracing to be struck. But when no strike comes, he opens his eyes and looks back up at the Kaiser. The Kaiser's focus is back on the screen, and he summons his holographic control panel.

Kaiser: Here's a fun idea. Let's test out this one.

He presses a key, causing Digital World coding to appear on the monitor.

Wormmon: (gasp) That code is... Perfect stage!? Kaiser: Huhuhuhuhuhu....

We've never seen the Kaiser control a Perfect Digimon before. We don't know if he can do it. He might not know either, given that he describes this as a test.

In the dub:

Emperor: Hahahahahahaha! Wormmon: It's almost your dinner time. Shouldn't you be going home soon, Ken? Emperor: .... (beat) Emperor: NEVER CALL ME ANYTHING BUT MASTER!!! Wormmon: (wordlessly cowers) Nrrrrrrgh.... Emperor: Since she's ~all alone~, she deserves someone ~special.

The Emperor manages to make that sound even creepier than the many closeup monitors already were. On purpose, I'm sure. He knows what he's doing.

(Kaiser activates the new minion) Wormmon: Oh no, you can't! Anyone but him! Emperor: Huhuhuhuhu....

Wormmon addressing the Emperor as Ken seems out-of-place here. Depending on how you look at it, this can either be better or worse for the dub.

On the one hand, we lose the consistent character trait of Wormmon calling him Ken-chan since day one, which the Kaiser finally reacts to. It's never come up before because Wormmon, until recently, has been beneath the Kaiser's notice.

Dub Wormmon accidentally slipping up here and provoking this reaction retroactively justifies the decision to avoid using Ken-chan for the past six episodes. For him, the Emperor has been "Ken" to him all this time. However, as a learned behavior, he knew better than to say it out loud.

Both of these interpretations of his character work really well for Wormmon's relationship to the Kaiser/Emperor and to Ken.

What we lose here is the specific threat that, for the first time, a Perfect-stage Digimon is about to go Hikari Hunting. We don't know how the Armor Digimon will measure up to that! This could be really bad!

Instead we just get... "him". Not "him"! How will Kari ever be able to defend herself against "him"!

Back in the human world, Iori uses a pay phone outside of the Inoue family convenience store. Giving us a good shot of the store's name, too.

The store is called アイマート Aimaato or "I-Mart", presumably for the family name Inoue. The banner underneath reads 愛と純真のお店 Ai to Junshin no Omise or "The Shop of Love and Purity".

Well, now we know how Miyako's Digimentals were assigned. Somebody was shopping around Odaiba for new Chosen Children, saw that banner, and. Like. Who could possibly pass up the chance to do something really funny with that?

Iori: Ah, is this Yagami-san? Good evening, this is Hida Iori.

Inside, Miyako's loading up a grocery bag while her unnamed father works the counter.

Dad: Miyako, when one of your siblings gets back, can you ask them to watch the counter? Miyako: Okay, got it.

Cut to the Yagami home. Iori's explaining everything to Taichi over the phone.

Iori: So that's what's happening. Taichi: I see... Hikari is.... No, you don't have to apologize, Iori. I got it. Bye.

As he hangs up, his mother Yuuko turns around from the kitchen to find out what that was about.

Taichi: (big fake smile) Apparently Hikari's hanging out a friend's house. I'll go pick her up.

I'm a bit more forgiving of Taichi lying to his mom here than I was in Our War Game. That unnecessary lie concerned a global catastrophe that nearly resulted in Odaiba getting nuked, so there was a clear and obvious reason why Taichi and Koushiro needed to be doing Digimon Shit. They were the only people who could stop Diablomon from eating the entire global infrastructure.

She might be less understanding of "Yeah, Hikari went back to the Digital World to get shot at with robot bullets because some guy's causing trouble to some people far away, in a way that doesn't affect us at all." This is not an end-of-the-world crisis and so I think for most parents, it would easily set off their "Okay but not my children" reflex.

To a concerned parent, Digimon Kaiser sure does sound like the Digimon's problem. You have school in the morning, young lady, and I don't want you attending that school with your face exploded.

In the dub:

Cody: Hello? Can I speak to Tai, please? ...no, I'm not selling anything!

Yeah, that's about right. The only reason this American stock gag has aged poorly is that in the modern day, Tai's mom wouldn't have answered for an unknown caller at all.

Yolei's Dad: (sternly) You know, Yolei. With all the snacks and drinks you take to give your friends, it's a wonder this store shows any profit at all! Yolei: Put it on my tab, Daddy!

Yolei's dad nags at her about the financial impact she's having on their business. This seems unreasonable since it was previously established that she works off everything she takes.

It's Miyako who's the primary cause of the store's shrinkage. Yolei's family is just... aggressively capitalist. They employ a 12-year-old child laborer and pay her in merchandise, then complain that she takes too much compensation.

They better not cut her pay. Yolei's learning about the power of collective action against fascism in her extracurriculars at school right now. She might transfer some of that and unionize her siblings.

Cody: So that's where Kari is now, Tai. Tai: Okay, Cody. Thanks for letting me know. Don't worry about it. I'll take care of everything. (Tai hangs up) Tai: Kari's at a friend's house doing a science project on gravity and they need to see how long I can stand on my head. See ya!

Tai opts for the "excuse so bewildering that he'll be out the door before his mom's finished processing how little sense that makes" approach. XD

Once out the door, Taichi and Yamato meet up outside.

Yamato: Taichi, did you hear from Iori? Taichi: Yeah. We need to get down there fast. But first, we should tell Daisuke's parents something. Yamato: Got it. Let me take care of that. You hurry up and go find Hikari-chan. Taichi: Got it! I'll leave this to you, then!

Taichi turns and sprints off for Odaiba Elementary, leaving Yamato to figure out what he's going to--

Yamato: (startled) I was supposed to make dinner for Dad today! (casually) Eh, oh well.

Fuck Hiroaki, I guess. XD He can starve.

Back at I-Mart, Miyako takes her grocery bag of loot and meets back up with Iori outside.

Iori: I called home and said I'd be a little late. What about you, Miyako-san? Miyako: Well, I think my dad asked me to do something but who cares. Let's go!

So much parental respect happening tonight. XD Kids.

In the dub:

Matt: (casually) Hey Tai, I heard what happened. So, are you going to go? Tai: Yeah, in a few minutes. But first, I have to make a stop by Davis's apartment. I have to make up a story to tell his family that he's going to be a little late tonight. Matt: Ehhhh, don't worry about that. I can take care of it! You go on and get to Kari. Tai: Right! Thanks, Matt! (Tai runs off) Matt: (startled) Oh, I forgot! I left Mimi on hold when she called from New York! HER PHONE BILL!!!

...Matt broaches this subject like the rumor mill's been talking about Kari, and clearly indicates that he's not coming and is just wasting Tai's time for small talk.

The only reason Yamato isn't coming too is because they needed to split tasks and it makes more sense for Taichi to go rescue his little sister.

Matt further indicates that he had no intention of coming and was just stepping out to talk to Tai by indicating that he's actually in the middle of a phone call with Mimi right now. Fortunately, Dub Mimi is fabulously wealthy so I think her phone bill will be fine.

Cody: I told my mom we were working on a rescue project. She said she's glad we're helping stray cats in the neighborhood. Yolei: Yeah, my dad was just glad that I left without filling up another bag!

And the censors are probably glad that Matt and Yolei aren't encouraging children to talk back to their parents. I bet that's what's going on here.

Back in the Digital World, Takeru and Daisuke take cover atop a dune to scout the front entrance to the machine city.

Takeru: That seems like the entrance, but....

A single Guardromon is keeping watch outside the door.

Daisuke: We'll have to defeat that one if we want to break in. Takeru: We need to finish it in the first shot; This will get a lot harder if they call for backup. V-mon: Alright, Daisuke! Daisuke: Yeah! Patamon: Wait! Takeru, this area doesn't have a Dark Tower, right? Takeru: Yeah, there's just the one inside that dome. Patamon: Then that means.... Takeru: You're right! We don't need Armor Evolution! Daisuke & V-mon: Huh? Takeru: Let's try it! Patamon: Yeah!

Daisuke has no idea what Takeru means but he's about to see some shit.

In the dub:

Davis: There's just one guard at the door! T.K.: We're gonna have to take him out in the first attack. Otherwise, he'll call for reinforcements. Davis: Not a problem. Veemon and I can handle that metalhead. Veemon, are you ready? Veemon: Yeah, let's do it! Davis: DIGI-ARMOR-- Patamon: Wait a minute! I'll do it. There aren't any Control Spires in this area, right? T.K.: Well, just the one inside the dome. Patamon: But we're outside. T.K.: Yeah! That's right! That means you can Digivolve! Davis & Veemon: Huh? T.K.: Then go for it. Patamon: Alright!

Solid. I like that they have Davis get partway through the Armor incantation when Patamon interrupts him. That's neat.

Foregoing his Digimentals, Takeru and Patamon do this old-school. Patamon SHINKAAAAAA!!!

To the sound of Show Me Your Brave Heart, Angemon appears in a humongous pillar of holy light that definitely should have given their position away and put the machine city on alert. But I guess the Kaiser is too busy ogling Hikari from many angles.

Takeru: YES!!! You can use your normal evolution!

Daisuke's jaw practically hits the sand at the sight of Takeru's Adult Partner.

Daisuke: Eh... Angemon...!?

Takeru and Angemon reply only with mirrored satisfied smiles.

In the dub:

T.K.: Angemon! I haven't seen you in a while! Davis: Ehhhh!? An... Angemon...!? Veemon: ...hi there, big guy....

They have T.K. call out Angemon by name so it flows better when Davis says it. Daisuke probably just heard Angemon say his name during the transformation sequence but it's never really clear how diegetic those are supposed to be.

It's go time. Angemon takes off across the sand, sailing for the Guardromon.

Guardromon: Suspicious person approaching--

Angemon tosses his Holy Rod, nailing Guardromon right in the Evil Ring around their valve and breaking it off.

Angemon: Now! Hurry!

Daisuke, Takeru, and V-mon sprint across the sand to join Angemon at the front door. Angemon punches through the latch, opening the door and letting them inside. However, once they enter, the power of the Dark Tower regresses Angemon back into Patamon.

Patamon: Takeru, it doesn't work after all. I'm back to normal. Takeru: It was worth a try.

I'm honestly not sure why it doesn't work. It's been well-established that the Dark Towers suppress evolving but evolved Digimon retain their form when they enter the Tower's domain. We saw Birdramon, Greymon, and Garurumon taking down Dark Towers as recently as the opening minutes of this episode.

Between this and Jou's episode, the mechanics of the Dark Towers seem wildly inconsistent.

In the dub:

(Angemon flies towards Guardromon) Guardromon: INTRUDER. Angemon: ANGEL ROD!!! Guardromon: INTRU-- (struck) --DERRRRRRrrrrrrrr... (shuts down) Angemon: I nailed it. (The team breaks in, but Patamon regresses) Patamon: You know, those Control Spires really ruin my day. T.K.: You did great, Patamon.

Angemon calls his rod throw as an attack.

Again, this is really good. I love the effect on the Guardromon getting hit halfway through speaking and verbally breaking down.

Once inside, Daisuke has questions. Serious questions.

Daisuke: Just now, Angemon... Patamon can also evolve like Agumon? Takeru: Of course, as long as there isn't a Dark Tower around. Daisuke: Then that means... Hikari-chan's Tailmon also.... Patamon: She becomes Angewomon! Daisuke: Eh!? Angemon and Angewomon!? Patamon: Yeah! We're a perfect match, right, Takeru? Takeru: (noncommittal) Ehehehe....

Predictably, that remark from Patamon triggers Daisuke, who whirls around on V-mon.

Daisuke: V-MON!!! V-mon: Wha!? Daisuke: Then you need to become UltraAngemon! V-mon: Ehhhhhhhh!?

Daisuke picks up V-mon and shakes him.

Daisuke: Do it! You have to do it! DO IT WITH ALL OF YOUR WILL!!! V-mon: Y-You're out of your mind!

Watching Daisuke melt down like this, Takeru admonishes Patamon for what he said.

Takeru: (to Patamon) Don't tease him like that! Patamon: (shit-eating grin) Ehehehehehe!

Patamon regrets nothing. Poor Takeru. This is not productive.

Though it's certainly clear by this moment that it isn't just Hikari; Takeru and Patamon have also picked up on the source of Daisuke's hostility towards Takeru. Daisuke is extremely obvious about his unrequited crush and everybody knows.

In the dub:

Davis: So, besides Armor Digivolving, Patamon can Digivolve to Angemon? What about Gatomon? T.K.: Well, she can Digivolve to Angewomon. Davis: You're kidding me! Angemon and Angewomon!? Patamon: That's right! We make a great team. Davis: One question: Is there an AngeBabymon too? Patamon: (to T.K.) Sometimes he says the weirdest things. T.K.: Ahahahaha. Davis: RRRRRRRGH!!! VEEMON!!! Veemon: Huh? Davis: Tell me right now if you can Digivolve into AngeSomething too! Veemon: Uhhhhhhhh... (Davis picks up Veemon and shakes him) Davis: AngeDinosaurmon! AngeSoccerPlayermon! Veemon: I just don't have it in me! T.K.: (to Patamon) He's still got a lot to learn. Patamon: Ahaha!

So here we have the opposite problem from the desert scene earlier, when T.K. was being dragged through Davis's muck. They speed through the Gatomon part early so they can skip right to having fun at Davis's expense. In the process, they also remove the part where Patamon deliberately provokes him and sets him off.

Davis loses it of his own accord while T.K. and Patamon privately chitchat about how weird and childish he is.

At the Motomiya home, Jun answers the door for Yamato.

Yamato: So you see, Daisuke-kun is still playing over at my little brother's place. Jun: ^_^ Ehehehehe.... Yamato: What? Jun: You're lying, huh? Yamato: O_O Jun: Your lies are painted on your face, Yamato-kun. Yamato: O_O (frozen) Jun: It's fine, I'll relay your message. And in exchange, you'll take me on a date, okay? (Jun goes back inside) Yamato: D...date...!?

Dub's over there dunking on Davis but I need to point out that this is way worse than anything Daisuke's ever done. Jun is extorting Yamato into going out.

We made a terrible mistake. Should have sent Taichi. He bullshits seamlessly and he's undesirable so this would have gone much smoother.

In the dub:

Matt: So anyway, Davis is over at my brother's house and so he probably won't be home until a little later on. Jun: ^_^ Ehehehehe.... Matt: What? Jun: You're lying. Matt: O_O Jun: I can tell when people are lying 'cause they usually start blinking a lot. Matt: O_O Wha--but--ahaha-- Jun: I promise not to tell my parents you were lying if you promise to go out on a date with me. Okay? See you Friday at eight. (Jun goes back inside) Matt: ...how did that happen!?

Dub Jun's more proactive than her Japanese counterpart and sets an exact time for Matt to pick her up, while the original leaves it up to him to figure out the details.

Over at the school, Miyako's holding down the fort with Upamon and Poromon. She and the Digimon are munching on the snacks she brought from I-Mart.

Poromon's sucking down some ChuChu Jelly, but he's still unhappy about last episode.

Poromon: This is not kanpyoumaki! Miyako: Don't be picky.

Poor Poromon.

Iori returns, having gone to meet Taichi outside and smuggle him in.

Iori: Yagami-san is here. Taichi: Sorry to keep you waiting.

Cut to the Digimon Kaiser's Control Room, where an awfully familiar silhouette appears onscreen. The Perfect Digimon he's taking for a test drive.

Andromon: Did you call for me, Digimon Kaiser-sama?

And that is an ominous spot to take a commercial break!

In the dub:

Poromon: How come he gets more candy than I do!? Yolei: Stop complaining; There's plenty more. (Cody arrives with Tai) Cody: I brought some reinforcements! Tai: Let's get to work! (Meanwhile, in the Emperor's command center) Andromon: You summoned me, Your Highness? Wormmon: Please hold for the Digimon Emperor. Line 1 for you, sir.

I'm not sure why they didn't let Poromon still be upset about his sushi. That did happen last episode. Maybe they figured kids wouldn't remember well enough to get the reference.

The dub also takes its second commercial break here. It's a good spot for it.

We come straight back from commercial to a dual Armor Evolution sequence.

Daisuke & Takeru: DIGIMENTAL UP!!!

Fladramon: KNUCKLE FIRE!!!

While Takeru and Pegasmon soar above the Guardromon units with ease, Fladramon is forced to blaze open a path for Daisuke on foot. His Fire Knuckle neutralizes the Evil Rings on two Guardromon units, who he clears with a leap.

Fladramon: DAISUKE, HURRY!!! Daisuke: (panting) Easy for you to say!

Come on, Daisuke! Put those soccer legs to work! You know how much long-distance sprinting we had to do back on Server Continent? BACK IN MAH DAY--

For his part, Takeru uses his Digivice to track Hikari's.

Takeru: She's close!

In the dub:

Flamedramon: FIRE ROCKET!!! (Flamedramon takes out two Guardromon and hurdles them) Flamedramon: DAVIS, OVER HERE!!! Davis: I can't jump as high as you can! (T.K. follows his Digivice) T.K.: I'm getting Kari's signal! We're close!

Solid.

This whole city sprint thing isn't workout out for Daisuke and Fladramon, so they decide to try something new.

Fladramon picks up Daisuke with his left arm.

Fladramon: Hang on tight. Daisuke: Yeah!

With Daisuke very loosely secured, Fladramon bounds to the roof of a building, then hops through the city.

Daisuke: (quietly) Ahhhhhhhh! ...huh?

At the height of Fladramon's jump, Daisuke briefly spots Nefertimon flying through a nearby street.

Daisuke: There! It's Hikari-chan!

And not a moment too soon. A glancing shot from a Destruction Grenade knocks Nefertimon out of the air, sending her and Hikari tumbling into the street below. They land hard, throwing Hikari from the force of impact before Tailmon's stamina well bottoms out and she loses her form.

In the dub:

Flamedramon: You ready to jump a little higher? Davis: (reluctant) Well.... (Flamedramon jumps) Davis: --WAUGH!!! (Flamedramon bounds above the city) Davis: AHHHHHHHHHHH--huh? (Davis spots Nefertimon) Kari: Boy, am I glad to see you! Guardromon: GRENADE DESTROYER!!! (Guardromon shoot Kari down. Gatomon loses form) Guardromon: INTRUDER. DESTROY. Gatomon: (hiss)

XD Davis having second thoughts got me.

For some reason, they have Kari notice Davis too, despite facing the opposite direction far below him. This doesn't affect anything, though. It's a harmless change. Just odd.

Despite their crash landing, Hikari and Tailmon still manage to pick themselves up as best they can with what little strength they have. They grit their teeth and face down the enemy's advance.

Pegasmon: SILVER BLAZE!!! Fladramon: KNUCKLE FIRE!!!

That's a new one from Pegasmon. Silver Blaze is a triangular beam he fires from a triangle mark on his helmet. Fladramon's using an oldie but a goodie, but he goes far enough to punch his Knuckle Fire directly into Guardromon's Evil Ring himself.

Hikari: Daisuke-kun! Takeru-kun! You came back for me! Daisuke: Hehe, did you hear that, Takeru? She said 'Daisuke-kun' first! Takeru: ^_^;; Good for you.

Takeru's line here is a little ambiguous. His face is all smiles but his delivery is strained and quiet. Is Takeru a little exasperated by Daisuke's Daisuke-ness that's been on full display all episode, or is he actually jealous about that? You decide.

While Daisuke hurries on ahead, Takeru spots a flanking Guardromon coming down a side alley. He peels off to take care of that.

Pegasmon: NEEDLE RAIN!!!

While Takeru and Pegasmon are dealing with that, Daisuke and Fladramon get Hikari on her feet.

Daisuke: Come on, Hikari-chan! Hurry!

In the dub:

Pegasusmon: EQUUS BEAM!!! Flamedramon: FIRE ROCKET!!! (Pegasusmon and Flamedramon neutralize the enemy) Kari: Hey, Davis! T.K.! You guys are my heroes! Davis: Actually, it was mostly my idea but I decided to bring T.K. along for the ride! T.K.: Whatever! ...huh!? (T.K. peels off to deal with that flanking Guardromon) Pegasusmon: STAR SHOWER!!! (Pegasusmon takes out the enemy while Davis gets Kari on her feet) Davis: Come on, Kari, we'd better get going!

I don't think we're meant to take Davis's line here as him literally trying to take all the credit. Since the animation has him looking up at T.K. as he says it, it comes off more as a playful ribbing to T.K., conveying that they may be getting along better.

Ironically, as the lyrics to Break Up end on "It's time to go!", Daisuke and Hikari find their path blocked. Andromon steps out into the road ahead of them. An Evil Ring is fixed around his neck, though it blends in pretty well with his color palette.

Daisuke: It's a different one this time! Hikari: (excited) Andromon!

For his third rundown in two series, Andromon is a Perfect-stage Vaccine-attribute Cyborg Digimon. The Chosen Children minus Hikari first met him on File Island, in ironically similar situations to where they are now. Then, he was in charge of a machine factory but he was under the control of Devimon's Black Gear.

They met him again, with Hikari, on Spiral Mountain. Andromon was leading a solo resistance against the Metal Empire. He ended up signing on with Taichi's team to see things through to the end.

And now here he is, fixed with an Evil Ring around his neck. It seems that it's Andromon's curse to always be wherever evil seeks to dominate the machines of the Digital World.

Narrator: Andromon! An experimental Perfect-stage cyborg Digimon. They use their arms to fire their special attack, Spiral Sword!

Pretty sparse rundown. I guess the narrator's getting bored of having to go back and talk about this guy again.

As the rundown ends, Hikari's excitement evaporates. She sees the Evil Ring around Andromon's neck.

Hikari: (gasp) ...Andromon.... Andromon: On order of the Kaiser-sama: The Chosen Children must be eliminated. Hikari: STOP IT, ANDROMON!!! Don't you recognize us!? Daisuke: What are you talking about, Hikari-chan!? Fladramon, clear the path! Fladramon: On it. FIRE ROCKET!!!

We don't know how Armor Digimon measure up to Perfect but we are about to find out. Fladramon takes to the air, using the actual Fire Rocket that the dub's been misusing the name of. Wreathing his body in flames, he shoots down towards Andromon.

Andromon: SPIRAL SWORD!!!

Fladramon goes down in one shot. Spiral Sword breaks through Fire Rocket and slams into Fladramon's face with so much force that it breaks his Armor form. The Digimental of Courage returns to Daisuke while V-mon plummets helplessly into the street below, landing on the back of his head.

Daisuke: V-MON!!! (Daisuke runs to V-mon) Daisuke: Hey, hang in there! V-mon: (pained) I've never seen such a powerful attack before....

Indeed, he has not.

In the dub:

Davis: Why can't these guys ever be small!? Kari: (excited gasp) ANDROMON!!! Andromon: (rundown) I am Andromon! I have one mission: Seek out my enemy and destroy him with my Lightning Blade. Kari: Huh!? He's got a Dark Ring! Andromon...? Andromon: I am programmed to destroy the enemy. You are the enemy. I will destroy you. Kari: Andromon, don't you remember us? We're your friends! Davis: Kari, you're hanging around with the wrong people. Flamedramon, you'll have to use all your power! Flamedramon: You got it! FLAMING FIST!!! Andromon: LIGHTNING BLADE!!! (Andromon knocks Veemon out of form) Davis: Whah!? (Davis runs to Veemon) Davis: Veemon, speak to me! Veemon: (pained) You're kneeling on my tail....

Knuckle Fire is Fire Rocket while Fire Rocket is Flaming Fist. That makes sense.

I like that Kari's transition from exuberance to dismay seems to have been prompted by Andromon's diegetic rundown. Like hearing him say that was her first clue that something's wrong. Since characters are explaining the rundowns in-universe, it's fun when other characters react to them.

I think "You'll have to use all your power" is supposed to explain why Veemon lost his Armor form after being his attack was deflected. In the original, Andromon just hit him that hard. Fladramon ran face-first into the brick wall of Evolutionary Power Levels.

This is the File Island factory all over again, with Andromon manhandling Greymon and Garurumon simultaneously while the Children watch with WTF printed on their faces.

Like before, when they were dialed back the exhaustion factor, the dub uses that line to tone down how hard Veemon was hit here. They also scrub Veemon's line explaining how powerful Andromon's attack was, swapping it for a laugh line with alternative explanation for why Veemon is in physical pain.

Startled by what just happened, Pegasmon drops off Takeru. Takeru breaks for Daisuke and V-mon while Pegasmon engages the enemy.

Pegasmon: SHOOTING STAR!!!

Pegasmon's wings open to unveil the cosmos, and he launches a set of star-shaped projectiles from them. Very cool, but also kind of a spray-and-pray. Only one star actually reaches Andromon, who effortlessly blocks it with one arm.

Andromon: SPIRAL SWORD!!!

Pegasmon won't be defeated so easily as Fladramon. He flits down and to the side, evading Andromon's attack and--

Pegasmon: GACK!!!

The arcing blade curves around in midair and strikes him in the back. Pegasmon is defeated as easily as Fladramon. We don't see the moment of impact, but the Digimental of Hope returns to Takeru's pocket while Patamon falls helplessly into Takeru's arms.

Patamon: (defeated) I knew Perfect-stage would be too strong.... Daisuke: Perfect-stage!? The hell is that!?

Daisuke doesn't get an answer because Hikari chooses now to roll a Charisma check instead.

Hikari: Andromon, have you forgotten that we fought together? Takeru: Hikari-chan, we don't even know if this is the same Andromon from back then! Hikari: I know they are. Takeru: Even so, they're being controlled by that Ring. Your voice won't reach them. Hikari: You're wrong!

Hikari's pinning a lot of trust on an avenue that has, up to this point, shown no sign that it could work and every sign that it would not. But she wouldn't be queen of the Numemon or have found her Tailmon partner if she made cynical choices.

In the dub:

Pegasusmon: STAR SHOWER!!! (Andromon blocks) Andromon: LIGHTNING BLADE!!! (Lightning Blade KOs Pegasmon) Patamon: (delirious) I'll have two cheeseburgers and a large order of fries.... Davis: That didn't work, so what now!? Kari: Andromon, don't you remember how we fought together? Side by side? T.K.: Kari, we have to get out of here! We don't even know if it's the same Andromon! Kari: I'm sure that it's him! T.K.: Yeah, but even if it is, he's under the control of the Digimon Emperor. He can't even hear your voice! Kari: You don't know that!

Patamon gets the opposite treatment as Veemon, being knocked loopy in cartoon fashion. If they could edit little flying pigs circling his head, they probably would.

This, for the third time, serves to scrub out all mention of "HIM" being in a different weight class from all the Digimon we've seen so far in 02. The dub seems determined to avoid that topic, leaving it unclear why he's tearing through our boys so effortlessly.

Before Takeru and Hikari can argue any further, Daisuke gets in the middle of it.

Daisuke: What are you doing!? We have to run!

As he approaches, Andromon's scanner notices the goggles on Daisuke's head. His database pulls up an image of Taichi to compare. It concludes "SAME ITEM". Andromon suddenly stops, hesitating to go any further.

Tailmon: NOW!!!

Patamon, Veemon, and Tailmon lunge for Andromon together. He makes no attempt to defend himself. The moment before they reach him, a red beam from the sky strikes him in the chest, knocking him off his feet. The other Digimon pile on top of him, helping gravity to bring him down.

Veemon & Patamon: WE GOT HIM!!! Tailmon: That beam just now....

Only Tailmon was paying attention. She looks to the sky to find the source of that shot: Horusmon flying in to the rescue.

Horusmon: FLAPPING LOVE, HORUSMON!!! Digmon: TADAAAAAAA!!!

Digmon erupts from the earth nearby.

Digmon: With full belly and full power, it's Digmon-sama dagyaa! Here we go! GOLD RUSH!!!

Full of arrogance, Digmon fires off all drills. While Andromon stands up, Digmon's drills bounce so harmlessly off Andromon's metal hide that he doesn't even flinch.

Digmon: Gyehhhh... No effect at all!

Andromon's power ruined Digmon's cool entrance. XD This is karma for the kanpyoumaki.

In the dub:

Davis: As much as I like you two arguing, he's heading right for us! (Andromon notices Davis's goggles and hesitates) Gatomon: LET'S GO!!! (Halsemon's shot and the Digimon's tackle knocks Andromon off his feet) Veemon & Patamon: Yeah! Gatomon: Here comes help now! Halsemon: (soaring in) I'm glad we're not too late. Digmon: Hi, guys! I thought since I was here, I'd build this city a subway system! Hold still, you pile of scrap metal! GOLD RUSH!!! (No effect) Digmon: Hey, that comment about scrap metal was just a joke!

Digmon is too busy quipping for the tragic showmanship of his Japanese counterpart.

Taichi and Iori come running up the street.

Taichi: HIKARI!!! ARE YOU OKAY!?!? Hikari: Onii-chan, it's Andromon!

On Taichi's approach, Andromon begins scanning him too.

Taichi: Andromon, it's me! It's Taichi! Andromon: (hesitant) ...Taichi....

His scanner pulls Taichi's image out of his databank once more and compares, before concluding "SAME HUMAN".

Suddenly, the Evil Ring around Andromon's neck activate blips. The sigils carved in it pulse red for a second, with an audible beeping sound, and the Ring crackles with electricity. Andromon cries out in pain and marches forward, swinging his arms.

Taichi scurries away from the attacking Andromon but Hikari stands her ground. He stops when he reaches her, staring her down, and Hikari stares him down right back.

Hikari: ... Andromon: ...

For the next ten seconds, Hikari and Andromon remain in a silent deadlock.

In the dub:

Tai: Kari! Are you okay! Kari: Yeah! But Tai, it's Andromon! (Andromon scans Tai) Tai: Andromon! Slow down! It's me, Tai! Andromon: Tai who? (Scanner matches Tai) Andromon: Oh, Tai! (Dark Ring activates and makes Andromon attack) Davis: KARI, LOOK OUT!!!

Thanks, Davis. Tai/chi rolled a 1 on his Onii-chan Save when he scurried away and left Hi/Kari right in the path of violence. But at least his kouhai Davis was watching out for her. From a safe distance.

The Crest of Courage!

(In seriousness, it's kind of amazing how we have three separate people ready and willing to throw themselves recklessly into danger to protect Hikari on-hand right at this moment. And yet, not one of them even tries to physically move her away from Andromon for this entire scene, with Taichi even leaving her behind when he flees Andromon's attack.

Hikari's putting off an impenetrable aura of "MY GODDAMN SCENE, ASSHOLES" that even Courage must yield to.)

Though they give Davis that one extra line, the dub lets those tense ten seconds of silence pass uninterrupted.

Andromon finally breaks the stalemate, grabbing Hikari by her shoulders and lifting her up.

Taichi: HIKARI!!! Tailmon: WAIT!!!

The second Hikari's feet leave the ground, everyone tries to jump in. Taichi, Daisuke, Takeru, and even Iori all move at once, surging towards Andromon. But Tailmon's warning cuts them off. She wants to let this play out.

With the gentle tones of the original OVA theme playing out, Hikari keeps staring into Andromon's eyes.

Hikari: Andromon? Andromon: ...Hikari...?

Andromon's scanner finds her image too.

Hikari: (teary-eyed) We took a picture together, didn't we?

A tear falls from Hikari's eye, landing on Andromon's face. In that moment, the rest of the image he's been drawing up appears around Taichi and Hikari. Though blurry and pixelized, it's unmistakably the vague impression of that photo they took on the Children's last day in the Digital World.

Andromon: A picture....

In the dub:

Boys: Huh!? Gatomon: Hey, you put her down now! Kari: Do you remember me? Andromon: I am... trying.... (Scanner matches Kari) Andromon: Yes! Kari: (teary-eyed) We all took a picture together Andromon: ...a picture....

The dub has Gatomon yell at Andromon instead of stopping the boys. This change disrupts the action of the scene. We see them rush for Andromon and then... nothing comes of it and we move right along to Kari's emotional moment.

What happened to the boys? Why aren't they trying to intervene, when we saw them doing that a second ago?

Andromon's close to breaking free, but he needs one more push. Hikari's Digivice falls from her pocket. Glowing with holy light, it hits his shoulder as it falls and breaks the dam.

Andromon: That's right... We all... took a commemorative photo....

Piece by piece, the photo in his memory fills in. Despite the Evil Ring, Andromon remembers.

Andromon: ...I've been under the control of this thing.

Now fully in control of his faculties again, Andromon reaches up and breaks off his own Evil Ring.

Hikari: (happy) Andromon! Andromon: (nods)

In the dub:

Andromon: Faces... long ago... DigiDestined... I love jigsaw puzzles... Now I see the complete picture! (Andromon returns to normal) Andromon: Kari! I'm sorry for the trouble I've caused. (Andromon breaks off his own Dark Ring) Kari: (happy) Andromon! Andromon: (nods) Mhm!

Every time I feel like there isn't enough dialogue for a section, we get a line like "I love jigsaw puzzles". Abridged Parody-ass line awkwardly undercutting the emotional moment with quipping.

Andromon is free, but the city isn't. He turns his fury on the Kaiser's obelisk.

Andromon: Dark Tower... How dare you do this to us!? GATLING MISSILE!!!

Once more demonstrating the difference between Perfect strength and our own, Andromon's Gatling Missile rips the Tower apart in a single shot. His missiles impact the center, not only snapping off the upper portion but knocking over the lower section from the force of impact. The Tower crumbles beneath Andromon's power as easily as Fladramon and Pegasmon did.

With the signal to their Evil Rings lost, all Guardromon units in the city shut down.

Hikari: Hey... Are the Guardromon going to stay broken like this? Isn't there a way to return them to normal? Andromon: They're fine. We just need to restore the programming that the Evil Ring altered. Then they'll revert to normal.

Andromon demonstrates, first punching off the now useless Evil Ring from a Guardromon, then reaching his cables inside to reconfigure the unit.

Andromon: And then we will never allow the Kaiser to have his way here again. We will protect this city.

Andromon finishes with this unit. The Guardromon springs back to consciousness, raising their fists in jubilation at being free.

In the dub:

Andromon: That Control Spire is responsible for all this. Well, no more! GATLING ATTACK!!! (Andromon easily annihilates the Dark Tower) Kari: Andromon, are all of these Guardromon going to stay broken forever? Andromon: No. Their programs were rewritten by the Digimon Emperor. They just need to be reprogrammed. Watch. (Andromon punches off a Dark Ring and reprograms a Guardromon) Andromon: Actually, once I reprogram the Guardromon, I'll stay here to protect them in case the Digimon Emperor returns. (Andromon finishes) Guardromon: I feel fresh as a daisy!

The dub takes its third commercial break here, with that proclamation.

Dub Andromon doesn't seem quite as outraged as his counterpart, but this is nonetheless pretty close to original.

The Chosen Children return to Computer Club, only to find an angry Koushiro waiting for them.

Miyako: Izumi-senpai!? What are you doing here!? Koushiro: Shh! be quiet!

Koushiro and Taichi escort the junior team out of the building. When they reach the gate, Taichi checks to make sure it's clear before they all emerge into the night.

Koushiro: (increasingly angry) Yamato-san told me what was happening. I checked the Gate Sensor on my computer, where I saw that the Gate was, in fact, still open! And if a teacher came in and shut off the power, WHAT WOULD ANY OF YOU HAVE DONE THEN!?!?

Been screwed. They would have been screwed. None of them have an answer, and they all look sheepish as they follow. Except Hikari, who is offscreen during this scolding because she didn't make the reckless choice send the full team in and hold no one back.

Taichi: Heeeeey, I think that's enough. Really, you just wanted to go too, huh? Koushiro: TAICHI-SAN!!!

That isn't technically a no, but no, I think Taichi missed the mark. I think Koushiro is mad for exactly the reason he's explaining here. This poor neurodivergent boy had to trespass in a dark computer room after-hours and babysit the computer for what might have been up to an hour or two. I'd be furious too.

In the dub:

Davis: Come on, guys! Let's go home! (Reality-crossing stock animation) Tai: Izzy, were you waiting this whole time!? (long pause) Izzy: Shh. Let's go.

There's an awkward silence where Miyako's supposed to speak, but one that makes sense. They forgot to animate lip flaps for Miyako during her line. I guess the dub decided not to have anyone speak when everyone's mouths are onscreen and nobody's lips are moving so that it doesn't look like an obvious mistake.

Instead, they move the line and have it spoken during the preceding shot, which is a closeup of Koushiro's angry face, freeing up other characters for dialogue.

This leaves a couple seconds of dead air where Miyako's line is supposed to go, in which nobody moves or says anything at all. Which is awkward but entirely the fault of the original scene for not animating Miyako's lip flaps.

Why they gave her line to Tai, however, I have no answer for.

Izzy: Matt just called and told me what had happened with Kari. And I'm really upset that you guys have left me out of the loop! Cody called Tai for help and Tai called Matt, but no one ever calls me until the adventure is all over with! Tai: Come on, Izzy. Don't be like that. There was just no time to call you. You know you're a big part of the team. Izzy: THAT'S RIGHT!!!

The dub takes Taichi's alternate explanation and runs with it. Izzy is furiously jealous to such an irrational extreme that he self-defeats his own argument.

Like. We have to briefly mention the fact that Tai did not call Matt. It's not clear how Matt found out but his conversation with Tai established two things: That Matt just sorta heard about this through the grapevine somehow but was under no expectation of participating, and that he did not hear it from Tai.

But setting that aside, Izzy makes three statements here:

1 - Matt called and told me. 2 - I've been excluded from the group. 3 - Because Cody called Tai and Tai called Matt but no one called me.

Um. Izzy, what the fuck are you on about? Sounds like you were the next person in the chain. If anyone's derelict in their communication duty, it's you for not passing it along to... Sora or Joe, I guess.

Incidentally, this alternate version of Izzy's anger makes the shot of the junior team looking embarrassed and ashamed super confusing. What are they ashamed of? They did nothing wrong here. Tai and Izzy are just... having a spat, I guess.

Suddenly, Koushiro remembers he had something else to talk to the team about.

[Pic]

Koushiro: Right. Earlier, I got an email from a friend of mine in America. I'd asked them to analyze the data from Miyako-kun's Digivice. The results are in. Taichi: A friend in America? Koushiro: They've helped me a lot in the past. Taichi: Ahh, I remember!

IT'S WILLIS

This feels like it's supposed to be a callback to Our War Game but, ironically, the only time an American friend was pivotal to the plot was in the dub. So far as I know, this American friend that Taichi also knows is never extrapolated on.

It can probably be assumed that they're part of Koushiro's hacking nakama from that OVA.

Koushiro: So, about Miyako-kun and the others' Digivices. (Each of them takes out their Digivices to look at them) Koushiro: It said, "Digital", "Detect", and "Discover". These words were found inscribed within the data. Because all three of them begin with the letter "D", we'll refer to them as D-3 going forward. We've also found some other interesting things, such as-- Chibimon: (stomach gurgle) I'm hungry, Daisuke! Daisuke: (stomach gurgle) Ah! (sheepish) Me too.... Taichi: Koushiro, we can talk about this tomorrow. We all desperately need to get home soon. It's way past dinner time! Group: AHHHHHHH!!!

The group disperses and runs for it. Every child for themselves!

In the dub, Izzy's still ranting about being excluded.

Izzy: And as a team member, I expect to be treated with the same respect I give to all of you! I may not be as strong as you or Matt, but I've gotten us out of just as many jams with my particular skills! Tai: (resigned) I'm sorry I didn't call you. Izzy: Now that's what I call respect. Okay, I forgive you. Tai: Wow, that was easy!

This fills the space where the discussion of Koushiro's mysterious American friend goes. Kind of a shame because we're about a month out from the release of Digimon: The Movie so this would have been a golden opportunity to shill Willis and whet the audience's appetite. XD

Izzy: Oh, I almost forgot the reason I came here. I examined the new Digivices-- (Everyone takes out their Digivice) Izzy: --and determined that they have three different settings: Digital, Detect, and Discover. Maybe we should call them D-3s from now on. Prodigious little devices, aren't they? I had a lot of help with the research from my friend Willis in America. Maybe you guys will meet him some day.

NEVER MIND, THERE IT IS

Good job, Dub Team. No marketer worth their salt would ever let a golden opportunity like this pass them up.

Izzy: Anyway, I think the D-3s might have sent a message to Andromon's memory banks which then made him--AUGH!!! DemiVeemon: Please finish talking after we eat! Davis: HUH!? Ugh, we forgot about dinner! Tai: That's right! Our parents are waiting for us! The food's probably cold and soggy by now. Of course, for my mom, that's an improvement. Let's go!

The curse of the missing sound effects strikes again. Nobody's stomachs rumble, which leaves Izzy suddenly reacting to nothing in particular. DemiVeemon's line at least flows into Davis's without the gurgle. There is a sound for him, but it's a wacky spring sound to signal his distressing realization.

Fortunately, they still managed to make Izzy shut up about whatever he's wrong about now. XD No, Izzy, the D-3s did not "send a message to Andromon's memory banks".

Meanwhile, poor Yamato is already home and desperately trying to finish that dinner he promised.

Hiroaki: You're awfully late today, Yamato. If I'd known, I could have gotten something while I was out. Yamato: It's fine. I'll get it made.

The nagging won't get it cooked any faster, Hiroaki. I'm starting to understand why you're divorced.

Hiroaki: Oh, did something happen? Yamato: (fuming, thinking) I have to go on a date! Daisuke, you owe me big for this one. (Smoke begins to rise from the pan while Yamato's not paying attention) Hiroaki: Hey, Yamato! Something's burning.... Yamato: (snaps out of it) Huh!? Oh, crap!

Never mind, Hiroaki. Nag away. You lose the high ground when you set the apartment on fire.

Across town, Ken's mother wheels Ken's dinner to his room on a fucking cart.

Mother: Ken-chan? I'm leaving your dinner here.

As if this is simply routine, she leaves the cart outside Ken's door and leaves.

Inside Ken's room, he's already returned from the Digital World. He sits in the dark, illuminated only by the glow of his monitor, and stews.

Ken: So then, to control them at Perfect-stage... Does this mean the Evil Ring is insufficient?

We leave the episode here, with Ken pondering the results of this recent trial run. I'm sure good things will come of this.

In the dub:

Hiroaki: Some girl named Jun called today, Matt, and she said you had a date with her on Friday. She wanted me to tell you that she made dinner reservations for you two at Morealis (???). Matt: Morealis? What's that? Hiroaki: The most expensive restaurant in town. Matt: (fuming, thinking) This is all Davis's fault. I can't believe I have to take his sister out on a date! Hiroaki: Hey Matt, something smells great! I'm getting hungry? Matt: (snaps out of it) Huh!? Uagh... dinner's ready!?

Dub Jun is incredibly proactive. Holy shit, she is milking this for all it's worth.

The dub leaves the audience to infer the state of dinner, based both on the massive amounts of smoke and Matt's horrified reaction. XD

Ken's Mother: Supper time! Ken, dear! You're busy. I'll leave it outside your door! (Ken's mom leaves the cart; Cut to interior) Ken: Blast, those Digivices are becoming a nuisance to me! I've gotta get them away from those kids! Narrator: What is the Digimon Emperor's plot against the DigiDestined? Find out next time on Digimon: Digital Monsters!

And we close the dub with one last scrubbing of all mention of Perfect-stage Digimon.

Implicitly agreeing with Izzy that the D-3 was responsible for the Andromon incident, Dub Ken schemes to strip the DigiDestined of their Digivices. That's not what's driving the plot forward though so we'll see if that gets followed up on or not.

Also, his mom is much more upbeat and positive about the cart thing. In contrast to Japanese Mama, she makes it sound like she's actually expecting Ken to come out at first.

Assessment: Okay. So. I need to go off about this.

The fun thing about the triangle dynamic between Daisuke, Takeru, and Hikari is that Takeru and Hikari have a close friendship but not one that is necessarily romantic. Though one that absolutely could be romantic, and the creators are not shy about teasing them as a ship. See above, re: Takeru's hand in shippy places in the back of that one shot.

But while certain other pairings absolutely do close off into canon coupling, Takeru and Hikari remain ambiguous, and that makes the dynamic with Daisuke so much more interesting. Daisuke is jealous of the close bond Takeru and Hikari have right from the start, but misdiagnoses it as Takeru and Hikari coupling up.

While we, the audience, know exactly what it is. Whether or not there are romantic feelings involved is irrelevant. What Daisuke's jealous of is Takeru and Hikari's bond of shared experiences that no one their age could possibly understand or relate to. They went to war together. They dangled from that rope over Piemon's observatory together.

Hikari is not interested in Daisuke romantically. But that disinterest is unrelated to whatever feelings she may or may not have for Takeru. Whether she does or doesn't, she doesn't need to have feelings for Takeru to not want to go out with Daisuke.

Daisuke declared Takeru to be his love rival on day 1, to Takeru's eternal confusion. Daisuke thinks this is a love triangle. But what's really going on here is that Daisuke is shadow-boxing Hikari and Takeru's fire-forged bond of mutual trauma. And losing.

This episode really emphasizes how much of a rookie Daisuke is. Both in terms of his understanding of Digimon metaphysics and also with the core dynamics of the Chosen Children nakama. He is very much The New Guy, a position he chafes at.

Nonetheless, despite spending a decent chunk of it on Takeru and Daisuke, this episode is about neither of them. It's about Hikari and, specifically, how much she means to the people in her life due to her strength of will and force of personality.

It's a combination of factors that make the Evil Ring break down.

Perfect-stage Digimon are too powerful to reliably be controlled.

Hikari weaponizing her relationship with Andromon to compel him to resist.

Hikari's intrinsic holy light, channeled through her Digivice, doing what it used to do to Black Gears.

All three of these factors together resulted in Andromon's unprecedented moment of willfully breaking free from the Kaiser's control device.

This was only possible because Andromon is Perfect, but this was Hikari's victory.

[lokh]

a while ago i asked how ur supposed to decide what level of hrt dosage is right for u when ur nb and the consensus appeared to be Vibes. i had assumed that this was entirely a mental and or emotional thing. i was wrong

[suosgirl]

your honor, I love him ♡

⋆.˚✮🎧✮˚.⋆

WIND BREAKER: Special Comic (Bonus from BD & DVD Vol.1) English Translation

[messangerforthestars]

“We need more morally gray characters” you guys can barely handle topaz and jade.

[eliashawthorne]

“huh.” elias thoughtfully replied, intrigued. “you know, i supposed that isn’t too far fetched.” it was nice to think that the a good deed could be the reason millions of lives were saved, without the consequences of something else drastically happening. he tried not to think about if one of the lives saved could be the reason something does happen, perhaps their evil outweighs what we are prepared to handle as a society, instead he focused on the positive outcome of it all. now he knew that with all this time travel talk, he was going to go down a rabbit hole the moment he got home later. he was determined to gather all the theories he could for their next encounter because now he wanted to ramble on about space and time travel with zarah. he nods at her question, “yes, that’s true.” he pauses, then smiles, “well, all in all, at the end of the day, i think the choice we make would be the best one. i don’t know about you, but i think we make a killer duo.”

much like zarah, elias could easily adapt to various topic changes in conversations. actually it was quite fun to him to have different conversations going on in the same one, as long as it wasn’t too confusing. this was not confusing, it was fun. the idea of someone actually patrolling the worlds largest rubber band ball was amusing, unlikely, but he could see how even that might need protecting. “if you’re stealing the worlds largest rubber band ball and you manage to get away with that…i am both impressed and curious as to what the intentions are with said rubber band ball. maybe they would want to roll it off the grand canyon and see if it bounces up and how high it would bounce.” now he was just being a bit silly, but it was ideas like that that called for protection at even the most isolated of place like road side attractions. it was a shame, really. “i never really understood that, not being able to leave well enough alone. isn’t it enough to know you were there and simply take in the beauty?” as they continued on with their conversation and it turned to their road trip he got more excited at the idea. he smiles when zarah encourages his book savings idea, but nods at the auto draft option. “i will do both. get the book and begin auto drafting. that way if one fails, at least the other is in full effect.” though he wasn’t sure how auto drafting would fail, but he guesses there is a first time for everything and that would be no exception. “you know what? i’m going to invest in an adventure scrap book for our journey too.”

you were basically a parent, when owning a pet. luckily the only schedule that mochi was on was feeding times. he chose cat over a dog at the moment because he liked how independent they could be, and he did not have the time to properly give a pup. he understood that she couldn’t just get up and leave (as much fun as it sounded like) because he was in a similar boat. but there were times, like tonight, in which he simply had to trust mochi was going to be okay without him. he felt like the cat had already known something was on the horizon anyway, as he was also a firm believer that animals had a strong sixth sense. “i would be surprised if he wasn’t being a loaf on my bed or burrowed under blankets. but yes, once I get back home, i will be giving mochi extra love and affection to make up for my absence during the fireworks show.” when he hears her answer to his question it pulls a lighthearted chuckle from his lips, shaking his head before replying, “not even a little bit. i was just wondering if you wanted to watch them together.” then he thinks of something, not wanting her to feel like he has alternative motives, he ends up also adding, “we don’t have to kiss at the count down, just to throw that out there.”

“I feel like most modern science fiction and theory leans heavily into the whole altering one event altering all of history but there are some where that isn’t the case,” she could admit. She’d read a book series once that had time traveling didn’t ultimately change anything even though the protagonist had definitely taken some liberties by bringing modern medicine and technology. Ultimately, time travel went both ways and everything sort of ended up happening the way it had in history. “Every action has a reaction and at the end of the day I think everyone had to decide if the consequence is worth whatever it is they do whether that be in the day to day or in their hypothetical time travel experience. I think the potential of saving millions of lives would have to be deemed worth consideration.” Though at the end of the day, she didn’t suppose anyone could predict whether the lives saved would lean toward doing good in the world or bring additional chaos that they couldn’t have begun to prepare for. “At the end of the day, it’s a choice. Isn’t everything in the world a choice though?”

Zarah could easily go from talking about one thing to another. Truth be told, given the opportunity she could probably talk to a leaf about a tree for hours on end. If there was someone willing to talk, she was willing to listen and join in on the conversation. It was definitely enough to keep her mind stimulated. “Security seems like such overkill,” she wanted to say though she knew that the world they lived in merited it. Just because most people who might want to take a stop and look at one thing or another on the side of the road were probably harmless, there were always people out there that lacked the ability to keep it together. Maybe they weren’t going out there and actively looking to put anyone else in danger but there were definitely people whose idea of a good time were stealing from National Parks and making their own mark at places they had no business touching. “It’s so easy to just visit a place, appreciate it and live it as it was but I completely understand that not everyone has that perspective,” she could admit. Zarah nodded, knowing full well that whatever his attributes or the employee circumstances they were going to be just fine. Saving money was the primary concern. It wouldn’t be too hard to do if they had months to get their ducks in a row for it though. “A book could be a good start for you,” she was willing to concede. “Only way to know what you can is to try and it and if you realize it’s not working you’ll still have time to change it up. Auto draft is a savior though.”

Pet ownership did come with responsibilities. It wasn’t always easy especially when there were things that could scare them or it impacted scheduling. She definitely couldn’t just pick up and disappear for days on end without putting in some thought into who was going to care for her pet. She knew that he got it. “I’m sure Mochi will be fine,” she reassured. “Plus when you get home, he’ll feel safe again. Hopefully, he’s asleep somewhere and doesn’t even know what is about to go down.” Then again, maybe he did. She felt like animals in general had a pretty strong sixth sense when things were about to happen – storms or fireworks. She her gaze move up to his with his question, laughing. “I didn’t really have any plans. Just you know, enjoying the crowd. Being where I end up, you know. Am I keeping you from someone?”

[blorbobutworse]

Hey guys,,,,guess whos not dead?!

Teen Dad Logan :)

Or, I suppose more accurately, Young Dad Logan. And by adjacency, Uncle Dad Victor.

This turned out to be one of my largest pieces of writing ever Bee-Tee-Dubs so its going to be under this to not Kill You All:

So in this AU they meet when they're 10 and 11, Jimmy just out of foster care after they found out he's a mutant, and Vic a few weeks after murdering his Father.

At first, it's honestly Jimmy showing Victor a lot of things. Simple things, like how to forage and how to scent, but it's all...quiet. Jimmy already carries a sense of shame for his ferocity that Vic never enjoys. So he draws the kid into fights, helps him laugh until his face is red with laughter instead of shame. He learns about him, and in turn Jimmy learns about him. Happy enough kids until things turned south. One was locked up and the other ran away. They escaped and found each other. It was meant to be.

Victor gives him his new name. Jimmy hasn't felt like His in a long time and the first time Vic calls him Logan, he beams.

Vic still calls him Jimmy when he's scared, but it's their little secret.

Anyways, they stay rough and tumble until The developers in the Weapon X project find them, aged 14 and 15 respectively. It's Victor's idea that they stay. Logan, for all his desires to settle down, feels chafed by the military, but Vic sees through that, see's what they could be, in the future. See's him and his Runt living free after serving, what's a few years as lab rats if they get all their adult life? What's being looked at like a monster when he's allowed to be a monster and still get schooling? Logan doesn't think any of these things, but when Vic nods, he does too.

They're only allowed to be together for the first three months, and then their forced apart, to 'reduce codependency'. They last two years without each other, and when they're reunited...things are different.

Creed has grown into his role, with each murder proving that his dad wasn't special, he's always been meant for this, how dare Anyone Try to stop him. He's become an Animal. Sabretooth.

And Wolverine....is Wolverine now. But doesn't take long before Vic realizes somethings wrong. Wolverine glances at him, but there's no glint of recognition in his eyes. As Creed starts to question him, he thinks it's a clone. So he Kills It.

Its only the third time Logan revives and puts his claws through Creeds chest that Creed realizes it's his runt. Still, being forgotten stings, being ignored stings worse, and there's a lot more blood shed before the guards are able to separate the two.

Safe to say they butt heads a lot more. Vic goads him often, word for word the way he used to, and like a house of cards, Wolverine always folds. The only times he seems to come back to himself for a moment, are the moments after Creed's killed him, and he's just waking up. He'll get a look on his face, one Vic recognizes. He's seen it a hundred of times before, even if the runt always tried to hide it:

Fear. Exhaustion.

They never talk. Victor pets his hair as Logan's throat is rapidly sewing itself back together, or Logan rumbling under Vic's body as his puncture wounds close. In those moments, Logan Remembers.

...

It all starts to fall apart when one Logan Howlett, at the fresh age of 18, is chosen to become Weapon X.

Creed sees red. This was HIS goal, His to earn, that stupid brat doesn't even want to be here, Logan doesn't even remember why he's-

He doesn't even remember why he came here in the first place.

But Sabretooth is smart. He figures out when, and where, they're going to do the operation. And obviously, he bursts in.

As he does, he overhears a Commander noting that they should 'wipe wolverines mind clean one last time, to make sure he's only obedient to them.

And that is First Strike.

Victor lashes out, taking down a doctor and a guard before anyone can blink. But his noise distracts the surgeons and other doctors carefully monitoring The Wolverine's Adamantium intake, and one of them nudges their controls in their scramble to get away, pushing significantly more onto his skeleton than originally planned.

Victor stops when he hears screaming.

Logan hears....nothing. He knows the procedure is going to begin, but he doesn't know when. When the burning starts, he goes to that little place in his head he pretends he doesn't have. He sees flashes of Creed's face, snarling and smiling, and he feels...safe. He sees white, and red hair and...hears yelling. His eyes open, and immediately close as salt water rushes into them. He breathes unsteadily through his

The water stops draining but the burning doesn't stop. Worse, his head feels like it's being torn apart, a feeling he remembers but can't name. And suddenly, nothing matters because,

Sabretooth is calling him Jimmy and why why WHY DOES EVERYTHING HURT OW OW OW OW OW OW Victor help please please plEASE PLEASE VICTOR VIC-

...

Safe to say the adamantium causes even more psychological damage to them.

There is one single benefit: The Memory Adjustment failed. In fact, it failed so bad that Creed, for three whole days, get's Logan to himself.

They don't do much. Logan wakes up and launches himself at Vic, legs collapsing as his ligaments struggle to accustom themselves to the weight of his new bones. He's in constant pain, mostly just looking at Vic with big, sad brown eyes until he lies back down with him on the shitty Hospital ordered bed. It creaks under them, but thankfully never gives.

When they do talk, they don't talk about the memories. About Wolverine gutting Sabretooth to prove a point, about Sabretooth biting out his spinal chord, about Wolverine ripping out his teeth in claws. None of it matters. They know it can't last. Creed didn't plan, and Logan is too weak to think, not that he does much of that in the first place.

After those days of clarity post operation, Logan is wiped clean. And for the next year, it's back to normal. For Wolverine at least.

But of course, Logan has to beat him to the punch. Literally.

Around a month after the one year anniversary of his Surgery, Wolverine comes Bursting through the training rooms, with twenty guards hot on his trail. Sabretooth, a Predator, Obviously follows. Logan runs and runs and runs, and eventually rips the door of a particular room, to reveal...

an eerily large room filled with tubes. There's wires and things being suspended in liquid, and at first, Victor can't comprehend what he's looking at. By the time he reads 'X-02', Doner Wolverine, Logan's already broken three of the tubes with his claws, uncaring of the thick glass cutting him open in retribution for being shattered.

people go flying, and as they hit equipment the room itself begins to collapse, separating Sabretooth from Wolverine. Wolverine continues through the rooms, ensuring that there's nothing deeper inside that can help them make more of him. He has enough nightmares. Sabretooth stays back to help finish the job. All those tubes don't destroy themselves, you know?

He finds a room full of his samples, and a woman in a chair. A woman with a bullet in her neck instead of her head. Poor thing had probably gotten caught in between him and the guards. But why was she just sitting-

The woman has a baby in her arms, tubes still attached. He growls for a moment, moving to finishes her off, but freezes when she and she's groans.

"Laura...Laura..."

Logan looks at her little beady eyes, mousy brown hair, and knows...she's his.

Before he's even thought about it she's cradled in his arms, evidently all wrong because she starts to wail and Vic skids in, shoulder denting the doorframe as he stops and stares at the scene in front of him.

The woman gives one final shudder, and her head lulls. Dead.

Still, there's no time to think. Victor hears thuds getting closer to the room, and as he looks to his right he realizes there's only one way out. The window. Oh well.

with a swear, he lifts Logan by the back of his jacket and gives him a shove, and his back goes strait through the paneling and out of the fourth story. Victor whoops, and follows him down. By the time he's already made his much more elegant landing, Logan is groaning and cussing him out as much as his winded lungs will let him, which is a surprising amount. Still, Vic scruffs him again and sets him on his feet, and nods in the direction of the woods.

"Lets go"

And they do.

They end up being surrounded by the X-Men somewhere in Maine and are "Invited" to Stay at Xavier's school. Logan decides for them this time. A house, a promise that the government will be dealt with for them, and that he can get all of his memories back are very good motivators. And they an finish their education.

Victor actually...enjoys classes. He likes being smart, and it's easy. Logan does Charter school. He had lasted exactly a week in public education before deciding that if he had to deal with one more idiotic comment from one of those stupid fucking kids he was going to-

Well. His words were Not Child Friendly, so he made sure to cover his kid's ears. Besides, he's bonded with fellow teen Rogue and preteen Jubilee and Kitty (his daughters) like little sisters, but he never really settles unless he's with his Kid. His Laura.

He had to fight to keep her, a young unstable mutant like him was not the ideal parent, but for the first two months, she sobbed if anyone else held her, terrible screeches, and would reach for him to the point of falling out of peoples arms. And, he had imprinted on her to. He swore he could tell when she was happy or uncomfortable before she could, would burp her or flip her back onto her back before she got fed up with tummy time.

Vic is Terrified of touching her but refuses to admit it. He carefully runs his finger down her pudgy little cheek, in awe of her soft skin against his knuckle, when she moves suddenly, and she attempts to nuzzle her way into his palm. He, obligingly, opens his hand. When one of his claws scrapes her hair, he freezes, waiting for her to cry out. Instead, she burbles happily, honey brown eyes giving him long, slow blinks.

She likes his head scratches the best.

Logan sometimes falls asleep with her on his stomach on the couch, leaving Victor to carry him AND his clingy baby back to bed, the crib next to them so Laura can still grab onto Logans finger. They sleep together now, in a nest of blankets and pillows, Logans hand always off the bed but still somehow still touching Vic, as if to make sure he's still there.

Their codependency is back full swing, and the only time they can be reliably separated is when Vic goes to school, because he goes with Scotty, and the Boy Scout would never let anything happen to another mutant, even if that mutant makes him want to shoot him with his laser-beam full power just to see what would happen.

Thankfully, because of Victors presence, the Mind Adjustment does actually work, but it leaves Logan questioning his parallel memories for years. In the process they realize that...Victors memories have been tampered with too.

But that, is a story for another time.

[godsfavoritescientist]

Building off of what I wrote in my fic "Sparks," I'm really compelled by the idea of Ford genuinely no longer being interested in sailing around in a boat with Stan by the time they were seniors in high school.

I like the idea of it not being just a symptom of the resentment that had been building between them, nor it being a dream of Ford's that only paled in comparison to west coast tech, but it being a genuine loss of interest on Ford's end. I think it complicates things even further in some really juicy ways.

Like, imagine going through high school slowly losing more and more interest in the dream you've shared with your twin and only friend ever since you were little kids. How do you break it to him? How do you explain it to him without making it sound like a rejection of him? Without it making him hate you?

How do you explain it without it feeling like a spit in the face to all the hard work he's put into a plan that started out as a way of him comforting you by telling you "it doesn't matter what people say about you, you're going to be an adventurer who sails away into the sunset and never has to hear their mockery ever again, and there will be babes and treasure and heroism, and then they'll all see how cool you really are!"

And all through high school you think to yourself, "he's going to move on to more realistic dreams any day now, and then I won't have to say anything about it!" But no matter how many times you mention something else he could do with his life that he seems interested in, or bring up the challenging logistics of traveling around long-term in a boat, he sounds just as committed to the childhood dream as ever, and completely oblivious to how apprehensive you sound.

So resentment grows, little by little. Because that's easier than confronting the soul-crushing levels of guilt that are building up inside of you, every time you don't take an opportunity to tell him you don't want to do the plan anymore. You don't have a single person in your life who modeled how to have difficult conversations for you. As far as you know, having this conversation with Stan would crush him into tiny little pieces and then he would hate you forever, and you can't stand the idea of losing the only friend you've ever had.

So tensions grow. A lack of interest turns into a bitter resentment that, if you were really being honest with yourself, is directed more at yourself than it is at Stan.

And then the falling-out happens, and it seems like you were proven right. Stan hates you now, and he's never going to forgive you for giving up on his dream. But two can play that game, so you try to hate him too. Because if you hate him too, then maybe it won't hurt as much that he never came back. That he never even turned up at school, or by the boat, or in through your bedroom window in the middle of the night. He knows what dad's like, and how he says impulsive exaggerated things when he's angry, and haven't you both dealt with his harsh words countless times before and been able to dust yourselves off and joke about it later? So why isn't he back at home, joking with you about how absurd your dad acted that night, being impossible and belligerent about ruining your dream, but at least now you're even, because you've ruined his dream too.

-

And now imagine you find out he risked the lives of everyone in existence to bring you back, right after you had accepted your fate was to die killing Bill. It would be terrifying and confusing and infuriating. If he cared so much, why didn't he do something to reconnect with you sooner? Why did he ignore you in favor of trying to make it big without you? Why didn't he take the infinitely safer and simpler action of reaching out to you without you having to track down his address and send a desperate plea for help? You were convinced that he didn't care enough to bother with you unless you had an important enough reason for him to come. But even then, he thought your plans were stupid. He didn't want anything to do with you, not even with the world at stake.

Did he save your life out of guilt? Does he pity you that much? It doesn't add up with what he did in the decade leading up to shoving you into the portal. And the dissonance between the version of him in your head that hates you, and the man who held out his arms to welcome you back to your home dimension, is so strong that you feel like you're being lied to again, like you're back in the depths of gaslighting and manipulation that Bill put you through, even though there's no way that's what Stan is trying to do... right? You can't figure it out, so you run away from it. You don't want to know the answer to whether or not Stan hates you, because you don't know which answer would hurt more, so you try to make him hate you more than ever, because at least then you would know for sure how he feels.

And in the end, after he sacrifices his memories for you, and for the world, things seem clearer. The layers upon layers of confusion and anger and hurt seem to have washed away like drawings in the sand, leaving behind the simple truth: that you two had an argument, and didn't move past it for forty years, and despite everything you put each other through, you both still want to re-connect.

So you sail away in a boat together.

And at first, it's wonderful. It's exactly what you want. It feels like an apology to Stan, and a thank-you for saving the world, and a once-in-a-lifetime chance to heal the rift between you two, and it's good to be back on earth, and you wonder why you ever doubted the dream you two once had.

But then, after the first long journey you spend on the sea together, when you get back home to dry land, Stan is already talking about planning your next adventure out on the open sea. He recaps every adventure you had on the first trip, over and over again, and he wants to chat with you all through the morning and long into the night, and you don't have the words to explain to yourself that you don't have enough social battery for this, and suddenly you're slipping back into the horrifyingly familiar feeling of Stan being overbearing and needing space from him and how could you think that? How could you think that about him after everything he's done for you and everything he's forgiven you for? But the longer this goes on, the more you realize that you still don't want to spend the rest of your life sailing around with Stan. It's great fun in moderation, but the idea of your whole life revolving around Stan and going on adventures with Stan and being in a boat with Stan with no time to be by yourself thinking about your own things and figuring out your own dreams makes your skin crawl with a claustrophobic kind of panic that you still don't know how to put into words forty years after the first time this feeling grabbed you by the throat and ruined your friendship with Stanley.

But the first time this happened, it nearly ruined his life forever. You can't let yourself feel this. You don't feel this. You're happy to spend the rest of your life fulfilling Stan's lifelong dream, and making up for the time you crushed his dream, and sure, maybe he crushed your dream once too, and maybe it would be nice for him to support your dreams like you're now doing for him, but you can't say that. He saved the universe, and it would be horrible and ungrateful and cruel for you to try to voice these feelings, especially when you don't know how to voice your feelings without it making other people feel like you twisted a knife into their gut. So you try to pretend the feeling isn't there.

You go out on a boat with Stan again. You planned out another incredible journey together, and this should be fun, and you should be happy about this, but the unspoken feeling you shoved as far down in yourself as it could possibly go is eating you alive. The worst part? Stan is starting to notice. You have never been good at hiding your emotions. The trick to it has always been to convince yourself you don't feel it at all, and not think about it, and that has always worked like a charm. But whenever the emotion claws its way back up to the forefront of your mind, you can tell Stan knows something is wrong. So you can't even give him the happy ending he deserves. You can't even convince him that you want to be here on the open seas forever with him, like he deserves. And you keep trying and trying to hide it, but Stan keeps asking in roundabout ways, like "You're being awfully quiet, sixer," and "whats that look on your face?" and eventually it comes exploding out of you like a shaken-up soda bottle dropped on its cap.

And then it's like you're back at home in New Jersey again, standing in the living room while dad grabs Stanley by the shirt. It all comes pouring out of you, in the worst possible way, with the worst possible phrasing, like a pandora's box of monstrousness, and Stan tries to fight back against the sting of your words, but you're made out of acid and you're burning through him and you can see it on his face, and there's never any coming back from this, not this time, you'll just have to either jump into the ocean or become a monster forever, so Stan can hate you more easily again, and-

-and at the end of the outburst, you're still on a boat in the middle of nowhere in the ocean with your brother, in dangerous waters, and you have things to do to keep the boat running smoothly.

You can't run away from him. He can't run away from you. You're stuck here for at least a couple more weeks, even if you turned around and sailed back towards shore right away.

-

And the thing that compels me so much here, despite how unbelievably angsty it all is, is that it sets up a situation wherein the Stans might end up forced to actually address the decades of resentment and confusion and wanting-to-reconnect-throughout-it-all that they thought they could gloss over and heal with enough time spent adventuring together on a boat. They might end up forced to actually address the crux of the issue that drove them apart in the first place: Ford wanting a little more space to feel like his own person, and to feel like he's able to have his own dreams, too.

It wouldn't happen easily, nor right away, but if they were stuck together on a little boat in the middle of nowhere surrounded by magical creatures they have to protect each other from in order to make it back home alive, then after they had one fight where they brought up all the things they silently agreed to never bring up again, it would probably happen many more times, and each time it would leave them both angrier at each other than ever, until eventually something honest slipped through amidst all the saying-anything-except-what-they-mean bickering. And once enough of these honest moments slipped through, then they would have a thread to tug on to start to unravel the gargantuan knot of their decades of unresolved conflicts.

And then, eventually, maybe Stan could learn that he can have a good friendship with his brother without needing to be glued to him at the hip, and Ford needing a certain amount of alone time doesn't mean he dislikes him or wants to abandon him, and Ford could learn that he can be honest and have a meaningful connection with someone without it driving them away and making them hate him.

[selfinflictedgunshotwound]

sorry for only saying this type of shit lately but i kinda wanna drive a car straight into a brick wall at the highest speed possible

[wecouldmakediamonds]

Ok so!

Bojan has a butterfly. People love butterflies, and Bojan is incredibly charming and socially intelligent--you might even call him a social butterfly 😉 I can just picture him with his daemon perched on his shoulder adorably! But also, butterflies are frequently considered symbols of freedom and rebirth. Bojan talks and writes a lot about both the struggles and the strength of young people today, and about the hope of a place where everyone can be free.

Jan has a snake--probably a species of snake native to Slovenia. Snakes are also associated with rebirth, change, and transformation because they shed their skin Jan said "don't define yourself, experiment", and he also said if he was an animal, he'd be a chameleon. But I think a snake suits him because they're mysterious, intelligent, and subversive--and in Slavic mythology, the god of the underworld is associated with forests, musicians, and snakes all at once.

Kris has a fox, because they're these pretty, elegant animals that are associated with attractiveness. And at the same time, they're energetic and playful, silly and loud when you observe their behavior. They're symbols of intelligence too, and Kris has a wide spectrum of intelligence--he has a chemical engineering degree, he studied international relations, and he's obviously creative as a musician and songwriter.

Nace seems to me like he should have a canine daemon. I think a dog is a bit too cliché, but a wolf would make a lot of sense. They're misunderstood as scary animals (think Big Bad Wolf, werewolves, etc) but in reality, they're extremely loyal to their pack, which is their family. Nace is the big strong guy with tattoos who cares so much for his friends and would kill his enemies by hugging them too hard, so I think that represents his soul perfectly.

Jure, also, has an obvious one, and I can't decide if I should go looking for something more creative or not. Cats have this interesting social behavior where they are really independent animals but will also form colonies when left to their own devices. Jure is an independent person, but he also loves his friends so incredibly much, he's said it over and over. So maybe his soul really is an orange cat!

Side notes: Even though Bojan's daemon could fly in this version, I still don't think he would be able to separate from it like a witch, it just doesn't seem like something he would do. I don't know if any of them would have male daemons (but if any of them did, I would give that to Kris or Jan, I think). I haven't thought of any names.

I don't know how many of you are familiar with Philip's Pullman's ''His Dark Materials'' series, but if you are what forms would the guys daemons(animal manifestation of a person's soul) be? I would love to hear your thoughts 🙂

[leori-the-unlearned]

the way digimon does conflict/drama between two characters who should be or are close: chef’s kiss <3

the way sonic idw handles creating conflict/drama between two characters who should be or are close: *wilting flower*