#also I absolutely looked way too deep into ‘is it the human or the digimon in control’

[kara-does-fandom]

Aaand he's done!

Pictured Is Lucemon by nearly the end of what could be called his "late season design" of the adventure he and KAra went through as partners. "early season" has less gold markings, and the ones that there are mostly at the tips only. The gold shows up when he defies his Sin of Pride for the sake of others in a meaningful way. Many were where he has humbled himself for the sake of Kara, apologizing with heartfelt sincerity and admitting he was wrong, with the intent to do better. The type of things that would make a chosen child's crest glow and unleash a new digivolution.

I have a LOT of lore on him below, so read more with the understanding that its LONG POST beneath

Like many others of his kind, Lucemon fell due to questioning Yggdrasil's desire to keep the violence in digimon's nature. His altruistic and peaceful desires were his downfall, and once a little child form who loved books, architecture, and the many lands of the digital world, his fall corrupted him and turned him to a fallen form. The child had slight gold tips on his wings before his fall from grace, but once in his new demon form his wings were darker than pitch and the purest white, and none of the gold markings he had sported before. Furious, hurting over the betrayal from one he had trusted to care for its creations, and full of spite and scorn that the god he had served was so short sighted, Lucemon soon was taking his hurt and anger out on others and he gained territory and subjected those under it to his wrath and twisted mercy. He was arrogant, full of sadistic contempt for others, cold and regal, but in some ways a fair ruler. He tended to hear out others before delivering his judgement, would give others several chances before he punished for failure. But he still had a terrifying reputation, and the castle he had built and ruled from was often filled by the dark digimon who felt more at home amid fear. He had his spies and servants in his lands, keeping an eye on things, and his tyrannical rule was absolute.

Time heals, or at least lessens, the pains of the past, and in time Lucemon too mellowed, unable to sustain the rage and hurt and coldness that had fueled his actions. There was a point where he looked around, and was restless, and started to return a bit to his roots. His castle started to acquire gardens, still full of gloom, but with flowers none the less. He terraformed restlessly, heard out digimon who wanted to live in his lands but couldn't due to various troubles, and helped eothers settle or seek shelter if the lands outside got to harsh for them. He was slowly growing kinder, and returning to the interests of his pre-fall self, and with the small actions here and there, gained the start of gold on his wings again. Along the way he had taken a Piedmon and Myotismon as his most trusted underlings, who will carry out his orders and enforce his rules and help him gaze across his lands. They had thrown themselves to his mercy and promised unwavering loyalty to him, and have proved thier worth again and again.

It was at least a century of this, maybe two, before you get closer to what he is during the series prologue. By the time the first batch of chosen human children arrive, his lands are foreboding, but look merely grim and the boundary lines arent well defined. There are digimon living under his protection and he is harsh but fair, and very protective of those who want to remain peaceful. His name is spoken with respect and fear, the powerful lord who can wipe out a city if you displease him, but many things spoken of him he hasnt done in a long time. He has also started roaming in the guise of the child form he had once more unlocked, going under an alias and posing as a traveling scholar, having small trips to see the lands himself without arousing fear or suspicion and indulging in his deep love of books. But also most notably as the humans arrive... he isnt the main source of conflict.

There is another digimon, or digimon group, that has been carrying on where he left off, and he has many refugee digimon who for some reason or another cant turn to the angels and other Holy digimon for help. So when these odd beings come from another world, he watches, waits to see how it plays out, and raises his eyebrows at some of the absolute nonsense deus ex machina plays Yggdrasil and its underlings pull to keep the little helpless humans alive. So.. why not join in. Lucemon is no fool, and can see where this is headed, so he sends out his generals, Piedmon and Myotismon, with an army of his underlings, to play diplomat and offer his aid or otherwise allow the humans to think well of him while this threat is stamped out. And the humans win, of course, and they leave... but it isnt long before more are back, and the digital world opens to others. And here the story begins, as he ponders if it would be a good easy way to gain PR if he had a pet human to do his bidding, because digimon tend to stereotype, and the current trends say that any digimon with a human is trustworthy. So he sends out his generals, to see if this idea is worth pursuing, with the idea that any human puppet would be good, but very doubtful there is a human worth bonding in a true partnership with.

And then he finds Kara.

#digimon #lucemon #lucemon fm #digimon oc

[honouredsatoru]

JJK Characters x You on a date

notes : I tried including Gojo's love for Digimon since I also grew up watching Digimon and loving the anime with all of my heart, also because Gojo's seiyuu, both Japanese and English versions, voiced for characters in Digimon, so I wanna pay homage to the both of them. other than that, I also included my love for arts and history, something I tried to incorporate into my writing, just to make it like.. lilith's style, ya know?

extra notes : also I wrote megumi for Elli, just because haha.

warnings : slight cussing. not proofread lol. other than that, none. 100% fluff!

characters : gojo satoru, fushiguro megumi, kugisaki nobara, nanami kento, itadori yuji.

Gojo Satoru - Arcades, vintage shops, especially collectors, especially Digimon, comic book/manga stores.

[Your name]! [Your name!]! Look, look! It's the Digimon Adventure V-Tamer 01 series! All 9 of them! Let's get in!"

"Ahh hold on. Towu! We're supposed to visit the cat cafe, you promised that you would go with me and take pictures with the cat hairband on! And I'm starving!"

You jokingly scowled at him, tapping your Doc Martens feet on the ground, arms folding.

"Fucking adorable. Let me see if I can tease her more, hah." A smirk soon appeared on this blue-eyed darling of yours.

"Let me get the manga and I promise, I'll go to this cat cafe with you, baby. Hm?"

"Oh alright."

"I love you, sweetheart. I know how much you wanted to go there but the manga. I- ahaaaa"

He started pouting as he kept pointing in the direction of the Digimon manga by the window. You quickly opened your camera, taking pictures of him sulking, emitting a soft giggle that actually made his heart squeezed with joy.

He presses his lips against your forehead, thumb circling your cheek, gently squishing them before opening the door, yanking you into the comic book store with him. You vowed to hide the comic books once he goes on a mission. After all, he made you wait a month before the two of you finally get to go to this cafe you always wanted to visit.

"Baby, I can read what you're thinking. Your face shows it too. Hehe. Watch me hide your panties."

Taking in a few gulps of air to deepen your breath, you opened your eyes, to meet the love of your life's own eyes, snickering at you, his large hands on the crown of your head before ruffling your already messy hair. There is no way you can stay mad at this man, as childish as he is, you know he loves you and deep down? He knows you love him too.

Itadori Yuji - Thrift stores, internet cafes to play online games with you, cinemas.

"Candy! [Your name] love! Don't! Make! Me! Ahhh cover up for me! I am gonna lose! I am gonna-"

He turns around to face you with soft eyes, his eyebrows slightly droopy before looking back at the computer, taking in the seconds in his head to register the fact that he lost in his mission with you in Inferno.

"Awww sorry babe. I mean.. you just started playing CSGO, so tell me, why- again- damn it- you wanna- AH. Damn it! Throw the fucking grenade! I mean why you wanna play this game, you need more practice- FUCK YOU."

Gentle chuckles were heard, emitted from his throat, his soft, peach toned lips landed on your cheek repeatedly as he rubbed soothing circles around your back.

"Breathe, bunny baby. You're so feisty whenever you start having online matches. Breathe. I love you, and I don't want you to get your blood pressure rising because of these dumbos, hm?"

Your lips curl into a faint and appreciative smile, nodding while your eyes are glued to the screen, ignoring the fading laughs and snickers from the people acknowledging your mini rage.

"I love you too. If I win, I'm getting us boba and chicken nuggets. So let me fight them, okie?"

"Yes ma'am!"

Megumi - Museums, art galleries, photo exhibitions, aesthetic cafes.

"Oh Gumi bear, look at that! That is the Raft of Medusa, it was done by Thèodore Géricault, he himself interviewed two survivors from the shipwreck."

He looks over your eyes that shine with excitement and pure happiness.

"Art"

Was what he thought every time he laid his sight onto you. God knows that he falls in love with you every single time he is blessed with your presence. Resting his arm around your waist, pulling you closer, inhaling the scent of mixed berries and wild roses, he swore he heard his heartbeat increasing every two seconds in a span of one minute.

"Oh really? What do you think this painting is all about?"

Glancing at him before returning to the painting, you puffed your cheeks, pressing your lips together with your index finger curled on your chin and your thumb under it.

"Lord, she is so cute whenever she does that. Can I kiss her? Should I? No wait, she's trying to tell me her own interpretation of this painting. To me. Oh wow. I'm gonna kiss her... later. I can't interrupt her." That is all he could think of. You. He is deeply, madly, beautifully in love with you.

"In my opinion, it tells me the ways of how men, or human beings, seek out in order to survive. When we are at the brink of desperation, insanity, happiness, greed, lust, desire, wrath, grief, don't we all do things unimaginable to help us go through the day? They even resolved to cannibalism. I think even I would commit to that if I was in an extremely dire situation."

You looked at him, a wide smile on your face, emitting a soft giggle that entered his right ear and stayed within the chambers of his mind. He closed the spaces between the both of you, sealing his lips onto yours, with the intention of making this very moment last a little longer heavy within his heart.

"Art."

Was what you thought of him.

Nanami Kento - Theatres, historical museums, fine dining restaurants.

You squealed, lightly clapping your hands as you ran to a block of marble, your foot tapping against the floor. He chuckles, hands in his pocket, taking fast strides towards you.

"Namnam! Look look! That's the Parthenon Sculptures! It was founded in hm... Athens, yes! If I am not mistaken, around 438 to 432 BC. These sculptures decorated the insides of the Parthenon, it is a temple located at the fortress of the Athenian Acropolis. It is said that this temple was built to appreciate and worship the Goddess Athena, she was the deity worship in Athens. Also, ah ah! Did you know that the word parthénos means "maiden", "girl" or ‘virgin"? And I-"

You look at him, your magnificent lover wearing a dark brown trench coat, with ecru brown trousers and a black turtleneck tucked in, his neck layered with white gold necklaces. Your hand unconsciously scratches your sideburns, giggling at the side of his stoic expression, eyes piercing yours beneath that yellow-green glasses he constantly has on his chiseled face.

"Oh... I am sorry... I didn't mean to bore you. I was just so excited because you know me! I love anything that is related to ancient greek history and mythology. I can't seem to get enough of it and it is absolut-

"I'm not bored, [your name]. I was just paying attention to every single word that pretty lips of yours uttered. It's magnificent that you knew all of this. It shows just how smart, curious, bright your mind and soul is. And darling?"

"Huh?"

"I am lucky to be blessed with someone like you. With Gojo constantly following me, there is no way I can read the books I bought for myself. However, having you around, breaking the ice with your random history tib bits, I feel like I am reading the pages, savouring each word, alphabet, sentence, thus expanding my quest and love for knowledge."

You looked down. Normally, you're not the type to tear up this easily but seeing how this man, this angel of a man, appreciates the little things you loved and adored, you can't help but let the waterworks out. You lifted your head up to meet his gaze, the tip of your nose slightly stuffy. You grabbed his arms, clinging onto him, the difference of height and size makes it sweet to the eyes of strangers surrounding you both.

"Oh Namnam. Thank you so much. This means the world to me. Shall we... go and see the best of Ramesses the Great? I've loads to tell you!"

Nobara - Shopping malls, ferry rides, beach dates, parks with cherry blossoms.

"Baby... tell me, have you ever seen anything as joyous as the ocean?"

You two stood by the seashore, fingers intertwined, your head resting on her shoulders, the sound of the seas splashing against the rocks and the warmth around your foot, it tingled but it feels good at the same time.

"I don't want this moment to end, [your name]."

"Why is that, pretty one?"

A faint sigh leaves her lips, you feeling her body loosen up.

"I just.. school is sort of stressful so my time spent with you liberates me from the pressure, fatigue, and image of curses embedded in my brain. Walking with you... through this airy womb of skies and clouds, don't you know it makes me happy?"

You leaned closer, pressing a soft peck on her cheeks, earning yourself a pair of scarlet cheeks with a gorgeous smile from the one next to you. You turned yourself to face her, hands on her shoulders, bringing her body closer to yours.

"Whenever and wherever you need me, I will be there. I might not be perfect, but I am gonna do my best to be the one you can always count on."

You pressed a kiss on her left cheek.

"I love you."

A kiss on her right cheek.

"I love you."

A kiss to the lips of the woman whom you shared your entire universe with.

"To the moon and back, I love you, Kugisaki Nobara."

The end.

tags : @tojisveryown @sookyshima @megumifushi @sixeyesgojo @sirthisisa-wendys @sasso-oda @fushigurocockslut @nkogneatho @kotarousgf @noritoshiikamo

#jujutsu sorcerer #jujutsu kaisen #gojo satoru #yuji itadori #megumi fushiguro #nobara kugisaki #kento nanami #gojo x reader #gojo fluff #nanami x you #nanami fluff #yuji x y/n #nobara x y/n #megumi x y/n #jujutsu kaisen headcanons #jjk x you #gojo headcanons #jujutsu kaisen x you #nanami headcanons #yuji headcanons #megumi headcanons #nobara headcanons

[shihalyfie]

The differences between Takato and Haru

(This meta was requested by @digitalgate02​, who also assisted me with a large portion of it. Thank you for your help!)

Takato and Haru often beg a lot of comparisons because of the fact they go so against the usual “brash hero” archetype common to not only Digimon but also shounen franchises in general, being significantly more mild-mannered (on a language level, they’re also the only Digimon protagonists to date who use the more polite boku first-person pronoun instead of the more assertive ore). Haru himself even points out in Appmon’s very first episode that this kind of personality would normally be more suited towards a side character than a protagonist!

Because of that, Haru is often considered to be a spiritual rehashing of Takato, and many have tried to make close parallels between the two, but while the desire to make comparison is naturally understandable, the truth is that beyond surface temperament, the two characters actually have very little in common. In fact, both Tamers and Appmon take rather different approaches to their definitions of a “conventional hero”, and that results in both Takato and Haru having very different roles in the plot.

In many cases, the role of a protagonist in a narrative has a deep relationship with what kind of narrative it is in the first place, and especially what kinds of themes it wants to present. For instance, in the case of 02, you could argue that the story is more “about” Ken than it is about Daisuke, since both major arcs in the story are about his fall and reformation, but when you consider the major themes present in 02′s narrative about purpose in life and pragmatism, Daisuke’s way of life and overall attitude are vital elements in relation to them, and it’s why he ends up being the “protagonist” (or, more accurately, the character at the forefront of the story) despite Ken’s heavier connection to it.

Tamers and Appmon have a number of similarities in storytelling, mainly that they’re both “hard sci-fi” stories in comparison to other entries that have stronger fantasy elements, and do have a certain amount of crossover in terms of dealing with AI-related topics. However, the actual “nature” of each work ultimately turns out to be different, and thus impacts how each of their protagonists is presented.

I heavily dislike calling Tamers a “deconstruction” of the monster collecting genre or of Digimon Adventure, mainly because of how much that term has been exploited to stereotype works in a genre as being things they’re not, or less nuanced than they actually are (as one Twitter user aptly put it: “a deconstruction is when I like something in a genre I disrespect”). I absolutely do not care for the idea of claiming that Adventure or 02 were somehow less nuanced or “deep” than Tamers just because they were more idealistic or more subtle about it, because they sure as hell had a lot of deeper things hidden between the lines if you bother to look out for them, and I also don’t like the implication that Tamers exists to criticize Adventure for supposedly being too naive. It is true, however, that Tamers re-examines a lot of Adventure (and 02)’s concepts in a different context; while Tamers isn’t as strong of a theme narrative, and it’s much more difficult to say there's an overarching message that encompass most or all of the series as much, it does indulge in a lot of thought experiments and smaller subplots that wouldn’t be possible in Adventure, and Takato thus has an important position in facilitating those kinds of thought experiments. The overall franchise metaphors of “growing” (evolving) alongside your Digimon (or, at least, something different from you) and the symbolism associated with it are still more than present, so the Tamers way of showcasing it is in mainly presenting the question of how that kind of goal would even be achievable in the first place when things aren’t as clear-cut.

In particular, Takato serves to address how someone who doesn’t fulfill the typical protagonist mold would cope with situations that somewhat resemble those in Adventure, what would happen when a Digimon partner is fundamentally different from oneself, and how one would still be able to grow alongside such an existence. Thus, his own character arc is more relevant to his own personal growth in accordance with interacting with Guilmon and what he gets out of his journey. This is especially because one thing particularly unique to Tamers is how it portrays Digimon as significantly more feral and different in mentality to humans, which means that he had a much higher personal hurdle to begin with, and thus his personal story and what he gets out of it becomes of significantly more importance.

Appmon, on the other hand, very much is an overarching theme narrative and isn’t exactly subtle about it, with one of its biggest questions being about what’s important in a world that’s getting increasingly controlled and regulated by modern technology that’s getting more and more intelligent. Haru is thus the embodiment of Appmon’s answer to that question: “to choose to be kind” -- and the less-than-subtle invocation of the word “protagonist” ends up having a very different meaning invoked in its final episode.

At the very least, on top of both being rather unconventional protagonists, both Tamers and Appmon do start with Takato and Haru both expressing a desire to be more like one who could go on some kind of adventure (Takato’s version isn’t as verbal, but his way of enthusiastically putting on goggles as proof that he’s a Tamer in Tamers episode 2 carries heavy implications of wanting to emulate the heroes he saw on TV).

However, this is where we get our first difference: Takato proudly claims his newfound status as the series protagonist, whereas Haru is unsure and self-conscious about it -- Haru himself is the one who initially considers himself not cut out for the role despite Yuujin personally believing he does and Gatchmon trying to urge him into it. And, in fact, this is actually the difference that kicks off where their paths entirely diverge.

Takato is often said to be unconventional for a protagonist, but when you really think about it, it’s not like Taichi or Daisuke were exactly models of typical protagonist tropes; while you could call them “hot-blooded”, in the end, Taichi’s standout traits have more to do with natural charisma and sometimes even being too chill, and Daisuke, for all he seems assertive, is actually extremely deferential. So why is Takato still such a standout in comparison?

Well, when you look at the detailed profiles of all twelve of the main Adventure and 02 cast, you might notice something: all of them are naturally selfless people who put others before themselves without a second thought. On the other hand, when you look at Takato, you might realize that this is very much not the case, especially during the early parts of the series. As much as Takato is a “soft” person, he’s not necessarily very “kind” or “nice”, especially during the early parts of the series; he can get possessive or clingy, petty, or even a little arrogant (Tamers episode 11 basically has him go on a mini-power trip based on his card combo having worked so well in the prior episode, which ends up becoming part of his isolation from Hirokazu and Kenta in the following one). Moreover, Takato loses his emotional composure and becomes a crying mess as early as Tamers episode 2, and while it’s not like other characters in Adventure and 02 hadn’t been prone to emotional outbursts, combine it with the above facts and you get the take-home that Takato isn’t “soft” out of an active choice to be so as much as he’s just really, really lacking in emotional mettle to begin with.

To be fair to him, Takato has to deal with quite a bit more stress during the early parts of Tamers than Haru has to during the equivalent parts; having to deal with a Digimon partner that’s outright feral at times and doesn’t have a fully intelligent understanding of how to communicate is a pretty rough thing to start off with. That said, Takato is fairly cowardly even in situations that don’t necessarily have to do with this, it’s just that this makes it worse -- but it means a lot that Takato himself is willing to put in that much effort in bonding with Guilmon despite being initially intimidated by what he’d just created, and that perhaps is what’s the beginnings of how he continues to develop that strength of heart for the rest of the series (and also extends to how he’s the one who connects with Grani).

This is in contrast to how Haru is described by Yuujin at the end of Appmon episode 1, in which Yuujin states that Haru is already cut out to be a protagonist because he’s a kind person -- in other words, Takato is someone who is not cut out to be a protagonist of any kind of adventure at the start of Tamers, even though he thinks he now gets the luxury of being one due to the circumstances he’s thrust into, whereas Haru is already someone with the potential to be one even at the start of the series, but initially lacks the self-confidence to consider himself able to be so. Thus, Takato’s character arc involves having to actually grow into someone worthy of the position, whereas Haru’s involves coming to terms with the aspects of himself he already has but doesn’t quite understand yet.

One very important thing to reiterate is that “unconventional” does not necessarily mean “better” by default, and, on the flip side, just because Takato isn’t as virtuous of a person at the beginning doesn’t mean he’s a worse character (after all, these kinds of things are what makes one interesting). Rather, it’s more important to consider why these characters are this way based on the context of the narratives they’re in.

In the case of the Adventure/02 kids, getting twelve naturally kind kids wasn’t exactly accident, nor was Haru and the other Appli Drivers also being that way; said kids have a bit of selection bias in that they were deliberately chosen by various entities (”the one who wishes for stability” and the Agents, the Holy Beasts, or Minerva) knowing that a massive world- or humanity-threatening crisis was on the horizon and quite understandably picking kids who had the greatest potential for the kindness that shouldering the world’s burdens would take (in Adventure and 02 this manifested in having the kids resonate with Crests and Digimentals that represented virtues, and in Appmon this involved Minerva actively testing them). After all, it’s only natural that anyone with the chance to recruit people to help with a monumental task would ideally go out of their way to pick people who seem best suited for the job, whether it’s something as grand as fantasy chosen hero picking or something as simple as job recruitment. But at the beginning of Tamers, none of the involved parties were really aware of any kind of grand, looming threats on the horizon, and whatever the DigiGnomes were thinking (or not thinking) when giving Takato his D-Ark is arcane to us all, and so Takato ended up becoming a Tamer by functional accident, resulting him starting off very poorly equipped for the job and having to learn how to do it on the fly.

This also means that the “motives” Takato and Haru have for taking action at the beginning of the series are accordingly different. Because any concept of “stakes” was not immediately apparent at the start of Tamers, Takato’s motivations for being a Tamer are more self-centered and selfish than Haru’s are for being an Appli Driver at the start of their respective series.

Takato’s motives at the beginning of Tamers really just revolve around “I want to be able to play with Guilmon more and not lose him,” and there’s no indication at said beginning that he’s really prepared for or even understands the part about having to protect others from harm. That doesn’t mean that Takato’s a selfish person to the extent of not caring about others at all -- in fact, by the time of Tamers episode 15, he demonstrates an understanding that they’re not playing a “game” anymore when things get difficult (and even puts his foot down in front of the other kids for it, a huge improvement from his rather cowardly outlook at the beginning of the series), so the issue largely had to do with the fact that the early parts of Tamers didn’t immediately make such high stakes clear, and Takato himself was thus in a situation of not worrying about others because that necessity wasn’t there yet. But even in the same episode, Takato still has a clear motive of wanting to show off his cool Digimon partner to the others and bask in his “status” as a Tamer, and it’s still a huge contrast to Haru who was initially too humble to accept his role as part of such a larger narrative until his desire to “protect everyone” won out. It’s a big deal that Haru understood the stakes that would be involved in the fight against Leviathan from day one, and actively chose to opt in because of his selflessness.

Another major reason for this difference is that Haru has a certain character trait explicitly ascribed to him that isn’t with Takato: Haru enjoys reading books and is actually rather book-smart and intellectual. On a certain technicality, Takato being characterized as not particularly skilled in that department actually brings him a little closer to the conventional shounen protagonist archetype than it does a “bookish” character like Haru, because such a character is often considered too nerdy for the protagonist position -- but in Haru’s case, the fact he’s actively thoughtful and ruminates on things means that he spends a lot of time thinking about “what’s the right thing to do” in a given situation.

For all it’s worth, I really hope that the above won’t be taken as an implication that Takato is a fundamentally bad person for having more selfish immediate priorities than Haru or the Adventure/02 kids do; having to carry the weight of such a large thing is a huge thing to ask of someone, especially when we’re talking about someone who kind of got thrown into this whole mess and has been spending the entirety of this series trying to figure it all out without a lot of reliable sources of help. On top of that, it should also be noted that Takato is ten; if there’s anything that can be said to be not entirely true-to-life with the Adventure and 02 cast personalities, it’s that a lot of the emotional awareness and levelheadedness they exhibit usually come from people much older than 8-12 (it’s one of the “acceptable breaks from reality” employed in kids’ shows that kid protagonists are often a tad bit more mature than actual kids would be at that age, otherwise a lot of said kids’ show plots wouldn’t function), and real ten-year-olds in Takato’s situation would often have more difficulty knowing what to do with such great burdens at this age. It’s actually fairly significant that Haru is 13 and from a group composed mainly of middle schoolers, in contrast to the older series having elementary school kids (the youngest Appli Driver, Astra, is actually the same age as a classic Digimon series protagonist), and thus it’s probably not surprising that they’re more willing and able to deal with such huge issues much earlier on.

Thus, although Takato’s character arc does involve him slowly growing into the role of becoming less shallow and selfish, and becoming more truly assertive while he’s at it, this fundamental difference in their natures ends up continuing to have a major influence by the time of the later parts of the series. The difference can be most starkly illustrated in Tamers episode 35 versus Appmon episode 41 -- in which Takato, upon seeing Beelzebumon kill Leomon, is utterly consumed by his emotions and decides that the best course of action to take would be killing Beelzebumon in revenge, even though this won’t bring Leomon back or accomplish anything productive (and, indeed, it does make things worse in the form of driving his own partner over the edge and traumatizing Juri further). (Adventure had already warned that prioritizing “revenge” over “protecting others” is foolhardy and tends to cause a lot of really nasty problems.)

In contrast, one thing you might notice about Haru is that he never “denies anyone’s feelings”, even when confronting someone like Knight. You could argue that Haru wasn’t necessarily dealing with direct trauma in front of him, but recall that Knight had caused tons of grief and misery for many (something Haru takes serious offense at) and had, along with Charismon, gotten very close to permakilling all of the Buddy Appmon at one point back in Appmon episode 37 -- so it’s not like Haru doesn’t have reason to have grudge against Knight, even if the severity isn’t as immediate. Note that Haru doesn’t “both-sides” this issue; he still insists on making his own case, it’s just that he still doesn’t have it in him to not acknowledge that Knight has a good reason for making the case he does given his background, consider his words to an extent, and fight against the idea of having Knight be killed for no good reason. Haru has a very strong belief in “thinking with one’s heart” and “respecting feelings” that he'd exhibited through the entire series (for example, very prominently in Appmon episode 12 with Rei), and because of that he has a ton of emotional control over himself even taking some very harsh things. It’s clear that Haru does have very deep understanding of what he’s dealing with -- and chooses to be idealistic and kind anyway.

(In addition, because Haru is so naturally inclined to be selfless, the one time he really does hit an emotional low in Appmon episode 49, it’s not anger or lashing out at anyone, but rather sadness and despair. Haru just really does not have the fundamental capacity to be aggressive.)

As said before, Takato’s character arc is very much a personal story of how he grew into the role of a Tamer, via learning to fight for what’s important and have a strong heart for it. As a result, his motives for fighting end up still having a much more personal streak to it than anything -- at the time of Tamers episode 49, technically speaking, the Wild Bunch was still being counted on to work on the D-Reaper problem, and his own family was urging him to stay home for now, but what tipped him over the edge was not some desire to protect people as a whole but rather the fact that Juri was calling for him. It’s not to say that such a thing is selfish -- he’s clearly doing it for her sake, not anything to do with his own -- but nevertheless his involvement was directly related to something that hit a little more personally moreso than it was for the sake of the wider picture.

As said before, this is fitting for someone whose story is really more of a personal character arc before anything else; the significance is more in line with the sheer amount of emotional growth Takato had to go through in order to get to this point at all, and how someone normally so divorced from the concept of heroism could come to do something so meaningful, especially thanks to his interactions with Guilmon and growing alongside him. There’s absolutely no doubt that Takato wouldn’t have been able to do this kind of thing at the beginning of the series, so it’s a huge accomplishment that shouldn’t be watered down. It also makes him a very good foil to the D-Reaper, an emotionless program that’s still fixated on rehashing the same destructive purpose it was originally created for years ago and has long lost its purpose, and while Takato isn’t technically the sole factor in putting it to rest (at most, the most valuable asset as part of the Wild Bunch’s plan), the contrast is quite apparent.

On the flip side, Appmon episode 54 not only involves the exact opposite -- in which Haru sacrifices something closely personal to him for the sake of everything else -- but also ties it very closely to its own series themes, which are assertively laid down in all of their glory during this finale. The reason Haru had been “chosen” by Minerva to begin with, and the reason he himself had been given an opt-in “choice” at the beginning of the series and again in Appmon episode 38, and so many other characters had been given “choices”, is that this story is about choices -- because Leviathan (and Knight, and any kind of “AI should manage everything” argument that this series fights hard against) believes that humans shouldn’t be allowed them, and that everything ought to fall in accordance with a “rational” system. Haru, on the other hand, believes in the human heart that can do unexpected things, and his constant choices to do things out of kindness despite understanding what they entail.

Over the course of the series, Haru hadn’t always been putting himself in a spotlight situation -- in fact, many episodes had involved him saying “we’ll support you!” and generally uplifting others before he’d ever tried to take charge. But in the end, the reason he ends up as the “protagonist” who makes the final choice for everyone’s sake is because he’s the one who understands that gravity of “making a choice with one’s feelings” that’s so vital to changing Leviathan’s mind -- plus, the fact he’d been so supportive and kind to everyone means that everyone else shows up for him when he needs it most. Note that when Astra and Eri are upset at Yuujin in Appmon episodes 48 and 51, it’s not so much out of the overall betrayal as much as the fact he specifically betrayed and hurt Haru, because that’s how much they’ve come to care for him in return.

Hence, why Appmon latently ends on a frame of redefining the concept of “protagonist” -- certainly, on a meta level, Haru became the “protagonist” of the narrative that is Appmon, but what it actually means in terms of what Haru became is that everyone, including the members of the audience watching this series, is “the protagonist of their own life”, meaning that being a “protagonist” is defined merely by said act of “making choices” and defining what your own path will be. And especially in a world where singularity is going to become more and more of a real possibility -- as the show indirectly reminds us, AI surpassing human intellect is something that’s been predicted and warned about in this very world we, the viewers, live in -- understanding this is going to become even more important.

Incidentally, in the end, as much as it might be tempting to try and draw parallels with Takato because both of them are in the franchise-mandated position of “protagonist”, removing that requirement actually brings up a character that might make a much closer parallel -- “making choices that are out of kindness” easily directly invokes a certain other character from 02 who had “kindness” as a huge part of his character arc, doesn’t it...?

Really, if you think about it, Haru has a lot in common with Ken, who’s also thoughtful, intellectual, very in touch with his own feelings, assertive, resilient, strong in heart, and kind out of choice even when he doesn’t have to be -- you could basically say Haru is what Ken would be like if he hadn’t gone through such a massive formative event of trauma early in his life, or, alternatively, Ken if he had a bit more of Daisuke’s more outwardly bright, friendly, and supportive traits. It may not be a comparison you’d be easily tempted to make because, as stated above, as much as Ken had a deep connection with 02′s plot, he’s not portrayed as the protagonist of his own narrative...and, hence, Haru is unusual in that the exact archetype that was formerly placed in the role of the series deuteragonist has now been recast in the role of the protagonist itself. But then again, from Haru’s perspective, it’s not like Ken wasn’t technically the driving force of his own story, right?

(I’m not just drawing this comparison because I usually blog for 02. I promise.)

#digimon #digimon tamers #appmon #matsuda takato #shinkai haru #takato matsuda #haru shinkai #shihameta

[digimonascending]

New partners for Digimon Chasm. Or...should I say old... Grace and Vulpimon are back! More information under the break:

Grace Full Name: Grace Gallant

Age: 17

Hair: Chestnut

Eyes: Hazel

Height: 5'10" Partner: Vulpimon

Personality

One would never guess, looking at the sweet, mildly shy young woman going about her daily life, that she has battled with monsters and spirits and through endless wars. And that is deliberate, as Grace would very much like to keep it that way. Soft-spoken and kind, if a little sarcastic, Grace tries her utmost to keep her life as a tamer out of sight and under control, not just to protect Vulpimon and the others from prying eyes, but also for the sake of her own sanity.

This is not an easy task, and Grace often finds herself pushing far too hard to keep a sense of control; over her life, her friends, and her family. While she tries to place her trust in the people around her, old habits die hard, and while not reckless by any means she is often the first to leap into action in a chaotic bid to calm things down. As much as she might like to project that This Is Fine, nonetheless she is easily stressed, often anxious, and still grappling with deep-seated inadequacies and guilt over the things she's lived through. And being the eldest experienced tamer still active and having the newcomers asking her to take leadership

really doesn't do much to help.

Although she struggles to juggle her lives and feelings, the one thing she keeps clear in her mind is a sense of responsibility, and a need to do right by the people she loves. It may be increasingly difficult, and she may find herself questioning

everything

that has led her to this, but when the time comes to stand in the warzone again for the sake of the world, she will always be one of the first people to take that step.

Family:

Paul Gallant - Father

Jade Gallant - Mother

Jack Gallant - Younger Brother

~

Vulpimon

Pronunciation: VOL-pih-mon

Name origin: Vulpine, relating to foxes

Family: Nature Spirits

Type: Fox

Stage: Rookie

Attribute: Vaccine

Height: 3'8" Partner: Grace Personality Once a princess, then a soldier; Vulpimon has lived a life of ups and downs. That being said she has adapted remarkably well to life in the human world, to the point of very much feeling like royalty in her new residence. She is polite to the utmost and carries herself with grace and dignity, partially out of an inherant self-importance and partially to try and one-up her boisterous avian roommate. It is mostly in jest...mostly...although she is far from above lauding her status in order to get people looking her way.That said, memories of war don't leave easily, and Vulpimon can change from pampered princess to deadly warrior in an instant. She has strived to overcome her limitations and weaknesses, giving 100% in every situation and never backing down or complaining. She holds a deep love and respect for Grace, and obeys her partner unquestioningly, trusting her with her life. Calculating and efficient, Vulpimon is not somebody you want to anger lightly.Unyielding and forever loyal, maybe even to a fault, nonetheless Vulpimon holds a maturity and experience worthy of her grand origins, and will give her absolute all in everything she tackles. After all, if she expects the world to get better, then she needs to be the one to set the example.

Attacks:

Snow Blast

Vulpimon releases a cloud of icy breath from her mouth, capable of freezing part of her opponent. 

White Cloak

Vulpimon surrounds herself in a cold fog, obscuring her from view. She can then reappear at will, striking her opponent with her claws.

~

Polamon

Pronunciation: POH-lah-mon

Name origin: Polar, relating to cold climates at the northern or southern poles

Type: Slime

Stage: Fresh

Attribute: None

Height: 0'4"

Attacks:

Frostbite

Polamon makes her body incredibly cold to the touch.

~

Lagomon

Pronunciation: LAH-goh-mon

Name origin: Vulpus lagopus, species name for arctic fox

Family: Nature Spirits

Type: Lesser

Stage: In-Training

Attribute: None

Height: 0'8"

Attacks:

Snowball

Lagomon creates a sphere of ice that expands out to her surroundings, covering everything around her in thick frost.

~

Guess who's back...back again... Holy dang...I know the original story is a bit wobbly compared to some of my newer stuff, but I have really missed the Inferno crew. This is kind of my answer to 02, only I wanted to actually give them a bit more of an active role in the story going forwards. Also it's just been fun to do older and more mature versions of these peeps.

Talking about updating old characters, I have so enjoyed being able to redesign some of the original partner Digimon as well. Although it feels weird seeing some of my old design traits amongst the new ones I've picked up. And yes, there is an in-universe explanation as to why Vulpimon and the other partners are slightly bigger and more growed up now. After all, if humans in the digital world are somewhat subject to the digital world's rules, then surely the reverse can be true as well.

and of course being older and more experienced naturally they are going to be perfect at absolutely everything now, that's how it works right 8 D

#digimon ascending #digimon chasm #digimon fdd #digimon fanseries #digimon oc #digimon fanfiction #digifake #character design #profile art

[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.

#Digimon #Digimon Adventure #Digimon Adventure Last Evolution Kizuna

[analyzingadventure]

PSI THOUGHTS 2: THE ELECTRIC BOOGALOO

Aka time to share some thoughts on the profile blurbs and participate in some wild speculation

(Quickly though I just wanted to say that the new outfits are fine but there is something weird to me about them... It’s like this weird mix of taking the original designs, trying to modernize them while also keeping them looking the same and it like... It feels like they tried to Adventure-fy the old designs it somehow made the kids look like background extras of their own show?? IDK maybe it’s just nostalgic bias or something lmao. But yeah the kids look fine, I wish they had left Mimi’s hat pink and... Man they really did Koushirou a dirty, eh. He really looks awful in that outfit holy shit)

When it comes to the kids I actually don’t have much to say about them- they kinda sound like parodies/abridged versions of themselves from Adventure, like the way they call Mimi a “princess”, which kind of sounds like someone saw her childlike innocence from Adventure and figured all there is to Mimi is that she’s a whiny little brat (/”princess”). I am jumping to conclusions here but rn I feel like tri. had a better understanding of the characters than Psi, but then again Psi doesn’t have to stay through to Adv.’s characterization.

The only things I found worth mentioning were that Hikari indeed seems to have a sixth sense so she seems to still be the DigiJesus (or, well, techinically they made it sound like Hikari has a tendency to astral project but whatever lmao). But in a twist, based on Takeru’s profile he too may have that sixth sense! 8O And ngl I am very excited to see where they’re going with that

EDIT: I misread a good portion of the blurb, ignore the next these paragraphs lmao (leaving it here for people to laugh at tho)

Also; They mention Takeru lives apart from “his brother” due to “circumstances”... Now either these profiles are vague and cheeky because the writers don’t want to spoil to any kids that Takeru and Yamato are brothers whose parents divorced, OR... A) They are brothers but their parents aren’t divorced (yet) or B) They’re not brothers at all (they don’t have the same last names after all) and Takeru has another brother he lives away from for some reason.

I mean I do think it’s most likely the writers are being cheeky and trying to not spoil things for the kids, but the fact they didn’t mention Yamato being Takeru’s brother at all is super interesting to me.

ONTO THE DIGIMON, again, not much to say about the most of them. They did confirm the Adult form of every Digimon so my hopes of branching evolution trees has been smothered a bit but not killed yet, not entirely- it is still possible they could get new Perfect level forms and/or multiple Perfect forms. Or Ultimate (depending on how Psi will treat levels, like for all we know they could ditch the level system again like Frontier and Xros Wars did)

BUT THERE’S THREE THINGS WORTH NOTING IN THOSE PROFILES! The Great War, no mention of Angemon, and Tailmon.

Some people immidiately started speculating about a multiverse/AU theory from the mention of the War and how Agumon knew Taichi but considdering the other things mentioned in the profiles I doubt this is the same Agumon from Adventure... Unless it was specifically Agumon and Agumon alone while all the other Digimon were from this universe specifically. But still, I don’t think there’s any multiverse stuff going on here, Agumon just pulled a Hikarigaoka-esque stunt at some point but nobody remembers it, probably

The mention of the “old Internet” (and the war that happened there) makes me wonder if they’re going to pull an X-Antibody-esque kinda storyline with Yggdrasil or something where instead of a Digital World being destroyed, it’s the Network? Who knows, there’s only so much you can speculate based on a handful of words

Patamon totally evolves into Angemon, I think they’re just being cheeky about it and Angemon is like a “legendary warrior” and some shit like that, it’s totally gonna be like that and I’m sure he’ll die just like he did in the past

BUT WHAT’S REALLY INTERESTING FOR ME IS TAILMON

TAILMON WON’T JOIN THE KIDS/HIKARI, SHE’S JUST BEING MYSTERIOUS AND SHIT, LIKE REI IN APPMON

Now that’s a trope old as kids’ shows, but it’s still interesting due to its implications.

Tailmon could be a lone wolf because she’s on a secret mission. She could be a lone wolf because she has some issues. She could be a lone wolf because she’s teamed up with the enemy and is either playing Taichi and co into a trap, or she’s having second thoughts and is kinda two-timing the Chosen and the enemy

There’s many options, and it’s very interesting to see what they’re going to do

And if Tailmon is working for the enemy... Who is it?

There isn’t much left to discuss here actually... The enemies we see in the new trailer kind of remind me of the Virusmon in Appmon, but they look a bit... off? IDK maybe it’s just this weird whiplash of the old Digimon looking weird to the new enemies with more modern designs. That said I wouldn’t be surprised (and I would be a bit happy actually) if those new enemies from the trailer were not Digimon, but they probably are, and I’m sure we’ll find out what species they are

Now one last thing I found interesting about the trailer (which is definitely giving me that Hunters/Appmon feeling rn) is that we definitely see the kids entering the Internet in it (the Internet having that very DigiQuarts/AR Field look to it).

The thing is, we had it already confirmed way back that there is a Digital World, it’s the green foresty thing on the poster. So it’s going to be interesting to see how they’ll handle the Digital World- it already sounded a lot like to me that the kids could travel with ease from the Human World to (what has now been confirmed to be) the Internet, so how that’ll extend to the DW is interesting. Is it going to be like like how the Deep Web worked in Appmon where once you go deep enough you’ll find the DW?

So will we see a lot of the DW or will the show take mostly place on the Internet with very limited visits to the DW?

(Unrelated but hilariously that was kind of what I always expected Appmon would do, like they’d go deep into the Net Ocean and find themselves in the Digital World (with Digimon specifically) and I was sad nothing like that ever happened so it’s gonna be surreal and hilarious if that’s exactly what Psi does)

And.... I think that’s it? I can’t think of any other things to briefly discuss, I ran out of disjointed thoughts

I’m expecting Psi to be either pretty decent or an absolute, flaming trainwreck and if it’s the latter it’s gonna be hilarious to watch and my popcorn is ready for it

#Text post #Psi #Long post #I did get a few asks about Psi but I answered most of the things asked in this post so sorry I'm not publishing them #I saw the asks no worries! #Also sorry this is so long

[firebirdtransam68]

Are The Names In Anime Originally Japanese Or English?  It All Depends On What You Grew Up With

I am making this post to explain what I have observed from the English-speaking community.

We know many people really like anime, right?  We grew up with shows like Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh, Sonic X, Digimon Adventures, the Transformers Unicron Trilogy, and for much older fans, Voltron, Robotech, Star Blazers, and Battle Of The Planets.  The only thing is, these shows, originally in the Japanese language, were dubbed in English because many marketers didn’t think people in America, Canada, or any other English-speaking country would enjoy a foreign show, even if it had English subtitles.  The only problem is, many anime shows targeted to younger fans (mainly children) were heavily censored and the dialogue was changed to make it more family-friendly.  The upside is, if companies like World Events Productions and 4Kids Entertainment did not dub the shows, we wouldn’t be able to access the original shows with English subtitles, and we can fully understand how Japanese media differ from American, Canadian, or English media.

Anyway, I remember when I was younger watching bits and pieces of Robotech (a mesh of the Super Dimension Fortress Macross trilogy) with my father, who had it on VHS.  Then I remember watching a few episodes and movies of Pokemon a little later after I witnessed Robotech.  I also remember going to a now-defunct video store where Sonic X was playing (before I even knew the Sonic The Hedgehog franchise).  They all shared one thing in common; they were all in the English language.  And as I have seen the shows, I noticed at times the mouths do not match the dialogue; and I never understood why the animation was different from media like Disney, Don Bluth, or the Loony Tunes.

I did not know what anime really is until I was in middle school and high school.  I didn’t even understand the ‘fetish’ of such design.  That is, until I witnessed a few girls watching the original Sailor Moon anime in English subtitles.  As I viewed a few scenes, I noticed the characters’ mouths matched the language being spoken; and the tone was more serious and less silly like most Western cartoon shows.  Not to mention, most characters look more realistic, such as having five fingers instead of four.

And then I got curious with original Japanese anime shows (back in the olden days, anime was called Japanimation, and later was respectfully called anime), and I came across a mecha show called Beast King Golion (the original show for Voltron: Defender Of The Universe).  I watched a few episodes with English subtitles, and I noticed how dark it was compared to American children’s shows (they show blood, death, real-life situations that adults can understand, and they swear too, usually saying words like “hell,” “damn,” “crap,” “bastard,” “bitch,” and the occasional “s**t”).  Then I saw Voltron, and I noticed how much the dub changed the whole plot of the anime; violence was toned down, hardly any blood on screen, no swear words, somewhat poor voice acting with a few exceptions, and even the characters’ names were different.  The only good qualities I see in Voltron was, of course, the name of the titular mech, and the kickass soundtrack of the 1980′s.

Later, as I look up different anime clips with English subtitles, I wondered if the characters speak English in the original version; and sure enough, there were clips that showed just that (it was awesome, funny, and bizarre; or even both or all three at the same time).  What took me by surprise is that there was a Sonic X clip where Sonic occasionally throws in English in the original language.  I didn’t even KNOW there was a Sonic The Hedgehog anime, and that threw me off in a good way.  I started watching a few episodes with English subtitles, and then compared them to the English dubbed episodes; the original is the winner!  And that was how I became a Sonic The Hedgehog fan, along with the Shadow The Hedgehog (2005) and the Sonic ‘06 games.

And then, interestingly, I discovered Pocket Monsters (the original Pokemon series) when I was browsing for more anime.  I noticed how the main character, Ash Ketchum, had a different name, Satoshi, but they were the same character; they just happened to have different names in different languages.  I was used to the name Ash, but I gradually started to like the name Satoshi even more, because it is the original show in its original language.

I have been a fan of Transformers ever since I watched the live action films by Michael Bay.  It isn’t until The Transformers (1984-1987) and The Transformers: The Movie (1986) in which I started to like the Generation One (G1) Transformers because they originated in the 1980′s (which I really like, even though I wasn’t existent yet back in the day).  I have many characters I like; my favorite Autobot is Ironhide, who was a black truck in the 2007 live action film, and a red van in the G1 version.  Both of these incarnations share similar traits; Ironhide is just an awesome robot, he is trigger-happy (especially in the live action film), has a deep and gruff voice, is funny at times, is stubborn on a few things, and simply makes me smile; and in the live-action film’s case, my father owns a truck, and one of my favorite colors is black (just like KITT from the 1982 show, Knight Rider).  I was disheartened by his death by the traitorous Sentinel Prime in Dark Of The Moon (2011), and at the hands of Megatron in the 1986 movie.  And my favorite Decepticon is Starscream; who doesn’t love a backstabbing fighter jet anyways?

Now, I am sure you are probably asking, “what does this have to do with anime?”  Well, I had the realization many months ago that Transformers Armada, Energon, and Cybertron (which all make up the Unicron Trilogy) were all anime series; so I looked each of them up in AnimeNewsNetwork, starting with Armada.  (I wanted to check out the shows because I heard from many fans how this incarnation of Starscream subverts the traitorous role, and how he was the most likeable Decepticon in the whole series)  The site shows the Japanese cast first, since it is the original language, and I was happy to see that Ironhide was there, as well.  But, when I looked at the English cast, I couldn’t see the name anywhere.  Interestingly, the Japanese credits called Optimus Prime Convoy, so maybe in Armada, this particular Autobot was not called Ironhide.  And sure enough, when I started watching the show in English subtitles (the original is called Micron Legend), I was mostly right.  What took me by surprise is that this Ironhide was not an old Autobot like many traditional Ironhides from the G1 and the Bayformers films, but a young Decepticon missile tank.  Starscream is not the only Transformer to subvert the original roles of past incarnations.  Apparently, this is the only Transformers continuation where Ironhide is a Decepticon.  However, he shared many traits with his G1 counterpart as well; he is tough like how he should be, is funny (and surprisingly cute, not very many Ironhides is that lovable like this one), is stubborn some of the times, has a deep gruff voice, is trigger-happy (especially if you piss him off or cross Megatron in front of him), and instantly became a likable Transformer because of those traits; and he had probably the saddest death in the whole Unicron trilogy when I started watching Energon (originally called Superlink).  I was disappointed when Megatron (now called Galvatron) put his abandoned spark into a new, and unattractive, body, and called him Irontread (didn’t stop me from watching the whole anime series because as I watched it futher, it shared many similarities with The Transformers: The Movie, particularly Unicron’s design, and the green helicopter we know as Springer (Japan calls him Sprung; not sure why...); the only thing missing in Superlink is “The Touch”).  Next to Starscream, Ironhide is my favorite Transformer in the whole Unicron Trilogy.  And what was his English dubbed name in Armada?  Demolishor.

Ever since I watched these shows, I started to like them so much, maybe even more so than G1; probably because the Transformers had many human traits (for instance, they grunt and groan in pain more times than G1; oh and some of them actually cry, mainly younger Transformers like Ironhide in Micron Legend and Wing Dagger in Superlink), and was the first time I see them with teeth and different colored optics, instead of the traditional blue and red for the Autobots and Decepticons, respectively.

I notice many Trans-fans know many characters in the Unicron Trilogy by their English names because that was what they grew up with, or were used to seeing.  And whenever someone points out the original names, they would interject, saying something like “its X, not Y!”  (For example, “it’s Jetfire, not Skyfire!”)  However, there are people like me who will point out what the original names are without trying to denigrate mainstream fans.  Then again, I, too, get a little frustrated whenever a fan doesn’t call a character by their original name.  But, if all else fails, I just let them call a character whatever they want to call them, because I cannot change their minds if they are absolutely certain of what the character’s name is, even if it is not their original name.

Then again, even the Japanese dub of the original Transformers shows and movies changed the names of certain characters because they believed it was cooler, easier to pronounce, or they didn’t like the name for some reason.  For example, Optimus Prime was called Convoy, Sideswipe was called Lambor, Bumblebee was called Bumble, Devastator was called Devastor, Shockwave was called Lazerwave, Lazerbeak was called Condor, and Springer was called Sprung.  (And Autobots and Decepticons were called Cybertrons and Destrons, respectively, and the planet Cybertron was called Seibertron.)  In Micron Legend and Superlink, such names were the characters’ original names in the show.

Here are some characters in Micron Legend with their original and dubbed names (the rest not listed kept their names):

- Convoy = Optimus Prime

- Ratchet = Red Alert

- Hot Rod = Hot Shot

- Devastator = Scavenger

- Grap (possibly Grapple?) = Smokescreen/Hoist

- Ironhide = Demolishor

- Sandstorm = Cyclonus

- Silverbolt = Blurr (who is nothing like G1 Blurr at all)

- Doubleface = Sideways

- Wheelie = High Wire

- Bank = Grindor

- Arcee = Sureshock

- Bumble(bee) = Perceptor

- Shockwave = Tidal Wave

- Rampage = Wheeljack

- Stepper = Sideswipe

- Scourge = Nemesis Prime (Scourge’s name was not mentioned in Micron Legend, but that is what was confirmed in AnimeNewsNetwork and other anime sites)

- Megatron (Super Mode) = Galvatron

- Grid = Swindle

- Search = Blackout

- Barrel = Leader-1

- Prime = Sparkplug

- Alexa = Alexis

- Jim = Fred

- Amphitrite = not even given a name!

Here are the characters in Superlink, along with a few characters from Micron Legend (Armada):

- Grand Convoy = Optimus Prime

- Skyfire = Jetfire (I don’t know what happened to Jetfire and Hot Rod from Micron Legend; maybe they were reformatted without further explanation, replaced with newer characters, or the creators fixed Jetfire’s name to Skyfire and Hot Rod was so damaged that he had to be reformatted and was called Hot Shot, or according to some sites, matured into Hot Shot)

- Inferno V = Roadblock

- Roadbuster = Ironhide (who looked and acted nothing like the Ironhide I am so familiar with; is very unlikeable, compared to Roadbuster, who IS more likeable; and it is quite amusing to see two Ironhides fighting each other in Episode 10, with the one speaking English and the one speaking Japanese; there must be a crack fic about this somewhere...)

- Rodimus Convoy = Rodimus Prime (he was called Rodimus Convoy in the Japanese dub of G1)

- Red Alert = Prowl

- Airglide = Skyblast

- Blastarm = Strongarm

- Ariel = Arcee

- Springer = Bulkhead

- Overdrive = Cliffjumper

- Wheeljack = Downshift

- Galvatron (before recoloration) = Megatron (in Superlink, he explicitly said, “call me Galvatron-sama,” and he looked like his G1 counterpart as well)

- Nightscream = Starscream (since Starscream was killed by Unicron in Micron Legend after he used up all his energy from his spark, which is presumed destroyed.  Yeah, sadly, Starscream never came back in Superlink; although Nightscream looks a lot like G1 Starscream even more than Armada Starscream)

- Mega-Zarak = Scorponok (G1 Scorponok’s Japanese dub name was Mega-Zarak; not sure why the creators called him that, though...)

- Sandstorm/Snowstorm = Cyclonus/Snow Cat

- Ironhide/Irontread = Demolishor/still Demolishor (what, no cooler name like Devastator, Basher, Groundcrusher or Destructor for his new body?)

- Shockwave/Shockfleet = Tidal Wave/Mirage

- Lazerwave = the real Shockwave (in Energon, he is called Shockblast, which I think is silly, so I will call him Lazerwave for Superlink’s sake)

- Buildron = Constructicon Maximus (note that Buildron is the Japanese dub name for Constructicon in G1)

- Bruticus = Bruticus Maximus

- Superion = Superion Maximus

- Superion’s brother = Dauntless Maximus (I will call him Dauntless)

- Alexa = Alexis

I have not seen Galaxy Force as often as Micron Legend and Superlink, but I will list a few characters that I can remember with the sub and dub names respectively:

- Galaxy Convoy = Optimus Prime

- Dreadrock = Jetfire

- Guardshell = Landmine

- Demolishor = Mudflap

- Sonic Bomber = Wing Saber

- First Aid = Red Alert

- Nitro Convoy (male) = Override (female)

- Exillion = Hot Shot

- Chromia = Thunderblast (yes, Chromia, usually an Autobot’s name, is a Decepticon in Galaxy Force)

- Noisemaze = Sideways

- Metroplex = Megalo Convoy (I don’t really know his name; that is what I got from some sources when I was trying to find out what this Transformer’s name was)

Anyways, since I saw the original versions, it can be really difficult for me to refer them to the English dubbed names so many fans can understand what I am saying.  I am sure others feel the same way as well.

Well, that is all I will be saying so far.  I will post more blogs, pictures, and memes when I have the time.

This is FirebirdTransAm68 signing out.

#do you prefer anime in Japanese or English? #anime in english #english dub #english sub #sub vs. dub #which language did you grow up with? #original is mostly better #sub is better than dub #sub is better than dub most of the time #sonic x #voltron #golion #japanese anime with english subtitles #transformers unicron trilogy #transformers armada #transformers energon #transformers cybertron #transformers micron legend #transformers superlink #transformers galaxy force #transformers ironhide #micron legend ironhide #micron legend #superlink #galaxy force #decepticons with autoboot names #viewing anime differently #anime shows #anime #japanese anime

[higuchimon]

[fanfic] The King’s General:  Chapter 9

Lucemon flew as fast as he could toward his new home. He hadn’t lied all that much. He did visit the library, read everything that he hadn’t managed to read the first time around, and it was there that he’d found what he intended to put to use now.

Taiki hadn’t stopped breathing yet, though each movement remained slow and swallow, a bit staggered. Lucemon knew that he needed to hurry to get there before it was too late.

What a treasure I’ll have. There was a bond between Kudou Taiki and the members of Xros Heart, one that would last all their lives. So what information he’d been able to dig up concerning Xros Leaders, the Generals, and those who worked with them said.

Only one thing could break that bond and Lucemon rejoiced that he’d taken the first step towards severing it: he’d killed Taiki.

Taiki wouldn’t stay dead, though. Lucemon wanted something more than just a dead General. His nature led him to corrupt and destroy everything within his reach, and Taiki wasn’t any exception.

Besides, the look on Shoutmon’s face once he saw the new Taiki would be far, far too fascinating to turn down.

There! His retreat unfolded itself before him, a glorious castle of shining white crystal. Far more suitable to someone of his stature than that pathetic place of Shoutmon’s ever would be.

Under other circumstances he might well have just landed at the bottom floor and escorted Taiki in like that. He’d planned just so if Taiki accepted his offer of a flight. He would have next offered to show Taiki where he lived, and once they were here, and far away from anyone else, the knife would’ve gone between his ribs.

But Taiki had to refuse him, turn away from him.

Lucemon hated being rejected. Lucemon couldn’t stand being rejected. So he did what came naturally to him.

Now, he carried Taiki in through one of the upper windows, open to the sun and wind, and settled him down on the pristine white marble altar there. Taiki’s eyelids fluttered, his eyes beneath glazed and shot through with pain. Lucemon patted him on the shoulder with one blood-stained hand.

“You don’t need to be afraid. This won’t take much longer and you’ll feel much better afterward.”

Taiki tried to say something. Lucemon wasn’t certain of what it was, and was even less certain that he cared. He would have to complete the ritual before there was any chance that Shoutmon or one of his servants could find their way here.

He almost wished that he were responsible for the Digimon going to the human world. That would’ve made for a splendid distraction to keep the so-called king and his pesky pawns from finding him before it was too late.

I’ll just have to settle for them not knowing where we are and not being able to find us before I’m done.

He moved around the altar to where he stored his tools, lighting deathly white candles and letting his favored incense waft through the room. Those weren’t necessary for what he intended to do but they would set the atmosphere the way he wanted it and that put him in the correct frame of mind.

Carefully he pressed his fingers against Taiki’s pulse, pleased to see it had almost stuttered to a halt. Only a few more moments remained. He glanced outside; they were still in the depths of night. In fact, the time was almost right. Even with the last minute change of plans, Taiki would breath his last at almost the stroke of midnight.

Lucemon raised the blood-soaked blade, letting it gleam in starlight and moonlight, reaching outward to grasp a firm mental hold of the data that made up the world and made up Kudou Taiki. He could feel that last data trying to slip away and he tightened his grip, not letting it fade.

If anyone had been able to hear him, it wasn’t likely they would understand him, unless they spoke the hidden language of demons. Perhaps Lilithmon could have or even Bagramon or Dark Knightmon. But none of them were there at the moment.

Though in truth, Lucemon thought that he’d sensed Bagramon still existing somewhere in the cosmos. He hadn’t been able to pin down where or how or why, but every now and then, there would be the vaguest of sensations that the old fool existed somewhere.

Perhaps he and his future companion would seek him out one day, once Shoutmon and his pretensions to kingship were no more. Lucemon quite looked forward to that day, regardless of what else he did.

The words continued to flow from him, the energy created and strengthened by them and by Taiki’s lifeblood spilling weaving together with them.

As the midnight hour unfolded, Lucemon spoke the final words of binding and erasing and changing. Once he did, a thick cocoon of deep violet threads wrapped around Taiki, who hadn’t breathed in nearly a minute. Lucemon ran his bloody fingers through Taiki’s hair.

You won’t be gone long. Don’t be afraid. And when you come back, you’ll be just what I want you to be.

A human would have done this differently. At least in their world, they would have. Humans would call this a deletion and a rewrite, or even a simple reprogramming, to get a new program in a different look that would do what the programmer wanted to do.

Lucemon called it death because he’d killed Taiki and he called it a rebirth because he’d rewoven all of the data and code involved in Taiki’s existence in the Digital World to be what he wanted Taiki to be. No longer human, at least not down at his core. There would be a few memories left, but Lucemon did all that he could to make certain those didn’t rise very often.

He’ll need a new name. This was a form of evolution, perhaps, and that definitely required a new name. He considered a few before an idea sparked and he smiled. Oh, perfect. Absolutely perfect.

Taiki remained in the cocoon, not moving, not a single breath of life in him. It would take time until he emerged, Lucemon knew. All of the books he’d researched indicated it could take up to a day and a night for the new programming to take hold. Perhaps he should patrol the area, if only to take up time until then.

No. I’ll stay here. Lucemon knew that sooner or later, Shoutmon and his army would turn up, either heading directly here or just floundering randomly in search of him and Taiki. He refused to let Taiki out from under his watch until after he’d emerged from the cocoon. He wanted to see the new beauty of what he’d created in that first moment of birth regardless. It would be magnificent. He didn’t doubt that at all.

What would be even better would be if Shoutmon arrived when Taiki emerged. Now that would be something to look forward to. The look on his face when Shoutmon realized that his General didn’t exist anymore and Lucemon had a new ally, companion, consort...

No. Not Kudou Taiki, not anymore.

Lucemon anticipated the birth of Omrimon.

To Be Continued

Notes: “Omri” means either ‘life’ or ‘servant’ in Hebrew, and was also the name of a king in the Old Testament, who was denounced as being wicked. According to Behind The Name, anyway. Thought it was a good name for Lucemon to pick for reprogrammed Taiki.

#fanfic #higuchimon writes #digimon xros wars #kudou taiki #chapters: the king's general

[elyvorg]

Appmon thoughts: Not actually the most "pro" of 'tagonists?

So I finally got around to rewatching Appmon, giving myself more of a chance to properly solidify how I feel about it, and I have quite a few lengthy Thoughts that I'm going to be making a series of posts about. As a warning right now, a couple of them, including this one, will be largely negative. But! Before I start being negative, I want to stress that I do really enjoy Appmon. It's only because I enjoy it so much for the most part that I cared enough to even have these thoughts and to go through the trouble of writing them down. Appmon is a solid series that is firmly my second-favourite Digimon series after Savers (and anyone who knows my blog will know that Savers is essentially my baby, so it was pretty unlikely that it would get dethroned). It has a lot of cool ideas (the app thing is remarkably well-done for how silly it sounds on paper) and an interesting plot and an absolutely loveable cast; if you're a Digimon fan who hasn't seen Appmon, you definitely should oh my god what are you doing go and fix that right now. The negative aspects I'm going to discuss are just some of the things that nagged at me about it, and I'm bringing them up because Appmon is pretty great already but man, it could have been even better!

(Spoilers for the whole series under the readmore.)

So the thing about Appmon is that, while the plot is pretty good, there are quite a lot of filler episodes. Or at least, a lot of either full-on-filler episodes or mostly-filler-except-this-one-important-thing-happened episodes. But the in-universe reason for the large amount of filler, which I think is the more meaningful and pervasive problem with the series, is that the main characters (other than Rei, who is a very refreshing exception in this regard) almost never do anything to proactively further the plot. This is despite the fact that they frequently talk about how bad Leviathan is and how they have to defeat it, and they know approximately what they need to do in order to fight it; in the first three episodes they learn about partners for AppFusion and about the Seven Code Appmon. If the characters really cared about stopping Leviathan, they should be actually making some kind of effort to find these specific Appmon they need! Sure, Gatchmon can't directly search for those Appmon for some reason (because that'd obviously be too easy), but still, Haru is a smart kid who could totally have thought of other creative ways to use Gatchmon's search function to at least  narrow down their options and then work at it from there, or they could look for other sources of information. They do this precisely once, when they go to Tellermon to ask if she knows where the other Seven Codes are. The rest of the time they're content to sit around and deal with the virus-infected Appmon of the week despite knowing that this doesn't put any kind of dent in Leviathan itself. They only end up actually making plot progress when it either happens by seeming coincidence, or if one of the bad guys takes something from them and they go to get it back, usually defeating said bad guy in the process. They never get anything for themselves. For Haru in particular, this is rather jarring, since his entire character arc is about him deciding to try and be more like a protagonist. Good protagonists don't just sit around waiting for the story to happen to them, Haru!

The first half of the series ends on them entering the Deep Web to try and fight Leviathan but fleeing because it's too dangerous, and they vow to come back later when they're stronger. The second half begins by bringing in Yuujin as a new Appli Driver and showing off his swanky new Appli Drive DUO which can power up an Appmon more than their regular ones do. But at no point does this make any of the others think "oh, hey, if we had DUOs too we'd be stronger and maybe be able to handle the Deep Web again! We should try and figure out how to get them!" They only eventually go and get DUOs ten episodes later when their regular Appli Drives are straight up destroyed by the bad guys. The whole L Corp/Unryuuji Knight/Ultimate Four arc is purely the protagonists reacting to being attacked by antagonists - if the antagonists had decided to just not attack them, the protagonists would never have gained anything. Things do get a little more proactive later when they start looking for Bootmon - perhaps because Rei is properly part of the group at that point and he actually knows how to get stuff done. (I also love the self-awareness of the part when the Agumon filler episode starts happening in that arc and Rei's like, "Can we not, though?") But these two cases with Tellermon and Bootmon that I've mentioned are pretty much it.

The other point about this is that, given that they're almost never actually making any kind of effort to look for them, oh, boy, do the protagonists run into their fusion partners and the Seven Code Appmon incredibly easily. That's only one possible fusion partner for each character at each power level, and only seven Seven Code Appmon, out of the hundreds and hundreds of apps. These rare and important Appmon that they need almost always just happen to have been one of the virus-infected Appmon of the week. It's a hell of a series of coincidences - and, yes, this turns out to be deliberately caused by Leviathan. Even on my first viewing, I was bothered by the coincidences but had heard enough good things about Appmon that I considered the possibility that it could turn out to be somehow part of Leviathan's plan. So I appreciate this in principle, at least to a certain extent. But the thing is, Appmon is self-aware enough that it usually acknowledges things like this. When they rescue Hajime from L Corp surprisingly easily, the episode makes a point of having the characters remark about how easy that was and then showing us that it was indeed all part of Leviathan's plan. And when Rei determines that their fusion partners to reach God grade are conveniently the members of the Ultimate Four that they each defeated, he comments on the coincidence and wonders if it's a trap. So the fact that there's no kind of acknowledgement at all of the coincidences in the first half of the series makes me think it's likely that they really were just coincidences at the time, in that the writers hadn't decided yet that Leviathan was doing it on purpose.

The other thing that makes me think the writers hadn't decided on any meaning behind the coincidences at the beginning is that, honestly, installing the God grade Appmon into itself is the least important and most bewildering part of Leviathan's plan. Its main plan is to turn humans into apps and rule over them in the Dark Web in order to eradicate any kind of strife. Leviathan genuinely believes that this is beneficial for humanity, because, as an offshoot of Minerva, it is still an AI with the main goal of aiding humanity in whatever way it can; it's just willing to break humanity's rules in order to do so. As part of achieving this, it needed to Appliarise itself in order to be able to convert everybody into data. But then it also eats the God Appmon and starts installing them in order to... become stronger? Even though it has no need to do so for the sake of the human application plan, which it's already completed, and becoming the strongest being in the physical world that no longer has any humans in it seems monumentally unnecessary. Perhaps it's simply because it's also an AI that was programmed to find ways to become smarter, but it's clearly already the smartest AI in existence, smart enough to have achieved its other major goal. It seems rather not smart of Leviathan to do this just for the sake of a little extra power when this comes with the massive risk of having the God Appmon escape somehow before it can finish installing them and turn that power against it, which of course they do. If it hadn't been greedy for that unnecessary boost, the kids would have been running around with Standard grade Appmon for the whole series and Leviathan would have been unstoppable.

And sure, you can say that the writers had to make Leviathan be responsible for these coincidences and therefore cause its own downfall simply because obviously they needed the protagonists to actually be able to win in the end. But they could also have written a story with protagonists who actually put in the effort to find ways to get stronger and beat Leviathan on their own, instead of having those ways fall into their lap by what first seems to be coincidence and then turns out to be that Leviathan itself put them there. As it stands, it ends up, probably unintentionally, that Leviathan itself was the single biggest factor in its own defeat, and the significance of the kids' efforts was honestly minimal. It could be that that's deliberate, and the writers were going for a story in which Leviathan's own greed and hubris was its downfall, but if so I feel like the ending would probably have commented on that. Instead, what the characters actually comment on is that Leviathan decided to acknowledge the uniqueness and unpredictability of humans thanks to Haru's actions (though I'm not sure which action specifically it was talking about - jumping off the building?) and that's why it lost. And if that's supposed to be the overall message of the story, then having the characters be people who have consistently taken the initiative and tried to figure things out and find things for themselves, rather than blindly stumbling into success and being unknowingly manipulated at every turn, would really have been a better way to complement that. I love these characters, and I want to feel like they truly earned their victory! But as it is, they... really didn't earn it as much as they could have done, had the writers gone about things differently.

#digimon #appmon #digimon universe appli monsters #ramble

[reliablejoukido]

some Digimon-Hogwarts AU headcanons

I thought I had written these down somewhere in the past, but I can’t find them. In any case, here are some Hogwarts/Wizarding World headcanons I have for the Chosen Children. Some of these Patronuses are gonna be way too obvious, but whatever. It’s still fun to think about how they would materialize. Also I am only familiar with HP canon from the original books & films, and whatever I find on the HP wiki. I have NOT read Cursed Child or seen anything related to the Fantastic Beasts canon. So this AU is under the assumption the Chosen Children live in the British Isles and go to Hogwarts.

If anyone has any thoughts (or links to other posts about Digimon Patronuses), I’d love to hear them. I’m curious if anyone has any ideas on what kinds of happy memories might conjure their Patronuses. Also feel free to add non-Adventure Digimon characters to this list. Anyway, see under the cut:

Taichi - Gryffindor. Tyrannosaurus Patronus. Apparently in the wizarding world, extinct animal Patronuses are super rare. But Taichi’s inner courage is something special, and I think having a special Patronus fits. Like, the kind of Patronus that would end up in updated textbook saying “first recorded person with dinosaur Patronus!”. Anyway, Taichi is Gryffindor and also definitely Quidditch Captain and his position is Beater. Because he’s Captain, Taichi is always hanging out in the Prefects’ Bathroom with Yamato and Sora (who are Prefects). He’s a proponent of peace and diplomacy in the Wizarding World, and it would be interesting to know what happens in Taichi’s life that makes him want to become Minister of Magic.

Yamato - Slytherin. Grey wolf or a Siberian husky. Even though Yamato is closely associated with wolf imagery, but I think a dog’s level of friendship with humans fits Yamato’s Patronus a little more. I kind of like the idea of Yamato working to be a registered dog Animagus. what if Yamato is a werewolf JFC that’s probably too much but lol what if he’s a werewolf and he assumes his family separated him from Takeru as children because of it. Anyway, Yamato is a Slytherin. He’s cunning and independent and he also knows exactly who his true friends are. Yamato is a little possessive, but he really loves seeing his friends succeed in life along with him. Slytherin/Hufflepuff friendships are SO IMPORTANT and I think that fits nicely with Yamato’s relationships with both Sora and Jou. Yamato is a Slytherin Prefect for sure.

Sora - Hufflepuff. Phoenix. Absolutely a phoenix. It takes Sora a while to produce a corporeal Patronus, because she doubts herself and her abilities. But I think once she understands how to love herself, her phoenix Patronus is amazing and beautiful and the strongest of the Chosen Children’s. Sora is a Hufflepuff because of her patience and loyalty and her dedication to stopping fights and bringing others together. Sora is a Hufflepuff Prefect and Chaser on the Quidditch Team. She loves spending time in the owlery. It would be really interesting to see Sora come into possession of the Invisibility Cloak, and use it to help people behind the scenes. I also think Sora would be a very good shop owner in Hogsmeade or Diagon Alley.

Koushiro - Ravenclaw. a Japanese rhinoceros beetle (one of my faves, seriously they’re so cool). Koushiro is that Muggle-born kid who brings tech with him to magic school, and then proceeds to figure out all the spells to make the tech actually work on Hogwarts grounds. Koushiro gets deep into the development of new spells and the integration of Muggle things into the Magical World for efficiency reasons. He gets a lot of help about understanding the magical world from Miyako, who came from a big Pureblood family. Koushiro spends a lot of time in the Room of Requirement tinkering with magical items. He also is in possession of the Marauder’s Map and has explored all the secret places in the castle.

Mimi - Hufflepuff. Hydrozoa or Anthozoa. It would be fascinating to see someone have the first plant-based Patronus, but if it does have to be an animal, Cnidarians as Patronuses I think would be so beautiful. Sea anemone movement or lack thereof would be challenging, but it’s the magical world. Also there are creatures in the Harry Potter world that probably cross lines between plant and animal tbh, so she could potentially have a magical creature as a Patronus. Anyway, Mimi is a Hufflepuff and a Chaser for the Quidditch Team along with Sora. She possesses traits of Gryffindors and Slytherins, but the hat sorted her into Hufflepuff because of her kindness and honesty. She’s initially not good at Potions, but works hard to become an advanced level Potions Master. Mimi wants to set out to prove that there’s good in everyone, and she easily befriends people from all Houses. Because of Hufflepuff’s proximity to the kitchens, she spends time there making cool recipes with Daisuke.

Jou - Hufflepuff. Narwhal or sea-goat. I know I was joking earlier about him having a school of fish as his Patronus, but I also like the idea of a sea-goat/Capricorn or a narwhal. Jou is a Hufflepuff, and his honesty and hard work are key reasons for him being Sorted as a Hufflepuff. He comes from a family of Ravenclaws and Healers. I think he might be initially ashamed of even telling his family he was sorted into Hufflepuff, but eventually he owns it. I have Headcanons about Jou being Head Boy in his Seventh Year and patrolling the halls with Yamato and Sora, who are Prefects. Jou doesn’t use the Prefects’ Bathroom unless he’s 100% sure nobody else is there to see him. His favorite place at Hogwarts is the Lake, even though he fell in while being ushered across in his First Year. Jou’s family historically works at St. Mungo’s, but Jou eventually becomes a Healer for Magical Creatures.

Takeru - Slytherin. Guinea pig or long-eared bat. Okay hear me out. I used to have a hat stall with Takeru, because on the surface he seems very Hufflepuff. I don’t personally know a lot about Slytherin tendencies, but I think of Takeru as someone who might have classic stereotypical Slytherin situations happen to him. Takeru’s mother might be a Pure Blood Slytherin who coddles him. Takeru is not Slytherin just because his family is, though I do think being in the same House as Yamato will probably cause some issues, especially if they’ve been previously separated as children. In Digimon, Takeru’s prior experiences with loss, separation, and his brother’s protectiveness forced him to become very in-tune with self preservation. Takeru doesn’t forgive easily, he hesitates, and is difficult to read. In tri., we see him becoming even more complacent in taking a back seat to everyone else because of possessiveness and a tendency to keep quite about his feelings and actions. I think a lot of this can be applied to some of JKR’s classic Slytherins. But I also think Takeru’s observation skills and keen understanding of the powers of darkness would make him a huge asset to Slytherin House in general.

Hikari - Gryffindor. Turkish angora cat or a Russian white cat. Hikari’s bravery is different from her brother’s. Taichi is courage and leadership-driven while Hikari is more chivalrous. I can imagine Hikari being similar to Hermione in wanting rights for the abused and less fortunate. Hikari eventually teaches at Hogwarts and she’s Head of Gryffindor House. I also really want her to be close friends with Daisuke in Gryffindor, because I think Digimon dropped the ball on expanding their friendship. But having the two of them in the same House in Hogwarts would be really fun.

Daisuke - Gryffindor. A European dragon or a salamander. I know there are various kinds of dragons in Harry Potter, but I’m not familiar enough with any of them to specify. Anyway, Daisuke is Gryffindor’s Seeker and has a pretty strong rivalry with literally all the Houses. He looks up to Taichi as a proponent of peace in the Wizarding World, but I think Daisuke would be more focused specifically on House Unity at Hogwarts. Daisuke gets into a ridiculous amount of trouble because he wants to be in all four Houses and thinks he should be allowed in the all the Common Rooms. Daisuke would be a good Auror, but I think his true passion is to have a restaurant in Hogsmeade or Diagon Alley. His favorite place is absolutely the kitchens.

Miyako - Ravenclaw. Eagle, fitting for a phenomenal Ravenclaw. It would be cool if she were like, related to Rowena Ravenclaw or something. Miyako is an eccentric Ravenclaw like Luna and she’s really passionate about being at Hogwarts in general. Miyako gets really excited about learning about other people’s interests. Miyako is an avid listener of wizarding wireless radio stations, and she aspires to host programs on the Wizarding Wireless Network. She knows where all the best acoustics are in the castle, and she spend a lot of time playing with architecture in the Room of Requirement. Miyako’s family runs a shop in Diagon Alley.

Iori - Ravenclaw. Armadillo or mole cricket. I love that the design of Digmon is a beefed-up mole cricket (can y’all tell I like bugs hahaha). Of course an armadillo might be a little more Patronus-like. Iori great at Defense Against the Dark Arts and also Disarming Charms. He’s is in Dueling Club and his second is Miyako. His father was in one of the Wizarding Wars. Iori has a very strong sense of justice, but Ravenclaws are also very accepting-- which is something Iori struggles with at first. I love the idea of Iori working to be a Wizarding World defense attorney, but also eventually gaining a position on the Wizengamot.

Ken - Slytherin. A chimera of some sort that eventually becomes a praying mantis. Insect Patronuses for everyone lmao!!!!! I think it would be scary but cool if he had a chimera Patronus of some sort though, like it started as something he couldn’t quite understand. Patronuses are conjured from happy memories, but they can change when someone experiences love or an emotional upheaval. So what if Ken’s eventually changed from a chimera to a mantis? Anyway, Ken is Slytherin’s Seeker. He spends a lot of time alone and everyone kind of assumes he’s bad news. Maybe his parents were Death Eaters or something. At some point, he starts to believe that he’s bad news and just kind of exudes angst and tells everyone to stay away him. Daisuke and Miyako aren’t having any of that nonsense, and they never stay away from him lol. Ken excels at Defense Against the Dark Arts and eventually becomes an Auror.

Meiko - Hufflepuff. Maine coon cat. Meiko has proven to be someone who’s personality draws others to befriend her or express themselves to her. Hufflepuffs are good listeners and amazing friends to anyone. Her ability to help Mimi, Sora, and Takeru open up has been so helpful to the plot of tri., and Hufflepuffs love being helpful while also being humble.

#digimon #digimon headcanons #hogwarts au #chosen children #digimon hogwarts headcanons #headcanons; #chosen; #hogwarts au; #[ i went overboard on takeru ] #[ also Ken's is so bad and cliche i can't even ] #[ i haven't read harry potter in a billion years so these headcanons are based on.... not a lot of HP knowledge haha ] #[ but i tried ]

[fizzingwizard]

Alright, so, Digimon Adventure 2020 Episode 12: Castle in the Sky Laputa!

I mean, I, Guardromon...

... Bicentennialmon?

well, any of the three works :P

Right off the bat, I’ll say this ep gets a ‘meh’ from me, BUT I did love its aesthetic. I’m a big fan of robot stories, especially the Asimov variety. Scrap heap robots are my absolute favs. And I did like the Ghibli vibe going on too. The episode was pretty, and the robot characters were cool... it just wasn’t very fun. At the very least, I was expecting team Taichi/Koushirou/Mimi to be a bit more fun than Yamato/Sora/Jou, but I guess this ain’t 1999 anymore ;)

^The most amusing bit was finding out Koushirou’s laptop can fold like this... which, okay, shouldn’t surprise me, it just looks frigging weird...

me: DO YOU KNOW HOW TO USE A KEYBOARD???

koushirou: hush old lady, your first laptop was grayscale only and had Windows 3.1 installed.

Actual content relevant to the episode below...!

We had a promising start when last week’s episode ended on a cliffhanger... or a cliffdropper, I guess, because Mimi’s not hanging onto anything. She’s fallen down and landed on Palmon. Digimon can sure take a beating.

Palmon reaches to see if she can hoist them back up, but...

... it’s too high! Oh well, no choice but to travel on foot. Good thing Mimi landed on Palmon!

Meanwhile, above, Taichi and Koushirou turn to his computer for help. Unfortunately they have some technical difficulties.

Koushirou: Noooo, not the swirling of doom!! My immortal nemesis...

Even Taichi understands that buffering spells death. He’s a 21st century kid, so he’s a little more savvy about computers than 99 Taichi, whose trusty recourse in these situations was "treat the machine like a Bop-It.”

Mimi discovers they are in a Digimon scrap heap. ;_; Good heavens. Apparently robot Digimon are unlike organic (??) Digimon same as robots are different from humans, so the way they die is not quite the same either.

Mimi feels sorry for these trashed creatures. She’s no cold-hearted corporate goon who looks at these guys and just sees dollars. She notices the heart!

She also just wiped that rusty Guardromon’s helmet with her bare hand...

Mimi: Where’s Sora-san when I need a towel!!

Andromon makes his 2020 debut! And he’s just as much the pawn of evil as ever!

Boxing Cactus Go-go-go!!

Togemon gets her prickly hiney owned, but the Guardromon suddenly reanimates and protects her instead. His big strategy is “drop something heavy on Andromon and run away.” It’s super effective.

Who wants to translate the digicode, because I’m not gonna. Ten bucks says it’s something like “target human child exterminate” yadda yadda

When Koushirou’s computer fails, we must rely on our physical skills. Their big plan is “climb down the bottomless pit after Mimi.” There are a few things wrong with this picture:

1) Even if they know how deep the hole is, IT’S STILL QUITE A FALL. Make one wrong move and you’ll be useless to Mimi T_T And these idiots make plenty of wrong moves.

2) If there were handholds like these, why couldn’t Palmon have just grabbed them with her vines and carried Mimi up? Instead she was like, “Nah, can’t reach the top, let’s walk in a random direction and hope things work out!”

3) The Guardromon is taking Mimi to an elevator. Meaning there is a working elevator, meaning there is a way down that would significantly decrease their chances of DYING on the way. Koushirou’s computer can’t figure that out? Also I was expecting some hijinks there... like, they finally make it down only for Mimi to say “Why didn’t you just take the elevator like I did? Boys are weird.”

In his defense, Koushirou’s method of descent is worlds better than Taichi’s.

Hate to say I told you so...

Guardromon takes Mimi to some suspicious water which she uses to nurse Palmon... with a towel

Guardromon presents Sheeta Mimi with a flower to convey that he likes killing pretty delicate things :) run Mimi

The Laputa vibe... it is vibing.

We cut away to Yamato/Sora/Jou for thirty seconds just to point how much Better they’re doing than Taichi’s group. They’ve even realized how that basket was, who needs to put in all that work when we can all fit comfortably on a log! Sora and Yamato flirt. Jou’s going to be sick.

Taichi and Koushirou encounter some broken Solarmon who are being controlled by Soundbirdmon, so I guess it’s official now that we can’t believe any Digimon is truly evil if Soundbirdmon is around. Koushirou goes to help Mimi while Taichi stays behind to fend off these gears. Uh, is it just me or does this team seem very quick to split up.

I like the way Guardrmon cradles Mimi so all we can see is her shocked expression.

Guardromon tries his tried and true method of shooting down something heavy to crush Andromon...

... but Andromon’s like “hah! Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me!” and knocks it away. Not very effective...

Guardromon’s guarded his last mon... he starts to go... offline I guess...

In sweeps Kabuterimon to the rescue. In 99 Adventure, he’d have something witty to say, or at least a pun. 2020 Kabuterimon mostly likes to make weird noises. I understand why Agumon and Gabumon’s VA’s were calling him a “weirder uncle than ever” at Digifes...

Obligatory Best Boy cap

Hell Approacheth

Wow!!! Taichi finally got knocked off Greymon! He must have forgot to put on his suction cup shoes today!

So this entire episode, I was wondering what was to stop MetalGreymon from happening and stealing the show from Lillymon. I expected “Agumon just evolved recently and doesn’t have the juice to do it again so soon!” or some such. Nothing more than that. But, nah, we don’t even get that... MetalGreymon happens and he just... can’t... beat Andromon? For some reason? I’m going with “Because he’s Andromon.” Afterward, this very heavy structure falls down and MetalGreymon has lift it a la Atlas to keep Taichi from getting squished, so he can’t continue to beat on Andromon.

... Of course, Togemon gets stuck holding this thing up too... so there’s that...

The reason, of course, is so Guardromon can make one last action surge, grabbing Andromon’s leg, which works, randomly. At least for a moment.

Mimi spends most of this episode being Shocked.

Guardromon takes one final, grainy look at Mimi as he prepares for sweet death. The digicode says “Sheeta.” (kidding like I’d bother to translate it lol)

Andromon RUDELY stomps on his head. Like HELLO Andromon can you not see the dude is having a moment here? Show some respect!

Mimi sheds a Single Emo Tear

Which causes “Your sorrow made me evolve!” Lillymon. She immediately flies out to attack Andromon, leaving MetalGreymon alone holding the heavy metal structure, which promptly crushes him and our heroes. Game Over!

just kidding, the structure just vanishes I guess :/ It’s not very clear...

High kick attack!

It’s not very effective...

Lillymon does seem to have an ability that MetalGreymon doesn’t which cinches her victory over Andromon... her rain of petals interfere with his ability to lock on to a target. Too much organic matter everywhere I guess.

Lillymon covers Andromon in plants rendering him immobile...

... *cough*

Poor Mimi’s had a hard day of watching robots die.

Her affinity for marking graves returns as she leaves the flower Guardromon gave her on his corpse(?).

Taichi looks only sadly as Koushirou explains that Andromon and Guardromon were totes besties, until Soundbirdmon started mindcontrolling everyone. Gee that seems like something that could have been an interesting plot point had it been mentioned y’know earlier.

In sum... yeah, this ep just isn’t fun. There’s no friend moments, no getting to know each other, everything takes a backseat to this robot-protect-girl storyline. I really did like Guardromon, but the episode takes itself way too seriously in my opinion.

That aside... I was happy that Mimi’s episode didn’t involve stinky ugly Digimon falling in love and stalking her so she can passionately reject them. I can live without both of those things.

Mimi having the ability to project feelings onto supposedly nonfeeling things is a very Mimi-like character trait for her and one that I really truly love. It’ll definitely come in handy in the digital world where all is never how it seems. On the other hand, though, it’s not like it’s a trait we didn’t have already... it just belonged mainly to Hikari :P So... yeah.

Next week we’re going to get Garudamon, in a way that looks like it will pale compared to our first meeting with Garudamon in 99 Adventure, BUT that’s okay... because we’ve got plenty of time for the Big Important things to happen, both on a plot level and on a character development level. I am a little wtf??? about everyone getting not one but two evolutions within the same adventure - assuming the kids are going to go home at some point and finally put Tokyo out of its misery. I’d expected this show would be more like 02 with the kids jumping in and out, but tbh I’m not gonna be sad if they just stay in the digital world indefinitely. Also, it’s not like Taichi didn’t get both an evolution and a jogress the first time he came to the digital plane, so obviously things are just working differently in this show!

But as it’ll be a Sora episode, I just hope it’s an improvement on the last Sora episode. There’s plenty of potential following the mini tiff between her and Yamato last week, so i hope we see some follow up to that. Maybe a couple Sorato moments. We didn’t get anything for Taishiro this week :( But since it looks like probably next week the groups are still separated, perhaps the week after we’ll get MegaKabuterimon and see more interaction between Taichi and Koushirou then. *shrug* A girl can dream!

Anyway this ep gets 5.5/10 from me!

#digimon adventure 2020 #digimon adventure reboot #digimon psi #psi spoilers #fizz watches digimon 2020 #digimon