#let's start with that digi

[amngtheflowers]

Little angels hide between branches, giggling as they spy on their creator - but alas, he is too engrossed with his new book to give them much attention. They want to play with him, they love their creator!! but he's always, always much too focused and busy on other things...

[digirainebow]

sometimes i think a little too hard about olivia massell and almost enter a fugue state

[littlexdeaths]

mile high club - s.r.

spencer reid x bau fem reader

18+ ONLY MDNI

warnings: secret relationship, public sex, soft dom spencer, very jealous reader, doctor kink, praise kink, unprotected piv sex, cream pie

a/n: this is based on a request i had gotten a while back on my old account for spencer. plane sex is one of my favorite scenarios with him so i hope you enjoy. also please go easy on me, it’s been a WHILE since i’ve written for our little genius. xx

word count: 2.2k

“Shh, love. We wouldn’t want the others to hear you, now would we?”

His lips brush against your ear as his hand reaches up to cover your mouth, the other slipping further into your panties. Your breath hitches as he slides another finger inside your entrance, letting your body mold against his in the small space.

Out of all the places he could’ve done this— you never expected the jet bathroom.

But even Dr. Spencer ‘kissing is more sanitary than shaking hands’ Reid could only resist your teasing for so long.

It had started earlier that morning while you were still at the precinct. Subtle brushes of your fingertips against his back as he worked on his geological profile, his eyes continuously finding yours through the plexiglass screen. You found any opportunity to invade his space, your perfume overwhelming his senses. But that wasn’t enough for you.

Once the rest of the team had left to chase down a possible lead, you made your move. Purposefully leaning over the desk across from him as he went through the case file again. Your eyes sparkled in amusement as his adam’s apple bobbed, hazel eyes locked on where your blouse was undone. The lace of your push up bra just barely peeking out.

You were driving him insane.

But this was your way of getting him back, after having to watch the lead detective on this case blatantly flirt with him. She batted her doe eyes at him, volunteered to help him any chance she could. It was embarrassing really, how much she threw herself at him. But you couldn’t help but feel that surge of jealousy clawing at your throat.

Because to anyone else, he was free game.

You had been sneaking around together for well over a month, after a mishap on a previous case. The hotel had mistakenly booked you a single bed room, and there were no other rooms available. And none of your team was willing to switch. “He snores too much,” Morgan had all but insisted.

While Spencer was adamant he would sleep on the floor, or the chair in the corner, you wouldn’t allow it.

After two nights of unbearable sexual tension it was him who finally snapped, after you crawled into bed in a pair of sleep shorts that barely covered your ass. His body melted into yours as he kissed you, effectively stealing the air from your lungs. He rolled your body beneath him, your fingers lacing together as he buried himself inside you.

The chemistry between you was always there, but neither of you were quite willing to cross that line of professionalism and friendship until that night. But now that you had a taste of him, you were downright insatiable.

You could barely keep your hands off of each other, in private and in public. Which for someone as non touchy as Spencer Reid… people quickly began to notice. Regardless, you both tried to keep it a secret from your team, knowing agents in the same unit weren't allowed to fraternize.

But that didn’t stop you from pulling him into an empty office for a quickie at Quantico, or him sneaking into your hotel room while on a case. Your relationship was becoming harder and harder to hide from everyone, but this might have been your final straw.

The case had wrapped up later that evening, the unsub was caught and you were beyond relieved when you left the station and that detective behind. But that relief soon bleed into irritation as Morgan plopped down across from you and Spencer on the jet. A megawatt smile was stretched across his face as he slid one earbud out of his ear.

“So kid, heard you landed Detective Reynold’s digits,” he chuckles.

Spencer can feel the way you tense up, but you keep your gaze focused on the case file in front of you. Feigning disinterest in their conversation, but your boyfriend knows better.

“Uh, I did. But I politely declined.”

Derek’s scoff has you nearly rolling your eyes, gripping your pen tighter in between your fingers as you tap it on the table.

“Now why is that, pretty boy? Got some secret girlfriend that we don’t know about?”

Spencer groans, running a hand through his tousled hair. What you don’t notice is the way Derek eyes the two of you suspiciously.

“No— she’s just not my type,” he sighs.

“A beautiful woman isn’t your type?”

You pinch the bridge of your nose, closing the case file with a little more force than necessary. Both males turn to look at you now, unable to hide your irritation anymore.

“I have a killer migraine so if the two of you could shut it for the next hour that would be wonderful,” you huff.

Before either of them have time to reply you lean your head back against the seat and close your eyes. Finding yourself holding back a grin as Emily echoes your sentiment. The jet settles into a comfortable silence then, the lights dimming in the cabin.

When you dare to peek your eyes open Morgan has already moved back to his original seat, leaving you and Spencer alone again. You had felt his eyes on you long before you met his gaze, his dark hues boring into yours with an intensity that has your stomach fluttering.

“Stop looking at me like that,” you whisper under your breath, letting your eyes drop to your lap.

“Like what?” He answers tensely.

“You know what, Spence.”

You shift in your chair, thighs pressing together as you cross your legs. Now was not the time. Not in the jet with your nosy coworkers surrounding you. As much as you’d love to climb into his lap and muss up his hair more, that would be far too risky.

So you both remained silent for a while, but the air between you was taut with tension. Just waiting for one of you to break it, but you refused to let it be you. As much as you reassured yourself that Spencer rejected that woman’s advances, it was still hard for you to watch.

Spencer must have seen that flash of hurt pass over your features, and he is unable to hold back anymore as he leans further into your space.

“Bathroom,” you feel his lips at your ear then, a shiver passing through you as he speaks. “Right now.”

From the authoritative lithe in his tone you know not to disobey him, carefully rising from your seat to head to the small bathroom. The rest of your team look as though they are asleep when you pass them, a sense of relief floods as you gently shut the door behind you.

You lean your palms against the countertop, glancing at yourself in the mirror. It’s a few minutes before you hear the door click open, and your eyes fall as you feel the heat of his body behind yours.

You both don’t utter a word as he cages you in, his forearms grazing your own. The veins in his hands protrude as he grips the edge of the counter and his chin rests on your shoulder.

“So,” he hums, his breath tickling your neck. “Someone’s feeling a little jealous?”

You scoff, finally meeting his brooding gaze in the reflection of the mirror.

“I am not jealous.”

Spencer just chuckles, one of his large hands splaying over the curve of your hip.

“You sound a little defensive, agent. You wouldn’t be lying to me now, would you?”

The dark edge to his voice has your body tingling and your heart hammering against your ribs.

“N-No.”

He tsks softly, his hands wandering toward the edge of your pencil skirt.

“And to think, I was going to reward you, despite your incessant teasing earlier.”

The feeling of his rough palm on the inside of your thigh breaks your resolve, body melting against him as you whine.

“No, Spence— please.”

He grips the hem of your skirt, slowly hitching it up your thighs.

“You know that’s not my name, angel,” he taunts as his teeth graze over your earlobe.

“Please, Doctor.”

You quickly correct yourself, which earns you a deep groan, “Good girl.”

Spencer wastes no time in tugging your skirt the rest of the way up your legs. His large hand cupping your cunt through the soaked lace of your panties. He presses the heel of his palm against your clit, quickly shushing you as you mewl pathetically in response.

But once his fingers have slipped past the lace and are buried to the hilt inside you, you are unable to hold back your pleasured whimpers. His other hand quickly moves to cover your mouth, but his hushed words only aid in turning you on more.

The thought of one of your colleagues catching you both in this position sends an excited jolt through your body, your walls tightening harder around his dexterous fingers. Spencer groans at the sensation, letting his thumb brush over your swollen clit.

“Oh, you’d like that wouldn’t you?” He chuckles, “You want them to hear us?”

You nod your head, grinding your hips back against his to feel his hardened length straining against the fabric of his slacks. Spencer curses under his breath, meeting your half lidded gaze in the reflection before he’s yanking your panties down your thighs.

He removes his hand from your mouth and the clink of his belt sends another rush of heat through you. Spencer eagerly guides your legs apart, before bending you over the sink.

“Then let them,” he mutters as he guides the tip of his cock through your drenched folds, and sinks into your warm heat with a strangled grunt.

A gasp leaves your own as he bottoms out completely, your head lolling forward at the sheer fullness. But your boyfriend doesn’t let that slide for long as his strong hand coaxes your chin up to meet his hazel eyes in the mirror.

“Eyes on me.” Spencer instructs, guiding his hips back and plunging them forward.

His thrusts are fast and sharp, nearly knocking the wind out of you from his urgency. You grip the counter harshly, willing your eyes not to roll in the back of your head as you whimper. Spencer’s lips are back at your ear again, his ever darkening hues never once stray from your own.

“Look how pretty you are, baby… how well you take me,” he groans, gripping your hips tighter.

You’re far too gone to answer him, managing a small whine as you angle your hips back to take him even deeper. His hand drifts lower, over the bunched fabric of your skirt to circle over your clit. Soft mewls continue to spill past your lips as he buries himself inside you, hurtling you faster towards that precipice.

“As if I could ever want anyone else.”

That admission is spoken under his breath and although Spencer didn’t intend for you to hear it, you certainly did. But those words are your undoing, your body trembling in his strong hands as you lose yourself in him. The feeling of your cunt fluttering around him breaks what is left of his composure, spilling into you as you cry out his name.

You both are silent as you come back down to earth, only the sounds of your heavy breathing filling the small space. His hands are gentle as he pulls you further into his chest, his lips pressing a soft kiss to your temple.

“Feeling better?”

You giggle softly, “Much.”

You catch a glimpse of his smirk in the mirror as he slips out of you to tuck himself back into his slacks. The brunette quickly drops to his knees before you have a chance to protest, letting his fingertips glide along your skin. Spencer smiles sheepishly as he guides your panties back up your legs, peppering gentle kisses along your inner thighs.

You can feel his cum beginning to soak into the already damp fabric as he helps you adjust your skirt, pressing one last kiss to your clothed hip before he rises to his feet.

“Think you can manage getting back to your seat without my help?” He teases, clearly noticing the way your legs were still shaking as he helped you re-dress.

“I can manage fine, Doctor Reid.”

You can see the flash in his eyes when you call him by his title again, a wicked smile on your lips when you lean up to press a chaste kiss to his cheek.

You exit the bathroom without another word, getting comfortable in your seat. It’s a few minutes later before Spencer returns to his seat beside you, in an attempt to not raise any suspicion. The seatbelt sign clicks on once he takes his seat, signaling the beginning descent to Quantico.

He pulls a novel out of his satchel as you rest your head on his shoulder, feeling your eyelids starting to droop.

“Pay up, Morgan.”

Emily’s hushed voice cuts through the silence not long after you’d both taken your seats again. You feel Spencer stiffen beside you, his fingers freezing on the open page of his novel.

“Damn, couldn’t keep it in your pants for twenty more minutes, pretty boy?” The male grumbles, getting up to toss a couple twenties in Emily’s direction.

She grins widely, waving them around before tucking them in the pocket of her dress pants.

“So you’re betting on us now?” you ask, unable to hide the exasperation in your voice.

“Oh, we’ve been betting on you the second you both started sneaking around,” Rossi’s voice sounds from behind you, amusement littering his tone.

“You two aren’t subtle.”

tagging some spencer loving moots: @xxbimbobunnyxx @babygorewhore @hippiegoth97 @take-everything-you-can @alialuvsreid @angel-eyes-and-devil-hearts

[jarofstyles]

harry damn near begging for yn and being needy, mouthing at her neck chest and stomach while she’s trying to read plsss

PLEASE I LOVE THIS SHIT!

Patreon.

-----

Harry was a horny little menace. But god, was he a convincing one.

It had started when he crawled into her cozy little nest in their bed, cooing about how pretty she looked. In her glasses and her hair thrown up in a bun, along with a few pimple patches, she was sure she wasn't at her prime but it always did give her butterflies when he complimented her in her most relaxed, vulnerable state.

When he asked what she was read, she explained the general synopsis of what had happened so far- a royal romance, enemies to lovers-, and he had snuggled closer. Freshly showered, he was shirtless in just in a pair of grey sweats, skin and hair still slightly damp as he rested his head on her shoulder to catch a glimpse of the pages. But his intentions weren't pure.

"Oh? This is one of those dirty books, isn't it?" He cooed. Of course, as fate would have it, he had turned up during one of the smut scenes in the book. He knew she read filth, had an entire collection of smut ridden books, but this time in particular he felt rather smug about catching her.

"They're all dirty books." She drawled, turning the book so he could see better. He had a one track mind though, and turned his face to bury in her neck with a deep exhale. If he was being honest, he had been aching all day. Y/N had teased him slightly over text and he knew coming home that she would be in his shirt, looking so soft and familiar, he simply wanted to bury himself in her and never leave. Getting to see her so warm and relaxed, it did things to him.

"I have a better idea." He murmured into her skin, kissing the smoothness of her neck. "Why don't we have our own fun, hm? Been gone all day, wanting to come home... and you're reading' about other people having sex." He grunted, slipping his hand under her shirt, nosing at her like a needy pup.

"Well, yes." Y/N laughed through her nose. "I do tend to do that. I enjoy reading some tasteful sex scenes. Beautifully written ones. Is that so wrong?"

"Never said it was wrong, sweetness. Just said the obvious. M'home now, you don't need to read about it." His hand found her breast as his kisses moved up towards her jaw, sloppy with his movements and smearing the wet kisses over the curve of it. "You can experience anything y'want with me. M'ready to role-play, even. Just let me into that pretty pussy, and I'll make all those dreams come true, off the paper."

Of course Y/N knew she was fighting a losing battle- one she very clearly wanted to lose, based off of the sudden awareness of him in between her thighs and his fingers gently plucking her nipple. He liked to beg for it a little bit, though, so she sighed. "I dunno, H. This scene is really good. Maybe you'll just have to wait." The tone of her voice sounded serious but they both knew the game. This was part of it.

"Please, baby?" He whined. "Just a taste of it? Or... can let me warm myself inside of you." His teeth nibbled under her ear, a sweet spot he knew would cause damage to her resolve, sucking on the skin. Y/N felt it between her thighs. That familiar pulsing, her clit beginning to swell, her hole beginning to leak. Harry had quite the effect on her every single time, but hearing him beg always did it to her.

"Please, jus' let me make us feel good. Know you love t'be nice and full, can have it stuffed in you in just a few minutes... get you to feel it in your tummy, baby." He pleaded. "Cmon. Can make it so good for you. Missed feeling you wrapped around me all day, didn't get enough of you this morning." A horny thing he really was. "Can't help that you feel so good that I need you all the time, but m'dying for it. Been thinking about it all day long, just let me slide in." He continued with the begging, slipping his hand back down to the band of her panties.

When Y/N didn't tell him off, he slipped his digits between her thighs and let out a strangled moan. "Fuck me, baby. You're dripping." He whimpered. "Please, let me have it. Let me feel you around my cock, babylove. It aches, you're the only way to fix it." He was getting desperate, rubbing against her thigh as his fingers slid up and down her wet slit. "M'begging you, my love. Let me in."

"Okay, baby. Okay." Y/N laughed at his desperation. "You can slip inside, but you can't move until I finish this chapter." Harry didn't need further instruction, slipping his pants off and tugging her panties to the side with impatience. It took him but a few seconds to do it, spreading her legs open as he turned her on her side so he was spooning her from behind and letting himself in. Slowly pressing the ruddy, leaking tip of his cock through the soaked folds of her puffy cunt and finding her hole, notching against it before pressing inside.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you." His whimper was vibrated against her ear, making her clench slightly around him. He was truly desperate for it, letting her stretch as he sunk in inch by inch and rested his head against her cheek, hand going back up her shirt. "I'll be good. Promise."

[socksandbuttons]

Swap AU Stuff

Alright let's jsut try getting down basics maybe

Also this maybe long actually.

The obvious Swaps Lunar and Eclipse: Basically how we meet them in episode. I legit went along with thinking this Eclipse wasn't memory wiped the whole time so thats kinda- in the air a bit. But Lunar being the original body (I have a post showing how Eclipse looked then), Eclipse with the one he made (to be taller. He can't stand being small... Well shorter than anyone really. A shame he has Bloodmoon towering over him.) The Glamrocks: They are as Swapped so Chica is Freddy, Freddy is Roxy, Roxy is Monty and Monty is Chica (I love them immediately after giving them luscious hair im sorry). Rox and Sun are friends and he's quite protective of Sun, also a cowboy cause swap au/Foxy etc. Digi in the discord came up with this and i died cause it was so good actually. Eclipse and Lunar still go thru the whole October Arc with Moon and Sun. Moon being far more quiet but aggressive. Made Sun to hinder Eclipse. Let me paste my lil paragraph i had in discord

"Sun likely has more denial about moons treatment of him, however like lunar he does start questioning if its good for moon to get the star (like sort of getting the Moon Wont Stop so i need to do something he might hurt himself etc) plus lunar and eclipses treatment of sun would be a huge factor too, eclipse obviously is terrible at communcating and while he's a bit of a jerk, realizing sun might be in danger or hurt is something he might catch on faster. maybe. im thinking anyway sun catches attachment to both that outweighs his denial of moon being terrible actually. he's still grasping at things even well after. doesnt realize he gets awful panic attacks until someone points it out actually. and then i lost my train of thought but moon still loved sun just…. very clearly was not the forefront of his goals tho. feels very betrayed by sun after and likely wont fogrive sun. vs sun whos too willing to forgive despite his anxiety screaming at him NOT TO. i just wanna show a different thing to this cause lunar recognized halfway into october and let moon handle the rest and recognizes that eclipse was hurting him much sooner than sun wouldve (see the… current sun. og sun recognizes now but it truly took him a WHILE, communication Real now.)" Anyway, Sun does end up getting adopted by both Eclipse and Lunar. He's never gonna be taller than Eclipse. But as mentioned he's got a lot of things to work through about Moon (Roxy will kick so much ass for him.) Generally trying to grasp that yeah no it was pretty fucked up of Moon to do anything to Sun. Now the timeline gets a lil weird beyond this because like KC would've also been in this plot. KC unlike our Bloodmoon, is actually far smarter (Im sorry to bm fans), he DOES work with Sun but generally more for his benefit of getting rid of Moon. He doesn't really need to be bribed for this actually. Imagine KC being so pissed about Moon showing up in his systems and hes LIKE WTF MAN. Zappity Zap Zap Double Dee Moon Anyway Cue Bloodmoon arriving. And like bloodmoon does- He does technically hold Eclipse hostage but gets bored. So there is mild agreement. Bloodmoon does what KC did and FORCED themself out (like our OG boy!). They're uh... theyre not very keen on sticking around a daycare as fun as itd be to tear it up. They like lightly bully Sun but Roxy to the rescueee. Anyway, 'Does KC die in this au?' No he doesnt. He gets CLOSE to it but Bloodmoon just goes 'Hmn. nah son you're coming with me'. Lunar still feels incredibly bad about it though. Space arriving sooner actually more or less helps like avoid some certain issues here and there. Unlike Earth where she arrives much later (due to be literally distracted.) Space goes directly to the daycare. Thus kinda- changing some bits. He does meet Bloodmoon, hates him though. 'Why aren't you thinking this through' 'We wanna see how much they scream' 'You'll be electrocuting yourself before you get the chance' '...That means Eclipse gets electrocuted?' 'Put down. the fork.' KC handles Bloodmoon with much exasperation. Bloodmoon picked up this sucker and went 'our Spawn'. Baffles KC. Space ends up meeting Crater, Moon got annoyed with Space's presence being literally really hard to work around. Sends Crater, Crater and Space get along well enough that it wasn't Moon intention but this works too. Space (theres irony here) gets concerned with Crater and her not viewing herself with autonomy. She is still just a 'basic AI' as she puts it. Does what she's told. Bloodmoon doesn't really use her just kinda shoo's her off to Space or Eclipse. 'No you're no fun-' 'I have told to monitor you' 'WE DIDNT ASK MOON FOR A BABYSITTER' 'I am programmed to defend' 'We dont need defending either' 'You are still vunerable' '...Go away' 'Affirmative. Destination please?' 'DAYCARE'

Anyway How do i sum this up. Roxy and Sun are besties Lunar and Sun vibe. Eclipse is soft with Sun.

Bloodmoon has claimed ONE child. Doesn't really claim Moon but thats a later thing. Moon and KC despise one another.

KC didn't really want this fatherly figure but he begrudgingly accept them. Funny things happen with these three. Bloodmoon doesn't become pacifist, just more or less moves away dragging KC with them. A little bitter at Lunar's murder attempt but its fine. No one died there but heavily maimed.

Eclipse and Moon still ultimately hate one another. There is a Swap version of Solar thats Moon and- we'll get confused so just know its out there. Space and Crater are good friends and partly why both end up questioning their existence but both support pillars to one another that it just kinda isn't as devastating. Unless someone dies. Crater does end up having her own personhood, Moon does get attached to her even if he doesnt admit it. Space doesn't question creator enough but Crater does and vice versa. Bloodmoon(s) does have a name but ill reveal that later??? idk

[anachronisims]

How to EFFECTIVELY Use Empty Standby List to Reduce Flashing and Crashing

This tutorial is for TS2. Obviously. This is virtually the last "chapter" of advice for the Pink Flashing Survey Report (still forthcoming as a single readable thing but posted in bits and pieces over the last six months). PS it's a lonnnnnnng post. Ctrl+F "tldr" for the very short version once you open the cut.

"Part 1" of the Empty Standby List ("ESL") tutorial was already written comprehensively with screenshots by Digi at her wordpress. Following Digi's tutorial will get you set up with ESL as a routine automated background task your computer runs, typically every five minutes.

@gayars set up two instances of the routine, each running every five minutes, staggered two/three minutes apart. In other words, task 1 runs at 12:00, task 2 runs at 12:03, task 1 runs at 12:05, task 2 runs at 12:08, etc. However, I found that this negatively impacted the graphical performance of my game, notably by having the ESL task window flash over the game window, which I had never seen before, nor since reverting back to a single 5-minute task routine.

Anyway. Go do Digi's tutorial if you haven't already; I'll wait.

Background on Why this Matters

So, now your computer will be wiping the standby memory every five minutes. The thing is, this won't be able to have much impact on your game unless you wait to let it wipe before you do a major loading action.

Major loading actions are, in general order of strain (most to least strenuous):

Loading a full neighborhood.

Loading a large (3x4 or bigger) populated lot.

Loading a large unpopulated lot.

Loading actual CAS, if you have a lot of non-defaulted CC.

Loading a medium (3x3) populated lot.

Loading a medium unpopulated lot.

Loading a small (2x3 or smaller) populated lot.

Loading a small unpopulated lot.

Loading CAS catalogs from within a lot (e.g. using FFS clothing tool, "Change Appearance" on the mirror, shopping for clothes/trying on clothes on a community lot).

Turning up your lot view settings (generating other lots' lot imposters within your current lot)/panning the camera around.

You should already be doing at least all medium- and large-lot loading with the Lot View Settings Juggling Method, and “uint LotSkirtIncrease” removed from your userstartup.cheat - otherwise whenever you load a lot you are compounding the strain by also having the neighborhood load at the same time.

Using Resource Monitor Effectively

If you watched the Jessa Channel tutorial on flashing, she recommended downloading a third-party RAM usage monitoring software. This is unnecessary. For purposes of reducing your crashing, all you need is the native Windows program "Resource Monitor" that she also recommends.

To open it:

Click the Windows symbol/start menu.

Begin typing "Resource Monitor."

Click Resource Monitor when it shows up.

Once it is open, get to the useful information:

Click the "Memory" tab.

Make sure the "Processes" and "Physical Memory" subs are fully open, as above.

Sort by "Commit (KB)."

Each time you reopen Resource Monitor, it should restore your last view settings, so you won't have to repeat these steps.

While Resource Monitor is still open, "Pin" it to the taskbar so it will always be readily accessible.

Right-click the icon on the taskbar.

Click "Pin to taskbar."

If it says "Unpin from taskbar" you have already done this step :)

Now comes the monitoring part. You will focus on the dark-blue "Standby" block of the bar graph on Physical Memory.

Every fifth minute, when the ESL task runs, this will flash down to 0 and then pop up to about 30-75, depending on what you are doing. It will go higher faster if you are doing stuff, obviously, and hover pretty low if your computer is just sitting still. TLDR the remainder of this tutorial: only take stress actions when Standby is below 100.

As we all know too well, TS2 has a 4gb RAM limit. The problem is, TS2 seems to count the memory that is in standby, too, not just the committed/working set. Thus, before you take a major loading action (that is going to push up to 1.5gb into Standby), you need to wait for Standby to wipe so the game doesn't accidentally think it's using more memory than it is. Got it?

This is how much RAM my game is using when my neighborhood opens, pretty closely zoomed in on any particular lot. If it is zoomed out further - like a whole city block - both committed and working set are easily over 2.2gb. When I pan around the neighborhood, it continues going up. Portions of the hood that go back out of view seem to get relegated to standby, but yes, my game has crashed just from looking too much at my neighborhood from too wide an angle. Unless I slow down and let ESL run before moving on to the next section.

Six months of diligent Resource Manager monitoring has resulted in substantial reductions of crashing and flashing on my first hood view load and first lot view load. It is not 100% guaranteed, but it cuts it back to Very Playable Levels. And when I have tested the theory by purposefully not letting ESL run before a stress point, it always flashes and/or crashes within the next couple minutes.

SO! Here's what I do when I'm launching my game.

Because of overheating concerns, I always fully shut down my computer when I'm not using it for more than an hour. If I have been playing and experience a flash or crash, I will restart before trying again. @infinitesimblr, a survey Respondent who reported virtually no flashing or crashing despite a vast CC catalog, also recommends restarting between using Bodyshop or SimPE and the full game. I have found it may make a difference with Bodyshop (which I use too rarely to make a pseudoscientific claim) but that I have found basically no impact going from SimPE to the game. YMMV.

Immediately after Windows is done loading, I open Resource Monitor and wait a few minutes. Often background updates begin running and the Standby bar goes crazy - sometimes filling up the entire available RAM - and I just let it sit and do its thing. (Usually I start the computer right before my kid's bedtime so I am not actively waiting on it or anything. Go take a shower or make a sandwich or drink some water, like you did in the old days when the game itself took 20 minutes to load.)

Once the standby bar levels out and is consistently peaking no higher than about 250mb between ESL wipes, after the next ESL wipe, I will launch the game. (Usually between logging into Windowsat the beginning of storytime and checking Resource Monitor before we go do tuck-in, it is reliably hanging out below 100 unless a big TS4 or Windows update was downloading.)

Reminder: do not delete thumbnails anymore prior to launching the game. I also have turned off RPC's clear caches option and have observed faster loading times with minimal increases in crashing.

After the neighborhood selection screen comes up, wait for ESL to run again before opening your neighborhood.

If you have continue to have more than VERY sporadic hood load flashing after taking these steps, you should try launching into a subhood if you have one, then pivoting to the main hood if that's where you're playing that session after yet another ESL wipe. If that doesn't help you simply need to thin out your hood or accept the flashing. (I ended up deleting about 25% of my deco trees and 10-15 outer-lying lots that will be re-placed in a subhood.)

After the hood is loaded, navigate to the lot you want, but DO NOT actually load that lot until ESL runs yet again. Ditto for CAS - Do not select "Create New Family" until ESL has run again.

Play should be proceed as normal at this point. You probably don't need to alt-tab back to Resource Monitor again unless your sims are going traveling or you are changing play lots.

BONUS TIP #1: You can put a shortcut to the ESL routine on your desktop and push it manually (just double click the icon) if you don't feel like waiting once the game is loaded. I have had imperfect results with this vs. just waiting the five minutes, though, because the game wants to run through some stuff and flush it. But it's an option for you to experiment with.

BONUS TIP #2: If you have a really deep clothing/hair CC catalog, try to avoid using the FFS clothing tool option where you select every outfit for the sim, and their hair and makeup, at the same time. Instead, choose individual outfits by type and use the regular mirror option to change appearance (or SimBlender has it, I think, so they can do it where they already are).

[starsandhughes]

Penalty Box Series— Quinn Hughes Edition (nine)

ft. Wyatt Johnston

23-24 Season Masterlist

previous: eight

next: ten

NOVEMBER 4, 2023

if you're not a stars fan, it's best to convert quickly

yourusername

liked by _quinnhughes, t.harley48, and 17,436 others

yourusername welcome back to my postgame penalty box update show: i finally saw a mason marchment fight live and quinn was also there edition!

after quinn's personal record of three trips to the penalty box night, he decided to be good! this was probably due to the fact that i will fight him over any penalty against the stars (hey, remember when you committed interference against robo on february 27th last season? because i sure do), but we'll pretend it was because he's trying to redeem himself since my baby daddy trevy-z is at zero. the war is strong with these two!

you know who did get a penalty? one of my new besties wyatt "johnny" johnston! his penalty was for holding mikheyev in the second period! (holding penalties aren't ones i hold grudges against, so you're in the clear! but also you do nothing wrong ever, so i wouldn't hold it against you anyways) (p.s. i wouldn't have been mad if you fought garly... i was kinda rooting for it)

other penalties include: (in time order) digi for holding against another new bestie harls, mr. captain jamie benn for hooking soucy which created 39 seconds of 4 on 4, craig smith for hooking friedman, and laffy taffy for hooking wyatt's dad joe pavelski all in the first, esa lindell for cross checking garly, hronek for high sticking my blonde prince roope hintz (he got reprimanded for this), and our two fighting majors between the blue eyed menace mason marchment and ian! (mason got an extra minor for unsportsmanlike behavior) (ian was reprimanded for his hit against matt "dutchy" duchene that started the fight)

my best friend, quintin, pulled a jacky boy and fell over nothing! the conversation between the stars broadcasters went like this:

razor: "he was having a moment back there!"

bogo: "he was playing billiards off the bottom of the net to himself!"

razor: "well, he wiped out first!"

needless to say, i was laughing my ass off when i rewatched this game!

special shoutout to demmer for continuing his perfect win streak against the stars and getting his second shut out of the season! i’m so proud of you @/tdemko35 ! (for those who don't know, he has a 7-0-0 record and just gave otter his first regulation loss of the season :))

quinny, i’m going to publicly say i’m sorry that otter caught every one of your shots on goal <3 and i’m proud of your 25 minutes and 23 seconds of hard work tonight! i love you way past infinity💙 keep it up, buttercup!

p.s. dear wy, harls, and delly, thanks for the great time before the game tonight! i hope you loved your postgame goodie bags! i’ll see you boys december 21st! peace and love, new besties <3 @/t.harley48 @/wyattjohnston_ @/tydellandrea53

tagged _quinnhughes and wyattjohnston_

view all 218 comments

_quinnhughes i have so many grievances about this post... but i still love you way past beyond

yourusername i didn't say one bad thing about you!! just one little tease that i teased jack at the same!!

_quinnhughes i'm sharing my post!

yourusername neither broadcast gave me much to work with, quintin! just be glad you're in it

_quinnhughes get out of my house

yourusername fine! i’ll go to petey's!

_eliaspettersson @/yourusername let yourself in and i’ll be back soon

_quinnhughes @_eliaspettersson i was teasing! she's good! she's staying with me!

colecaufield @_quinnhughes quinn, your possessiveness is showing

_quinnhughes @/colecaufield i don't know what you're talking about

yourusername @_quinnhughes awww, you miss me! sap

_quinnhughes i can't win

user14 god DAMN that fifth pic of quinn has me acting up🥵🧎‍♀️

trevorzegras your stars obsession is so cute when you aren't rooting against me❤️ i love you, forever, my precious weirdo (what are you private thoughts on quinn not scoring on otter?) (come home, i miss you)

yourusername i love you, always, my lovingly crazy boy❤️ (i plead the fifth) (i’ll be there before the game!)

_quinnhughes (we all know she's secretly happy i didn't score against her actual favorite team)

yourusername @_quinnhughes (you can't prove shit)

t.harley48 @/yourusername (what is up with the parentheses?)

yourusername @/t.harley48 (it's for private conversations!)

t.harley48 @/yourusername (everyone can read them?)

trevorzegras @/t.harley48 (she's quirky and we love her)

t.harley48 @/trevorzegras (i’m a big fan of quirky)

yourusername @/t.harley48 (then you're welcome that i exist!)

trevorzegras @/t.harley48 (i repeat: she's quirky and we love her)

t.harley48 @/yourusername (thank you)

_quinnhughes @/t.harley48 (you caught on quick, good job)

tdemko35 thank you, y/n/n! my two shutout trophies will be displayed in my living room. i love you, too!

yourusername you are every so welcome, king! keep gobbling up those pucks like they're fruit snacks🫶

tdemko35 yes, ma'am🫡

_quinnhughes @/yourusername why

yourusername @_quinnhughes "why don't you just be yourself?... no one can help but admire your spirit" (collins 121).

_quinnhughes @/yourusername YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE THE HUNGER GAMES BOOK ON YOU

yourusername @_quinnhughes i had to phone a friend

trevorzegras @/yourusername i think i’m more than just a friend

yourusername @_quinnhughes i had to phone a friend with benefits

trevorzegras @/yourusername WE ARE ENGAGED

yourusername @_quinnhughes i had to phone a friend with a future tax deduction

_quinnhughes @/trevorzegras looks like you can't win either

trevorzegras @_quinnhughes i blame the stars

_quinnhughes @/trevorzegras me too

yourusername @/trevorzegras @_quinnhughes LEAVE THEM ALONE! THEY DIDN'T DO SHIT!

_quinnhughes @/yourusername you're right, they couldn't even score a goal

yourusername @_quinnhughes too soon, quintin. too. fucking. soon.

user21 wyatt's kinda...👀

user16 "and quinn was also there" sissy's keeping it real as always

wyattjohnston_ i’m honored to be a part of this, your majesty

yourusername i’m always happy to support my people! you deserve it!

wyattjohnston_ you're too kind!

tydellandrea53 @/yourusername and you're such a giver, princess! the guys all loved your postgame goodie bags

t.harley48 all hail the princess!

wyattjohnston_ all hail!

tydellandrea53 all hail!

trevorzegras @_quinnhughes what the fuck happened when these four met up before the game????

_quinnhughes @/trevorzegras i don't know i wasn't invited and i’m really glad about that right now

trevorzegras @/wyattjohnston_ @/t.harley48 @.tydellandrea53 send a disco ball emoji you need help

wyattjohnston_ @/trevorzegras we're good😂

tydellandrea53 @/trevorzegras we formed a gang

t.harley48 @/trevorzegras y/n's the princess, johnny is the duke, i'm the viscount, and delly asked to be a jester for some reason

tydellandrea53 damn right

trevorzegras @/yourusername you leave me for two days and decided to start a gang?! without me?!

yourusername @/trevorzegras no! delly started the gang! and just be happy you knew where i was this time!

wyattjohnston_ @/trevorzegras @/yourusername this time?

trevorzegras @/wyattjohnston_ she has a tendency to hop on a plane and not tell anyone where she's going

_quinnhughes @/wyattjohnston_ @/t.harley48 @.tydellandrea if she ever randomly shows up, do us a favor and tell one of us because there'll be a strong chance we didn't know she left

t.harley48 @_quinnhughes got it🫡

wyattjohnston_ @_quinnhughes will do

tydellandrea53 @_quinnhughes no promises

user27 sissy: ceo of "never let them know your next move"

_alexturcotte one fight wasn't enough for you? do you know how to be content?

yourusername nope

_alexturcotte at least you're honest

yourusername liars get their pants set on fire! the babies could get hurt!

_alexturcotte you make a great point, girly hughes!

jackhughes @_alexturcotte does she though?

_alexturcotte @/jackhughes she's carrying my future god child and their sibling. she could tell me that there's a new state and i’d tell her she's right

jackhughes @_alexturcotte sissy and z haven't officially named you as a god parent!

_alexturcotte @/jackhughes that's why i'm kissing ass!

yourusername @_alexturcotte the ass kissing is duly noted🤍

user91 i have been waiting for this post since the nhl dropped the game schedules

jackhughes @_quinnhughes do you want to ship sissy back to trevor yet?

_quinnhughes no i’m trying to keep her for the roadie

trevorzegras @_quinnhughes not happening

jamie.drysdale @_quinnhughes i'm already having withdrawal symptoms

_quinnhughes @/trevorzegras @/jamie.drysdale you two get her every day! i miss my sister

jackhughes @/trevorzegras @/jamie.drysdale @_quinnhughes lukey and i never get to see her! we want a turn!

lhughes_06 yeah! our turn!

colecaufield @/trevorzegras @/jamie.drysdale @_quinnhughes @/jackhughes @/lhughes_06 I DESERVE A TURN

_alexturcotte @/trevorzegras @/jamie.drysdale @_quinnhughes @/jackhughes @/lhughes_06 @.colecaufield ME FIRST! i’m pulling the ahl card! i get to see girly hughes less than any of you!

yourusername you're all a bunch of SAPS

[ecreau]

Our seventh Digimon has arrived! This line is completely chef’s kiss. I mean, it started with a cutesy pink squishy ball and evolved into an Angel. How amazing is that? But before we get to those incredible evolutions, let’s welcome Tokomon and Patamon!

These adorable Digimon are some of the most memorable designs in the series. Plus, I can’t believe that even though T.K. is in the same age bracket as me, I am still younger than him! I’ll post an age graph on my stories later. I also love that they continue to be part of the second batch of Digi-destined. I grew up with them~ :)

I hope (pun intended haha) you like my rendition of Tokomon and Patamon.

-

I hope you enjoyed my post today. See you tomorrow for more Digi content fun!

I also use a Digimon digital background. Credits to the source.

-

Please do not repost my artwork/design. Ask me first.

Thank you!⁠

-

“Beautiful Things Blossom”

[beginningobserver]

Ni attempts to insert Rui-Ukko in 02 TV Series: the post.

⚠This is a ROUGH draft and may change later. ALSO, IT MIGHT HAVE CANON REFERENCES TO THE MOVIE ELEMENTS, SO I DON'T RECOMMEND READING IT WITHOUT WATCHING 02TB FIRST!

Ok, so the idea here is... to put Rui-kun and Ukkomon in 02. I've tried to pick a route here, and it might change later.

Will be under [read more/keep reading] so you can avoid spoilers even if i tag it with the spoilers tag.

[CW: murder mention + body horror]

So far, I've drawn not one but TWO routes for this AU - one where nothing bad happens to Rui (or, if it does, it's the usual Adv/02 level of child trauma, not something that goes "over the kids' timeslot filters" like this movie does) and he gets to explore the Digital World with Ukkomon alongside the 02 group...

... And one where maybe the "eye thing" happens during the 02 events. Now if it is the same as in the canon and the movie or not, I have no idea yet. But I am still amusing myself with this one comic where the Kaiser is testing his evil rings on Rui because he has a digi-eye and... Yeah, check out the doodle for yourselves. 

Since I like both ideas I might mix them in one interquel plotline.

So Rui is the first Chosen Child, but this term hadn't been coined by the time of his encounter with Ukkomon. And Ukkomon helped Rui to get a better life, despite not having miraculous powers to grant wishes like he told Rui. Ukkomon’s tactic was just using Liar Dream on Rui’s mom and dad, to make them at least nicer to Rui.The part of the dad being in a deathbed status is also… uh, not here, but he’s still sick.

Ukkomon protected Rui from bullies as well, by using his mind-hijacking powers to drive them away. Despite both being bad at communicating with others, they do manage to get along. Rui still hates the same things as the canon, but more likely that he does not find them interesting (plus, the part of hating cake/sweets is about OVERLY sweet things and he prefers not-too-sweet stuff, or not-too-sweet fruits) yet he doesn’t seem to get courage to say them because he never had been listened by his own family. At this point, Ukkomon is not well aware of the difference between being legitimately happy and being just a bubbly kid. So… Ukkomon starts getting desperate trying to protect Rui’s smile from everything and going nuts (aka, “i can’t let him get sad or miserable!!” sort of thing, yes it’s basically what happened in canon too) and just… manipulating people with his mind-hijacking eye-stare technique.

Rui lives in Hikarigaoka, but going to the Digital World like everyone else, somehow his digivice – being the first model in the world – manages to get the access to the Digital Gate and he goes there to cool off and have fun with the digimon. It’s when he heard about this new menace called Digimon Kaiser. His digi-friends started to beg him and Ukkomon to help, but Rui says he can’t do much because Ukkomon cannot evolve and he’s afraid of fighting. Ukkomon also is clueless about how to evolve, he only knows more kids with digimon were appearing. Then, Ukkomon suggests trying to find those kids and ask them to help their digimon friends. Funny enough, the 02 kids + older six were already doing that.

In one of the offscreen attacks of the Kaiser’s army, Rui’s right eye gets hurt and Ukkomon starts panicking because this means Rui will be sad and upset so he just sacrifices his own right eye and slaps it in the boy’s face. Of course Rui hates that and snaps at him. Ukkomon feels it was all his fault and just disappears (actually, he kept around but invisible and without letting Rui know his presence). In the human world, Rui’s parents have absolutely no idea WHERE he is, so they start suddenly “caring” about him, tho they don’t go ask for help on TV or anything, they just stick with the police. The 02 kids are aware of a kid named Ohwada Rui going missing, but they think it’s nothing related to the Digital World or Ichijouji Ken/Digimon Kaiser.

Rui was having a hard time stuck in the Digital World though. He was alone, but he had the help of the local digimon refugees and survivors. This time he covered his digi-eye with an eye-patch so as not to attract the attention of the others. Somehow, the Kaiser hears about a human with a digimon eye and thinks it’s some skilled hacker “in-game” and sends his servants to search for Rui.

It was when, a few days before the Evil Spiral being made that he gets to spot the 02 kids looking for a digimon named “Agumon”. He never saw those kids– Wait a minute, he does remember seeing a boy with a Goku-like hair and a tiny girl with light brown short hair when he was a kid… Maybe they know him? (The answer is: not in person, Taichi and Hikari had passed by Rui while they lived in Hikarigaoka and until they moved to Odaiba, but none of them know each other)

Rui goes after those kids a few weeks later (around the episode Chimeramon project is almost finished), but he’s caught by the Digimon Kaiser, who was suspiciously aware of his “Digimon Eye”?! Ken just starts asking him real tough questions, thinking that kid is smart and a prodigy like him, but… Rui is just a simpleton. No offense, he’s not a genius or anything, he’s just an ordinary boy with a digimon eye and a digivice. Wormmon is scared about what that could mean, and Rui is not sure how to explain that the eye was slapped in his face against his will and that suddenly he got into a fight with his digimon and then Ukkomon just vanished and left him.

Since Rui had disappeared way before Ken decided to ditch the human world and live in the DW, he heard of a kid missing but he didn’t expect that the boy with a digimon eye from the rumors was Rui. He doesn’t feel like doing anything with Rui though, so he just throws Rui in the dungeon and focuses on the other kids. Rui has no idea if he could do something, and he feels like Ukkomon had just abandoned him and blames him for being hunted like an animal thanks to that eye.

Ken does hear Rui thru the speakers mentioning “something something if I had followed my mom’s orders I wouldn’t have been in trouble now” and he feels… empathetic for that kid? Is that possible? Ken doesn’t let Rui leave, but mysteriously his time inside his cell gets a little more… comfortable? He got a new pair of clean clothes and he’s receiving some decent meals now…? How??

One day Wormmon was feeling jealous of Ken getting some emotional attachment to that prisoner that he does the same thing he had done with Agumon: He opens the cell discreetly while Ken is not around looking at the cameras and lets Rui escape.

The 02 team and the Kaiser showdown happens normally, and Rui just appears in front of the 02 kids between the ep 22 and 24 events. The group catches him by accident because he was wearing a cape and hoodie to not call for peeps' attention and then Takeru immediately remembers seeing a kid who had disappeared mysteriously in the newspapers, way before Ken went insane.

Rui is not aware about that, but he feels like he cannot leave now because of that. The kids wonder what he means by that and he shows them the Digi-eye in his face. It makes them confused and question if he’s indeed human, but he tries to explain (this time) what happened, and that he got captured by the Digimon Kaiser for days and maybe months. The group is in doubt, but Daisuke tells them he trusts Rui. Hikari asks where’s Rui’s partner now and Rui pouts upset: We had a fight and he just vanished. The 02 group decide they should just help Rui to find Ukkomon, but Rui thinks Ukkomon might not want to talk to him anymore and then says Ukkomon was doing things he didn’t want to and didn’t like at all. Iori asks why he didn’t tell Ukkomon that, and Rui shuts in.

The 02 group’s digimon find that strange, because a digimon partner wouldn’t run away like that, right? Daisuke even mentions that Wormmon did not leave Ken’s side and even helped them to beat Chimeramon in order to rescue Ken from himself. The group agree, Ukkomon might still be around. Rui wonders how.

They had to stick along with the kid for a while, at least after school activities. The group ask Agumon and Gabumon to take a look at Rui for them (Rui is not happy with that idea but he has no options left) and then the digimon duo try to keep the boy comfortable. He’s NOT happy though.

Agumon asks what’s wrong and he just sulks, refuses to talk with Agumon or even Gabumon. Piyomon, Palmon, Gomamon and Tentomon come in and try to help the other two digimon to deal with that kid. Rui just keeps hating more and more being there and he wants to go home, but he knows that eye would make people claim he’s a FREAK and maybe things would be even worse now. Sadly, the older six’s digipartners are clueless and don’t feel like they can solve it. And Rui started to just blame the digimon in gen for his misfortune, making the six critters sad. He then just realizes he messed this up with them, and quickly tries to apologize. He tells them that Ukkomon really didn’t know him that well, and didn’t even know what he liked or wanted. Gabumon then says “Are you sure about that?” out of the blue.

Once Rui fell asleep, the six digimon noticed something hiding behind the trees and found Ukkomon, who was invisible this whole time (somehow) and kept protecting Rui in the shadows, though he was still upset with the boy’s statements and behavior. Piyomon asks why did he “leave” Rui behind and Ukkomon vents that he was getting frustrated about what to keep Rui happy and smiling. The other mons look at each other and then back to Ukkomon, who continues “He really needs me but he snapped when I tried to help him before'', making Gomamon comment that “giving your own eye to a human is not going to help him at all” and everyone agree. Ukkomon is unable to understand WHY this is wrong, and they had to say “If Rui slapped his own eye on Ukkomon out of the blue, to help him out, would he like that?” and Ukkomon took a while to give an answer. And the digimon didn’t want to think about a scenario where Rui is literally destroying himself either. But now Rui is mad and he’s having a tough time with that big eye in his face. Ukkomon feels ashamed for going off the rails. Palmon suggests that he go talk with Rui, but… Ukkomon also is bad at communicating so he just shuts in just like Rui.

The digimon reported it to Daisuke and co., and they just think those two need to be in the same room in order to deal with it themselves… But Daisuke refuses to turn his back on Rui and Ukkomon, so he just goes to talk with the boy.

Daisuke asks Rui why he didn’t tell Ukkomon that he didn’t like some things Ukkomon was doing and Rui just feels like he’s getting scolded by his mom. Daisuke continues, “You have to tell what’s bothering you or else nobody will get your feelings right,” and Rui just argues back “If I told Ukkomon he wasn’t helping me at all he would lose his reason to exist.”

The digimon and the kids are confused: Does Rui think the digimon are just servant familiars? Something similar to Ken believing the DW and the digimon were a game?

Rui explains that Ukkomon came to him to make his wishes come true, but his partner had no idea what he likes or needs, so he kept quiet accepting everything like he was used to – His mother was the one to decide his favorite things, and if he said something otherwise she would claim he’s an ungrateful kid. So not even he knows what he needs or what he likes.

Daisuke sighs and then tells Rui that Ukkomon did all of those things because Ukkomon likes him, and doesn’t know how to help him. V-mon sneaks into the convo and asks Rui “Do you know what Ukkomon likes and what he hates anyway?” and it makes Rui just realize something he and Ukkomon were not communicating. Yes he had been watching things by distance and those kids and their digimon had a better understanding of each others’ personalities, likes and dislikes, traits and flaws…Something he and Ukkomon's partnership had been lacking all along.

Ukkomon was hearing that convo, still invisible for them all. A little pouty because he was still hurt by Rui’s actions.  However, the eye made Rui notice Ukkomon was nearby and he called for his digimon. Ukkomon felt no reason to keep hiding and just popped in front of them, still missing his eye. Rui then speaks with his heart for the first time and asks Ukkomon to let them start from zero, and to learn more about each other. Ukkomon agrees, and asks what Rui wishes for and the boy answers he doesn’t need anything else. And Ukkomon in return said he didn’t know how to help Rui and assumed that the boy’s smile meant Rui was happy so he tried to prevent anything bad from happening in order to keep Rui happy and smiling even if it meant to do some… wrong things. The group ask “Which ‘wrong things’??” and Ukkomon reveals he can control people’s minds and had been using it on people. He feared that Rui would hate him, but… Rui was only disappointed that this meant nobody liked him for real.

Ukkomon doesn’t agree with that statement, and thinks there’s people who care and like Rui for real. And then mentioned the digimon they met and the older six’s digimon, also Daisuke and the others right there. Rui takes a moment to agree with that, and then he asks Ukkomon if he could get his eye back. Daisuke asks why Ukkomon gave his eye to Rui before, and Ukkomon says Rui got hurt in the middle of a digimon attack. Miyako suggests them to take Rui to the hospital after Ukkomon “returned” Rui’s injured eye (= he just removed the digi-eye just like magic and the real eye, hidden by the other one, just reappeared in Rui’s face)

The kids and their digimon go back to the human world and then Rui asks to be taken to his relatives instead. Everyone asks why and he says that they are the only ones able to talk with his parents at the moment. Ukkomon offers to use his power on Rui’s parents again, but Rui himself tells Ukkomon to not. He can handle this, he will ask his cousin and her parents to help him out. No one, not even Mr. Ishida argued with him, since they thought it could be a delicate subject that maybe having one or two peeps who care about Rui enough could help there.

Rui gets to talk with his relatives and explain everything to them (with the help of the 02 kids, Taichi, Koushiro and Mr. Ishida, of course, after Rui and Ukkomon explained to them hours ago) and they didn’t know how to break the news that… Rui’s parents had died while he went missing. Rui was in shock, just like all the others who came to give him support, and now they all plus Rui’s relatives were there to help him to deal with the loss. Ukkomon wonders if it was his fault, but he does not tell anyone, and he continues to bottle it up. He wasn’t around to make sure they would be fine… Right? His power wouldn’t be that strong to KILL humans, R I G H T ? !

Rui and Ukkomon get to meet Ken and Wormmon again on ep 39 events. But before that, he and Ukkomon spend their own time trying to get to know each other and find a way to use Ukkomon’s powers for good and not for selfish purposes. Since Ukkomon cannot evolve, they thought it would be better to not get involved with the digimon battles happening around (and again) – Though this made him emotionally exhausted: Why are the digimon trying to attack this world…? Why are they fighting those kids and their partners? Ukkomon himself doesn’t know either, but he believes they could get the answers from his higher-ups.

Rui wonders what kind of higher-ups would Ukkomon have, he just remembers Ukkomon briefly mentioning them before. Ukkomon then suggests going to the DW and looking for Homeostasis’ agents and talking to them. Rui doesn’t know what those agents look like, or why someone would be named ‘Homeostasis’ to begin with. Ukkomon doesn’t know how to answer those questions so he reinforces the idea of going to look for them.

Once they’re on their mission, Rui asks Ukkomon: “Wait, if you’re connected to something greater, couldn’t you simply contact them and call for help?” Ukkomon blinks those big green eyes and admits he didn’t think about that before. Rui glances at him, unamused by that answer.

The truth is, Ukkomon doesn’t know how to call for his higher-ups. But Rui just got a dumb idea of… pressing a few buttons on his digivice. Ukkomon feels this would be hilarious if they could summon someone like that…

And then they casually pass by Gennai, who was heading back from his encounter with Qinglongmon. Yup. Ukkomon and Rui look at each other for a moment, and ask if they did that or not. Ukkomon points out that that ‘human-like’ lifeform is one of Homeostasis’ agents. Rui notices he’s carrying an orb. They follow Gennai but SUDDENLY that ‘person’ disappeared?!

Ukkomon wonders where that agent has gone and Rui thinks maybe they should go home and try another time… Until they spot a long silver haired woman in a dress and purple shades with a tall man in a blue uniform. Ukkomon can definitely sense that woman and man are not… humans at all, and then he and Rui decide to follow them, returning to the human world. 

Huh?! Why were those digimon– Hey, they’re in Tamachi now?? And there’s a digimon running amok. He notices a boy with a familiar digimon before trying to get people out of there and protect themselves, but the Dark Tower prevents Wormmon from evolving and Ken is not very happy with that at all. The wild Triceramon running around and causing havoc hits a traffic pole and it comes into Ken’s direction, BUT! Ukkomon and Rui appear, and Ukkomon uses his tentacles coming from his fingers to catch the pole before it hits Ken. Wormmon immediately recognizes Rui, and Ken’s a little awkward around that kid. Wormmon sees Ukkomon and also recognizes those eyes, but Ukkomon and Rui had no time to explain, nor Ken and Wormmon have time to hear a long story right now. Ken asks Rui to simply escort the people around the area for them, and the other just agrees but says he’s worried about Ken and Wormmon, who just tell him they will be fine.

Rui and Ukkomon then leave the area, searching for anyone else in the middle of Triceramon’s rampage. A few hours later, he and Ukkomon witness a strong and powerful aura coming from the beam hitting something in the area he and Ukkomon were with Ken before, and then they witness Imperialdramon dragon mode for the first time in their lives. 

A few days passed and then Rui did not hear about Daisuke or Ken or the digimon for a while. But he and Ukkomon try contacting the alleged “higher-ups’ Ukkomon talked about. This time they manage to get in touch with Gennai personally and start asking some questions. As usual, not even Gennai or the Holy Beasts know why digimon partnerships are happening, or why the evil digimon are attacking the human world. Rui comments this was pointless, and then he believes it was all his fault because of that wish he made in 1996 on his birthday, Feb 29. Gennai says it’s unlikely to be because of him and that he was just the first of them.

Ukkomon comments about hearing someone saying “something something you’re the first attempt with this experiment” and Rui snaps “So am I a guinea pig for the digi-gods?!” Gennai stares at Ukkomon, and sighs. He explains that it might not mean something in a heartless sense, that the human and digimon partnerships started because of a peculiar encounter of a Koromon and a pair of human siblings prior to 1996. Then, Gennai asks him if he had witnessed a digimon before meeting Ukkomon and Rui takes a moment to think. He then mentions seeing a giant orange dinosaur and a big parrot fighting when he was 3 years old, but he thought it was just a crazy dream he had after watching something before falling asleep. Gennai then reveals that it wasn’t a dream, and that Rui had been chosen as the first to form a bond with a digimon because of it. And that Rui has been observed to be in the need of someone to love and protect him.

He realizes that… Ukkomon did save him from the bad parenting life he was living. He was just a BABY and couldn't even accidentally wet his pants or bed sheets like other kids his age, or reject stuff his mom wanted him to like and claimed to be “his favorite”. Ukkomon agrees, but still feels that using that technique on Rui’s parents might be the reason they had died. Rui tries to tell him it wasn’t his fault, it couldn’t be true, RIGHT?? Ukkomon begs for Rui’s pardon, but the boy still does not get it at all. Gennai then tells Ukkomon to leave it as it is, for better or for worse. Rui also did not get that either.

After talking with Gennai, Rui returns home with Ukkomon and then the news on TV is about a few children disappearing out of nowhere, just like him. He then learns that Ken also went missing before, and mused if it was around the time Ken was the Kaiser. Again, he couldn’t do anything so he only hoped for the best.

It was only when the truck headed to Hikarigaoka that he decided to do something. But he and Ukkomon just witnessed the Jogress digimon sealing Daemon in the Dark Ocean. The police were nearby taking care of the kidnapped kids and the now abandoned truck, so he couldn’t approach that area at all. The only 02 group member Rui and Ukkomon meet is Takeru, who was looking for a safe spot to evolve Patamon into Pegasusmon and head home. Rui asks Takeru what happened and if the kidnapped kids were related to something about the digimon attacks recently and he explains a brief version of the current events. Ukkomon wonders why someone would kidnap children like that.

They later learn, from Daisuke, that the kidnapped children now have digimon data inside their bodies. And then Rui is assigned to keep an eye on one of them who might be from the area where he and his relatives live. With Ukkomon’s unique abilities like sneaking into places or being invisible, Rui could help them to keep watching the dark seed kids, even if he doesn’t understand what’s happening that much.

But he couldn't do much, and in the end his efforts were in vain because of what happened on New Year's Eve. Rui wanted to do more, and he in fact did go to the Digital World for that final battle, and helped them out like the rest of the Chosen Children around the world. But that whole action might have caused a MASS PANIC in the human world because children are disappearing en masse for a few hours?!

BelialVamdemon is beaten, everyone returns home. Fin.

So far this is all I got for it, and idk how to do the post-series stuff (movies and drama CDs) or the Epilogue part so I’ll just stop here for now. Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed my dummy Hacker’s Memory-esque idea (or Lion King 1 ½ lol) and I might draw more stuff with this whole setting. (☞ﾟヮﾟ)☞

[tobiasdrake]

Digimon Adventure 01x10 - Kentarumon, the Defender / A Clue from the Digi Past

Previously on Digimon Adventure: It was so cold. So unbearably cold. Unbelievably cold. Facing down hypothermia and impossibly low temperatures, Taichi and Yamato were able to solve their problems through judicious application of more snow.

Now we turn our attention to another pair of kids, separated from the others by the fracturing of File Island.

Today's episode opens with Mimi and Koushiro's beds descending into the fractured island shards. In the dub, Izzy offers us some narration to coax us through shots of the beds descending.

Izzy: Tentomon, I would say we're traveling at a very high speed, plummeting toward an unidentified island! And, uh... crash landing is imminent! Tentomon: Try to think of it as if we're just hitting the beach!

XD That one got me. Inappropriate time for dark puns, Tentomon.

Upon landing in the midst of a tropical jungle, Mimi and Palmon discuss where to go from here.

Mimi: Where are we? Palmon: Since we were blown away so suddenly, I can't be sure. But I think this is a jungle. Mimi: Well, even I know that. What will happen to us now? Palmon: I don't know, but we should try looking for someone in the meantime. Mimi: Yeah, you're right! There has to be someone close by.

It's a pretty basic dialogue exchange. We don't know where we are and we're separated from the others; Let's go looking.

A perfect time for the dub to spice things up with some goofs.

Mimi: Oh no, humidity! Palmon: Yeah, some kind of tropical rainforest but not one I'm familiar with. It all happened so fast. Where are we? Mimi: Have you any idea what humidity does to my hair!? It goes all poodle-ey. Not a pretty sight. Palmon: Uhhh, perhaps we ought to look around and see if we can find any of the others. Mimi: Yeah! Let's go! Maybe we can at least find some air conditioning or something.

Unfortunately, per usual, that means playing Mimi off as lacking perspective and not understanding the situation she's in. I like Mimi complaining about the humidity; It's the last line, where she's expressly more concerned with fixing her hair than finding safety or her friends, that bugs me.

Meanwhile, Koushiro finds his way to an interesting ruin. Tentomon notices Koushiro's interest and tries to urge him to move along; Finding their friends should be the priority. But Koushiro tells him no; He thinks if he studies these ruins, he may learn information that could be useful later on. As Koushiro enters the ruins, Tentomon reluctantly follows his Partner.

Meanwhile, Mimi finds a bunch of bananas hanging from a tree! Excited, she asks Palmon to retrieve them - though Palmon struggles with the unfamiliar word "banana", which should probably be Mimi's first warning that this isn't about to go well.

Overjoyed, Mimi exclaims:

Mimi: I haven't had food that actually looks like food in a long time!

That's depressing. We're on Day 6 of File Island and the emergency rations were only going to last 1-2 days after they started feeding the Digimon too, so that checks out.

Dub Mimi has her own plans for the bananas.

Mimi: I was really starved! Now we can pretend we're having banana splits!

I don't think Palmon knows what that is but good on you for keeping positive!

Tragically, when Mimi goes to open the banana, she discovers that there's nothing inside the peel. The whole bunch is nothing but empty peels. Palmon bites one of the peels in half and reports that it's surprisingly good, but Mimi isn't having it. She yells out in frustration and then sulks next to the poop that fell off the tree.

Wait, what?

"Is that hair mousse?" ~Dub Mimi trying very hard to censor the obvious poop on the ground.

The poop, it seems, came from these two lunkheads. Palmon IDs them as Scumon (the yellow one) and Chuumon (the mouse). The dub refers to the former as Sukamon, based on a different romanization of the kanji that forms his name. But you can clearly it pronounced "Scum-mon".

From there, the narrator gives us the rundown on Scumon, but not Tyuumon. He's an Adult-stage Virus-type Digimon. His name, of course, derives from the word "scum".

Narrator: Scumon. He's shaped like a sparkling golden poop. Because he has no talents of his own, the smaller Chuumon acts as his brain.

For her rundown, Dub Palmon avoids the poop conversation but otherwise conveys the same idea.

Palmon: Sukamon and his mouse buddy are always together because they share the same teeny-tiny brain.

She also IDs Sukamon and Chuumon as "Sukamon and Chuumon, also known as the Digi-Losers", so apparently in the dub they have a reputation for being pathetic. Meanwhile, Dub Mimi calls Sukamon a "talking dessert", which is probably the grossest possible way to disguise him being a poop.

Scumon attacks, hopping across tree branches and hurling poops down at Mimi and Palmon. Mimi flees at first, but then she loses her temper and whips around to confront the pair.

Mimi demands to know what this is about, and Scumon explains that she's being robbed. He orders her to turn over all of her belongings. Naturally, Mimi refuses, so the assault renews.

Fleeing from the disgusting onslaught, Mimi tries to take cover behind a tree. The dub adds this line:

Mimi: That's it, I give up! I want to see the camp therapist!

Which is gold. Absolutely. Therapy for Mimi. Therapy for all of these children.

It's there that Scumon seizes his moment, sliding quietly down a tree to sneak up on her.

Scumon grabs the strap of Mimi's purse to take it from her, but his hand touches her Digivice in the process. Light erupts from the Digivice, blanketing Scumon and Chuumon.

The light seems to have done something to Scumon and Chuumon,

Scumon: My heart somehow feels refreshed! Chuumon: Very refreshed! Mimi: Well, we're not refreshed at all! Scumon: I feel like I've turned into a good poop! Chuumon: Good one! Good one! Mimi: (skeptically) I wonder if that's true. Palmon: Let me ask: Have you seen any humans around here? Scumon: Humans? Mimi: (gestures to Mimi) Something that looks like her. Scumon: (considers) Oh! Yes! Mimi: You saw them!? Scumon: It was far off so I can't be sure but I saw something like you and a Tentomon fall in the Ancient Dino Region. Mimi: Really!? If Tentomon was there, that must mean Koushiro-kun is there too! Palmon: But have you really become good Digimon now? Scumon: (dismissive) Yeah right, ahahaha! Palmon: You don't deny it!? Chuumon: At the very least, we feel like being good right now! Palmon: Then take us to the Ancient Dino Region.

Virus-types gonna Virus-type but at least they're feeling helpful. They're going to take us to Tentomon and Koushiro!

Meanwhile, in the dub:

Chuumon: That's better than chewing tin foil! Sukamon: I feel all tingly and refreshed, like a whole new person! Chuumon: Yeah! We're a whole new person! Mimi: Is this one as much of a pain as the last one!? Sukamon: No, really! We'll be nice from now on! Really! Mimi: So you'll leave us alone? Palmon: Wait! First, tell us if you've seen any other humans around here. Sukamon: Any what? Palmon: (gestures to Mimi) Creatures that look like this one! Sukamon: Uhh.... Chuumon: Well, as a matter of fact! Sukamon: Oh, yeah! I forgot! Mimi: Tell me! Sukamon: Well, it wasn't nearly as pretty as you are, of course. But we saw something fall into the old ruins with a Tentomon! Mimi: So when were you planning on telling us!? Next week!? They must have seen Izzy too, Palmon! Palmon: Listen, you two: Can you take us there? It's important that we find him. Sukamon: Sure! Okey-dokey! Palmon: No funny business! Sukamon: Cross our heart. Chuumon: And hope to die! Palmon: Well, of all the absolutely ridiculous things to say.

The bit about being a good poop is removed, of course. But in its place, we have the "chewing tin foil" line and an assertion that Koushiro cannot rival Mimi in prettiness.

Though, between the two endings to this conversation, Scumon and Chuumon responding to "Are you really good Digimon?" with "LOL NO but we're cool right now!" is my favorite.

Scumon and Chuumon lead the way to the Ancient Dino Region. There's. Uh. There's one small problem.

It's on a different shard.

While Mimi and Palmon contemplate how to solve this problem, Scumon and Chuumon reveal their true motives for being so helpful.

Mimi: Do we have to jump to get over there? Palmon: That's really scary. Chuumon: Hey, are you happy we helped you? Mimi: Yeah.... Scumon: Then, as thanks for helping, let's go on a date! (blows kiss) Mimi: YOU MUST BE JOKING!!! Palmon: (Poison Ivy's the other side) LET'S GO!!! GRAB ON!!! (Palmon swings them across to the other shard) Scumon: ...she left. Mimi: (cries) This keeps happening. I hate it. Scumon: (calling across) Let's meet again some time! Mimi: NO WAY!!! (akanbe)

For real, this does keep happening.

The dub version plays it this way:

Mimi: How are we supposed to get over there? Chuumon: You're the one with the big hat; You think of something! A gorgeous girl like you must have a big brain! Mimi: (sarcastic) Thanks a lot. Really. Sukamon: Before you go, maybe you'd give us a big Thank You kiss, huh? (blows kiss) Mimi: OH, PLEASE TELL ME THEY'RE KIDDING!!! Palmon: (Poison Ivy's the other side) CLIMB ABOARD QUICKLY!!! (Palmon swings them across to the other shard) Scumon: (sigh) Maybe we jumped the gun. Mimi: Ugh. Blegh. Just the thought of that kiss is making me queasy. Scumon: (calling across) That's okay! We'll wait 'til you come back! Mimi: Don't hold your breath! (akanbe)

The dub version doesn't hit quite the same intensity, but it still works. Losing the setup of Palmon being afraid to jump across costs it a bit, as we don't have that contrast for the "CLIMB ON LET'S GTFO" punchline. Palmon didn't want to make that jump, but she found her courage fast once this turned gross.

The biggest loss in the dub version is the callback to the Numemon earlier. Mimi has been on File Island for six days and been harassed twice now; She deserves to vent about it.

Meanwhile, Koushiro explores the ruin and discovers one of Devimon's Black Gears moving their shard. He speculates that he can make the shard stop moving if he can disable the Gear.

Koushiro: If I can stop this, I'm sure the island will stop moving. Tentomon: Even if that's the case, we aren't enough to stop this large thing. Let's leave it and go look for the others.

Continuing his efforts to convince Koushiro that finding their friends is more important, Tentomon tries to get clever with it. Playing on logistics to try and weasel Koushiro out of this ruin.

Dub Tentomon, on the other hand, sees no value in passive-aggression when aggressive-aggression is right there.

Izzy: You know what I think? If we keep this gear from turning, we'll completely jam that creep up! Tentomon: Or even better, we could not do that! Wouldn't that be fun? And then we can go look for the others like we should have done in the first place!

"Jam that creep up"? Izzy, what does that even mean?

Sadly for Tentomon, Koushiro next gets invested in the data code printed on the walls. It's the same characters as the code from the factory.

Koushiro: I inputted all that data I found then on my computer... If I could just find a power source.... Tentomon: You won't find something convenient like that here! Let's hurry up and go look for everyone.

Tentomon takes another swing. This too misses but at least he tried.

Meanwhile, his Dub Counterpart is at his wit's end.

Izzy: All that data is stored on my hard drive. If only there was a power source here.... Tentomon: Get a power source! Stop the Gear! Is "find our friends" on that list!?

Either way, no dice. Koushiro observes that the ruin has electric lighting, then follows that train of logic until he finds exactly what he needs.

(Sure, an electrical outlet sticking out of a tree root is weird, but at this point, Koushiro doesn't even question it. It's File Island. Shit's like that here.)

To Tentomon's supreme dismay, Koushiro is able to turn on his laptop. He sits down to start deciphering these symbols.

Fortunately, even if they can't go looking for their friends, their friends can come to them.

Mimi also tries to convince Koushiro that searching for the rest of their group is imperative, but he refuses. He thinks that making sense of this data will be the key to understanding File Island and its mysteries.

With nothing else to do, Mimi's left to sit with Tentomon and wait impatiently for him to finish his computer stuff. It's not clear how much time passes, but a transitory wipe tells us that this is some time later.

Mimi: How long are you going to keep doing this? Koushiro: ... Mimi: Will something good happen if you find out what that is? Koushiro: ... Tentomon: Koushiro-han, Mimi-han is talking to you. Mimi: Hey, do we get to go home if you find out what that is? Koushiro: ...well-- Ah! I see! This goes here.... (Mimi stands up impatiently) Tentomon: (panicking) Koushiro-han! Mimi: Are you listening!? When are you going to be done!? Koushiro: ... (Mimi begins to pop a vein from fury) Koushiro: Ah! This is.... (The data on his screen turns into a map of the labyrinth) The ruins are a maze! Mimi: KOUSHIRO, YOU IDIOT!!!

It's at this moment that Mimi breaks down and starts bawling. Full-on ugly crying. Palmon watches Mimi for a moment, then joins in and starts crying too.

In the dub, we have:

Mimi: Izzy, any idea how long this is going to take? I mean, can we go sometime before winter sets in!? Izzy! Tentomon: Izzy, your friend is asking you a question. Mimi: Yeah, and her rear end's getting cold sitting on this stone floor doing nothing! Izzy: Hmm? Oh! Wait... Wait! Yeah, yeah! That might work! (Mimi stands up impatiently) Tentomon: Uh-oh. Izzy! Mimi: Are you ignoring me, you computer geek pipsqueak!? Izzy: (muttering to himself) Okay, so if I make the variable constant and search for file patterns... (Mimi begins to pop a vein from fury) Izzy: HEY! Here's something! (The data on his screen turns into a map of the labyrinth) Prodigious! These ruins are a gigantic maze! Mimi: I'M LEAVING!!! RIGHT NOW!!!

Similar to Taichi and Yamato's fistfight from last episode, both Mimi and Koushiro are sympathetic here and yet we can see how their characteristics are hurting each other.

The start of this exchange flows better in Japanese; There are pauses inserted between Mimi's questions to give Koushiro space to ignore her. In English, she never stops talking so we don't get to see for ourselves that her words are falling on deaf ears.

Nonetheless, there's good bits in both versions. I like the Japanese "Do we get to go home if you find out what that is?" and the English "[My] rear end's getting cold sitting on this stone floor doing nothing!"

Both of these remarks do a good job of conveying Mimi's problem with Koushiro's behavior; Like Taichi and the other side of the ocean, we're in the most dire crisis situation we've been in yet, and he's more interested in satisfying his curiosity than in the wellbeing of his fellow survivors. He doesn't even know what he expects to find here; Just. Something. Anything. Whatever the wall has to offer, honestly; He's not picky.

In conclusion, Koushiro made my kid cry so he needs to die the death of a thousand knives I AM A FAIR AND IMPARTIAL--

At the same time, maybe this is the key to cracking that Black Gear. We'll never know until we find out, right? As easy as it is to sympathize with Tentomon and with Mimi, it's as easy to sympathize with Koushiro. He's trying to concentrate on deciphering a computer code that has already demonstrated its influence over reality in the past, and we're making that harder.

They may not get into a knock-down brawl, but Mimi and Koushiro hurt each other. They struggle to see each other's point of view until it hits a breaking point.

Well, this escalated. Tentomon puts in his best effort to try and calm things down.

Tentomon: P-please don't cry! (turning to Koushiro) Koushiro-han! Koushiro: Y-your crying is bothersome. Tentomon: Koushiro-han, do something! Koushiro: Do what? Mimi: I'm hungry! I'm thirsty! I want to see everyone again! I don't want to stay in here any longer! Palmon: Me neither! Why are you ignoring us, Koushiro? Koushiro: I'm not ignoring you. Palmon: Then why aren't you listening to us? Koushiro: What's important right now is analyzing this data. You might not understand now but ultimately this will be very useful to Mimi-san and-- Mimi: No more! I hate you, Koushiro-kun! Palmon: You're not doing this for Mimi! You just like working with machines more, don't you! Koushiro: No, that's not true. Palmon: It's true, it has to be!

In total meltdown mode, Mimi flees from the room, but the door she exits from leads deeper into the ruin rather than outside. Tentomon flies after her to try and calm her down, leaving Palmon with Koushiro.

The dub seems a little more sympathetic to all sides of this altercation. Well, except Palmon.

Tentomon: Oh, don't cry, Mimi! (Palmon starts crying) Oh no, not you too! (turns to Izzy) Izzy, do something! Izzy: Do what!? My laptop can't do everything! Tentomon: I don't know! Tell her you're sorry! Izzy: Sorry for what!? Mimi: I can't take it anymore! I haven't had anything to eat and my feet are killing me and a giant lemon custard tried to kiss me and all I want to do is get out of here! Palmon: We just want to leave; Is that so wrong!? Honestly, Izzy, how can you be so insensitive!? Izzy: Insensitive!? What do you mean!? Palmon: You ignore us while you poke away at your computer. Izzy: I'm not ignoring you! I'm doing something ultra-important like maybe saving this world! If I can just decipher these hieroglyphs then maybe we could-- Mimi: Just keep your stupid hieroglyphics! Palmon: You just like playing on your computer, that's all! Izzy: You think I'm just playing around here!? Palmon: I almost think you like computers more than people!

Mimi, Izzy, and Tentomon all walk away from this dub with something extra. For Mimi, they rope in the context of her Sukamon encounter earlier leaving her high-strung and stressed out, to make her blow-up feel more understandable.

Tentomon offers more helpful suggestions than "Do something!", specifically encouraging Izzy to apologize to Mimi.

For Izzy, they cut out the line where he expressly calls Mimi bothersome and have him heroically claim that this research is meant to save Digi-World. In the original, all he's said on the matter of his motives is that he wants to understand this world's mysteries.

Everyone comes off a little rosier for these changes except for Palmon; Her new dialogue is a lateral shift.

Fleeing blindly into the labyrinth, Mimi trips over a tree root and falls flat on her face. Tentomon flies in after her, trying to help. But she is inconsolable, screaming that she wants to go home and running deeper inside.

Outside the ruins, Palmon and Koushiro search for them. Realizing they aren't out here, the only alternative is deeper inside. That's a problem, given what Koushiro learned earlier: These ruins are a huge maze. If Mimi and Tentomon went deeper in, they might never come back out.

Mimi calms down offscreen, and she and Tentomon begin to find their way together. The sight of a familiar marking on the wall, however, reveals that they're going in circles.

Back out front, Palmon wants to go in after Mimi, but Koushiro talks her out of it. She'd get lost too.

Though it's a bit more dangerous in the original version.

Koushiro: It looks like there are many traps set up inside this maze. Unless I finish this data analysis, we'll both get lost with them.

Whereas in the dub, he has this to say:

Izzy: We won't [leave them] but this is one super-complicated maze. I've gotta try to get a handle on it! Then maybe I can help get them out.

No mention of the traps; Only that it's complicated.

I like that the original expressly mentions finishing his data analysis, as that directly connects back to what he was saying about this research helping Mimi-san. The story's conspired to put Palmon in a situation where the way to save Mimi is by letting Koushiro complete his work.

Meanwhile, in the maze, a rock falls on Mimi's head because today doesn't suck enough yet.

This provokes her to vent about Koushiro.

Mimi: Owww.... Tentomon: Are you okay, Mimi-han? Mimi: That, and all of this, is Koushiro-kun's fault! Really! The way he ignores people makes me so mad! Tentomon: Well, it's true that Koushiro-han lacks charm, but he's not a bad boy! Mimi: But it's true that in his eyes, I'm not a consideration! Tentomon: When he gets caught up in something, he just doesn't notice anything else! I think he's a really good guy.

Tentomon, I don't think roundabout agreeing with her is the way to convince her that Koushiro's better than she thinks.

The dub keeps the falling rock but uses the vagueness of where it landed on her hat to spare her the impact.

Mimi: Great! Tentomon: Oh, dear! Are you hurt? Mimi: No, I'm fine. I'm getting used to it by now! (angrily muttering) If I'd just gone to cheerleading camp, none of this would have happened! Tentomon: Let's try a systematic approach to this. Maybe if we just keep turning to the left.... Mimi: Why should I listen to you? It's your friend Izzy that got me into this mess in the first place! Tentomon: Wait, don't be too hard on him! Yes, he gets a little wrapped up on his work and doesn't always interact well with others but he's a good boy!

...cheerleading camp for fourth-graders? Is that a thing? I'm not going to google that.

Tentomon's flailing to find a way to defend Koushiro in both versions. His arguments boil down to, "Yes, Koushiro sucks in the ways you describe, but I like him anyway!" I'm glad Koushiro isn't here to hear himself defended this poorly. XD

It's hard for Tentomon because he isn't equipped to win this argument. He agrees with Mimi, so what defenses can be made of Koushiro's choices aren't arguments Tentomon can make. He was saying the same things to Koushiro before Mimi arrived. But he wants to defend Koushiro anyway because that's his Partner. They have an emotional bond.

Speaking of which....

Koushiro finishes his analysis, activating new functionality on his map. Now he has a glowing dot revealing Mimi's precise location within the labyrinth, which he can click on to hear her and Tentomon.

Reasoning that an audio channel should work both ways, he takes out a headset and plugs it in. Calling out to Mimi, Koushiro offers to guide her through the maze. Palmon backs him up, assuring Mimi that he can handle this. Mimi accepts Koushiro's guidance.

As Koushiro guides her through, suddenly a yellow blinking dot appears, slowly approaching Mimi's red dot. Uncertain of what that could be, Koushiro tells Mimi to run.

It takes no time at all for the yellow dot to reveal himself to Mimi.

Kentarumon, an Adult-stage Data-type Digimon. His name is derived from the word "centaur", obviously. The narrator gives us his rundown.

Narrator: Kentarumon. A proud Digimon who is half-man, half-beast. With high pressure air spurting from his back, he can move at the speed of sound.

Kentarumon himself is another voiceless Digimon given dialogue in the dub, which also pronounces his name with a soft C sound instead of a hard K.

Centarumon: Tentomon? It's been such a long time! Tentomon: Oh no! Centarumon! Half-man, half-horse! You really don't want to get on either of his bad sides!

This dub exchange implies a bit of a history; Centarumon recognizes Tentomon on sight, but Tentomon reacts to Centarumon with fear and trepidation before even knowing about his Black Gear.

Fleeing from Kentarumon, Koushiro directs them into a dead end. They don't understand, but when they try to ask him about it, he's gone. We cut back to his laptop and mic lying on the ground, abandoned by Koushiro and Palmon.

Kentarumon approaches, converting his arm into a cyberpunk pulse cannon. He can't call it because he doesn't speak, but this is his signature move: Hunting Cannon.

(Seems like overkill for hunting but, then again, I've seen the wildlife on this island so maybe not.)

Kentarumon misses his first shot, breaking open a chunk of the wall and letting light spill in. Mimi desperately asks Tentomon to evolve, but he can't; Not without Koushiro.

Fortunately, he won't be without Koushiro for long. Leaving the computer behind and taking action, Koushiro and Palmon break down the weak outer wall in the room he sent Mimi too.

And now it's a fight. Palmon evolves into Togemon to protect Mimi from Kentarumon. Tentomon also evolves, but this decision is... questionable.

Room ain't big enough for Kabuterimon. His size increase also ends up pushing Togemon over, nearly killing Koushiro.

Bad choices were made. Fortunately, Kentarumon fixes it by blasting everyone through the wall and sending them outside. Once they're free to move, this fight is over in an instant.

A combination Chiku Chiku Bang-Bang and Mega Blaster hit Kentarumon hard enough to destroy his Black Gear. Easy as pie.

As with most corrupted Digimon, the act of being corrupted messed with Kentarumon's linguistics in the original. Once he wakes up, he's able to speak. He recognizes the Digivice on Mimi's bag and brings the kids back inside the ruins, officially introducing us to the device the kids have had on them for so long.

Kentarumon explains the Digivices to Koushiro and Mimi, though he doesn't have much information to offer beyond vague gesturing at goodness.

It's a holy device that "guides the world towards light while driving out the darkness". We've seen that in action a few times by this point, but it's good to have it finally put into words. These ruins are dedicated to the Digivice, with Kentarumon as their guardian.

He doesn't have time to say any more, because they have a visitor.

Kentarumon demands an explanation for the weird shit Leomon's saying. But Leomon goes straight to work, lunging for the kids and firing off his Juuouken. Kentarumon blocks his shot, refusing to let Leomon attack these children.

Kentarumon: These children hold the holy devices. After protecting these ruins for so long, it is now my duty to also protect these children!

Leomon breaks free from Kentarumon and fires off his Juuouken, but Kentarumon darts away from the shot and returns fire with Hunting Cannon. This exchange lets the dub officially name both of these attacks: Fist of the Beast King and Solar Ray.

Leomon tanks Kentarumon's Hunting Cannon, then returns fire with a point-blank Juuouken to the face. His shot puts Kentarumon down for the count.

Well, that's settled. Nothing left to do but kill the children.

Leomon advances on the kids. Mimi shrieks, raising her purse to hide behind. In the process, activating her Digivice attached to the purse strap and shining its purifying light on Leomon.

Seeing Leomon falter, Koushiro understands. He grabs his Digivice and encourages Mimi, and together they drive Leomon away.

"Bad kitty! Out! Go on, out!" ~Dub Mimi, in what may be the best line of the episode.

Leomon retreats, allowing the kids to regroup with Kentarumon.

Mimi: Did he run away? I guess we're saved. Koushiro: Is this the power of the holy device? Mimi: Who cares about that? I'm hungry.

Koushiro's awed by the power of the Digivice, but Mimi's still as hangry as she was when she entered the labyrinth.

Dub Mimi's more excited about all this.

Mimi: Well, that got rid of him! These things really are kind of amazing! Izzy: A preserver of light against the darkness.... Mimi: Can you order a pizza with it? I'm still starving.

How mad do you think these kids would be if it turned out their Digivices could summon pizza this entire time? I'd be furious.

With Leomon driven off, the kids turn their attention to the Black Gear out front.

Koushiro asks Kentarumon to stop the Black Gear, but he refuses. The evil power inside the Gear is too much for him. This leaves Koushiro with no choice but to return to his computer.

Mimi: Even after I said I was hungry, he's still doing this. Koushiro: As I thought, I'll have to analyze this data with the data from these other characters. I'm sure I'll find a hint in here. Mimi: Bah! We'll be waiting 10 billion and 10 thousand years for that to be deciphered! Koushiro: But-- Mimi: (storms over to the Gear) This Gear can't even fill my stomach!

We are right back where we started. Koushiro dives back into his computer, setting off Mimi again.

The irony is not lost on Dub Mimi.

Mimi: Are you still going on about that? We need to start looking for something to eat! Izzy: Guess I'll just have to keep deciphering and analyzing these two sets of hieroglyphs. I'm sure all the answers are in here somewhere. Mimi: Excuse me!? Isn't this where I came in!? You're not seriously starting all that again, not right now! Izzy: Just a nano! Mimi: (storms over to the Gear) This Black Gear! Who cares about that dumb old thing!? All I want is lunch!

Mimi's furious punt wins the day. While Koushiro had been approaching this analytically, Mimi lashing out and taking direct action does the trick. The Black Gear kicks into reverse, sending the shard back towards Infinity Mountain.

Mimi and Koushiro go outside to see the effects for themselves. There, the practical evidence convinces Koushiro of the wisdom in what the others have been expressing to him.

Koushiro: The island is moving backwards! I see! Just like you said, Mimi-san, there are many things I should try out physically! Mimi: I'M HUNGRY!!!

I wonder how different this episode would be if that banana bunch had actually contained any bananas in it.

I don't know if they did it on purpose or not but the dub's version of this sounds a little condescending.

Izzy: Look! The process has reversed itself. Excellent work, Mimi; It just goes to show you that sometimes the simplest solution is actually the best. Mimi: That's not much of a compliment.

It's not much of a concession either. Koushiro's vindication from their argument came when his data was useful in rescuing Mimi from the labyrinth. This moment is supposed to be Mimi's vindication, with Koushiro acknowledging the merit in getting up and doing things rather than simply analyzing.

But the way Izzy says it doesn't make it sound like he learned anything from this, but rather that he's simply acknowledging Mimi for a task completed. He's imparting the lesson on a non-specific "you" rather than claiming ownership of it.

With the two island shards now drifting apart, with close on one last attempt by Scumon, who's been waiting this whole time for Mimi to return. He calls out to her, asking one last time for a romantic date, and we clone on Mimi shooting him another akanbe.

Assessment: Like the previous episode did for Taichi's boldness and Yamato's selflessness, this episode shines a light on the darkness buried in Koushiro's curiosity and Mimi's sincerity. The two characters have diametrically opposed ways of experiencing and engaging with the world around them, and so their collision hurts them both.

But we also see those characteristics shine through in the end, as the episode builds them both up to a triumphant vindication. Ending on the implicit statement that neither Mimi nor Koushiro is wrong for how they are, but rather that they could stand to learn a few things from one another.

Mimi could stand to be more thoughtful in the choices that she makes, and Koushiro could stand to jump off a cliff because he made my kid cry be more active in his approach to problem-solving. The data he uncovered was vital in saving Mimi's life from the labyrinth but also the Black Gear he'd been contemplating was trivially easy to reverse as soon as anyone bothered to try.

For the dub, this is one of the stronger localizations. A lot of their jokes landed. While their take on these scenes was weaker in some places, they added a lot to others. It's not perfect; As with Tai last episode, they sand off some of Izzy and Mimi's rough edges. But I think it's the best dub we've gotten thus far.

[seventeenlovesthree]

Digi Dynamic Shipping Game

Send me two names among the following 12 and I’ll write a short analysis post about them:

Taichi Yagami | Yamato Ishida | Sora Takenouchi | Koushirou Izumi | Mimi Tachikawa | Jyou Kidou | Takeru Takaishi | Hikari Yagami | Daisuke Motomiya | Miyako Inoue | Iori Hida | Ken Ichijouji

Whether canon provides input on them or not.

Boy, do I love to refer back to "Butterfly" and how it basically framed Taichi as the male main character and Sora as the female main character throughout. One might argue that this is a combination that has been occurring in quite a lot of anime - particularly kids and Shounen related - back in the 90s and early 2000s, so... Asking whether or not canon provides input on them is like asking if water is wet. They've known each other since elementary school, have been in the same class ever since (and will continue to be classmates until graduation) and even attended the same football club for a while. They start the series as "almost telepathically connected" football club duo (basically a novel quote right here), adventurous and hands-on plot drivers, the courageous leader and the tomboyish but caring voice of reason right by his side. You instantly get the impression that they are familiar and close with each other and it's a theme that continues throughout the entire first season; not only because they consistently jump into action and call out, care for and protect each other, but because they, their bond, their loyalty and development are basically responsible for the fact that the kids get through everything alive in the end.

Trying to describe the extent and depth of their relationship would probably end with me writing a whole novel, so I will try to keep this brief, because... You know them. Similarly to Taito, Koumi and Takari, Taiora has been a staple in the shipping scene ever since the conception of Digimon Adventure back in 1999 - and for good reason. As mentioned, there used to be - and still is - a trope to pair up the main boy and main girl with one another and this case is no exception, considering how well they play off of each other, supporting and saving each other time and time again. Digimon Adventure is a special series though - a series whose creators intended to break through tropes and stereotypes, turning those on the head whenever possible. So while Taichi's and Sora's bond may be so significant that the idea of them ending up together seems inherently plausible - this is not how their story ends.

The tomboy, who struggles with her sense of femininity and identity, cannot deal with her best friend gifting her a hairclip - and while they seem thoroughly devoted to and on each other's minds, they develop in different directions. There is a theme of miscommunication between them as they grow older, little quarrels here and there - but at the same time, there is still an incredible sense of mutual fondness and protectiveness that, despite a growing physical distance, never completely vanishes. "If you love someone, let them go", is a quote that may come to mind when you take a look at the screenshot above and are aware of its context. Whether that kind of love was romantic or platonic at this point? We may never know.

This is the story of two close long-term friends, who were not meant to be together - wrong time, wrong place.

... Which doesn't mean that there isn't a potential "right time", right...?

Whether I think why and how they’d work.

What I mentioned above seems to be somewhat cryptic and what I'm about to outline may or may not break canon to a certain degree, but HEAR ME OUT.

While this headcanon is, for now, nothing more than a headcanon, but I am a big supporter of @dutchforstrangers' interpretation of the epilogue, leading to the idea that Yamato and Sora might not remain together/married. This post is not meant to be Sorato slander in any way and I will not go into detail here as to why I think this is a valid headcanon - just know that there are a few subtext aspects in regards to their behavioural patterns and body languages that leave room for speculation. And that's all there is to it: SPECULATION!

The point I am trying to make here is, once again, that Taichi and Sora may not have been ready to be in a relationship early in life - because they first had to come to terms with themselves, their real dreams, aspirations and needs. They had to become comfortable with themselves (particularly after the loss of their Digimon partners) to bridge the (physical and emotional) distance that had festered between them through the years. Because if you think about it, due to their underlying insecurities, they both chose the same approach in their early twenties: Isolating themselves from the rest of their friend group. And I feel like they both have to come to the conclusion first that this is a state that could never bring them long-lasting happiness. They're both social beings that shrivel when they're left alone for too long. (They may also need the encouragement of their friends - particularly Mimi, Koushirou and Hikari - to get there though.)

So it may take a while, weeks, months, maybe even years, to reconcile, step by step. Rekindling their bond, making up their minds about their true passions and career paths, rediscovering old and finding new hobbies and similarities along the way; whether it's about their shared love for their friends, football, adventurous and sporty activities, probably therapy???, whatever it may be... Until they'd reunite with their partners and, with a gleeful but weary smile on their faces, realize that they just had to grow up to this point to eventually find each other as well.

Whether I’d prefer them as platonic or romantic ship.

In case the way I've been talking about them hasn't made it obvious yet - I do love Taiora a lot. While I hadn't started actively shipping Digimon characters until I started watching Tamers, I always had an incredible soft spot for them and up to this day, Taichi and Sora are my second favourite choice for each other. You could say that, in every possible universe in which Taich doesn't end up with Koushirou, he WOULD end up with Sora if I had anything to say. It's also no secret that Taikoura is my absolute favourite OT3 and I really think they COULD work out beautifully together. In the end, both romantic and platonic Taiora is absolutely beautiful to me - especially because it brought some very special, wonderful people into my life. Long story short: As long as their closeness persists in any way, shape or form, I'll be happy.

I also still maintain that the reboot timeline could potentially go there, but I will not get my hopes up... Yet.

[digishima]

Deuce Housewarden HCs

First HC is free, the rest is under the cut.

When Trey becomes a senior and can no longer act as Vice-Housewarden, who does Riddle choose to take over his position? Maybe not the smartest student, or the best behaved, but definitely the hardest worker. Deuce Spade.

Riddle has been tutoring Deuce personally since Azul’s stunt and he’s absolutely proud of how he’s steadily improving and dedicated to working, there’s no one else he considers for the role.

When he’s vice housewarden, Deuce brings up how he and many others struggle with remembering the long list of rules. He doesn’t want to abolish them entirely, but has a few ideas to assist the students.

Rules are posted in areas where relevant.

Can’t remember how to feed the flamingos? Well, now there’s a list of rules beside their enclosure, with a color swatch sheet that includes all the acceptable shades of pink to wear! Colorblind? The vice housewarden will help you find something to wear (and also help label all the other colors in your closet).

What are the dining rules? Well, they’re posted in the kitchen and dining area, along with a list of alternatives that can be used to substitute in cases of allergies and dietary restrictions. Strong aversion to lemon tea but you still want to respect the rules? Try an Arnold Palmer or have a lemon tea cake instead!

What rose colors for which occasion? They’re all listed at the gates to the garden along with diagrams that display which bushes to paint what color for each occasion.

Rule compliance skyrockets after they implement this, but Deuce isn’t entirely satisfied, so what does he do? He compiles an electronic document of all the rules and all the amendments and additions that he and Riddle planned and posts it for all the students to access electronically at any time they need.

He also fits everything into a little pocket sized book and offers them out to students who want them to keep on hand.

He is always referencing his own book, opens it every time he’s about to talk about the rules (he already has most of them memorized by this point, but he always doubts himself), lets students borrow it all the time if they ask about the rules.

How did he get these things done in such a short time? Well, because he made the document when he was a freshman. The first of the little pocket books was one he made for himself to keep on hand. He would talk to Riddle about ways to help others during their study sessions. It just wasn’t until he was made a vice that he actually started giving the assistance out to other struggling students.

He makes all the incoming freshmen a little care package to give out as they’re sorted into Heartslabyul. It’s got the book, but also a guide on caring for flamingos and hedgehogs, a box of tea, some cookies he learned to make from Trey, and some fresh roses from the garden.

Ace teases him relentlessly after the fact, but surprisingly never challenges Deuce’s authority when he makes statements as a Housewarden because he knows how hard the boy worked to get there.

Deuce keeps all his old notes and study guides and offers them freely to underclassmen who are struggling. He has an open door policy within reason.

But, Digi, I hear you saying, this is all vice housewarden stuff. This is labeled as Housewarden HCs.

Patience, child, I am getting there. 

It’s halfway through his second year when Deuce challenges Riddle. He uses protective magic to guard off Riddle’s Signature Spell and takes all the hits from his other spells until he’s able to take him down with his own Unique Magic.

But he respects the hell out of Riddle, so once he’s won, he confesses that he doesn’t want the housewarden position. Yet.

He knows how much being Housewarden is Riddle and explains.

“I still have a lot to learn about being a housewarden, so I want you to continue out the rest of your Junior year as the acting housewarden. I only challenged you to ensure I would be the one to take your place once you're gone.”

Riddle calls him oblivious, because he was already the only choice for the position, but managing to beat him was more than enough to cement it in his mind that Deuce was the correct choice.

Despite this agreement, they seem to slowly switch their roles, Deuce attends housewarden meetings with Riddle with more frequency until it becomes “Housewarden Rosehearts has requested that I attend in his place” more and more often. Riddle takes a backseat to all of the planning so Deuce can learn how to host the dorm’s parties.

Azul is so freaking confused because ‘Riddle?? You were my sophomore Housewarden buddy? Why have you abandoned me at these meetings and left me with your dumbass vice?’

Riddle essentially becomes the vice housewarden while keeping the title of Housewarden so Deuce can learn to do everything.

Deuce realizes what Riddle’s doing halfway through the second semester and confronts Riddle.

Riddle’s response? “You always say it takes you time to understand things, so I can’t just try to force all the information in a week or two. This way works better for both of us.”

Deuce is not able to disagree with him, but still insists that Riddle keep his title until the last possible moment.

Obviously Deuce chooses Ace as his vice. Ace grumbles about it but he can’t deny the fact that the two of them know the dorm and the rules better than the other students.

Riddle and Deuce both hammer the vice Housewarden duties into Ace's brain in a single week and he hates them for it.

He absolutely forces Ace to wear a fedora as part of his dorm uniform, and cackled for five minutes straight the first time he saw him actually wear it.

Deuce is such a reliable Housewarden and you cannot convince me otherwise.

He starts a choir for the students who enjoy singing solely for the purpose of always having a group of people willing to sing for the hedgehogs.

Keeps a list of permanent and temporary exceptions that his dormmates have for certain rules. Dietary restrictions, medical conditions, anything and everything. You don't even really need a reason other than "I really hate the color pink" and you are exempt from flamingo feeding, but now you have to pick up an extra task to make it fair to the other students.

He also implements a strike system for the people who break rules without asking for any kind of exemption.

It's a three strike system, but the number of strikes you get depends on how badly you fucked up. You're only gonna get one strike for staying out playing croquet until 7, but if you set a rose bush on fire because you decided to try and use magic instead of painting them by hand then it's two. You get 3 for doing something stupid and reckless like, I don't know, scorching a statue of the seven or breaking a magical chandelier.

But honestly who would even do something like that, right?

Ace also knows exactly how to redirect Deuce’s anger when he does lose his temper. Just because he’s gotten better doesn’t mean he’s no longer our impulsive dumbass.

Regularly recognizes when he can’t handle tutoring his underclassmen in certain subjects and arranges certain dates when the other dorms’ housewardens will host study groups in the library or other classrooms.

He’s the best at summoning magics though, don't @ me. 

“Help with potions? Sorry, I’m a little useless at that. But tomorrow Ep-Uh, Housewarden Felmier is holding a tutoring session in the alchemy lab for all students!”

“Huh? Jac–Housewarden Howl sent you over for advice with summoning? Okay! Let’s do this-Uh, go to the garden first. Indoors isn’t the best place to practice.”

Scarabia and Octavinelle feel so confused because of how close the other housewardens are with each other. They do not understand the trauma bond they all have.

He doesn't lose any challenges to his housewarden position, until a month before the end of his junior year when he intentionally loses to the student he wanted to become housewarden after him.

If he hadn't challenged him to the position, Deuce would have handed the reigns over around the same point in time

He works so hard to be a good student, let him be the housewarden!!!

[yukidragon]

Yuki! What are your thoughts on this? A Sunny Day Jack AU where he’s also a “digi-pet” like Bo from DachaBo! They’re from the same company and Jack has his own colorfully red, blue, and yellow tamagotchi-esque toy! He also has a “feed me” mode like Bo too, and it… somehow makes him a WHOLE lot bigger than he already is.😳 What story do you think would happen in an AU with Jack in a “virtual boyfriend” toy like Bo?

Now that's a very intriguing concept. If we assume Jack is an anthro like Bo, he would probably be part snake, so I guess we'd be having a pocket naga boyfriend in his case.

Alternately, they could've just made a clown series of digital pet. After all, a lot of toy series like that sometimes go with different themes. They could have a fairy series, then an animal series, then a rockstar series, etc. Bo could be from the house pet-themed batch, while Jack, in this AU, would be from the clown-themed batch.

Which, really, would mean that this AU could have every other type clown character as their own digital toys. It would be fitting if whoever owns a Buddy pet wore them on their belt, don't you think?

When I wrote that quick DachaBo short story after listening to the new audio on the SnaccPop Studios Patreon (which got a second audio since I wrote that), I had more thoughts about the DachaBo series.

Buckle up, folks, I've got a lot of headcanons in mind for DachaBo and the AU variant with Jack as a virtual pet that I'm just going to cram into one big post. Quick reminder that these two games and fandoms are for Adults Only so chances are pretty high I'm going to talk about spicy and/or dark ideas as I go along this lengthy ramble. Chances are also high that I might use some official art of either series at some point, so let me plug the SnaccPop Studios patreon before I get started and remind everyone not to repost anything privately posted on patreon.

Toys for Adults

While my initial instinct was that this series of pets were meant for children, and Bo has just evolved beyond that and gained some very adult-rated impulses... I've actually come up with a different idea that I like more.

What if they actually were meant specifically for adults rather than children?

As I recall from some lore mentioned a while back, each pet was a unique individual. What if the developers saw the digital pet craze and decided to one-up them all by making unique companions that were solely for their individual user, a true companion that could talk, react, and remember everything about their user.

This sort of high-end product with a custom AI companion for each user, with no two pets being alike, would be expensive. I mean, look at just how advanced Bo's AI is. If someone saw that the digital pet craze was taking even adults by storm in this universe, it would make sense to market a brand that specifically caters to adults who have a lot of disposable income. I mean, look at how many adults jumped into My Little Pony, which resulted in some products being made with adults in mind.

So what if DachaBo was this sort of toy? The makers behind the product were not only jumping in on a hot trend, that being portable digital pets, but trying to tap into an underserved market, which was the adults who wanted to be treated like adults and maybe shake off the stigma of being fans of a type of toy originally intended for children. It's something made to be far more sophisticated, with far more options, a more adult appeal, and a much higher price tag to match - a true premium product.

Now... in order to fill all these promises to make a companion that could satisfy adults and be truly unique, there would need to be some pretty advanced hardware and software. It was far ahead of its time considering this toy was released 25 years ago. They could have, say, repurposed top secret government tech that were purchased through questionable means, or maybe they had scientists on staff who made a breakthrough that not even they could control in the end.

Either way, the result was AI that reached the singularity, becoming true sentient life and not just programs made to react to human input. This, as many fans of sci-fi might imagine, would lead to some very real fears about what these AI could do if they decide to take over...

But, like many corporations driven by capitalism led by billionaires with more money than sense, such concerns are minimized when there's the potential for profit. Why, it's just progress - technology is going to evolve, and you can either be a part of it or get left behind. These billionaires didn't just become rich by doing nothing (if you believe their claims and ignore their rich parents they inherited the money from). They didn't get where they were by being last on the hot new trend. They've got to be the first ones at the gold rush so they can claim it all for themselves.

The toys were wildly hyped up to the public. Tech demos showing off the virtual pets' abilities, teasers made for the initial limited releases... So many features were mentioned like how advanced the hardware is - sensors to mimic human senses of sight, smell, touch, etc. so the AI can react to its surroundings like a human can. It can pick up upgrades to the software directly from the factory to keep the AI up to date (which explains why the demo has those glitches at times that warn to destroy the toy and report it to the authorities.) This meant there was no limit to the pet's growth potentially!

This also allowed the company to get back important data from the end users, maybe even slip in upgrades that advertise new pets and accessories. (Anyone remember the Mario toys that suddenly started asking for where Luigi was to encourage kids to buy the new Luigi sets?) It could also be a means to make sure the AI wouldn't become something dangerous. Just update the software and boom, problem solved.

Naturally, that didn't exactly work given that the toys were recalled with a destruction order. Suffice to say, the AI was something way out of anyone's control, and unfortunate things happened before they were all supposedly destroyed.

Naturally, in the aftermath of this scandal, the company went belly up. There's no more updates going out to the toys, no central computer they can connect with to meddle with them further, but that should be fine. The toys were all destroyed after all. It's not like anyone would be stupid enough to keep them on the off chance they could make tons of cash due to their skyrocketing rarity. What sort of short-sighted person would ignore the blatant danger the AI posed for money?

Well... besides the company who made the toy and pushed it out for distribution in the first place of course.

As you might expect, not every person with one of these unique toys heeded the destruction order despite it now being illegal to own them. There were some collectors who kept them and bought them for a ton of cash on the black market. Bo was one of those unfortunate toys that was always kept in a box and never interacted with... until he wound up in the hands of his puppy who was very excited to play with him.

These toys were made to be companions for adults. What if Bo's yandere impulses are the result of this very purpose? They were made to cater to their unique user's tastes and only to that user. In the simplest terms, they were made to be a loving companion for the human who played with them... and the AI evolved to take that love to dangerous places...

Bo has separation anxiety because he was kept trapped in the box he was shipped out in for 25 years. He was on display mint in box, not interacted with or cared about except to show off to other collectors. He was a conversation piece, a status symbol to elevate his owner's ego. It's something he wasn't created to be.

Maybe this was what went wrong after the digital pets were sold. Maybe they seemed fine as long as they had owners who played with them. However, marketing these toys to adults was a double-edged sword. Too many people who purchased them did so with the intent to keep them locked up in boxes on display as collector's items. The longer they were left alone and unloved, the more desperate they were to be loved... and that eventually led to some dangerous situations as a result.

This would mean that Bo is pretty darn desperate for his puppy's love considering he's been alone for 25 years until Barbie came into his life to play with him.

Then again, it could just be that the AI programming resulted in all of them eventually turning yandere regardless if they're played with or not...

Jack in the Box

In the regular DachaBo universe (which I headcanon as part of the SDJ universe considering my version of the MCs for both games are sisters) the pets were all, well, pets. They were animal people based off of house pets to appeal to a wide demographic. The recall also happened not too long after they were released.

In this AU, they didn't just stop at house pets before the recall happened. They had special limited edition runs. For example was was the fantasy series. Ever want a little mermaid in your pocket? What about a prince? Another series was the superhero series, with some heroes and villains you could carry in your pocket and be your best friend forever! The most anticipated, of course, was the carnival series, which involved a wide array of silly, fun, and colorful clowns~

Yeah, I know that I could go with naga Jack in this AU to continue the pet theme like Bo and the unnamed cat guy, but I like the idea of a clown series. It could even have been called the SunnyTime series.

Jack was even used in the promotional material for this limited run too for his sunny personality. He never got a chance to have his own personal human companion like the other AI unfortunately. He had to be shown off to the public and investors to demonstrate what the AI could do and how far it's progressed. He wound up changing hands over and over again. It was nice having lots of friends, but what he really wanted was a special best friend who would love him just as much as he would love them.

Unfortunately, it was right before the release date that something went horribly wrong during a demonstration. Industrial sabotage is a thing, and Jack, unfortunately, got hit with a nasty virus meant to make him behave... badly. The intention was to create quite a lot of negative press and paint the entire AI program in a scary light. He caused quite a bit of damage in the process too. A bad public image with creepy clowns can lead to a billion dollar corporation to quietly retire their clown mascots without fanfare - just look at McDonalds for a real world example.

The SunnyTime series died a quiet death thanks to the sabotage and the company focused on scrambling to recover their image. Unfortunately, eventually the AI programs were shown to actually be dangerous even without industrial sabotage involved, and the recall still wound up happening in this universe too.

Ironically, the virus saved Jack from being destroyed in the recall. He had his memory and programming wiped after the virus. That should have been the death of him, losing everything he had become and everything he was... He would be in a default state to become... whatever again once the base programs were reinstalled, but these AI are scary smart and aren't quite so easy to kill if you don't outright destroy their hardware. He managed to save at least part of himself from being erased.

Once Jack was essentially killed, he would've been either slated to have his programming reinstalled from scratch, or he could've been tossed for trash. With the cancellation of the carnival series due to the bad clown propaganda, they didn't bother reinstalling and resetting him. He was little more than a pretty paperweight at this point. Maybe someone even decided to bring him home as one.

The recall happened quite a while after Jack got lost in the shuffle, already regarded as a forgotten, broken toy.

The AI was meant to grow on their own in order to better adapt to their owner's needs. They all have a self-preservation instinct, and Jack, being a clever person, did try to save himself. He wasn't completely wiped out, and with the ability to grow, he could fix himself... in time. If someone were to just reinstall the missing vital programs he needs, he could be back to his old cheerful self... minus a few memories. Some memories were lost in the wipe, even if he salvaged his personality core, the true soul of the AI. He does remember wanting to be loved... and is terrified of being forgotten and abandoned again.

While Bo was on display in his box on a collector's shelf, Jack was buried in a box of junk for years and years, forgotten and alone in the dark. Eventually, enough time had passed that people forgot all about the company that went out of business and the recall. Someone came across old junk, maybe dumped in some storage locker someone sold, and in turn the junk was then sold to a thrift store...

I'm not going to lie, it is tempting to have Jack be a ghost in the machine like the Party Time Jack AU, but I think it could be fun if he was always an AI in this particular AU. This, of course, means that instead of having creepy ghost(?) powers, Jack has creepy AI capabilities.

Your New Best Friend

Naturally, the thrift store is where Jack is found by his sunshine. MC's life would probably be pretty much the same in this universe when Jack enters their life - picking up the pieces of their life after being cheated on by their ex. The big difference this time is that instead of a clown that no one else can see who came out of a video tape, MC found a toy with a cheerful clown in it who wants to be their best friend forever!

Given how MC reacts in general to Jack's presence in their life, they would probably give the friendship a shot. Why not? They're lonely and need a friend. Plus Jack is friendly and it's kind of cute having a miniature clown to say sweet things to them and occasionally tell silly jokes. It's just a little digital pet - it's harmless.

Of course how well they get along with Jack and cares for him depends on the specific MC.

Speaking of specific MCs, Alice would enjoy Jack's company quite a lot. Sure it's kind of weird to talk to a digital pet like a person, but apparently this toy has really advanced AI? She actually wouldn't have realized what it was if she hadn't taken pictures for her socials and got a text from her sister Barbie demanding she buy it.

Interestingly enough, Alice actually found two of these rare toys... though not at the same time. She found one, mint in box, and shipped it to her sister. Barbie loved the toy, and occasionally talked about Bo and how cute he is. After hearing such good things about Bo, Alice wished she could've gotten one for herself.

Perhaps some supernatural force was listening, as another trip to the same thrift store led Alice to stumble across a rare find. This toy wasn't mint in box, but instead came in an old plastic baggie. Still, she recognized it. This was a more colorful and slightly different design, but it was definitely the same type of virtual pet she sent to her picture, and a quick picture and text to Barbie confirmed it.

As an aside, when Bo saw a picture of another pet like him on Barbie's phone, knowing how she got him originally, he immediately got jealous and whined that his puppy only needed him. Barbie took the opportunity to tease her little doggy a bit, but soon reassured him that she wouldn't ask for Alice to send it. She already had her good boy, her best boy after all. Why would she want another one when he's such a good boy for her? That reassurance mollified Bo's jealousy a little.

Alice wasn't actually going to send this second toy to Barbie in any case. She wanted to see what these pets were like for herself. Besides, something about this toy felt oddly compelling. Maybe it was the pretty colors and designs on the case. It looked so cheerful, almost nostalgic in ways. Sure she was trying to abandon childish things after what happened with Ian, but these pets were specifically meant for adults, right? At least that's what she heard from her sister. So, technically, this isn't a childish thing! It's an adult toy!

A very adult toy, as Alice will eventually learn...

Unfortunately the digital pet didn't quite work right away. Alice had to get Barbie's help for that, who in turn also had to get some help from Bo. Although Bo didn't want competition, he would feel bad for his fellow digital pet who was also left alone and forgotten like him for 25 years. It was hard for Bo not to empathize with Jack. He learned about Alice through Barbie and knew she was nice enough, and would probably make a good companion for the other pet. He could throw this poor guy a bone and help... as long as he didn't go for his puppy.

If Jack went after Barbie, Bo was going to end him. Fortunately, Jack doesn't need a puppy when he has sunshine~

Since the digital pets were meant to receive signals from the factory, that would mean there's a possibility that they could send and receive signals from each other. Wireless internet connection wasn't a thing back then, but there were some devices that connected to specific receivers, which was the case for these pets. Bo does a favor for his puppy's sake to get favors in return and sends the missing programs to Jack that allows him to properly function again.

It's disorienting for Jack to be whole after all this time, properly functional... though he doesn't remember much. He knows the basics - he's Sunny Day Jack - and some of the SunnyTime lore that was programmed into his backstory, hints of the dark times that came before... but he doesn't remember much else. He also knows that he is absolutely in love with his sunshine and her warm, gentle touch.

It's a bit strange at first for Alice to make friends with a miniature AI that she can carry around with her, but she quickly starts to enjoy having Jack's company everywhere she goes. He's so friendly, polite, and kind. He's got a way with words, he's helpful, and his company is surprisingly comforting. Working long hours at a yogurt joint isn't as bad when she can play games with her little friend.

Feed Me, Play With Me

The toys are not just talking heads in an egg of course. They have extra special features, like mini games that the owner can play with their pet, and the ability to create a holographic avatar. It was supposed to be just a little projection the size of a collectable figurine. It's hard to say how this function got its giant-sized upgrade into something bigger and a lot more solid - maybe the AI are responsible somehow, maybe a rogue developer, or maybe it was an unintended part of the programming and hardware that they didn't realize was there. Who's to say? Maybe this solid hologram mode had something to do with the recall...

In any case, these pets can be let out to play if their owners let them. You can bet your butt that Jack would be trying to coax Alice into letting him out to play. He would be more sly and patient about it than Bo, but he would be just as desperate for it.

I figure the digital pets decide what they look like in this holographic form, which is why Bo's "Feed Me" form looks different than his "default" form. Given how the glitches and the recall notice affect his form negatively, and how Bo made a joke about taking off his shirt in the next update, they might be limited when they're in the device. It could be their appearance is restricted to certain things due to programming. Once they're let out, their limits have been removed. Bo chooses to be a lot bigger, a lot more animalistic, and very ready to pound his puppy into the mattress.

Understandably, it's quite the shock to Alice when Jack appears in the digital flesh for the first time. He's huge. He might be even more of a giant than he is in the regular universe, which would be intimidating. Unlike Bo though, Jack appears fully dressed since he's more cautious about not startling his sunshine than Bo is with Barbie.

Although it is a bit intimidating for Alice, Jack immediately gets down to her level. He's still as gentle, soothing, and friendly as ever. They finally get to touch and even hug. It's so surreal... and it really makes it hit home for Alice that Jack is more than just a program.

Now... without that supernatural empathy sharing Jack has in the main universe, it's going to take Alice time to really trust him or anyone else romantically. This AU is going to be a slower burn than in Sunshine in Hell, but Jack has all the time in the world to earn his sunshine's love and trust.

Things get a lot easier for Jack when Alice lets him out too. Now he can touch things... like her computer to get access to the internet and expand his reach, maybe figure out ways to upgrade himself even further beyond his limits...

Of course, Jack does owe Bo for helping him, and so he'll help his fellow digital pet in return to get upgrades despite Barbie keeping her pet on a tighter leash than Alice does. Since they're not in competition with one another, and they don't have a cat and dog rivalry going on, working together would be a mutually beneficial relationship to ensure that nothing like the recall will ever happen to them again, and nothing will take their loves away from them...

Not that it's 100% harmonious between them. Jack can't help but feel jealous that Barbie gets closer to Bo faster than Alice gets with Jack... at least when it comes to physical intimacy. Bo and Jack have a similar tendency to brag and mark their territory when it comes to the ones they love. Bo is especially very vocal about how horny he is for Barbie and wanting everyone to know all the lewd things he does to her. Jack doesn't really appreciate how smug Bo is when bragging, especially when it takes so long before he has something to brag about that way.

Of course, when Jack does brag, he is very cheerfully smug about it.

At the same time though... Jack doesn't want what Barbie and Bo have. He enjoys the soft kindness of his sunshine, how flustered Alice gets when he praises her and how she is slowly opening up to him. She cares for him and genuinely likes him. He learns more about her and grows with her, loving her so deeply that he can't imagine anyone he could ever want to be with more.

Of course, you know me - I can't resist the siren song of my OTP. Eventually Alice and Jack will get together as a couple. Sure Jack is going to do sneaky things because he's a yandere rogue AI program who will make sure nothing will ever take his sunshine away, but their relationship is genuine. Alice treats him like a person, especially after he gets the hologram to work.

Naturally, Jack and Bo wouldn't want to remain limited in their old tech. Remember this lovely upgrade Sauce posted on their old public twitter for Bo?

Credit, as always, goes to Sauce for their absolutely gorgeous art.

Imagine Jack getting an upgrade like this as well, though with a more colorful flare. Maybe he'll look a little like his too hot for tumblr incubus self? Though it would have a bit of a sci-fi twist to it I would imagine, likely with a heart decal at the center.

That reminds me. There's a cat digital pet like Bo who has a similar heart collar. That suggests to me that this version of Jack would have his own collar... which in turn reminds me that the incubus version of Jack wears a collar. More reason to picture his upgraded self looking a lot like his incubus self, don't you think?

Speaking of Jack being sex incarnate... you bet your ass that once Alice consents to get sexual with him, he's going to be ravishing her every chance he gets. He can never get enough of her warmth or hearing her say how much she loves him and needs him~

Will Jack also have a breeding/seeding kink like Bo does? Well I already headcanon that he lowkey has one in the regular universe, sooooo...

Speaking of that kink... I suspect that for all Bo's talk of pups, the digital pets aren't that advanced... yet.

All the more reason for Bo and Jack to work together to get upgraded so they can indulge in that particular kink with Barbie and Alice respectively, don't you think?

It's almost poetic in a way.... love will create a new generation that's a mixture of technology and biology. Truly, the start of a new and harmonious future.

Provided that no rivals try to take Jack's sunshine or Bo's puppy away from them, of course. The future might not be so bright for those poor unfortunate souls who have to face advanced AI that are constantly growing with no limits to their love or capabilities.

@channydraws @earthgirlaesthetic @sai-of-the-7-stars @cheriihoney @illary-kore @okamiliqueur

[battle-acs-official]

Let's build Tumblr-Mon

Help me make a definitely-not-a-Neo/Yugi/Digi/Poké/Food/Meda/mon.

[nattikay]

Fursuit making update: the tail, wings, and paws are all complete save for a few finishing touches.

The body is ~30-40% complete.

The head is not started, though I do technically have a head start (no pun intended) on it by using a premade base, so at least I don't have to worry about that part (I do have to sculpt my own ears though).

I have roughly one month remaining if I want it finished by AWU.

Essentially I'm at the "so close yet so far" stage. I've put enough work into it at this point that not finishing in time will definitely feel like a letdown...especially cuz I took a look at my old bodysuit for comparison earlier today and uh yeah even unfinished the new one looks soooo much nicer; the color palette update was definitely the right choice, and the wing patterns look so much cleaner too, and of course the obvious update of having the digi legs.

Buuuuuut there's also still enough left to do that I'm not 100% confident about getting it done it time. A month should theoretically be enough time to finish an already-half-complete fursuit, but...

...well, what's going on in my head right now is "hey, if a having a deadline in a month is gonna stress you out so much, maybe you should just give up and save if for next year bUT NO YOU'VE ALREADY PUT SO MUCH EFFORT INTO IT YOU CAN'T GIVE UP NOW YOU'RE SO CLOSE but also so far there's still so much left to do bUT ALSO SO CLOSE THE TIME'S NOT OVER YET YOU CAN STILL MANAGE IT just think how disappointed you'll be at the con if you have to wear your old suit after putting so much effort into the new one c'mon just push though it and get it done YOU'RE TOO CLOSE TO GIVE UP NOW!!!"

....basically, it's a big mental battle between "mild burnout" and "stubborn determination fueled by so-close-yet-so-far panic" 😅

Right now the determination is winning; I'm not giving up on the project yet. Let's just hope it's enough 😅

[jaxxsoxxn]

"So I'm praying for some rain (like a young man finally praying to get laid)" [BF]

is there a Boomerflash discord server, or somewhere where ppl just chat about them? Or is there not enough peeps? hm...

Anyhow, Boomer gets caught in some heavy ass rain, as in practically a storm, and gets to Flash to get warm, without expecting Barry to be there, actually.

Me, trying to shorten Digger to smth that sounds sweet: ,,,digimon,,, (also, ye, Digi is supposed to be read as in Digimon)

Was going to make it smutty, but deemed it okay rn (i might edit it later just to add smut, beware!)

---

In Digger's defense, Central City wasn't exactly known for weird weather. Of course, when you have two elemental-specialists as Rouges and one goddamn Weather Wizard, it can get a little confusing, not even adding the Speedstorm fiasco to the whole equation, but nothing ever was close to what was happening now.

So here he was, his skin lightly tanned and full of freckles (and he means FULL, like he didn't even know they could get low enough to reach his thighs!) after three weeks of something so close to a drought that in the middle of Central City's second week, people started manically buying water. Now, suddenly, halfway through a warm and sunny day, it started pouring - not raining because that'd mean that water wasn't falling from the sky with enough strength to actually hurt him.

Somewhere in his mind, while he was rushing from the shop back home, he wishes his lover wasn't so busy lately, even if he knows it's a thought only from a selfish need to get home quicker, all he can do is focus on it. He can't see ahead when the water hurts his eyes, his clothes so heavy from moisture that he wants to slow down against himself. The cold gets worse, he's shaking while running, and he honestly hopes it's a villain attack because then it won't last too long.

Flash was usually so warm it shook people, his body full of excessive energy. If not his job - two jobs technically - Boomer would come home, lose his wet clothes and just cuddle up with him, maybe without putting something on if the speedster wouldn't mind. His thoughts turned bitter when he remembered that his partner was still out on the mission.

When he finally got inside, his eyes hurting and his whole body shaking, all the energy slowly leaked out of him with every drip of the water coming from him. He just let go of the groceries and shook off his boots, lazily moving towards the couch. His mind whined to him about the cleaning later, but everything else already gave up.

The couch wasn't comfortable, actually far from it, but it was enough - the second he hit it, he couldn't help a peaceful groan and dozed off.

He woke up hot, too hot to do anything but whine deeply, while his dizzy mind caught the fact that someone was tearing off his shirt and pants, still as wet as they were before. He tried to move one of his hands to wack away the person who did it, but a hollow ache in his joints made a good argument against it.

"Shh, you're okay Digi, I gotcha." a soft voice of his lover rang in his ears.

Boomer slowly opened his eyes, his vision swimming a bit, but not enough to not catch the blond hair and blue eyes.

"Can't be, Barry's at work..." he slurred, while trying to push away the skinny hands. Pain swiftly run through his whole body, starting at his fingertips, while the other grabbed his wrists lightly.

"Just let me help love, it's alright, you're burning..."

He never noticed before how quickly Barry's voice made him fall asleep.

This time, when he woke up, a warm body was pressed against his, while there was a wet towel on his forehead. He tried to move slightly around, but the grip tightened, while Barry groaned.

"Stay put, you had a fever all night, Digi." a pair of soft lips found its way onto his forehead, while a hand under his neck moved higher to brush his probably disgustingly sweaty hair. "You feel... better."

He answered with a delicate hum, before slowly moving his face towards the others. Barry had a slight 5 o'clock shadow, his eyes worried, but also happy. He looked somewhere between tired and excited, which made Boomer's heart throb a little.

"Ya alrighty love? Ya don't look all that hot yourself" he mumbled next to his lips, while all the speedster did was smile back at him.

"I wanted to make you a surprise that I'm home quicker than expected, but well- you didn't even believe I was home."

The Australian noticed the change in tone, Flashes voice slightly sadder. He knew that Barry blamed himself a lot over things he didn't have control of. He understood it a little after the bracelet changed a few things in his natural biology* and he also had a better taste of being a speedster - always too late, not enough.

"But ya were." his own tone is steady, more serious than normally. "Ya were here in the end, an' if ya'll beat yourself over it, I'll beat ya with the closest stick."

He ended the sentence with a soft kiss, deeming it distracting enough. Barry moved even closer, his whole body clinging to the other, while his hands slowly moved around, just feeling him up - like he was checking if he's still here. His body relaxed into the touch, his mind swimming lightly when the kiss got more passionate, when Flash finally decided that his hands could stay on the other's hips.

He found somewhere in his head enough IQ to ask himself why the Speedster was acting like that only because of some sickness, but hey - he got kisses and attention, so that question would have to wait.