I think an interesting interpretation of Digimon Surviveâs multiple endings is that of a time loop: one that the main characters are never consciously aware of, but whose echoes intrude upon the present and create ripples that can be glimpsed or felt during certain moments in the story.
Additional discussion under the cut due to spoilers for ALL OF Digimon Survive.
I donât have many screenshots of moments in-game where you could interpret this as happening, but Iâm specifically recalling Kaitoâs comment to Aoi in Wrathful (about how if Miu had died, he would be going through the emotional wringer instead of her), some of Ryoâs dialogue in Truthful after his near-death experience in Part 3, Takuma waking up from his nightmare about Ryo in Truthful Part 4 (which, thanks to dialogue reuse, makes it sound worse than what actually happened in Truthful), and even this moment with Miyuki, which hints at a âbad endâ for Takuma that (fortunately) we never have to witness:
âYou would have been captured, just as I was. No, I think you would have gone even deeper. All of your soul, life and existence⊠gone.â
I realize attributing certain dialogue to âtime loop visionsâ may seem like it takes away some of the charactersâ self-awareness and diminish the gameâs message of knowing thyself and others, but I also donât see why it canât be both. They begin to know each other so well that it grants them a window into what is (to them) an alternate reality, in a double-edged sword sort of way. Glimpsing the what-if at the right (or wrong) time would possibly influence their decisions, add additional horror, plus itâs one more thing in this strange world to overcome. And for us as the audience, it also makes all the kidsâ âif only we had done xâ musings that much more impactful and full of dramatic irony, since we do actually see some of those what ifs play out in different endings of the game.
The only explanation I can think of for why a time loop could exist is some combination of the Masterâs influence and Yukihaâs.
The Master greatly desires to cross over into the human world, in order to take his (Haruchikaâs) revenge. In most of the endings we witness, he fails to achieve this (and we can only guess at what happens in the Bad Ending).
If his rage and hatred is so great, perhaps he is resetting the timeline to the point just before this most recent influx of sacrifices, hoping that they will all succumb and his true goal is achieved.
Meanwhile, the spirit of Yukiha has been trying (and failing) to reunite with Haruchika and save him. She has (canonically) moved metaphoric mountains in order to achieve her goals, and itâs possible she knows her descendants (who are still tied to the Kemonogami World) need help, and these other children are her best hope.
I do think itâs kind of a cool theory (though obviously, itâs only a theory), given the nature of the game, the carryover of digivolutions, and the fact that you HAVE to play it more than once before you can unlock the Truthful route. Witnessing multiple endings and the cumulative effect of your choices across playthroughs makes the ending of Truthful route feel all the more significant in regards to breaking the cycle of hatred and violence that existed in the Kemonogami World, and with these characters being written to exist against a backdrop of psychological horror, having more significant flaws and interpersonal issues to overcome, and overall being a bit further away from the âletâs save both worldsâ idealism of other groups of chosen children, itâs an interesting thing for the game to suggest they require multiple attempts to get it âright,â while also giving them the opportunity do so. The idea that the characters are catching glimpses of past loops in which things went differently also makes some of the storytelling choices in the Truthful route feel a bit more genuine⊠the most significant example of this (to me) is Minoruâs reaction to Lopmon and his temporary split from Falcomon in Truthful Part 6, which plays out the same as it did when Lopmon ACTUALLY dark-digivolved in the Moral/Harmonious/Wrathful routes. Maybe Minoruâs overreaction starts to make more sense if he had an impression of one of those OTHER times when Shuuji met a much darker fate. IS Minoru fated to mistrust Falcomon, even if itâs temporary? Can THAT ever be changedâŠ? đ€
Anyway, I think this stuff is neat to think about.
Various drawings from last night mostly based off on Infinity Millenia (eventual fancomic), first one is based on an hc i had that the deeper the bond of a human and a kemonogami, the human also gets traits from their respective kemonogami (mostly minor things such as sharper teeth).
But in very specific scenarios, similar to an dark evolution but in this case the kemonogami doesn't turn against their partner, the human and the kemonogami act almost as an entire unit to the point that its damaging to both, almost like an manic episode.
In that specific drawing, i imagine Takuma and Tuskmon are so pissed and violent that their strength and bond causes Takuma to heat up and spill smoke.
(Also, the second one is just some cute silly doodles because i got tired from the angst)
AKA "Danny moves to Gotham and records TikToks with absolutely deranged captions. He films Get Ready with Me in Gotham videos, fit checks, and even A Day in the Life of a Ghost in Gotham! Except everybody is freaking the fuck out in the comments" prompt idea!
No, you don't understand, I'm obsessed. Like, what if Danny's idea of "safe" is just... anything that doesn't actively try to kill him? So Metropolitians, Star City, and Central City citizens are literally biting their nails and sweating bullets every time he posts, because what if he gets merc'd by the "Eight Heads in a Duffel Bag" Red Hood?? And that's one of the nicer villains in Gotham. And Danny's just like wow, this place is niiiiiice, I haven't even been murdered yet!
Maybe Jazz took a 12-year-old Danny to Gotham to escape their parents. Gotham's cheap, dirty, and doesn't ask questions: it's the best place to go to disappear because damn near half the city's population are either super villains, hostages, dead, or vigilantes. She gets a job at an understaffed hospital as a clinical psych intern. She enrolls Danny for online schooling because she's scared a public high school would be too easy for their parents to track.
Which leaves Danny alone for hours. He makes a TikTok account called "Danny Phantom" because, c'mon, he's a kid. And, like most kids, he doesn't really comprehend the idea of a digital footprint or that his account is public, accessible by literally anybody.
He's also a little shit. So, the first TikTok he uploads is of a man getting carjacked, but the caption reads: love to see people helping each other. remember it's always okay to ask for help! it's okay, I don't know how to parallel park, either :)
And you just see this guy in a mask shove a businessman away from his car, gesturing with his gun, before getting into the driver's seat. Except the car is parallel parked so the carjacker just slowly inches back and forth between a Prius and a Honda until he can wedge himself out of the parking space. And then gets stuck in stand-still traffic. The TikTok goes viral. It's talked about on the Gotham news and Gothamites are losing their shit, pointing out the exact moment you can see the carjacker start to soundlessly cuss through the car's windshield or the way the businessman is just... standing on the side of the road, watching with a deadpan look.
Danny doesn't know about it being on the news, but he sees all the comments, likes, reposts, and feels something. He wonders if this is what Ember feels every time people listened to her music. So, he keeps posting. Usually, it's short three-second videos of a hilariously unexpected situation with an even more deranged caption. But then he's accidentally caught in the reflection of a store front while recording and doesn't know, posts it like he always does; only for this TikTok to go viral, too. Because "Danny Phantom" is a child??
He doesn't notice the shift in his comments, but the public opinion quickly changes from wow, Gothamites are just like that huh lol to what the FUCK, kid, get inside!!! anytime he posts.
Except Danny never gets hurt. Even in the most dangerous situations, when you'd think this kid is a goner for sure, he's just happily yapping in the background. He's so different from Gothamites because he lacks that dead-eyed, despair-inducing aura of someone who's lived in a hellmouth their whole lives. (A couple people post that Danny kind of reminds them of Golden Boy Brucie Wayne, all air-headed and unrealistically optimistic, and suddenly there's memes of "what happens when you've never gotten shot in Gotham" or "how i act when Commish Gordie accuses me of shoplifting again" with them side-by-side.)
And then Danny's posts go viral again and again. Danny doing a fit check with a blond-haired woman with a checkered outfit, she ruffles his hair and kisses him on the cheek. A picture of him wearing an old jean jacket with a bright red lipstick smear on his cheek is trending for weeks. Spoiler, fully suited up in an all-purple vigilante attire, and him shoving gas station hotdogs in their mouths. He even has videos of him clearly in Killer Croc's lair, with comments of are you in the sewers??? DANNY??? and he responds, no, i'm in mom & dad's basement :) (Waylon Jones is actually sitting behind him in one of the videos, intently watching a TV show on an iPad.)
Everybody adores Danny - Rogues, Gothamites, even the Bats. (There's at least six videos of Nightwing teaching Danny how to do backflips, handstands, and other acrobatic moves. Even the youngest Robin has been caught on camera quietly talking with Danny, a shocking lack of violence that left half the city's population suffering from cuteness aggression for the kids.)
So, yeah, Danny belongs to Gotham.
But the internet is widely accessible and Danny made it so, so easy to find him. Jazz obviously didn't know he was posting videos of himself publicly; she was too tired after back-to-back 12 hour shifts at the hospital that she hadn't even checked social media in months. Otherwise, she would've told him to be careful, to never show his face or post his real name on the internet. Then again, Jazz would never have expected all of Gotham (and Superman himself, totally endeared by the kid after Kon and Jon showed him a couple TikToks) would beat the absolute shit out of anybody going after Danny.
Imagine GIW's surprise when they track down Amity's former residential Ghost only to find an entire city frothing at the mouth to protect their Phantom.
Here they are, finally carved out my Brozone designs! And all the asssociated ramblings!
Individual ramblings
Clay:
-Changed up his outfit to better parallel Vivaâs
-Matching side braid with Viva
-Eyeliner!
-Beads on his tail braid corresponding to his brothers
JD:
-Short and stocky, is greatly relived that Floyd is slightly shorter than him, thus sparing him the shame of being the oldest yet shortest sibling
-Tail didnât fully develop, he has a small nub but thatâs about it. Since heâs never had it though it doesnât really affect his balance.
-Scars from his travels that he loves to tell stories about: a puncture wound on his abdomen (critter attack), a chunk out of his ear (heâs jealous Barbâs is bigger) and heâs missing the tip of his pinkie on his left hand (donât play with explosives). Oh, and some small claw marks on his face, but he doesnât bring those up
-Cargo pants, for snacks and supplies
-Hair is starting to gray
Branch:
-Not a ton to say, heâs pretty close to canon
-Matching tail ring with Poppy
-Took after JD the most in terms of appearance. They have complicated feelings about this.
-Has crows feet like JD and Bruce. Family is very concerned about what he went through to have developed them at such a young age.
Floyd:
-Shortest sibling, lithe body type
-Tips of his body still crystallized, easily get cold. Arm warmers courtesy of Viva
-Gave him a lot of alt fashion influences, but still tried to keep him looking soft
-Bangs are hiding that he has a square jawline similar to JD/Rosie (inspo)
-Previously gray, though not as long as Branch
Bruce:
-Tattoo!
-Matching anklet with Brandy
-Flowers in hair from LaBreezy
-Took out the beads from my first drawing of him, just made him look cluttered and took away some of the significance of Clayâs beads, but I kept the twists because it resembles the yarn hair of Brandy and the kids
Group Ramblings
- Ages at the time of breakup: 3, 13, 14, 17, 21
- Ages during TBT: 26, 36, 37, 40, 44
-Clay and Floyd are Irish twins (born less than a year apart)
-Changed up their Brozone uniforms just a bit. Gave them matching stripes on the pants and gave each of them a different fit. Also got rid of the completely identical hair, they keep it generally consistent but they each have hints of how their hair will develop later
-I designed all of the adult designs to be just after TBT, so there are some differences brought about by their character arcs. Notably Floydâs recovery fit and Clay adding JDâs bead to his tail.
-I enjoy the idea that none of the brothers have healthy hair. It also helps me cope with the fact that they werenât creative at all with the use of hair in TBT compared to the other two movies
Clay cut his hair during a dark moment to get rid of the remaining yellow dye, which youâre really not supposed to do. It lost the usual pointed shape, and now grows more straight out. He can envelop himself but canât grab things.
JD was born with shorter and weaker hair. The roots are okay, but the strands get weak and break at a certain length. He can grab things and hair whip, but at a shorter range.
Branchâs hair is physically healthy, he can grab things fine, but extended time spent gray means he canât change the color on command anymore. The most he can get is a slight color change when performing.
Floydâs white streaks can no longer change color and are generally very weak. It hasnât affected his hairâs range of motion, but it canât bear much weight anymore without breaking.
After having so many kids, Bruceâs hair is very thick and heavy, which makes it slow and cumbersome to use. It is incredibly strong, but at the cost of often throwing Bruce off balance when he uses it.
-It felt weird that all the brothers had blue eyes except for Floyd, so I changed it to be a gradient of cool colors:
Shin Megami Tensei I: Several years, not counting the timeskip. Travel and survival is going to eat up a lot of time, and you see each of the factions rise, fall, and grow as you move around. The first section in Tokyo seems like it should have been at least a month, since the Heroine's Resistance movement needs time to gather enough steam to be a known threat
Shin Megami Tensei II: Been a while, so I can't remember details. Also seems like a few years.
Shin Megami Tensei III Nocturne: No more than a year. Don't have any hard evidence for this, but it's enough time for the students to develop their own perspectives on the world, without the years weighing on them.
Shin Megami Tensei IV: This one has a canon guideline. Basically, the artbook says that Gaston was nine years old when Navarre was eighteen. Gaston is eighteen now, and it's a 1:75 time ratio between Tokyo and Mikado, so we know that around 43 days passed between Flynn's Gauntlet Rite and the endgame. But there's still a lot of room for fudging, especially since Flynn spent time in Mikado and parallel timelines. I also think that the Prentices had at least some rudimentary sword training before going into Naraku.
Shin Megami Tensei IV Apocalypse: The only game that shows each day, and there's ten of them. But since it's from the new moon to the full, I say it was fifteen days, and Nanashi did sidequests between plot days. The last dungeon could take longer than a day; there's no more time pressure, and someone in the Ring of Gaea on Anarchy says the Cosmic Egg was there for a few days.
Shin Megami Tensei V: Several months. The first act is an eventful afternoon, and the second act feels like a hectic week. The third and fouth acts, where it's all-out war, could take a month apiece, maybe more. And there's room for offscreen training and side missions between acts; I think there were at least a few days between the first and second acts, just so that Bethel didn't greenlight Ichiro dropping into Da'at the day after he received the Demon Summoning Program.
#how about they got ephemers essence in a fancy jar and inject themselves with it#basically norting themselves but theyephemer version#so technically its true but also its bullshit#i have no basis for this i just think its fun and evil @nebuvoid
That's real twisted... i love it!
The founders: we are (litteraly) the seeds Ephemer sowed!
Ephemer's heart in the jar: Can you please let me die already and stop plucking off pieces of me? PLEASE!!
Coping with KHML's cancellation by imagining the most horrifying ways Scala could have made themselves descendents of Ephemera:
Norting themselves with tiny fragments of his heart stuck in a bottle on a shelf;
Founders are just Ephy clones/replicas routinely switched out every decade or so with the original kept unaging in a timeless pocket world(a prison surrounded by water);
Ephy's chosen successors/children being replaced with his memories altered Namine style. Of course you always wanted a blood caste system dude don't you remember?
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