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dutchforstrangers · 5 months

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Tour • ne • sol - Taiora double bill pt. 2

January 6th/7th 2024.

Summary: On the day after New Year's Eve, Sora misses her sunny boyfriend, worrying herself sick over his whereabouts. Luckily, her friends have some flower-y surprises, with the biggest one to come at the end.

A/N: Happy New Year! Today marks the date of something dear to my heart and so it’s time for Taiora double bill part 2 (here's part 1)! See it as some sort of “anniversary present” ;) And remember, no matter how far we’re apart, turn your head to the sun (or moon, because you’re more of a moon person) and you know we live underneath the same sky <3 Enjoy! P.S. That song is an ChatGPT original haha :D

Taiora double bill pt. 2 | Characters: Sora Takenouchi (POV) x Taichi Yagami, appearances and mentions of the other DigiDestined | Genre: Long distance surprise, romance, general, friendship | Rating: T | Wordcount: 3.094

Tour • ne • sol

Sora would be lying when she said New Year’s was a blast. Right before the clock would strike midnight, she had felt nothing but anxious and alone. Why exactly that feeling was dominating, she couldn’t pinpoint. She was surrounded by people she loved and who loved her back just as much, if not more. And the past year had been an absolute miracle in so many ways. Her trip to Italy standing out to her the most.

The trip to Taichi. The trip that changed it all.

It had been one of the hardest goodbyes when they had to part in August, knowing he had to stay while she had to leave again. It was a bittersweet goodbye. Bitter, because their parting happened right after finally answering the genuine love the two of them had been feeling all along. Sweet, because, at least, it wasn’t forever.

Fortunately, time had passed rather quickly and now it was already January 1st. Taichi would return to Tokyo at the end of February, in time for her birthday and a planned vacation they would spend together. Sora was absolutely thrilled, looking forward to every future second. Sure she had been missing him until now, but it would all turn out fine.

Still there was this anxious feeling.

Perhaps, deep down inside, she was afraid for his return. Would the feelings have stayed the same, or did they change? What if he would look different than what she could remember. Than how she had always known him? Something told her, however, that that anxious feeling had nothing to do with those irrational fears.

Sora bit her lip, looking down at the cellphone in her hand. The screen was lit, on it Taichi’s last message to her.

Happiest of New Years to you my lovely Sora!

It had definitely turned a smile on her face and of course she texted back as soon as she could, but due to an overloaded mobile network and the poor reception that was the logical follow-up, her message didn’t come through. That had made her anxious of course, but the phone call she had with him earlier in the day had made up for it.

But now it was the morning after, her message was eventually sent, but he didn’t replied, probably not even seen it. A wave of sadness overcame Sora and the anxious feeling of being forgotten washed over her.

Sora sighed.

For all she knew, Taichi was still celebrating with his newfound friends in Italy. She wanted, needed, to know and with her fingers she typed another message to ask him about his day and celebrations, only for it to be deleted again right after. She wasn’t the pushy girlfriend, right? If he wanted to text her, he would.

All sorts of scenarios crossed her mind, from Taichi kissing other girls to him being drunk from all the Italian wine and this passed out. Maybe his phone died. Maybe it fell, or he lost it…

“Stop it Sora, you can trust him! Right?” she said out loud to no one in particular as she held her phone to her forehead. For a little while she stood like that, unnecessary tears stinging behind her closed eyes. She wasn’t going to give in to those, and she didn’t have to.

Through her eyelids Sora could see a sudden light, cueing that her phone had just received a message to show her. Her eyes shot open and within a second she had unlocked her phone. Her messaging thread with Taichi was still opened, but there was no new message to be found.

Slightly annoyed, Sora swiped away Taichi’s chat to see who was the one who had sent her a message. Probably her mom telling her she had forgotten something at their house early this morning, she immediately thought, but she was surprised by someone else’s name.

Sora-san! Happy New Year! I have a little present for you, I’m at your door in 5 minutes. Could you open up? Love you soooooo much!

It was Mimi and a smile replaced her frown. Sora remembered how lucky she had been with such wonderful friends, then remembered she wasn’t exactly dressed to receive guests, so she hurried to the bathroom to wash up and dress herself in something more decent. She hoped that Mimi’s coming by would cheer her up good enough to stop the sulking over her boyfriend being far far away from her.

Just in time before she could get back into the sulking, the bell rang and she sprinted to the door to welcome Mimi in. As she opened the door, Sora tilted her head in pleasant surprise.

“Not alone I see?” she asked with a grin on her face.

“Hello Sora-san, happy New Year.”

“Nope! As you can see, I dragged Koushiro-kun with me. Hope that’s okay with you? We actually won’t stay long,” Mimi said with a wink.

The two guests entered Sora’s apartment, both of them being familiar enough to know the way once inside. Sora closed the door and followed her friends into her own living room where all three of them took a seat, Mimi on the chair and Sora and Koushiro on the couch. Mimi placed the bag she had been holding on the coffee table in front of Sora.

“I baked you something!” Mimi exclaimed happily as she impatiently waited for Sora to reveal the insides of the bag.

She found it the sweetest gesture, but had no clue to what she owed this exactly. Nonetheless, she was grateful for it and carefully unpacked the baking from the bag.

“Is it a carrot cake?”

“Mmhm!” Mimi confirmed excitedly, nodding her head rapidly. “But I gave it a touch by adding a nice amount of sunflower seeds. To wish you both an orange and sunny new year.”

Sora smiled as she kept looking at the cake, the orange and ‘sunny’ reminding her of Taichi. She was happy with the gift, but couldn’t help to feel the sadness pinching a little. She looked up to look at Mimi, hiding away any visible sorrow.

“It looks delicious. Thank you Mimi-chan, I really appreciate it.”

“Anytime,” Mimi said lovingly, flying out of the chair to give Sora a friendly little hug. “You deserve to have all the orange and sunshine in your life. He will return in less than two months, am I right?”

Of course Mimi looked right through her, Sora thought to herself. Without saying a word, hiding it away as best as possible, Mimi knew it anyway. And of course she tried to find a way to cheer Sora up. So Sora nodded to the question, now knowing she was unable to hide it from them.

“Then why the sad face?” Mimi asked as she sat back down in the chair.

Sora looked down at her own hands. “He hasn’t texted me after his last message at midnight our time. I’m a bit worried I think?”

“I see,” Koushiro started, “it’s normal to feel that way. But I don’t think you have to worry, Sora-san.” Koushiro reassured her with a knowing smile, a careful hand gently placed on her shoulder. He usually wasn’t the type for physical reassurances like these, but with Sora he felt more open and she absolutely loved her co-redhead for it.

“Unless he fell into a river while being overly drunk. I mean, right? There is a river in Rome, right?”

“Mimi-san!” Koushiro called out. Mimi ducked away further into the chair, in her way feeling sorry for her words. Sora could only laugh at her friends’ antics, even though Mimi’s words did sting a little, exposing a possible truth Sora wished wouldn’t be true. “Anyway,”

Koushiro diverted everyone’s attention with just that one word, his hand reaching for something in his pocket. Sora watched him closely, curious what was so important to change the subject. It didn’t take long for Koushiro to take the item out and he proudly held up a USB stick.

“It contains a little PowerPoint presentation I made.”

Sora thought it was suspicious, for the simple fact that it was ‘just’ a PowerPoint and not some sort of complicated other piece of software Koushiro would have created himself.

“I think it might peaks your interest, maybe you could take a look and let me know what your findings are?”

Unable to say no to her friends, she held out her hand and took the little thing from Koushiro. “I let you know,” Sora said with her kindest smile

“But not now!” Mimi said after looking at the clock hanging on the wall. “Koushiro-kun and I have to go.”

Sora’s suspicion rose. “Why the sudden hurry?”

“Koushiro-kun and I promised to pick up my cousin from Europe!”

“Together?”

“Mimi-san didn’t want to drive alone, so she asked me to accompany her.”

It at least sounded honest. Sora nodded and followed her friends to the door to say them goodbye. As she shut the door behind them, the feeling of being alone flooded back. Sora sighed, dragging herself and her racing mind back to the living room.

Once arrived, she seated herself on the chair, slumping away while tightly holding on to one of the pillows. Her eyes looked at the cake and the USB on her coffee table and a faint and grateful smile appeared. She didn’t have much time to take it all in and wonder about their intentions.

*PING*

The phone in her pocket announced an incoming message. Her heart skipped a beat and with one sharp motion she flew out of the chair, now able to get deep into her pocket. Her heart skipped another beat seeing the first part of the name on her screen.

Yagami

She should have known though that he wasn’t the only one with that last name in her phone and disappointment hit like a stab in her stomach.

Hikari: Happy New Year dear Sora-san! I wish for you to have a warm year with lots of Love and Light that will brighten your sky. I was going through some pictures from crafts made by my kindergarten kids and I stumbled upon some shiny ones! Who knows this will make you feel less alone, he will be back before you know it.

Sora wondered whether Mimi or Koushiro had texted Hikari to let her know about how she felt. Especially after looking at the pictures of the crafts Hikari had sent her. Sunflowers, in all forms and shapes. The yellow and orangeness combined with the by the children taken creativity warmed Sora’s heart, Hikari’s attentiveness even making her heart flutter.

Still she couldn’t help but to want the attention from the girl’s brother and not Hikari. So Sora quickly typed a thank you message in return before heading over to her chat with Taichi. With blind annoyance she wrote a message.

Taichi, where are you? I’m starting to feel like I’m not important enough for you. I feel kind of neglected? Anyway, I’m worrying myself sick over you and that’s not the way to start the year for Kami’s sake.

For once she did not read it twice and immediately hit send only to feel complete guilt right after. Her heart started racing.

I’m sorry! I don’t know what’s gotten into me. I just… I love you so much and you haven’t replied to anything and I just want to know whether you’re safe or not. Please, Taichi, can you please send me a message back? Even though it’s just an “I’m OK”… I’m so sorry…

Sora bit her lip as she crushed her phone between her hands as it was the only way for her tension to get out. She was on the verge of crying, of feeling miserable and an incredibly bad girlfriend. Her mind wandered everywhere and felt numb all the same. She was slowly losing herself and hyperventilation was close.

However, a vibration in between her hands brought her back from the spiraling. For a moment she concentrated on the ongoing vibrations, easing the fast pace of her heart. Or at least try. Because the chance this was Taichi calling her was rather high after those messages she sent and Sora wasn’t sure whether she was ready to face him like this.

She was both relieved with and surprised by the caller ID popping up on her screen.

“Yamato?”

“Hey Sora, happy New Year.”

She had never felt so happy to hear his voice. There was no way for her tears to stay hidden.

“Are you okay?” He sounded worried. Knowing.

She nodded, then remembered she was on the phone. “Yes. No. I don’t know? I’m just happy it’s you who’s calling and not him.”

There was a short silence on the other side, but Sora knew Yamato was nodding his head. Taking his time to find the right words.

“I know this is hard to believe when you’re feeling the way you are feeling, but believe me as I say that Taichi hasn’t forgotten you. He would never forget about you, you and I both know that,” he reassured her and Sora nodded understandingly. “And if it helps, he hasn’t texted me either. I think he’s just… occupied. You’ll hear from him sooner than you think.”

“Okay,” she replied quietly, taking the time to let his words sink in a little more. “Thank you, Yamato, and a happy New Year to you too,” she eventually said.

“Thanks.”

“To what do I owe this phone call?” She asked.

“Erm…” he sounded nervous. “I was wondering… could you listen to these lyrics I just wrote?”

Lyrics? Sora thought to herself. “You’re writing music again?”

“Just a little something. You don’t have to listen to it if you don’t want to—”

“No! I’d love to actually.”

“Alright,” he said and after some shuffling he started softly playing.

Sora closed her eyes and she felt herself zoning out. The melody felt like warming rays of light embracing her.

As the seasons change, and the days drift by We’ll hold onto the light, under the open sky Through gentle rain, and the storms that may come, We’ll stand tall and strong, turning to the sun

The lyrics made their way to her heart and a single tear rolled its way over her cheek, a bright smile accompanying it.

“It’s beautiful,” she said as he ended his singing. They exchanged some more words, making Sora feel a bit more relaxed, then wished each other a good day.

“Oh, before I forget,” Yamato interrupted. “Please look in your mailbox, I think Takeru has left something in there. I gotta go now, take care of yourself.”

And with that he hung up, leaving Sora with questions.

Hadn’t it all been a coincidence? Her friends, acting like this. Everyone coming over, texting her, calling her, apparently leaving her things in her mailbox… Everyone, except that stupid Taichi.

Sora balled her fists, then walked to her front door, stepping into her shoes and opening it. On the ground stood a small glass bottle with a note attached to it. Another surprise.

“Hi Sora-kun, Jyou here! I got you a little massage oil, it’s made from sunflower oil and I immediately thought of you. Please save it for a special occasion. And a happy New Year!”

Again the sunflowers… What was going on with everyone?

She placed Jyou’s present inside, shut the door and headed for the staircase of her apartment’s building. Because even though she could take the elevator, the stairs seemed to be more fitting to get that adrenaline out of her system.

She jumped, flew down the stairs, skipping at least two steps of the stairs with every step. Once arrived on the ground floor, Sora sprinted to the mailbox, opening the thing and immediately seeing what Yamato had meant on the phone.

There was a little notebook with on the first page Takeru’s handwriting telling her the notebook contained handwritten short stories about sunflowers. And that all their other friends had come to him with inspiration.

Sora’s mind was blown, completely overwhelmed with all the information she received. The gifts, the sunflowers… Still the feeling of being ignored by her own boyfriend lingered the most. And she wanted to ugly cry and scream. Loud.

She turned around to see if there was anyone there who could worry over her if she was going to scream.

“Sora,”

She turned around, her eyes taking in the sight of a boy she had been longing for since midnight. His brown hair was a bit of a mess, his cheeks showing a blush, though Sora couldn’t tell whether it was from being outside or from their for her unexpected encounter. In his hand he held a bouquet of sunflowers.

Sora could feel the tears sting. Her friends were right when they said he would be back sooner than she thought he would.

“It was really hard to get these flowers in the middle of winter.”

She exhaled quick and sharp, only to inhale the air right back. “Oh no, you didn’t…”

“I kinda did?” Taichi replied and Sora could hear both the excitement as the worry in his voice. “Please don’t hate me…” He lowered the bouquet.

She had felt every emotion these past twelve hours. She had been plain mad and worried and desperate, both separately as all at once. But now, all she felt was relieve and sheer love for her Taichi standing in front of her.

“How could I?” Sora said, longing in her eyes.

“Well, I thought you’d be more excited and— ouch!”

She slapped his arm first. Then threw herself onto him, wrapping her arms around his neck while her lips found his as if they had never done anything else in life.

“Excited enough for you?” Sora asked as she parted her lips from Taichi, locking her eyes with his and staring deeply into them.

The lopsided grin on his face said it all.

x X x X x

Bonus time! (They have just watched the PowerPoint about Sunflowers made by Koushiro)

She grabbed the hem of his sleeve and stretched it out over his hand.

“What are you doing?” He asked, his eyes shifting from Sora to his sleeve and back to Sora.

Sora looked at him with a fond smile, not answering his question. She then looked down at her own sleeve and stretched it the same way she had stretched Taichi’s. Carefully she tied the two ends together into en tight knot.

“There,” she said, “forever.”

#taiora #digimon fanfiction #taichi x sora #taichi yagami #sora takenouchi #digimon #tai kamiya #tai x sora #taichi #sora #tai #happy anniversary hub <3

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redthreadoffate · 3 months

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endgame

header by @/earlgreymon

for @ashxketchum!! requested some time ago and finally got to finish it (there's a part that just won't write itself!). i know you asked for takari but your takari for me, my mimato for you (even though it's a little unfair since i love mimato, too). i still do hope you like it! i had a lot of fun writing this and it kinda went on and on as i typed once the part finally wrote itself. anyways! enjoy (i hope)!!

endgame | main characters ; yamato ishida, mimi tachikawa, some taichi yagami and sora takenouchi, can't forget gabumon, palmon, agumon, and piyomon | universe ; au / can be placed anywhere after 02 | ships ; yamato x mimi, taichi x sora, takeru x hikari | genre ; fluff, humor | word count ; 2,235 | rating ; 13+ | edited ; three times - forgive me for any mistakes

Yamato was never in the mood for flirting. He knew people fawned over him, he knew his band was worshiped by those his age, and sure, he did “have a feeling” that flirting was going to be part of his life. But he never even tried to flirt back. Well, maybe he did, but it was usually against his will.

The band was not together anymore, having to go their separate ways, but he still loved them. The flirting, however, did not stop. He knew he was a good-looking guy but now that he was living a life that did not involve anything that required him to “go out there and fly”, maybe a life without people flirting with him 24/7 would be nice.

He and Taichi were having a meal in a small diner with Gabumon and Agumon hidden beside them. The digimons were enjoying their food while their partners talked about school.

Although they took up different courses, they still had some minor classes together, which, despite Yamato not admitting it, was a relief from all the other students they swarmed with. He had made some friends, but no one at the same level he had with Taichi. Everyone came from different backgrounds, and if they were to be honest, it was a little overwhelming, especially since it was their first year in university.

“Are you going to Shinichi’s party on Friday?” Taichi asked.

“Who’s Shinichi?” Yamato questioned, not bothering to look up from his food.

“He’s in one of our minor classes,” Taichi responded, “cool guy. But this party is a little too early, don’t you think? It could be a way to make some friends, I guess. Wanna go together?”

“Can we go?” Agumon asked.

“A party’s always fun,” Gabumon said.

Taichi smiled at them and then looked at Yamato. “What do you say?”

Yamato looked over at the smiling Gabumon and Agumon and sighed. “Okay, let’s go.”

“Great!” Taichi exclaimed.

“But you’re driving,” Yamato said.

“Sora will.”

“Sora?”

“Yeah. She wants to go. But she wants to bring her car so that she can leave anytime she wants.” Taichi shrugged. “Her mom’s car. And she said walking would be a pain, Shinichi’s venue is a little far.”

“We can always ask Birdramon to fly us away,” Agumon jested.

Taichi chuckled, Gabumon laughed, and even Yamato gave a smile.

“So what time do we meet her?” Yamato asked.

“Not sure yet. But we’ll ask her, or message if we don’t see each other anytime soon.”

Yamato smirked. “Right. Anytime soon.”

When Friday arrived, Sora, Taichi, and Yamato, along with their digimon partners, were packed inside Sora’s mom’s car. It was just a four-seater after all, it would only be Mrs. Takenouchi, Sora, whenever Mr. Takenouchi would come home, and Piyomon. And of course, Piyomon rode shotgun, while the men were cramped at the back.

“I think we’re here,” Sora said, looking out the window.

“Finally,” Yamato sighed in relief.

“The place is packed and in full swing!” Taichi said.

“Let’s just find a place to park. Doesn’t look like there’s a lot of cars.”

As they drove around, Gabumon pointed at a spot and Sora immediately swirled to get to it. Both Taichi and Yamato looked at each other, surprised by the speed and sudden jerk of the ride.

They got out of the car and Taichi whispered how his soul nearly left his body after that short ride. Yamato rolled his eyes and stated that he was overreacting.

“His place isn’t that big up-close,” Taichi observed. “It’s just the garden.”

“You think there’ll be beer?” Yamato wondered.

“You three find a spot,” Sora ordered. “Somewhere we can see each other.”

“I don’t think there is a place where we can see each other,” Yamato said.

That could be true. The house was packed. So far, the three have not found anyone they knew. But they were just outside and there were not many people around, perhaps they would find more people inside.

“Think you three can go around without being seen?” Taichi asked.

“Of course!” All three digimons grinned.

The group dispersed, the digimons to the right and the Chosen Children straight ahead.

When they reached inside, they looked around for anyone familiar. After a minute of standing by the door, Sora was called by another young lady and she excused herself from the boys.

“We’ll leave at midnight on the dot,” she told them as she walked away.

“Yes, ma’am,” they both murmured.

After some time of just being together, people-watching, someone came up to them. Taichi straightened up while Yamato raised an eyebrow.

“Hey, glad you two can make it!”

“Thanks for the invite, Shinichi,” Taichi said, smiling.

“Yeah, the party’s great,” Yamato said, although he actually did not find the party that great.

“I’m glad you think so, Yamato. I really wanted your approval.” Shinichi grinned. “I heard you were pretty popular back then, I know you are right now. I wanted the approval of someone who knows how to party.”

“I don’t know how to party,” he replied. “I was in a band, but that didn’t mean we were always partying.”

“I see.” Shinichi pursed his lips. “I’m sorry for assuming. But anyway, enjoy the party.” And he waved goodbye as he disappeared into the crowd.

“I think he likes you,” Taichi joked.

Yamato sighed. “I don’t regret the band.”

“I know you don’t, we all do.” Taichi placed his hand on his friend’s shoulder. “But come on, enough of this. Time to have fun before the old lady tells us to go home.” He snickered.

Yamato scoffed. “I’m going to tell her you said that, I’m sure she won’t like it. At all.”

They both laughed.

The two did enjoy the party. They made new acquaintances and even stuck with a group. They invited Sora in and the three were glad they had new people by their side.

At some point, as the group was talking, Sora paused mid-sentence and everyone waited for her to continue.

“So—?”

“Mimi!”

Both Taichi and Yamato immediately looked to where Sora saw Mimi, followed by the rest of the group.

“What’s she doing here?” Sora wondered, her voice filled with worry.

“Why?” One of the members asked. “What’s wrong?”

Sora shook her head and headed straight for the young girl. Taichi and Yamato followed suit.

“Mimi,” Sora called her.

Mimi looked back and grinned. “Sora!” She stepped forward and gave her a hug, which Sora returned. When they let go, Mimi hugged both Taichi and Yamato as well. “I’m sure Palmon has found the others already.”

“Mimi,” Sora said softly. “What are you doing here?”

“I was invited,” she smiled. “They said there was going to be a party here and I thought it might be fun, you know. And Palmon’s with me.”

“Mimi,” Taichi started. “Who invited you?”

“Shinichi Ozawa did,” she replied. “Why? Is something wrong?”

“Well, no…” Sora said, tilting her head a little. “But, this is a college party. Does Shinichi know that you’re not a college student yet?”

Mimi began to think. “I went to your campus one time, and that’s when he invited me.”

“What were you doing on our campus?” Yamato asked.

“I wanted to surprise you all,” she answered, grinning at him. “But then I asked if you three were coming to the party. He said he wasn’t sure but I wanted to take my chances and surprise you here instead! Isn’t this fun?” Though she sounded unsure when she said the last part.

Yamato sighed. “I don’t think asking you to leave is an option, especially since you’ll be alone—even with Palmon.”

“So what do we do?” Taichi asked.

Sora licked her upper lip. “Babysit.”

Mimi’s eyes widened. “No!”

“Mimi, we don’t know these people. We don’t know these people. Please, stick with at least one of us. We’ll make it up to you, we promise. Just please, Mimi?” Sora pouted.

Mimi looked at all three of them but focused on Sora last. After a few seconds, Mimi sighed. “Okay. I don’t want to admit it but I am a little nervous about this.” She frowned. “Especially since I wasn’t even sure if you guys would be here.”

The three older Chosen Children sighed in relief.

Just then, the group that group the three were talking to appeared and asked what was happening.

“This is Mimi,” Sora introduced. “She’s one of our closest friends.”

“Really?” One of the guys asked. “I’ve never seen you around campus. What course are you in?”

“She’s from another university,” Yamato said quickly.

“May I visit you there?” the same guy asked, his voice a little flirty.

Yamato was suddenly feeling very protective of the younger girl. He did not like the thought of an older stranger visiting her. “Not at the moment,” he said.

“Why don’t you let her answer for herself?” the guy snapped.

Mimi smiled. “Yamato’s just always been protective of us. I don’t mind him answering for me…sometimes.” She giggled.

Yamato knew she was lying so he wondered why she was playing along.

The party was in even fuller swing about forty-five minutes later. Although the three knew Mimi was not too happy with the situation, they also saw that she was having a good time.

At the stroke of twelve, Sora ordered everyone out of the house after thanking Shinichi for the invite. As they headed for the car, the four digimons arrived by their side.

“Yamato, would you take the car and bring Mimi home?” Sora asked.

“Sure,” Yamato answered. “But what about you guys?”

Taichi intertwined his and Sora’s fingers and smiled.

“Got it.”

Mimi squealed. “You two have fun!”

“Agumon, Piyomon?” Palmon looked at them.

“We’ll protect them,” Piyomon said. “But we won’t ruin their moment.”

When everything was set, Yamato, Mimi, Gabumon, and Palmon entered the car. They were quiet for a while until Palmon asked Gabumon how Takeru and Hikari were.

“They’re still very shy,” Gabumon replied. “But that’s expected, right, Yamato?”

“Either very shy or very guarded,” he said with a laugh. “Taichi is still all over them.”

“And you’re not?” Mimi asked, smiling.

Yamato smirked. “Takeru can handle himself. Even if this is his first relationship.”

“Everyone knows Takeru and Hikari would be endgame,” Mimi said with a giggle.

“And Taichi and Sora, too,” Gabumon added.

“Yamato, didn’t Sora have a crush on you before? Mimi said that she gave you something special for Christmas one time. What happened?”

“Palmon!” Mimi chided.

Yamato sighed. “I’ve only told Taichi what happened.”

“I’m sorry,” Palmon said, bowing her head. “I was just very curious now that the topic came up.”

“I knew that Taichi had feelings for her, and I couldn’t do that to him, especially since I only ever felt feelings of friendship for Sora.”

“And Sora gradually had feelings for Taichi, too. And he didn’t even have to try too hard despite having strong feelings, correct?” Mimi grinned as Yamato nodded. “It just means they’re meant to be!”

The four talked more about their friend’s love lives. Mimi’s home was a little on the farther side so they had a lot of time to gossip.

Finally, Mimi had a mischievous look on her face. “What about you, Yamato?”

Yamato smirked. “What about you, Mimi?”

“Don’t turn this in my direction. I asked first.”

“If there’s nothing to say then it only makes sense the question goes back to you.”

“Oh please, someone like you is bound to have someone in mind.”

“There’s no one, Mimi. And again, what about you? If I remember correctly, you’ve always been a hopeless romantic.”

“I still am,” she admitted. “But my goal is different now. I want to play Cupid.”

“Don’t force it though.”

“I know the limits. Now c’mon, Yamato. Answer me.”

“There’s no one, Mimi.”

“Do I have to play Cupid?”

“If it’s with you then I don’t mind.” A smirk on his face.

“I’m serious!”

“Oh look, we’re here.”

Mimi looked up and sighed when she saw the building she lived in. “Okay, fine. But you owe me an answer, Ishida.”

“Yeah, yeah.” He rolled his eyes, but a smirk appeared on his face. “It’s time to go, Tachikawa. It’s getting late. Too late.”

“Will you bring the car back to Sora’s?”

“Yes. And then Gabumon and I will walk home.”

Mimi smiled. “Okay. Thanks for the ride.” She turned to the back seat as Palmon went down. “Goodnight, Gabumon.”

Yamato raised an eyebrow.

“I’ll say goodnight to you if you give me an answer.”

“The gas is running,” Yamato said, looking at the meter. “Goodnight, Mimi. Goodnight, Palmon.”

“Goodnight, Yamato,” Palmon said with a wave.

Mimi chuckled. “Okay. Goodnight, Yamato. Goodnight again, Gabumon.”

“Goodnight, Mimi. Goodnight, Palmon,” Gabumon said.

Yamato looked at her and smiled. “G’night.”

Mimi smiled once again and closed the door.

Once Yamato saw that the two had gone inside the building safely, he drove away.

“Yamato,” Gabumon said.

“Yeah?”

“You were flirting with Mimi, weren’t you?”

Yamato choked. “Flirting? Me? I wouldn’t say so.”

“You were.”

“I was not.”

“You even said—.”

“Gabumon,” Yamato said in a warning tone. This only made his digimon laugh. “Gabumon!”

“You won’t admit it, but you were!”

Yamato sighed. “You’re not letting this go, are you?” Gabumon shook his head. “Just don’t mention it to anyone. And no, I was not flirting.”

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digi-lov · 1 year

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-DIGI-LOV BLOG GUIDE-

See also @poke-lov & @onepiece-lov !

If you want to support me, feel free to leave a tip at my ko-fi page!

Basics about myself at the bottom down below!

I use #digi lov reblog for anything I reblog, in case you only wanna see original posts, and I use #not cards for posts not related to the card game.

Digimon that were requested by you can be found in the tag #fan favorites

Any asks that I've answered can be found under #lov asks

You can find all posts with any references in the tag #digimon references

If you're looking for my longer in depth posts, go to #lov rambles

If you wanna check out my posts about recolors and subspecies, go to #subspecies

You can also search for posts by the Digimon name, like #Palmon, the card artist, like #tonamikanji, by the set #BT5, or by the referenced Game title, like #Digimon World Re:Digitize , or #Digimon World next 0rder (Full game List below)

Note: Human characters are always First Name Last Name, even with the japanese names, so that I don't have to tag double if the characters name wasn't changed. Ex.: [Sora Takenouchi] vs. [Sora Takenouchi, Takenouchi Sora]

I also recently started tagging all posts by color, type, level and traits!

#color: red , #color: blue , #color: yellow , #color: green , #color: black , #color: purple , #color: white

#digimon card , #tamer card , #option card

#Lv2 , #Lv3 , #Lv4 , #Lv5 , #Lv6 , #Lv7

#type: virus , #type: data , #type: vaccine , #type: free , #type: unknown

#trait: angel , #trait: beast , #trait: mutant , #trait: cyborg

#trait: x antibody , #trait: royal knights

Games:

#Digimon World , #Digimon World 2 , #Digimon World 3 (/2003) , #Digimon World X (Digimon World 4) , #Digimon World Re:Digitize (and Decode) , #Digimon World next 0rder , #Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth

#Pocket Digimon World , #Digimon World Digital Card Arena , #Digimon World Digital Card Battle

#Digimon Battle Spirit , #Digimon Tamers Battle Evolution (Rumble Arena) , #Digimon Savers Another Mission (Digimon World Data Squad)

#Digimon Battle Terminal 02 , #Digimon Links , #Digimon Anode Cathode Tamer

I also added tags for the numblock which might be involved to determine rotations in the future? #num: 00 , #num: 01 , #num: 02 , #num: 03

These are just examples, so be sure to search for whatever you're interested in!

You're always welcome to send me asks!

About Me:

You can call me Lov! My name is Lou, the Blog name is a play on writing my name with v as the u and Love for Digimon.

I grew up watching the German Digimon Dub, and also played a lot of Digimon World, DW 2003, Rumble Arena, and more, in my childhood.

I haven't played all Digimon games yet, but I'm working on it!

I love all original Digimon Anime seasons, Adventure to Savers. I haven't gotten around to watching any newer ones myself yet.

My favorite Digimon is Bearmon! If I had a Bearmon Partner Digimon, this would be the evolution line:

YukimiBotamon > Kapurimon > Bearmon > Gryzmon > Pandamon > Dianamon

I mostly try to post cards in English to make the card text more accesible to everyone. If you see a post with Japanese Card text, I'll update it once the English version is out.

The Official Digimon Card Game Twitter didn't start sharing cards regularly until around BT-08, and anything before BT-05 is especially hard to find. I usually have to edit multiple versions of the image together. I hope you all appreciate the effort!

#lov speaks #lov asks #personal #blog update

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seventeenlovesthree · 1 year

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Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone!

For the past week, I’ve hosted quite a few polls to estimate which are currently tumblr’s most popular Digimon Adventure ships! Thank you all for participating!

This main post will analyze the general vibe of the polls, discuss limitations and biases - because every single character will get their own analysis post in the upcoming days. Thus, this main post will continuously be updated under the cut, so if you’re interested, feel free to check in every once in a while!

Discaimer: Please take into account that these results are no definitive display of the Digimon shipping landscape out there! This is just a little experiment I felt like diving into a little more for fun!

Main Polls

Taichi Yagami I & II

Yamato Ishida I & II

Sora Takenouchi I & II

Koushiro Izumi I & II

Mimi Tachikawa I & II

Jou Kido I & II

Takeru Takaishi I & II

Hikari Yagami I & II

Daisuke Motomiya I & II

Ken Ichijouji I & II

Miyako Inoue I & II

Iori Hida I & II

Meiko Mochizuki

Discussion & Links to Analysis

The vote was open from February 6th to February 13th. All the 12 main Chosen Children known from Digimon Adventure 01 and 02 received a main and a secondary poll. (Meiko Mochizuki got an additional poll.) While the main poll listed the other characters from their respective groups (either 01 or 02), the secondary poll listed each complementary group, plus a few potentially notable side characters that might be seen as viable choices in fandom.

Limitations & Biases

Before I go into presenting the most notable results, I NEED to address a few things worth taking into account.

Limited reach/exposure bias: Since there were two polls for every character (and the secondary polls got posted with a bit of a delay), the first poll usually got way more exposure than the second one. Thus, the secondary polls rarely (or only temporarily) made an impact. A few of the polls were reblogged by various blogs and thus gained more attention in general.

Low sample size: Since the polls have not been shared as often, the numbers we’re talking about are not very reliable - in some cases, one singular vote was capable of changing the entire poll, whereas in other cases, singular votes didn’t matter in the slightest, especially when it came to ships that are considered to be “rare pairs”. Thus, those didn’t have a lot of time to shine overall. Additionally, the Digimon Adventure fandom overall is a lot more quiet these days (due to lack of new content), so the polls themselves were not thriving very well.

Follower bias: Since I was the one who posted the polls, my follower circle may have had a significant impact on who was picked for which poll. Naturally, people who follow me, who like the characters/ships I like, are more likely to vote for those certain ships. For example: Koushiro and Taichi may have gotten more votes (and for each other in particular), as their polls have also been reblogged several times, whereas others didn’t get reblogged at all. I can only assume that the results for several characters might have looked a lot differently in other spheres of tumblr - or the internet in general.

Choice bias: The additional characters in the secondary polls were based on my personal guesses, so I may or may not have forgotten other fanon ship choices, which I apologize for!

Redundant voting: It cannot be guaranteed that people haven’t voted for several options in the first and second poll, instead of picking the "someone from the other poll" or "others" choice. Or: If they picked "someone from the other poll", they might not even have voted there at all, we cannot tell. Thus, there might be contradicting votes, which is why I excluded the "someone from the other poll" option in poll 1+2 as well as the "others" choice from the first poll, since they might actually have picked someone mentioned in the second poll. There will be some honorable mentions of course, but it is very difficult to categorize these, so it's a learning for the next poll!

Notable results: Winners (overall)!

Disclaimer: As the “Someone from 01/02″ and “Others” options from poll 1 and the “Someone from 01/02″ option from poll 2 have been excluded from the final analysis and all results were culminated in another “final count”, the results will not be 1:1 to what the polls look like. See Taichi’s spreadsheet for transparency (all other sheets will be included in the respective analysis posts):

Taichi Yagami: Koushiro Izumi (27%)

Yamato Ishida: Taichi Yagami (37%)

Sora Takenouchi: Taichi Yagami* (32%)

Koushiro Izumi: Taichi Yagami (55%)

Mimi Tachikawa: Jou Kido (22%)

Jou Kido: Mimi Tachikawa (38%)

Takeru Takaishi: Hikari Yagami (53%)

Hikari Yagami: Takeru Takaishi (44%)

Daisuke Motomiya: Ken Ichijouji (52%)

Ken Ichijouji: Daisuke Motomiya (61%)

Miyako Inoue: Hikari Yagami (31%)

Iori Hida: Takeru Takaishi**(22%)

Meiko Mochizuki: Mimi Tachikawa (42%)

*due to their closeness in votes, both Taichi and Yamato are displayed as winners of her poll though - in true Taiorato fashion.

**even though Noriko Kawada (39%) won the secondary poll clearly, the overall votes evened it out.

Notable results: Stats

Now, let’s dive into the more interesting bits, shall we!

Most votes overall: Taichi (164), Ken (148), Takeru (135)

Least votes overall: Iori (93), Sora (107), Jou (109) + Meiko (54, as she had only one poll)

Most polls won*: Taichi (Yamato, Sora, Koushiro), Mimi (Jyou, Meiko), Takeru (Hikari, Iori), Hikari (Takeru, Miyako)

Clear victories (+50%): Ken (Daisuke, 61%), Koushiro (Taichi, 55%), Takeru (Hikari, 53%), Daisuke (Ken, 52%)

*interestingly enough, this somewhat corresponds with the poll asking for who are the most popular Chosen Children from Adventure as well.

Notable results: Clutch races

Taichi: Yamato vs Koushiro vs Sora; although Sora was almost always third place and usually only tied with Koushiro for short periods; Yamato was in the lead for the majority of the time, but was overtaken by Koushiro in the end.

Sora: Taichi vs Yamato; Yamato led first, was then overtaken by Taichi, then briefly surpassed by Yamato again. Taichi won with the tiniest of advantages in the end, hence the poll displays both of them as winners - ironically enough, as the question of “Taiora or Sorato/Taiorato triangle?” is probably one of the most debated ship discussions of all time.

Mimi: Jou vs Koushiro; Koushiro was in the lead for the majority of the time, Jou tied on a daily basis and took over in the end. This is similar to the Taiorato race, as the “Koumi vs Jyoumi” triangle is similarly debated, albeit not as heated.

Daisuke: Even though Ken was basically unbeatable from the start, Daisuke actually has most votes tied for third place (as you will see in his individual analysis).

Miyako: Hikari vs Ken; was very close from the beginning, but Hikari led the entire time.

Iori: Miyako vs Takeru; Miyako led first, was then overtaken by Takeru. Iori’s analysis overall, however, might turn out to be the most interesting in the end, as the segment below will explain further...

Notable results: Where the 2nd poll mattered

Jou: One of the reasons why the secondary polls were created in the first place was the number of people who voted for “Others” on Jou’s poll. And thus, it is absolutely no surprise that “Bike Girl” (literally the girl he took the bike from in “Diablomon Strikes Back”) came in third overall in the end, being very closely followed by his mystery “girlfriend” in Tri (which may or may not be also Bike Girl, but this was never confirmed or denied, so we’ll never know).

Iori: The “Others” option in his first poll even surpassed Jou’s by a long shot, which will be very interesting to look at in his individual analysis. To keep it shortly for now, this and the comments made in the tags may indicate that people either had a hard time shipping him at all/seeing him as asexual, shipping him with OCs - or, as we will see, with someone from the second poll, Noriko Kawada for example.

Hikari: Daisuke and Koushiro basically had a race for third place for the majority of the run-time, which was won by Koushiro in the end only slightly.

Takeru: Similarly to what happened to Hikari; Meiko came in third at first, but was overtaken by Taichi later on.

Miyako: Mimi and Daisuke had a race for third place for a good chunk of the run-time, which was very closely won by Mimi in the end.

Personal thoughts/observations on my behalf

I actually love how two of the most influental/popular triangles in the OG Digimon Adventure verse (Taiorato + Jyoumishiro) have been racing each other until the very end - while Takari for example was comfortably in the lead the entire time. Shoutout to kbondoxxxxav who has JUST today published this beautiful artwork depicting these exact triangles/ships. It has to be noted though that both triangle races have been incredibly close and could have turned out the other way in favour of Sorato and Koumi instead of Taiora and Jyoumi at any given time. (The same can also be said about Taiyama instead of Taishiro in Taichi’s poll. Personally though, I am very happy to see that the people who voted agree with my personal opinion that Koushirou, Yamato and Sora are the most shippable choices for Taichi.)

At first, the results were a lot more variable - so the graphic I made above could have included a looooot more ships (such as Koumi or Miyori). In the end, it got very even, with one side of the ship usually winning the other side as well (like Taishiro, Jyoumi, Takari and Daiken). Interestingly enough, the Jogress partnerships have been very popular in general as well (such as Taiyama, Daiken, Miyakari and Takori).

For characters like Iori, the votes have been very torn for the majority of the time - while Takeru and Miyako were still the more prominent choices in canon, it was very easy to see how much people were struggling to make a choice here. Same with Daisuke, who, as mentioned above, had three ships competing for third place!

I really hope I will be able to repeat the votings in the future with more participation, just to see how things may have turned out if more choices could get more time to shine!

Final verdict: It was a lot of fun to observe the polls for the past week, to see how certain results would change, with even a few surprises in between!

If you have any further questions, feel free to ask!

Individual Analysis Posts

Taichi Yagami Shipping Analysis

Yamato Ishida Shipping Analysis

Sora Takenouchi Shipping Analysis

Koushiro Izumi Shipping Analysis

Mimi Tachikawa Shipping Analysis

Jou Kido Shipping Analysis

Takeru Takaishi Shipping Analysis

Hikari Yagami Shipping Analysis

Daisuke Motomiya Shipping Analysis

Ken Ichijouji Shipping Analysis

Miyako Inoue Shipping Analysis

Iori Hida Shipping Analysis

Meiko Mochizuki Shipping Analysis

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sorato-fan · 3 months

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Sorato Week 2024 - Day 1: Dark

Title: Apart Pairing: Sora/Yamato Characters: Sora Takenouchi; Yamato Ishida; Takeru Takaishi; Taichi Yagami; Haruhiko Takenouchi Summary: Yamato and Sora face their fears and worries in two moments of their lives. English Version | Brazilian Portuguese Version | Spanish Version

#Sora Takenouchi #Yamato Ishida #Digimon #Fanfic #Fanfiction #Sorato #Sora x Yamato

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ashxketchum · 2 years

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DIGIWEEK 2022 DAY 2 - MIMATO MURDER MYSTERY 🎉

>LILACS BLOOMING IN THE SNOW : PROLOGUE - A SNOWY EVENING

SUMMARY: Private Detective Yamato Ishida is called back to his hometown to find his missing best friend and solve a murder mystery that involves locked rooms and love triangles. With his new assistant Mimi Tachikawa tailing him through the snowy lanes of Hokkaido, will he be able to catch the killer before another one bites the dust?

TW: Major Character Death Mention

Pairings: Mimato, Taiora, One sided Koura.

CHAPTER ONE - THE CURTAIN RISES

#digiweek2022 #digimon #mimato #yamato ishida #mimi tachikawa #taichi yagami #sora takenouchi #takeru takaishi #digimon fanfiction #tw: major character death #tw: character death mention #digigraphic #graphics : mine #graphics : digimon #dun dun dun ahaaaa finally it's here #can't wait for everyone to go on this crazy ride with me #i hope you all read ❤️

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metalempire · 10 months

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some very thoughts on wrathful aoi and why she’s easily one of my favourite things digimon has ever done down below. spoilers ahead for all of the wrathful route of digimon survive.

wrathful route in general is peak survive thanks to how violent and unhinged it is, plus you get mugendramon from it, my favourite digimon, so of course i’m overwhelmingly biased towards it, especially since it was my first route i completed when survive came out last year. all the said, aoi has always been a fascinating take on digimon’s core Girl™ archetype, clearly based on two characters from the original 1999 digimon adventure (which survive is overtly stated to draw heavy inspiration from as a more modern and dark retelling of that story’s core archetype and thematic elements) those being sora takenouchi primarily, and jou kido secondarily.

she obviously has the Motherly™ traits down perfectly, as she is always concerned for the group, reacts negatively to violence, is very concerned for any instance of children, is a good cook, naturally caring, merciful, and kind. she also is a deeply responsible girl who puts others before herself, is an honour student who always volunteered to do the right thing at school, even to her own detriment as no one helped her. despite being seemingly the perfect girl, a class president who did no wrong, was always helpful, and never negative, she never had many friends, was scolded by teachers for being too helpful for her own good, and was seemingly always punished in small, but meaningful ways throughout life just for being what everyone wanted her to be. the parallels to sora and jou in their core traits and arcs from the show are quite clear as the route goes on, as aoi takes over as leader when takumi disappears trying to save miyuki and stop piemon.

she’s able to hold the group together, taking on even more responsibility, putting all of her skills to good use. but in the end, she isn’t takuma, she can’t savescum every response for max affinity like a true MC, and so does the best with what she has. during this time, she develops a strong bond with saki, a girl she admires deeply. saki, though being terminally ill, and near the start of the game, close to dying, is still outwardly cheery, outgoing, emotionally vibrant, and blunt about everything. saki shines bright despite the horrendous circumstances she finds herself in, and she inspires aoi, who wishes to be as driven, determined, and honest with herself as saki is. the irony being saki keeps her secret that she’s dying from everyone except aoi and floramon. though (unless i’m remembering wrong) takuma can find out. similarly, saki admires everything positive about aoi, and the two girls desperately want to be more like each other, finding that one has what the other lacks.

the tragedy of all this naturally comes to its conclusion as violently as possible. when saki dies, it’s a sudden, brutal, yet drawn out demise. saki makes a mistake, and isn’t reprimanded for it by aoi, because aoi and the others help her anyway, and the situation is too tense. aoi admires how saki can move on swiftly and back into action with the rescue effort, furthering her desire to be like saki, clouding her self-image once more, saki shining bright enough to where the glare prevents aoi from seeing she’s falling for the same trap as before. this ends up with the kenzoku grabbing saki, and aoi being the one to try and pull her back, only for saki to sacrifice herself so the girl she looks up to more than anyone in the world doesn’t die, and aoi is forced to watch her rock, the girl she’s leaned on for weeks be violently ripped apart in a bloody death, right in front of her, and cannot have time to grieve, as the team needs to move or be swallowed by the fog.

aoi’s sheer shock and depression, her sense of loss, her confusion and bubbling self doubt come to the surface totally, and she shuts down. she rejects all comforts, because she has convinced herself she knows saki better than anyone, that she, in some small way, is saki, and that this death means something more to her. saki’s death shakes aoi to her core, and kaito, in a scene to parallel the harmonic route, tries to offer her words of resolve, but his emotions spill out wrong, and he doesn’t fully connect with her. in the end, aoi leaves to be by herself, only to end up at the library, where the saki illusion utterly breaks her mind, feeds on her guilt, aoi’s sense of responsibility, and weaponises her kindness against her, sinking aoi to her lowest low. but despite it all, she still has labramon. aoi wanders alone, lost in the woods, with only her thoughts of saki, saki’s death, what saki has and what she herself lacks, and eventually, of labramon, how she let her digimon down, and lets the others down, but then, her anger slips in. aoi wishes everyone would work together more. surely, if they had, if they had listened to her more often, bickered less often, coordinated better, not been indecisive or clashed so often, saki wouldn’t be dead. maybe even shuuji and ryo beforehand. aoi snaps here, and decides everyone should work harmoniously, even the sworn enemies of kemonogami and humans.

for some reason, piemon survives getting his ass blasted by some kids in the human world (this only happens in wrathful and harmonic. he stays dead in moral and truthful. this is never explained lol but i like to think he gave up and was chilling on the beach for those) and aoi finds him dying in the woods. in her more delusional state of confusion, she decides she’s now a fire emblem protagonist, and heals him so she can talk to him and recruit him in the fight against the master. unfortunately, aoi is not the protagonist, and this is digimon survive, so her helping a guy who was very much down with child sacrifices is a very stupid move that earns her a brutal fate. however, it makes total sense. she is deeply traumatised by death, constant fighting for her life, raw guilt, and a creeping sense of long-running resentment for the human race conflicting with her natural kindness and love of everyone. with so many mixed emotions, trauma, constant self-doubt, no confidence in herself whatsoever, having lost everything, save for her life, aoi really believes in herself that she is right, that everyone else is wrong, because she’s aoi shibuya, she only does the right thing.

so piemon violently chokes aoi, beats her to death, and then stabs her, and to top it all off, does the same to labramon, and leaves them both to die on the ground.

aoi, in her state of raw emotional and mental turmoil, (also hasn’t eaten anything since saki died so she’s physically out of it too and barely slept) genuinely thought this would work, that piemon was forsaken by the master, and would want to side with her. she forgot, in her self-assuredness, trying to be like saki, her ideal protagonist in life, that piemon was her enemy, that piemon hates humans more than she does, that piemon is an ultimate level (or mega if ur a dub loser lol) with four swords duct taped to his back, and that she, at most, will only have the perfect level cerberumon, (on wrathful, she cannot access anubimon’s evolution scene unless you already unlock it on ng+) so she could not have solo’d this boss even if she tried. poor aoi suffers once more for choosing “correctly”, for helping someone injured, for being like saki, assured, honest, confident, bright.

she watches, dying on the ground, as piemon fights the team, who wish to save her. she laments that everyone is fighting again, which she was trying to prevent. once more, she is helpless to see her efforts come to naught, to fail. but labramon reaches out to her, someone who never abandoned her, someone who didn’t let her wander off alone, someone who loves her for being her, not for what she does for them. the friend she always needed. saki may be aoi’s idol, and her best friend, in a sense, but labramon is aoi’s partner digimon, labramon was who aoi needed all along. she knows this, deep down, and her desires, spilling out all at once as she sees her bloodied and dying little dog, manifest as, ironically, darkness. she doesn’t want to die, she wants to live. and she wants to be right for once, to make things right for once.

aoi becomes plutomon by fusing with labramon. plumon is an ultimate level dark virus digimon. it is one of the olympos xii, and despite the former statement, is a vengeful roman death god hell bent on exterminating all virus digimon, and is the most frightening member of the olympos xii. plutmon kills and absorbs piemon easily, then fends off the party, declaring her intentions to kill the master, and bring harmony and peace to this broken world of the kemonogami. but there’s more to it than that. initially, everyone is terrified of plutomon, but minoru still sees her as aoi, and, that her new form is useful in their fight against the master. however aoi makes it clear that the harmony she seeks is the same kind she demonstrated with piemon. her madness complete, she earnestly believes that by assimilating everyone into her, she can make them all happy, to all do and think as she does, to all live with her. everyone will be together, as one. even if she has to be violent, cruel, and strict, she will bring everyone the happiness they need, because aoi is never wrong. aoi is the perfect honour student. aoi always does the right thing. and plutmon is simply fighting to make a utopia, the very thing mankind strives for. in her delusions, plutomon says she can hear saki’s voice, as part of this world, cheering her on. she’s too far gone to stop now, but she’s never been more confident in herself, or her new plans.

aoi leaves, kicks down the master’s door, and begins brutally assimilating the kenzoku, stripping the master of his minions. she fights the party again, and tis time, they try to get through to her, appealing to her emotions, admitting their own failings, but ultimately, trying to make her see reason. but in the end, miyuki and renamon die thanks to the master’s machinations, and so they are dragged into his realm. plutmon fights the master, but dies, and is absorbed by him. the party fights to avenge aoi, while the master wears plutomon as a hood ornament, mocking them all. however, this was all according to keikaku. aoi planned for it to go this way, so the others would weaken the master for her to eat him from the inside, gaining all the power she needs to make her dream a reality. she reveals that she intends to unify the world of the kemonogami and the humans to be as one, and then assimilate all life into her, to become the paradise they always dreamed of. she even pulls the remnants of saki, ryo and shuuji up, claiming to hear their affirming voices. all the party hears are the pained screams of the dead, who wish for their friend to stop. aoi doesn’t know, she’s too far gone, to caught in her delusions to care. plutomon hears what she wants to hear, just as it is in its original lore, the god of death is single minded in its pursuit, and violently unwavering. aoi even mocks the party, in an oddly caring way, reflecting on how their friendship, their bond, and their strength, was what she relied on this whole time to make her will come true.

in the final battle, aoi is ultimately killed by her friends, who desperately wanted to help her, to turn her away from a path of mass extinction, and in the end, had to strike her down. she laments her failings, she apologises to everyone, dead and alive, and wishes she could just be right, and dies, with a smile, questioning if she was wrong again, and apologising, as the polite girl she always was. aoi dies with a smile, having fought for peace and harmony. aoi did nothing wrong. aoi was punished regardless. that’s how it always goes for her, doesn’t it?

the core theme of aoi, or rather, plutomon’s journey, is the paradoxical and ultimately doomed to failure quest that is achieving heaven through violence. history even has such examples, such as crusades and holy wars, where the righteous, through doctrine, personal bias, piety, and ultimately, brutal ignorance and delusion, attempt to crush what they believe to be opposition, in what they believe to be righteous, the correct path, that will lead them to the wonderful utopia, the heavens above, yet they contradict themselves, through malicious acts of persecution and violence, sheer brutality, and hatred towards their fellow people. plutomon wanted nothing more than for people to be brought together. but plutomon used mass murder as her means to bring about peace, and believed it to be correct. a world of peace cannot be built on a foundation of violence. even her statement that there is no room for naughty children in her ideal world reveals the hypocrisy of plutomon’s beliefs and methods, punishing others through slaughter.

the wrathful ending, with its anti-digimon dystopian police state (just like real life!) is a great representation of aoi’s corruption, and in the end, the world she was always going to make. people and digimon came together. forcefully. some found their partners and were happy. some found them and used them for evil. most never met them at all. most were lost and confused. division arose. segregation, persecution, violence, chaos and mass destruction arose in an authoritarian nightmare state. fitting, perhaps, for what aoi wrought. she wanted to bring people together, no matter the cost, and her brazen, self-assured, delusional methods, stained with blood, only brought more suffering. aoi did nothing wrong. the world was punished regardless. that’s how it always goes for her, isn’t it?

aoi shibuya is a good example of the subtle pressures and small scale incidents that pile up over time, and the consequences of bottling up one’s emotions while trying to always care for others. aoi was the perfect honour student, who was always kind and helpful. a good cook who prioritised the safety of the group, someone who always supported the sake decision, and could even cut through the air during an argument to restore peace. she stepped up to be responsible leader, and always helped others.

aoi never leaned on anyone for support when it mattered. she put saki on a pedastal, and while she did lean on her for support, she never allowed their relationship to be equal, as friends, and was never fully honest with herself, or saki, about why she wanted to be like saki. she always had labramon looking out for her, but never confided in labramon. in her dying moments, she laments that she would have been a burden to them if she did confide in them and leaned on them for support, only for a tearful party to reveal she always did so much to help them, and hey would have loved to support her. but aoi never let them know that until she died. until she went on the warpath as plutomon. aoi was always responsible to a fault, but never leaned on anyone for support, never gave anyone else much of a chance to be like her, to share her burdens. aoi struggled to connect with people, and even when she tried, she put her on a pedestal, and never allowed them to properly share in their burdens. aoi never realised her strengths, and eventually, grew arrogant enough to believe she was always doing the right thing, and that by embodying only what she believed saki to be, that she could change the world. aoi not realising that she was fine as who she was, and that by working together with saki, being honest with her, sincere about her feelings, that she could have found a far better way to work through her flaws, and together with everyone. (jou’s crest is sincerity in the original japanese run of adventure, coincidence, then, that aoi needs to embody that sincerity, and with labramon, love, sora’s crest, to be able to move forward within herself as a character?)

aoi, in the wrathful route, is a bleakly realistic depiction of what happens when the Perfect Girl ultimately snaps from the weight of responsibility. when someone tried to always do the right thing, even to their own detriment, never asks for help, is never a burden, is always reliable, always kind, offers care of their own but never asks for any themselves, and always thinks of others first, no matter what, without ever leaning on anyone else for support. eventually, the perfection slips, and soon, the world itself seems to turn on them. in the end, the pressure becomes too great, everything goes wrong, and when one domino falls, the rest slip into place, and great consequences are wrought. ones that are deeply self-destructive, and even can harm the very people one cares about.

aoi looks up to an inspiring friend. aoi’s friend dies right in front of her. aoi helps someone on the verge of death. aoi is choked, beaten, and stabbed to death. aoi resolves to fix the world, and solve two world’s worth of problems, carry everyone’s burdens, and put and end to a centuries-long conflict. aoi is killed by the very people she was fighting for. aoi did nothing wrong. aoi was punished regardless. it’s always like that for her, isn’t it?

aoi shibuya is a fantastic deconstruction of the typical motherly Girl™ character, combined with the responsible older kid archetype, blended into a brutal physical and mental breakdown that makes far too much sense given everything that’s happened to her. all the little things built up, and then something big happened, and it all spilled out. she tried her best to regain control, but by then, she was already too far gone. no matter what, aoi shibuya never gave up, she took what she saw in saki, even takuma to a much lesser extent, and stepped up to take charge, confidently, and do the right thing, do what needs to be done, and embark on a mission to save the world. by destroying it. she wanted to be right, so badly, that she blinded herself to reality. all alone, and yet, in her last moments, died surrounded by people who cared for her, even after she tried to slaughter them all. and even though it went horrendously, in her own way, she brought humans and digimon together.

her story is tragic, but more subtle than the traditional sad backstory kind of way digimon often does it. it’s grounded, mundane, even, yet it shows how even a polite, ordinary, high-achieving girl who is pleasant in every way and mild-mannered, can become twisted and unrecognisable due to circumstances beyond her control, and ultimately, her own self-imposed loneliness that many people struggle with in our real world. aoi desperately tried to gain control of her life, but sadly, was never truly able to have it. everyone else stood in her way. but then, it was everyone else who she, ironically, needed the most, yet pushed away with her own decisions, always, for their own good, over her own. by being selfless, aoi, in the end, did herself, more harm than good.

it always goes that way, doesn’t it?

perfection is an illusion. chasing it only leads to madness.

“i say these people should learn of our peaceful ways....by force!” -aoi shibuya, shortly after becoming plutomon

#digimon survive #long post #this is just one big collection of thoughts and such on aoi's story in wrathful #it's easily one of my all time favourite stories digimon has ever told and i love the way aoi was executed #its one of the most grounded and realistic going off the deep ends ive ever seen #plus plutomon is just a metal as all hell digimon #digimon survive spoilers

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