#sk8 as a whole was such a fun experience though

[twentyfivemiceinatrenchcoat]

HAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII ARIIII IT IS IIIIII!!!!!!!!! i'm here to bombard you with the very same questions of the question game bc i really wanna hear your answers too!!!!!! so 1. your comfort characters pleaseeee pretty please andd 2. a scenario that you've replayed multiple times please pretty pretty please!!! luv u btw wait also u are 10000% that gojo cover is the most beautiful thing in the world and nobody can tell us otherwise<33333333333

- @catchuuu

MICKEY IT IS YOUUUUUUUU :33 welcome welcome!!!!!! take a seat……. here is your ari delivered pastry and drink 🍩🍵 <- some tea bc it’s late. it’s gonna help you sleep better trust !!

wahhh you’re so sweet to drop in w these…. i had a crisis answering them bc . i am …. indecisive,.,…… but i’ll try just for you :’3

1/ HHHHHHHHHHHHH what is there to say………… you already know a lot of them i think 😭😭 gojo our belovedest ALWAYS makes me happy and suguru too!!! i think gojo is a bit more of a comfort though… sugu makes me pretty sad….. ANDDD ofc kenjaku!!! my silly emotional support queercoded villain. he makes me smile :3 would also throw in nobara bc her existence feels like a warm hug. she’s my Everything. i had a crush on her when i first watched jjk and i will adore her always!!!!!

jjk aside though…… THIS is where i start getting indecisive bc i have too many fandoms to keep track of + my memory is bad :’3 but ummmm um. kunikida is my angel wife!! and reki from sk8 the infinity makes me sooo happy 🥺🥺 (you would LOVE him btw he has the brightest smile ever) ALSO NOYA FROM HQ…… and ryoji from persona 3….. and kazui from milgram… and tsukasa and emu from pj sekai……….

i could mention more but!!! i’ll finish by saying saber and archer from fate/stay night :> saber is the reason i started loving knights and archer is the sexiest man on this planet + the reason i’m into motherly men + voiced by junichi suwabe <3333 the fate series is soooo dear 2 my heart mickey…. my favorites r actually sakura and kirei but they both make me too emotional to be called comfort charas…. same w shirou……. and every single csm character too 😔 sigh .

2/ hhhh this one was . also tough……. :cc since you went w a childhood near-death experience i will do the same >:3 i was almost brutally murdered (<- grave exaggeration) by a cow when i was like . 10…. it might’ve been a bull?? i was too scared to look it in the eye 😞😞

it was raining a bunch right … and there was this lil nature reserve near my house . w a path you could walk up on a hill but also down by a river….. and it was raining sm that the whole thing was just FLOODED. you couldn’t see any of the rocks in the river…. or the grass you could walk on beside it…… so little ari decided to go down there anyway. for the sake of adventure. and i made it to the end of the path to a fence that you could jump over to get to The Normal Road Home .

BUT …. gasp ………. little ari came face to face w a bunch of cows . up on the hill. right by the fence. they were eating the grass and i was scared bc they were fucking HUGE mickey :((( i was shaking n shivering and trying to blend in w my surroundings……… carefully making my way towards the fence that they were kinda blocking.

BUT THEN …. another gasp….. suddenly i was face to face w this One cow/bull and it just stared at me. for a couple seconds. and then it ran right towards me and my childhood instincts kicked in …. so i like. ran down the hill and then back up so i could jump over the fence . and then i was ok :) but ever since that fateful day i’ve been scared of cows….. i can only admire them from afar 😔😔😔😔

hehe these were so fun to answer… ty mickey my angel <333 ALSO SO TRUE SO REAL i knew i could trust you…….. he’s so pretty!!!!!! ig we just have to bear the burden of understanding him better than anyone else …. a heavy burden but. it is what it is <//3

[moniesmonsters]

Hi Monie! Love your GrimmUlqui stuff! <3 <3 For the writers' ask 27, 28 & 29. Answer whichever you want!

I'm glad you do! I always love getting to see your comments, especially the cascade of hearts. And I'll answer 'em all~

27. If we're talking fanfic, I had some trouble writing Kaoru/Cherry Blossom from Sk8 lately. His characterization kept flipping around on me when I was working. I couldn't quite nail him down, but I always have trouble writing a character for the first time in some capacity.

In terms of original fic, it's always been my character Ezra Sparrow. He's a trauma surgeon and all around not a very pleasant guy. I use a lot of experience working on him when I write Aizen. He's very in it for himself and will drag anyone down with him or kill who he deems unnecessary. Plus there is the whole hates his daughter, turns her into a monster, and tortures her friends thing.

28. God it's a toss up in fic between Grimm and Joe from Sk8. Grimmjow's just fun to dig into and explore his obsessiveness while Joe's a horn dog. Aggressive and/or horny characters are fun.

And speaking of aggressive and horny, that's my original content character, Monifa. Love when I get to work with her. She's my first OC and whee my username Monie comes from. When I get to write her, it's always a party!

29. I get inspiration from the silliest places sometimes. It can be a song, it can be something Spade said, or it can be Grimmjow yelling something in my head while I try to make lunch. Yesterday for example I was listening to Hold Me Like A Grudge from the new Fall Out Boy cd and a buddy fic for Ulquiorra and Shuhei hit me in the face so hard.

When the inspiration dries up, I tend to look at other medias to work in for a bit. I draw, or I read. Chat with Spade about her ideas, or even just scroll through the internet until something hits. Sometimes it's a few days sometimes it's a few years. It always comes back eventually though.

thanks for the asks, Calla~ Feel free to drop more in the future if there's ever any silly thing you'd like to know about how I treat Grimm and Ulquiorra~

[zorbs]

post-Sk8 ep.12 thoughts

okay ngl immediate reaction was being pretty disappointed. but then i sat with it and realized that despite a couple of gripes i still had a lot of fun and sk8 was 100% worth the ride.

so first my disappointments:

it was sooo unsatisfying for Adam’s only consequence being the loss of his beef with Langa because i don’t even think that even ended up impacting him at all with the whole skating is fun again and he reconnected with Tadashi thing. this man straight up assaulted multiple people!! nearly killing them!!! also cant forget the whole i’m gonna make Langa my Eve storyline bc that was insanely creepy - but nope this man virtually got off scott free. i get that it’s supposed to be part of Langa’s character to be the better person by saving him from being alone and skating without having fun but after all he put them through he didn’t deserve it in the slightest imo.

then inspector lady??? what was the point of her character??? i guess they put her in to build up tension but then it really just fell flat without her being able to actually do anything.

and don’t get me started on my boy Tadashi :/ his relationship with Adam is so unhealthy. like i’m genuinely worried for him. blushing after being told you’re going to be someone’s dog forever? that should not be someone’s reaction to hearing that.

i’m also sad that Shadow didn’t get to end up with flower shop lady...he basically risked his life by taking that hit for her and then she just ended up with some rando. like i get that was supposed to be a comedic beat at the end but idk i just actually was disappointed lol

i guess i was mostly just unhappy with the end to Adam’s storyline but since it ended up being a solid chunk of the episode it definitely put a dent in my feelings for it

but focusing on the positives here are some things i actually very much enjoyed about episode 12:

the whole moment when Langa comes out of the zone when he grabs his skateboard and we see how Reki updated the design to say ‘FUN’ along with Langa having the vision of his dad. that was an incredibly delightful segment

Reki completely believing that Langa would get up and keep fighting; very sweet parallel

i am glad Adam lost but that was the bare minimum expectation

Langa jumping into Reki’s arms after he won the race!!! (gotta love that yoi typa beat)

the gang celebrating back at the skateboard shop. best family™️

Reki teaching his sisters how to skate :)

seeing Miya smile while in school then running ahead - felt like that was representative of him being ready to face the future now that he’s finally found people that love and support him

Reki and Langa’s “fantasy of a final race” as they skate into the sunrise (extremely cheesy i knowww but i’m a sucker for that kind of stuff)

so i mean overall not bad bc there were fs plenty of positives! but still it was definitely not the most satisfying if i’m being honest

[retrogradedreaming]

UHHHH maybe,, you could write a little thing for reki making the sk8 fam tea? and kaoru thinking hes gonna have to pretend he likes it but then "oh wait reki can actually make tea what-"

just bc this has been living in my head for awhile sdkljfs

(capt-snoozles)

It turns out I am completely incapable of writing ANYTHING short, so have a full one shot type thing, I guess. I hope it's okay that I kinda borrowed headcanons from you and @that-was-anticlimactic for Reki with TS at a couple of small moments in the fic?

----

It used to be Kaoru alone who visited Kojiro’s restaurant when it was closed on Mondays. But since the start of winter break, Sia la Luce had become much livelier now that Reki, Langa, and Miya weren’t in school all day, and Shadow came when his days off lined up right. If Kaoru were being honest, it took some time to get used to the space no longer being only his and Kojiro’s, but he’d grown to like how their group came together like this.

The afternoons were the quietest part of these days. Kojiro took these opportunities to try out new recipes on them, leaving everyone contentedly full and pleasantly sleepy. Today, Langa had actually fallen asleep in the booth, and Reki sat beside Kaoru at the counter, playing with a tiny skateboard and making soft sounds like a small motor. Shadow and Miya sat at a table across the room, arguing over whether clown or cat makeup looked cooler while Kojiro finished cleaning. Kaoru let himself sink into the lull, Reki’s noises and that of the skateboard wheels on the counter an almost comforting presence beside him. And yet, one thing was missing, keeping him from truly relaxing.

“Seems like a good afternoon for tea,” Kojiro said, as if reading his mind as he appeared out of the kitchen, wiping his hands on a towel. “You want me to make some?”

“Absolutely not,” Kaoru scoffed. “People who microwave their tea should be arrested.”

“There’s no way you can tell the difference,” Kojiro said, defensive. “Hot water is hot water.”

“Only an uncultured pig would believe that,” Kaoru snapped. He was about to stand, to tell Kojiro he’d make the tea himself like he always inevitably had to, when Reki all but leaped from his seat, skateboard abandoned for the moment.

“I’ll make it!” he offered, and the way his face lit up meant that Kaoru took too long to say not to bother. By the time he’d found his words, Reki had already bounded around the counter and into the kitchen, and Kojiro didn’t even try to stop him. Before Kaoru could tell Kojiro to stop him, Reki called out to Kojiro, asking about the industrial stove, and soon, Kojiro was not only allowing Reki to make the tea, but encouraging him.

Kaoru supposed this was a step up from Kojiro’s microwave technique, but if Kaoru were likely to trust anyone other than himself to make a decent cup of tea, it wouldn’t be Reki. The idea that he’d wanted his tea made well and was unlikely to receive it as such set him on edge. As he listened to the water boil and the conversation continued around him, he found himself wrapping a strand of his hair around his finger and tugging, letting it go, and repeating the process until his scalp hurt. He didn’t even notice that Langa had woken up until he appeared beside Kaoru and spoke.

“What’s Reki doing?” he asked.

“Making tea,” Kaoru said, doing his best not to appear so anxious about something so small.

Langa peered over the edge of the counter to where Kojiro and Reki were talking in the kitchen, and then turned back to Kaoru. “I like how he makes it. I never liked it before I met him.”

Kaoru hummed a halfhearted response. He doubted that Langa’s standards were very high, given that he’d grown up in Canada. He’d likely had tea often enough, given that his mother was Japanese, but Kaoru knew from experience that plenty of people even here in Okinawa had no idea how to brew a proper cup. It was about timing, knowing how hot to make the water, how long to steep the leaves, and so many people rushed the process—or worse, forgot about it and steeped too long—that Kaoru preferred to make his own.

He couldn’t help but envision Reki handing him a bitter cup, or one that tasted like little more than hot leaf juice. He grimaced at the idea of having to drink it and pretend he liked it, suffering all the while. He would have to wait until he was home later to make something better for himself.

He was still trying to think of a polite way to decline the tea he’d obviously wanted when Reki came out bearing a tray of steaming cups and began making the rounds through the restaurant. Reki handed the first one to Langa, who accepted it, smiling softly up at Reki. Langa sipped the tea immediately, only to flinch and draw it away after the first sip.

Not promising, Kaoru thought. If he’d boiled the water, it was ruined, even if it was something as simple as green tea. And yet, Langa only took another sip while Reki looked on approvingly.

“It’s good,” Langa finally proclaimed, and Reki glowed as if he’d received praise from the emperor himself. Reki moved on, handing Kaoru his cup.

“Thank you,” Kaoru said, accepting it with both hands. Fortunately, Reki moved on to Shadow and Miya without waiting for Kaoru to try it, which meant that he didn’t know Kaoru only held onto it without making a move to taste it. If nothing else, he could enjoy the warmth that crawled from his fingertips all the way to his elbows.

Neither Miya nor Shadow hesitated in drinking theirs, though Kaoru couldn’t imagine they cared much how it tasted, as long as it was hot. And yet, as he watched, the two of them looked just as pleased as Langa when they tried it.

“Oh wow, the slime makes good tea,” Miya pronounced, hugging the cup close to him like a space heater.

“Damn, this is pretty good,” Shadow said, drinking deeply and draining half the cup. “How’d you even learn to make it like this?”

Reki shrugged, taking up his own cup, the last on the tray. He set the tray down on the counter and took the empty seat beside Langa. “I dunno, I guess I just picked it up over the years. It’s kinda like making skateboards, y’know? You have to figure out how all the parts fit together, and if you do it wrong, the tea doesn’t taste right.”

Kaoru looked up at him from the murky depths of his tea, brows raised. When it came to making tea, the analogy was rather profound, and Kaoru couldn’t argue it. Reki was right—tea was about the sum of its parts, the pieces fitting together perfectly. And as with building skateboards, the person making it had to know exactly how to combine each piece to create the whole.

“That doesn’t make any sense, but whatever,” Shadow said, taking another sip. “All I care about is that it doesn’t suck.”

“How come you’ve never made us tea before?” Miya asked, eyes trained on the Switch he’d pulled from his pocket now that he’d abandoned his conversation with Shadow.

“I don’t really have the patience for it,” Reki said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. “It’s kinda like, if I don’t wanna put in the time to do it right, why bother?”

While everyone was wrapped up in conversation, Kaoru finally chanced a discreet sip. If it was as bad as he’d expected, he could school his expression appropriately while they were all distracted. Perhaps he could even get away without having to lie about how good it was. And yet, when the tea touched his tongue, he paused.

It wasn’t too hot.

It wasn’t too weak or too strong.

It wasn’t too bitter and the leaves didn’t taste as though they’d been burnt.

It was, as far as Kaoru was concerned, some of the best tea he’d had outside his own home. For a moment, he couldn’t find the words to say so. He sipped it again, just to make sure he hadn’t deluded himself based on everyone else’s praise. Sure enough, it was almost more delicious the second time.

“You surprised?” Kojiro murmured at his ear, his own cup dangling from his fingertips. Kaoru jumped, nearly spilling his tea. When he turned to face him, Kojiro’s lips quirked in a smug grin, and he raised one brow meaningfully. Kaoru shot him a hard glower in return, a silent command to keep his mouth shut before Kaoru turned back to Reki.

“It’s delicious,” Kaoru said, and it wasn’t forced in the least. “I’m impressed.”

Reki, who had already immersed himself in talking to Langa, gaped at Kaoru, one of his hoodie strings falling from between his teeth. Then, he flashed a wide grin. “Glad you like it!”

“Have you ever practiced tea ceremony?” Kaoru asked, reluctantly setting his tea down on the counter.

“Nah, my parents let me try it once when I was younger, but I kept messing up the steps,” Reki said. “It’s not really fun when people get mad at you for doing it wrong.”

“I studied it for some time,” Kaoru said, remembering how the order felt comforting, how the amount of concentration it required gave his anxious mind something to focus on, how the simple yet refined aesthetic felt like clearing his head. In recent years, he didn’t have time for it with his calligraphy business, but a part of him missed it. “It’s quite a bit different from drinking tea like this, but if you wanted to, perhaps we could do a...modified version of it. Something less formal with everyone here.”

Reki’s eyes brightened, and he looked to Langa, who only seemed to share his enthusiasm. “It sounds fun, yeah! A lot better than getting yelled at by a bunch of old people because ‘tradition.’”

“I’d say so,” Kaoru said, and they devolved into talking about their favorite teas and the best ways to brew them. Kaoru couldn’t remember the last time he’d talked to someone who actually understood that tea was an art even more than it was a drink. But Reki did, and when the rest of the group finally left, leaving Kaoru and Kojiro alone in the restaurant to clean up, Kojiro nudged him with an elbow.

“You didn’t think Reki could make tea like that, did you?” he said, the words teasing but too close to Kaoru’s own thoughts for comfort.

“Shut up or I’ll leave you here to wash dishes alone,” Kaoru quipped, even as he accepted the next cup to dry. “I will admit, I was pleasantly surprised.”

“I knew you would be,” Kojiro said as he dried his hands and stretched.

“Anything is better than microwaved tea,” Kaoru said. And although it was true, he couldn’t help but look forward to the next Monday, and the last before the kids started school again.

[no-brain-just-akutagawa]

i am so curious now, how did aftg get you into bsd?

Oh my.

*record scratch*

You might be wondering how I ended up in this situation.

So it’s not like it grabbed me by an ankle and threw me right into bsd (however it would be just as fitting), but it set off the weirdest plan I’ve ever made. Buckle up, because by the end of this story, you will have lost some brain cells. Also a slight spoiler warning, though I won’t say any names. More under the cut, because it’s quite a long story actually.

So it all begins one random evening in June 2021. I’ve just finished heartstopper like 10 minutes ago and now I’m bored to the moon and back. I think well I’d like to read a book so I check my to-read-later list and there it is. All for the game. Alrigthy, now I’ll be set for at least 3 days, I think and start the first volume. I finish it at midnight, but I want more so I immediately start the second one. At 2 am I fall asleep. I wake up at like 10 am and I finish the second book. I take my dog on a walk, come back and start the third book. By this time my brain is 100% liquid, but it’s the most fun I’ve had in months. I take one more break for a late lunch and some shopping, come back home and finish the last book.

You might think it’s very random like girl why are you telling this story but it’s important for you to know I’ve never read a whole trilogy faster. Like 3 books in 26 hours?? Idk how people do it on a daily basis, I felt like my brain was done for it. So that was special and idk what kind of hormones my brain started producing but I was like I NEED MORE. But of course the trilogy was over and the extra materials weren’t all that interesting, and I ran out of fics to read in like a month. Yet I wasn’t going to give up on my endorfin rush (or whatever it was) so I was like I need to make a plan. Let’s do it strategically.

I made it my summer mission to find something that’ll give me the same emotional experience as aftg, which I call the Rush.

There were 4 important parts of this plan:

people seemed to be comparing this trilogy to anime like the whole industry, so I was like I should probably look for an anime (I’ve seen a few anime before so it wasn’t that big of a potential change)

exy is a sport, so maybe a sport anime? Something set in school?

there are lgbt+ themes, so maybe I’m just in a mood for an lgbt+ story (like always so nothing new there)

there’s mafia – funnily enough I said nah I had watched jojo part 5 before and it didn’t give me that rush, so why would another story with mafia do so (and look where I am now that’s irony, a literal irony)

And so my search began.

I started with a book and it wasn’t it. It was a good book but nowhere near the level of the Rush. Now I was sure it HAD TO be an anime. There was simply no other option (told you, no brain cells were used during this whole process). Funnily enough I went straight to jojo part 4 for idk what reason. Like idk what prompted me to go there but I did. Then I remembered I was supposed to be checking out some sport anime and I went for Haikyuu which gave me some rush but after finishing it wasn’t really lingering, so I continued my search while finishing jojo part 4. As I finished Haikyuu, my instagram began to be flooded by different fanarts and memes, and then I saw a fanart of Langa from sk8 the infinity (thanks algorithm, you did well) and I was like waaaait I've heard about this show. So I sat down to watch it and binged it in one sitting. And I thought yeah that’s it, that’s the Rush. But wait a minute, it’s too short, oh no the Rush is leaving me!!

Conclusion: I need something longer.

So I went back to jojo part 4, which again was a blast to watch (it made me appreciate jojo in all its quirkiness), and it reminded me that dio is a vampire and as you may know, I like vampires. This in turn reminded me that vanitas no carte was supposed to be coming out around this time. So I went to google vanitas no carte but as the first season was still ongoing I was like, you know what, I’ll wait until it finishes before deciding what to do with it. But instagram kept giving me spoilers and I saw people comparing gojo (from jjk, which I also watched in hope to get the Rush but as you can imagine it didn’t click this way) to vanitas and some dude called dazai who was from bsd. I was like hmm bsd reminds me of something else, but I’m a curious goose, so I went to google it, very scared, and it turned out that bsd is actually an anime about a detective agency and not what I expected it to be, and I was like… yeah whatever I don’t care, that's not what I'm looking for.

Now I was sure the rush was gone, I’ve been defeated by my own hubris. I flew too close to the sun and nothing was going to compare. So in that mood I went to tumblr to search for some franz kafka quotes because this man just always gets it. And then I see some people talking about a new chapter and I’m like a new chapter of what exactly?? Hasn’t kafka been dead for like 80 years or something?? A posthumous release? And what is an asagiri? A title? So a googled it and surprise, surprise! I see bsd AGAIN. I’m like you know what I don’t care anymore, people say that the characters are very pretty, so I might as well watch it just to forget about the failure that’s been my very-much-unhiged-with-zero-chance-of-working plan and then I'll go back to my search.

I turn on the first episode and I’m like waaait it’s actually good?? Like yeah silly, but way better than I expected and I feel the mutual understanding between me and Atsushi grow, so that's VERY GOOD. I see the opening and the ending at the end and I’m like oooh do they have any meaningful connections to the plot, because it seems like it? Who are these people? So instead of watching the second episode I decided to do a quick research consisting on going to the wiki and trying to figure out who is that emo dude that seems to take half of the ending for himself and who I'm probably not gonna like (jokes on me, oh jokes on me). And then I see his description with the undead written under the status. I’m like undead?? in what way?? So I start reading about him more and I see that he’s apparently a vampire. And I go WHOA NOBODY TOLD ME THERE ARE VAMPIRES HERE. And so I went back to watching bsd, the Rush came back and it’s been here ever since. I thought it was going to go away, so that's why I made this account to kinda keep myself busy not to lose it, but I still thought it was going to be lost again for some time. And now it’s still going strong and even has a friend in the form of the jojo part 6 Rush, so everything worked out perfectly in the end.

And that’s the story how my dumbest plan produced better results than I could have ever imagined.

And if you're wondering how long this mission lasted - 6 weeks. Literally 6 weeks.

[a quick info: all the things I mentioned are fantastic and I highly recommend them. Rush or no Rush, they are wonderful and I'm a fan of them all!]

[fantastic-rambles]

Sk8 Analysis: Adam’s Search for “Eve”

I’m tired of seeing all the hate for Adam, so... here’s some more non-hating-Adam content in which I try to relieve some of the pressure of my latest obsession. This isn’t meant to be a justification of his behavior or anything, just my own thoughts and theories on his character.

To me, his driving force is his love for skating. I honestly believe that he loves skating more than anyone else does, and more than anything else: his speech when he’s starting the quarterfinals of the tournament seems to suggest that/be a bit of a “humble brag” when he says that he’s trying to figure out who loves skating the most... because pretty much everyone knows that he’s #1 and the likely champion. Then there’s also all the times when he’s put off work in order to skate or immediately gone to the course after returning from a trip. So when he’s skating, he wants to enjoy himself to the fullest, which means that he needs a real rival, someone for whom it is not a foregone conclusion that Adam will win if he goes all-out. Which is what he’s looking for in his search for “Eve.”

Of course, the logical starting point in examining his character is his past. We do see that he has some typical “innocent childhood”-looking memories with Tadashi, who taught him how to skate, as well as good times with Cherry and Joe when they were teenagers. There was definitely a time when he was sincerely happy and didn’t engage in his current level of high-risk behavior that’s traumatized and injured a number of his opponents. But even then, it seems pretty clear that he’s on a different level than the other skaters: when Cherry and Joe first meet Adam, they have a skill test/challenge in which Cherry and Adam both jump over a stack of skateboards. While Cherry just barely clears the stack, Adam jumps over it with plenty of room to spare, which sparks the start of Cherry’s admiration for him.

But it does seem like Cherry and Joe are the two skaters who can best keep up with him, so they spend a lot of time together, and Adam even lets them see his face, telling them that they’re “special.” At that point, they were all still growing and improving, probably by competing with each other, so they had not yet reached their full potential/maturity as skaters. Even though Adam seemed to be their de facto leader since he was the most skilled and drew the admiration of everyone else, I think that he wanted them to improve until they could challenge him on equal footing, to help him also improve and enter a new frontier of skating together.

But between then and now, something changed, and all we know is that Tadashi blames himself for it, and it’s something that Cherry (and maybe Joe) doesn’t know or understand. Adam became obsessed with finding his “Eve,” the person who could be his equal in skating, and he became much more aggressive/desperate in searching for that person. When he finds someone who he thinks has the potential to keep up with him, he tests them to see if they love skating as much as he does (if they do, they won’t be scared to come back and challenge him) and whether they can keep up with him. And if he thinks that they really are “Eve,” he invites them to the world that he sees, when his eye goes all rainbow-y and he pushes both himself and his opponent to the edge. However, when he does that with one of his prospective Eves, the guy goes off a cliff, disappointing him and shocking Cherry and Joe.

So then, coming back to the present, how does he treat his opponents? It’s based on what expectations he has of them with regard to their likelihood of being “Eve.”

Starting with the one for whom he has the least expectations: Cherry. Usually, before a race, Adam will banter with his opponent and generally be kinda obnoxious, but he clearly has no interest in racing Cherry from the very start, and he admits as much (though Cherry misunderstands why). He gives off an air of just wanting to get it over with, interrupting Cherry and Joe’s bickering before the race and the whole time, he almost never smiles. It’s not that he doesn’t smile because he’s taking Cherry seriously, or that he’s upset about racing Cherry: it’s because it’s simply not fun for him. The more serious he gets, the more openly he expresses himself with his overly dramatic protestations of love, because that’s when he’s truly enjoying himself.

He also doesn’t engage in his usual showmanship, only dancing when he’s about to pull off a move, which might simply be because the “dancing” is required to set up the Love Hug/turn his board around. The early Love Hug at the beginning was a test: both of them knew that Cherry would avoid it, but Adam wanted to see how. Would he do something unexpected, or simply stick to his “overcalculated” method of skating? But Cherry ends up disappointing him, so in the end, he pretty much smacks Cherry in the face with reality. Again, I’m not condoning his violence, but I also think it was necessary in order to shock both Cherry and viewers who believed in “the power of friendship” to show them that, yes, Adam is no longer who he was, and that he isn’t clinging to the past/his fond memories. Adam himself doesn’t seem happy about doing it, unlike when he challenges other skaters with danger/violence (his previous prospective Eve, Reki, and Langa), but Cherry needs that reality check so he can let go and move on.

What he said about Cherry’s skating being “boring” and with “no surprises” is certainly incredibly harsh, but it’s not inaccurate. Even though I love highly analytical characters who can make calculations and execute them perfectly on the fly like Cherry, I agree with Adam’s assessment. Cherry is not an amazing skater: the only reason he’s considered one of the best skaters is because of his perfect technical skill, assisted by Carla. But he can’t improvise, and more importantly, he can’t improve: he’s already reached his peak. And that’s not enough to challenge Adam: even during their race, there were times that Adam was clearly holding back even as Cherry was nailing everything perfectly. So Adam has no more expectations of Cherry. He’s long ago discarded the idea that Cherry (or Joe) could be his “Eve,” so he views skating with them as boring and a waste of time because they can’t do anything that will thrill him or let him fully express his love for skating. 

Next, Reki. Even though Adam knows that Reki isn’t at his level, and his main motivation is to beat Reki so he can race Langa, he still takes Reki relatively “seriously.” He’s his usual, flamboyant self prior to the race, and he does seem to enjoy himself during the race. Reki is closer to reaching his full potential, but that still puts his ability far below Adam’s, so Adam gives himself a handicap so that he can enjoy himself when he goes all-out to catch up. He also tests Reki’s potential with his very hands-on/violent approach to competing, though Reki ends up being scared off by it initially. But then he recovers and even surprises Adam with his persistence, resulting in Adam trying out a Love Hug on him, which turns out to be the final blow to Reki’s confidence. But Adam can still enjoy himself because it’s a new experience and a new challenger, so he can get a breath of fresh air even though he knows Reki isn’t his “Eve.”

Then, there’s Miya. Although it’s very briefly shown, Adam’s race with Miya during the preliminaries shows that he does have expectations of Miya. He has a cheerful, creepy talk with Miya about how he’s loved all of his opponents--not, in my opinion, in a romantic way, but rather because without them, he cannot fully enjoy the thrill of skating if he’s just skating “alone”--and during the race, he dances on his board throughout as he leaves Miya in the dust. Adam does seem happy when he says that it’s their first time racing together, because that means it’s a new experience for him. But he doesn’t test Miya’s potential to be an “Eve” with his usual grabbing him and forcing him to dance together because he believes that Miya hasn’t reached his maximum potential yet, as shown when he says that he won’t “love” Miya until he “blossoms beautifully.” So he does expect good things from Miya eventually, but he won’t race Miya seriously at this point: perhaps later, Miya could become an “Eve” for him, but not right now.

Then, finally, he has his eyes set on Langa, who is currently the closest to his ideal of “Eve.” Of course, he is aware that Langa is practically a complete beginner since he’s been watching Langa from the very start, but at the same time, Langa has so much raw potential that it excites Adam, so much so that he’s not willing to wait for Langa to fully mature as a skater. Even before the race starts and he becomes convinced that he’s found “Eve,” he shows up with a bouquet of red roses to proclaim his “passionate love” for Langa (AGAIN, NOT ROMANTICALLY), which is completely over the top compared to when he skated with anyone else and shows just how excited he is about skating against Langa.

During the race itself, he clearly respects Langa for wanting to start at the same time despite the very obvious handicap it gives Langa. Everyone else thinks that Langa is insane or stupid, but Adam seems pleased by it--because Langa is rising to the challenge and trying to fight him on equal terms. Yes, Adam holds back during the race because he knows that if he was serious, he would crush Langa (competitively, but not spiritually), but he also wants to see what Langa is made of. Initially, he seems disappointed when Langa is hanging back on the straightaway, which is a “safe” play suggested by Cherry that can’t beat him. But when he tests Langa by grabbing him and throwing them into a spin, not only does Langa not give up, but he actually challenges him back: pulling closer to increase their spin speed while smiling, which Adam is clearly delighted by. Then when he tries the Love Hug, Langa surprises him and exceeds his expectations by escaping it, even though he’s basically still a newbie. And escaping it not by dodging/running away like Cherry did, but by driving straight into Adam and flying over him. He’s willing to take risks and possibly fail, to do things that others don’t expect: a trailblazer for a new era of skating, like Adam (who developed a way to “skate uphill” and “pull off a Love Hug in a turn,” which everyone thought was impossible until he did it).

So Langa has everything that Adam is looking for in a rival: a love for skating that can’t be crushed by anything, a desire to challenge himself against opponents who should be above his ability level, and the potential to exceed Adam’s expectations and become a skater who he might even lose against. So Adam invites him to his world with the rainbow-y eye and is very clearly disappointed when they’re interrupted by the police. At that point, Langa isn’t at the level that he can actually fight on an equal footing with Adam, but it seems that he’ll be there soon, and that’s why Adam “loves” him so much and considers Langa to be his “Eve.”

He’s not looking for a romantic or sexual partner in “Eve,” but someone who can create a new world together with him: someone who can keep up with him, show him fresh possibilities, and breathe new life into what he loves more than anything else (skating). He doesn’t just want a crowd of fans who admire and cheer for him, for all that he enjoys the limelight and is incredibly flashy. He wants an equal.

[soupthatistohot]

Why do I write primarily mlm fanfic?

This was something I asked myself the other day. I am a girl, I think I'm queer (but I am attracted to men, whatever I am), so why do I fixate on mlm relationships? Why do I never feel compelled to write wlw or even just some good 'ol straight stuff? I brought this up to a few friends of mine who also watch anime. One of them said that it’s because lots of popular media only really focuses on developing their male characters well, and I think this to be a very suitable explanation (as well as the fact that I’m queer and thus gravitate towards queer stories).

Take Sk8 the Infinity for example. I could count the number of female characters in this anime on one hand, and one of them is a robot. The others are supporting roles who only serve to support the male main characters. I love Sk8 very much, and with the possibility of a 2nd season I’d love to see a prominent, well-developed female character (but if they make her Reki’s love interest I will literally stab someone). But as the anime stands right now, there are no female characters that aren't just basically plot devices.

Another show I love dearly, Yuri!!! on Ice, is much the same. While there can be more of an argument made here because 1) competitive figure skating is split up between men and women, and 2) I believe that the story Yuuri and Victor is absolutely meant to be a romance, so having the two men as the focus is somewhat necessary, there's an overwhelming lack of fleshed-out women in the story. All the female characters are supporting members that only exist for the benefit of male characters. Yuuko and Minako support Yuuri, Lilia exists so Yuri P. can improve, Mila is just... kind of there, and Sara's whole character is centered around her brother being overprotective of her.

Okay, so let's look at something a little less... fruity. Horimiya. I've only watched the anime, so if there's stuff I miss from not having read the manga (yet), please forgive me. I still think this is a valid perspective, though, because if there's female development that the creators decided was so unimportant that it could be cut, that still supports my point here. In my opinion, Miyamura is a lot more developed than Hori. He has his tragic backstory of being a loner, and having his secret piercings and tattoos and all that. A lot of the story ends up focusing on his side of things... despite the fact that Hori is the protagonist. The story follows her perspective for the most part, we learn things about Miyamura as she does, yet I feel like she's a bit dull. She has a uncommon home life and has to take care of her younger brother, that's her big bad secret? I get that it's kind of unexpected since she's the pretty, perfect, popular girl, but I still feel like it's a tad anticlimactic. It's hardly ever addressed beyond the first few episodes, too, and it just kind of exists as a fact within the story. Even beyond our main couple, it seems like the other female characters development and stories are all focused on the boy they're interested in (except for Sawada, but she's there for like a couple of episodes and then doesn't really show up all that much again... and her crush on Hori is handled really weird, I didn't exactly love it). Remi's entire character is pretty much centered around her boyfriend, and Sakura and Yuki are basically competing for Toru. Meanwhile, the guys have story beats themed around the girls they're interested in, but I feel like it's not as obsessive or dramatic as how the girls are depicted.

So, we're given these female characters, who are really watered-down and honestly kind of boring, and we're not super compelled to write about them. When we are given flat female characters, there's nothing to work with. It's more fun to use the characters who have had development and play around with the "what ifs" and our own personal headcannons. The characters who get this special treatment are primarily male. And while I commend a lot of shows for developing their male characters in such a way that doesn't exactly fit with society's idea of masculinity (ex: Reki's insecurities and depression, Yuuri's anxiety and femininity, Miyamura's isolation and depression), in the end these characters are still boys, men, males.

I also think mlm is so prominent because of both straight girls and queer people. For straight girls, it can often be fetishization (forgive my generalizing, I'm sure not all straight girls are like that, but an overwhelming amount definitely are). I think one of the best examples I can give for this is Phan. This is a bit different since it's not anime, but instead real people, but if anything that really drives home the point even more. The way Dan and Phil were (and probably still are) treated in the fandom internet space is disturbing, to say the least. Their audience, while much of it was queer, was also made up of an overwhelming amount of heterosexual girls who not only shipped them intensely, but also often sexualized them. And look, there's nothing inherently wrong with being a straight girl and writing smut, but it gets to a point where it can be kind of weird if its excessive. Like, if that's all the relationship is really about, and if the people you're writing about are real human beings, that's definitely overstepping. I will admit that I had a Wattpad and that I wrote Phanfic way back when, and this is something I'm not exactly proud of. Granted, I did not write anything explicit, it was still super weird, whether or not I was queer. And I'm not saying all the problematic aspects of the Phandom were because of straight girls, because what I contributed was arguably problematic, and I did not identify as straight at the time. At the same time, though, there were straight girls who wrote exclusively smut (or "lemons" as they might've been referred to at the time). There were those who analyzed every post, every bit of information they could find about these men on the internet. They obsessed over the fact that they occasionally shared clothes (which is fairly common for roomates of similar sizes to do), and gathered evidence to support the theory that they shared a bed. It was bad. It was invasive, and it got to the point where it wasn't about the people, it was about the fetishized fantasy these girls made up in their heads about these real, actual men.

Dan and Phil's online presence kind of disappeared for a few years... and I don't blame them.

Getting back on track, mlm is prominent for queer people because it's the LGBT representation they so desperately want to see actualized in media. If a show doesn't make their favorite queer ship canon (and they often don't), they'll do it themselves! That's what fanfic is for! I also know that queer people project onto these characters a lot, and that writing about them is almost like a form of therapy. They see these characters as queer, and they see themselves in these characters, so they write about these characters experiencing similar emotions to them. The thing is, the most compelling characters are male, so those are the characters they end up focusing on, even if the person in question is strictly sapphic. My best example is how I project onto Reki. Personally, I end up thinking of him as (and thus end up writing him as) having some internalized homophobia around being bisexual. That's literally what I am currently going through. I can't project this onto any of the female characters in Sk8, because I couldn't see them going through this experience because they're not developed enough to.

Despite all of this, I still enjoy all of the shows I mention a lot. I think it's just an interesting topic that I was thinking about. I'm not trying to bash anything that I used as an example, these were just my personal observations based off of what I know about these shows and their fandoms. I do, though, believe shipping real people isn't super cool, and I stand by that as someone who used to do it. I'm not going to stop you... I just think it's intrusive and inappropriate to pretend like you know enough about influencers to dictate who they should be involved with romantically. Their love life is, frankly, none of your damn business.

So, long story short, we should make anime (and popular media in general) less misogynistic.

(Also, please leave Dan and Phil alone, they deserve privacy)

[lyrebirdswrites]

I see you’ve gotten into the gay sk8 anime,,, any thoughts ?

Ah ha yes I am into the skating anime!! It’s not my favourite obsession at the moment since jujutsu kaisen currently owns my entire heart, but I’m still very much enjoying sk8. I definitely got bitten by that sports anime bug of wanting to Try That Sport Because The Show Makes It Look Fun... I might drag my old skateboard out of the bottom of my wardrobe and give it another go haha.

I could not stop laughing at the first few episodes, because it really feels like the anime somehow perfectly emulated the experience of being involved in queer subculture - like, whenever the characters are clocking one of the more notorious skaters in every day life it genuinely feels like being gay and lining up at the grocery store or something and suddenly recognising the drag queen you like to watch perform on the weekend in the line ahead of you, it’s so funny. I could write a whole essay about how the skating in this show tracks as a metaphor for not being straight tbh. I don’t really know whether it’s bait or subtext or a complete accident, but I’m having a grand old time watching it so I’m not complaining lmao.

I remember thinking ‘wow, I really hope they don’t have a dumb jealousy subplot, I’m so glad that reki is able to support langa wholeheartedly instead of being bitter about his success’ but honestly now that it’s happened I think they handled it really well. A lot of the time this trope is used just to drive a wedge between characters and it ends up feeling like pointless contrived drama. In this case it works because Reki isn’t actually resentful of Langa, he’s more upset by his own... inadequacy, for lack of a better word? So I don’t feel like they’re eroding the strong relationship that’s been built up between the characters, and it’s believable to me that reki might start to feel like this. I was pleasantly surprised by how realistic the whole internal conflict felt tbh.

I wasn’t all that upset by the latest episode though - I’m sure they’ll resolve that conflict before the show is over so I didn’t really feel the need to worry about it too much 😌

But yeah. I love the bond between Reki and Langa, I think the story is really fun, I love how Not Straight everything is, and I think Adam should stay away from kids. Also I do a little dance whenever the OP and ED play, they’re very catchy.

[snxwboarder]

   //So I had some thoughts and feelings when I was at work, bear with me while I struggle to express them. They’re in regards to this rule that I had (and have now removed) from my rules page:

   tl;dr - I need to get over myself lmao

   I think I originally felt this way just because of experiences I’ve had with past rpc’s over jealousy. I’ve been rping on tumblr for over 10 years now and I’ve seen the rpc change so much in that time. I’ve been in too many fandoms to count, sometimes for 2 days and sometimes for years and years (in fact I’m still in one of my very first rpcs, though not as active and I go through long periods of inactivity). What I’ve come to find is this: in some communities people are... just flat out mean about other people’s interpretations. In a previous fandom, I even remember getting an anon saying that my version wasn’t as canon as another person’s which is just like.. first off fucking rude, and second off probably started the whole issue I have with comparing myself. 

   THE THING IS - as I’ve met more lovely people in this rpc, I’ve started to feel differently (more confident, even) about my personal character portrayal. And yeah, it’s different from other people’s Langa’s but hey... who said that’s a bad thing? I have fun with my blog that’s only serious 0.2% of the time, and selfishly... my own fun is what I care about. lmao. sorry not sorry.

   I probably feel this way mostly because the SK8 rpc is pretty small, and everyone seems really friendly with each other. So yeah, I don’t know... I guess I just wanted to get my feelings out about this.

   This isn’t to say that I’ll never not compare myself to other Langa blogs, in fact I’m 99% sure I’ll subconsciously do it. BUT IT IS TO SAY that if I want to evolve as a person and more importantly: a member of this community, I need to work on this aspect of myself and be more open to other people!

   SO BASICALLY - other Langa blogs, I love you, you’re valid, I’m blowing goodnight kisses at all of my homies, and thank you for being a lovely presence on my dash <3

[wildpokemon]

hello!! do you have any nice anime ref???

Ooo, I only really started watching anime at the beginning of last year so I haven’t seen too many, but these are some of my favorites!! (I know they’re mostly sports anime, but don’t let that deter you - I had no interest in sports at all perviously, and some of these shows are legitimately my favorite stories of all time)

Sports anime:

Haikyuu!!

Run With the Wind/Kazetsuyo

SK8 The Infinity

Ace of the Diamond/Daiya no Ace

Shounen:

Mob Psycho 100

My Hero Academia/Boku no Hero Academia

Jujutsu Kaisen

Shoujo:

Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun/Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun

Fruits Basket

(descriptions/my thoughts on each under the cut bc, as usual, i cannot contain myself and it was getting too long lol)

SPORTS!

Haikyuu!! (Currently 4 seasons, season 5 TBA) - Volleyball!! But it’s really about love, learning how to be okay when things are hard, and just connecting to other people. (I know that sounds super generic but TRUST me, the way Haikyuu!! does all those things through volleyball is so so good). Plus, there’s a great cast of characters all with distinct personalities and easily some of the best character development arcs I have ever seen. It’s light, fun, and the games are intense - they really keep you on the edge of your seat! I really cannot recommend Haikyuu!! enough, if you watch anything from this list, watch Haikyuu!! lol - I have a whole sideblog (@suckishima) dedicated to it lmao, I highly suggest you read the manga too if you like the anime (it’s 402 chapters, completed last July, and I genuinely think it’s a masterpiece)

Run With the Wind/Kazetsuyo (1 season, 23 episodes - complete) - Long distance running! Unlike all the other sports anime here, this one is set in college instead of high school, and it’s based off of a novel iirc. Another great cast of characters, and a lot of really good stuff about finding and sharing your passions, discovering/rediscovering things you love, and bonding together even though you run alone. It’s not quite as like fun/humorous/bubbly as most of the others on this list, but I definitely wouldn’t qualify it as heavy angst either. Will probably leave you crying in a good way!

SK8 The Infinity (1 season, currently airing - final episode is this Saturday!) - Skateboarding! This show is full of bright colors and is just generally a lot of fun. It doesn’t take itself too seriously regarding the actual skating (there’s a lot of defying physics - but that’s part of the fun imo), but the characters take skating very seriously lmao. The show also gives a lot of care to the friendships and general relationship dynamics - it does a really good job of balancing the character developments and the skating itself. Really fun protagonists and an easily hatable villain too!

Ace of the Diamond/Daiya no Ace (3 seasons - depends a bit on how you count them, but either way there’s a LOT of episodes) - Baseball! Easily the “sportiest” of the sports anime listed here. The learning curve is a bit harder with Daiya if you don’t have much experience with baseball - the show doesn’t take as much time to explain the significance of positions/rules like Haikyuu!! does - but once you get into it, there’s a lot of really great games and hype to be had here.

SHOUNEN!

(There are lots of good shounen anime and I haven’t seen nearly all of them lol, these are just the ones I’ve enjoyed the most of what I’ve seen)

Mob Psycho 100 (2 seasons, season 3 TBA - I hope??) - I reblogged a post a few days ago that I think sums mp100 up perfectly - it really is a great mix of slice of life and typical shounen things. A young kid has insane psychic powers, his boss is a con man who pretends to have psychic powers, and all the MC really wants is to be nice, make friends, spread love and get buff lol. I smiled throughout my entire watch of mp100, and laughed a lot too. It is about taking down evil spirits, but it’s also not about that at all haha, it’s truly about love imo (are you sensing a pattern in my favorite shows??) Plus the animation is amazingly good - it’s really stylized and “ugly” at times, but in actuality it’s constantly stunning.

Boku no Hero Academia (Season 5 currently airing!) - This one is pretty universally known, but I figured I’d mention it anyway. Pretty typical shounen MC who starts as an underdog who has to work hard but then is given an amazing opportunity to finally fulfill his dreams of being a pro hero. Lots of characters with all sorts of backstories and perspectives, good rivalries, and fun fights between all sorts of different super powers. Plot-wise I don’t think it really does anything too innovative, but I’m always having a good time when I watch, and the worldbuilding is pretty fun too. I’m caught up with the manga on this one too and one thing I really appreciate is that almost everything you see feels relevant and important again at some point - there’s not really any filler arcs or anything, even though it’s an action-y shounen series, it doesn’t feel like it’s being dragged out and there seems to be clear and intentional storylines happening.

Jujutsu Kaisen (1 season, season 2 TBA and a movie coming Winter 2022) - Okay, this is easily the darkest thing on the entire list lol - I know you asked for nice anime and to be honest, even though there is humor and some fun in jjk, I don’t think I can qualify this as a “nice” show lol, there’s a lot of blood, gore and death tbh. But! I thought I’d mention it anyway! It’s about high schooled aged sorcerers who exorcize cursed objects and spirits. The magic/fighting system can be kind of dense, but it lends to a lot of really cool fights and interesting situations for the characters too. The main characters are all really lovable and provide a lot of lightness even during the serious bits! I’ve only just started reading the manga for this one, but from what I’ve heard it sounds like there’s a good amount of lore and backstories to go around. Plus, just a lot of general narrative craziness apparently lolll. The animation for jjk is absolutely insane too.

SHOUJO!

Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun/Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun (1 season - 12 episodes) - I only finished gsnk last week but it’s a lot of fun! Light, easy, and dumb fun lol. The MC tries to ask out her crush and instead gets sucked into being his assistant for his monthly shoujo manga that he writes. There’s a ton of meta jokes, ridiculous scenarios and just general silliness. If you follow me bc you like Miraculous Ladybug then I think you’d like this a lot too - there’s a lot of similar vibes in some of the situations, characters and running jokes!

Fruits Basket (2 seasons, final season airing April 5!) - Okay, I’ll be honest I have mixed feelings about Fruits Basket. It’s about a young girl who has recently lost her mother and ends up living with some guys who come from a clan where some of them can turn into their specific animals of the Chinese zodiac. The series starts off pretty typically for a shoujo, but eventually delves further into the lore surrounding the family the MC stays with. It definitely touches on darker topics, but overall the messages are pretty positive. The show also has a lot to say about abuse and coping mechanisms and I think those aspects as well as the eventual focus on the more fantastical elements is where the show really shines. The original manga was written in the very early 2000s I believe, and some of the storylines do feel a bit questionable and fall into some overused and outdated tropes. Either way, I think there’s a lot of fun to be had with Fruits Basket!

Aaaah omg, sorry I wrote so much and I hope this does help!! If you end up watching any of these I’d love to hear your thoughts!

[cavesalamander]

My brief thoughts on this season of anime!

Just a quick review of the ones I’d recommend and/or keep watching. I managed to find all of the below on Funimation or Crunchyroll or Youtube!

Horymia: (Yes) This is looking to be a very funny romcom slice of life style anime, and seems to be a fairly good one! Had me laughing a lot. The Main couple are a nerdy quiet boy who’s actually dumb as a sack of bricks using his disheveled appearance to hide his tattoos and piercings, and a popular pretty girl who’s actually a total homebody. Their friends seem to have a lot of potential to be fleshed out as the series progresses and I look forward to seeing how it goes!

So I’m a Spider, So What?: (Yes) Whooo another isekai (excited)! This time a girl and her entire class!? Get isekai’d in a massive explosion. The main character reincarnates as a trash monster in a dungeon and must fight her way up the food chain just to survive. Meanwhile her friends who have mostly reincarnated as Cool Humans or the occasional elf or baby dragon, have mostly found each other, and want to figure out what happened/why and if they’re all okay. It’s genuinely pretty funny, though leans a little too hard sometimes on the gamey aspects of this new world. I think it may get darker as it goes along too.

Mushoku Tensei: (No) Whooo another isekai (derogatory). 34 yo old man gets reincarnated and uses his worldly experience to Learn Magic Fast and creep on his mom and prepubescent tutor. If you can stomach that stuff, it actually has a fair amount of potential? It did set itself up to touch on some interesting stuff down the road, but I’m kind of Over the horny toddler/young boy trope and it kinda just seems like the protagonist is Just Awesome At Everything but not in a remotely charming way.

Cells at Work Code Black: (Yes) If you liked Cells at Work, this is that but dingier, and is able to tackle some darker themes - like what stress, smoking, drinking, and probably eventually STDs can do to your body.

Kemono Jihen: (Yes) I don’t wanna explain TOO much about the plot of this one because it looks to be a mystery series, and the first episode sets it up the characters very very well. A man from the city is called to a rural town where animals are being mysteriously killed and found rotting. He’s tasked with finding and killing the perpetrator, assumed to be a monster of some kind. It does the horror very well, and even in the first episode manages some twistyness.

The Hidden Dungeon Only I Can Enter: (No) Even for a blatant fan service anime this one is just......... stupid. It might have a scrap of joy to it if the protagonist were anything other than a boring sycophant. His harem just all seems to be random girls who’s singular personality traits are to be in love with him in various stereotypical ways, that he just uses to min max his Cool Stats. But like, it’s not even self aware enough to make that into an interesting premise.

Sk8: (Yes) It’s a racing anime that seems super stylish and fun and very well animated. The protagonists have some cool chemistry already, and it really leans into the Underground Illegal Racing part of the fun - all the various characters who battle in death defying races through this abandoned mine, all have seemingly ordinary day jobs. Definitely worth a shot if that sounds up your alley.

Suppose a Kid from the Last Dungeon Boonies moved to a starter town?: (Probably) Okay so the premise is just there in the title and is actually pretty fun. Think: a random NPC who is considered pretty weak where the monsters are lv 50 moving somewhere where the monsters are scary at lv 5, shenanigans ensue. The MC boy is hilariously oblivious to the fact that anyone with a shred of sense can see he’s insanely over leveled to the area, and just trying to be nice and polite to everyone ^u^. The tentative nature of my recommendation is that it is kind of leaning harder on the Girls are Obsessed With Him train than is ideal. How much it depends on that as opposed to utilizing the premise to its fullest extent will have an enormous bearing on how fun the show is to watch going forward.

Ex-Arm: (Absolutely not but yes) It’s a fucking train wreck.

Heavens Design Team: (Yes) God decided to outsource creating animals to a team of angels, and works as a client giving weird ass requests for the angels to fill. Hilarity ensues, and it is peak edutainment to boot. It’s so much fun learning weird shit about animals, or trying to guess the animal these seemingly random train of failed attempts leads to.

Dr. Ramune -Mysterious Disease Specialist-: (No) It has a promising premise and some good moments. The main characters are solving these weird “diseases” that people get by finding the actual emotional cause and using magic of some kind to monkey paw it into a resolution. This could be really fun and interesting, but something about the execution just... falls flat? Like maybe it picks up as the season goes on but for now it’s not rly worth it.

Vlad Love: (Yes) I was going through the list of anime this season and was like wtf is this and literally just now watched episode 1. It’s about a girl with a blood donation kink and her vampire girlfriend. Literally. It’s rly funny and over the top ridiculous but like, gay vampires.

Back Arrow: (No) It’s like... fine. It’s about these two warring kingdoms surrounded by a wall with a mountain range between. They worship the wall as god, and occasionally get gifts from beyond it, in the form of mech suits they use to fight each other in. One day a boy shows up from beyond the wall in one of those suits and no memories of anything and he wants to get back. Which... could be promising I guess? But something about the show just didn’t grab my attention.

Skate-Leading Stars: (No) It’s like Yuri on ice if it was less gay and less well written I guess...? The first episode set up the Drama competently enough, but I just... couldn’t give a shit.

Project Scard: (No) For some reason part of Tokyo has been turned into a post apocalyptic hellscape where people just murder each other. They also have super powered tattoos and use them to fight each other. Animation is very similar to Handshakers - which is an Aesthetic that may not appeal to some. The first episode didn’t rly do much for me but I could see it going somewhere if it tries.

Wave!!: (No) Might have been a tentative yes if I hadn’t gone on and watched the second episode. First ep went hard with the queerbaiting cause they want to be the new Free! but with surfing, but Ep 2 just forgot all about that entirely. Dialogue is mostly boring and there’s like 3 sets, which becomes painfully obvious very quickly by ep 2.

Idoly Pride: (No) Literally looks like they ripped off the waifus of a bunch of other more popular anime and made an idol anime with the most basic ass idol plot. Nothing exceptional here.

Gekidol: (undecided) It’s an idol anime... set after a mysterious apocalyptic event? It’s mostly so far seemed intriguing as hell but not my jam. Mysterious craters destroyed parts of Japan, and its rebuilding and the MCs wanna bring light to the world. Maybe aliens exist? Idk! I’m intrigued.

I*Chu: (No) Another idol anime but this time it’s cute boys! Idk maybe this is a decent idol anime but it rly didn’t grab me and idol stuff isn’t usually my jam. I couldn’t tell anything exceptionally unique about this one from just the first episode.

WIXOSS Diva: (No, but) I don’t normally watch spin-offs of series but I didn’t realize until halfway into this that it was one cause Crunchyroll didn’t attach it to the core line. It’s like... magical girl battle idols in VR! Which honestly if you’re a fan of that it might actually be worth checking out.(edited)

Idolls!: (No) Another idol anime! But this one uses mocap 3d models. Phoned in plot line delivered by a weird tiki statue that tells the girls what to do. Seems extraordinarily low budget, and more just a way to sell music. The whole episode happened in a single set and  was basically just... girls want to make it big as idols... oh no... gotta book a stage! Yay they got one! Now must get an audience! Like... ok

Hortensia Saga: (No but) Sword and sorcery fantasy setting that’s mostly sword, main character is a princess masquerading as a male knight alongside the son of her dead parents’s also dead bodyguard. The first episode is very lore heavy and felt kinda like the prologue to a video game. So it ended up feeling a little expository and trope laden, but it has potential. Seems a bit Game of Thronesy? Wasn’t like... bad or anything, so if it’s your thing you might enjoy it.

Otherside Picnic: (Yes) I think it’s gay first of all, two girls going exploring / treasure hunting / monster hunting in a bizarre mirror world to their own. Girls are cute, it’s very interesting premise and writing seems solid.

Wonder Egg Priority: (Yes) It deals with some HEAVY themes? But it’s... a bit of a psychological horror but in a way that feels very like it’s dealing with some of the real life issues. The main character girl comes across as neurodivergent, and it’s just... idk man the first episode was good and left me wanting more.

[elonanwrites]

wip questions tag game

tagged by: my darling @sleepy-and-anxious. thank you, bel!

tagging: anyone who hasn’t done this yet. tag me so i can learn about your wips! also tagging my tag list for WTSK at the bottom because there’s a lot of information here that y’all might want to know.

Answers will be for my WIP What the Shadows Keep.

Rules: Answer the questions, then tag some people.

1. Describe the plot in one sentence

A human with healing powers is born into a world that is split between killing and protecting werewolves that were the result from human experiments gone bad.

2. Pick one sight, smell, sound, feel, and taste to describe the aesthetic for your WIP

Sight: A forest so thick with trees that you can’t see light from the other side. There is no path to walk on even though there is a sign that says differently.

Smell: Snow-soaked soil. The more you smell, the more you can’t tell if the smell is intoxicating or rancid.

Sound: A crow’s call. The same call keeps coming from different directions.

Feel: Fur matted with sharp twigs that poke between your fingers.

Taste: Copper pennies that were burned in a coal fire.

3. Which 3+ songs would make a playlist for your novel?

Wolfpack - TALA, BANKS

The Warmth - Koda

Last of My Kind - Alice in Chains

The Other Side - Ruelle

i don’t know what to say - Bring Me The Horizon

Empty House - Billy Lockett

4. What’s the time period and location in which your novel takes place?

Time: Present Day

Setting: Helena, Montana and the surrounding forests/mountains

5. Are there any former titles you’ve considered but discarded?

WTSK was previously titled Dwindling Moons, which, fun fact, I got from a novel title generator. Here are some other titles that didn’t make the cut:

What the Moon Keeps

What the Wolves Sing

When the Wolves Sing

Along the Tree Line

Among the Shadows

Helena

What the Forest Hides

Ikor’s Children

6. What’s the first line of your novel?

“There was a time when the cashier at the convenience store was human, but Elara couldn’t remember those days.”

7. What’s a line of dialogue you’re particularly proud of?

“You are not my god, [REDACTED]. You killed us for your own sins.”

8. Which line from the novel most represents it as a whole?

“You’re one of them. Why should I trust you?”

“Your parents’ blood flows through your veins, Elara Cannon. You’re just as much of ‘one of them’ as I am.”

9. Who are your character(s) face claims?

These aren’t all of my characters. Just a few off the top of my head.

Elara: Maggie Lindemann

Milo: Lee Gikwang

Thatcher: Miles McMillan

Shaddix: Emil Andersson

Mitra: Lynn Gunn

Rahna: Jaimie Alexander

Ulima: Sabina Karlsson

Naila: Aja Naomi King

10. Sort your characters into Hogwarts houses

Gryffindor: Milo, Rahna, Evander, Ulima

Ravenclaw: Thatcher, Naila, Celesta

Slytherin: Mitra, Shaddix, Theo

Hufflepuff: Elara, Gideon

11. Which character’s name do you like the most?

Mitra. I just love saying it and typing it and seeing it :-)

12. Describe each character’s daily outfit

I’ll do the main characters and the guard.

Elara: Pale blue skinny jeans, baggy sweaters and cardigans, black Sk8 Hi Vans

Milo: Black jeans, T-shirts, really worn leather jackets

Thatcher: Dark gray slacks, white button-up shirt, black dress shoes

Mitra: Modernized Viking clothes; lots of layers and lots of places to hide knives :-)

Rahna: Fitted gray long-sleeves, black jeans, biker boots

Evander: Levi’s, T-shirts, flannels

Theo: Cargo pants, band tees, Converse

13. Do any characters have any distinctive birthmarks/scars?

Elara and Rahna both have hook-shaped birthmarks. Elara’s is on her chest and Rahna’s is on her forearm. 

Mitra has burn marks on their back from a fire that raged through their village in Sweden.

Shaddix has a sun tattoo on his nape and a small “T” on his forearm. 

Milo has a scar through his right eyebrow. 

Theo has a scar through his bottom lip and chin.

14. Which character most fits a character trope?

Milo fits the “bad boy that’s not good for me” trope. Rahna fits the “bitchy girl” trope. But they’re both fronts that they put up to protect themselves.

15. Which character is the best writer? Worst?

Thatcher is the best writer. He’s able to portray emotions in ways that are really impressive. The worst would be Evander. He finds the task meaningless.

16. Which character is the best liar? Worst?

Celesta is the best liar. She finds out how people view her and then uses that to manipulate them into doing things for her. The worst would be Theo. His eye twitches when he lies and gives him away.

17. Which character swears the most? Least?

Rahna swears the most. Evander swears the least.

18. Which character has the best handwriting? Worst?

Gideon and Elara are tied for best handwriting. Which makes sense because they’re both Virgos. Milo has the worst handwriting. Which makes sense because he’s an Aries lol

19. Which character is the most like you? Least like you?

Unfortunately, Rahna is the most like me. Cynical. Annoyed 24/7. And just wants everyone to let them die in peace. We would hate each other though because we’d be like “Why are you such a downer?” while doing the exact same thing.

Shaddix is the least like me. Optimistic. A morning person. Knows what they want in life. He would tell me to shut up, eat some vegetables, and get some sun.

20. Which character would you most like to be?

Milo. To be confident and excited for the future, and also incredibly dark and mysterious. That’s the fkn dream.

WTSK tag list: @sleepy-and-anxious | @writingtostaysane | @shelbytakaiwrites | @sarmarble | @writer-jess

ask to be added/removed ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ

[fantastic-rambles]

Sk8 Character Thoughts

Yeah, so y’all have to deal with me venting my latest obsession, lol. Sorry to everyone who followed me for other stuff, I will get back to it eventually. ^^;

I was gonna write out individual walls of text for everyone to be fair, but I decided that’s too much work and I’d go crazy before I finished (plus I’m feeling guilty for neglecting my fanfiction writing), so I’m just gonna bullet point some of the random things I think about various skaters (opinions and theories).

The order is the approximate order of which I like characters, though it’s not a strict ranking. I like most of the characters in the show to some extent.

Adam (Shindo Ainosuke)

I’ve already said a lot about him, you can check it out here and here. I’ll probably end up saying more about him before the show ends, too. xD

Yes, he is an absolutely awful person, but that’s what makes him amazing.

I will say that he needs a better costume designer. He looks like a clown. It looks like something that he designed when he was, like, five years old.

The mask is great though. <3

Cherry Blossom (Sakurayashiki Kaoru)

I love the super analytical types, but I also feel like Carla is a crutch for him. He’s a great skater, but if he didn’t have Carla, I don’t think he’d be able to compete at the level of the other top skaters. But all the more props to him for finding a way that he could compete at that level.

He totally had a thing for Adam before. But I think that even then, Adam was too fucked up to be able to have a romantic relationship, so nothing came of it. Because if Adam did actually learn what real love was like rather than confusing abuse for love, I don’t think he would have turned out the way he did.

It’s pretty clear that until he gets smacked by Adam, he’s still looking up to Adam and clinging to what they had before. And it bleeds into his non-skating life as well: when he did his calligraphy demonstration, I think that he hoped Adam would see it, which was why he picked that specific phrase and explained it--to let Adam know that it wasn’t too late to make amends (not that Adam would have given a fuck even if he did see it).

I love his character design as a teen, and I’m sad that he’s become more respectable-looking (though still hot af) as an adult. I’m a sucker for guys with long hair in anime/manga.

He is absolutely a weeb. He’s made an AI assistant who he calls Carla, which creeps out Joe (in a cute, lovable way, not in an Adam way), and he incorporates her into almost all aspects of his life. Like, he just happens to have an AI-augmented wheelchair handy, why?

He also dresses up like a ninja when he’s skating, goes around in a kimono in his daily life, etc. etc. Okay, maybe the kimono can be excused since he’s a calligrapher (though I’m pretty sure that’s not the norm regardless, except for maybe if the artist is at some sort of exhibition?), but people’s costumes seem to show off who they really are beneath the mask they put on for society. So Cherry secretly wants to be a ninja. xD

I’m not on any specific ship, but if I had to pick one to board, it would be Matchablossom.

Can we please have a spinoff that’s just about Adam, Cherry, and Joe when they’re teenagers?

Snow (Hasegawa Langa)

Frankly, Langa’s only up this high because I love his dynamic/rivalry with Adam. If Adam didn’t exist, he’d be below Joe, maybe below Tadashi.

Not that I don’t like Langa, but he’s just an oblivious skating nerd. He’s skilled and passionate, but I don’t really feel that he really stands out as a standalone character. He’s more of a foil for other characters (mostly Adam and Reki).

I guess what stands out the most to me is his ability to improvise when he’s falling behind, since his skill level is understandably lower than most of the other people he skates against. Like finding alternative pathways to the finish line versus Shadow and Miya, or using Joe’s strength to propel him forward. Or just, like, flying off the edge of a cliff to take a shortcut. That too. xD

His snow motif is pretty cool. (No pun intended.)

And I won’t deny that he’s cute. He’s actually the reason I started watching, because I saw some fanart of him and got curious. Came for the Langa, stayed for the Adam. <3

I feel bad for him for having a jealous jerk as basically his only friend though.

Joe (Nanjo Kojiro)

He’s such a teddy bear. <3

Joe’s the heart to Cherry’s brain, and I adore the way they balance each other out. I love Vitriolic Best Buds.

What surprised me, though, is that Joe seems to have a better understanding of Adam’s current character than Cherry does, since Cherry is so precise and analytical. Though the flashback clarified that some since it’s pretty obvious that Cherry is/was biased where Adam is concerned. Sure, Joe was also friends with Adam back then, but it seems that Cherry was the one most star-struck by Adam.

But Joe obviously knows and accepts that Adam’s changed, unlike Cherry, though he probably doesn’t know the reason why. He seemed to be expecting something to happen during the race, so it didn’t surprise him when it did, though he was sad/disappointed by it. It seemed like he was concerned and wanted to warn Cherry before his race (which is super cute), and when everyone else was flinching from seeing the assault on Cherry, Joe didn’t look away. I don’t think he knew exactly what Adam was going to do (I don’t think anyone did, lol), but he knew Adam was going to do something.

I don’t think he was serious when he said the reason Adam is avoiding their beefs is because he’s afraid he’ll lose, though. Yeah, he wants to race Adam, and he wants to win, but I think he’s more grounded when it comes to Adam, so he probably knows that Adam would beat him if it came down to it. Whereas Cherry legitimately thought he could win if Adam held back.

Also, his skateboard wheels are ridiculous. How do they even work?

Snake (Kikuchi Tadashi)

He got an ask post, yay, so not going to rehash it here.

I really hope that Adam realizes at some point that Tadashi is the only person who really knows and understands him, and comes to appreciate everything that Tadashi’s done for him.

Miya (Chinen Miya)

Such a brat, omg.

I get that he’s a kid, and kids are brats, and so it’s a fairly realistic depiction. I just hate kids. >.>

Pretty much the only time I’ll really like a child character is when they’re precocious as fuck and not child-like at all, which I get defeats the purpose, but that’s me.

Brattiness aside, he is skilled and appreciates Reki standing up to Adam on his behalf, so much so that he’s willing to spend his time training a “slime” just so Reki doesn’t get completely crushed by Adam. And he’s also willing to work with Langa to teach him the most difficult trick in skating (the Caspar Slide) for the same reason.

Ultimately, he’s a good kid, but he’s had some bad experiences that make it harder for him to trust people since he’s afraid they’ll leave him. He’s still willing to try, though, if people will give him a chance.

Also, the one ep when they go on vacation and Miya pretends Joe is his daddy (and Cherry is his mommy, rofl--hi Matchablossom!) to drive away the women Joe’s hitting on... hilarious.

Kyan Reki 

An even bigger brat.

Again, yeah, he’s a teenager and teens are “just like that,” but I hate those kinds of characters.

Just because his friend is a skating genius, he gets all pissy and stops being friends with him? Showing up to cheer Langa on and then completely running away doesn’t redeem him in my eyes. I get that he’s disappointed that he’s not capable of skating at the level of the top skaters and frustrated that Langa surpassed him so easily, but that’s no excuse to take it out on Langa (or anyone else).

And everyone complains about Adam being possessive, but they just gloss over the fact that Reki repeatedly tries to force Langa to promise to not skate against Adam, even roping in their manager, when he knows that Langa likes accepting challenges and has fun doing them. He just wants to keep Langa to himself, and he’s jealous as fuck that Langa is obsessed with skating against Adam.

Langa even explicitly tells him that he’s not racing Adam just because he’s upset about what Adam did to Reki, but because he wants to do it. Which is the exact same fucking reason Reki gives for not listening to Joe and Miya, and Langa supports his decision then. Why can’t Reki do the same?

Yes, he’s traumatized because his friend who introduced him to skating was seriously injured and had to quit skating, and he got hurt skating against Adam, but just like for Adam: YOUR TRAUMA/BACKSTORY DOES NOT JUSTIFY YOUR BEHAVIOR.

Plus, the whole “we’ll never disappear from your sight” that he told Miya? Psych!

Like, seriously. He knows the kid has abandonment issues because people leave him because he’s too good at what he does, and then he just goes ahead and poofs, putting both Miya and Langa through the same exact fucking thing.

Though I’m sure that the power of friendship will give him a miraculous recovery and he’ll build a new board for Langa so Langa can beat Adam before Adam gets hauled off to jail. It’ll probably be a cheesy make-up where Langa says something about how he can only use Reki’s boards, so it’s like they’re skating together when he races or whatever.

I do respect his ability to observe other skaters and make boards that are perfectly suited to them, though. And he knows that he’d be good in that support role. But he wants to be the hero, so he’s suffering from eighth grader syndrome and lashing out because reality doesn’t conform to his wishes.

Shadow (Higa Hiromi)

Just fucking die already, ‘kay?

I don’t even know what to say. He’s all caught up in his “antihero” complex or whatever (I don’t even remember if that’s the right term, and I don’t give a fuck), and he’s got a nasty personality. Like burning Reki’s board or threatening to have a guy tattoo “Dumpster Slut” above his girlfriend’s name.

You really expect me to believe that he’d treat his manager respectfully if they started dating when he does something like that? His polite florist persona is such a sham.

And he’s a shit skater. How the hell is he in the top 8? If they can throw in a random guy we’ve never seen before (Harry), then they could have just as well put in some other trash mob instead of Shadow, who only didn’t get knocked out in the quarterfinal round because he was racing a nobody.

Imo, all of his “cute” little tricks like throwing fireworks at his opponent or shining a laser into their eyes is worse than what Adam does. Once he does that, he relinquishes all control over the situation, so anything could happen, such as his opponent crashing into a wall or falling off a cliff, which could result in serious injuries or even death. On the other hand, Adam always remains in control when he’s trying to throw off his opponent by forcing them to dance with him and freaking them the fuck out by pushing their limits. Even when he’s holding Reki’s head about an inch above the ground, he won’t let Reki brain himself on a rock or something. And even when he smacks Cherry with his skateboard, his attack leaves Cherry conscious and so lightly injured (relative to what could have been) that he doesn’t even need to stay in the hospital. (I don’t think he actually needs a wheelchair, other than probably being a bit woozy from a concussion, maybe. And maybe not even that if Joe isn’t concerned enough to wake him up/keep him from being unconscious.) Yeah, Adam fucks with his opponents, but if they can get over it, they can get back on a board. There’s a good chance that won’t happen if they get in an accident caused by Shadow, other than for anime logic.

“What about Adam’s Love Hugs??” What about them? Yes, he’s not holding on to his opponents to control their falls, but the point of it is to make them flinch and fall backwards, against the line of motion. That naturally will decrease the severity of their physical injuries, unlike when Reki and Harry fall off the course at full speed versus Shadow.

The only reason he doesn’t have a higher body count than Adam (or even a literal body count) is plot convenience, since he’s not the villain.

[fantastic-rambles]

You made great points as to why a final Adam/Langa race would happen. It makes a lot of sense narratively, but I do hope they’ll choose a more subversive path in which he does forfeit/quit whether that be during Tadashi/Langa or Adam/Langa. I still hope for Tadashi/Adam to occur since they’ve also built him up as an equal. They’ve made a point that in other races Adam has purposely stayed behind to match the speed of other races, regardless of whether they start together, if he was interested by them. But Tadashi matched Adam’s time exactly in the qualifying rounds. And considering how much Adam has insulted Tadashi about being beneath him, I’d find them going head to head pretty satisfying. Makes me want to see a race where both are going all out since we’ve never seen either of them particularly intense about winning. Adam because of his persona and wanting to mess with his opponent and Tadashi because of his reserved nature. Either way I’m sure it’ll be good.

And I hope that Reki is more secure in himself when facing Adam like you mentioned. If he doesn’t want to go against him again, what do you think would happen? I’ve seen ppl say Reki will probably agree for Langa’s sake and the opportunity to skate, but what if he holds his ground about not enjoying skating with Adam? Do you think it’s possible that could be what causes Langa to forfeit/quit. (That would make Adam so mad lol). It’s probably not likely since they’re our main protagonists, but I think it would a cool demonstration of their character growths. Reki because he wouldn’t skate if it’s not going to be fun for him and Langa because it goes back to the original broken promise + prioritizes the relationship that makes him happiest about skating in the first place. Also, they can get away from what could be considered unnecessary, dangerous behavior that show condemns (when Manager Oka tells Reki that he’s enjoying pain because he’s unhappy with himself). Obviously skating is good for Langa and Reki, but the illegal and dangerous races at S could be framed as self-destructive. Especially when you consider all the injuries and strife surrounding it. I think if the characters were to come to this conclusion at some point (with or without quitting yet) it may make sense plot wise since the whole political scandal/jail thing makes me nervous about S continuing. Considering that Tadashi is the main man in charge of keeping cops away and he currently wants to end Adam’s time there, I wouldn’t be shocked if a confrontation with the law happened there like it almost did that one ep when the race got interrupted.

Oh and don’t worry about rambling at all! I love any long analysis on Sk8. Plus, I can get like that too and definitely edited this to make it more understandable lol.

Yeah, I would love Adam/Tadashi, but I feel like Adam/Langa is more likely. (And technically, Tadashi beat Adam by 2 seconds, though Adam also wasn’t taking it seriously then.) Though I do feel like Langa is probably at a level that Adam finally can skate all-out against him, if it comes down to the two of them.

When Adam insults Tadashi, I feel like it’s coming from all those years of resentment/lost trust (again, not an excuse for Adam’s behavior, but an analysis of it), and I also feel like Tadashi feels that he deserves them (and he himself sincerely believes that he’s below Adam). It’s obvious to me that Tadashi feels guilty for contributing to making Adam what he is today/for not standing up for or supporting him when Adam was younger, and he has been trying to make up for it by obeying Adam completely, no matter what he personally thinks. Because he couldn’t voice his opinion when Adam’s board was being burned, which was probably one of the most painful/significant experiences Adam has ever had, he feels that he doesn’t have the right to voice his opinion now: all he can do is try to pull Adam away from the self-destructive path that he’s on by betting his ability to skate on a race. In terms of skill, yeah, they’re equal, but in their interpersonal dynamics, there’s a huge gulf, which I think would make it very difficult for Tadashi to “save” Adam because Adam has lost all of his respect for Tadashi or his opinions.

I don’t think that Reki will end up not skating against Adam. But if he did, I don’t think that’s enough for Langa to refuse as well. My scenario for Langa forfeiting is that Reki gets wrecked against Adam, which outrages Langa and/or makes him have to choose between going to the hospital with Reki or staying to skate with Adam, and he chooses Reki over Adam. To me, Reki’s growth would come from the parallels between the two times that he skates against Adam: in the first, he’s completely crushed by the difference in ability and runs away, and in the (theoretical) second, he accepts that he will never be a star skater, but he can still enjoy skating even if he doesn’t win.

And I frankly was really pissed by Reki trying to force Langa to promise not to skate against Adam. Yes, he has a reason for it and he’s worried about Langa, but what about Langa’s own feelings? It’s obvious that Langa has fun taking on challenges, and Adam is the ultimate challenge, not just for him, but also for everyone else. If we want to talk about it in terms of relationships, which it seems most of the fandom does, I saw that as a possessive partner trying to forbid their partner from going out and having fun with their friends. Would Adam be a terrible “friend” to hang out with? Absolutely. But if Langa enjoys spending time with him, what gives Reki the authority to forbid him from doing so? So if I’m being entirely honest, my opinion of Reki plummeted after Episode 5 and just kept going downhill until the most recent episode. xD

I don’t think that “S” itself was particularly dangerous initially, other than for Shadow. Most of the skaters that we see seem to play fair and engage in contests of pure skill, even though it’s always been an “anything goes” sort of thing. Of course, it could be because the best skaters won’t get thrown off by petty tricks so it’s not worth trying them, but in the end, the result is the same. It’s only when Adam reappeared on the scene (from other people’s reactions, it seems clear that he’s been missing for a while since nobody could capture his interest) with his Langa-obsession that he started to contribute his own brand of madness, but that’s limited only to him. Unless someone is skating against Adam or Shadow (or that gang in the prelims), the majority of races are just normal races on a challenging track. Yes, they’re illegal (though it boggles my mind as to why: can’t Adam just buy it and turn it into “private property” so that he can do whatever he wants on it?) (though I guess it’s understandable since buying it would be a matter of public record and he’s keeping his skating life and public life separate) (but then can’t he get someone else to buy it for him?), but part of the attraction of skating is developing new things (like when Reki is gushing about ollies) and figuring out how to “skate anywhere,” so challenging locations like an abandoned mine and factory are places that people can do that. Like taking a turn with what Miya/Reki did by riding the board sideways, and improving on it by instead using a Caspar Slide. Or the various ways Langa goes through the factory (dropping down a broken beam, skating down the railing, using Joe’s momentum on the other beam to push himself forward, etc.). I think that Adam must have chosen that place for a variety of reasons, but one would have been its ability to promote improvisation/the evolution of skating in the hopes that he could find someone who would excite him. Which is why he’s so disappointed by Cherry’s “overcalculated”/boring skating.

After Adam gets arrested, though, I think that “S” will shut down simply because it’s Adam’s influence that’s kept the police away for so long. Tadashi takes care of the logistics, but that’s because that’s what Adam’s told him to do. But I don’t think Tadashi will betray him just to get it closed. (I also don’t think he phoned it in the first time, as I’ve seen other people speculate. I do think that the explanation is as it was presented: the prosecutor was suspicious about an area that was taken out of the patrol route, so she used her authority to override Adam’s bribes.) We’re talking about someone who will go to jail for a crime he didn’t commit to protect his boss. He’s not going to call down the police and risk them getting caught up in the net and in trouble.