#so much of digimon is about the bond between digimon and their partners. and how positive emotions and connections

[kideternity]

Skullgreymon……. I got a lot of feelings about Skullgreymon…

[seventeenlovesthree]

@digimon02countdown Day 7 - What do you love about Digimon Adventure 02?

While my attachment to Digimon started and persisted due to my love to the original Adventure, there are still quite a few things about 02 that always kept me around. I have already hinted at it in previous posts; the relationships, similarities and support between the "older" and "new" Chosen Children, the concept of the multiverse, Jogress evolution (also the fact that my OTP are absolute dads to the kids)... But I'd say the most important aspect for me is the bonding between the characters. And nothing signifies this more for me, nothing is as outstanding, significant and vibrant - as the development of the relationship between Daisuke and Ken.

I would argue that, overall, no relationship gets that much focus, that much visible positive development than these two. And yes, upon getting asked, I will never deny that, in my opinion, there is a sense of romantic tension between them too, but in this post, I just want to write about how fascinating, soothing and beautiful their bond is to me in general.

Their initial set-up is, once again, that of rivals. That is a theme Digimon has always been playing with - but I'd say no other series threw that trope for a loop like this before. On one hand, there is the fact that they're both playing football, even ending up facing each other at a point in the series where Ken is still considered to be that perfect, untouchable genius, good at and with everything, while Daisuke is considered a thick-headed knucklehead, goodhearted, but brash and not really talented in many areas - and yet, he still admired Ken at this point. Then of course, there is the fact that they're on opposing ends, enemies in the Digital World, having brutal, cruel fights against one another as Chosen Child vs. Digimon Kaiser - until the spell breaks, with the Crest of Miracles breaking Ken's curse.

And from now on, the boy - who's responsible for his own Digimon partner's death and the suffering of so many others - will have to face the aftermath of what he's done, dealing with guilt and self-esteem issues, feeling unworthy and unlovable.

But then there is Daisuke - the only one who immediately wants to give him the chance to atone for what he's done. He is not forgiving him right away, but wants him to be able to make up for everything - and with kindness and the persistence to not let him sacrifice himself and die, they achieve the unthinkable: Their Digimon combine, their hearts pound in sync. They seem to be connected in ways that make Daisuke get excited - and scare the heck out of Ken. He thought he didn't have anything or anyone else but his reborn Digimon partner and family, and now there's this boy he used to fight, he used to be enemies with... Who simply wants to be his friend, who wants them to be "partners" and work together.

It's confusing, it's scary. While Daisuke is sure that they're meant to be and fight next to each other, it takes time for Ken to feel ready to take the steps towards him, the others, forming bonds, friendships. But Daisuke being Daisuke makes it so much easier for him to let his walls down, slowly but steadily enabling him to show his gentle and soft side, starting to trust and rely on him as much as he does in return.

And Daisuke? Daisuke is displaying a sense of confidence and comfort that we rarely saw before - he tended to be so focused on impressing others, covering up his own insecurities with cockiness. But his bond with Ken makes all his natural kindness and straightforwardness come through easily. He may appear more simple-minded at first glance, but his heart has the right priorities - and he'll do what it takes to save Ken, from himself, from darkness, helping him to be his true self.

Daisuke doesn't doubt their connection for a second - and that's why it's so important that Ken is still able to shake him. That he has an impact on him like no other. He will give Ken all the time he needs to face his demons, to do the things that are uncomfortable to him - and he'll be by his side all the way.

They are partners, they've got each other's backs. And as long as they don't lose sight of themselves and each other, it will always be this way.

[coralinnii]

Thanks for answering my ask.... If you don't mind me asking (again), who are your favorite romantic relationship's couples in books/ manga/manhwa/ anime/movies/tv series (can be canon or non-canon)? And why you love them? Sorry if you've answered this question before....Thanks.

Hmm it’s been a while since I care much about romantic relationships (yes, I see the irony of me, a primarily fluff writer, saying that) but there are some memorable ones that I still love for their dynamic. These are the 5 that I can really remember at the top of my head, I’m sure there’s are many iconic ones but these are just my personal “couple goals” people

1. Roy Mustang and Riza Hawkeye from Fullmetal Alchemist/Fullmetal Alchemist Brother (manga, anime)

Soulmates, More than Lovers

Yes, there is Edward and Winry and they’re great too but Roy and Riza, even when they weren’t officially canon? Oh wow, I absolutely idolised their dynamic growing up. They have to maintain a professional relationship as officer and superior but everyone can tell that they care so much about each other. It’s the trust between, it’s the way they understood each other so much and the faith they have of their partner’s competence. They bicker and annoy each other like old comrades but their bond goes beyond being brothers-in-arms, it’s the way they support each other knowing that they both wish for a world where no one has to go through what they did again. Riza believed in Roy not just because she cared about him but also because she truly believes in him making good on his word in building a better government, and Roy believed in Riza because of her integrity, that he knew she will never be swayed and keep him in track of his dream because that’s just the amazing person she was.

2. Sawako Kuronuma and Shota Kazehaya from Kimi ni Todoke (manga, anime, live-action film)

Friends to Lovers

While romcoms aren’t really my thing, this series was my favorite romcom growing up that I still remember it pretty well after all these years. No hate to the other shoujo animes but Kazehaya was the greenest flag and I can’t be convinced otherwise. He was genuinely kind to everyone, didn’t believe in the crazy rumours and saw Sawako as the sweet person she was, and be that supporting friend to her even when he could tell he had feelings for her. Kazehaya had better emotional awareness and understood how he felt pretty early in the series but never pushed the topic on Sawako when she was still new to a lot of social experiences. Sawako was aware of all the support he has given her and in response, worked hard to make sure his efforts weren’t wasted. It was cute, supportive, and the results felt so deserved and not abrupt.

3. Takeru Takahashi and Hikari Yagami from Digimon (anime)

Will they, won’t they, Childhood friends

I’ve been shipping even before I knew what shipping was. I didn’t know why I love them so much growing. Maybe because I really like the aesthetics, maybe because I’m a sucker for childhood friends, maybe because of all the connections of the crest of hope and light. I thought I grew out of this shipping phrase but nope! I went crazy over the crumbs we get from Digimon Tri. They are such a “Will they, won’t they” duo. I can see them work so well as friends as they do as a couple. They tease each other and are so comfortable together but they are always there for each other when either one of them goes through something.

4. Nomoto and Kasuga from She Loves to Cook, She Loves to Eat

Neighbours to ???

This is a fairly new series in comparison to everything else on the list, but I do love the characters of this series. Not only are the main duo relatable as individuals, they found support in each other. This is a personal plus, but watching Nomoto learning she’s an ace lesbian growing these sweet, wholesome feelings for her neighbour makes the dynamic stand out to me more since this helps show to whatever naysayers that believes that the feeding food part of the story is a kink play of theirs. Like dudes…what? It’s really nice to watch two realistic individuals in a grounded relationship (whatever it is at this point), while going through some heavy topics about societal standards.

5. Seo Dan and Seung Jun from Crash Landing on You (Kdrama)

Villainess x Conman

Seeing that Seo Dan was in the position to be the villainess because she was the second female lead and the male lead’s arranged fiance, everyone would think that she would be evil like all the other second leads in Kdramas, but NO! Seo Dan never outright harm the female lead but instead tried to spend time and win over the man that was her fiance. When she realized she couldn’t and her love is turning toxic, she chose not to continue the path of unrequited love and move on, even though it hurt her because she truly loved the male lead, her first love. Seung Jun was in a somewhat similar villain position being a close-hearted conman who’s not the type to stay for anyone. But he starts to fall for Seo Dan, and hated seeing her break because of a man who couldn’t see how amazing she was. This made me tear up to see that Seo Dan found someone that truly love her, and that Seung Jun found someone who he could truly cherish with all his heart. They got to be the realest and best versions of themselves with each other and were a couple that met the right person, there were just some mistakes to realize it.

[kichimiangra]

I like the idea that Digimon who are parted from their human partner, especially if the massive time speed difference is in effect, get a bit weird about it. We saw in Digimon Survive how [spoiler character] reacted by jealousy attacking partnered Digimon, while never able to bring themselves to harm any human. In other cases, I like to imagine that the Digimon do stuff like start talking for their missing human, or the human is a couple of minutes away but coming soon, or getting a worrying amount of art commissioned. The human partner finally reunites and things go from "Aw, you got a picture made of me!" to "Oh, you got a lot of pictures! ...And sculptures. And is that a recreation of my room?" pretty fast.

[insert 'talking to the volley ball movie' joke here]

It's kind of hard to imagine Gulus trying to simply have a reasonable conversation to convince Hiro to sync with him because, in fairness he's had the whole fucking series to try that. He even actively shut down a Hiro that was willing to chat with him under the reasoning of "It's not time yet" and then finally in the finale decided it was 'time' then and evolved to Regulus, and never really see a reason for why that earlier convo was shut down for bad timing.

(Maybe if the line was "There's no time left" then turns back to Gamma that would have made more sense because there was no time for the convo while Gulus had to go nappy-doo? Or maybe by "It's not time yet" he meant that he was biding his time to let the grb infection he left behind infect the digital world? I dunno)

But Gulus has effectively had the whole series to be like "Look man you are a logical mature guy, hear me out; I am literally the lesser of two evils and the other one is heading this way and oh my god is it so much worse than I am--"

I do love when characters are forced into a position of "Whelp... guess you have no choice but to trust me lol!" though.

I'd say it's similar in that both digimon are precious babies at the beginning being taken care of by their human partner, but I think the biggest difference early on is that Takato and Guilmon's relationship feel like he's trying to raise a child sized talking pet, and Guilmon by the end feels like he's grown a lot, meanwhile Hiro and Gammamon immediately feels like Hiro has been given a super powered baby brother to raise, who also mostly stays baby until the end. It's not to downplay Takato and Guilmon's relationship, but Hiro/Gamma feels a little more personal from the word go, while Takato and Guilmon feel like the two took a little while longer to bond with each other. Maybe it's because Hiro and Gammamon almost feels like it has this "Maternal-ness" to it while Takato and Guilmon are more like "Dad who was suddenly handed a kid and told it's his and the mom skipped town so he's all alone and has no clue what he's doing" vibe. New AU: Hiro and Takato are roommates, neither knows what to do with their new digimon partners so now they are the figurative mommy and daddy to two babies.

I should have moved this one up between the last GG and the Tamers message. Sei la vie.

As mentioned above, omg yes really Gulus has every reason to try and communicate but the writers just needed to stretch things out. I think it's more frustrating because it COULD be finagled to have the same result but with a more satisfying path;

Have it so that early on Gulus just COULDN'T come out for long and throughout the series had to waste whatever energy he stored up to bail the kids out of danger: -He wasted his energy vs TeslaJellymon and Angoramon in his first appearance and crapped out. -He blew his load in Arukenimon's mouth his second outing and had to go nap nap. -He struggled to try and come out to fight Myotismon but just hadn't stored up enough juice to be able to override Gammamon, lucky Cannoweismon happened so he could conserve his strength. -He saved Hiro and Ruli from Oroboromon AND got a large colorful Snickety Snack out of it, now wise enough to know to keep storing power. -He's been stockpiling juice for a while and feels he's ready to just threaten Hiro into syncing with him vs TonosamaGekomon, now becoming impatient. It falls through with minimal energy loss as he just brute forces' TonosamaGeko. -Finally back in the digital world he's bidded his time and preserved enough energy to completely overpower Gammamon, and take back his body, plus awesome zombie army, Which took over a year of napping in Gammamon and occasionally dipping into that energy store. That's really all that the writers had to do was make it so that his time in control of the body was too limited after each time he drained his battery for that conversation to happen, and by the time he had a more extended reserve he had better plans to roll off of. "Fuck it, we ball."

It's one of the most frustrating elements of GG, because of everything we canonically know about Gulus he really had no reason NOT to talk to them, especially when they had longer than an in-universe year to do so, and Hiro was already early on receptive to communication with Gulus, and the only reason he didn't pursue it was that Kiyoshiro advised against it out of fear.

Pretty much just... rebellious Gammamon levels of misbehaving on a daily basis around the house. Purposely breaking things. Taking bites into non edible things and denying having done it despite the teeth marks lining up to him and not Gammamon, just anything that can be viewed as threatening and disruptive without technically breaking any of the 100 some odd rules Gammamon regurgitated for him to follow. But then when hologram ghost situations occur and Gulus gets a turn to show he can be a good boy (He can't) and handles things in the worst way, like Picking Hiro up into the air mid combat, because Kaus can bring Hiro to an aerial fight so why can't he? Only to just drop Hiro mid-air so he can use both his hands in combat, Hiro on barely being caught by Angora or Jelly, showing Gulus can't behave in a house setting and he can't responsibly be a team player in combat. Kiyo feels he hasn't changed. Ruli can see improvement, little as it may be but doesn't trust that Gulus isn't just waiting to cause trouble again, as he is very patient, while Hiro and Gamma are the only ones who can tell he is genuinely trying, even if passive aggressively.

Honestly, episodic shows that have a larger strung together plot in the background while the highlight is just "What are we going to do today?" Are my favorite kinds of shows. They often overlap with "Slice of life, but with a twist" and I think that's what propelled Digimon Ghost Game into one of my favorite Digimon Series overall.

That said, I do agree that I wish that at least the ending was a bit more Serialized because... it's the big finale to that plot string in the background this whole time? And both what is going on in the Digital world with our protags AND what is going on with all the refugee digimon in the human world had great potential to be interesting stories on their own. Both feel a bit half baked though because once again, the pieces of something awesome are there, the writers just didn't use it. Honestly related but that's like one of the endings to Digimon Survive, I think it was the Wrathful ending, where it becomes a distopian world, Kemonogami are leaking into the human world, not everyone finds their partner but some do, the government doesn't see the difference or care about good or bad mon, and the survive kids kinda go on to become freedom fighters to try and protect the now outlawed Partnered kids from ending up like Aoi did. And I'm like.... That's an interesting story, how dare you end it there. Make a whole series with this concept?

Okay but boy is a camping wilderness survivor who probably enters some kind of Lumberjack games every year. This kid could dead lift Gulus and he'd be like "WHUT THE FUCK HOW CAN YOU DO THAT?" And Hiro would be like "I eat straight meal worms for protein and chop wood for fun! Get your flannel shirt cape and lemme show you how to knock down a tree with nothing but a spork, a toothpick, and a canadian beaver!"

New headcanon: For badass Gulus is he is surprisingly easy to bugs bunny into submission. The gang just never had the chance to realize that.

[cloudypinkblink]

one were suguru was always Yggdrasil

think of it like he wanted to see the human world with it own eyes so he made the persona of suguru

maybe he married and started a family with sayuri so he could try to understand why humans cared about 'family' so much , if he actually cares for them idk

WELL! Teehee twirls my hair giggles

I also just love drawing Suguru bc he hansomeee hehehe But here's my own spin bc u know me by now anon :3 His reasoning for finally peeking at the human world is likely that the barriers are thinning and digimon are starting to spill into the human world, and Yggdrasil wants to experience and see humanity before making any decisions. He feels right now is the safest time, as humans are beginning to learn and see something new and unknown, but it's happening at a slow, calm rate so there aren't any major catastrophes yet. Definitely just disguises himself as a guy. I like the idea of Yggdrasil genuinely falling for Sayuri and genuinely loving his family- I actually really like the idea that he didn't necessarily plan to have kids, so he was lowkey using his god powers to stop that (and he told Sayuri something abt him just not likely being able to do that) He just wants to explore this human world and humanity; despite all the cruelities that do happen, he enjoys her perspective, and finds himself warmed by her genuine optimism- but is grateful for her realism as well, because life isn't all sunshine and rainbows. Despite that, she has strength to keep moving forward, keep being kind, and keep smiling. He feels... apathetic towards the rest of humanity, but Sayuri's outlook definitely helps tame any disgust or hatred he has. I feel he also genuinely likes and respects DATS- or at least the members who show genuine interest AND respect. I think around now he has a little hope in the humans that are good; that they can outweigh the bad. That's probably why he begins assisting the humans with digital partners. Yes, he could just reveal himself or do more; but the mission is to see what they do with what they're given. Can they really be compatible? Can they really be friends? He can't force such bonds, so he wants to see if humanity will take his gifts and use it well. (He is a little biased, treating his digimon with more favor.) By the time he has Masaru- I think at first he kinda expected to view Masaru as just another creation. to feel towards him what he does towards Digimon. But his affection for Masaru (and later Chika) exceeds that, because they were children born of love between him and another.

He loves his family, genuinely, but he is also the god of the digital world, and as things worsen, I think he has to make decisions. That's still his world that he reigns over. I think before he leaves during that goal to find Ikuto, he finally tells Sayuri the truth. It's... a lot for her to swallow, and I think they leave on awkward terms- it's the kind of thing where she wants to talk to him, have questions answered, etc etc,. but she needed time to process first, and he left before she finished. She keeps it from Masaru and Chika- unsure how they'll take it. I think she gets a little mixed feelings when Masaru befriends Agumon. Yggdrasil definitely pays attention once Masaru starts poking into the Digital World- curious how his son feels and views everything. At the end, he is largely proud of him (wishes he'd be less hot-headed, though.) Yggdrasil maintains his human form, but he does reveal the truth to his Royal Knights, Bancholeomon, and some other ruling digimon, like Mercurimon. Kurata's actions definitely soil Yggdrasil's views on humanity- in his rage and anguish over the loss of so many, he forgets the other humans he met beyond his own family. Even as he watches Masaru work with Touma, Yoshino and Ikuto- who share his perspective, he has a hard time caring for them. In the end the only reaosn he still loves Masaru is because of his familial and fatherly bias. Of coruse Masaru and Chika are good- they are of him and Sayuri. As things worsen, he genuinely starts to plan on a way to cut off conntact with the human world- but he's determined now to bring his family to him. He doesn't want the humans hurting his digimon any further, but he does not want to put Sayuri or his children at risk. Does not help matters when Touma, Masaru's human best friend, betrays them. By the time Masaru and him come face to face, he admits the truth of who he is- and while the others get away, he doesn't let them take Masaru. He tells Masaru his goal to destroy the human world, as it's the only way to save the digital world- and despite Yggdrasil trying to pacify him with the promise of being able to live in the digital world with his family, Masaru is too angry and afraid (dude's 14 and has been loaded w/ a lot recently okay) Yggdrasil just keeps him locked up for his own safety. A big thing is that Yggdrasil IS a computer god thing and IS supposed to be logical, but he let himself feel and have emotions and have a love and have family; it changed how he thinks, operates, etc etc Now he's more likely to feeel rage, anguish, etc., when before he might've kept a calmer head, and instead looked at everything with a colder, but logical, apathy. Now only does he have his family he genuinely loves, but being with Sayuri and learning about his heart, it did make him more affectionate and more protective of his own world. Dunno how this would end yet; I do wanna say it'd probably have a bittersweet ending where Masaru does go to the digital world, where he stays with Agumon (and Yggdrasil) while Chika and Sayuri prefer the human world and remain there.

[bethanythebogwitch]

So I have some thoughts about Digimon Adventure 02 The Beginning. There will be spoilers.

Overall I enjoyed myself, though it wasn't nearly as good as Last Evolution Kizuna. And that's kind of my first gripe about the movie. The new Adventure universe entries all feel disconnected from each other. 02 was very obviously a sequel to Adventure, as was Tri, but you don't need to watch Tri to understand Kizuna and you don't need to watch Tri or Kizuna to understand The Beginning. I would like more consistency and following up on plot points. The whole central plot of Kizuna, that Digimon partnerships are temporary and will eventually end, was not present in this movie at all. This movie also brings up several concepts without following through on them. It also felt rushed compared to Kizuna. I think expanding the run time to 2 hours instead of the 1.5 hrs we got would have benefitted the movie greatly by fleshing out the characters of Lui and Ukkamon, giving their story more of a resolution, and addressing the unanswered questions. Specifically I want to know who the great being Ukkamon gets his powers from is and what's up with that very disturbing giant form it took. The movie also didn't really give a lot of the 02 cast much to do. This is very much the Lui and Ukkamon movie, guest-starring the 02 cast. I think what I want out of a 02 follow up is resolution on some of the hanging plot threads (the dark ocean in particular) and more character development to see how the kids we see in 02 will become the adults we see in the epilogue. And evolutions for SIlphymon and Shakkoumon.

I am definitely enjoying the continuation of the Adventure universe, but I am annoyed by the fact that each new entry ends with sequel hooks and dangling plot threads that the next entry does not address. Things we still don't know include (from Tri) who evil Gennai was and what his goals are, what happened to the original chosen children besides Daigo and Maki, and what are all the resurrected villains from the reboot doing, and (from Kizuna) how the partners that vanished will come back in time for the 02 epilogue. I think these are all great points that can be followed up on for good stories. Have a confrontation with evil Gennai, tell a story about Taichi/Tai and Yamato/Matt bringing back Agumon and Gabumon. I'm also not sure how Ukkamon trying to give everyone in the world a Digimon partner to make them happy squares with Kizuna saying that all Digimon partnerships will eventually end. That's another great opportunity to tell a story connecting the two. Maybe Ukkamon isn't as powerful as he thinks and can't make permanent bonds, maybe Ukkamon is too short-sighted to see the consequences of his actions, maybe someone else (evil Gennai or the dark ocean perhaps) is manipulating Ukkamon for their own goals. Maybe you could tie Tri and 02 together ore by letting the reboot from Tri bring back characters like BlackWarGreymon and Oikawa.

Ukkamon's power to grant wishes is another thing I think deserves more attention. The most obvious answer I think is that Ukkamon's power comes from the world of dreams seen in the end of 02. However the very dark (though seemingly innocent) way he grants Lui's wishes and the very Lovecraftian transformation he goes through gives me dark ocean vibes. My personal theory is that Ukkamon is an innocent creature related to the world of dreams that is being corrupted by the dark ocean or that he is some halfway point between the two worlds (they are implied to be counterparts, the world of dreams representing good dreams and the dark ocean representing nightmares). Again, this is very good potential for storytelling. I guess what I'm saying is: fanfic writers, start your engines.

I saw some people saying that this movie retconned Tri and the 02 epilogue. I did not get that impression at all. I think the only thing that would have to change about Tri is that the adventures of Daigo, Maki and co would have to take places closer to the original series than what was shone in that series. The epilogue is still perfectly viable as a conclusion to what we see in the movie. We even see the characters beginning to work toward the careers they have in the epilogue and a tease to the start of the Miyako/Yolei x Ken relationship. I'm in favor of this. I can definitely see why a lot of people want Tri and the epilogue decanonized, but I think that 9 times out of 10 it's better to take something that didn't work and build new, better stories on it than to just retcon it away.

Stuff I like about this movie. The action is visually impressive and the animation in general is excellent. I like Miyako/Yolei getting more to do since she was definitely the most underutilized in 02 (though Iori/Cody got the shaft this time around). I like the movie showing more of how the characters got to where they were in the epilogue. I like the cameos from the international chosen children and shots showing the beginning of a new generation of chosen. The emotional core of the story, though a bit rushed, was strong. The ending showing that even without digivices, the bond between human and Digimon is strong enough to stay was heartwarming and a very nice aversion to this franchise always trying to cram in a tragic ending to its stories. And that one scene (if you saw the movie you know which one I'm talking about) was scarier then anything we got in the entirety of Ghost Game and Survive. Overall, it was a good movie, I just wish it could have done just a bit more.

[firstagent]

For the 02 movie, at the start, the director said this was a story that only works for the 02 cast. It got me thinking about how the other season's cast would handle the movie's events. How do you think it would go?

Good time to point out that anything making me compare different season casts or rank characters within seasons on any ridiculous criteria are the best asks, so keep stuff like this coming.

Whelp, first off, adding our big spoiler line...

And here we go! To set some ground rules, here's what we are considering as "movie's events" we need each team to process:

Each team was formed as a result of powers created by Lui's wish to Ukkomon. Some of these will be real absurd, but we're rolling with them.

Each team needs to hear Lui's story and judge Lui's responsibility vs. Ukkomon's in this mess.

Each team needs to consider the possibility of losing their Digimon's bonds vs. everyone becoming partnered to one.

Each team needs to decide how to whether to tackle Ukkomon head-on, stand back and accept what happens, or give Lui the chance to sort things.

Unless they embrace the chaos, each team loses their digivices.

Adventure

Weirdly, a child's wishes powering Homeostasis isn't too hard to swallow after all the other stuff they found out from it. They'll be more sympathetic to Lui than the 02 kids were, partially because they all have very personal situations they'd welcome divine assistance with, and partially because the bluntness we saw from Hikari in the movie didn't start developing until Zero Two and only reached its peak in tri. They might be too idealistic to consider the downside of everyone having a partner and definitely would prefer Lui take the lead and work things out himself. But they'd go through with it, as losing their digivices wouldn't be that different than losing their crests.

Tamers

Ukkomon slots right in next to the digignomes for plausibility, so no issues there. But if any group is both-siding Lui vs. Ukkomon, it's these kids, especially once Lui starts claiming their relationships are manufactered. Expect the Digimon to weigh in a lot here, Renamon in particular. We'd get a lot of beautiful speeches, but they'd be far more reluctant to let go of their bonds, and kinda distraught losing their D-Arks at the very end. They too might be willing to play out the idea of everyone becoming a Tamer, and might not be motivated enough to fight Ukkomon themselves. This might be the mostly likely season to give Lui his birthday present in the end.

Frontier

Very much doing the right thing for the wrong reasons. They all literally have Digimon inside them, so they're supporting Ukkomon here, especially if it enabled Ophanimon to dish out the spirits. Despite them having little love for Lui, they only come around once the implications are clear. They know full well the power being dished out here, and everybody having a spirit and the capacity to become a Digimon? Absolutely not. More likely to take out Ukkomon on their own than giving Lui any say (or closure), but take it out they will. Harsh but efficient.

Savers

Surprisingly similar to Frontier! Between Masaru completely whiffing and telling Lui the right approach is to tackle his problems on his own, Touma concurring with his backstory, and Ikuto generally savoring his experiences being bailed out by Digimon at a young age, Lui might not bother seeking their help in the first place. They might even laugh off the first partner stuff without confirmation from Yushima or BanchoLeomon. They're definitely not taking everyone getting a partner lying down, so taking out Ukkomon then becomes a pretty routine DATS mission in the end. They'll convince themselves their digivices were only holding them back, so losing them won't sting that much.

Xros Wars

Polar opposite here. Taiki is determined to help Lui at all cost, and Ukkomon's natural connection here takes it to Bagramon, so this team is painting it as a malicious entity from the start. In fact, it's their disdain for Ukkomon that could well prompt Lui to reassess his issues and want to make peace on his own, perhaps even accepting Ukkomon's wish against Xros Heart's pleas. It's then that Lui discovers Ukkomon's ability to generate weird temporal perceptions stems from its connection to a different Digimon, one that creates a new perceived world for all those newly created partnerships to play in, and that's how Hunters really happened.

Appmon

With no connection to AI development, hearing about Ukkomon powering Minerva will rattle Haru a lot. However, once they get over that, they'll use Lui's story as a perfect illustration of how beneficial AI can be while cautioning about the dangers of overuse and not instructing it properly. It's a far more logical approach, but they'll get roughly to the same place V-mon got with his handshake speech. They're far more willing to consider letting everybody partner with an Appmon since it's not that different from everybody having a smartphone. And they definitely aren't parting with their buddies willingly. Still, they let Lui try to reason with Ukkomon, which could bite them in the butt since their Appdrives absolutely are powering their Appmon bonds.

Adventure: (2020)

Ukkomon's powering everything? Sure, why not? These kids are definitely drowning Lui with kindness, with all the support and good vibes in the world. Like their 1999 counterparts, they're more likely to understand his side. Unlike them, they're more likely to question Ukkomon's intentions. It's hard to say how they'd handle the idea of everyone receiving a partner, but if Lui insists Ukkomon needs to be stopped, they'll defer to him, even at the risk of their own bonds. Without as much reflection going on, Lui's less likely to realize the need to fix this himself and agrees to let them destroy Ukkomon without a conversation. Again harsh, but Lui's more comfortable with it than in Frontier or Savers.

Ghost Game

After they roll their eyes one more time at Hiro's dad when they find out about Ukkomon's connection to everything, they're less likely to be that affected by Lui's story. Those kinds of horrors just kind of slide off them by now. Enough that they'll want to handle this delicately and get more information, including from Ukkomon itself if possible. Instead of Lui, they'll be the ones trying to engage it and gather its intentions before taking any concrete action. If Lui's story checks out, they're absolutely against everyone getting a Digimon partner but will seek out a way to deal with it without murder. They will definitely miss their digivices and all its extra features, but they'll keep their Digimon around and wonder how they got through a whole movie without a GulusGammamon appearance.

[otakween]

Digimon Adventure 02 Best Partner Series - Part 1

More image songs! This time for Adventure 02, but I'm starting out with the older kids. I had a lot of fun listening to all of these. They really went all out this time. 12 CDs with 3 songs each (solo human, solo digimon & partner duet)!? Madness!

Taichi & Agumon

New Sun - Taichi (listen here - subbed)

Taichi singing to Daisuke (or maybe the whole new squad) about how they're taking over the original kids' legacy. The lyrics make him sound very wise.

Took me a second to adjust and picture Taichi singing this because his VA kinda sounds like a granny lol

This had very "Mufasa talking to Simba" vibes. The chorus was catchy and empowering.

Agumon Ondo - Agumon (listen here - subbed)

Agumon singing about how he needs/wants to eat a bunch to grow big and strong. Also, apparently he dances to help digestion lol.

Agumon talking to random kids during the song and then having them sing along was adorable. Also made me feel old.

Team - Taichi & Agumon duet (listen here + translation here)

A very generic song about how Agumon and Taichi make a great team, but it's always charming to hear digimon/partner duets.

Yamato & Gabumon

The Key to Granting Wishes - Yamato (listen here - subbed)

A cheesy shounen song about following your heart and friendship and what not. Comparing it to Yamato's image song from the first season, you can see he's grown past his emo, lone wolf phase.

Wasn't crazy about the song itself, but the music was great, especially the guitar solo. Had a nice bombastic intro too.

It's Alright - Gabumon (listen here & translation here)

Gabumon singing about his bond with Yamato. They both hide behind facades (Yamato's coolness, Gabumon's fur) and are misunderstood. I feel like this was a lot stronger as a character song than Yamato's solo song.

Gabumon's one of the quieter digimon so hearing him sing is a treat!

Our Melody - Yamato & Gabumon duet (listen here & translation here)

A touching (and CHEESY) ballad between Yamato and Gabumon about all the good times they've had together. It had strong drunken karaoke vibes haha.

Although cheesy, the lyrics did warm my heart a bit :') I think digimon/partner bonds get to me more than human/human bonds.

Koushiro & Tentomon

Open Mind - Koushiro (listen here - subbed)

Meh, not a fan of this one. I felt like the lyrics were clunky and didn't flow well with the song's melody.

The song is about Koushiro learning new things about himself and his emotions through his journey in the digital world. Even though I didn't like it, I'm happy to hear Koushiro's voice again :')

Dengeki Rhapsody - Tentomon (listen here - subbed)

Tentomon 😭😭😭❤️❤️❤️ I love him so much. This song was really cute and plucky. Basically just Tentomon singing about being a good partner and appreciating Koushiro.

The only thing that bugged me (hehe) about this one is that it implied that Tentomon is always obsessing over food but like...I don't remember that ever happening?

The Scenery of the World! - Koushiro & Tentomon duet (listen here - subbed)

Another banger! Mostly just because I love these two and relate to Koushiro's passion so much. He's singing about how excited he is to absorb all of the world's knowledge and to see the whole world with Tentomon. Koushiro would make a good librarian haha. I too have strong urges to learn everything ever (currently reading every page of Wikipedia).

Tentomon's part of the song is kind of exasperated but in a loving way. He sings about how Koushiro is always staying up late glued to his computer, but that he'll still always stick by his side and pep him up when he gets tired. So wholesome <3

Joe & Gomamon

Towards the Wind - Joe (listen here - subbed)

A lot of these solo songs have the same, general theme about growing as a person. I wonder if the vibe will be different for the younger 02 kids?

I liked the mellow vibe of this song. A nice, easy listen. Joe definitely has the most mature vibes of the gang, despite being dweeby.

Invincible Flutter Kick - Gomamon (listen here - subbed)

Gomamon singing about how helpless Joe is and how he'll always be them to protect him and lighten his load. So cute :3

News to me that Gomamon has an "invincible flutter kick" lol. I mean, I can picture it, but usually he just summoned fish.

Crawl the Sky - Joe & Gomaon duet (listen here - subbed)

Joe and Gomamon singing about their unlikely friendship. They balance each other out. I kind of wish the chorus wasn't the usual, cheesy "we can do anything if we're together!" lines. The first part of the song was a little stronger when they were comparing each other's characters.

These songs are making me wish I had a little buddy to explore the world with :'(

Mimi & Palmon

Super☆Girl - Mimi (Listen here - subbed)

Mimi singing about her personal growth. It was a pretty generic, motivational song about being brave to be yourself and not fear mistakes.

I do really enjoy how unabashedly girly Mimi is and her songs always reflect that.

A Little Pinkie's Fantasy - Palmon (Listen here - subbed)

This one was just weird. The lyrics were super awkward. I think they're alluding to a pinky promise when Palmon talks about a "pinkie's fantasy," but the metaphor doesn't really work. Also the line about glittering lips also seems like a non-sequitur.

I've never been a huge Palmon fan, so I think that's mostly why this one was no good for me. (She's also a little tone deaf lol).

Happy Smile - Mimi & Palmon (Listen here - subbed)

It's nice to hear a song where Mimi and Palmon are talking about their friendship cuz Mimi could honestly be kinda nasty to Palmon in the anime lol.

Some of the lyrics in this were a little clunky (they basically said stuff like "fun things are fun!" "Smiling is nice!" "Pretty things are good!") but I liked the sentiments about distance not weakening their bond. That resonates with me as an adult who doesn't have many opportunities to see my friends in person.

Sora & Piyomon

Shiny Days - Sora (Listen here - subbed)

Uhhh I think mostly this one was just poorly translated because it was literally like a word salad. Like, read the lyrics here (or in the video subs) and you'll see they straight up make no sense --> https://www.animelyrics.com/anime/digi02/shinydays.htm

Sora is my least favorite Adventure character so it checks out that here song kinda sucks lol (sorry).

Wait this song has the same title as the Yuru Camp opening!

My Music Score - Piyomon (Listen here - subbed)

A nice straightforward song about Piyomon's love for Sora. I like how they incorporated her name into the song with all the "pipipi" and "piyo piyo." Very cute.

If We Fly Together - Sora & Piyomon (Listen here - subbed)

I feel like there was some nice harmonizing on this one. I hope the VAs had fun haha

The lyrics in this one were sweet. I especially liked this line about "telling each other secrets we hide from the stars." That really illustrates Sora and Piyomon's close bond.

[citrus-cactus]

fanfic ask game! 1, 3, 22, 55, 77!

Ask game is here!

1). Do you daydream a lot before you write, or go for it as soon as the ideas strike?

I tend to daydream a lot! I think that's a large part of my "outline" process these days: sooooo much thinking before committing anything to paper (which is not the best process, I'll admit! Because sometimes I end up forgetting things ;_;)

It used to be that a lot of my fanfic ideas were born out of pencil and paper sketches while letting my mind wander, which feels similar to the "daydream" process (and then I would brainstorm while drawing!)... but these days I don't do a lot of freeform drawing (;_;) and the brainstorming takes place almost exclusively in my head. Sometimes I'll have snippets and dialogue occur to me that need documentation NOW, so that feels more like a "when the idea strikes" sort of thing... and then when I've collected enough snippets/dialogue and have enough of a general idea where the fic is going to go, that's when I start writing in earnest!

3). Do you share your fic ideas, or do you keep them to yourself?

I tend to keep them to myself. I've been... trying to get better about this... maybe?? That was what last year's fic/WIP summary and the creative check-ins and some of my random, sporadic posts over the past few months have (partially) been about. But now that I look at them... I'm not sure it's clear to anyone but myself what the heck I'm working on?? I would like to get better at this, perhaps?? Summaries are good (lol), but I usually save those for last!

I think, because I publish fics so infrequently (and have WAY more abandoned ideas and WIPs than actual published works!), I default to being pretty secretive about my ideas. Mostly because I don't want to jinx myself with the inability to finish something; if no one knows about it but me, no one can be disappointed!! But also, since I almost exclusively write short one-shots, the element of surprise feels, somehow, important to preserve up until the moment of publishing. I'm not sure how to balance the two wolves inside me ("excited to share" and "SECRETS!!")

22). Do you title your fics before, during, or after the writing process? How do you come up with titles?

Usually during. A lot of my titles seem to crystalize during the daydream/brainstorming process... though again, sometimes I don't want to reveal the title until the fic is further along, in case I end up changing my mind! Sometimes it does take me a little longer to figure it out, but not often. I guess how I come up with them is... I figure out the theme of the story, and think of a way to make it work as a title? ("Rose-Tinted" is my favorite recent example. Because yes, it's about a pair of pink-colored sunglasses, but ultimately it's about looking at a situation through a more optimistic lens!)

Sometimes I'll try to be clever and make the title a literary reference. I've repurposed lines from Sherlock Holmes, Brigadoon (the musical), and, most recently, Sophocles' Antigone. Because whoa boy, do I love themes. And allusions!!!! And parallels!!!!!!

55). Have you noticed any patterns in your fics?  Words/expressions that appear a lot, themes, common settings, etc?

What an interesting question! I think, as generic of an answer as this is, my stories all end up being about love. This takes many forms: romantic (this used to be a huge theme, at least earlier on in my fanfic career!), but also platonic, the "soulmate" bond between human and digimon partners, and also (sometimes) unhealthy expressions of love. Also they can be born from things I personally love, like hats and in-jokes for very small audiences :3

My published fics tend to be either fairly fluffy(/goofy/jokey), or a bit dark. There's very little "neutral" up in here, though I do enjoy writing Emotions(tm).

I do enjoy ending a fic on a good stinger. I love me a juicy... just a teeny-tiny surprise, subversion, twist, or echo, wrapping it all up with an impactful little... pop. Absolutely delightful when it feels like I can pull that off. I live for that.

77). Why do you enjoy writing fanfiction?

I enjoy writing fiction because sometimes I have ideas that feel too large or complex to convey in a single illustration or a short comic. I enjoy writing fanfiction because other people's characters, stories, and ideas have become lodged in my brain and I am (occasionally) compelled to work through my feelings about them in prose XD I love writing (and reading!) things that are having a dialogue with canon, filling in nebulous details, expanding on characterization, having a fun day out with my faves, or otherwise taking some dumb/brilliant/random idea (either mine or someone else's) and running with it to a logical conclusion (by some definition of the word "logical"). My favorite thing to do as both a creator and a fan, whether in art or writing, has always been to tell stories… and I genuinely don't know where I’d be if I wasn't able to do that!

These were fun to think about, thanks for the asks!!!

[sloanerisette]

Digimon Secret Santa 2023 Gift!

So I was @bacomon-art-blog's Secret Santa! I know how much you love Iori and Jou, so I wanted to write something with them for you! I hope you have a merry Christmas, and I hope you enjoy! I had a lot of fun writing this and a ton of fun coming up with this fic!

---

For some reason, Iori felt a bit out of his depth for this celebration. According to Takeru and Hikari, August 1st was a big day for the original eight Chosen Children, being the day that they went to the Digital World and came back. As a result, the eight Chosen Children were joined by him, Miyako, and Daisuke to celebrate. They were Chosen Children now, so they had been welcomed wholeheartedly in the group. But while Miyako was quick to find friendship with Sora and Mimi thanks to her exuberant nature, and Daisuke had already been close with Taichi and had recently become closer with Yamato after a he received the Digimental of Friendship, Iori felt… well, a bit out of place.

It wasn’t that he felt unwelcome by any means, but it was a bit different. Everyone was so much older than him, and compared to the other new Chosen Children, he felt he hadn’t gotten nearly that close to any of his seniors. His own Digimentals were Knowledge and Reliability, and while he greatly respected both Koushiro and Jou, his relationship with them wasn’t nearly as close as Miyako was with Mimi or Daisuke was with Taichi.

Still, he was grateful to come along. The heat wasn’t too bad, they had a picnic together, and he had been enthralled by all the stories of that first trip the others took into the Digital World. He couldn’t imagine the idea of being stuck there for so long… it merely made his respect for them all grow so much more. Every so often that day he looked down at Upamon, each time with a fond, if small smile. He and his Digimon partner had already become incredibly close friends, and Upamon had done plenty to get him to lighten up just a bit more than usual. All he could hope was that their bond would continue to grow and grow.

By the mid-afternoon, the humidity had grown quite a bit, and Iori found himself needing to fan himself a bit more.

“Water?”

He snapped from yet another bout of thoughts about what being a Chosen Child meant and he looked up to see Jou offering him a bottle of water. He blinked.

“Ah, thank you, Jou-san,” he said with a bow of his head before taking it.

“I’m surprised the summer hasn’t been rougher,” Jou said as he cracked open his own bottle and took a long drink. Iori opened his bottle and offered some to Upamon before taking a sip himself.

The group of Chosen Children had split up a bit, with all of them splitting up into their own small groups. Miyako had dragged Hikari over to Mimi and Sora, while Daisuke was listening to Taichi and Koushiro, and Yamato and Takeru were standing next to each other, laughing about something one of them said.

“Don’t worry, I made sure to pass water out to everyone else. You just seemed to be in such thought I didn’t want to interrupt you, but considering everyone else got their own by now, I hope you don’t mind,” Jou said lightly. Iori shook his head.

“No, I appreciate it, thank you.”

Things stayed quiet between the two as they sat down on a bench, watching their friends socialize. It was nice to spend some quiet time, but with the oldest of their group there, Iori couldn’t help himself.

“Jou-san, do you mind if I ask a question?” he asked, voice serious as ever. Jou’s eyebrows raised and he let out a gentle chuckle.

“Of course, fire away.”

Compared to the few times he had seen Jou in the Digital World, he seemed a lot more easygoing now. Well, not necessarily easygoing, considering this was the guy who had made sure everyone was staying hydrated on a warm summer day, but he definitely wasn’t as stressed as he was making sure their friends didn’t die or in helping temporarily stop the Digimon Kaiser.

And, really, there were some questions that Iori floated in his mind. Even if Taichi had been the leader in Jou’s group and Daiuske was the leader in theirs, he still wanted to do his best to help out. Frankly, out of all the people to ask, from what he knew and the stories he was told, Jou was the only person to really ask.

“How did you do it?” he asked. Jou blinked and tilted his head.

“Do what?” he asked as Iori gave Upamon another drink of water.

“Keep them all under control,” Iori said simply, before taking another gulp for himself. Jou scratched his cheek and grimaced.

“Ah, well… that was more Taichi’s job than mind…” he trailed off.

“I understand that, but you were the oldest one. Your crest is Reliability, and I share that too through my Digimental. Mimi talking about how you stayed with her to make sure she stayed safe when you went back to the Digital World a second time, the story about making sure Taichi didn’t get in over his head while trying to rescue Sora, making sure Takeru didn’t get hurt… even if you didn’t lead the group, you still did everything you could to keep everyone safe.”

Jou placed his hand to his chin and hummed quietly, in deep thought. Iori focused his attention on him, waiting for what he had to say. He wanted to do his best to keep everyone safe with how dangerous the Digimon Kaiser was dangerous. Ever since they had to fight Metalgreymon, it felt like the stakes were being raised more and more. It wouldn’t be easy, and they needed to do all they could. Iori had to keep an eye out and make sure they all stayed safe. He wouldn’t let anything happen to any of his friends.

“Well, to be honest with you, Iori… I think a lot of it happened by accident,” he said with an awkward laugh. Iori’s jaw dropped.

“Huh?”

At his bewildered expression, Jou waved his hands and shook his head.

“No no no, don’t get me wrong! I worked as hard as I could to keep everyone safe, even if Taichi took the lead of the group,” he said. He paused again and pursed his lips, trying to best figure out how to better word what he meant to say.

“A lot of our group is pretty impulsive. Sora-kun and Koushiro are probably the only others who could keep as much of a level head, and there were plenty of times where I still needed to do what I could to help them out, too. Working with a lot of people isn’t always easy, especially when a lot of them are so headstrong.”

Iori glanced over at Daisuke and then to Miyako. He could definitely understand that pretty well.

“In a way, you sort of have to be an anchor for your group.”

The anchor for the group…

Iori had a hard time thinking of himself that way. While he had been raised with a good head on his shoulders thanks to his family, being the “anchor” felt like something else entirely.

Jou set a gentle hand on Iori’s shoulder, his own gaze having followed towards Iori’s friends.

“Daisuke and Miyako-kun are both pretty energetic, aren’t they,” he mused with a soft chuckle, “They really are like Taichi and Mimi-kun.”

“Jou-san, you really think I could be the anchor to our group?” he asked. He always appreciated the advice, help, and knowledge he received from Koushiro-san, and the few times Jou-san had offered it had been a boon, too. He still thought about what he had said when he needed to call on him in order to help save the group.

“I wouldn’t say think, I would say I’m sure you could be,” Jou said, offering Iori a smile. To Jou, it was almost funny how different the two were. Here Iori had taken helping out the Digital World in stride, doing everything he could in order to help fight against the Digimon Kaiser, while Jou had been so anxious and hesitant during his first trip there. Granted, they were in completely different situations, but he was always impressed by the boy’s convictions and strength.

“Takeru and Hikari-kun may have the experience from being in the Digital World with the rest of us, but you have an incredibly level head. You know when to take action and you focus on the right thing to do.”

Hearing Jou-san say that… really did mean a lot. It wasn’t always easy being the youngest, but…

“Thank you, Jou-san. Going against the Digimon Kaiser hasn’t been easy. Sometimes I wonder if it’s a battle we can entirely win,” Iori frowned. He wrung his hands together as he watched the others. He didn’t want to see them get hurt. He still thought about how his friends had nearly died, had a few nightmares about it. If it wasn’t for him being able to get Jou-san, then…

“I know we can’t help you all out too much, but we’ll always do what we can. You’ll always have our support.”

Upamon looked up at Iori, with that same adorable smile that he always held. It brought warmth to his chest, and enough relief to cause the knot that had slowly been forming in his stomach to unwind.

“Iori,” Upamon squeaked, “If I get what Jou is saying, then I know you do that for me, too!”

“Upamon?”

Jou smiled in silence as he watched the the pair.

“You always help me out! And if it wasn’t for you, there’s plenty of times I would’ve had way more of your mom’s food than I should!” Upamon said as he wiggled in his place.

And there were a lot of times that he had gotten seconds (and thirds) to give to his partner after a long day in the Digital World.

“Sounds a lot like a seal I know,” Jou said, before pausing for a beat, “Well… a lot less sarcastically than said seal, at least,” he said before adjusting his glasses.

“Thanks. Both of you,” Iori nodded as he held Upamon a little closer. “I hope one day I can be as close with Upamon as you are with Gomamon.”

Jou set a reassuring hand on Iori’s shoulder, patting it a few times before he reached for his bottle of water and took another drink.

“I don’t think you’ll have anything to worry about on that front. You two are just as much anchors for each other as Gomamon and I are for each other.”

“Hey, Iori!” Miyako shouted out with an exaggerated wave, “Get over here! Daisuke is buying us ice cream!”

“What!? I didn’t say I was gonna do that!” he shouted, his voice booming through the park.

“Sounds like you have to now!” Takeru said, his laughter mingling with Daisuke’s continued cries of refusal.

“B-But I was talking to—” Iori started, but was stopped by another hand on his shoulder again.

“Don’t worry about me, I’m sure I can find someone to talk to,” Jou said, mirth clear in his voice as he nodded towards his group.

“And I want to get ice cream, too!” Upamon said.

“Hey, wait! If I start buying ice cream for all you guys I’m gonna be broke!” Daisuke shouted.

“Oh! I want ice cream, too!” Chibimon squeaked out happily as he danced around his partner’s feet.

“Me, too!” Patamon said as he flew in circles.

The two stood up and started to walk forward. “Thanks for all of your advice today, Jou-san. It’s really helped me out.” Iori stopped in place and offered his senior a half bow.

Jou smiled, “I’m happy to help.”

“Hey! If you don’t hurry up then you and Upamon aren’t getting any ice cream!” Daisuke shouted over to them.

“Iori come on!” Upamon said, nearly flying from the boy’s arms to secure his frozen treat.

“Oh, and Iori? I think you’re already on the right track to being the anchor for your group,” Jou said, shooting the younger boy a thumbs up before heading over to talk to Mimi and Koushiro.

“Fiiiiiiiinally,” Daisuke said, putting his hands behind his head as Iori approached, Upamon practically buzzing in Iori’s arms as his little eyes darted around to try and find ice cream.

“I thought we were gonna have to leave ya behind,” Daisuke grinned. Miyako flicked his ear, leading to him shouting “Ow!” and rubbing his ear with a grumble.

“He wasn’t going to leave, I wouldn’t let him,” she said as she folded her arms. It caused Hikari to laugh, putting a hand in front of her mouth to cover it.

“Iori, Iori, how many ice creams can I get?” Upamon asked as he finally popped out of his partner’s arms, bouncing on the ground with Chibimon.

“Just one!” Daisuke said with a huff, pouting out his lower lip, “I’m not made of money.” Despite his grumbling, he couldn’t help the way the edge of his mouth turned upwards into a half grin before he led the charge towards a small convenience store, the rest of the group following close behind.

Despite the fact that Upamon ended up having an extra half a popsicle after begging Iori for some more, the tiny Digimon still ended up scarfing down a whole plate of food he had taken to his room after dinner. Iori watched with a mix of wonder and terror as the Digimon chowed down face first on a large pile of rice.

“You know, I still can’t help but wonder how many stomachs you have.”

“I dunno but not enough! I’m still hungry!” Upamon said between bites.

Iori smiled to himself as he leaned back in his chair. His partner was certainly something else. Not that he would ever complain.

“Hey, Upamon?” Iori asked after a few minutes. Upamon looked over at him, chewing on a piece of fish. Iori reached forward and wiped away a few grains of rice that were on his cheek.

“Yeah?” Upamon asked, finally swallowing the massive mouthful of food he had.

“We make a pretty good team, don’t we?”

“Of course we do! We make the best team ever! Ever ever!” Upamon cheered as he bounced in place. Iori chuckled gently.

“I think so, too. I’m glad and I’m grateful to be your partner.”

Upamon couldn’t stop himself from continuing to munch as he watched Iori with wide eyes and rapt attention.

“I won’t lie, I’m a little nervous about taking on the Digimon Kaiser… it won’t be an easy fight. But I want you to know I’ll always stand by you. As long as you’re able to fight, then so will I.”

Upamon suddenly launched himself into Iori’s arms, the force of which caused his chair to nearly fall backwards. Iori barely managed to get his feet planted on the floor in time while Upamon nuzzled into him. Iori grimaced as some soy sauce started to stain his shirt.

“I’ll be your anchor if you’ll be mine, Iori!”

Iori smiled, closed his eyes, held his partner tight, and gently set his forehead against the top of Upamon’s head.

“I will.”

[skydigiblogs]

silly 02tb thoughts a month after we watched it

going through the 02tb tags trying to figure out if anyone came away with anything resembling my interpretation of some of the lore dropped and wondering if i need to watch it again bsdjhfbjshdfds

i went into the tags because wikimon has yet to include an in-depth summary. reason being is i'm writing some self indulgent shit (that's already being a little flexible with canon). it's not going to be something i even publish but i am writing it indulgent of the interpretations i came out of 02tb with. and i am realizing now, i don't think i ever shared those interpretations?

like both of them are probably not the intended reading. like i'm fairly certain that's the case.

but i also keep seeing people talk about kizuna and 02tb regarding unreliable narrators (and narratives) after having just put myself through the hell of tri again. so, bear with me on my two very wild interpretations that might mean i need to rewatch 02tb (bearing in mind that i watched the kizuna dub and 02tb subbed).

it's me, it's a long one under the cut.

first: in consideration of the canonicity of tri.

yes. i hate tri. we all know this. i'm fairly certain bandai really wants us to just let tri be forgotten. on this note, i had to double check the flashback footage because i could swear we never saw a digivice during bakumon's sacrifice. we do, i just forgot because by loss i was surviving only through doing art on my tablet.

anyways. what is the digivice functionally? in 02tb, it's literally the objectification of a bond. that which represents the connection between a human and digimon. we usually see it as a mode by which digivolution occurs, but is that necessary to incite digivolution? we do see that himekawa has a digivice in the flashback, so if the timeline is accurate (and what both rui and ukko say in 02tb about the digivices origin), this is explicitly a "don't think about tri" kind of moment.

this is my sillier consideration, so bear with me for a sec while i ask two questions:

is the narrative rui's portraying the whole picture? is it honest to god the first digivice? or is this just rui's perception of the situation? how much do he and ukkomon know about other digimon related events?

could a version of tri's prequel events have occurred without digivices? again, are they necessary to incite digivolution? (i also want to note, tangentially, that we don't really see crests given to the first digidestined group which, idk. how did y'all reach perfect?? whatever, it's tri, nothing makes sense lol.)

second: what is ukkomon's responsibility regarding the things that antagonist digimon have done?

so this is more something i think could be a misread to the viewer than anything else, but the final incident with ukkomon before rui snapped at him in the flashbacks, where ukkomon seemed overjoyed that digimon partners would be willing to sacrifice anything (even their lives) for their human partners, kind of struck a chord with me.

ukkomon is vaguely connected to homeostasis. we think, at least, yeah? it's unconfirmed, but it's heavily implied or speculated within the text (and i think it might be purposeful that they didn't confirm it to be homeostasis, if only because narratively speaking it highlights the confusion of their whole situation in a way that, imo, serves a lot of the themes of the movie surrounding communication BUT I DIGRESS).

i don't think ukkomon is a malicious actor here, to be clear.

i also don't think homeostasis is one, either. it's frequently stated to be an arbiter of balance, not a force of good or evil. like, the definition of lawful neutral.

however, ukkomon connecting humans and digimon through digivices ("forced partnerships"? it's been like a month since i watched 02tb so i don't remember if they phrased it like that but) could potentially come with a signifiable drawback.

sort of like a newton's law of good and evil in the digital world, i guess.

basically, by connecting so many humans and digimon, what if the kickback of those connections is that it causes "evil" digimon to appear? either by way of homeostasis needing to maintain balance (neither "good" nor "evil" are allowed an excessive advantage) or by way of exposing vulnerabilities in the digital world's systems by distorting them to create those partnerships.

this is the interpretation i kind of walked away from the scene where ukkomon and rui watched the fight against armageddomon, since ukkomon seemed so comparatively excited to see such strong digimon fighting. if the kickback of ukkomon granting rui's wish is that evil digimon get stronger and stronger as more and more chosen children receive their digivices, does ukkomon know enough about the mechanics of his wish granting (or the digital world) to recognize it?

[nova-dracomon]

Lucky for Me, I Run on Spite and Sweet Revenge

Originally posted on tumblr on October 27, 2022

Posted Updated Version on the Fictionkind Dreamwidth on April 11, 2024

Write about a time that your fictomere completely lost their cool, or a time that someone lost their cool about your fictomere. - 95 [Frenzy]

My strongest noema is that I dark digivolved when I had a chance for revenge against one of the royal knights.

The royal knights are an extension of the supercomputer, King Drasil, who oversees the Digital World and have sworn to do their bidding. The same King Drasil who unleashed a virus to wipe out all but 1% of Digimon. Royal knights are Digimon themselves, but they’re too powerful to dare challenge. After miraculously surviving the x-virus, I was able to escape through a small gap into the human world. No matter how angry I was at first, choosing to fight them instead would be a waste of my life. The idea of continuing to live as an act to spite god was much more appealing. On the other side, I was able to meet a human that became my partner.

I wasn’t the sole Digimon in the human world for long and apparently the little tear I used to travel between worlds wasn’t the only one. Other digimon were able to find similar gaps into the human world, so my human partner and I worked together to keep any dangerous ones at bay. As a digimon, our emotions make us. The closer our bond became, the more resolute and confident my partner was, the powerful the forms I would take. My strength was directly tied to her emotions, will and growth. Over time, we even found other human and digimon pairs that joined us. My partner was way more enthusiastic about them than I was. I never was the most social creature to begin with and time had made me jaded, but they were tolerable. They grew on me at some point.

But bitterness and resentment are like poison. I’ve had minor upsets when digivolving before, I’d be more feral/aggressive, and maybe use more force than was strictly necessary, but I wasn’t…like this. When I was finally going to hit mega, my own hatred and resentment tainted the evolution and I completely lost control. I do not know what I was supposed to become if I had a clear heart, but I transformed into holydramon x. Normally, holydramon is seen as a heroic protector. After having it’s latent powers drawn out by the x-program, it's more akin to a vengeful deity:

“Although there are no visible changes to Holydramon, who has continued to evolve throughout the history of the Digital World, the wild, draconic ferocity it had restrained has been completely drawn out. When facing evil Digimon, it smashes them to smithereens with its brutal, tremendous fighting style, and then erases them in the blink of an eye with its enormous light energy of justice (Holy Blaze), and is starting to become feared as a vengeful god.” - from wikimon.net (image is too)

After writing that last paragraph, I feel like my partner must have played a role in the evolution too. Digimon are hyper-sensitive to the emotions and wishes of humans. Was it only my heart that tainted the evolution? Was my partner filled with anger and despair over how I was treated? Am I placing all of the blame unfairly on my own shoulders? I don’t know. Either way, I doubt I helped the situation given my personality. The thought does warm my heart, not even because I “wouldn’t be totally to blame,” it’s more the thought that someone I care about was outraged on my behalf. It’s proof I wasn’t alone.

In this new form I completely lost control and attacked indiscriminately without care for the damage to the city around me, myself or anyone else from our team. Honestly, my noema gets fuzzy after actually digivolving, but I get the feeling I either lost, tied or the battle was postponed midway through. I also believe it was my partner that was able to pull me back from rampaging.

The extra wild thing I’ve discovered overtime is this became my normal mega evolution. Usually dark digivolutions are “one and done” so to speak. You have something happen, learn your lesson, and become something else, something more virtuous, next time. The more I explore my vaguetype, the more shifts and noemata I experience, I only have holydramon x for this level. When I do experience a mental shift of this digimon, it’s usually accompanied by a calm confidence. For my partner and I, I think it was more about tempering our need for vengeance with mercy and grace. We didn’t need to change who we were, the form wasn’t wrong in the broad sense of the word, but we were taking things too far and distorting them.

When I get angry in the present-day, I try to remember what she taught me. I don’t want to be that monster that defeats opponents at any cost and dies inside along the way.

- Hortense

[seventeenlovesthree]

So... Through the course of the movie, we see how the different characters are trying to reason with the task at hand.

Should they defeat the enemy and cause the bonds of humans and Digimon to break?

When I had first watched this scene, my heart was torn into two different sides. On one hand, I was proud to see Takeru be the one to bring up the idea that fighting may not be the right choice. This is Takeru we are talking about - the Takeru who had witnessed his own partner die after defeating Devimon, who had to part ways with him several times afterwards, once after the events of Adventure, then again between 02 and Tri... And also when Patamon got infected and lost all his memories. Last but not least... And this is where I was torn, because I wished, oh HOW I had wished, that he had brought up Yamato at this point. His brother, who had lost his partner merely one and a half years ago... And who had been just as hesitant to fight as him...

Not only that... But the way Hikari is responding, prioritizing the needs of others - a huge number of people to be exact - over her own, is not only very in-character for her... It also mirrors her brother's reaction from one and a half years ago. The only difference being that we're talking about much bigger scales now. The Yagami siblings always understood the need to fight, even if they personally didn't like it...

It's a bittersweet parallel between the siblings and yet... If you know me, you also know how hurt I was by the fact that neither Yamato nor Taichi nor any other of the older Chosen Children had been brought up in this context. Sure, Takeru and Hikari had been drinking over talking about how they had not been available before, but it's just all so heartbreaking. Especially because Hikari and Daisuke in particular make it all sound so easy. "If we choose our bond, our friendship, if we believe in it, it will not vanish" just invalidates a lot of the pain that Taichi and Yamato went through in the last movie. And while I am all for a positive outlook, it still hurts not to know what the heck is going on with the others and how they experienced all of this. It makes sense for someone like Hikari, who has witnessed the loss her brother had to endure, wanting to move on, not intending to let the same happen to herself and the others, but it just feels grim without the contextualization of Kizuna's events. I believe it would not have been as bad if Taichi and Yamato had been mentioned at least once - I understand that this was probably to avoid the idea that people would have needed to watch Kizuna before watching this movie, but still.

[thunder-jolt]

Subtle Connections Between Digimon and Pokémon Pairs...

(Possible fake promotion for a Pokémon and Digimon crossover, like I did with the fake leaks featuring redrawn scenes of the first Pokémon movie with Morpeko and Beelzemon)

A Pokémon Research Document: 8/2/2023

- - - - - -

Ever since the fairly recent interference between the Digital Realm and the Pokémon World, we have decided to study the functions and denizens of the Digital Realm.

This was once done before, albeit trying to copy a Mythical Pokémon's DNA to become a Digimon, but ended in disaster, so we won't mention any sort of detail about the incident.

Either way, thanks to our technology; we have created devices akin to the devices that certain Digimon used to inhabit, called Digivices.

These devices, which we call Poké-Linkers, help the Pokémon with this device link their power with the Digimon that inhabits it, all while helping the bond between Pokémon and Digimon.

Though before we made the Poké-Linkers, we discovered a unique bond between a Pokémon and a Digimon before and during the interference.

Naturally, we thought something like a Charmander and an Agumon to have such a bond, noting the similarities. Though, however, we've discovered that, thanks to a hired rookie trainer, such a bond can come in surprising forms.

A bond between the "Two-Sided Pokémon" and the "Attacker-Class, Dark-Species Digimon", Morpeko and Beelzemon...

Both don't seem to have a lot in common, however, they have similarities in their biology and subtle connections to their personalities.

Morpeko is an Electric/Dark type, resistant to its secondary typing but is also, like other Dark types, weak to the Fairy type.

Beelzemon is a Dark-Species Digimon, resistant to its species-typing but is also weak to Light, which, to us Pokémon Researchers, is the Digimon's equivalent to the Fairy type.

Morpeko has a hunger for food and can get angered if it doesn't have or gain any food. Beelzemon, according to some research, has a hunger for power in order to become stronger and will get angered if it loses a match (fighting seems to be how Beelzemon obtains power, by fighting and eradicating other Digimon) or doesn't gain any of that power, both representing the sin of "Gluttony".

This also would mean both are different definitions of the word "Hangry", though there hasn't been really any confirmation amongst our researchers to believe such a thing. However, both can be calmed and be your companion if you honor their trust in you and your trust in them.

Through research, we have learned that the bond between Morpeko and Beelzemon happened because they used to have the same companion and that they have been looking for her everywhere ever since the companion "has been taken away by a beast" and have been on their journey to save her, yet further confirmation as who this trainer, or "tamer" in Beelzemon's case, really is and who really took her away.

Enough off-topic talk, we also noticed certain parallels with the friendship between the Pokémon Master: Ash Ketchum, and his Pokémon partner, Pikachu.

This parallel is notable, as both Beelzemon and Morpeko have a sort of trainer-Pokémon relationship, similar to most other trainers, but the reason for this comparison is their dynamic.

Much like Ash and Pikachu when they first met each other, Beelzemon and Morpeko don't seem to get along as much, with Morpeko having a loosely-smug demeanor and Beelzemon having a short fuse ready to explode. However, throughout their journey; they've opened up and grown a bond that none of us have expected at first glance. One may say "Opposites do attract after all", despite them having the Dark type. Or Dark species in Beelzemon's case.

With this bond in mind, we strive to make something similar to that by making the Poké-Linkers the moment the interference erupted and the moment we discovered such a bond.

The Pokémon and Digimon, other than Morpeko and Beelzemon, we have decided to make bonds for are as follows:

Charmander and Agumon

Charizard and Greymon

Gallade and Angemon

Gardevoir and Angewomon

Bulbasaur and Palmon

Maractus and Togemon

Ditto and Copymon

Crobat and Myotismon

Houndoom and Devimon

Mr. Mime and Piedmon

Infernape and Gokuwmon

And other various that could be paired.

We're coming close to the end of this document. I thank you all for reading this, we'd love to share with you, our audience, the many bonds between Pokémon and-

*STATIC*

All.

Humans, Pokémon, and Digimon alike.

We all know how Digimon and Pokémon work, correct?

Well, what if I told you both Pokémon and Digimon as a species all rely specifically on human contact to survive?

And how certain Pokémon and certain Digimon would bring ultimate doom upon the world that is our planet Earth.

Both species can function without such contact, as some Pokémon can play with certain people's feelings, tricking people of their good intentions with either treasure or other such things.

How do I know this? I'm the one the researchers created. I'm the Digimon with the DNA of the Mythical Pokémon, Qi-Wu...

- - - - -

User's Note: Hey! @thunder-jolt here!

This is what Qi-Wu in question looks like:

Slight similarities, eh?

Well, to learn more about Qi-Wu, I'd recommend that you take a look at her post here: https://www.deviantart.com/odditycookie/art/Qi-Wu-the-Ruinous-Princess-Pokemon-Fakemon-939301154

Good luck!

[cooledtured]

Why Pokemon But Not Digimon?

The 2000s were the beginning of the West being introduced to anime. We ended up getting many of the big names that still are talked about today such as Dragon Ball, Yu-Gi-Oh and Pokemon. However, one series that isn’t talked about nearly as much that was also introduced around this time is Digimon. Sure there’s still fans of the series around, however, it’s nowhere near as popular here as the others. This is especially strange considering that Pokemon, a series similar to Digimon, is even more popular than ever here.

Pokemon and Digimon share a few things in common. They’re both serieses about kids using monsters to fight other monsters with power to evolve said monsters to make them stronger. However, once you delve a bit deeper you realize that these two shows couldn’t be more different. For one thing Pokemon is centered around a more creature capture aspect to it with characters usually having more than one partner at a time. Digimon on the other hand - aside from one season - focuses more on the bonds between pairs and thus characters will only ever have one partner. Then there’s the fact that characters in Pokemon are usually only fighting other trainers while in Digimon it’s wild Digimon they’re fighting.

Even with these differences though, it still doesn’t explain the difference in popularity. That’s why I believe it boils down to two factors. The first is the fact that Pokemon was more ‘relatable’. In Digimon these kids weren’t your ordinary kids; they were the Digidestined. These kids were the chosen ones who were said to be the ones to save the Digital World from danger. Ash Ketchum, however, isn't some chosen one, he’s just your ordinary kid. Sure he’s done some pretty incredible things, but technically speaking any kid in that world would be capable of doing the same. In other words, any kid watching at home could step into that world be as good of or even better of a pokemon trainer than Ash was without needing to be some chosen one. This ability to basically place yourself in that world so easily was just one of Pokemon’s appeals.

What really helped Pokemon and hurt Digimon though were their games. If you ask any Pokemon or Digimon fan what the best game in their respective series is, they’ll always have different answers. In the case of Pokemon the reason is because there have been so many great games it’s hard to narrow it down to just one. Digimon fans struggle though because of how different the quality of their games are. While there are good Digimon games, there aren’t a lot that have created as big of an impact as Pokemon. As a result fans of the franchise have at times felt burned because of them. And if old fans feel this way, how does the franchise have any chance of gaining new fans?

In terms of show quality I’d say that Digimon is just as good and has even surpassed Pokemon at times. But that’s unfortunately not enough to build up a franchise. While relatability was definitely part of it, I truly feel that had the games been better Digimon could be just as popular in the West. However, it’s instead a series that’s gotten to the point where people aren’t even aware that a new season came out.

Logan Floyd-Mcgee | Writer POP-COOLEDTURED SPECIALIST cooledtured.com |  GROW YOUR COLLECTION

[greatrunner]

"Demon Commander! Lanfear's Fierce Attack!"

Okay, I lied, and watched the first four episodes of season two instead of going to sleep for work... the week before last.

Things I wasn't expecting:

Mat being recast with some blockhead instead of keeping the guy who looks like a discount "That Actor from the Umbrella Academy"? What gives?

Team Red has a son, and not a side-piece. The show is trying really, really hard not to let her fall into the generic Foe Yay, and I can appreciate that.

There's a whole group of people with nasty fingernail hygrine, big into slavery. That's... unfortunate.

Moraine's arc at the moment is eating dirt from all the people she was less than kind or empathetic to. I kinda love it all while feeling bad for her.

Her sister felt abandoned and therefore disowned her. She gave Moraine the opportunity to just talk and reconnoiter with her, but when it was apparent that she was just gonna do as she pleased and potentially threatened the life she built, she pulled rank.

Despite giving her space, and dealing with the loss of connection, Lan tries to remain Moraine's partner, and gets a taste of the behavior the Ronin Warriors had to deal with when Moraine wasn't being forthright or outright lying to them. The clinch, though, was Moraine telling Lan he was just her jobber, not her equal.

And it's hard to feel bad for him in that moment, because, when it wasn't him on the receiving end of her shadiness, he never called her on it in way that wasn't half-hearted, or making excuses. And without Moraine to play jobber to, Lan as a character is probably less interesting than he was as the bodyguard.

Like, I can definitely see him becoming an stronger character (he's got a backstory with potential), but as it stands, it feels like the story is just keeping him on pause until it's time to throw the band back together. And then what? Awkward silence and some apologies that won't actually be apologies?

Lan, and the other Warders (and their girlfriend, Team Green) underline just how not interesting I find the whole "bond" storytelling. There's a lot telling you about the bond, how it transcends all normal romantic or platonic relationships. But the showing aspect of it all just makes it look like a normal relationship, or a less interesting version of The Bodyguard without one iota of that Costner/Huston chemistry.

Considering Moraine and Lan's dynamic, it's hard not see it as "Master and Servant" (esp. with the racial dynamics at play). To that end, the unfortunate and racist implications already at play in the series are at their worst within the Warder/Channeler dynamic.

The discussion between Lan and that non-malicious Black guy reinforces the idea that they weren't "equals" to their partners ("We're here to remind them they're not Gods!"). It's just... not great.

Again, all of this sounds exactly like something a white dude would come up with when creating his idea of a world where women have the 'most power' and guys who share that same position, are driven mad. Amazon Prime just made it worse with their spin on the Colorblind casting wheel. Like, sheesh.

Beyond Lan, one of my biggest problems with this series so far is maybe the lack of a dynamic between the five major leads. Allow me to regale you with examples from two Children's anime.

There's this thing anime used to, where in an ensemble series, the characters spent x-amount of episodes together before separating them. It was a proven formula that worked sometimes, and failed others.

Digimon: Digital Monsters made it as far as eight episodes before the Big Breakup. Before that each episode gave its characters a "focus episode". Ronin Warriors's break up was the following episode (one that's notorious for the sudden recasting of some of its English VA leads).

The show's story points lived and died by how much the writing could convince us that these characters cared abut enough about other to want find each other again.

In the case of Digimon, preaching the message of togetherness and teamwork makes their estrangement work to the advantage of the plot. The English dub manufacture's a tenuous familiarity with each character, but being trapped in the Digital World forces them to actually work together.

Both and after the separation, their circumstances demand that they get to know each other along the way. Not just for the benefit of the audience, but to the benefit of all seven (then eight) kids and their monster companions.

Ronin Warriors, on the other hand, has always been more about the individual journey and their relationship to the mystical armor (born from the corpse of their enemy, Talpa IIRC. It's been 10 years since I watched it last ;_;).

The show also didn't hide the fact that Ryō, Rowen, Cye, Kento, and Sage didn't know each other from Adam. Hell, it really doesn't even go into the origin story of how they got their armor like Sailor Moon did with the Sailor Scouts their and transformation wands.

From the jump, the boys know more than the audience. Talpa's the bad guy, the Netherrealm is something they have to protect the world (but mostly Japan) from. Their mentor is the Ancient One, a "Stupid Monk" (Talpa, derogatory) who fought Talpa eons ago.

What they're not expecting is four dudes (the Dark Warlords) with far more experience and power than themselves. They're a bunch of teenage boys who try to upstage each other and aren't interested in working together is their fatal flaw.

Ronin Warriors, however individual focused it tends to be, also features unity as a big theme of the show. Their separation and subsequent Side Questing to find each other is more about the practicalities of their job (if they don't work together than evil wins).

Their relationships were something they built along the way, right until the end of the series. It was formula that worked so well, they repeated it in some fairly subpar (and racist*) OVAs (Gaiden, Legend of the Inferno Armor*, and Message) with diminishing returns. But they're also the only time in the franchise (excluding Message) where the Ronin's feel like true friends, so go-figure.

To keep running with this comparison, Wheel of Time clearly aspires to be about a group of people. Right now, it's far more focused on the aesthetics of being an Epic Fantasy. From the start of S2 alone, there have been more new characters and more new locations thrown at the audience than a little bit. None of seems to be to the benefit of the story so much as it's to match the lore output of something like, again, Game of Thrones (which had years, film length runtimes, and more than 8 episodes) or, Grandaddy Tolkien's Legendarium.

Season one never really allowed any of the characters to actually be friends or casual acquaintances. Individual characters weren't so much given arcs as they were given archetypal roles to occupy in the "Kill the Dark Lord" Boss Rush.

In principle, Wheel of Time Ronin Warrior'ing Individual storylines isn't a bad thing, but it ain't working what little ensemble dynamics that show built. It just hopes you buy all these people are friends and miss each other. Because Mat, his abandonment of the group, and how little he impacts the plot, kinda says it doesn't work. Not for me.

Rand's character feels like he's in a holding pattern until the story finally reaches a point to where the madness-included powers are necessary. It's kinda like watching Anakin Skywalker if he wasn't a self-involved jerk who leapt at every chance to avoid accountability, blame other people, and committing to the principles of his job.

Rand is allowed to focus on someone other than his not-girlfriend, namely himself. I feel like the buzz cut drives that home. No more Fantasy Romance Guy, he's in his Vader era. Even his relationship with the tavern owner is way more engaging.

Nynaeve's story arc is definitely more about the individual than it is the group. Her whole thing is that she doesn't consider herself, and mammy's everybody. She doesn't trust anybody and figures she is the only qualified person for the job. (I feel called out.)

Combine that deep-seated trauma and abandonment issues, and you got a story comparable to Ryō trying to learn how to master Hariel's White Inferno Armor. Or Gohan reaching SS2. A lot of false starts, and just like Rand's deal with his powers, none of that stuff is really interesting.

The moment she snaps right better pop the fuck off just like the aforementioned or I'm gonna be salty. DDOS is not fun.

The show wants to build a relationship between her and Team Red, who, not the surprise no one, is evil. I'm not against it, but I also can't really buy that Red would be that distraught over potentially losing her to a Last Crusade test when so much of their dynamic was developed off-screen. Did she really spend that much time with Mat that she couldn't dedicate time to mentoring her on the low before she actually got permissions? Sounds like Chickadee making excuses.

I need someone in this group to be the non-magic Tank, and I was ready for Nynaeve to turn her back on the white tower nonsense and return home. I really liked that story turn. It was a choice she made for herself, and not for anyone else, and hey, it even gave Lan something to do (become her House Husband, lmao). So for it to turn out to be an illusion where she got more than one Get-out-of-Jail-Free card? Disappointing.

On the flip-side, the other gal (Moraine's No. 1 Fan), and Princess Not-Killing-Eve gets stuck with the Harry Potter plot. I hate how fantasy narratives reinforce and indulge this storyline. The "Bully the Main Character into Becoming a Proficient Learner" trope with lower-than-low treatment and work around a school that doesn't pay them much respect as human beings. I've never been interested in that storytelling because it requires that the lead become an emotional doormat in a lot of situations.

This gets abruptly interrupted, of course, with Red's Heel Turn, and their subsequent enslavement. This particular story turn isn't doing the character any favors, and just feels like way to put the characters back into the Globe Trotting subplot. Nynaeve's a blockhead, but the shit that last episode pulled was embarrassing.

Perrin's storyline doesn't feel all that engaging. The show rarely checks in on Perrin in the five episodes aired, he truly feels like an afterthought. The show finally gets around to focusing on his powers as a "Wolfbrother", a guy who communicates with wolves. There's a new minor Black character who saves him from certain slavery, the Ascended Wolfbrother.

AW isn't a particularly interesting character, but he's not terrible either. He's got some good moments with Perrin with regards to mentoring him, but he's your rote "Ugh, Humanity" type characters. He exists just to tell Perrin he's "running away" from his destiny because Perrin isn't:

Just blindly going along with AW's plans

Doesn't appreciate being lied to

Doesn't appreciate his relationships diminished on account of their humanity.

Out of all the characters, Perrin's Random Enemy/Ally Encounters seems to highlight what I really don't like about most Fantasy worlds. Every character, culture, or world, begins to sound like abstract names for Football Teams, with everyone's disdain stemming from being on opposing teams.

It's clear that Wheel of Time plans on stretching much of its story out with Talpa's Evil Warlords getting the Gang Back Together to free Talpa. Instead of hyper-focusing on "that one special person who might not be who you expected" like GOT did with Jon and Arya, the audience instead will be treated with what's shaping up to be an MMO quest log.

Daughter of the Night (Lady Kayura), Father of Lies (Anubis) are two quest lines completed. I know there's lie seven of these hoes, but I guess the next couple of seasons will be about Dias, Kale, and Sekhmet.

Unless the show surprises me, which it has done plenty of, in which case... we'll see.

Forever laughing at the fact that the guy who got drunk on the Game Awards (or was that his brother), and was in A Way Out, is "The Father of Lies". But was also in Westworld as some random jobber with a tablet.

Shade, no shade. But, like how does bro keep landing these gigs?