jamesthedigidestined

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It's been a while since I worked on an original Digimon design. But since it's a day off today and I've been thoroughly back into my personal Koura framing madness... I thought about their potential Jogress evolution and how Tri has robbed us of it. The third or fourth movie should have been theirs, just saying.

I just thought about how great it would have been to not only have it been born over Sora's and Koushirou's bond with each other, but also over their devotion to Taichi (and by extension, Yamato as well). By having them wish to fight alongside, support and protect him/them.

The design itself borrowed mostly from HeraklesKabuterimon, Hououmon, a bit of Garudamon - and of course the general idea of them being rather humanoid (and non-binary, because this would be the first Jogress evolution of Chosen Children with different genders - who may or may not struggle with their own self-representation). The helmet and armor are mostly taken from HeraklesKabuterimon, the head, the brain; whereas most of the body (shoulder pads!), wings are mostly inspired by Hououmon, the free spirit, the beauty... They're protectors, they're shields. They love their redheads and will do whatever it takes to grant their wishes. (The height might still be variable, depending on demand. On a different note, Reboot!Tentomon once mentioned he was jealous of Garudamon's long hair, so...)

The name, Talosmon, is still WIP, but I liked the idea of basing it of it being based on the Greek (bronze) giant, Talos, created by Zeus to protect Europa and those He desired to protect out of love... It of course doesn't fit 100%, because they're meant to be golden, but the overall theme still fits!

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Did you know that there is a clear "pecking order/priority list" Taichi and Koushirou have in common when it comes to calling their friends in case of emergency?

Did you also know that, even though there are exactly 10 episodes between these two moments, they both still take place on August 1st 1999?

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What do you mean, there will be a new season of Totally Spies and it's STILL not about the Three-Braincell-Squad???

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Going completely insane over how on completely different ends Sora's and Koushirou's roles and relationships with their mothers (and in extension their parents in general) are portrayed in Adventure. And once again, it was ALL based on miscommunication:

Sora is perceived as the tradition-defying "tomboy" who is "loud" and plays football; Koushirou is perceived as the "good boy" who is always "polite and correct" and never acts spoilt or out of line. The key word here is "perceived", because we see both of them display traits in front of their peers that go beyond the "role" their parents witness (and that both of them are willingly or subconsciously displaying in front of them); Sora is actually the caring mom/big sister friend who literally and figuratively takes everyone under their wing, Koushirou is opinionated, forward and outspoken when things are dire and at stake.

Sora's mother wants her to act more like "the daughter of an ie-moto", more feminine, less out of line - at least, that is the message that reaches Sora, since her mother asks her to quit her beloved football. Her polite and aloof attitude appears to be rather cold and dismissive to Sora, which is basically what makes her rebel against the whole flower arrangement business. She feels unloved and misunderstood, as if she cannot be appreciated if she isn't "perfect" in her mother's eyes. Thus she is unable to understand that her mother may just worry about her hurting her injured leg even more. Furthermore, Sora has a very poor grasp on the fact that she herself is acting towards her friends and partner in the exact same way, albeit in a more gentle way most of the time.

Koushirou's mother wants him to be more selfish, to tell her what he dislikes and what bothers him, to stop being perfect at all times - but that is exactly what he physically cannot do, as he himself is doubting his whereabouts and simply tries to just shove all doubts and worries aside. Instead of acting "normal", he is hiding behind that barrier and mask of perfection towards his parents - and has to realize that this attitude is worrying them even more.

In the end, it all gets (mostly) resolved through them realizing that they're still loved regardless of what happened; they don't necessarily HAVE TO change, but it is up to them whether they want to or not. Meaning, their respective arcs of self-discovery have not ended yet, but the foundation for better relationships has been established here. Sora will start playing tennis (a.k.a changing her hobby) in an attempt to move towards her mother more, choosing to do so for her own sake. Koushirou will try to act more open and casual towards his parents, even though he is actively being reassured that his hobby (being into computers) is exactly what he is all about and that he doesn't have to change that.

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In honour of the new official illustrations; being a Chosen Child isn't easy.

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sketched berserk characters in a cafe today

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@izzyizumi Thank you for making me realize that these are, dramaturgically and visually, basically the same scenes, just mirrored. Toei, one day I'm gonna get you. (And one day I will capture every single scene in Kizuna that plays in front of a window. Windows are as good as the most used symbols in this movie.)

Wide establishment shots? Check.

Rain? Check.

Having Menoa face both of the boys while she reveals selective parts of her past/backstory/plan, telling them that only "they can help now" while being mysteriously ambiguous about it all? Check.

Taichi (always facing from right to left towards her) and Koushirou (always facing left to right towards her) being visibly taken aback by what they're hearing, doubting and/or despairing over what she is talking about and end up shocked to hear the "truth" (but for different reasons)? Check.

Agumon and Tentomon being depicted from above as the humans only being seen in "parts", making the mons appear to be smaller, more "insignificant"? Check.

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gomamon.........

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Character/Relationship Analysis: How Taichi's and Sora's arcs in the late Etemon/early Vamdemon arc are intertwined, how they (in)directly activate each other's Crests and how they're the most important plot drivers/leading figures at this point in the series.

One of my early theories regarding the character line-up in Adventure was how Sora could have potentially been the secondary main character besides Taichi (instead of Yamato). And I still believe that nothing makes that theory more apparent than taking a close look at how the "Crest activation period" frames these two as main plot drivers that are the reason why the group sticks together - and also why they all found their way back together after Taichi's disappearance. So let's break this down, shall we.

As pointed out in the analysis post above, when you just watch the opening of the series without any context, you might assume that Sora is the secondary/female main character anyway, because she (and Piyomon) are basically always coming after Taichi (and Agumon). And if you look at Sora's impact in the series, that isn't even too farfetched - especially when you consider that she is LITERALLY stepping up to be leader in the Etemon arc in the novels while Taichi is in a dark spot, whereas Yamato is later on declared to be "too emotional to be a leader".

That aside, let's dig into the set-up here: In the Etemon arc, Sora's Crest is the last to be found. We do not know a lot about the characters' singular arcs at this point, so watching her worrying about the situation doesn't strike the viewer as too weird yet. While it astonishes her that Taichi is so keen on finding her Crest for her sake (despite knowing how selfless he can be too), Taichi himself doesn't see any reason to falter and reassures her instead. This is important, because these two have known each other for quite a while already; they have been in the same class together since elementary school, are also partners in their football club - thus, Taichi's view on Sora is pretty settled. He is very vocal when it comes to "words of reassurance" towards people he cares about and so he repeatedly mentions how caring and selfless Sora is to him, how she always worries about others first and how she shouldn't doubt herself and her qualities - neither because of her own perception of herself nor because of the lies PicoDevimon had been feeding her. Because Sora's perception of herself is indeed slightly skewed, but we will get to that.

Taichi's road to (re)discovering his personal sense of courage is irrevocably linked to his wish to save Sora; initially, his recklessness had repeatedly caused trouble, not only by letting his own Digimon partner go through a dark evolution, but also because he let one of his longest and best friends get captured by the enemy. He initially promised that they would find her Crest for her - and now he is being humbled once more, threatened by an electrical fence right in front of him that could potentially kill him, punishing for losing his way once again. He is aware that something important was lost, referring to both his "brave heart" - and Sora.

Why is that so important?

Not only is Taichi fulfilling both of his promises in the end - saving Sora himself and personally giving her the Crest they've been looking for -, but this is (in)directly mirrored in Sora's arc as well.

Once Taichi disappears after defeating Etemon, the group starts to search for him - for two whole months, while some of them already start to lose hope and drift apart. Sora realizes that the group is torn on how to proceed, but can't stop herself from wishing to find Taichi. Because, once again, something important was lost, indirectly referring to both Taichi - and the sense of togetherness in the group. One might argue that her leaving the others behind may not look very sensible at first glance - but just like she was the one who enabled Taichi's Crest to glow, her disappearance indirectly has an impact on (almost) everybody else's arcs as well. (Additionally, they would not have learned the meanings of the Crests, if Sora hadn't overheard PicoDevimon talking about them to Vamdemon...)

As a complementary force to Sora, Taichi's return reunites the group bit by bit. It almost feels like they're acting as fairy godparents to everyone else, each in their own way - while Sora is hiding in the shadows, giving everyone advice (Agumon, Mimi) or physical aid (Jyou, Yamato) to protect and guide them in the right direction, Taichi directly tries to pull them out of their corrupted viewpoints (Takeru, Yamato, Mimi, Koushirou rather indirectly), whether through words or actions. It's absolutely no surprise that the scene where Yamato tells Taichi that he was the one who brought them all back together is basically a direct mirror of them all coming together to agree to save Sora. Because these two are the glue that keeps it all together.

And so, of course it puzzles Taichi that Sora doesn't want to reveal herself to the group again. Of course it surprises him that the girl, whom they all came together for to rescue, who secretly protected all of them behind the scenes due to her kind heart and selflessness and who never gave up looking for him - once again, doubts herself like that. Not only that, she screams at him, tells him that he has no idea who she really is. That her "love" is a facade, that she has no idea what love even means - that she had lost (or never even possessed) her personal sense of love.

(To go on a small tangent here, their framing is just endlessly interesting to me, because the misunderstanding and miscommunication between them is a red thread that spins throughout the entirety of the series. And it is rather tragic, because throughout it all - they actually never really seem to be drifting apart, but due to their lack of means of communication, they cannot be close for some reason. Whether you think of them as platonic or romantic doesn't even matter, the general idea remains the same: They are on each other's minds, they are incredibly important to one another and never stop feeling that way, consciously or subconsciously. It's why Taichi encourages Sora to be with Yamato, but still goes observing the black spore kids together with her in 02, it's why Sora still feels comfortable being physically close to Taichi in DSB and Tri, it's why she gets upset that he ALWAYS gets her - somewhat - right despite not finding the CORRECT words in OWG and Tri, it's why the connections never vanishes in Kizuna... But they're also both awfully insecure about certain parts of themselves, especially when it comes down to decision-making towards their futures and selves. Since neither of them can be fully open up to each other about that, things kinda feel like they are on hold.)

In the end, Taichi (mirrored by Pyocomon's words below) had been correct to tell Sora not to believe in PicoDevimon's lies, not to give in to her own self-doubts - and eventually, she realizes that, just like her mother, she simply did not want anyone else to get hurt even more.

The way Taichi's framed here, smiling at her with absolute glee and satisfaction marks the end of this arc - while he wasn't directly triggering her Crest to be activated, he still believed in her best qualities just like her Digimon partner did, refusing to let her get corrupted more. And even if the infamous sentence "I want Sora's love too" is more of a light-hearted little throw-away line, it's intriguing to look at the potential implications overall here: Since Taichi's arc of Courage was fueled by his wish to save Sora, since Taichi was the one who eventually gave Sora the Crest of Love, since both their arcs were initially sparked by their wishes to find each other again as they took the others under their wings like proud parents... Let's say, after all this time since Taichi had successfully saved Sora, after all the searching leading up to finally being reunited (after several months in Sora's case), they both must have been incredibly relieved that it had all turned out well. To see each other again alive and well.

It started with his Crest - and ended with hers.

Long story short, the Adventure would have ended rather early if it hadn't been for these two, their bond and loyalty toward each other - and also their sense of leadership.

Last note: Shout-out to the third most important character in this arc - if it hadn't been for Koushirou, Taichi would not have been able to find Sora, may not even have found a way back to the Digital World and they also would not have been able to solve the card riddle to get back home.

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So @dutchforstrangers came up with some absolutely amazing writing prompt ideas for AUs and tropes. So I put all of them into an RNG generator using some of my favourite ships:

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Digimon Writing Challenge - Mix and Match: Hikari + Patamon + Courage

[Yamato] [Takeru] [Hikari] [Sora] [Taichi] [Koushirou] [Mimi] [Jyou]

Summary: Hikari is finally able to make a courageous decision for her own sake - to save those lost in the world of darkness.

Word count: 355

She had heard the call several times before.

Countless times throughout the entirety of her life.

Voices, inaudible screams, asking for her, calling for her.

There were days, back then when she had been much, much younger, when she had just wanted to hide in bed forever. A blanket pulled over her head, pretending to at least muffling the noise. Telling her brother that she was just having a cold, nothing else, nothing serious.

Nothing otherworldly trying to get into her mind, soul, all that she was.

“Don’t worry”, she had whispered to put him at ease.

She never wanted to go, never wanted to leave, not like this. Never just because she had to fulfill an “external purpose” she couldn’t control. Not once in her life had she longed to be a tool, a vessel, an empty shell.

It had been years since a gate had opened for her like this.

But this time, it was unlike anything that had ever happened before.

This was the first time she felt the pounding in her chest for a different reason.

Not out of dread, not out of fear. None of it, not even a glimpse.

“Hikari… Are you sure we can reach him?”

She smiled down at Patamon in her arms, who, after having questioned her, was looking up to her anxiously. She had seen that expression before, especially in Taichi – right before he had jumped into action, time and time again.

And so, for her own sake, Hikari would jump too. She knew what she wanted now. There were still wishes and dreams far out of reach, set-backs she wished she could have helped to undo. A lot of regret – but also just as much hope.

Which was why she was the one who had called this time. Why she had wished for the gate to open. To find Takeru. To get him back.

“Don’t worry”, Hikari said reassuringly, with all the courage she could gather, before taking the final step into the other world: “Remember, as long as we want to and as long as he wants us too, we will reach him.”

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Festive Vibes in April - Part II [Part I]

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Festive Vibes in April - Part I [Part II]

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New Digimon Anniversary art? ✅

Is it flower AND colour themed? ✅

Is it ALSO wedding themed? ✅

Does Sora wear pants? ✅✅✅

Can I edit the heck out of it? ✅✅✅✅✅

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So I underestimated Takeru's popularity again (even though he DID have quite a surge in recent years) and overestimated Mimi's, at least in regards to this specific poll, but... Overall my predictions weren't too far off!

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