#Typing Master

[morgan-n-cheese-91]

old Obi-Wan is so funny to me because his sass and overall bitchiness is like the last thing he's got and I'm so proud it survived the great depression of his 40s.

[scurvyboy]

relativity fidds my most beloved and bestest friend

[parksrway]

proper ganda?

[bluebellowl]

Aiden is having his first day at Fazbear Entertainment.

His department: taking care of the Subway Bosses' mechanic wellbeing together with Elesa and Vincent.

Aiden can barely believe his luck...

The twins just had a rough month and need complete repair.

Aiden is an OC by the wonderful @toriblayde

Part 1/5

--- Part 2

[leenfiend]

<- Chapter Two Preorders for physical copies are now OPEN until August 27th!

[submastrain]

I had a bday yesterday so I wanted to finish this wip! 🌸

[thebrainrotsreal]

I demand an AU where Laios' leg gets fucking crunched during the Red Dragon Battle (re-attachment impossible), and Marcille practices the whole necro-magic first by givin' him a new leg! With Red Dragon Blood/Flesh, he also gets put under the same command as Falin, except since it's only a leg, the curse slowly becomes more and more powerful until the eventual transformation above!!! :D AKA Ah Fuck, Took Too Long Overthrowing the Dungeon Lord, Get Monster'd. Lion + Red Dragon, because I like it. Laios would think it's cool, too, so there. The trade of Cool Monster is Sense of Self / Consciousness eroding into nothing (monster body, monster brain), though, so he's basically on an extra timer to stop/overthrow the Dungeon Lord, or experience a kind of death of sorts. Random idea I had to get outta my head, y'know?

[hahahafangirl]

In praise of good martial forms

One thing I alluded to earlier is that Suo has really, really good martial forms. As someone who dabbled with martial arts at various stages of my life, these details jump out. Of course, any martial artist worth their salt must have good forms, unconventional style or not (as Suo described the forms he learned as a "jumble of mixed martial arts"). Wind Breaker is one of the best choreographed manga I have seen, so these details are very much worth analyzing :P

Table of contents:

Martial arts start with good forms

Suo v. Oobiki: Is Discipline Rigidity or Fluidity?

Foundational Grounded-ness: Defense as Offense

Circularity; Yin and Yang

Suo on the Offensive: no_fist.megamind?

I will first go over the basics — how the choreography demonstrates Suo's solid skills, which segue into Suo v. Oobiki's debate about "discipline" (spoiler: Suo wins because he has better forms, i.e. better discipline), then moving on to make more observations about his styles— particularly the circularity and how the narrative is restraining Suo from using his fist to attack.

Martial arts start with good forms

As an introduction, I will note that Suo always sits and stands very properly, with his back straight and his posture supported by his hands behind his back.

Notice also that while Sakura casually leans back against his chair, slumping backward, and Nirei "cowers" -- leaning forward -- Suo sits straight-backed like the epitome of a polite young man :3c

This is another fun contrast between Suo and most other delinquents in the story— in an environment emphasizing rebellion, freedom, and a bit of teenage arrogance mixed in, sparking all sorts of wild and flamboyant self-expressions (dyed hair, undercut, piercings, etc.), Suo alone stands with a very traditional, conservative, and almost a prudent sensibility, in both his clothings and behaviors. Had he not don his Furin jacket, would anyone believe that this gentleman is a delinquent?

That is to say, Suo's trainings are baked into his bones, to the way he holds and moves himself, most likely to even his speech. Good forms from the beginning to end. Suo likely has practiced martial arts for a good while.

The thing that makes me notice how good his form is is from his fist placement in the Kanuma fight:

First, note that Suo's right fist is in the ready position by his hip, ready to hit. It's small, but surprisingly easy to forget when you are starting out. It's somewhat about being ready to punch at anytime (even though we never see Suo actually punching anyone), but more about the discipline of always being ready for your next move.

Similarly, the fist is there during the Oobiki fight. Note that Suo was able to surprise Oobiki and get a hit in because the ready-to-go fist exists as a camouflage, distracting the opponent from his other arm (out of frame— out of Oobiki's visual field). Having the fist there is an excellent basic form, and it allows Suo multiple options of attack.

Let's transition to legwork. One of the most important thing in martial arts is stances. Generally, the deeper your stance is, the lower your center of gravity, hence the more stability you have. This is, of course, at the cost of mobility, which is achievable with narrower, higher stances. An exercise at the advanced (masters') level of karate is to stand in kiba-dachi, the basic horse stance (first thing you'll ever learn) continuously for an hour or more. That's how strong your legs have to be. And practice staying in proper stances is how you hone it. Having a strong, solid stance is essential for balance and power,

Notice the solid, deep (low) stance— and how much power is behind it as Suo very gently seize Kanuma's fist and flips him. We can see the difference in speed (and thus input power) by the blur in both frames.

Again and again, Suo does a lot of "flipping people over" like this (I'm sure there is a proper term for it, in what I assume is Aikido, but that's a martial discipline I haven't flirted with lol). I will labor the point of Suo's moves being primarily circular later, but just to demonstrate the power behind his seemingly-effortless moves:

Note the stance— and the engaged legs muscles

Same here�� the deep stance provides a tremendous amount of power required to fling a grown man and knock out two more people. Note again the difference in speed/input momentum (top right panel).

Doing mixed martial arts doesn't means that every move is a hodge-podge of everything. Suo's starting stance is a very basic/common starting form in kungfu:

As a side note, visually this starting form is very representative of Suo as a character/fighter :P He doesn't start (seemingly) looking for a fight; his stance is neutral, relaxed; one hand is inviting the opponent into his space. However, when we look closer, his feet are position such that he is ready to lunge forward (front-facing leg) and a fist is hidden behind his back, also ready to pounce.

It is a basic stance because it is good, and great when done right. If there is one (1) single thing you get from all the ramblings I do, let it be that Suo has very good basics. From his resting stance, fist placement, low stances, to kick— everything is solid.

This brings us to the "debate" between Suo and Oobiki about what "discipline" means.

Discipline: Rigidity or Fluidity?

Suo v. Oobiki is, ultimately, a fight about their philosophy regarding "discipline". (In this manner, we can say that Suo participated in at least one conversation, lol. But more on this later in Crisis of Contact or The Failure of Language (coming soon. at some point.) perhaps.) Firstly, Oobiki brought up discipline with the context of punishment for bad behaviors:

Which suggests that a (rigid) social code was violated here— which is that Suo, the underclassmen, had insulted his superior (in age and school-year). Discipline, here, is a violent mean to "bend" someone back to the appropriate behavior; or, perhaps, discipline means the rigid code of appropriate behaviors itself. Regardless, we get the sense here that "discipline" is rigid, meant to be followed to the letter, and even somewhat hierarchical: the elder enforces discipline onto the younger, not the other way around.

Ironically, this rigidity and hierarchy of discipline is what Oobiki forsook in the first place when he gave up competitive gymnastics:

Rigid routine, rigid rules;

The hierarchy of ranking and rigid scoring system;

And yet, old habits die hard. The brutality of competition and gymnastics is engrained into Oobiki's conception of discipline, and what it means to be, yourself, disciplined, or to discipline somebody else: beating the same stringent routines and rules until submission.

Afterwards, Suo relays a very different view — another definition altogether — of the word:

(Yeehaw! The first visual of Suo's master--- the same narrative role as Akari, yet so much further away...)

Discipline here is not a rigid code of rules or behavior, but rather the transmission of knowledge. This may be due to localization (can somebody please supply me with the Japanese version), but notice that Oobiki uses "discipline" as a noun, while Suo uses it as a verb. One is a thing that you have; the other is an action you impart upon someone else. Already, we see the rigidity of an object without care for whom it affects, versus an action that involves two people at the minimum (the teacher and the student) and widens the possibility of what could be taught. Martial arts is a discipline; so is calligraphy, for example, or tea ceremony, or life philosophy, or math, or science, or literature, etc.

Discipline, to Suo (relayed to him by his Master, by the quote) is a living, mobile thing, means to share knowledge without forcing it upon somebody. You can try to train or teach someone; it doesn't mean they will learn it that exact way, or they may modify your teachings to their needs. Suo is already innovating upon the discipline passed down to him by teaching Nirei to protect himself and fight back at once

It's a living thing in the same sense that humanity is a living thing, as culture and knowledge get passed down and modified generations by generations. It's quite generative, to employ a pun here. It's more philosophical and metaphysical than the concrete, object-like "discipline" that Oobiki wants to impart, or force upon, others.

How do these two views of "discipline" duke it out? By fighting, of course! And, I will argue that Suo wins because he has the better discipline, narratively speaking. Of course, it's nearly impossible for two definitions of the word to duke it out— this is why we have stories and narratives :D The key observation I want to make is that Suo has the more solid and proper forms.

I noted earlier that Suo was able to get a hit into Oobiki with his elbow because of his good ready stance with the fist. The more demonstrative example, I think, is in this sequence here, which immediately follows the aforementioned example:

Oobiki begins with a gymnastic-inspired cartwheel, using one leg to attack and hook Suo's arm down. Note that the force is concentrated on Suo's wrist. With his momentum, Oobiki's arms push upward to complete the cartwheel, and, theoretically, slam Suo's body down by his wrist (a very tiny fraction of Suo's body mass— which is proportional momentum). That's cool and all, but I think Oobiki makes a grave mistake next…

... of attacking with his other leg instead of landing. He expects Suo's whole body to go down with his wrist (which, again, very small fraction of body mass— Suo is a lot stronger physically than Oobiki expected). If that is the case, then Oobiki gets the point. However, I think, giving yourself zero point of contact on the ground — your form and stance not being grounded at all — is a risky gamble. You risk standing on nothing and having no foundation beneath to push you on. While you are falling mid-air, your opponent easily get a grasp on you, and, supplying some (seemingly) minimal amount of force, turns gravity against you. Again, no foundation, nothing solid to land on.

This is, also, the last significant movement in their choreography before the winner is decided. This ending is signified by Oobiki saying, "I can't read you at all..." before the narrative naturally descend to the conclusion of their fight with Suo as the winner. Oobiki's "encore" is merely the last desperate swipe in a conversation already closed.

Foundational Grounded-ness; Defense as Offense

Another observation: throughout the Oobiki fight, most of Suo's stances are low, deep stances, which emphasizes stability and grounded-ness. We see these in the previous examples— in the one immediately above, Suo's stance is so "deep" that he is kneeling on the ground: very stable (which also necessitates no small amount of core strength, mind you) in contrast to Oobiki's ungrounded-ness.

Here, Suo starts from a neutral, high stance, then steps out and down to move his opponent down along with his own center of gravity

Next, a very impressive (holy crap I can't properly express how fucking insane of a move that is) swing: from a low (kicking) stance, which provides the normal force necessary to push, and over

To a solid, whole foot (HEEL FIRST! THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT-- note the angle where the heel is closer to the ground) and a forceful slam down.

While Suo adeptly utilizes high, middle, and low stances, I want to point out that in this fight, all of his move begins from a low stance. Narratively, Suo is focusing on stability, grounded-ness (purpose-wise, Furin's job is to hold their ground, too), and defense — which is his specialty. Suo rarely initialize attacks as offense; here, he relies on the same grounded-ness of his defensive practice as offense. You have heard "the best defense is offense" before, now, welcome to "the best offense is defense" :P.

Combing through the manga, I am struck with how solid Suo's stances are, which I'm sure I have more than adequately emphasized by now. He is agile, mobile, and responsive, yes, but he agilely steps into a sturdy defensive stance in every fight, as demonstrated above in the Kiryuu introductory fight as well as in Roppo Ichiza.

I think this does say something about Suo as a character; just as Sakura's agility, adaptability, creativity, and ferocity says about his, or Tsugeura's high-spirited, principled (even if seemingly odd) virtues being supported by his muscular sturdiness— emphasize the simplicity of pure force, or, Sugishita's long-armed, forceful, but single-trajectory attacks says about his single-minded determination. It doesn't have to be anything too deep lest we step too close into Backstory Speculations territory (though I would not blame us for that, seeing that that is the #1 mystery right now, lol). But, to me, there seems to be an interesting contrast between Suo's image as a lighthearted, blithe, socially-adaptable child and his principled and grounded stances, which are primarily employed to protect or defend someone else.

(Suo's return to the group post-Oobiki is blithe and lightfooted. At this moment, his return is more to a social effect, reconnecting with the rest of the class before the fight resume. Note that, in contrast to his earlier heel-first landing, toe-first landing is used for very light landing— a spirit of windless calm, as I love to say these days. His first impact is this lightness — relieving Nirei from his post, signifying a victory, like a balm upon the toiling soldiers.)

There is, still, a hidden sternness and practicality underneath such a light and humorous character. We caught glimpses of it: Suo who, on the first day of class, "fact-and-logic"'ed Sakura and Sugishita into resolving their conflicts:

Suo who represents the foundational philosophy of fighting as a group to Sakura:

Suo is also teaching Nirei the foundation of fighting, etc. etc.

These roles fit perfectly into his motif as a "teacher" in the narrative, conveniently also as the narrative mouthpiece: I discussed in another analysis Suo's role as the one delivering "conclusive remarks" — the final deliverer of message to Sakura's journey. Just like his conception of discipline as "passing down teachings" — passing down something fundamental, grounding, upon which new innovations can be made — Suo provides the elementary, foundational "bricks" to the story, upon which Nirei, Sakura, the audience, and whomever else he will teach next, can build up their unique substances. It all starts with a good basics— that’s the thing that struck me with Suo’s fighting styles: it’s graceful and simple, based on strong and solid foundational skills.

Circularity; Yin and Yang

By now, it's clear that Suo's fighting motif is primarily circular: he twists and flips his opponents both parallel to and perpendicular to the plane of his body

@darkersolstice and I briefly discussed this point earlier, here, where they insightfully compare Suo to the eye of a hurricane. Inspired by this, I remarked that the philosophical basis of Suo's style is something to the effect of "A steadfast heart amidst the ever-turbulent circumstances" (In Vietnamese, "Tâm bất biến giữa dòng đời vạn biến"). As the calm in the eye of the storm — the central, unmoving axis of rotation — Suo controls himself and the vortex of life such that they all pass by him. He sees and acknowledges the turbulence; but he remains unperturbed and untouched by them.

There is a nuance between what I argue here versus what I argued by Suo's evasiveness, in that it is not the fighting style that is the evasive one, but Suo is. The evasiveness — the "letting life flows by" physical philosophy — is just one of the many possible motivator for his evasion. The bulk of Suo's dodging, I think now, is social rather than physical; the physical aspect just further enforces the motif. (Or, I may argue, the physical aspect may hints towards a deeper motivation for the habitual deflection, without it being the main culprit of the evading act.)

Coming back to the circularity itself; the perfect circle has been symbolically important, throughout many culture, as a symbol of perfection and completeness. The Aristotelian view of the universe was that of a series of enclosing sphere, because circles — and spheres — are perfect. In Chinese philosophy, the same ideal is reflected in yin and yang

There is light in darkness, darkness in light, as circular force and motion rotate in the universe. This is the total encapsulation of everything. Suo's circular form, where he controls the sum total of his force and the opponent's momentum to his advantage, symbolize this philosophical totality. By Suo's association with a heavily Chinese motif, this could be the intended basis of his form.

Suo on the Offensive? no_fist.megamind?

Another thing that is apparent is that Suo has yet to (actually) attack with his fist; both time, against Kanuma or KEEL, he was thwarted from doing so:

Both time, Suo going for the punch was considered an excessive use of force— explicitly so in the KEEL's case, where it was considered the wrong and overly-aggressive choice. There, it also marked a break from his serene and mature characterization.

Suo does attack— but it is always with his legs, palms, or elbow (in the Oobiki fight).

Never the fist. Why?

I, to be honest, still have to ponder more what this means in relation to the rest of his defensive, circular (yin-yang), and deflective (utilizing the opponent's momentum) fighting style. An oath of non-violence, perhaps?— an oath to respond to your environment, to defend as the need arise, to seek not violence but repel it? These are compelling statements. Why kicks and push, but not fist? Perhaps there is an "excuse" of repelling and deflecting in kicking away, pushing away that does not exist in punch in, punch at, punch through. With its various prepositions, punching is rarely away, but always offensive, violating, stepping inside in a sense. Suo's discipline seems to be that of pacifism or at least, minimal violence. Violence cannot touch him, and he cannot exude violence with the discipline he was taught— handed down to? constrained in?

There are still so many interesting thoughts to extrapolate on, so many narrative trajectories wide open for Suo (and his backstory) to take— but that shall be the story for another day.

[kings-highway]

okay okay okay but possessive-protective Tsukishima in their third year over all friends, not just Yamaguchi anymore. He's too cool. He's aloof. He's a smartass. He hears a rival team talking shit about Hinata's height and goes the fuck OFF on them. Kids start mocking Kageyama and trying to rile him up for his past shit and Tsukishima appears like a wraith to tear them apart. Are Hinata and Kageyama capable of taking care of themselves? honestly, probably. Will that stop Tsukki from literally standing between them and whatever is threatening them? absolutely not. Tsukki doesn't spare kind words for them, he doesnt invite them over and he doesn't call them his friends but the first and and only time a new-to-town bully tries to flip up Yachi's skirt he turns around and punches him so hard he hits the ground. None of them had ever seen him use anything except for his wit and tongue to attack before but when asked about it he just scoffs and rolls his eyes at them and tells them to leave him alone. They all start to understand Yamaguchi a little bit better.

[germesthegenie]

Only a couple chapters into Ward Arc 9 but quick doodle of how their dynamic feels to me

[the-art-of-sanshoku]

Random gozyu things

Stubborn old man type chara... Made for me...

[goldensunset]

i looooove pokémon npcs whose team members subtly imply something about them that's never touched upon in the story or at least never outright said. i love villains having friendship evos. i love trainers who commit hard to one aesthetic or vibe with their team (beyond simply sharing a type) and i love it even better when there's one random exception especially if that's their ace. i love when later down the line someone boxes the cute fun soft baby pokémon they used to have in favor of a seemingly stronger or scarier one to show that they're getting serious. i love when they have a pokémon that's difficult to get and raises lots of questions about them. i love it when the lore behind a pokémon fits the character to a T and i love it even better when it appears to contradict them. give me the story-gameplay harmony but better yet give me what appears to be story-gameplay dissonance but might actually have implications if we're willing to dive deep into it

[puppetmaster13u]

Prompt 111

Y’all know H2O? Where some people get cursed to turn into merfolk whenever they get water on them? That, but replace water with ectoplasm and merfolk with naga. 

No, Bruce has no idea how they managed to get cursed or how he ended up with an armful of baby snake-person creature thing. At least this one isn’t black-hair and blue-eyes so his kids can’t complain at him. And it’s not his fault they all fell into this, this was supposed to be a vacation while Lucious, Alfred, and Gordon kept an eye on things back in Gotham. 

On the bright side, his children want to snuggle up for once, which he supposes is nice. And Damian seems pleased about it judging by his rambles about snakes. So there’s that. 

[daystud]

runs for my life from them and you seeing this

[catzz089]

Helloooo there!!!!

I'm bored and would really love to read some Lestappen fics-preferably full of angst and sadness. Any recommendations?

Do you have any favorite Lestappen fics? If you do, what's the name of the fic?

Anyway, I love your stories and can't wait for the next chapter!

~🥔

Well well well…

You came to the right place.

Me and my 506 bookmarks have been WAITING for this

First off, my own fics!! Read them all!! I can’t live without angst, any kestappen fic of mine has some form of pain

Angst:

Basically most of IsunstreakerI’s fics, I would say ESPECIALLY Search History

Oh simple thing, where have you gone by fallingprincess (I LOVE this one, is a little bit smutty tho)

Cats emoji, question mark by loyeism (magical au, I love it, it’s part of a series but you don’t need to read the first brocedes installment to understand it)

the prophecy by saltychips16 (if you want some GOOD angst, this is exactly your place I PROMISE)

glitch by nyoomfruits (OH YEAH OH YEAH, C F1 driver/ M web designer but Max doesn’t like publicity)

Never could be sweeter than with you by lestappentrain16_33

The Lasting Effect of A Word by Wolves_lover (like OUCH)

The ENTIRE ‘Made in the A.M’ series by Chandelier_s_Notebook (SOOO good, luv luv luv)

Picture You by MackMackMack (the entire trilogy actually, a lot of angst in here)

After the Crash by Shadow_Reads (I will ALWAYS love a crash fic. Always.)

Asking nicely by Astr_alone123 (I haven’t read this one in a while, but I’m fairly sure there’s a lot of angst in there)

safe by bumblewyn (YESS LAWDDDDD IT HIRTS SO GOOOOD)

And Everything’s easier Way Out West by AvusCircuit (OH YESSSS)

Bedside Manner by WeaglesandBrobeans (probably one of, if not my fav sickfix)

you make me want to cry(in a good way) by revushe (Jos…)

(where’s the trophy?) he just comes running over to me by Lady_Something (jealousy and FEELINGS)

Tap the Rhythm by prompt_fills (I honestly wasn’t sure if I should put this under the angst section, because it doesn’t quite wrench your heart out but it’s a near thing)

Winter’s Wrath by WeaglesAndBrobeans (this one WILL wrench your heart out, lestappen vacation gone VERY wrong)

An irrelevance (in the face of the eternity of the love of those who love eachother) by sunflwrs (poor/rich and the issues that ensue)

I Know Places by Tazza1993 (cat cafe owner (guess who)/ F1 driver, love it)

it’s always roses by mariahcarreyyy (HANNAHAKI DIESEE!!! I GI CRAZY FOR HANNAHHAKI)

slowly fading away by weegreenbean(ayebydan) (LOOK! It’s not even lestappen okay!! It’s Esteban/Lance but it’s SOOO good and SOO angsty it needed a mention)

The Nights Are Long (But It’s Easier Together) by f1writingbyme (Max’s apartment burns down and he has to move in w Charles, goes deep)

Pit-Stop Heartbreak & Healing by rb19lefttire (Jos and abuse!!!)

Not a sore loser by chibyL (crash fic, Charles is stupid)

All the stars We Cannot See by WanderingBlindly (oh it hurts so bad, literal heartburn)

But I’ll know by vigilanthey(oreob1tch) (Max’s trauma!)

Speak Now (Or Hold Your Words Forever) by What_Is_Deltraz_Doing(MysticMusings) (OHHHH YEAHHHH, basically everyone is kind of judging the relationship and Max spirals bc everyone is acting like he’s evil)

You’re also free enough to hide from me by morisco (they’re soulmates, but Charles has another partner so they want to get their soulmarks removed)

the wisdom of a fool won’t set you free by Doctor_whom (stranded, life or death and nobodies feeling good)

I loved you before I knew I was supposed to by 3_33 (soulmate fic where Max doesn’t know they’re soulmates but Charles does and Rivals to lovers)

I’m a fire and I’ll keep your brittle heart warm by multi21 (like actually painful, mostly bc I love Max and he’s hurting and then being MEAN bc of it but happy in the end)

Other favs: (most of these will have angst, bc I’m just like that, but they will be more sweet than anything)

I hope you know (I will carry you home) by Liraelearil

All those good times, baby, baby, I’ve been misusin’ by youngnbeutifluv (a bit of angst, but it won’t rip your heart out, mostly quite sweet)

Will o’ the Wisps by autumnapricot (quite a bit of angst packed in there, buts it’s also long so it all balances out)

loquarocoeur’s entire page (I’m so serious, if you don’t know her CHECK HER OUT!!! She got me into writing AND my lestappen dynamics)

Cheating at Bingo and Other Christmas Traditions by WanderingBlindly (super duper lovely with angst sprinkled in)

you hold me hypnotized, i’m mesmerized by cryystal_mOOn (Lezstappen!!! With Max being scared)

four espressos (and a lifetime) by makeamends (defo some angst, super fun)

there’s nothing sweeter than my baby by lecmilton1644 (light angst, Max starts a fan account for Charles)

I bet you think about me by dalsy (GP’s POV of their relationship ship)

Misunderstanding for three (can be angsty if you look at it correctly, mostly it’s just fun and sweet)

sweet nothing by foggystars (CUTEEE)

I Can See You (being my addiction) by sucka4love (LEZSTAPPENNNN and JEALOUSY)

I Was Lighting (Before the Thunder) by f1writingbyme (angsty, not too much tho but defo there, jealousy)

You can stay one more hour, can you stay one more hour by beensinning (Charles has a toddler (Oscar) and it’s a sick fic, I don’t even LIKE kiddies but this is SUCH a banger)

you look so perfect standing there by shybear_styles (short and sweet)

no one likes to lose, know that I’ve got this by bluejay141519 (angsty, but not too much, fun and stupid)

not very subtle by bananasong (angsty, not too much)

Since we were 18. Or 16. Or whatever. By MsReyland (cute cute cute, fake dating)