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Post by ricochet7-LJ on Jun 7, 2022 20:53:54 GMT
When Shouta asked about the other digimon in the picture, LJ said "Yeah. That is one of my two grandfathers. His name is Theron and the species of digimon he is called Jijimon. He is the dad's father and basically the source of the magic my family posseses. Dad's mom died long before I was born when Dad was a week old hatchling."
LJ shrugged at Hex's musings regarding Circe before he said "Maybe but the message said the circumstances were complicated but for all I know I could have some spider digimon as a aunt, uncle, or even cousin seeing as with Pops' side of the family there are an enormous variety of digimon beast and human like digimon alike. Basically if it has existed Pops' side of the family has probably been it at some point though there is a stronger chance for beast type digimon anthropomorphic or otherwise. My other grandparents are a male GrapLeomon and a female IceLeomon."
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Post by eyesinthedark on Jun 8, 2022 16:32:21 GMT
LJ's comments on Lothar's family tree confirmed Shouta's suspicions that genetics were not quite the same for digimon as they were for humans and other animals from his world. If genetics was even the correct term, given that he seriously doubted they had anything like conventional DNA. "It's good that your extended family seems to be close despite being so often separated by distance. My mother has never been close to her side of the family and we only have occasional contact with my grandparents from my father and stepfather," he admitted. As strong as his familial bonds were, they only extended as far as his immediate family. Neither set of grandparents remained overly invested in their lives after his mother remarried.
Hex, meanwhile, didn't have any family but was intrigued by the concept. He had observed Shouta's interactions with his siblings with a certain amount of envy, while also enjoying the tense feelings that arose between him and his mother. LJ's comments on his family did provide another angle to approach the subject and learn more, while possibly provoking a further response. "Your grandmother on Mandrake's side was killed by Ravemon, wasn't she?" he recalled. "Mandrake was upset when he mentioned it but you don't seem to have much of a reaction. Is it because you never knew her?" he asked plainly.
"Hex!" Shouta hissed, appalled at the digimon's tactlessness. "Loss of a family member is always a sensitive topic. It may be less immediate in some cases but that does not mean you should carelessly poke at the issue."
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Post by ricochet7-LJ on Jun 8, 2022 22:06:13 GMT
"Yeah I like my grandparents despite their strange quirks. I know I have lots of relatives I've never met on Pops' side and possibly dad's side as well. I wouldn't be all that surpised. Pops' dad, the GrapLeomon, is usually pretty quiet. He's one of those actions speak louder than words type and Pops sometimes is like that in some ways. Pops' mom is a different matter. She is an affectionate and open digimon but at times can be a bit overbearing so I have no doubt Pops has been embarrassed by her whether on purpose or not is unknown even to me. As for Grandpa Theron, well, let's just say he's interesting to say the least. He can be very mischievous but isn't what is called malicious but he can be a real handful." LJ said ending in a chuckle before he continued "As mischievous as Dad is, dial that up by roughly one hundred plus who knows how many years and you have Grandpa Theron. It seems the knack for mischief has passed to the grandchildren that carry his data but Lilly and I are mildly mischievous compared to even Dad."
LJ sighed at the mention of his grandmother Ebony but didn't blame Hex for his curiosity. "Yeah I guess Dad explained that, didn't he? You're right about me never knowing her but the thought that someone would murder her for deciding to leave his control disgusts me. That Ravemon gives me the creeps though so I personally would rather not have anything to do with him. Grandma was a Lillithmon named Ebony and Grandpa met her when they were both ultimate level digimon. Grandma, like Dad, had sapphire blue eyes but what was most fascinating is the ability Dad inherited from her. See she had the ability to rarely and randomly see a brief glimpse into the future."
"It's okay, Shouta, I'm not offended by him being curious. Tact is something that takes practice to learn and I'm still struggle with it. I'm sure Hex will pick up the basics of tactfulness in time." LJ said before he shrugged. "Aside from mastering my magic and properly being able to control my temper, I chalk this up to me still having a lot to learn."
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Post by eyesinthedark on Jun 9, 2022 12:46:24 GMT
Shouta listen attentively as LJ listed off his grandparents and their personalities. He wasn't exactly sure how he felt about the description of Theron as mischievous, having very little patience for such antics himself, but he took LJ at his word that neither the digimon nor his descendants were malicious.
Fortunately, LJ took Hex's blunt inquisitiveness largely in stride. "Indeed, everything Mandrake and Lothar told me suggests that this Ravemon is entirely despicable," he agreed solemnly while listening to the details about Ebony. The last detail LJ revealed caught his attention almost as much as his earlier reference to time travel had. "The ability to see the future? I can imagine that would be a very useful gift to have, even if it can only be drawn upon rarely," he commented wistfully. He had often found his plans disrupted by some seemingly unforeseeable interference and been left scrambling to pick up the pieces. Most recently, his unexpected travel between dimensions. If he could anticipate such events it would be much easier to avoid them if possible, or to plan around them if the things seen were truly inevitable.
Hex, meanwhile, was still thinking about Ravemon and Ebony. While he had enough sense to recognize that he should avoid saying it aloud, he did not find all of Ravemon's actions as intrinsically objectionable as Shouta seemed to. If Ravemon wanted control of Ebony and Mandrake, then it hardly seemed surprising to the Eyesmon that he would endeavor to regain it through whichever methods seemed most likely to succeed. Choosing to murder Ebony once she had left his control, however, was a more perplexing decision. All that accomplished was ensuring that he could never get her back, as well as permanently turning Mandrake against him.
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Post by ricochet7-LJ on Jun 9, 2022 21:52:30 GMT
"I am fortunate enough to have only met that creep once when I was a rookie when he kidnapped me holding me hostage to get Dad to come to him. Fortunately I was rescued by Grandpa when the mischievous rascal snuck into Ravemon's shadowy castle. He got me out of the dungeon and digivolved to super mega to drive Ravemon off. He also got ahold of an artifact that allowed the castle to easily travel great distances. So I guess that it's a good thing his mobility is hindered." LJ said rubbing his arms as the memories of that incident came to mind. He remembered how foul the dungeon smelled and how it looked as if hadn't been cleaned in a year. If anything the gross factor was almost as bad as being held hostage by a lunatic.
As for Mandrake's inherited ability called Precognitive Vision LJ knew it had its limits but Shouta was right about it being useful. "I imagine it could be very useful too even though Dad and Grandma could see only a few hours into the future at most." LJ then looked over at Hex seeing the Eyesmon looking as if in deep thought as he processed all the info given before he curiosity got the best of LJ and he asked "Hey, Hex. What's on your mind?"
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Post by eyesinthedark on Jun 10, 2022 16:37:41 GMT
Shouta frowned at the visible discomfort LJ clearly felt at the memory of being held captive, even as Hex drifted closer towards him, drawn by his unease. "Indeed, hindering his ability to pursue your family further is certainly a good thing. One would hope to prevent him from taking further action entirely but I suppose it is difficult to guarantee such a thing, given the amount of personal power he must wield. I imagine prisons are not a feasible options for those who can destroy buildings with ease," he acknowledged. Given the circumstances of this world, it is likely the only permanent way of dealing with an obsessed villain like Ravemon would be to kill him and even that might only be a temporary reprieve given that digimon could be reborn. It was somewhat disquieting to realize that he was in a world where for many, even death was not a sufficient deterrent to those who would commit crimes. Without any way of applying a lasting punishment, it was likely impossible to maintain any sort of justice system. And even if a permanent solution could be found, it would still be reliant on having a benevolent digimon strong enough to enact that punishment, far too close to cowboy justice for Shouta's tastes.
At LJ's question, Hex stared at him for a moment before deciding to answer, although he still elected to choose his words carefully. "I don't understand Ravemon," he admitted, drawing Shouta's attention. "If he wanted to get Mandrake's mother under his control, what purpose did killing her serve? If he had left her alive he might have been able to get her under his control again but by killing her, he made that impossible and guaranteed Mandrake would oppose him forever. It doesn't make sense to me," he said, confusion evident in his voice.
"While that may make a certain amount of sense from Ravemon's perspective, people, and presumably digimon as well, are not always governed by logic, especially those who are so blatantly evil," Shouta explained after a moment's thought. This could be an opportunity to instill some sort of moral behavior in Hex, even if it was through a path of self-interest. "I suspect that he is the type who demands that others serve his desires and when they refuse, rather than try to improve his own situation, he would rather lash out and make them suffer out of spite. Effectively, he would rather nobody have something he wants than to allow it to go to somebody else," he posited.
"So... he wants other people... to not have whatever he wants? Even more than he wants to have it?" Hex asked, befuddled. It was honestly beyond him to imagine a motivation beyond wanting something for himself and for all his flaws, none of his desires specifically involved others being unhappy. The concept of spite was completely outside of his viewpoint.
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Post by ricochet7-LJ on Jun 10, 2022 20:28:02 GMT
"You are right about it possibly being difficult for prisons to contain him given how he is not only powerful but clever despite being a creepy obsessed lunatic. Maybe by the time he eventually rears his head there will be a solution to contain him so he doesn't threaten anyone else. Now that I think about it, I wonder if Grandpa knows of some form of magic that could do that." LJ said understanding the frown that appeared on Shouta's face.
"I don't understand him either, Hex. The dude is creepy and insane from what little I've seen and I am not fond of the prospect of possibly meeting him in the future." LJ said. He knew next to nothing about Ravemon other than what his parents were able to provide him and it still wasn't all that helpful in understanding the digimon. "Now that you explained it that way, Shouta, not only does Ravemon sound evil and creepy but selfish as well. Does explain why he wants to enslave Dad yet not why he wants Pops dead. The only reason I can think of is he doesn't want Dad to be happy and the perfect obedient puppet. Apparently judging by what Grandpa said about Grandma, Dad is a lot like his Lillithmon mother in that regard. Grandpa always said she had a bit of an independant streak she had managed to hide for years from that guy. Though I don't know how she did it given Ravemon is telepathic."
"Hex, I think it's more he doesn't want his servants to think for themselves except in battle. He wants his servants to be subjective to his whims alone. Ugh. Now I don't want to see the guy ever again even more." LJ said visibly disturbed.
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Post by eyesinthedark on Jun 11, 2022 16:43:48 GMT
"There will always be selfish people who put their own interests above everything else, even if Ravemon does sound like a rather extreme example," Shouta nodded solemnly. "It is both fortunate and impressive that your grandmother was able to not only escape from under his influence but then go on to form what sounds like an extremely positive relationship with Theron and lead a good life. Many would use their past hardships as an excuse to act in a similar manner," he noted. "And to hide thoughts of rebellion from a telepath is similarly impressive. She must have had an astounding level of control over her own thoughts in order to conceal it from him," he added.
Hex, meanwhile, was still puzzling over Ravemon's intentions. LJ's explanation helped a little, phrasing it in terms of a single desire of Ravemon's but it still didn't explain why he would destroy those who rebelled rather than try to bring them under his control once again. He also had trouble believing that Ravemon would ever be able to attain his goal. "Trying to get somebody to obey him is one thing but keeping them from even thinking of rebelling at all is impossible. Everybody has desires, even if they don't act on them, and while he can suppress their ability to pursue those desires, that would only make the hunger greater. Desires only end when you're dead and sometimes not even then for digimon," he remarked. Shouta raised an eyebrow as Hex's voice took on a disapproving tone. It sounded like Hex might actually be forming a moral opinion on Ravemon's actions rather than just disagreeing with his methodology's strategic merit. He supposed it made sense that if anything provoked such a reaction from him, it would be the suppression of desires, but perhaps that could be used as a groundwork to build a more reliable moral framework going forwards.
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Post by ricochet7-LJ on Jun 11, 2022 20:25:35 GMT
"Yeah but it is a shame she didn't live long after Dad was born. One thing that puzzles me is how she was able to hide the fact that she had a kid from that creep. Dad told me Ravemon seemed surprised that one of his servants had a child in the first place." LJ said and when the subject of mental control came up he said "I don't know. Perhaps that is the case but even then Ravemon is a super mega so he should of had the ability to read Grandma's mind even in her mega form. Maybe he thought her thoughts were irrelavent and never bothered reading her mind and that is why he never knew about Dad until much later."
"I guess you have a point, Hex, seeing as you seem the expert when it comes to desires. Perhaps Grandma's greatest desire was to be free and Grandpa gave her that chance when they were seeing each other in secret." LJ said looking as if he was in deep thought.
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Post by eyesinthedark on Jun 12, 2022 13:36:22 GMT
"I suppose that is possible. If he already viewed her as an essentially mindless slave, he would not feel the need to read her thoughts just to confirm that," Shouta acknowledged. "Fortunately, flaws such as that are common amongst those most inclined towards the most atrocious fact. In order to be able to abuse others, a certain amount of self-involvement and arrogance are almost prerequisite," he said.
"That might be true," Hex agreed on the subject of Ebony's greatest desire. "If so, at least she managed to fulfil that desire before Ravemon killed her. Dying with unfulfilled desires is the worst possible fate," he stated emphatically. "And what about you, LJ? Do you have a great desire? Something that you want to accomplish before your time ends or something that guides everything you do? I have all sorts of desires and Shouta mostly wants to take care of his family but what about you?" he asked curiously, the topic having naturally drawn his interest.
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Post by ricochet7-LJ on Jun 12, 2022 15:00:21 GMT
"For him to have become that arrogant Grandma must of been with him for a long time. All I know is Grandpa met her when she was an ultimate level digimon known as LadyDevimon." LJ said as he quietly processed Shouta's words before he then said "Maybe one day Ravemon's own arrogance will be his undoing. Though I worry what he may be plotting since he has not shown up for since Grandpa hindered his mobility over great distances."
LJ smiled at Hex's observation as he said "And through fullfilling that desire she found love. Guess her last days were happier since she met Grandpa." Then Hex asked what LJ's desires were and LJ didn't know what to say at first so he thought for a moment before he replied "What are my desires? Hmm. That's a good question, I guess. When I was smaller I wanted to be stronger but now I don't totally know if that's what I want. I guess the desire I think I may have is nothing too elaborate in theory. See I want to master full control over my magic and learn to better control my temper but the process has been slow. Sure I've gotten better but I think the reason I had any trouble with my magic to begin with is that my magic was mostly dormant in my fresh and in training stages. In my rookie stage my magic wasn't that strong compared to how it is now so you can understand how I had trouble with the sudden jump in strength."
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Post by eyesinthedark on Jun 12, 2022 23:44:22 GMT
"It would be convenient if Ravemon and others like this conveniently slipped up and wound up eliminating themselves but sadly, that is not often the case," Shouta remarked. "Instead, it is generally the responsibility of those with more altruistic natures to stymie their efforts and ultimately neutralize them. From what I've heard, it may well fall to your family to deal with him once again but we can at least hope that there are others who see fit to contribute to his downfall at that time," he said.
As LJ answered Hex's question, Shouta nodded approvingly. "The most important tasks are often those that take time but with dedication, progress can be made until success is achieved," he said. "Self-improvement is often the most difficult task of all, as most people, I find, are unwilling to go against their own nature for long. It's admirable that you continue to endeavor to overcome your flaws," he compliment LJ sincerely. He did not often view people's attempts to change themselves optimistically but LJ had so far seemed to be a kind and responsible digimon. Shouta was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt as to his dedication to improvement. "In truth, I strive to be a touch less demanding of others. While I consciously recognize that my own standards can be rather exacting and that others should not feel obliged to conform to those standards, that knowledge does not necessarily prevent me from judging others harshly when they fall short. I can only hope that by continuing to force myself to be more tolerant of what I instinctively see as shortcomings in others, it will eventually prompt a change in my judgements as well."
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Post by ricochet7-LJ on Jun 13, 2022 3:08:39 GMT
"You're right. If only I was strong enough to help my parents and grandparents more but I only just recently gained access to my ultimate form and while my grandparents on Pops' side are at the ultimate level, they also have years more experience with their forms. Dad and Pops can reach mega but even together they aren't strong enough to stop Ravemon so its a good thing he hasn't been showing up very much. It gives them more time to prepare." LJ said before he remembered something important and said "Oh I almost forgot. If there was one weakness Ravemon had other than his arrogance is his weakness to bright light. Bright light causes him pain and makes him scurry away."
"I want to be able to grow and mature so I want to work on improving myself. Sad that some people are not willing to make such changes or even acknowledge their faults for that matter. Even worse are the ones who take out their inadequacies on others to compensate." LJ said sounding wiser than what some would expect for a digimon as young as himself. Sure LJ was far from wise but he did learn a lot from his time around his family and others he had interacted with.
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Post by eyesinthedark on Jun 13, 2022 12:06:59 GMT
"Most digimon want to get stronger for one reason or another," Hex noted. "Ravemon has probably become as strong as he has in order to make sure he can take whatever he wants but the more you and your family want to stop him, the quicker you will close the gap. Assuming he doesn't kill you first, anyway," Hex commented, adding on the last remark as a casual afterthought. Shouta sighed but reasoned that the majority of that statement was actually fairly encouraging, even if the last bit was rather tactless, and thus he probably shouldn't criticize Hex for it at the moment.
"Yes, Mandrake and Lothar mentioned his vulnerability to light sources, although I suppose that weakness is one that may be situational in its applicability," Shouta mentioned. "I don't believe Hex here currently has any abilities that would take advantage of that, for instance, so we would be reliant on external light sources if we were ever so unfortunate as to encounter Ravemon," he said.
"Oh, but I do have this!" Hex interjected cheerfully, reaching into his body and pulling out a flashlight, which he flicked on and waved it around.
"True, but I am unsure if that would be sufficient to hold him at bay for long," Shouta remarked dryly. He suspected that if Ravemon was so vulnerable that a flashlight could do serious harm to him, he would have been dealt with before now. LJ's further comments then drew his attention away from Hex. "Indeed, people who cannot or will not contribute to society or the common good have an infuriating tendency to either leech off of the hard work of others or to actively cause problems, as if bringing others down to their level would somehow mitigate their own failures. Destruction is easier than construction, sadly, and easy is exactly what those types aim for."
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Post by ricochet7-LJ on Jun 13, 2022 20:11:58 GMT
"Could be a good reason why Dad was never in a hurry to become stronger. Maybe he was at some level afraid of becoming a monster no better than Ravemon. As one of your human comic books says with great power comes great responsibility and not all who seek power take such responsibility for the damage they can do using it to only bring suffering to others. That is one thing about Ravemon that also disgusts me." LJ said calmly.
LJ couldn't help but chuckle at Hex bringing out a flashlight before he said "While that may not slow him down much as he is only vulnerable to intense bursts of light but at least having a flashlight can still be useful for other situations."
"That makes sense on so many levels and I myself prefer to work as hard as I can even though I am not the most studious. At least I am passing all my classes with only math being my weak point at an average C+."
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