#the rest of the meicoomon line

[coolsmcfools]

took one of those favorite picker things for digimon

and uhhhh... can't say i expected these

[the-grove]

Grove Digimon Partner: Rain/Reyna/Reynya

Hi so this little project continues to be a way for our system to help figure ourselves out, define ourselves and to stretch some creative flexibility and stuff. The three of us debated if we wanted to have our own digimon and such, but ultimately we decided to have one partner, with different evolution lines... This blog post might be longer than all the others... There is also a secret fourth thing that I(Rain) mainly wanted to include as a reference to from source. I will also point out this is something, i'm doing for *us* This is not a "What would be a best digimon for Ranma the character," while Ranma is our source, we are also our own people, and while we may draw on exomemories and things from the show as inspiration. We don't want to be judged by some standard of accuracy or perfection to source. I guess to start it off the rookie/child stage: 1) Rookie/child stage: Salamon/Plotmon

So we thought long and hard about it and Salamon was chosen because its generic small animal shaped felt like it would be a good fit for a branching line like ours. Its various descriptions across digimon media describe it as an Insecure digimon that has great potential. I feel like it would be a good buddy to talk to about things when I feel confused or uncertain about something. They might not always have the answer but talking to them would be comforting. I think we are gonna start with Reynyas line

So in our mind, the way things work would be that we would have one digivice, and digimon partner. But depending on whose fronting, will influence and interact with the data/code of our Salamon friend. When Reynyas fronting, the obvious factor to include would be her cat like nature and tbh that is the major theming around this line. And nyaow I'll(Reynya) be taken over to talk about the line. :P ADULT/CHAMPION: Gatomon/Tailmon

(Art is From the digital monster card game) Soooooooo there were a lot of cat digimon we could have gone with, Mikemon, Meicoomon, Leomon, and black tailmon just to name a few. The reason I chose Gatomon was for a few reasons. First off one of its signature move is called Neko Punch( or Cat Punch) and well thats pretty dang close to Neko-Ken( Cat fist) also known as Catfu... which in source is the technique the old man tried to teach us and led to my formation. And while it was pretty shitty of him, I am glad to exist and Gatomon by my side I get to stand proudly. There are a few other aspects to me picking it up as well, the English name is Gatomon, which takes its name from the spanish word for cat. Our systems body is Puerto Rician and our desire to be closer to that side of our lineage. Also there are some designya elements that can be pulled from Gatomons lines for the rest of my line. ^^ ULTIMATE/PERFECT: Lynxmon!

Lynxmon, continues the cat theme! Lynxmon is actually the armor digivolution for Gatomon if it were to use the digimantle/digiegg of courage, you can actually tell from the purple ears and markings that remain as a callback to Gatomon. While armor digimon are usually the equivalent of a Champion/Adult level digimon, there is at least some precedence for Lynxmon to be an Ultimate/Perfect level digimon as it was one in one of the digimon story games. Lynxmon. it's said to have a carefree personality which vibes with me :3. It also acts as a nice transition to the Mega/ultimate stage.

MEGA/ULTIMATE: Saberleomon!

Funnya enough Saberleomon is also a digimon who has existed as multiple levels throughout the franchise. Saberleomon seems like a fun finale for this stage for a few reasons! One, its a big ol cat! Two, the gloves of Gatomon are specifically said to be made from saberleomon data so it's a nice tie in. Three, it's really cool and I likes it alot!!!) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ok So its my(Reyna) turn! Rain says he wants to do hers last. Rain and I actually focus less on aesthetics and more on a common through line for our parts of the line. Aesthetics are an aspect of it, but on thinking who we are we came across some digimon that really highlighted something important to us. I'll be up front about my theme, it is digimon who prefer not to fight but are powerful when they do. I prefer to resolve things peacefully, and unlike Rain I don't really consider myself a martial artist, but if I have power and I need to defend myself or others I should use it right? Well those were the thoughts I had when thinking about what I want my line to look like. Both a partner that will protect me and I can learn from. ADULT/CHAMPION: Siesamon!

Siesamon is based off of the Shisa, lion-dogs that are protectors and guardians. Siesamon follows that role as a guardian. Its fiercely loyal to its tamer, and fends of calamities and evil doers. They however are also very docile and enjoy sunbathing. I can just imagine Salamon digivolving to Siesamon, and letting me pet its fur to help relax from the latest chaos happening in Nerima..or our life right now tbh. Between the color palate and the mixture of lion and dog features it seems like a fitting digivolution for Salamon. ULTIMATE/PERFECT: Tyilinmon!

Tylinmon has some visual cohesion with siesamon, primarily the horn, and the way both of the tails and legs make use of cloud like spirals. Tylinmon is also described as a powerful digimon that detest conflict and bloodshed. The digimon reference guide puts a focus on its compassion towards all living things in the digital world, but will stand up against those who needlessly cause bloodshed. Its dedication to compassion is what makes Tylinmon appeal to me. MEGA/ULTIMATE Sakuyamon (Miko Mode Mostly))

Sakuyamon (Miko mode) is a mode that Sakuyamon takes when she isn't fighting and is instead focused on performing Shinto rites. The digimon refrence guide says shes puts a lot of her power into her ability to exorcise evil spirits. Striving towards peace and other types of solutions to Violence, I like to think that Salamon would primarily turn into the MIko mode... but I suppose they can form change into the standard Sakuyamon form if a fight really got out of hand! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Alright I'm back(Rain) And I'll be going over my line. My line has two main themes going about it, martial arts.... and self acceptance. I'm bigender, and despite everyone else in this body already being ok with their identities and such, I still struggle to well be sincere and confident in embracing all of myself. And um I guess my hopes for my partner would be someone I can grow alongside with and embrace all aspects of how I feel and see myself.. And a sparring buddy!

ADULT/CHAMPION: Turuiemon!

So I actually had some difficulty trying to find a line that felt right for me. Turuiemon and the ultimate/mega in my line actually started off as being potential options for *Reyna* but after thinking about it and Reyna going in a different direction, there was a lot for me to like about Turuiemon. It is explicitly a martial artist, the digimon reference guide mentions it being found the hinterlands of a chinese mountain province, and its agility reminds me of my own training. TBH if I were to have a partner that didn't digivolve I think I would just pick Turuiemon. I never expected myself to have such a connection to a rabbit but here we are. But this digimon does digivolve and into....

ULTIMATE/PERFECT: Grappleomon

GrapLeomon is a digimon said to have taken the data from various fighting video games. The digimon reference book it unleashes a variety of ever changing techniques. Certainly sounds like anything goes! You may also notice that grapleomon is another member of the leomon family, this is where accepting all parts of me come in. My headmates are apart of, as I am apart of them. Having a digimon in the same family as Reynyas Ultimate/Mega stage displays that bond, and uh helps me over come a fear of cats I suppose( the others are ok with them mostly, but I well I dont get scared but I do get nervous). So martial artists... embracing myself and my headmates... I wonder what the final stage is.

MEGA/ULTIMATE: Lovely Angemon

As Reyna decided to not use Lovely Angemon and instead went for Sakuyamon... I found myself considering her. I was um. well I was uncertain about such a feminine design. Like I said, I'm bigender but I still get nervous about presenting feminine, of letting myself be soft. But...I do like the design, I do want to be feminine at least some times, and not because of a disguise, or i'm tricking someone, or because I have a curse and might as well use it. Its because thats part of who I am. It also doesn't help that shes described as a close combat specialist. She also enjoys eating tasty food while walking around and well, everyone knows when it comes to snacking the girl form is the way to go

And those our are lines! Okay I did mention a secret 4th thing. Well originally I was trying to set you a different digimon to be *my* lines final stage. And that was Qinglongmon

A Long twirling dragon connected to storms the wind? Why well it did remind me of one of my most important techniques. A technique that I learned when I was a pretty low point, in my exo-memories of course. The Hiryū Shōten Ha or Heaven Blast of the Dragon. Tbh It doesn't match any of the lines all too well, and i'm leaving it here mostly as a reference. But given its powerful and regalness, I also kind of like the idea that if like, Reynya, Reyna, and I came kind of co-fronted or at least were in Unison... Well Salamon could warp digivolve to it. IDK If that sounds cheesy or dumb or whatever. but yeah. This has been fun, I hope you enjoyed reading our rambles.

[digitalgate02]

Y'know i will write down my headcanons for lines for the characters i like. Some might come from games, some just me imagining possible ideas not featured anywhere before. Bear with Ni.

Daisuke: V-mon → XV-mon → Wingdramon → UlforceV-dramon

I got this from CSHM actually. Seems a good match. Alternative idea was XV-mon → Grademon → Magnamon, but i don't like it much now… (also i love Ulforce V-dramon a lot…)

Ken: Wormmon → Stingmon → JewelBeemon → BanchoStingmon

This is the line i like the most. Alternative from CSHM: Stingmon → Okuwamon → GranKuwagamon

Miyako: Hawkmon → Aquilamon → Hippogriffomon → Valdurmon

Another possible in CSHM. I like this one, I adopted it from a friend!

Iori: Armadimon → Ankylomon → Groundramon → Cannondramon

This line is not possible in games, but i think it is in tcg but i don't remember now.

Wallace: Terriermon → Gargomon → Rapidmon (perfect) → SaintGalgomon Lopmon → Turuiemon → Antylamon (deva) → Cherubimon (virtue)

I admit i ran out of options for Wallace, so i kept it simple.

Menoa: Morphomon → Hudiemon

I'm imagining a scenario where Menoa could get her back and naturally she becomes Hudiemon. Now for Perfect and Ultimate i have no idea.

Maki: Bakumon → Monochromon → Megadramon → Chaosdramon

I'm stealing it from a friend. Also I suspect Shinkai Sara (from ReArise) was mirroring Maki in terms of role and partner. But I'm changing it to Chaosdramon to make it different from hers.

Daigo: Bearmon → Grizzmon → LoaderLiomon → Baihumon

Another line i'm stealing from ReArise, actually this is one of the ones i suspect was tied with ▽ pt4.

Meiko: Meicoomon → Meicrackmon (normal) → Rasielmon

Idk why but i have the impression this was in the plans but they rewrote the plot so many times it became scrapped. Okay, i'd have liked to see this instead of… that

Michael: Betamon → Seadramon → MegaSeadramon → Plesiomon/GigaSeadramon

Plesiomon one is possible on CSHM game actually. GigaSeadramon idea came from a friend. But i'm putting both because i'm not sure which one to pick.

Catherine: Floramon → Kiwimon → Lilamon → Lotusmon

An alternative route is Kiwimon → Sirenmon, but i'm not sure if i could go with Lotusmon in this one too?

Derek (Dingo): Ganimon → Coelamon → Gusokumon → Neptunemon

idk, i just had a feeling this would work.

Rosa (The little girl from Mexico): Gottsumon → Monochromon → Gogmamon → Blastmon

I like to keep the mineral vibe...

Jun (Daisuke's sister who i love since i was a kid): Pulsemon → Runnermon → Tempomon → LovelyAngemon

Idk i'm sold of the idea of giving Pulsemon to her. Like, if he were a V-mon "cousin" or something lol

[rest of the list is a wip]

[fizzingwizard]

I fell asleep so here’s day 5 a bit late to party... Day 6 will surely be late too xP Again, thanks for the comments last time, I enjoyed them, even the ones hidden in tags haha.

Koushirou and Taichi have a talk post-Bokura no Mirai. Watch out, cuz both boys have mouths on them. Taishiro if you squint.

---

Tri week day 5 - Survival - They Make Miracles

Taichi texted him wanting to hang out over after school, and as Koushirou had spent the day at the office, that meant Taichi came there. He spread out on the couch, flipping through the pages of some comic book. Koushirou sat at his desk. They had a bottle of cold oolong each and a bowl of shrimp crackers. Out the window, the din of rush hour traffic filtered in from the Tokyo streets below.

Some might look at them and think they were ignoring each other, each occupied in separate activities, only looking up to acknowledge there was someone else in the room when their hands bumped reaching into the cracker bowl. But their friendship worked like this. In fact, if the long stretches of silence bothered Taichi at all, he would have ditched Koushirou way back in elementary school.

That was something about Taichi not everyone understood: he could get as wrapped up in his own head as Koushirou did. Sometimes it seemed like Taichi sought him out because he wouldn't have to feel pressured to make small talk. He wanted to think, and he wanted someone else to be there while he was thinking, but not Sora, who would want give him advice, and not Yamato, who would stay quiet but coiled with tension until Taichi finally said something to bring them back to known waters. Koushirou, at least, understood the need for privacy for his thoughts, even if he didn't quite get why Taichi still wanted another body there anyway.

So it came as a surprise when Taichi shattered the silence, a page of the comic book suspended in the air as he paused mid-turn. "I'm never going to know if it was a mistake or not, am I," he said.

Koushirou looked up. Taichi's gaze was fixed on a random spot on the coffee table. But then he straightened, throwing his arms over the back of the couch in a deceptively casual move. His face, though, he kept turned away.

On days like this, Koushirou tended to be so involved in his work that, even if Taichi did have something to say, all he'd get in reply was a vague "Hmm." Later he might not even remember that they'd talked. It was a habit that drove Mimi up the wall, but once again, Taichi never seemed to mind that much. Of course, most of the time the conversation was along the lines of "Look at the cool play this soccer star made," or "Can you believe Satou-sensei expects us to finish the group project by tomorrow?" and "Hmm" was, more or less, all the response needed. Plus Koushirou was pretty sure Taichi sometimes took advantage of it to insist he had agreed to things he couldn't recall ever discussing.

Too bad he couldn't pretend this was about a mistake on some test.

His fingers hovered over the keyboard while he weighed his options. "... The world isn't divided into good and bad, Taichi-san," he said at last, though once the words were out, they felt pale and trite horribly inadequate. "For what it's worth, I think you made the right choice. Really the only choice."

He didn't add the rest: that he viewed killing Meicoomon as akin to chopping off a gangrenous limb. A terrible choice to make, but without it, the necrotic tissue would continue to spread and infect until there was nothing left. The metaphor worked, but he felt pretty sure the depersonalization wouldn't sit well with Taichi.

Taichi made a noncommittal noise. Something knotted in Koushirou's stomach. Probably, more than any of the others, Koushirou was the least upset with how things had ended with Meicoomon. In his wildest dreams he'd never imagined separating a Chosen from their partner, let alone - let alone killing one. When he'd realized Meiko might know the password to unlock the Digimons' sealed memories, hope had struck him like a bolt of lightning: all those dark predictions he couldn't see his way out of were about to be swept away by a miracle. Just like when they were kids.

That was the fatal error. There hadn't been any miracles when they were kids.

It had only felt that way because they didn't know how else to explain the unexplainable.

He and Taichi had talked many times over the years, about the fact that they were killers. The others didn't get a lot out of putting it into words like that, but it was true. They'd been killing since they were ten years old, killing to protect, killing to survive. It was just that, this time, they'd killed someone that loved.

"I just," Taichi swallowed thickly. "At the time, we... there wasn't any more time, but... now I just wonder... no one else wanted to do it, they all followed my lead and maybe... Sorry, I'm not making any sense..."

"We followed your lead like we always do, Taichi-san, because you lead us well." In a sudden fit of nerves, Koushirou pushed off the polished surface of his desk and stood. Once standing, though, he felt infinitely more awkward and wished he hadn't.

He was trying to think of an unobtrusive way to disappear behind his workspace again when Taichi at long last gave up staring at the wall. He looked over at Koushirou with liquid brown eyes. It was only the briefest of glances before he hunched over on the edge of the couch, fingers digging into his scalp.

His next words were muffled and wet-sounding.

"Nishijima-sensei died. I was - I was so messed up. I shouldn't have made that decision. I shouldn't have made any decisions. I was - what's the word they use -"

"Compromised?" Koushirou offered.

"Yeah, that."

Fuck.

Why did Taichi have to come to him for comfort? Yamato or Sora would be so much better at this.

If they were better, he would have gone to them, Tentomon's matter-of-fact voice in his head pointed out. Tentomon was in the digital world at present, but Koushirou didn't need him there to know what he'd think about this.

Then another voice, one that didn't sound like Tentomon at all, added: Maybe comfort isn't all he wants.

"You witnessed something... unspeakable," Koushirou said gently. His feet seemed to move as if on automatic, making a winding path around the desk to stand at the coffee table's edge, an arm's length away from where Taichi had begun to collapse in on himself. "It had to affect your judgment."

A beat. Taichi gave a tremulous nod.

"It doesn't follow that your judgment must have been mistaken, Taichi-san."

The hands smoothed down his face. "But I'm never going to know," he said in a dull voice.

Folding his arms, Koushirou sat down on the opposite seat. "Let's not deal in vagaries. Here's what I know," he said, careful to keep his tone level, bussinesslike. "I know the world was going to change, at that moment, one way or another. I know a lot was at stake." Lives, the entire world - Mochizuki and Meicoomon. Taichi was certainly thinking it on his own. Koushirou forced himself to hold his gaze as he went on. "I know Meicoomon's data had been corrupted beyond recognition. I know Yggdrasil and Homeostasis both intended to move regardless of how we felt about it. I don't know how much was ever really salvageable. But I know you salvaged control. We're not their unwitting pawns, and that's thanks to you."

A slow smile crept over Taichi's face, brittle at the edges. "Isn't that thanks to you? Every time we need a miracle, Koushirou, you -"

"There are no miracles," Koushirou interrupted, with a stubborn set of his jaw, "that don't sacrifice on the altar of mysticism the ones who broke their backs to make them happen."

Stunned silence. Taichi gave a startled laugh. "Wow... I'm not sure I understood all the words there."

"Maybe there was a way to save Meicoomon." The words spilled out like a runaway train, and he had no idea if he was helping or hurting, but he couldn't stop now. "And maybe there was a way to save the digital world that didn't involve abducting eight children from their homes and making them fight for their lives, resetting their innocence, teaching them how the world assigns value, whether something is cheap or precious, based on circumstance, on convenience. We all handled it the best way we knew how, and sometimes - sometimes that way wasn't very good. The whole time, there was one thing that got us through it, day after day. Taichi-san, do you know what it is?"

Taichi looked as if he were hanging onto what Koushirou was saying like it were a lifeline. He nodded. "It was hope."

"No, Taichi-san," Koushirou said viciously. "It was you."

Taichi's throat worked, and his long, dark lashes stuttered. He seemed to try to answer, but lost the words he'd been looking for. "Fuck," he choked out after a while, head tilted back to stare at the ceiling.

Koushirou gave him time to get a hold of himself. He'd seen Taichi cry before. Always out of guilt. Well, not this time - not if he could help it.

The ping of an incoming message lit up his computer, followed by an insistent buzz from his phone a moment later. He didn't get up.

"I-I wish-" Koushirou listened in silence as Taichi tripped and stumbled over his unruly emotions. He suspected it had been a while since Taichi had done any sort of maintenance on them. Not since Meicoomon, probably.

"I wish we could have saved Meicoomon, Koushirou." He'd never sounded so much like a child, not even when he was one.

"We all do."

"But I don't know if it's because I regret what I did, or because I don't like the way Yamato and Sora treat me now, like I'm about to break down any second, or because Hikari will never look up to me the same way again-"

"None of the above. It's because you're a good person, Taichi-san."

The look on Taichi's face was somewhere between bleak and utterly desperate. "How can you be so sure about that?"

"I know many things," Koushirou said. "I think you'll agree with me there. I could be wrong about any of them, but not that one thing." He didn't smile, he didn't let his gaze waver. "Never that."

I don't wany any leader that isn't you.

"Fuck you," said Taichi, voice breaking, but there was unexpected laughter at the end of it. "Geez, Koushirou. What am I supposed to with that?" He shook his head, looking exhausted. "I couldn't talk about it before. I couldn't - make things all about me, when Mochizuki's the one who-" He stopped, fists curling and uncurling on his knees. "Yamato will beat me up if that's what I want from him. Sora will tell me everything's fine even if it's not what she really thinks. Hikari won't talk about it all. I figured you at least didn't hate me for what happened. Out of all of us, you would have thought everything through for yourself. At least your opinion would be your own."

"It is," Koushirou promised.

Taichi nodded. The color had begun to return to his face. Slowly, as if carding through his thoughts, he said: "I'll never know if it was a mistake. But it's done."

"It's done."

"That's not much of a balm for the soul," Taichi sighed.

Koushirou looked down. "I guess not," he said. "It's real, though."

Another silence followed. Like the calm after a storm, Koushirou thought. He did feel as though they'd just weathered some catastrophe, or perhaps escaped it by a hair.

"She says she doesn't hate me," Taichi said after a few minutes passed in therapeutic quiet. "Mochizuki."

"Ah."

"But she's... y'know. Kind. She's the type to blame herself for things that aren't her fault."

Koushirou shrugged. "Seems like you two are a matched set, then."

Taichi gave him a sharp look, but didn't say anything. He took a deep breath, whole body swelling like a cresting wave. Then he reached for a shrimp cracker.

"Damn... heavy talk makes me hungry."

Koushirou couldn't help it. He laughed. And reached for his bottle of oolong. He was parched.

"Koushirou..." Ah, he knew what was coming now. "Thanks. When I came over, I didn't mean for..."

"I don't want thanks. Or apologies." I just want you. But, no, that... he wasn't at a point where he could say that just yet. "I just want you at your best. I still think we can change the world, Taichi-san."

A hesitant grin. "That's a promise," Taichi said, only it sounded more like "fash a fwomish" with his mouth full of cracker.

Demons couldn't be defeated in a single afternoon, over oolong tea and shrimp crackers, despite best intentions. Koushirou knew that. He'd dealt with his fair share of demons and they were intractable little brutes. But Taichi could out-stubborn anything. He wouldn't have been able to lead them this far if that weren't true.

As for Mochizuki Meiko - even if Taichi couldn't quite admit it yet, Koushirou thought he understood why she was being "kind." Because though what they'd taken had been enormous, they'd done their utmost to give back what they could. It might be small, but seeds always are. Mochizuki had a future stretched out before her too, free from the designs of any government organization or mysterious otherworldly power. Teeming with possibilities, neither good nor bad. Simply there.

Taichi was going to change the world. Koushirou meant to do the same. People would say they made miracles, but the two of them would call it something else.

They would call it living.

---

as usual i am an overdramatic bitch

side note: I was gonna have Koushirou call out Taichi for saying Yamato would beat him up, but just didn’t find a spot for it. So for clarity’s sake, this is Taichi being hard on himself, not indicative of what Yamato would actually do. We all saw him cry after losing his bestie *wibble*

I don’t know how they can both reach the shrimp cracker bowl if Koushirou’s at the desk and Taichi’s on the couch, by the way. I guess it’s hovering in the air between them, or they both have Elastigirl arms :P

[starxscream]

"Okey-dokey!" I say as it's a few hours before midnight and I'm on my phone. What're some of your other favorite digimon besides gomamon? Even tho gomamon is quite the cutie pie.

looks at my url and icon does appmon count? cause....satellamon.....i love that stupid cowboy and his ridiculously huge hat <3 gay icon <3

on the topic of DIGIMON tho i have!! a lot of favorites!! The entire lunamon line is SO good and a huge fav, but I love other digimon like wormmon, meicoomon line, palmon line, veemon, dorumon line.... a LOT of them. THE SEADRAMONS TOO LOVE THEM honestly ill just point at a digimon like [THATS my BABY] and call it a day /lh

also get some REST tucks u in

[kingdomblade]

Digimon Kizuna thoughts

All spoilers will be under the cut!

Fresh off of Tri when Kizuna was announced, I wrote up some hopes I had for this movie. Without looking back at that list, I'm pretty sure this movie managed to not hit any of the things I wanted off of that list - but I'm still walking away completely satisfied. The characters, the story, the setting all feel like completely natural progression from how I remember them, it manages to tell a compelling story in a fairly short movie, the animation and designs are drop dead gorgeous. It's clearly a labor or love and I'm thankful for everyone who worked on it. In some ways it leaves me wanting more - I'd love one more entry with the 02 group as a focus, and I think there would be a lot of value in an entry that focuses more on Digimon intigrated with the human world rather than yet another story about kids discovering Digimon. But if this is the last time we see these twelve in this form, what a way to go. 

This is absolutely stream of consciousness writing while I’m on my second watch through of the day (In lieu of livetweeting - I’ll spare my followers that much lol). Is it rambling? Absolutely. It may or may not be of interest, but I thought it would be something fun to do regardless. If you decide to read, I hope you enjoy!

----

Tom Fahn’s Agumon is noticeably a bit lower pitched even compared to Tri, weather he can’t take his voice up as much or if it’s a different portrayal I’m not sure but it still fits him really well - Tentomon’s voice feel slightly different too. Funny enough Gabumon is somehow lighter and more childish than his original portrayal, but it also fits him well.

Both Tri and Kizuna have such a weird process to their casting - They got back actors that as far as I can tell haven’t done much if anything since their days on Digimon, they’ve gotten back actors for side characters with bit parts. They’ve hired new actors that seem to take the original voice into account and take their own spin on them, and then they hire actors with absolutely no regard for how the original sounded to the point that it just plain conflicts with the established character. It’s all over the place and it’s weird.

Johnny Yong Bosch's portrayal seems slightly different from Tri, maybe he's playing him slightly older, maybe it's the slightly different personality, maybe I'm imagining it. Something about it reminds me of Doug Erholtz's portrayal, which is an added bonus when JYB was already one of the best of the recasts. Minutes in and I'm completely sold on Nicholas Roye's Matt as well, it sounds like a natural progression from his Adventure voice.

In a vacuum Griffin Burns is a decent Davis, but he's one of the recasts that immersion breaking because not only does he sound nothing like Brian Donovan, but his take on Davis is higher pitch than Donovan's so it's impossible to hear him as older. The fact that Donovan was supposed to reprise his role is just salt on the wound. With the insane amount of delays that this dub got, they surely could have brought him back onboard... It's a  shame that 2 our of 3 roles I've heard of Burns have been a replacement of another actor, hope he can get more roles where he can shine more. On the other hand, Bryce Papenbrook as Cody is brilliant casting coming from his 02 voice for what little we get to hear of him.

Yolei didn't sound to great in her video message, but by the time we see her in person her VA has gotten into the role and captures her really well. Hawkmon sounds fine enough, but I'm way more upset than I should be about Armadillomon's voice considering he doesn't have many lines. A recast was mandatory here, and 'medium-deep southern accent' should honestly be pretty easy to replicate but what we got was horrific. What casting director knew enough about the characters to know that Hawkmon had a British accent but not enough to know what an armadillo sounds like??

Mimi is just straight up Sakura now! I actually thought Kate Higgens would have made a great Yolei, kinda funny to see her here as Mimi now.

Not only did Agumon's "Polly want a cracker?" line slay me, but there's something about Tom Fahn's portrayal that really hits me, even though he's not even my favorite Digimon. It hasn't even been a long time since I've heard it - Tri wasn't that long ago, and I just rewatched Adventure/02 within the past few weeks, but hearing him made me a bit emotional, ha. Same thing happened with his first appearance in Tri, and that was after having seen it in Japanese and knowing what was going to happen!

The opening battle is like a complete screw-you to Tai's arc in Tri with Greymon smashing into buildings and Tai completely unfazed. I'm here for it, lol.

The remastered Digivolution sequences are nice but in true nostalgia fashion I kinda prefer the originals, haha.

Izzy's computer is counting down a 'time rimit'.

Agumon says something to the effect of “Aren’t I always hungry?“ and I don't feel like it’s a reference/jab at Tri, but it got a chuckle out of me anyway.

Tai's classmate is blatantly voiced by JYB too, ha.

Matt gives his location as 'inside the restaurant' when calling an ambulance which seems... not helpful. Love that Tai's reaction to a girl collapsing is a confused "Is she drunk?"

An article on Tai's phone is written in perfect English and he gets message from the name Izzy specifically so I'd assume this is a change for the US release. Subtitles would have been perfectly fine but it's a nice effort to keep immersion.

"The ol' Izz-master" I’m so, so glad they got Jeff Nimoy to write this script, bless Toei.

Only 4 of the Digidestined participating in the battle against the Digidestined is kinda disappointing until I realized that it was a throwback to Our War Game - TK and Izzy get to participate more this time around! As per usual Tentomon (Kabuterimon) manages to sneak in a hilarious line here.

'Lime Magazine' just doesn't have the same ring to it...

TAI'S MAGAZINES...

Tai calling Agumon 'little buddy' is the second scene to hit me right in the feels.

Matt is the only one to reach out to the 02 kids during the movie, I wonder if he felt guilty about what went down in Tri and kept in touch with them a bit more since.

Seeing Kari and TK tied up in a dark room like that is actually one of the more shocking scenes in the movie. That could have ended very differently if this was a different movie...

Meiko shows up for literally one scene with Meicoomon which has... interesting implications. This movie retroactively makes her more tragic as well, as even if she didn't sacrifice Meicoomon there's a chance their partnership would have dissolved anyway - almost a complete lose-lose, there was no way for them to be happy together.

Himekawa is also retroactively more tragic as it's possible she would have been able to see Tapirmon again here - one shows up in the crowd shot!

Honestly this is the movie Himekawa deserved - she was a really interesting character that got wasted and underused in Tri, and while Menoa parallels her in a lot of ways her stoicism just isn't as interesting and Hime's decent into madness was.

L'il Joe has black hair now?

I'm pretty sure Menoa doesn't say "Oh shit" but honestly I'm gonna pretend she does.

I mentioned on Twitter how Leomon doesn't die in this one because he never showed up, but there's one fighting an Eosmon in what I think is Osaka and he doesn't die, and GOOD ON HIM, HE BROKE THE CYCLE!

Omnimon having limbs sliced off got an audible gasp from me.

Matt ACTUALLY got to curse in this movie, character development!!

"Just one thing: Meow" I had to pause the movie, I lost it

Story wise, theme wise, character wise I get it, but mad Sora got screwed over in this movie. Would have been nice if 'To Sora' was included inside of the movie at least.

I still don't like Agu and Gabu's new evolutions, but they did feel really earned and a natural extension of the plot. What better way to spark an evolution than such a huge sacrifice? Izzy's perfectly timed 'prodigious' was the icing on the cake, coming at such a fitting emotional moment and possibly being the last time we'll hear it from Izzy.

When the Eosmon start disappearing all over the world there's a shot of an exhausted lone Numemon who had clearly held off the Eosmon with all the poop that is strewn about. THAT is the next story I want to see.

Unfortunately this movie is in the Tri School of Only Using Champion Level. It's actually pretty inexcusable that we we don't see WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon one more time, but even the other characters should have gone up to Ultimate if not Mega for one final sendoff. I wish we could have seen them truely fight as a team once more, even just for fanservice.

My strongest complaint with the movie itself is that it just kinda... ends. The ending is super emotional, but it just skips ahead afterwards and says 'things are going to be ok!' and ends. I would have liked to see the rest of the kids once more, seeing how they handle the fallout or how they might support Tai and Matt - or maybe a little about what Tai and Matt have taken away from this whole things. Just felt like we needed an extra couple of minutes.

Will we see these particular versions of these characters again? From what I can tell this movie did well in Japan and it’s trending pretty well on Amazon, so who knows. I hope if we do, it’s because the writers come up with an idea they really believe in and not just for the sake of a sequel. But if not, I’m definately greatful for what we have.

[digitaldreams0801]

Adventure Rewrite Idea Dump (Again)

Listen I want to talk about my OCs but I don’t have the energy to actually write right now since I feel like literal ass so it’s random fact time! Warning: random mashing of English and Japanese names for Digimon ahead. 

First off, I’m planning on giving one Armor evolution to all of the kids. Regardless of Adventure or 02 affiliation, all of them are getting one Armor evolution. Only Pegasmon and Nefertimon are staying the same while all the others get reworked/redesigned or new stuff entirely. The 02 kids get Armors first while the Adventure kids are later on. 

Also, there aren’t going to be any D3′s needed to open the gate between the worlds. All of the kids are going to have the same original model Digivice from Adventure. For colors at higher levels of evolution on the others it’ll go as follows: Daisuke - Gold, Miyako - Turquoise, Iori - White, Ken - Black, Meiko - Magenta.

Everyone is going to get to have a Jogress partner, but not in the same way that 02 used them. Instead, it’ll be more like Omnimon: an evolution that takes place after the highest level is obtained. Pairs will go as follows: Taichi/Yamato, Sora/Mimi, Koshiro/Jou, Daisuke/Ken, Miyako/Hikari, Iori/Takeru.

As of now, my plan for evolution is going to have Agumon and Gabumon go Mega in the original Adventure while Omnimon shows up during Our War Game. Veemon and Wormmon will go Mega in 02 and Jogress during Revenge of Diaboromon. All other Megas will appear during the first half Tri (which will be rewritten entirely to include the 02 kids) while the second half has the remaining four Jogress pairs. 

Since Jogress is being handled differently, the 02 partners get to go all the way to Mega on their own. The evolution lines are below: Veemon - ExVeemon - Paildramon - Magnamon Hawkmon - Aquilamon - Silphymon - Valkyrimon Armadillomon - Ankylomon - ??? - ??? Wormmon - Stingmon - JewelBeemon - GrandisKuwagamon

The only Jogress evolution that will remain from canon is Imperialdramon. The others will be redesigned entirely due to either not fitting as much (Shakkoumon) or being used already (Silphymon). As for Armadillomon’s evolutions, I’m going to have to design those myself. No matter how much I search, there’s never anything that properly fits in with the theme of Ankylomon, so I’ll just make up mons myself. Fight me on it. 

For the 02 kids, they have the Crests of Loyalty, Passion, Integrity, and Kindness for Daisuke, Miyako, Iori, and Ken respectively. Meiko will also get a Crest, though Meicoomon is special in the way that she has no Jogress partner and will act on her own. In fact, Meicoomon is being handled completely differently than in canon and is not used as a villain because I said so. Tri is being handled completely differently, so nearly everything about the plot is different now. Again, fight me. 

Hurricane Landing is going to be reworked so that it fits into canon. In it, Willis is not going to be designated specifically as a Chosen Child. Instead, he found Gummymon and Kokomon by pure accident, and they bonded to him on their own. Humans naturally have the power to make Digimon evolve at an advanced speed; a Digivice simply refines that power and makes it less unpredictable. Willis is partnered to them in a unique way since has no Digivice but is still able to make them evolve pretty reliably. 

On a similar note, I’m not using the international Chosen. I was never the biggest fan of them, so I’m just cutting them out. I’ll handle things differently during the World Tour segment (assuming it even remains in the final draft) to compensate. 

Mimi won’t be moving away to America either. I feel like it would be best for the sake of the plot if I kept her in Japan, so she’s sticking around there with the rest of the squad. 

I mentioned before that Tri is getting a complete overhaul, right? The first step is axing King Drasil. Yeah. Oops. Instead, I’m going to create a much more direct rival to Homeostasis. For now, let’s call them Havoc (which is a placeholder in case I wind up coming up with something better).

Havoc existed in the times before Homeostasis was created. In between the birth of the Digital World and the arrival of the Harmonious Ones, Havoc seemed to rule over the Digital World from afar. They created Apocalymon as a way of manifesting their chaotic whims, causing a reign of terror over the Digital World. In an unprecedented course of events, Apocalymon caused a severe distortion in the Digital World that caused time to flow faster than on Earth. Apocalymon’s existence caused a rift between the Digital World and Earth as well, and that portal pulled in the original group of six kids in 1980 (Daigo, Maki, Hiroaki, Haruhiko, Kaya, and Chisane). Their partners eventually evolved to become the Harmonious Ones, and they sealed away Apocalymon in the process, though time remained sped up. Homeostasis was born as a result of the Harmonious Ones coming to existence. 

Havoc was mostly left to linger in the shadows, forced back by the arrival of Homeostasis. The Order led by Homeostasis developed Digivices and Crests for twelve children based on manifestations from the original six. Another distortion caused by an escape attempt from Apocalymon opened a gate to Earth where the Greymon and Parrotmon fight took place in 1995. That selected eight of the twelve children, and when disaster struck and the Order was destroyed, the eight were called upon, prompting the events of Adventure to play out. 

During the attack by Myotismon in 1999, Daisuke, Iori, and Ken all witnessed events related to the Digital World. While they were not the only witnesses of these events, they caught Homeostasis’ eye for fitting three of the four traits. This left only Passion lacking in a host, though it found one when Miyako watched the fight between Omnimon and Diaboromon the following year, making her the final child of the group to be Chosen. 

Meiko was not a Chosen under Homeostasis. Instead, Havoc was the one who selected her. After the fall of Apocalymon, Havoc tried to concoct a further plan to usurp Homeostasis and take over the Digital World, and they created Meicoomon. By imitating the power of the Digivices seen up to that point (which was only known to evolve Digimon up to Mega), Havoc created another Digivice, the one that would later come to be used by Meiko. Since Armor and Jogress capabilities hadn’t been seen yet, her echo of a Digivice lacked both of those powers. She was given the Crest of Darkness, and Havoc planned for Meicoomon to evolve into another world-breaking monster on par with Apocalymon. During the events of this AU’s version of Tri, Meiko purifies the Crest into the Crest of Balance, and Meicoomon doesn’t slip into her destructive ways, instead finding a place as Rasielmon. 

As for the original Chosen, they split up after their original adventure. Hiroaki and Haruhiko grew distant from the rest of the group while Daigo and Maki went on to attend school together. Kaya and Chisane (both of whom are my OCs; fight me if that’s a problem okay) became romantic partners. All of them went on to live regular lives, most of them in the Odaiba area. Kaya and Chisane moved out to Tottori while the others stayed in Odaiba. When Digimon started to rise to prominence after the 1999 war with Myotismon, Daigo, Maki, and Haruhiko came to work together as Digimon researchers. Hiroaki remained on his own since he had other work at the TV station. 

As for Kaya and Chisane, they established a small restaurant in Tottori. They left Odaiba without a word once they were old enough, tying the knot and living alone while owning and running their cafe. Chisane couldn’t stand the city life due to the noise and crowds, and Kaya wanted to follow her. They avoided much of busy life, staying away from any incidents involving Digimon despite wishing to see their partners once again. 

All Crest bearers are sensitive to influence from Homeostasis, but their connection is on the lower side. Hope and Light are easily most connected due to their angelic links, though Light’s link is the strongest. Keepers of the Crest of Light can communicate with Homeostasis easily while bearers of Hope can still do it but are harder to contact. All of them are also sensitive to the balance of other worlds, but again, Hope and Light are most affected. 

Since Chisane was the original bearer of Hope and Light (all the original six kids had two Crests), her connection is so heavy that it borders on being dangerous. Being near so many Digital Gates in Odaiba can cause sickness for her at times since she has a lacking constitution and immune system. When the worlds are unbalanced, it has a horrible impact on her. To avoid any unnecessary sickness, Kaya moved with her out to Tottori where there were fewer gates. They moved not long after the Parrotmon/Greymon duel in 1995 since the sudden outburst by Apocalymon’s escape attempt sickened Chisane immediately. The destabilization of the worlds always harmed her, but that was the most prominent example of imbalance at the time, causing terrible harm. 

While the two mostly kept to themselves, Chisane was still vulnerable to being contacted by Homeostasis. She seems to speak to herself somewhat often, though this is more often than not Homeostasis asking for permission to borrow her body and mind. It was through her that Homeostasis learned more about how things were on Earth from the Digital World. 

When the Mochizuki family moved in near them, Chisane and Kaya took to avoiding them. Chisane was fine with Meiko at first, but when Havoc placed the Crest of Darkness inside her, being around Meiko for too long began to make her feel nauseous after prolonged contact. Kaya grows incredibly protective of Chisane when Meiko is nearby, coming off as hostile due to her blunt nature. 

The Digital World was created as a mix of three things: digital networks on Earth, the world of dreams shown at the end of 02 (one where everything is possible), and the Dark Ocean. The second of these two worlds is called the Dream Light. When all three of these lands came together, they spawned the Digital World. From there, lifeforms from all three lands were combined to create Digimon. Havoc emerged naturally, starting off as a virus program from Earth before mutating into something much larger and worse. 

Okay. I think I’m done. Also, I have a tag for my bullshit ranting now! You can find my AU junk under ‘Digital’s Adventure Rewrite BS’. It matches my Frontier tag, in other words. Now, I’m going to bed. It’s 3 AM, and I need to sleep. I hope you enjoyed tonight’s Tumblr tangent from Digital!

[rockabelle]

Confession: Part 1

“Hey, want to go get coffee or something?”

Yamato looked over his shoulder. “Since when do you drink coffee?”

Taichi waved a hand impatiently. “Not the point. So? Want to?”

There was band practice later. Yamato had been planning to do homework in the narrow period of time between school and practice. Otherwise, he’d have to stay up late to do it, and he knew he’d be exhausted by then. Practice had become a stressor all on its own.

He turned around completely and took a closer look at his best friend. Taichi’s eyes flitted away, as they had been doing too often of late, hands jamming into his pockets. Yamato frowned.

This could be nothing, or…it could be the break they’d been waiting for all this time. Maybe Taichi was finally going to let him in.

The miasma that had been hanging over his best friend since at least the infected Digimon first started showing up had lessened after the final fight with Meicoomon, but not entirely disappeared. That had not been so concerning, at the time. They had all been through a lot, and Taichi more than most. Taichi had been forced to watch Daigo-sensei sacrifice his life for him. He’d had to shoulder the burden of deciding that Meicoomon had to die. He’d had to weather Hikari’s anger. It was understandable that he’d be depressed for a while.

Still, it was clear that he’d broken through whatever had been holding him back before, and that had seemed like enough. His smile had seemed close to normal, if infrequent, for a short time.

But as the weeks passed, the distance between the rest of the chosen children and their leader hadn’t really closed. He was still holding himself back from them. He still isolated himself, he still pushed himself to act cheerful when he was around them, he still changed subjects when anyone tried to ask him what was wrong.

Yamato had felt too wrung out himself after everything to do more than give Taichi the eye occasionally, letting him know that there was at least one person not buying his bullshit.

Taichi reaching out on his own was…but on the other hand, it was probably stupid to get any hopes up. The last several times Taichi had acted like maybe he was ready to talk, they’d just wound up sitting in silence or reminiscing about old times.

Yamato sighed, resigning himself to a late night.

“Yeah, alright.”

A little while later, they were sequestered in the back-corner booth of a quiet coffee shop. Yamato watched Taichi stare out the window and took a long, pointed slurp of his coffee. The other boy glanced at him and Yamato raised a brow.

“So? Was there something you wanted to talk about?”

The brunette fiddled with his hands, not saying anything.

Irritation sparked.

“What, so you just dragged me out here for nothing? You know I have better things to do than just sit here, right?”

“Wow, sorry it’s such a waste of your oh-so-valuable time to hang out with me,” Taichi snapped. “If you didn’t want to come, you could’ve just said so.”

“It wouldn’t be a waste if you would just stop dithering. There’s something going on with you, there has been for months now, and you want to tell me, finally. Right?”

Taichi hunched. Yamato groaned, running a hand through his hair, and tried to rein in his temper.

It hurt to see his friend suffering. Being unable to do anything about it was a special kind of torture that was driving him insane. He’d tried to be patient because, after all, getting angry that Taichi was too stubborn to share his feelings and ask for help would be pretty hypocritical, coming from him.

That was the point, though, right? They were supposed to have moved beyond all that with each other. Maybe Taichi felt like he had to keep up a strong front for the others, but Yamato was supposed to be the exception. They’d seen each other at their worst. It felt like a stab in the heart that Taichi refused to trust him.

Yamato closed his eyes and made himself breathe deeply. Then he leaned over the table and placed his hand over his friend’s.

“It’s me, okay? You can tell me. I won’t tell the others if you don’t want me to.” He tried to lighten his tone. “Whatever you’re worrying about, don’t. It’s impossible for my opinion of you to get any lower, anyway.”

“There’s been some stuff I’ve had to figure out,” Taichi said slowly. “It’s taken me a while, and I’m still not really…I mean. I don’t know how to do this, Yamato. I don’t know if talking about it is even the right thing.”

This was definite progress. Taichi was admitting there was something to talk about.

“Have you talked to Agumon,” Yamato asked, struggling to keep his tone casual.

His friend sighed. “Agumon can’t really help. There are some human things that Digimon just don’t have a frame of reference for.”

Carefully, Yamato squeezed Taichi’s hand where it still lay on the table under his. “I’m your partner, too, aren’t I? Talk to me. It won’t hurt anything.”

“Won’t it,” Taichi said hoarsely.

Yamato’s heartbeat echoed in his ears. Whatever this was, it was bigger than he’d thought. Obviously, it would have to be serious to have caused his friend so much upheaval, but Taichi was genuinely scaring him. Worst-case scenarios flashed through his head: I’m addicted to drugs, I knocked up a girl, I’m sick, I’m dropping out of school to pursue a life of crime…maybe not that last one.

“Taichi, look at me,” he said.

He waited until deep brown eyes finally locked with his. He clenched his fingers around his friend’s again, hard. “No,” he promised. “It won’t.”

Taichi searched his expression.

In the silence, Yamato noticed for the first time that it had started raining. The drumming of the downpour was loud in the space between them.

The reflection of the raindrops trailing down the window drew flickering lines of light and shadow over Taichi’s face like a veil of tears.

“I’m gay.”

---

Part 2

[kumeko]

still breathing

Character/Pairing: Taichi, Yamato, Sora, Takeru, Hikari

A/N: written for the dandan Digimon tri zine. While the movies were lackluster, they had a few gems here and there for me to mine.

Summary: There was caution tape over Hikari’s mouth, blocking her words. A silence where there should have been an insult, a polite request instead of a tease. Taichi might have come back but nothing was the same.

....

...

...

...

i.                 Hikari

Taichi’s hands were warm. Hikari’s fingers brushed the back of his hand, the pads of her fingers touching his skin. Warm and solid. Slipping her right hand in his, her fingers slid into the valleys between his knuckles, his bones pressing lightly against her skin.  When she tightened her grip, he shot her a disgruntled look. “Hikari.”

 She bit her cheek. “Yes?”

 His frown deepened but he didn’t shake her off. With a sigh, her brother started eating with his other hand. “Never mind.” His fingers slipped as he tried to grip his chopsticks. “I’ll get my soccer schedule next week.”

 “Oh, I was going to ask about that.” Mom sighed as she rested her chin on her hands and stared out the window. With a teasing lit, she added, “I guess this means more laundry.”

 “Why is that the first thing you think of?” Grumpy, Taichi speared a piece of chicken. He glared at her. “It’s not my fault the uniform’s white.”

 “That is something I don’t understand.” Mom scratched her chin and cocked her head. “If you’re going to get muddy, why make the uniforms white?”

 “That’s…” Taichi trailed off, realizing he didn’t have an argument for that. He bit his lip, considering it. “That’s a good point.”

 “Don’t think too hard, dear.” Mom laughed, sitting back up. She picked up her chopsticks. “You might break something.”

 “Mom!”

 What a regular, ordinary dinner. So plain it could be mistaken for any other day. Hikari watched it all in silence, slowly eating as her brother and mother argued a very ordinary, regular argument. There were no digimon here, no wars outside, and she was lulled into a semblance of safety. It was only when their mother left to clean the dishes that Taichi turned to face her.  He held up their joined hands. “I’m ok, you know.”

 Hikari nodded. He was alive and he was here and she knew that. His skin was warm beneath hers, his grip strong. The world was safe and there were no battles to be fought.

 She still didn’t let go of his hand.

 -x-

 She dreamed sometimes, of that night. Of the end of it all. That final moment as they stood on a dark beach, watching a titan of old slowly reform.

 “I won’t forgive you,” Hikari said.  The moon was faint and she could barely see her brother in the shadows.  She took a step forward, the wet sand squelching as she approached her brother. “I won’t forgive you if you do this.”

 And Taichi, the one who never gave up, the one who fought to the end, that Taichi accepted defeat. “I know.” He turned his head to where the corrupted digimon struggled. His voice and gaze were firm and direct. “I’m still doing it.”

 It angered her. For what he was doing, he should sound broken, lost. This was a last resort, not something to confidentially parade about. Even his gaze was direct, unashamed of what he was ordering.

 Hikari looked across the water. The water lapped at her feet, the cold stinging her skin. Ophanimon cried out as she slowly rose. There was no time. The waves crashed, drowning out her thundering heart. “I’ll help you.”

 -x-

 As she did every morning after that dream, Hikari sat at her desk and wrote a letter. A quick apology scrawled on lined paper, her writing neat and compact. The moment she finished it, she folded it and placed it in a drawer.

 -x-

 The city didn’t feel the same. Reconstruction was slow, each crater filled temporarily until the streets were properly repaired. It was worse for the buildings, some needing to be demolished and rebuilt entirely. Her path to school was a retrace of their battles, of the past few weeks and the upheaval they caused.

 To her left, the Ferris wheel where her brother had sat, frozen in indecision, as a battle raged around him. To her right, the field where Meicoomon had fought them for the first time. There was no escaping any of her memories, the yellow caution tape around each a warning she couldn’t ignore.

 The final stop was at her school, the grounds where Leomon had died once more. A circular life. Hikari thought of reincarnation, of repetition, and wondered if life was just an exercise of taking two steps forward and one step back.

 -x-

 “How’s Tottori?” Hikari sat on the steps to the track field, watching the soccer team as they practiced drills. Taichi was unusually late. Pressing her ear to her phone, she balanced it on her shoulder as she tightened her shoes.

 “’s good.” Mei’s accent was a funny thing now, a strange hybrid of Tokyo and Tottori. As she relaxed, more and more slang snuck into her sentences until she finally noticed and immediately formalized her words. “It’s strange, being back. ’specially after I said goodbye jus’ a few months ago.”

 “Your friends must have been surprised.” Hikari laughed, imagining her first day back in class. Laces done up, she reached up to hold the phone.

 “They’re still teasing me ’bout that.” Mei grumbled. Her voice dropped an octave, a wistful edge in her tone. “Still, it’s funny being here without Mei. Doesn’t feel real, like she’ll jus’ jump out of the bushes.”

 Hikari held her breath. “I…”

 I’m sorry.

 Me too, I miss Gatoman.

 She remembered the yellow tape around the city, cordoning off the damage. “It doesn’t feel anymore real here.”

 “Guess it’ll take a while.” The phone was silent for a moment before Mei changed the topic, sparing Hikari. “Thanks for all the packages. Who sent the cowboy hat?”

 “Mimi—she used to wear one all the time.” Hikari chuckled, pushing her thoughts aside. “It’s pink, right?”

 “That explains it.” Mei let out a sigh, exasperated. “Mom thinks I’m making my Halloween costume early.”

 “That’s at least one use for it!”

 Mei laughed, the sound muffled through the receiver. “’nuff about me, how are you?”

 “Me?” Hikari thought of the letter on her desk, of the sorry trapped in her chest, and how some things couldn’t be said, couldn’t be fixed. Like the destruction in the city, it could only be paved over, patched up temporarily until the next disaster. There was caution tape over her mouth, blocking her words. “Mornings are cold now, I just want to curl up in bed.”

 Mei laughed. “It’s even colder here!”

 “I don’t even want to think about that.” There was a shout and Hikari looked up in time to see the soccer ball just before it hit her.

 -x-

 Hikari dreamed of a dark sea, a black abyss dragging even the light into it. It whispered of her failings, of her doubts, a tidal wave of despair that threatened to drown her. Nothing escaped its grip and it clawed at her, trying to drag her under.

 From the corner of her eye she saw Himekawa sink to its depths without so much as a struggle. Obsession was a terrible thing. The inability to move on, to move forward. To forgive.

 The wave broke over Hikari and she struggled to float.

 -x-

 “Hikari?”

 There was too much white. Hikari blinked a few times over, her sight unfocused as a worried voice reached her thoughts. After a few minutes, she recognized the infirmary ceiling and sat up with a start. A gentle hand was on her back, guiding her up, and it wasn’t surprising when she found it connected to very worried Takeru.

 “Takeru?” Her voice sounded hoarse, her mouth parched. Everything felt dry as a desert. Covering her eyes for a moment, she slowly turned to face him.

 “Thirsty?” He gave her an anxious smile as he let go and grabbed a nearby glass. As soon as she gratefully accepted it, his hands were steadying her once more. “How do you feel?”

 “Sore.” She took a sip. Her head throbbed lightly, a drum beat. “What happened?”

 “You got hit by a soccer ball.” Takeru’s hand was steady on her, a far cry from the scared child he used to be.  Once she settled into a sitting position, he stood up and leaned forward. His fingers grazed her skin as he inspected her forehead. “The bump’s kinda big.”

 She frowned, reaching up to touch it. That explained the headache. “That bad?”

 “Nothing Taichi would notice,” he joked. His skin was cool and she leaned into his touch.

 Hikari snorted. “I’d have to be bleeding for that.” Suddenly remembering her call, she looked up at him. “Mei?”

 “Mei—oh.” His touch was gentle before he sat back down. “I sent her a message. It must have been scary when you were cut off.”

 “Probably.” Hikari touched her forehead once more, a little self-conscious about the bruise. Grabbing the edges of her blanket, she yanked it off. “I’ll get up now.”

 “Shouldn’t you rest a little longer?” Takeru pulled the sheets back up, ignoring her indignant protests as he did so. “At least till Taichi gets here?”

 “It’s fine! I’m fine!” Hikari batted his hands away and tried to move again.

 Takeru frowned. Insistent, he pushed her back down. “Why are you all like this?”

 “Like what?” Hikari asked, brow furrowed. Her fingers rested on the edges of her blanket, ready to throw them off at a moment’s notice.

 “You, Taichi, even my brother…” Takeru bit his lip, looking down. She didn’t have to see his face to know what expression he was giving. “Why do you have to do it all by yourself? Why can’t you just ask for help?”

 His pained tone killed any argument bubbling in her mouth. Peeking down at him, she focused on his hands tightly gripping the bed, the white of his knuckles. Touched, she rested her hand on his. “I’m fine, really.”

 At this, he shot her a glare. “I’ve seen you sleep in class—your eyes are getting darker each day.”

 Ah. So he had noticed. Ashamed, she looked away and corrected herself. “Sorry…I…”

 “I didn’t ask for any help when Patamon was infected and…and all it did was make it worse. I suffered, Patamon suffered—holding it in did nothing. Please, just…just let me help. Even if it’s just a little.”

 Help. Hikari closed her eyes, remembering the dark sea, remember Himekawa sinking into its depths. Her hand hadn’t reached up even once.

 “I…” Yellow tape surrounded everything in this city, every topic they could talk about. Hikari swallowed. “I…” A life preserver in the water. A hole in the caution tape. Hikari opened her eyes and nodded slowly. “Sometimes, I dream of that night.”

 -x-

ii.                Taichi

 A siren blared off, bright red lights blinking on and off as he ran down the metal walkway. His heart beat louder than any warning, blood filling his ears as he looked from one capsule to the next. There had to be an empty one, an escape. Everything was bathed in the colour of blood, in the hue of danger, and he could still hear the rocks crumbling from when the ground collapsed beneath them.

 A hospital. They had to find a hospital and fast. There. An empty one. A way home.  Panting, he leaned against the capsule. “I found one.”

 “Step inside.” His teacher’s voice was raspy, more air than words.

 Taichi swallowed, staring into the empty capsule. It wouldn’t fit more than him. “It can’t take us both.”

 His teacher paused, considering it. “There might be another way—check inside, there might be something.”

 “Got it.” Clambering in, he looked for a button, for something, when the glass slid up behind him. Realizing what happened, he whirled around and pounded the glass. “Let me out! I’m not leaving you!”

 “You have to.” His teacher’s voice was faint, so quiet that he could barely hear him. A red light bathed everything, even his skin, and for a moment, he wondered if he was dying too.

 His teacher said something, too soft to be heard, and then there was only silence.

 -x-

 Taichi’s mornings went like this: tripping out of bed as he rushed to the bathroom, always five minutes later than he was supposed to be.

 “You’re late,” Hikari sighed as she stepped out of his way. Her mouth opened again, a snide remark on the tip of her tongue before she clamped down and looked away. “Hurry up.”

 “I’m hurrying!” Taichi stumbled in and out of the bathroom, brushing his teeth in record time. If there were an Olympic event for getting ready, he’d be contender. Maybe even a gold medalist.

 “What was it this time: you forgot to turn on your alarm or you turned it off and fell asleep?” His mother laughed as he scarfed down breakfast. Mouth full, he could only give her his angriest glare which caused her to break out into peals of laughter once more.

 Hikari watched him as she carefully spread butter on her bread. “You’re going to choke.”

 He glanced at her, waiting for the rest, for something more. She’d been watching him for days, constantly within reaching distance so she could grab onto his hands. Her lips pursed, on the verge of saying something, of doing something.

 “I’m done.”

 And like a dud bomb, nothing happened.

 -x-

 Taichi’s days went something like this: a sense of listlessness, of waiting for the other shoe to drop. He’d hear the sound of a bullet, of sirens blaring, of his heart pounding. A metallic taste flooded his tongue and for a brief moment, everything flickered red.

 Then it all disappeared and he was back on Earth, on a planet that kept turning even though it was short a person.

 -x-

 “You actually did your homework?” Sora stared at his sheet dubiously, pinching it delicately with her fingers as though it would shatter like glass.

 “Sometimes.” Taichi glowered at Yamoto, daring him to make a comment. Any comment. The bastard was already smirking.

 They glared at each other for a long moment before Yamoto finally broke and added, “And sometimes, he might even get it right.”

 “You.” Scowling, Taichi reached up to smack him. “You don’t get to talk.”

 “He has better grades than you.” Sora rolled her eyes as she pushed them apart. Her hand grazed his, lingering a moment too long. “Somehow.”

 “Did you have to add the somehow?” Yamamoto frowned, but his words had no bite.  “Honesty wasn’t your crest.”

 “And I thought friendship was yours.” Sora rolled her eyes before smiling at Taichi. “Good job. Keep doing it.”

 “Yes, mom,” he replied smartly, earning a whack from her.  “I thought you said no violence!”

 “You were being smart.” Sora gave him a flat stare, almost daring him to push her, but he didn’t take the bait. Instead he glanced at the clock, at the three minutes left till class started. They used to leave earlier than this, Sora using the morning to review her notes while Yamamoto was busy sketching out whatever career he was after at the moment.

 “He doesn’t know how to be smart,” Yamamoto scoffed, leaning forward onto Taichi’s desk.

 The clock ticked forward a minute.

 -x-

 The city still stood, despite what happened, despite who were missing. His race to and from school consisted of dodging people, swerving left and right as he found the gaps in the steady flow of the crowds. Students gossiped and adults chattered and Tokyo was a city of noise once more.

 It was as though nothing happened. Life went on, as it always did. At the lights, Taichi watched as the walk signal cycled from red to white. Streams of people walked around him, a river diverging around him as he watched the white walk sign blink back into red.

 -x-

 It was impossible to be in two places at once. Izzy told him that and Izzy was the smartest person Taichi knew. There was no science, no magic that could let that happen.

 And yet, despite that, Taichi knew it was possible. Part of him was still in that bunker, banging on the glass as their teacher’s bloody hand slid down the window. A red light flickered on and off, a warning, and then everything disappeared.

 -x-

  “I’m worried,” Sora confessed suddenly. They were sitting on the bleachers, soccer practice long over. Taichi’s hand was half way to his mouth, a chip in his fingers, when the tone in her voice froze him.

 “About what?” he finally asked, when she didn’t elaborate. Yamamoto didn’t look at him. Nearby, a car spluttered to a stop.

 Sora peered down for a long moment, at the patterns in the steel frame. Eventually, she looked at him. “You. You’re not fine and you have to stop pretending otherwise.”

 “Sora.” Yamamoto cut in, his hand on her arm. There was a warning in his eyes, in his tone, and Taichi could hear the sirens blaring, see the red light blinking.

 “Don’t pretend you’re not worried either,” she snapped back. When he didn’t reply, she turned back to Taichi. She grabbed his hand as gingerly as she did his test paper. “How are you?”

 He could barely feel her grip. “I’m fine.”

 With a sigh, Yamamoto ran a hand through his hair. “No, no you’re not.”

 “Nothing’s wrong,” Taichi insisted. “We saved the world, so everything’s fine.”

 “But…before that…” Sora gripped his hand harder now, her fingers digging into his skin. “You know, when you disappeared, I was scared. I thought I’d never see you again.”

 “But you managed without me.” Taichi shrugged lightly, trying to get out of this conversation. “And I’m here now.”

 “We did not manage without you—we barely held on.” In a rare burst of honesty, Yamamoto looked at him. “We made it because of you.”

 “Because of Daigo,” Taichi corrected and it was as though saying his name unleashed a flood. Live, he had said, his voice so weak it could be mistaken for the wind. Live, he had asked as he died. “He…saved everyone. And I left him there to die.”

 “You didn’t!” Sora’s grip was painful now, digging into his skin. Tears dripped down her cheeks and she glared at him. “If you could have saved him, you would have. That’s who you are. This doesn’t change that.”

 His throat burned and he croaked, “I should have stayed.”

 “Never.” Yamamoto fiercely snapped back, gripping Taichi’s shoulder tightly. Angry, he shook his head. “Never that. It’s like with Meicoomon—sometimes you can’t save everyone. You were right about that.”

 “That’s funny, did you just admit I was right?” Taichi weakly laughed.

 “Only on that one thing,” he corrected, but his hand stayed.

 “It’s ok, he’s mostly wrong too,” Sora chimed as she wrapped her arms around Taichi, resting her chin on his shoulder. Warm, she was warm, and suddenly he understood Hikari’s need to grab him all the time. There was something reassuring about another person’s weight, about their touch.

 “We tried, right?” His voice sounded weak and he blinked back the burning sensation in his eyes. “We tried everything?”

 “Everything,” Sora confirmed. Her hand patted his back soothingly. “There was no other way.”

 “Is that really good enough?” His hands curled into fists, his nails digging into his skin. Was intention really enough to justify, to forgive? Did Meicoomon justify Daigo? Or vice versa? I won’t forgive you, Hikari had said and he wondered if she was just echoing his own sentiments, his own demons.

 “It’s more than enough.” Sora gently agreed.

 “You’re here. We’re here. The world is saved.” Yamamoto weakly laughed.  “And I thought I was the ambitious one.”

 “It’s still better than trying to be a rock star-astronaut-politician.” Taichi snorted, wrapping an arm around Sora and raising his other to grab Yamamoto’s arm. “Thanks.”

 “What was that?” Yamamoto asked, and Taichi could hear the smirk more than see it.

 “Losing your hearing already?”

 “You two.” Sora sighed, disentangling herself from them. “Let me at least leave before you kill each other.”

 -x-

 “Move over.” Hikari crawled into his bed, something she hadn’t done since she was five and had nightmares. He shifted as much as he could, the twin far too small for the pair of them. They lay there in silence for a moment before she finally said, “You gave up.”

 He didn’t have to ask to know what she meant. “I didn’t.”

 “You did,” she shot back angrily and he could feel her glare more than see it. “You never leave anyone behind. You gave up.”

 “I did not.” He pressed his hand against his forehead. Remembered the sensation of pressing his hand against the glass. The bruises that came after. “I tried. This was it. The only way.”

 “We didn’t try everything.”

 “There was no time. You know it. We tried everything up until then.”

 Hikari lay there in silence, so long that he wondered if she fell asleep. Then her voice came and she sounded small, so very small. ‘I know.  I know but…”

 A train signal rang out, warning people not to cross. He reached out and wrapped his arm around her, pulling her closer. “Me too.”

 “I gave up.” Hikari pressed her face into his shoulder, muffling her voice.

 “You didn’t.” He pulled her in tighter. “We didn’t.”

 There was something warm on his shoulder and if he had been close to crying with Sora and Yamamoto, he was beyond that now. Hikari hiccupped. “I wish we could have saved Meicoomon.”

 Sometimes courage or light or friendship or love or any of their crests wasn’t enough. It was a strange thought but maybe that was part of growing up. Leomon and other digimon had sacrificed themselves before, when they were younger and didn’t really understand the dangers they were in.  Sacrifice had always been there, they just never had to participate in it.

 Taichi closed his eyes. “Me too.”

 -x-

 He woke up to a technicolor world for once, to a silent room after a good night’s rest. It was a strange sensation, to not hear any alarms, to not see only red. He stretched on his bed, unsurprised to find Hikari had gotten up first.

 Slowly, he stretched and left his room. As he headed to the bathroom, he bumped into Hikari. She raised a brow. “Finally woke up?”

 “You could have woken me.” Crossing his arms, he scanned her outfit. “It’s Sunday, where are you going?”

 She waved a letter in front of him. “Posting a letter.”

 A letter. Taichi blinked. “What are you, an old lady?”

 “Meanie.” Hikari frowned deeply, sliding past him to get to the entrance. “Mei likes letters.”

 “Mei, huh?” He watched her go, scratching his belly before turning back to the bathroom. Maybe he’d call Mei himself—he never did talk to her properly after all that went down. Stretching his arms, he yawned. Hell, he could even meet up with everyone again—it’d been a while since they’d just hanged out

 Live, Daigo had asked. Maybe it was time Taichi got back to doing that.

[holyhikari]

all we must leave behind

Digimon Adventure Tri - Bokura no Mirai spoilers;

Characters: Hikari, Takeru, Taichi, mentions of others.

Summary: Hikari wonders who she is and who she has to become - with or without Taichi. 

Hikari doesn’t hug him – he doesn’t hug her.

They spent unbearable moments apart, but, no, there’s no gentle smile of reunion whatsoever. It all fits, somehow, as if it isn’t the first time she wishes Taichi wasn’t her brother – the first time that she wishes to be older, perhaps, and wiser. You stay like that, he says. Her look of anger, his look of pained resolution, their calculated distance. It fits, it fits, Hikari steals another look at him and it fits.

What happened to them?

The future takes a shuddering breath.     

                      An egg breaks much faster than it hatches, and then it’s over. What happens to Meicoomon –the ocean, its waves, Hikari’s hold on Tailmon, it’s all gone, she’s with her partner once again.

Meiko isn’t. And won’t be.

As Meiko’s arms tremble with nothing to hold, the future’s lungs are filled with dark water. Not the worlds’ future – that one they always manage to save, salt on their lips, breath, breath. But her future with her brother, it shatters, she watches feebly and wants to collapse again, wondering if Taichi would be fast enough to catch her, wondering if he would even notice.

You can hate me if you want.

☼

“I am glad you’re okay,” she says.

To herself.

“Don’t kill her!”, she said earlier.

To herself.

☼

“You didn’t mean it,” Takeru tries for a smile that carries itself as a frown. “You didn’t, I know you didn’t.” He repeats, as though he knows everything Hikari means and doesn’t mean to do and say.

Hikari is tired. And Takeru’s expression is starting to look a bit too much like Taichi’s old one, in another life, another world.

“I did.”

He flinches slightly at her tone. A writer, Hikari remembers, he’s a writer, give him a word. Rare. Rare it’s a word to describe her tone, furious would be another, and they dance with meanings and some tragic sense of pride on their minds for a while.

Hikari sees the issue. It’s blond like Takeru, but a bit taller and a bit colder, and that would never happen to them.

“You won’t forgive him” and then there it is, there it is, “he’s your brother, Hikari-chan.”

“He is my brother.”  She confirms, voice suddenly even. “He is.”

“He has to know.”

“That he is my brother?” She smiles like a hunter. “He’s aware.”

“That you didn’t mean it, Hikari-chan.” He insists, pale. “He has to.”

The conversation does not end, but they dive into a silence impossible to come back from.

☼

Hikari apologizes. Profusely.

She always does.

Sometimes, she wonders if being sorry is the way she touches the world, the only way she knows how to exist.

“I should have never talked to you like that, Takeru-kun,” her hold on her cell phone tenses, “I am so, so sorry. It was cruel and unnecessary and so unlike me and you were only trying to help –”

“It’s okay! Really, it is, don’t worry –”

“Of course I worry! The look on your face, it was so sad, I’m sorry I put it in there.”

“It was a… stressful day. You had every right to lash out a little bit.” The line goes silent for a second and Hikari looks absently at the window.

The blue, clear and almost shining sky seems to deepen Takeru’s words. It was a stressful day. It was. It was. It is not that day anymore, they’re safe and everyone’s memories are back where they belong. It is not Meicoomon’s death day, it isn’t, but Hikari feels like she’s cutting Ordinemon up herself at the very moment they speak.

“And I was… a bit invasive,” Takeru is careful, “I’m sorry. You’re your own person. You know what you mean and what you don’t.”

“I… can see why you were so upset. I was surprised myself. But…”

“It’s okay, I understand. You meant it. It’s the truth, as simple as that.”

“We could have saved her.”

Takeru does not breath for a second. She feels it. That’s how she knows she won’t get an answer.

“But... Have you at least talked to him?”

Hikari looks at Taimon’s sleeping form on her bed.

She hasn’t.

Tailmon’s electric blue eyes, as if sensing something, open a bit, and she smiles sleepily to her partner. Something heavy sets on Hikari’s chest. She hasn’t talked to Taichi about them and the reason Ordinemon was born, and hasn’t said a word to Tailmon about the shadow – the Wizardmon-shaped shadow, vision, hallucination, whatever it was.

She’s full of secrets, she realizes. Perhaps the biggest of them all is her own personality. When Hikari saw Ordinemon coming to an end by Omnimon’s sword, she felt something settle inside her. I cannot be who I am anymore, she realized, I must be someone new.

Who is she, now?

A child? An adult? Something in between – more than simply being a teenager, is she caught up in a third element other than light and darkness?                                                                                  

Takeru’s voice repeats itself on her mind, You’re your own person.

But she isn’t. Hasn’t been. Sure, she is kind. Very, very idealistic. Altruist in such a way someone could consider a flaw instead of a quality. She’s brave. But there’s something she is more than the rest. She is Taichi Yagami’s younger sister, to an extent that she does not have a place of her own in the world.

Takeru’s voice is calling her name on the phone. He’s a writer, she remembers once again, give him a word;

Onii-chan.

☼

“It was you.”

It’s a simple phrase.

“It was me?” Taichi echoes, as if he does not understand. He doesn’t. Hikari sighs. It’s a simple phrase.

It hurts like she’s declaiming an epic poem, giant and agonizing. It was you – you see, Onii-chan, it wasn’t your fault, but it was you, the absence of you, the idea of not having you.

“I thought – I thought you were dead, gone forever, lost in the Digital World, I thought I could never reach you again.” Reliving the feeling is agonizing. Hikari takes a breath to steady herself, find some harmony within her battered body. It does not work. What do you do when breathing is helpless?

“And then Tailmon dark-evolved and got absorbed,” her brother shakes his head in silent terror. “And almost wrecked our entire world.”

Summoner of destruction.

“Yes. I couldn’t… It was too much for me.”

“I see.”                                                                                                                     

Do you?

“How… How did it feel? Allowing SkullGreymon to be born, I mean, when we were kids.”

She surprises them both with the question. Hikari knows why she asks what she asks, though. She wants to feel close to Taichi again, even if for such a reason; the only ones on their team that have made their partners dark-evolve, the Yagami siblings.

“You first,” Taichi does not look at her, “I want to know about what happened yesterday. Everything.”

Everything? He won’t ever know everything, what it is like to lose a sibling, even if for less than a day – Hikari stops. He does know. He has lost her before, a long, long time ago, for a few days in the hospital. If they had the Digimon at that time, would SkullGreymon have been born years earlier? Would Taichi end a world that does not have her?

Not anymore, she guesses.

Hikari tells him, then. The “everything” he can know, that does not convey half of her despair, Takeru’s firm, warm hands on her shoulders and her barely audible wish, I want to disappear.

She still does.

Disappear just like Meicoomon – how can she live the way she used to after Meicoomon?

Well, Hikari smiles sadly to herself, I did live with the fact the Wizardmon never came back.

“It felt awful, making Agumon and the others suffer like that. SkullGreymon was the result of my mistakes,” Taichi starts, taking a sip of his juice, “of impulsivity, fear, the idea that I could do everything by myself, always.”

“I wasn’t there,” she murmurs, because she really wasn’t. She was sick, like she usually is.

Taichi’s smile is distorted and does not belong on his face, “If you were, it would have been much worse.” Before she can feel hurt, he goes on, “I don’t know how Agumon didn’t dark-evolve again, when you had a cold facing the Dark Masters. I was a wreck.”

“I’m –”

“Don’t say you’re sorry.” He interrupted, frowning, “You say it too much, kid.”

Kid.

“It… was similar with Ordinemon, I guess. But I’m not sure. I don’t remember much of what I was feeling aside from pain.” Hikari’s hands aren’t trembling, not quite, but they’re getting there. “Everyone was suffering so, so much.”

“Are you better from that fever you had?”

She is. But she is not better from many other things.

“You look lost, Hikari.”

I am lost.

“I am lost.”

Taichi finishes his juice, puts the empty glass on the kitchen’s table – not on the sink, Mom won’t like it – and returns to the sofa, expression heavy.

“Let me help you – you have always helped me with my stuff, principally with Yamato.”

Hikari breathes. And breathes again, unable to look at her brother’s face. Her hand wants to rest on his, perhaps on the shoulder, something, some intimacy; but, like yesterday, they seem to be miles apart, in their ideas, hearts, minds, maturity.

“I don’t know who I am – actually, it’s more than that. I don’t know who I am, and I don’t know if I should be needing you to find out.” She almost gasps as the words, spontaneous and unstoppable, leave her lips. “I don’t know. I don’t know how much I need you.”

Taichi smiles – he smiles, she stares in awe, smiles kindly for the first time in forever.

“That’s how growing up feels like. You feel lost precisely with the people that have guided you the most.”

“Well,” she smiles, too, “then, growing up feels just awful.”

“It does.” Taichi sighs. “Yesterday was the proof. Hikari – I know you don’t hate me, but, if you did, you would have every right to do so.”

“You didn’t listen to me…”

“I did,” he puts strength on his words, “I listened to every word you said. And then I listened to Yamato…”

We are not the “Chosen Children” anymore. We need to choose. No matter how tough it is.

“…and I knew the Light within Meicoomon wasn’t enough. I did want to save her. But I – we couldn’t. I don’t expect you to understand it right now, but, after the things I saw, after Daigo, I just knew.”

Hikari stays silent. They won’t agree, not right now, perhaps in years to come, perhaps never. She’s the bearer of the Crest of Light. She needs to believe – as a kid, a teenager, an adult, she needs to believe.

Does she? How much? How much Light does Hikari Yagami still have in her – how much she should have? Is her brother finally a grown-up, and she is not?

“I’m still lost, Onni-chan.”

“You’ll be, for a while.” He pats her head and Hikari’s heart misses a beat.  “I know that I haven’t been the brother I used to be. But that’s the point; you soon won’t be needing him – who I was, towards you – anymore. You’re becoming…”

“An adult?”

“Yourself.”

“Myself.” She repeats. “I can’t wait to meet her.”

“And I’m proud, by the way,” he smiles again, tiny and sheepish, “for you standing your ground against me, and a bit sorry for not being close to you when I came back.”

Hikari hugs him – he hugs her.

The future coughs. Dark water splatters all over the Yagami’s living room’s floor.

They swim.

[rurulaura]

Expectations/Hopes for Our Future

Taichi needs to get punched/slapped by someone. Whether it’s a typical Yamato punch to the face because he did something stupid. Or Hikari slaps him, or Sora. I just want someone giving him a smack upside the head. He deserves it at this point. 

I would like to see Meiko take full charge. She’s done good in not running away from something only she can handle. She has said that Meicoomon needs to die in order for all of this suffering to end. But I am tired of seeing Yamato and Taichi come to her rescue. Let her be reckless,, it may actualy be the thing that saves the world. 

Hikari needs to take charge too. I want her to find her own way and not have anyone save her. She needs to take herself and Tailmon and take responsibility for her actions. No more dependent Hikari. I need to see badass Independent Hikari that will fuck people up. 

I want Myserious Man to die or get punched hard. I need my revenge for stealing Ken’s face and ruining his reputation. MM needs to go down one way or another. 

The 02 kids. I don’t care if it’s end credits cameos. Just please for the love of gaia show me them in color and I’ll take care of the rest. Headcanons and art and all. Just give me some kind of character design.  

Since Taichi has a spare pair of goggles , Give them to Meiko. It may be a different kind of courage and friendship she showed through tri. But she still had to have the courage to handle her dearest friends and partner, Meicoomon. Plus it’d be nice to have a goggle head girl for once too. 

I’d like to see both Meiko’s and Hikari’s Ultimates. But I’m thinking that’s not going to happen. But meicoomon as the balance of light and darkness, Tailmon being all light, it’d be cool to see combined powers of light to save the worlds. It may actually bee to soon of character for Meiko to evolve Meicoomon to Rasielmon anyway.. 

I want to see the other three Original Chosen. Whether its adults or as kids in a cameo with not lines. I’d be fine with that. Just complete the team. You already introduced two of what people were waiting so long for. 

Jou’s girlfriend. You teased us enough! Show us his girlfriend! Just confirm for us it’s bike girl from Diaboromon strikes back. Just confirm it already! 

This is more of a want than anything else. I want Sugita Tomozaku to voice a character in tri. Whether it’s Alphamon or someone else. I just want Sugitan to complete the list of Gintama character seiyuu that were also in Digimon. We have Ikuto(Kagura) and Hackmon!Appmon(Shinpachi). C’mon Toei, Complete the Yorozuya!

Even though I’m pretty sure all three of our new Chosen, Maki, Daigo, and Meiko, will be OK. I still expect Daigo and Maki especially to have a happy ending. I want them to be together again and I was Maki to have her Bakumon back. They are just so precious. ;.;

[nostalgic-blood]

so yeah tri finale thoughts

i went into this movie with rock bottom expectations. mostly because i went into symbiosis riding high due to the ridiculously juicy poster that turned out to be the baitest bait that has ever bait.

and i suppose perception helps because I mostly enjoyed it! my biggest fear was that they’d try to answer the millions of questions and mysteries they brought up in one single movie, and seeing their track record it’d be done rather sloppily. instead, they went for a sequel hook so it made sense to leave out the answers to some mysteries. It’s not as if homeostasis and yggdrasil were the reason I was watching tri. If the lore was why I was watching it I’d be bored and left long ago

like thank god they didn’t explain much about huckmon or alphamon because i do not care. I do understand on an objective standpoint that leaving so many of these things in the air is bad writing, but for most of the movies they already reserve like 60% of the screentime for meiko and her murderous cat so really what spotlight is left is prime real estate for characters and digimon i actually care about. slice of life moment at an inappropriate point of the movie is better than static exposition for five minutes. 

still what they did use the screentime for was a little odd, though not to the egregious degree of meiko in the previous movies. I find it interesting for instance that yamato and gabumon had a pretty long scene together but they are the only ones of the cast that never had a full-screen metalgarurumon evolution. they also spent a lot of time that wasn’t the occasional flashback or the recap at the beginning of every episode even though it’s released as movies and we literally just watched that scene showing the faceless military being inept at destroying the supernatural giant monster. 

it feels like tri’s structure is far more rigid than average. As in they seem to follow some strict formula, which causes pacing issues and screentime priority issues. They also don’t really put thought into what goes into the structure. For instance we did get some Hikari spotlight because it was necessary due to the situation, what with tailmon having become part of the big evil bad. But instead of focusing on really anything specific on hikari’s character, it was mostly reactionary and worrying over meiko. There was a quick moment just before tailmon mega evolved which, when I put more thought into it was sort of poignant, but because that conflict of hikari’s character was so much more subtle than meiko’s plot it almost seems like it comes out of nowhere as a conclusion to hikari’s arc.

plus, they rip away more of tailmon’s agency when they simply refer to the big ordinemon boob butt monster as simply meicoomon that has absorbed tailmon. You can’t backtrack like that! We VERY CLEARLY SAW in symbiosis that tailmon TOO was corrupted as ophanimon falldown mode, and that the two digimon fused together in a rather blatant manner. It felt far more like they were equals when they became one than one digimon absorbing the other. There is no point to tailmon’s dark evolution if that never comes up in the plot! If no one ever brings it up! It feels like, just as the poster was, included just as fanservice and bait so more people would watch, but with zero substance. 

Again, a rigid formula or structure, like the writers were all sitting in the room and throwing ideas on the wall, but the ideas are like “we should have a dramatic moment where tailmon disappears!” and they do. But it doesn’t do anything. It’s not really relevant because it’s not as if tailmon changes drastically or even dies. It feels like it was put there just for the drama itself, just to throw in a trailer so people will be like OMG DID TAILMON JUST DIE!?!?! HOW SAD!!! I NEED TO TUNE IN!1!!

or like “WE SHOULD BRING BACK WIZARDMON!” because fans of hikari and tailmon love wizardmon! so they do! for 3 seconds! He has no lines! We never see his face! What the fuck. It’s a tease that goes no where. They even have the audacity to include his hat in the poster for five seconds of screentime. I should have expected that after the ophanimon falldown mode debacle.

meanwhile the new characters are involved in drama that is actually affected by the plot, like meiko having to say goodbye to her partner forever because meicoomon is too far gone, and needs to be put down to end her suffering. Pretty dang relevant to the story right? it wasn’t simply put there for feels. Or Daigo dying. While the situation they got into seems kind of convoluted, like how they just happened to fall into the underground bunker where the 02 kids just happen to be, and Daigo just happens to be mortally wounded and Taichi just happens to be unscathed. People explain it away that Daigo “probably shielded Taichi as they fell” which he probably did! But when I have to say “probably” or if the audience has to explain it themselves because they SHOWED ABSOLUTELY NONE OF IT, then it’s especially jarring. Like the writers were like “Let’s kill Daigo off!” and put no thought into how they should smoothly transition to a moment where that could be possible. 

like you spend six movies foreshadowing and leading up to the twist that meicoomon was the source of the infected, and then slowly revealed how much yggdrasil’s influence was exactly on her and then give us the shock of the century when she fuses with tailmon into the big bad near the end, and then we finally conclude the conflict of sacrifice by yes, we must put the cat down. Because of all the damage that she had inflicted, by the death that taichi had just witnessed and could do nothing to prevent. That the theme of the movies was growing up, no longer the fun friendly idealism of digimon back in adventure. That she was just too far gone, almost dragged another digimon down with her, lead to the death of humans !! and risked the death or at least the reboot of the real world. It was not time to debate what we should or should not do because if action is not done now it’d be too late.

but for daigo dying it’s like, oh he ends up in a room, somehow far more injured than taichi. Like at least give Taichi cuts and bruises so the whole “OMG TAICHI IS DEAD!!!” thing had a little more merit, and then not!gennai sets up a sadistic trap where only one of them will live and the one that lives will conveniently return back to the real world safe and sound with the 02 kids that have been missing this entire time. I mean, real convenient hm? kill off a guy for drama and put the main char where he needs to be while fixing up one of the biggest issues in the entire series with the lingering whereabouts of the 02 cast and no one seemingly caring. They tried to kill many birds with one stone, but they were too greedy, trying to kill so many birds that all the birds they killed weren’t intact bodies on the ground for feasting but mere scraps, as the stone was used in such force their remains were absolutely pulverized. I swear that analogy was going somewhere.

I was still sad about it tho, because I warmed up to daigo and maki as characters, and if maki doesn’t come back then these original chosen have left Tri in rather brutal and bloody fashion, tragic with no real positive spin aside from maki’s cautionary tale over sacrifice and what it can do to a person and daigo leaving lasting words to taichi. They were the first to get Digimon and save the world! The rest of the adventure kids and in the 02 epilogue everyone else gets their own digimon and lives out happily side-by-side. Why do the first get such a bad hand? It’s sad.

i’m a bit disappointed some of the coolest theories over tailmon and meicoomon as foils didn’t come true, which I mean I can’t really expect what with the track record of tri, but it would have been nice. tailmon would be light and then meicoomon is darkness, and the demon that results is even more powerful because they light that combined has been tainted by darkness, or w/e. there was little explanation for the fusion and again, they often referred to tailmon as simply having been absorbed. When she escaped ordinemon I doubt there was memory of being ophanimon falldown mode. I guess the koushiro-ex-machina mass return of their selves before the reboot has some amazing ability to purify on the fly. Could have been done better!

still, on an emotional level I enjoyed it. Even if they planned every emotional moment in the most soulless, structured way possible without any ounce of passion I think I still would have teared up at some scenes. Seeing all the megas in grand animation was great, and the fighting was good this time too unlike the body slamming fun times from symbiosis. 

so my initial rating of this movie is 2.5 stars out of 5, but I will minus .5 stars for the ridiculous and unnecessary amount of fucking butt shots ordinemon has. I don’t know what person in this wide wide world would actually enjoy seeing cthulhu’s bare fat ass every twenty seconds but if they were the primary demographic somehow then I guess I have no justification to complain!

I also minus .5 stars for the stupid pointless recaps. And minus another .5 for doing nothing specific for hikari’s character. That least us at 1.5 stars.

BUT ONE WHOLE EXTRA STRAW FOR HOLYDRAMON!!! AWWWWW YEAH

Even if Holydramon only was around for 15 seconds itself, it still got a gorgeously animated evolution sequence and as I do not stare at trailers (and it never being on a poster) that surprise was not only well worth the wait but the time it took to process. I was cheering at 3am in the morning.

but . 5 deducted for the stupid wizardmon bait SHAME ON THE BAIT THE BAITEST BAIT I HATE THE BAIT

2 stars out of 5. Eh good enough. I personally put the movies as 3 > 6 > 2 > 4 > 1 > 5. That is all and Spotto out.

[miloucomehome]

Nyaromon(?): Hikari!

(A straightforward and sensitive individual…)

Nyaromon(?): Hikari!

(...to the extent that she is fragile--and easily broken)

Hikari: The Digital World...it...hates us.

Koushiro˔: To the Digital World right now, we’re probably being viewed as if we’re some sort of a virus.

Tailmon: Even if it’s just the few of us, we don’t hate Hikari nor the rest of you.

Taichi: I wonder if there’s that much of a difference in the things we see as kids and as adults...

Daigo: Why...why on earth we were we even chosen?!

Joe: Meicoomon is...she’s her partner!! She’s irreplaceable!!!

Taichi˒: My friendsー….Thinking about my friends...What’s--what’s wrong about that??!!

Hikari: Your friends are sad?! That’s--...such a selfish excuse...I can’t forgive you!!

(...Date, credits, etc....)

Hikari: Brother...why…?

Note: I had trouble picking up what Hikari said in the 2nd to last line at the start. It is possible that this will no doubt make more sense when the movie is released and we know the context better. :)

Do not copy and repost this translation on your own tumblr. Please reblog! :D

Translation by: @miloucomehome

For more on the newest information and discussions on the latest Digimon tri. Part 5 PV, click here!

[whatthehell-is-a-gigawatt]

Theorizing What Happens with Taichi in Digimon tri Part 5

The recent PV left us with a lot of questions and a lot of waiting. Who’s Goggles were those at the end, and what on earth is going to happen to Taichi this time? To be honest...probably nothing. At least nothing worth being concerned over.

Let’s be honest here, tri has followed a pretty generic format for their movies in terms of what to expect. Yes there are surprises that catch us off guard, a lot of unanswered questions and cliffhangers, but based on what we’ve seen from Parts 1-4, we can always expect some calm in the beginning of the latest chapter before the inevitable storm that kicks in in the form of another high stakes battle. It makes it easy enough to theorize when things are going to take place in Part 5 and what we should expect from the movie just with the footage we’ve been given by Toei so far in these three PV’s for Part 5.

We know that the chosen have enough time to rest up after the battle from Part 4, return back home to the Human World to have a chat in the high school and probably try to figure out how to handle the situation with Meicoomon. Everyone is yelling in the PVs, so it’s likely there will be arguments over the topic, and before they can solve it (towards the later half of the movie) they’ll find the Human World under attack once more. They may or may not even return to the Digital World yet again for the climactic battle that Omegamon makes his appearance in, at least judging from those wacky distortions in the sky and the barren terrain where the 02 kids may or may not have disappeared.

The key here is Omegamon. We know that Taichi has been hesitating since Part 1 and has had his own unresolved personal struggles. In Part 3, Yamato even goes as far as to say they can hopefully find ways to get stronger so they don’t have to rely on Omegamon’s power. So why the change all of a sudden? The change is probably going to be happen throughout Part 5 within Taichi who’s personal struggle will come to a close by the end of the movie, just in time for Part 6 where they’ll need the leader that once guided them more than ever. But...he’s going to likely get into quite a few arguments along the way, probably even with his own sister before he reaches that point.

I believe many of the Chosen will look to Taichi for an answer at the beginning of this movie, and being unable to decide what to do, will choose the safest and easiest option, but not necessarily the right one. Maybe Taichi considers the possibility that sacrificing Meicoomon is the correct choice. The first two PVs already have Yamato yelling the same line ( “As if you could wish for our friends to be sacrificed! Taichi!”) at Taichi, and the third PV provided some insight into how Hikari probably feels about the whole situation given her disappointed tone at the end of the PV. Other lines of dialogue leave it up in the air regarding who those lines are directed to, but they would fit in this context, especially if we see multiple Chosen trying to get through to Taichi.

Hikari, feeling as if she can’t depend on her brother in this crucial moment but also wholeheartedly believes her view on the matter is the correct one brings upon Ophanimon FM’s appearance and possibly leaving her open to Homeostasis controlling her full on to use Ophanimon to destroy Meicoomon. Taichi, either through guilt or simple realization, finds it within himself to act and do the right thing even if it’s the harder and more dangerous choice, (”I... I won’t run away from my friends’ suffering!”) and takes action allowing for Omegamon to fight once again.

Not only do I find it out of character for Toei to actually reveal in a PV what would obviously be such a crucial and shocking thing to happen to a main character, but given the goggles seem to have fallen in the same terrain the final battle takes place in, it seems unlikely that anything severe actually happens to Taichi at all. In fact, other than a few shots of the final battle of each movie, I don’t recall Toei ever revealing in a PV too much of the ending of the movies and the truly shocking moments that come with them, leading me to believe that the goggles shot is an intentional mislead, and Taichi will be relatively fine. Besides, I don’t doubt if something really bad was going to happen to Taichi that Toei would jump at the opportunity to shatter us all by overlaying an audio clip of Hikari in utter distress yelling for Taichi much like they did for the Confession PV’s with Takeru/Patamon and Koushiro/Tentomon.

The dialogue I referenced above was translated by garm and shin over at WiththeWill, I take absolutely no credit for their work. Check out the PV threads for their translations [x] & [x]

[zeroarmsgrani]

I really want to see the rest of Meicoomon’s evolution line!! It’s kinda lame it’s ultimate forms are the same as Gatomon in Next Order though. 

[firstagent]

Well, let me ask about Meichi. What do you think of it especially after the scenes in Symbiosis?

Okay, this has been long overdue since I asked for thisquestion after movie 5 came out and got five versions of this.

The short version is I’m shocked that they not only did it, buthandled with an incredible degree of depth and maturity.

Sure it’s easy to roll our eyes at some of the shipbait-y momentsin the first half the movie- all the hand-grabbing and such. But themovie frames the sudden interaction with logic and character. Taichitakes an interest in Meiko for one very simple reason- he realizes heneeds to.

Meiko’s integration with the team happens along natural lines. Themost outgoing Chosen—Mimi, Sora, and Takeru—are also the first toreach out to her. Taichi seems indifferent to her because there’s alot more on his mind, Koushiro is more curious about her story thanher demeanor, and most of Yamato’s interactions with her are whenshe’s about to get killed.

Taichi ends up being similar to Yamato, but in a less obvious way-Taichi’s interest in Meiko has nothing to do with her cheerfulpersonality or incomparable beauty (yes, that was sarcasm), but isinstead directly related to how concerned he is for her. He’sperfectly fine letting Mimi become her bestie, Sora become hermother, and Takeru to become her secret admirer. But in the aftermathof Mysterious Man torturing her, when Meicoomon’s gone wild againand about to attack Meiko, and Meiko’s too traumatized to react,he realizes he needs to step in. Not because he likes her, butbecause he realizes in that moment that if he doesn’t keep a closereye on her, she will destroy herself.

That sets up all of their interactions for the rest of the movie.Mimi and Sora have gotten to know her better and have seen her standon her own. They’re quick with encouraging words, as is Taichi, buthe also can’t leave anything to chance while the girls are moreoptimistic about her sense of self-preservation. If she’s trulypart of this team of Chosen, as leader he feels responsible for allof them. He recognizes a particularly harrowing period for her whereshe’s likely to be targeted, her head’s not in a good place, andthe combination of which leaves in a very fragile position. Taichiwill be over-protective when he needs to be. Here, he needs to be.

Him eavesdropping on her conversation with Dad and accented soliloquywas a welfare check. This is, of course, Taichi we’re talking aboutand he’s pretty bad at guiding someone through their trauma, sohe’s awkward. Awkwardness leads to misinterpretation, as is aheart-to-heart between a boy and a girl on a moonlit night. But itstems from his worry, not a sudden infatuation. There’s really noevidence of romantic interest on Taichi’s part at all (the reverseis not necessarily true). This is one of many signs this movie of hisleader instincts kicking in. He realizes a teammate’s is in acritical situation, and acts to shield her. He’s done the same formany of the other seven.

Want to support my site and/or my work? Buy me a coffee!