#very late okay?

[dats-hq]

Kaito, Aoi, and the Importance of Digimon Survive's Intertexuality Across Routes

Digimon Survive is such a powerful narrative because its core theme is reinforced through its very structure as a visual novel. The game's radical belief in the ability for anyone to blossom into the best versions of themselves given the right circumstances is a powerful concept, but it could easily come off as naive. To avoid coming off as naive, there must be an acknowledgement of the darkest parts of our hearts.

It's like this:

In the Truthful Ending, Kaito has some issues with anger and overprotectiveness, but ultimately develops a slightly healthier relationship with his sister. A fine snapshot of a young boy's life over the course of a few weeks, but is it a snapshot of the young boy's soul? I think not. That snapshot comes in more parts. To see how his relationship with Miu would develop in more dire circumstances, you must see Moral Route. To see how he would cultivate a more strenuous relationship with Miu in light of a heightened sense of danger in the world, you must see Wrathful Route. To see who Kaito would become without Miu's grounding presence, you must see Harmony Route.

By seeing Kaito across four dimensions, you are able to form a picture of the actual Kaito. In composite, Kaito is obviously a good person. He is motivated by a desire to protect. He is brave. He cares for people. Even his friends who he betrayed in Harmony Route could see that deep down, Kaito had the potential to be a good person. This is seen when they all wish to extend an offer of forgiveness to Kaito, even after he resolved to destroy the world. By seeing Kaito at his absolute worst, we actually see a glimmer of his potential.

(I would like to clarify that I do not believe that Kaito "redeemed himself by dying," nor is it my reading of the text that Kaito was made to die as punishment for his misdeeds. I understand how one may come to those readings of the text, but I believe it was an unfortunate and unintended implication at worst.)

Aoi is an overachiever. She's a bright young girl, and that comes with certain expectations. If one were to look at her on a very surface level, you would think that she understands the importance of the responsibilities she's been given, and she doesn't mind the extra work. That is obviously bullshit, but to some extent, this is the image she puts out into the world. Aoi is not forthcoming about her emotions, so prior to meeting Labramon, she allows herself to stoically accept an unfair burden. Her fellow students take advantage of her, and her opinion is rarely respected among the other chosen children when discussing next steps. Without the ability to assert herself, she has all of the responsibility with none of the actual power. She must work hard, but she cannot do good.

This is a shame. Aoi is motivated by a strong sense of justice. The best version of herself is one who has the confidence to set boundaries and stand firm on issues she cares about, but much like Kaito, watching her grow into her best self is merely a snapshot of a few weeks in the life of a child. To truly plunder the depths of Aoi's soul, we must look into Wrathful Route.

In Wrathful Route, we see the most explosive expression of Aoi's convictions. She learns that a sense of justice is worth nothing if you don't have power, and power is worthless if it is not used. While nobody younger than Aoi dies in Moral Route, and Miu's safety in Harmony Route is Kaito's responsibility first and foremost, Saki's safety was squarely Aoi's responsibility.

Aoi's grief over her own failure to uphold her values causes an overcorrection. She is overcome with a desire to wield the maximum possible power and realize a twisted vision of maximum possible justice.

I love the gusto, Aoi, but human instrumentality is not a healthy response to traumatic invalidation.

It's important to stress that while I love Saki and think Saki/Aoi is an adorable ship, Saki's death is not the sole cause of Aoi's mental anguish. Saki's death was the catalyst for Aoi to close herself off from the community who could have helped her. The anguish began developing years prior.

In other routes, Aoi's relationship to her sense of justice, her responsibility, and her assertiveness develop in different ways, but by examining Aoi across four dimensions, we can understand Aoi's actual self. In composite, Aoi is a good person. She has strong convictions. She is protective. She is capable. There are a lot of ways these values can shape a young girl, and Aoi deserves a life where she has a supportive community to allow her to grow into the best version of herself. Don't we all?

At the core of both Kaito and Aoi, we find good people. I like to think you'd find the same at the core of everyone in real life, too. And yet, in real life, we obviously find people who do work to make the world a worse place. In Digimon Survive, we can see the paths not taken, for better and for worse. In doing so, we see the Truth of each character.

(This is not wholly unrelated to the appeal of "the Digimon as a reflection of the human partner's true self." In Dracmon, we see Kaito's protectiveness in a more trusting and easygoing package. In Labramon, we see Aoi's supportiveness in a more assertive package.)

[hinamie]

i'm back from vacation have a belated new year draws <3

[katabay]

earlier this year I started writing a comic about the siege perilous-grail quest situation after finally finishing the didot perceval, and it started circling around kay and perceval. kay as gatekeeper, taboo anxiety vs chivalry, and perceval not doing things "correctly," arthur's enduring affection for kay. that general area. also the horror of the grail quest itself.

this is comic is part of that narrative arc, so with THAT in mind: this is an abridged scene of a longer arc revolving around kay associating camelot with a cage, perceval's associations with jewelry and knighthood and the color red, and arthur's relationship with kay.

[some other scene context: perceval has injured his hand and can't participate in the tournaments, so he's craving some kind of fight. kay is disinterested in replying to this challenge, but he's not above reminding perceval of their first meeting. it's just mean enough in a weird-intimate kind of way that perceval's like, ok so we're doing the antagonistic version of court romance rituals. he picks up hunting because kay can't leave the castle.]

on the subtext of jewelry:

Clothes Make the Man: Parzival Dressed and Undressed, M.D. Amey

on the topic of kay, gatekeeping, and taboo anxiety:

Cei and the Arthurian Legend, Linda Gowans

the whole Red Knight/Perceval Shows Up In A Dead Man's Suit Of Armor transgression-situation (which kay references through red jewelry) mentioned is told in both de Troye's and Wolfram's Perceval narratives :)

anyway! to close out all this out: the transgressions. incredible! what is camelot but a bunch of transgressions stacked on top of each other tbh.

[sariphantom]

Rise April 2024 Days 1, 2, and 3: Trick, Fashion, and Crossover

Technically... Usagi counts as crossover, considering he's from a different show.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Lan Wangji Goes To Lotus Pier AU: Part 4.5: Morning Period.

(Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5)

[linterteatime]

Noelle in some holiday Barbie's fit's

[welcometogrouchland]

All the DC gotcha4gaza prompts I've completed since my last post! Donations are over now but there's still more art to come, so stay tuned!

[harmonictechnicality]

Eddie develops a strange habit after sex. It’s not exactly cute or romantic or nice. Nothing bad either. It’s just… well, Steve isn’t too sure what it is. But every time, it’s the same damn thing.

He collapses onto Steve’s chest and says:

“My boyfriend is a cyborg.”

Usually, Steve is still recovering from the fucking downpour of post-orgasm endorphins. So he doesn’t question it. Hell, he stopped challenging Eddie’s tolerance to geek out months ago. Dude holds fantasy knowledge in his brain better than he holds his liquor.

Which is saying a lot.

Anyways, Steve never has the mental capacity to react or respond. Instead, he runs his fingers through Eddie’s sweat-soaked hair for awhile. Scratches out little patterns on his scalp because it always makes Eddie go limp. Quiet.

Quiet is a rarity for him. And while Steve is totally weak for Eddie’s chattiness, the quiet can be nice too.

The only reason Steve finally decides to ask about it is because Eddie slips up. Says it before they have sex.

Steve is against the bedroom door, his nails dragging down Eddie’s back. God, he loves this kind of kissing. The lung draining kind. The type that’s sort of filthy from all the heat and grinding. 

Eddie hasn’t marked him up this bad since that time someone at work noticed his neck. Asked if Steve was having an allergic reaction during an office-wide meeting.

And this is going to be even worse. Steve can tell by the sounds and the soft pricks of Eddie’s teeth. He can tell by how long Eddie spends over each spot, like the bruising skin needs more attention than the rest of him. Like licking them over will make the colors last longer.

The damage has been done. Really no point in stopping him when it feels so fucking good. Steve forgets to worry about  how mauled he’s gonna look tomorrow because his head is swimming with Eddie’s lips on his neck. His collarbone. His chest.

That’s when it happens. That’s when Eddie’s strange habit makes an early appearance. 

He kisses over the blistery mess he made, practically growls the words out this time: 

“My boyfriend is a cyborg.”

“Okay, time out.” Steve says. Heaves some air back into his lungs. Pulls Eddie’s face up before he can continue making Steve look like goddamn target practice. 

Eddie blinks a few times. “Did I do something wrong?”

“No.” Gonna have to wear fucking high-collared shirts all week, but whatever.

He’ll bring that up some other time. “Why do you keep saying that?”

“Saying what?”

“That… thing.” Steve barely can spit it out.  It’s like his throat is physically rejecting the nerdy shit he’s about to say. “You keep calling me… a cyborg or something.” 

“Oh that.” Eddie sighs. Casually shrugs to one side. “It’s your fault actually.”

“How is it my fault? I don’t even know what fucking language you’re speaking.”

Eddie walks over to the bed, chanting Steve’s name over and over. Definitely not in the way Steve prefers him to chant his name. Very un-sexy chanting.

“Remember that day you asked me to grab your car keys?” He asks, patting the bed for Steve to join him. 

No. “Kinda?”

Steve hesitates before walking over. He didn’t necessarily wanna stop their primal makeout session. But it was bound to lead to the bed at some point, so…

Just not like this. Not talking while fully clothed. Blech.

He sits next to Eddie. Hands awkwardly fidgeting in his lap.

“Well, I couldn’t find them.” Eddie admits. “So I ended up going through your desk drawers.”

Of course he did. Perpetual snooper.

“Ended up finding a binder full of medical records.”

Well shit.

Steve’s throat tightens. Swells around the sudden guilt he feels for keeping this from Eddie. 

“Why didn’t you tell me you had a metal plate in your head?”

“Dunno. Hardly even remember it.” That’s only partly true. Steve doesn’t remember the surgery or much of the recovery process. He was only a kid when it happened.

But he does remember the hospital smells. He remembers the sounds of his IV bag dripping throughout the night. All the sensory indicators are still fresh in his mind.

“Well, that’s why. You're part-machine.” Eddie points to Steve’s head, expression softening. “And every time we fuck around, I think about your bionic skull. And how glad I am that it keeps your brain from leaking out when I bend you over the way you like it best.”

Steve laughs. The jokes help lighten the mood. Not enough to replace it entirely, but enough for it to be easy to swallow again. 

They’re both quiet as they get ready for bed, folding the covers down. And yeah, sometimes quiet can be nice. Just maybe not right now.

“Hey, Eddie.”

“Yeah?”

Steve stares hard at the pillows. “Are cyborgs like… cool?”

Eddie pauses for a moment, then hops onto the bed. Starts crawling over to Steve with a smug grin. He lifts up to meet Steve’s lips. Kisses him sweeter than normal. Lighter. Starts nodding his head mid-kiss, keeps nodding as he breaks away.

“Yeah, babe. Cyborgs are so fucking cool.”

[amogus-real-not-clickbait]

part 2 of,,,, whatever this is X]

| 1 | 2 | 3 | ... |

it's not supposed to be very consistent, not rlly a proper comic, but it does work best if viewed all together! im super proud of how the next 2 parts are turning out, can't wait to share with y'all!!

huge thanks again to @crowned-ladybug for writing the carrot soup fics,,,,,, truly a life-changing experience, 1000/10, would recommend

(please lmk if you don't wanna be tagged! i was rlly touched by your reply on my last post and thought that maybe you'd like to see this one as well,, im so glad my little doodles could make ur day better, even if just a bit!!)

i wanted to ramble abt brushes and shapes and colors but im eepy rn and i really wanna post this while i still remember soooo no artist rant today sorry,,,, hope y'all enjoy nevertheless! <33

[aquanutart]

"little miss prairie faerie" is a cute name actually... (but I won't use it if she doesn't like it)

[soni-dragon]

aftermath

[laughhardrunfastbekindsblog]

Me: sigh It's now "Missing Tech Hour."

Also me: ... Let's be real, EVERY hour is "Missing Tech Hour." And "Missing Echo Hour." And "Missing Hunter Hour." And "Missing Crosshair Hour." And "Missing Wrecker Hour." And "Missing Omega Hour." And "Missing Rex Hour." And "Missing Cody Hour." And "Missing Howzer Hour." And "Missing Gregor Hour." And "Missing Fives Hour." And "Missing Wolffe Hour." And...

[luck-of-the-drawings]

EDYN TIDESTRIDER, CHALLENGER OF THE UNDERSEA, RIVAL OF THE DEEP. WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF YOUR BROTHER WAS CHOSEN TO BE A WEAPON OF THE GODS? HOW WILL YOU UNDO WHAT THEY HAVE DONE TO HIM?

[froggtogs]

breakfast!

[puppetmaster13u]

Prompt 201

So, Danny is definitely not running from a cop right now. 

He’s also not been de-aged to like, eight years old or something and is running from said cop after hitting him in the kneecaps after he got caught maybe stealing a tire. Jazz- currently like twelve- would be so disappointed if that was the case after all, ha… 

Oh Ancients both Jordan and Ellie (currently turned mini like he was) will laugh at him if he got caught and needed to be bailed out! He just needed a couple of tires to sell dangit! And no one would care if he stole a cop’s tires, this place’s police were all corrupt anyway if word on the street was to go by! 

Go away, he was just trying to get money for food dangit! 

[morangoowada]

Miku Northeast Brazil version 🇧🇷🌵