#02 crew

Daisuke

Honestly, I think miracles works pretty well?  I’ve heard people say that Daisuke just...  Does whatever he wants/follows his gut, and it tends to work out; ie he’s more “lucky” than “an effective leader.”  

Personally, I...  Truly admire Daisuke’s faith and optimism and just...  Just raw belief in everyone?  I have anxiety, so sometimes my brain loves to tell me that a thing I’ve done a million times with no problems will somehow explode in my face.  Can you imagine just...  Choosing to always believe, and acting like everything will be okay?  I don’t mean “sticking your head in the sand and going LALALA THIS IS FINE,” I mean taking action without hesitation, even when things are scary.

Like, yeah, maybe that’s not always valid IRL- you need to plan and be realistic and accept and reevaluate when your plan isn’t working- although I’d argue that Daisuke learned to do that over the course of the series (I remember him saying the team should rest at some point, and everyone was surprised that he didn’t want to press on, except Ken).

But I also maintain that Daisuke’s ability to believe in himself, his team, and just a general “things will be okay” is what creates success that almost seems... miraculous!

Also, I think he is suuuch a great meld of courage and friendship, because he pushes on when things are scary (courage) and is able to do so because he believes in everyone (friendship).

So, I’m thinking something like faith/confidence/trust.  And having listed some similar-ish words...

I’m going with trust.  

What incredible things you can do, when you believe in yourself, your team, and the future.

Miyako

I’ve seen other people assign her the crest of “passion,” which I think is great!  

I think the thing about Miyako is that she’s, like...  Always on, always 150%, so dynamic and vibrant and just... her cup overflows with energy and... Miyako-ness.  

It’s clear to see how she relates to her “purity” side.  It took me a long time to understand what I think the crest of purity means, thanks to a lot of... ickiness around the word “pure” in western tradition, which is also why I am loathe to throw the word “innocence” into my definition.  Basically, I think the crest of purity means that Mimi and Miyako don’t dissemble/hide how they really feel.  You’re always getting their raw, honest truth.  And, because Mimi in particular is spoiled, she can come off as childish- which is where people like to throw in the word “innocent.”  

[The general selfishness of children is related to them not knowing yet that they aren’t the center of the world- psychologically; Freud would call it “being ruled by the id.”  It’s just a developmental stage, and doesn’t really indicate actual selfishness.  You know how Winnie the Pooh is a sweetheart, but can make things miserable for other people by just assuming he can help himself to everything?]

But Mimi also displays a child’s heart in terms of being kind and sweet and sensitive and wanting to help... and then swinging back towards the id at the drop of a dime, lol!

Like Mimi, Miyako is very comfortable giving her opinion and drawing attention to herself, and she doesn’t seem to be holding herself back...  But we do eventually see that things can weigh on her, and that she’s sometimes putting up a front when her energy actually isn’t at 150%.

I think the “love” part is a bit harder to pin down, but then...  The word “love” is incredibly vague, and means a million different things to different people, which is why I kind of hate discussing the crest of love!  I like to think of it as “the crest of compassion” to focus discussions; sympathetic consciousness of others' distress together with a desire to alleviate it.  

It’s kind of funny to think of Miyako with the crest of love compared to Sora.  Sora tends to show love by watching over people, being kind and supportive and brave even when she’s struggling and hiding the signs of her struggle/dismissing her own struggles, doing things for others, often without even letting people know she did anything.

In comparison, Miyako shows compassion by being present for people she loves, telling them bluntly when they need to shape up (which, frankly, a lot of Digimon characters really need.  We need waaaaaay less staring into each other’s faces and never answering concerned questions and waaaaaaay more *slap* GET IT TOGETHER!  God, ilu Miyako), and being honest and open about how much she cares for them.

So yeah, passion!  

Iori

One of my favorite Chosen, this sweet good boy that I lovelovelovelove!

So one thing about Iori is that, while I can write big honkin’ analysis of how Daisuke and Miyako show their inherited crests...  Um, I think Iori is his own thing.  Like, I don’t... super get honesty and knowledge off of him.  I mean, the honesty thing, sure.  His Grandpa taught him not to lie, we had a whole ep based on that alone.  As for knowledge, yes, he wants to know the truth and get to the bottom of things.  

But...  Neither crest ever felt like a slam dunk for him?  Even though it’s easy to see how “honesty” and “knowledge” coalesce into “a desire for truth,” which is further illustrated in his career as a (presumably upright and truth-seeking) lawyer.  Like, it’s right there in front of your face, Hidden!

BUT LEMME PULL UP A CHAIR, CAPTAIN AMERICA STYLE, AND HASH WITH YOU.

The thing that, to me, stands out about Iori most is that he’s grounded and centered.  Have you seen that post recently that explains how Daisuke tried, just one time, to treat Iori like a little kid (he says, “shut up, little brat”)?  And Iori- who is about three years younger than Daisuke, and much more withdrawn- politely but firmly replies, “Please don’t talk to me like that.”  

AND YOU KNOW WHAT?  DAISUKE APOLOGIZES AND NEEEEVER TALKS DOWN TO IORI AGAIN.

Iori is like...  He’s like eight, my dudes!  Rolling with a bunch of eleven-ish year olds!  He’s personal friends with Miyako, a twelve year old, before Adventure 02 even opens!  And we don’t often see him being doted on and protected like Takeru and Hikari were in the same situation.

YOU WANNA KNOW WHY?  The simple answer is that he’s mature, but I wanna say that he’s grounded, the ultimate earth sign type (I think Digmon is a pretty clear metaphor).  He doesn’t get flustered or swayed.  He knows where he is, where he stands, what he must do.  On the one hand, this makes him mature beyond his years, reliable, able to stand up for himself and be an equal team mate among kids who are older than him.

The downside is that “that which cannot bend must break.”  I’m sure you’ve read a zillion metas about how Iori sees in black-and-white originally and has trouble changing his world views and learning to forgive...  But he does all of those things, maturing further into possibly just... just...  Can you even imagine him as an adult?!  HE’S TOO POWERFUL.

So, if he were an Adventure character, I’d say that his crest is integrity, and he has to go through his adventure to learn what that really means for him- to develop from stubborn, black-and-white thinking to true integrity.