#everything is fine and they just skating and adam is just a a story they made up when telling scary stories while having a sleepover | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

van-skmugen · 1 year

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🛹My socials networks🛹

You can reupload my art as long as you ask me first to know and it isn't published in that social network by me. (In which case I encourage you to reblog it [Tumblr], share it via stories [Instagram] or repost it [BlueSky/X] from my post.) Also that isn't with secondary intentions so much as hate to any character shown or commercial use. Although if you do it without asking me for whatever reason, at least be nice person and share a link to my social networks or credit me, thanks. And credits to the artist (or whatever you found) it isn't a credit, btw. NO SELL, NO USE MY ART FOR A//I, AS NF//T OR SIMILAR, THANKS. IF YOU DO IT , YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR OWN ACTIONS AND ANY CONSEQUENCES ARISING FROM THEM. PRINT FOR PERSONAL USE IS FINE. (just read it without this "//" it's to prevent it from appearing in search engine of this site)

I make a Patreon and Ko-Fi, for future commisions and for anyone who wants to support me have some advantages, which may gradually increase as my skills improve (Patreon).

🛹 Patreon

🛹 Ko-Fi

Here you can found my art (of all kinds like drawings, fanarts, OCs, edits, experimental 3D renders, etc...) and my rants/analysis/writings of media I consume.

🛹Mainly here you can found OCs content, SK8 the Infinity, and Kingdom Hearts, my three passions🛹

🐺🦊 About OCs, I enjoy Original Characters a lot and have my ones that shared story with @skate-loveagain ones since are from a stories written by us, maybe at the beginning I don't post much of them since we're building their stories and world but when we had everything well ordered it's very sure that I will draw a lot of them too. Said that, our Original Characters are morally gray characters, aren't labeled as either "good" or "bad" characters, they're just humans/supernatural beings that make mistakes, either because of past they've had, how they've been raised, circumstances around them or their personal/mental situations to give a few examples. That is, they will only be "good" or "bad" for other characters around them, who will see them in one way or another depending on their points of view. If that makes you feel uncomfortable you can stop following me, and block me if you wish. 🦊Our OCs The Great deities of northeast🐺: Story made by me and my dear friend Lea, that we're doing in comic version and soon we will start publishing surely in Webtoon and Tapas.

🛹 About SK8 the Infinity, especially of Ainosuke Shindo/ADAM, Tadashi Kikuchi/Snake, Kaoru Sakurayashiki/Cherry blossom and Kojiro Nanjo/Joe as their own characters and secondly their ships/dynamics [I like them all at same level] As ships mainly as 🐍🌹🐶 (TRUE EDEN) and 🐯🌸🐯 (SOLE CILIEGIO) [Tho if you don't like something I like, it will always be tagged, so you can mute it and enjoy only what we share (Example: You don't like any of 🐯🌸's combination with 🐍🌹🐶, I will always keep it tagged and this way I've it all well sorted and easy to access for me and easy to avoid by muting it for you)], obviously you will also see content from the others (🌺, ❄, 🌷, 🐱) and from Renga (❄🌺❄)/Shadoka (🌷🔧🌷) ships, but not as often as you will see content from the other four.)

I don't interact with things that don't like if you want to know what things don't interest me you just have to scroll to my likes to see, you can snoop as much as you want, that's why are public. Everything you'll find there will give you an idea, the things I don't like are already muted for me. I don't mind other people's likes/loves, so I have no problem with interacting with the likes/loves we do share. 💞 But I will block you if I see you hate and encourage hatred of one of eight since SK8 is about 8 characters, not 2, 4, 5 or 6. Also, my English isn't professional so I usually block if read jokes or memes that don't understand and think it's hate character, if you think I've blocked you by mistake, try to contact via any other social media with me and I'll unblock you without problem. If you hate any of 8, you can feel free to block me, tho you can say me before so I can block you back, thank you.

It's not my first time on Tumblr, but my first time in the SK8 the Infinity fandom on Tumblr.

❤💙 About Kingdom Hearts I love and have enjoyed it since I was a child, my passion for the series is huge. I love all characters tho mainly you will see content of Sora, Riku and Soriku.

All of the above doesn't mean that I also love and will may publish drawings or thoughts about other animes, videogames, books, series and movies that you'll see from time to time around here, tho not as consistently as those previously mentioned.

Hope we can be mutuals and share our same loves.

Hashtags: #my art, #VanSKmugenArt, #my wips (works in progress), #original character, #fanart, #ramblings, #analysis, #reblog (when reblog posts of others) and #usersname (so you can easily find all reblogs I've done of a specific user), #van-skmugen (for all my original posts [not my self reblogged posts]). Regarding posts/reblogs of ships and/or characters I use the usual hashtags of ships/characters and in special I add #TRUE EDEN for TadaAi (in addition to their usual ship's names) and #SOLE CILIEGIO for Matchablossom (in addition to their usual ship's names).

I have a Sims Tumblr (Simblr), feel free to ask me if you want to follow me there. I usually post Custom Content and also story/images of my OCs and SK8/KH characters.

#sk8 #sk8 the infinity #kingdom hearts #van-skmugen

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sickbromeo · 3 years

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i made a playlist for renga instead of doing my french homework cause i’m in denial ahaha

#sk8 the infinity #reki kyan #langa hasegawa #renga #everything is fine and they just skating and adam is just a a story they made up when telling scary stories while having a sleepover #every. thing. is. fine.#Spotify

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undermattsun-archive · 4 years

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flavor of the month

(skate rat) matsukawa x fem!reader | word count: 2k

slight!hanamaki x reader (established relationship)

a/n: based off this post i made n spurred by some enabling :^) “no beta we die like men” -lin

18+ university age | PLS READ WARNINGS

warnings: cheating, public sex (fingering), toxic behavior, manipulation, bad language, dubcon (if u stare too long/squint at it) mattsun is a bad friend

hanamaki takahiro was a godsend in your final year of college. the sweet, doting boyfriend you had been waiting for —what felt like— your entire life. there was nothing under the sun he wouldn’t do for you, he helped you study, do your chores and had even carried you across campus, carrying both of your backpacks simply because you had a bad fall and twisted your ankle ever so slightly. he was perfect in almost every way. almost. you suppose his choice of friends could be chalked down to a little less than perfect, specifically, when it comes to who he so proudly calls his best friend.

matuskawa issei’s name was tacked with some of the dirtiest of rumors that were accompanied with a plethora of gross truths. when you had met him you were floored, your dearest, loving makki, called this entitled, smug skate rat, his best friend? it didn’t take long for his sliminess to seep through immediately and in the beginning of your relationship with makki you did everything in your power to avoid being near matsukawa. but as your relationship grew, so did your face to face contact with his dangerously flirty best friend.

“i just want two of the most important people in my life to get along!” makki had said one night while you two readied to go out for drinks with his friends. you had melted at the sparkle in his eyes when he smiled so lovingly at you. you know that could’ve told makki just how much his best friend made you uncomfortable, but the endearingly fond tone of voice he used when he spoke of the other man made you keep your lips shut tightly on the manner.

it was how you ended up in your current position, sitting at the back corner booth of one of your favorite restaurants, makki seated across from you and matsukawa seated beside you. you had made a point to sit as closely to the wall as possible, punctuating the action with a curt glare at matsukawa before focusing all your attention on the love of your life.

“it was incredible really, i can’t believe you tried to climb a tree that tall.” makki amuses as he recounts another mischievous act from their childhood.

“now now makki you mean succeeded to climb,” he spreads his legs further under the table, forcing you to squeeze your legs together to dodge any contact, “i was a tree climbing god.”

“yeah tell that to the broken arm you got when we were 10, oh excuse me we’re ready to order.” you almost sigh dreamily at the polite smile makki has on display as he waves the waiter over. as the waiter makes his approach, makki continues on with the story behind matsukawa breaking his arm and you do your best to ignore said man yawning dramatically, stretching his arms out and almost swiping at your face. he shoots you an unapologetic smirk as he scoots just little bit closer to you, you lean your head against the wall trying to focus on whatever makki and the waiter were idly chatting about.

“and for you miss?” you snap your eyes up to look at the waiter, opening your mouth to recite your order when you feel a hand land on your knee, making your eyebrow twitch. this isn’t new, you couldn’t pinpoint when it had started, but matsukawa had always been a little bit too touchy, so a hand on resting on your knee or an arm thrown around your shoulder was nothing new. what is new, is when you slightly jerk your knee to tell him to remove his hand, only for him to keep it there firmly planted with the audacity to even squeeze lightly.

“babe?” makki stares at you intently, and with a clench of your jaw you ignore the hand on you to tell the waiter what you would like. as the waiter turns away, makki dives into a story from his russian literature class, detailing just how insane he thinks his professor is as you nod along, forgetting that matsukawa has planted his hand on you. until you feel his hand slowly start to creep up your leg, making your entire body tense up, you send him another narrow look as he shifts in his seat leaning towards you a tiny fraction. for a split second, you wonder if the metal of his rings were cool to touch, or had they siphoned the heat off his hand, and would feel as if it was burning into your skin, branding each inch of bare flesh he touched with the crawl of his fingers.

“-okay love?” the soft coo brings you from your thoughts, making you flush with shame, your hand comes down and grips at matsukawa’s wrist to stop him from going any further.

“i’m sorry i might’ve...”

“spaced out? thats okay. i was just saying i don’t think i can do our usual monday study date. iwaizumi and i have this biology project and...” his voice drowns our as your focus is pulled to the sensation of matsukawa forcing his way out of your hold and pushing his fingers between your thighs, continuing to slide his hand up at an achingly slow pace.

say something, your brain screams, anything, get up and go to the bathroom, do something, your boyfriend is right there.

you press your legs together tightly, hoping the message comes across, but matsukawa is on a hell path, shamelessly trying to push you beyond your limits as his fingers dig into your inner thighs. at the back of your mind is that tiny voice that’s tormented you since meeting him. a part of you wants this, you’ve always been curious, that carnal attraction to such a rotten and handsome man is undeniable. because despite the perfection and bliss of an achingly sweet, tooth rotting boyfriend, the utter taboo of his disgusting best friend is far too tempting to not think about.

“th-that’s okay hiro.” you chew at your lip trying to play off the the stumble of your words by relaxing your shoulders, hoping that he won’t question you. you try to start a round of idle chatter as you make another weak attempt to remove matsukawa’s hand from you.

“hey you know what we haven’t done in awhile? bothered oikawa.” matsukawa leans back, looking almost innocent with his signature lazy grin. you wrap your fingers tightly around his wrist, trying to keep your position as natural as possible so that makki doesn’t pick up on what’s happening. makki agrees with a flourish of words and you don’t miss the way matsukawa’s eyes slide over to you, as if challenging you to say something to makki.

“it’ll break his heart,” matsukawa had said once when he had trapped you on top of your washing machine in the apartment you shared with makki, he had the tendency of backing you against a wall, making you feel small under his presence, “besides who do you think he’ll really believe about who came onto who? i’m his lifelong best friend and you’re just the flavor of the month.”

the memory causes a searing sensation to burn at your chest and your face, this time you dig your nails into matsukawa’s wrist, a more adamant command to leave you alone. only to make your resolve crumble as his fingers dance along your clothed cunt, making your legs fall apart just a touch. it’s a shameless action that incites a bubbling of shame in your stomach and you realize your fatal mistake. you’ve shown a sliver of interest, you’ve given in just enough that he’ll only push further.

the moment you spot the waiter holding plates of food you breathe out in relief, figuring it’s the end of his little game as the plates are set out in front of you. you release your grip on his wrist and he retracts his hand slowly, a wave of relief washing through you. tinged with something resembling disappointment.

“here babe try this.” makki holds out a spoonful of curry and you lean in to take a bite, spluttering at the feeling of matsukawa suddenly shoving his hand into your pants. you choke and cough as makki scrambles to hand you a glass of water, matsukawa a disturbing pillar of silence beside you. you stiffly turn your head to look at him, eyes pleading for some sort of answer as to why now he’s decided to hurdle himself past the line he’s been so keen on toeing since you’ve started dating his best friend. to your horror he’s sitting there quietly, as he peacefully uses his right hand to feed himself, as if his left isn’t currently shoved into your pants teasing at you with the full intent of driving you insane.

“sorry sorry i’m,” yours eyes widen as matsukawa’s fingers press harder against your covered folds, harshly dragging his fingers up to your clit, “f-fine.”

“are you sure? you’ve been looking a little red the past half hour or so, are you really feeling okay?” the concern in makki’s voice punctuates your guilt as you squirm slightly at the way matsukawa teases your clit through your panties.

“promise love, i’m fine. i think i j-just,” in one swift motion matsukawa pushes your panties to the side just enough to thrust a finger into your core, “didn’t sleep well!”

“mm it’s the stress from your history class?” you don’t trust your voice to not shake as matsukawa pushes deeper and deeper, achingly slow there’s an almost delicious burn from the sudden entry.

“mhm.” you grip your silverware tightly in each hand, a helpless shake of your hips as matsukawa curls his finger inside of you. the way you clench around his finger only encourages him, a soft huff of amusement spilling from his lips as he thrusts his finger into you.

“makki, did you finish the chem homework?” he pulls his finger out just to the first knuckle, teasing at the rim of your hole, you try not to jump when you feel the tip of another finger settle near your entrance.

“don’t.” you whisper, but the word goes ignored as he thrusts in the other finger, the sting of the dry addition burns through you and biting back a moan as your eyes widen at makki who’s so peacefully eating before you.

“did you say something love?” you feel your legs start to shake a little as matsukawa ruthlessly thrusts his fingers in and out, pressing the heel of his palm against your swollen clit.

“i um don’t forget to, empty the dishwasher?” your words come out breathless and makki only hums in agreement before continuing to shovel curry into his mouth.

“doing okay there? haven’t touched your food.” the glint in matsukawa’s eyes is borderline sadistic as he pointedly looks between you and your food. before you can reply he sharply curls his fingers again before scissoring them apart making your legs spread further, silently and shamelessly asking for more.

“i’m fine? see?” you make a point to take a big bite of your noodles, swallowing them down as matsukawa presses in a third finger. there’s barely an ache this time as he works in another finger, your dripping cunt practically begging for it at this point. the familiar tightness begins to coil deep in your belly and with a particularly harsh curl of his fingers, your head snaps down, jaw dropping as you clench around him. without hesitation he continues to knead the heel of his palm against your clit as your cunt greedily squeezes his fingers. his motions become lazier as your body shakes from the searing bliss shooting through your veins. and the thought of choking him when this is all said and done is at the forefront of your mind.

“y/n?” makki reaches across the table and intertwines your fingers. guilt swirls in your chest as you raise your head to meet makki’s eyes, a weak smile at your lips.

“thought i was gonna sneeze.”

“say makki can you get the waiters attention, i want some more water.” he makes a point to shake his cup of ice. makki pulls away from you and looks away from the table. you pant out a few breaths as matsukawa pulls his fingers out, leaving you feeling empty and shaken. you take the risk to look at matsukawa, looking painfully proud of himself as he brings his fingers to his lips, licking the glistening juices coating them.

“sweet.”

#skate rat hq #miki writes #tw public sex #tw toxic behavior #tw manipulation #tw dubcon #just in case #tw cheating #under.mattsun

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babydaddyleorio · 3 years

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Can I get a Angst oneshot of cherry number 5 and Gender Neutral reader please if you want or can.

(I hope I did this request thing right)

Have a good day or night stay safe and happy pride month!

Happy pride!

Cherry had done everything in his power to cover his tracks so that nothing could ever be traced back to him.

He had made sure to shield his body in an all black cloak with a mask across his face as he snuck off the palace's grounds, he had given himself an alias whenever he chose to skate since It was forbidden for royals to do so, and he even met with his lover in the most discreet places that no one should have been able to find. He had done everything imaginable to ensure that nothing could ever tarnish his name, and yet somehow, all of his efforts were now seemingly futile.

“Are you ready to talk?”

Cherry scowled deeply as his eyes fell on the bothersome man in front of him, trying his best to maintain his composure and awareness. The man in question was no other than his right hand and he had so rudely barged into his office, demanding Cherry’s attention to discuss an important matter that just couldn’t seem to wait. Ainosuke Shindo, Adam for short, stood beside the chair opposite of Cherry with a grin that can only be defined as devious adorning his lips.

“There have been rumors circulating amongst the servants, rumors of the Lord escaping the palace late in the night.” Adam tauntingly paced around the office with his hands clasped behind his back and Cherry’s eyes vehemently trailed him as his accusing words began to register. “They say you’ve been sneaking off to duel commoners in skating tournaments, knowing full well that the practice is strictly forbidden.”

Adam paused his movements and sharply turned himself to face Cherry. He slowly lowered his body down to grip the edge of the desk dividing him and Cherry, a grimace now present on his face.

“Does any of this ring a bell to you, your Highness?” Adam asked forcefully and Cherry simply reached over to grab his fine china, calmly taking a sip of his Chamomile tea before answering the arrogant man towering him.

“No, I am afraid that does not ring a bell.” Cherry answered while blankly staring and Adam laughed dryly under his breath at his obvious lie.

“Is that so?” Adam retorted before taking out a manila folder and dumping the contents of it all across the desk’s surface. Cherry remained unscathed as the laminated documents fell before him and he slowly glanced over them, squinting his eyes once he realized they were all pictures.

Pictures of him to be exact.

“These photos here tell a different story, Lord Cherry.”

“What is it that you exactly wish to gain by doing this?” Cherry asked, his voice becoming slightly annoyed as he pushed the pictures of him participating in the local tournaments away from his view.

“End your acquaintance with Y/n.” Adam declared while leaning closer to his Lord, but Cherry only narrowed his eyes in response.

‘Ah, so that’s what this is all about.’ Cherry thought to himself as he took note of Adam’s request.

Adam had never liked that you and Cherry were having romantic relations with each other and he so desperately wished to end the entanglement as soon as the secret relationship sprouted. Adam viewed you as mere filth and didn’t believe you had a worthy enough status to ever be seen with the likes of Cherry. Adam gritted his teeth just thinking about you being together, partially because he knew Cherry could have better and partially because that spot you had in Cherry’s heart should have been his.

“You must have lost your head, Adam.” Cherry glowered menacingly and leaned himself closer as well, so close that there were just mere inches between the two. “Mind your place.”

“End it, Cherry.” Adam demanded coldly, losing all the formalness he had prior to this moment.

“And if I don't?” Cherry challenged with a raised eyebrow, frowning deeply as he continued to stare down Adam.

“Then I will have no other choice than to leak these photos and ruin your entire career.” Adam spat with his fingers gripping the wood so tight that his knuckles turned white.

Cherry closed his eyes at the unfavorable situation he had found himself in. He could have continued to protest against the incriminating evidence, but Adam did unfortunately have the upper hand right now. Cherry sighed loudly before slowly glancing back up to the fickle man awaiting his response.

“Very well.”

“Really?” Adam blurted incredulously, shocked that Cherry actually agreed to his terms.

“Yes, I will end my relations with them.” Cherry affirmed, although the weight of those words left a bitter taste lingering along his tongue.

“Excellent.” Adam exclaimed before turning on his heel to leave triumphantly but not before gathering the photos up and taking them with him.

Once Adam was completely gone, Cherry loudly banged his fist against the table, causing the warm tea to spill across his desk. He ran his hands through his hair in frustration as he considered the stakes at hand and wanted nothing more to strangle Adam for even pulling a stunt like this. Cherry was torn between protecting his current position of power or choosing the love of his life and it seemed like the former was gradually becoming his only option.

“Carla, send me a carriage.” Cherry hastily commanded into the air before pushing out of his seat and storming out the door.

“Y/n, open up. It’s me.”

Cherry waited a few seconds before hearing your feet shuffle against the floor and multiple locks turn in unison.

When you finally opened the door he saw that you were all dressed and there was a suitcase standing behind you. Cherry raised an eyebrow in question and wondered where you could be going at such a late hour.

“Going somewhere?” He asked curiously while taking note of how stiff you looked standing in the door frame.

“Yes.” You responded curtly, voice more distant than usual.

“Where to?” Cherry tried to pry further, now even more confused that his suspicions were correct.

“Away.”

Cherry’s lips frowned at how dismissive you were being and he tried to step closer into your home, but you blocked him before he could get the chance.

“Cherry, I think It is time we end this.” You blurted out loud and Cherry froze in his spot once he heard those words leave your mouth.

Wasn’t that his line? He thought to himself as he saw the indifferent expression blanketing your face. Cherry wasn’t going to go through with Adam’s demands and he had actually come here to make It clear that you would always come first, although now that you’ve said you wanted to depart, he wasn’t sure If his plan still was in motion.

“For what reason?” Cherry asked insultingly and you avoided eye contact with him before continuing.

“It is for the best.” You whispered and Cherry got in your face, latching his fingers onto your chin so you could look into his furious eyes.

“Like hell It is.” He swore, glowering down at you. “What has caused this sudden change?”

“Dammit, Cherry! We just aren’t meant to be together!” You shouted and to Cherry’s ears It sounded as If you were trying to convince yourself of that statement as well. Once you realized your emotions were beginning to get the best of you, you took a deep breath and tried to ignore the tight feeling growing inside of your throat.

“I got sent a letter.”

“A letter?” Cherry questioned in confusion, wondering why that mattered now.

“Yes, and It stated that I have 24 hours to evacuate the premises before drastic measures would be put in place.” You confessed and Cherry raised his eyebrows in surprise before anger gradually consumed his being.

“On what grounds? Where is it, let me see!” Cherry demanded and tried to move past you but you blocked him from entering again.

“They had pictures in there as well.” You hissed while furrowing your eyebrows deeply. “Pictures of us together.”

Cherry felt himself begin to see red, seething at what was happening to you and him.

“So what? That’s just it now?” He voiced bitterly and you started to laugh at his questions, not realizing that tears had begun sliding down your cheeks.

“Yes, this is the last straw! I am sick of going through this, Cherry.” You exclaimed with a frown before turning your head so your eyes were no longer on him. “It’s best that you leave now.”

“I refuse to leave until we sort all of this out.” Cherry protested, moving his hands to try to wipe your cheeks but you swatted them away just before he could touch you. Cherry angrily clenched his fists and flared his nostrils before moving himself into your face.

“Didn’t we get in this relationship knowing that they wouldn’t approve of us? So why now, why are you so scared now?” Cherry was fuming as he shouted those words at you and you flinched once you heard how strangled his voice was becoming.

“It is different now, since when did you not care about your career as being our Lord? If word got out we were meeting, It would stain your image and legacy as well as have you seen as a dishonor. Are you really willing to risk throwing it all away for a mere relationship?” You challenged although the tears that were still falling steadily from your eyes betrayed how you were trying to come across.

You swallowed thickly before moving your eyes to Cherry’s face, staring at him solemnly through your blurry vision.

“Is our love really worth that much to you because it doesn't mean shit to me anymore.” You yelled and Cherry abruptly moved back at your outburst, too speechless to say anything in return.

You shut your eyes and squeezed them tightly before stepping back into your home.

“Goodbye.” You mumbled and slammed the door in Cherry’s face. Cherry stood on your porch with a far away look grazing his face and stayed motionless in his spot with his gaze never leaving your door. Cherry didn’t remember how long he stood there in the cold night, but he did remember the sudden feeling of his lips quivering as he felt his heart being broken into a million pieces.

When Cherry finally stormed back into the castle, he furiously and desperately looked for Adam. And when he finally saw him, he rushed to the man and roughly grabbed him by the collar, pulling him closer so that they were face to face.

“What did you do, dammit!” Cherry yelled with tears building up in his eyes, his hands shaking drastically since your distraught face stayed ingrained in his mind. Cherry was a mess without you, he already missed your comforting voice and the beautiful smile that you wore whenever he held you close to him. Cherry’s cheeks suddenly rose as his mouth slowly parted and tears poured from his eyes at the thought of never getting the chance to have that again.

Adam looked down at Cherry since he still had him in grasp, and he couldn’t help the smirk that fell on his face as he realized that he had won. Adam listened closely as the grandfather clock on the wall rang loudly to signal a new day, a day where you were no longer in the picture.

“I just made sure you stayed true to your word, my Lord.”

#sk8 #sk8 the infinity x reader #sk8 the infinity #sk8 the infinity cherry #sk8 cherry #cherry sk8 #cherry #cherry blossom #cherry x reader #sk8 cherry x reader #cherry blossom x reader #cherry imagines #cherry angst #cherry blossom angst #sk8 angst

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porcelaintoybox23 · 2 years

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A more thorough review of Sk8 the Infinity

I’ll be focusing on the characters and their development. There will also be spoilers.

1. Gender ratio

Why isn’t there a single female character of substance? Maybe I’m too old to still be holding out the hope that creators will realize men can empathize with women. I desperately hoped that Miya might be a girl so there could be some variety. None of the female characters are adequately developed or focused on. We see no actual grief from Langa’s mother who lost her husband. She only exists to be a sort of soundboard for him. Reki’s family is pretty much dull until his sister points stuff out to him.

The detective…

Even Adam’s aunts could use more development.

Women in this show only existed as prizes or tools.

2. General Character Development

The show, now that the ending haze has worn off a bit, didn’t really develop anyone. Like there was progress, but it felt hollow. Part of me wants to blame the 12 episode limit but I don’t think that’s an excuse. Time was not used adequately. I feel like most of our character can be boiled down to a few words. Langa: Reki Reki: Skating Tadashi: Ainosuke-sama Shadow: Flower shop manager

I find it a disservice to reduce these characters to being fully focused on other people. It limits their character progression and makes them one dimensional.

By the end of the show, I feel like Miya really didn’t have that much growth. Joe stayed the same. Langa, I feel, regressed, and Reki went through the most basic character arc in recent decades. I feel like Reki and Langa’s fight shouldn’t have lasted nearly four episodes out of 12. That time could’ve been used to develop everyone more.

3. Detailed Character Analysis

Reki: Reki was so boring and basic that I almost want him removed from the story entirely. I not going to sit here and lie by saying that the arcs in this show aren’t archetypal, but Reki’s in particular is not unique. He’s happy go lucky, positive, he wears his uniform differently, he’s not too smart or too dumb, etc. I do like him, but he’s so basic that it would be hard to dislike him. The most unique and interesting aspect of his character is his love of skateboarding. Reki clearly reads about the subject, he learns and studies, he LOVES everything about it. Reki brought me into the show and made me care. That is how wonderfully written his passion is.

Besides that…Reki feeling insecure and causing his friendship break up was too drawn out and boring. I want there to be some strife for Reki so he can grow, but I wish it was done in a more interesting manner. Maybe Reki could’ve told Langa directly, in a rage, that he felt insecure. Hell, if you want to keep the arc, make it shorter. Have those two make up a little sooner but let Reki take the time to rekindle his passion. The fight was boring and I knew it would be resolved, so it felt pointless. I’m not against tropes. Sometimes, the best part is seeing how each story executes them differently. Reki just fell flat. Of course he stands up for Miya, of course he gets jealous but comes around.

Langa: Baby boy, I do love this Canadian. Langa became one note towards the end. “Reki” this and “Reki” that…I understand it’s ship bait, I understand the story centers their relationship, but that’s no excuse to limit Langa’s character. I wish during the fight that Langa didn’t lose his passion for skating. I’d be fine if he enjoyed it a little less, but not to the point that was shown. I hate leaving a character’s development dependent on one person, it’s one of my biggest critiques of Fe3h. If anything happens with Reki, Langa will lose himself which is not the mark of a developed character. Show Langa and the rest of the gang more. Develop the relationship between him and his mother. I am an only child, I promise you the loss of 1/3 of my family would be devastating. We’re close knit and I’m sure the Hasewaga’s were too. Let Langa rebel a bit, let him be angry with Reki, let Adam tempt him a bit more to the dark side so when he frees Adam it’s more of a growth moment. Langa rekindled his passion racing Shadow, he wasn’t friends with Reki yet. He wanted to skate against Adam because he love the thrill of competition and getting better. Why does that all leave because of Reki?

Let Langa exist outside of Reki. That would make the pairing stronger. There really isn’t any complexity to it as is. As an introvert, I have been attached to one person but the show goes too far with it. I still have other connections. Miya literally agreed to be Langa’s catdog…why was that dropped? I also disliked Langa being too op at other things besides skating. We get it, Reki feels insecure, but this just makes Langa more basic.

Look me in the face and tell me what would change about Langa’s character if everyone but Reki wasn’t in the show. Replace Adam with any no name douche. Nothing. No one else affects Langa.

Adam: Adam is clearly the tertiary protagonist and probably had the best development in the show, though it wasn’t super great either. His backstory is entirely implied. I understand show don’t tell, but it was too much. Why did Adam “quit” skating? Why did it hurt him so much considering S was a thing and he clearly was practicing. Was it the loss of his friends? The pieces are there but… I had an inkling that Adam was the informant, but I kinda had hope he would lose his political career and be free from his creepy aunts. Adam isn’t evil, though I wish his ire toward Tadashi was better explained. Their relationship really needed more exploration. (It doesn’t fit his analysis but the “zone” concept was so weird…)

Cherry: honestly, I don’t have much criticism. I liked him and his aesthetic. I do wish there was more elaboration on if he and Adam made up.

Miya: baby boy #2. He does end up a bit one note, cocky younger kid who’s mean because he’s lonely. I love him but he’s basic and kinda disappears toward the end. Would’ve been nice to use those “fight” episodes to develop him. Reki also owes him an apology for abandoning him and shoving him. Like, bro. Miya is proof you can have someone retain their passion but feel sad that they lost their friends. Miya’s ex-friend suddenly talking to him again came so far out of left field you’d think it was Adam. Completely unearned and made no sense.

Joe: he exists…I don’t do muscle heads. He’s most interesting with Cherry and their dynamic is cute.

Tadashi: whoo boy this man does nothing. Why does he lobe skating? What got him into it? What did he do outside of playing with Adam?

I do not understand why he is so loyal to Adam. I don’t. It’s not shown and it’s honestly very weird. The moments where he starts to be interesting, he backs out and becomes a shadow again. He’s literally Langa 1.0, everything is about Adam for him. Dude, get a life.

Shadow: I do love him and I did want him to get the girl. He doesn’t really do anything…

Might’ve been nice to develop our main cast.

4. Updated Rating

8/10 overall, 9/10 for animation and art style

5. Final thoughts

It’s a good show and I do like it a lot. If there’s a season 2, I do hope some of my criticism is addressed.

Edit: I haven't deleted comments before, but if I see one more about "well the author is female" and "we don't need developed female characters because gay shipping" I will start. Women deserve to be developed. Choke

#sk8 #sk8 the infinity #reki kyan #sk8 adam #langa hasewaga #shindo ainosuke #sk8 tadashi #joe sk8 #sk8 cherry blossom #shadow sk8 #miya chinen #sk8 spoilers #show review

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sleepingcrisis · 3 years

Text

@aavaros-aaravos wanted to know the appeal behind Tadashi/Reki so here I am!

Also this doesn't have to be taken in a shipping way, but if you want to that is totally fine! I personally don't ship them but people can do whatever they want.

So where do I find the appeal of their dynamic? Well pulling from the show parallels show that Reki most likely shared a lot of similarities to Adam when he was younger. Of course Adam appears to be much younger in the flashbacks but if it wasn't for... everything I think he would have grown to be some sort of balance between Reki and Langa (after all I could totally see Reki growing into the theatrics Adam has going on).

This isn't really about their similarities though. Instead I'm going to present how I would go about writing their dynamic since outside of a shipping sense (which is mainly nsfw content :/ ) I don't see a ton of their dynamic.

So let me present this to you!

Reki and Tadashi formally meet in the Love Hotel which yknow... amazing content for the shipping side of this lol, but —

Tadashi says some stuff there. He tells Reki to drop skateboarding. He tells him about the reputation skateboarders have as delinquents (which I think that this is definitely a jab at younger Joe, Adam, and Cherry) and how people generally don't make money off of it and can get seriously injured. His entire conversation with Reki is very similar to what Joe says to Langa before their beef, but while Joe clearly loves skating, Tadashi holds resentment towards it (my Tadashi/Joe shipping heart adores these parallels).

Anyway they have taken a character (Reki) who is on the verge of giving up skateboarding — something that makes him so happy — and put him in a room with someone that agrees with him. Then Reki disagrees with him. I love that.

Reki disagrees with him and tells him how awesome skateboarding is and has a passion for it that clearly Adam has/had but also a passion that Tadashi probably had at some point too.

Tadashi doesn't change his stance (obviously) but I got the sense that their was a hint of agreement in his eyes. That, yeah, his experience has been less then wonderful, but there was a time when he loved this too.

When Tadashi is handing Reki his invitation for the tournament it is hard to say if he is worried for Reki’s sake or worried that Adam will do something that could gain press (I suspect that it has more to do with Adam, but maybe it could be seen as a bit of both?). Anyway he tries to get Reki to decline and we all know how that goes.

By the end of the race Reki lost but Tadashi dropped out and let Langa take his place.

Let me just say: I hated that. I understand that they didn't have the time to have Tadashi race Langa, but the impact on Tadashi and Adams relationship? It would have been crazy to watch the two race and when we do get new content I hope we get to see more of the two skating together. While Tadashi had different motives for trying to race against Adam (taking it away) by the end of Reki and Adam’s race he has decided that Langa could teach Adam how to have fun... so his motivations have changed yet he still believes that Langa is better suited for the job???? What?

Anyway side rant over (sorta?) because when you think about it. With Reki and Joe out of the race Langa was better suited for the job because Tadashi doesn't have fun skating the way Langa does. (I just would have loved to see the impact on their relationship/dynamic if they had raced 😅)

Anyway after the show it is very much up in the air if Tadashi would ever want to attend S again or be around the others. He doesn't seem all that invested outside of Adam’s happiness/reputation— 🤔😏

So I like to believe that as Adam gets better and all that jazz he wants Tadashi included more because he wants to see Tadashi have fun too. The problem is that Adam can't seem to get Tadashi genuinely invested the way they used to be. He asks Langa about it and — when by some miracle the two idiots decide that a beef isn't the answer here — Langa decides that if there is any chance of Tadashi enjoying skateboarding again it is going to happen thanks to Reki.

So Adam asks Tadashi to give Reki pointers since, "Sorry pup, but I can't be bothered with the little Red. Snow bunny isn't really a teacher and I would lose my patience!"

Tadashi agrees since who is he to disagree with his master?

It feels like a chore. It feels like more work because it is more work. Reki catches on quickly too (especially since as of right now he isn't interested in an actual teacher).

Reki makes the claim that, "you don't actually want to be here man."

For whatever reason Tadashi tries to disagree (the "whatever reason" being that Adam asked him to keep the boy happy).

Reki sees through his bullshit and while he doesn't fight on it he has a new goal in mind: "if you are going to teach me to skate then I want you to enjoy it!" His new goal becomes making Tadashi like skating again.

Maybe Tadashi does and maybe he doesn't, but being around Reki certainly can be... enjoyable.

Okay this was a long post so to make a long story short: Reki is to Tadashi what Joe probably was to Adam.

#sk8 the infinity #reki kyan #tadashi kikuchi #tadashi #reki #tadareki #hasegawa langa #adam #ainosuke shindo #joe #nanjo kojiro

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silverynight · 3 years

Text

What does your heart want?

Reki starts thinking that something's going on when Miya comes into the shop to invite him to watch him race Shadow.

"I want you to see me beat him," Miya says with confidence, he doesn't need to appear that smug since Reki knows he's probably going to win. "Bring Langa as well."

Even though it's very common for his friends (and actually everyone at school) to ask Reki instead of Langa himself somehow that day it's the first that he realizes it's a little bit weird.

"You can invite him yourself, he's inside," Reki tells the boy, pointing behind himself.

Miya chuckles, looking smug again, like he knows something Reki doesn't. It's a little irritating.

"There's no need," he says. "If you go, he goes."

Frowning in confusion, Reki leans over the counter to look at Miya more intently.

"What if he has something else to do... What if–"

"I can't believe you haven't noticed!" Miya rolls his eyes at the redhead, although the things he's saying only confuse Reki even more.

Langa walks out of the back door, smiling at Reki as soon as he sees him, then he turns his head at Miya.

"Fine..." The boy says. "Just watch this, Reki. Hey, Langa! Would you come to 'S' tonight to see me beat Shadow?"

Langa doesn't answer him, instead he looks at Reki.

"Are we going to 'S' tonight?"

Reki knows that's something Langa has asked many times before, but he had never questioned or actually thought about it. Not really.

"Yes," he says, feeling a little bit flustered out of the sudden.

Langa nods and smiles back at Miya.

"We'll be there," he tells him and the boy grins but he looks right at Reki before he finally goes.

***

Miya wins, although it's not a surprise; Shadow is already sulking in the background, but doesn't say 'No' when they invite him to celebrate Miya's victory.

"Where would you like to go to have dinner?" Cherry asks, holding his skateboard in his arms like it's his baby.

The boy's lips part as he's about to say something, however, he closes his mouth quickly before glancing from Langa to Reki with a mischievous smirk.

"I want Langa to choose," he says.

Knowing Miya is probably planning something, Reki frowns, Joe looks amused, Cherry irritated and Shadow confused.

"Okay," Langa nods right before turning to look at Reki. "What do you want to eat?"

Surprised, Reki's brows quirk up. Yes, he knows that's something Langa asks almost every single night, but this is different. He was told to choose.

"Miya wants you to choose," he insists, but Langa's expression doesn't change.

He's stubborn, determined and once he sets up his mind to something, there's not much anyone can do about it.

"I love food," he says simply. "I'll eat anything. But I want to know what you'd like."

"A burger, but–"

They don't even let him finish, they just get in Shadow's car and Reki rides on the bike behind Langa.

***

This time, they don't go to 'S', instead all of their friends stay in the park just to skate with each other.

Even though they have fun (Cherry and Joe tell them stories about when they started skateboarding) after a couple of hours they all start to get tired.

Langa looks particularly exhausted... Well, he's mostly hungry, but he doesn't have the energy to do anything else. At some point he sits on the ground, sulking, while Reki keeps talking happily about all the improvements he could do to Shadow's board.

"I'm hungry, Reki," he mumbles at some point, tugging at the redhead's trousers.

"I know, just a minute, alright?"

However, just as Langa nods, Reki realizes he's being unfair so he decides to do something he's never done before.

As Cherry and Joe are saying goodbye, Reki looks down at Langa.

"You should go with them," he tells him. "It'll take me a couple of minutes more to draw a new design for Shadow, so... Maybe you should head home. We'll see each other tomo–"

"I'm fine," there it is, that determined look on Langa's face again. "I can wait."

Joe, Cherry and Miya are watching with amusement, Reki has no idea why is that funny, so he glares at them.

"But you're hungry..."

"I'll wait for you."

"You don't have to."

"I want to."

***

They're back in 'S' and even though it's one of Langa's favorite places, he doesn't look that happy that night. Reki has tried to ask him a couple of times, but his friend insists he's fine so he decides not to bring up the subject anymore.

He's on his board, moving around the place, he doesn't seem interested in doing any tricks either.

"Do you know what's going on with Langa?" Reki finally gives in and asks his friends. Shadow is racing someone else at the moment, so it's just Miya, Cherry and Joe with him.

Miya rolls his eyes.

"That idiot is pouting because he saw you talking to that girl outside Joe's restaurant."

"Aiko?" Reki frowns, trying to remember the conversation, she was just telling him something about school. "Oh, I see..."

Everyone looks at him. They're staring expectantly, like they all have been waiting for this moment for a while.

Then Cherry looks into his eyes and he sighs, irritated. He pinches the bridge of his nose.

"No, he doesn't understand."

"Yes, I do!" Reki protests, offended. He doesn't like the idea in his mind, but if it's what Langa wants... "He wants to talk with her. Maybe he's into her or something."

Miya facepalms himself.

"I thought he was the idiot, but you are even worse," he narrows his eyes, for a moment he looks like he wants to pull his hair out. "How can you be so blind? Langa is anything but subtle! He's in love with you!"

Reki freezes, but he feels all warm inside. His cheeks are bright red.

"He's not," he mumbles, weakly.

"He is. He always looks at you like he wants to worship you. It's honestly disgusting."

"I–I" the others are not helping, because no one does or say anything to deny what Miya is saying. It's almost like they believe he's right. "Listen, Langa is my best friend and we're close but–"

Miya grabs him by the arm and leads him towards a group of girls (Snow's fans) that are trying to get Langa's attention.

As soon as they get close, Langa turns around and even though he doesn't look that happy, he still smiles at Reki.

"Those girls have been trying to get Langa to do a trick for them, but he's still jealous of the girl you were talking to so he doesn't even pay attention to them," Miya whispers to him. "He's obviously not in the mood to show off."

"Why are you telling me this?" Reki, still blushing as watches Langa getting even closer to them.

"Ask him to do a trick for you, anything... He'll do it."

"I don't see why–"

"Reki! What is it? Do you want to go somewhere else?" Langa asks him.

Feeling like he's about to something ridiculous, Reki sighs.

"Can you... uh... Do a jump for me?" He's not sure why he feels so flustered at the moment, he's asked Langa to demostrate something a couple of times before. "But of course if you don't–"

However, his friend is already preparing himself to do it. Everyone looks at him and the girls giggle and watch in awe as Langa jumps over the ramp.

Everyone's cheering for him (he's still the one who defeated Adam after all so he's kind of famous now) and they try to get his attention, but it's useless, Langa moves quickly back to where Reki and Miya are.

"Did you like it?" He asks Reki with a grin. He's looking better now; his eyes glimmering with a little bit of hope.

"You were amazing," Reki says because it's the truth although he's not prepared for the way Langa beams at him.

"Do you want me to do another?"

"No... It's fine. I'm hungry actually..."

"Alright, let's go then," Langa says without hesitation.

Miya smiles at Reki knowingly but the redhead shakes his head when Langa isn't looking.

"This doesn't mean anything."

***

They're sitting outside Cherry's place, where they first met. Langa is staring intently at Reki while the redhead explains a new design for a board he has in mind.

Then, a girl from their class arrives.

"Langa, my friends wanted me to ask you to go to a party with us. It's this Friday. It's in my house..."

Reki is used to getting ignored when Langa is around so he keeps drawing on his notebook.

But then, Langa looks back at him.

"Do you want to go?"

Before he can say anything, the girl frowns.

"I'm sorry, but I don't have that much space in my house, so I... I'm afraid Reki can't–he's not invited."

Reki is about to say that it's fine when he notices the dangerous expression on Langa's face. Even the girl takes a step back.

"Then I'm not interested."

The girl pales. She's not happy, but she doesn't know what to say, she wasn't expecting such a response.

"I'll talk to him," Reki promises her just before she storms away.

"There's nothing to talk about."

"Langa, listen... I appreciate your loyalty," he says sincerely. "But I promise I won't get mad if you go, alright? You're more popular than I am so it's obvious you'll get to be invited to places I don't. If you want to–"

"I don't want to go if you're not there," Langa says almost fiercely.

Reki looks back, blushing. His heart beating inside his chest like it's going to explode.

"Alright. But you have to promise that you're going to stop doing things just because I want to do them. You can tell me if you're not in the mood to do something instead of asking me every time."

"I want the things you want."

Reki rolls his eyes, he's still not sure if he's exasperated or charmed by Langa's response.

"What about the things you want? Tell me what you want."

Langa leans closer, he blushes as he takes Reki's hands in his. And that's when Reki notices the adoration in his eyes.

"I want to please you. To give you everything your heart wants."

That's all Reki needs to realize he's very much in love with Langa. Those words take his breath away.

"That's... Really sweet, but I mean something more, not just to please me... What do you want?"

Langa is still staring at him, his eyes are glimmering when he smiles at Reki.

"I want you."

For a moment, Reki relaxes and he chuckles.

"You already have me. We're best friends, remember?"

"I want more," Langa says in a whisper. His face is really close to Reki's. "I want to kiss you."

"Well... You can. I'm right he–"

He doesn't get to finish, Langa is hungry, desperate for him, almost like he's been waiting for a long time for that moment. His kiss is possessive and demanding, but it's the best Reki has ever had.

They're start dating after that and even though Miya claims they're disgusting, Reki knows he doesn't really mean it.

***

Patreon

#renga #langa hasegawa #reki kyan #sk8 #sk8 the infinity #miya chinen

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miyuskye · 3 years

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Idk man, if Utsumi didn't want Adam to be misunderstood then she could've written in a lot better. People like to excuse bad writing by saying its "complex" bc the fans are filling in the blanks. Makes for a big fandom, but it doesn't mean the writing is good. You can make complex characters without them being pedos, rapists or abusers.

I never said that she wrote him amazingly, though. I don't remember if I posted this here or on twitter, but I can assure you that between ep 11 and ep 12 I was a bit puzzled because I had the feeling that the story didn't want to go for a punishment route for Adam but one episode felt too short for a whole redemption arc. I am personally a fan of redemption arcs, and seeing one fitted in like 3 minutes was... Not the best example of good writing I can make. But, after all, 12 episodes pass quickly, and Utsumi said in an interview that she wanted the story to be even more convoluted (an example? Reki's first skating friend or the hinted and super rushed past of the three founders). Should she have tried to cut more and make things simpler given the short time she had? Probably, but, as a writer myself, I think it's not possible, once you have a first idea of what your characters and story is going to be.

Having said that, and especially thinking back to the whole series (which I rewatched bearing in mind that Adam wasn't supposed to be irredeemable) I think that Utsumi never actively tried to make him Bad. The whole thing with Langa has indeed a creepy vibe, but he never acts on it; he gives him flowers, he professes his love for him but, despite it arguably being an unconscious way for him to elicit a reaction in Tadashi (even outside of romantic feelings), he never actually goes to Langa's house and forces him into anything. I understand that you can say that most of my hcs for Adam are interpretation, but if we're going this way, then he has never raped anyone on screen. He has never showed Miya the same intensity he showed to Langa (not even an ounce; heck, when he gives him advice, he does it from afar in order not to touch him). With Langa, he makes sure to ask for consent. We all agree that using drones is a violation of privacy and definitely a crime, but he did it because he wanted to know why he was sad in S. Aside from that, we're not seeing him having any other footage from Langa's private life. With these, I'm not saying that he's a good guy (he's the villain for a reason), or that he doesn't have the potential to be a pedo, or a rapist. It's just that, on screen, there isn't enough evidence to certainly label him as such. There are hints, of course, but there are also clues of him just being an over the top antihero (while still being liable of crimes, like perjury - even though he was the one who sold Takano out, or invasion of privacy. Heck, he even runs an illegal skating ring, but its participants, namely everyone else in the show, are just as guilty in that context).

I believe I extensively talked about why I don't think we, as watchers, can label Adam as a pedo or rapist 100% sure. As for him being an abuser, I believe his only "victim" could arguably be Tadashi. His beefs with Reki were conducted under the S rules, after all. I am familiar with this trope, and it gave me a Fight Club vibe or, if you want a more uncultured reference, a Fast and Furious vibe: in an underground ring, everything is allowed and both participants go in fully aware of this. Shadow burns Reki's skateboard in ep 1 and throws firecrackers at people but no one is conducting a public trial for him. Everyone involved should have just refused Adam's challenges, had they not wanted to get injured. It's not like he goes to Reki's school and punches him. Same with Cherry who had been the one asking for a beef all of these years. (Also from a recent interview, it came out that the skateboard to the face is actually inspired from a real skating move but I'm afraid I don't have enough evidence in the form of irl people videos to fully back up this claim). As for Tadashi, I believe there are countless posts explaining why he's not the abused one in the relationship: he actively stands for Adam's real abusers and he wants to take away skateboarding from him. The reason for that is not because he wants to be free, but because he doesn't want Adam to be involved in a scandal. Ultimately, he does it for his sake, like everything else. Is their relationship healthy? Probably not, but co-dependence isn't really healthy. But that's another pair of shoes, and also another interpretation. Tadashi is undoubtedly happy at the end of the series, and sticks to Ainosuke's side because he wants to.

After all these words, I want to conclude that it's perfectly fine if you want to envision Adam as an irredeemable character. Utsumi hadn't written him well enough for him to be solely interpreted as an antihero (she tried to make up for it with lore pieces in interviews, but I understand it's not enough) (i.e. Zuko from atla has an enough complex and well-written redemption arc for people to more easily agree that he was meant to be an antihero and not just generally bad but that's not the case for Adam). It's perfectly fine if you hate his character, find him creepy or find it easy to label his behaviour as problematic (because it is). The thing is, there are other people entitled to their own opinions, based on Utsumi's words which keep enforcing the antihero Adam agenda. I'm not forcing anyone to see Adam as a good character (he's not). But I personally think that there is enough lore and complexity which was left out because of lack of space that shouldn't be just ignored, that is all!

Thank you for your ask!!

#ainosuke shindo #adam sk8 #shindo ainosuke #kikuchi tadashi #sk8 the infinity #miyu answers #sorry this came out veeery long.....

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jangpoo · 3 years

Text

Since Twitter lacks nuance and simple listening comprehension let me say it here.

Reki hearing Langa say he’s excited about going up against ADAM is shocking to him because in no way can he understand Langa wanting to seek out that type of fear. He thought Langa understood. He thought Langa was in the same boat. “I hate ADAM.” He has said it in the past. And the fact that ADAM wants to hurt others doesn’t escape Reki. But then he hears Langa say he’s “excited” to race against him?

It’s not entirely about the fact that Langa is breaking his promise that upsets Reki. It’s about the fact that, in his mind (because people put it in his fucking mind), Langa and ADAM are on a whole different level. They are 2 “monsters” that have the ability to go up against each other. So Reki feels abandoned. He’s already felt unworthy and now to make it worse, he’s now understanding that someone “like him” could never go up against a guy like that.

But what wasn’t explicitly stated and requires a bit more context is how Langa is feeling. Langa was a competitive athlete for 15+ years. He has spent his entire life snowboarding with someone he loved. We probably didn’t even have many friends. So when his dad died, he probably lost everything because it was all he had. So now he finds someone else in his life that loves another sport just as much as he does. So in his head, Reki has always been amazing. He tells him once or twice an episode. In his head, it doesn’t even cross his mind that Reki isn’t talented or up to par with him. So during the fight when referring to how ADAM makes him feel excited, he says, “You understand as a skater, right?” Because to him, Reki should get it. (In fact before the skate with ADAM, Reki did get it. He wasn’t afraid. But then ADAM does his weird ass perverted shit and now he’s terrified, understandably so.) Reki should understand where he’s coming from. To be the best you have to beat the best. Overconfident? Maybe. Obsessed? Yes. But the bad guy? Why? Because a kid who has only ever known competing wants to be competitive?

The conflict is that Reki and Langa are of 2 separate minds. “I’m not good enough. Langa is too good. He’s going to leave me behind for ADAM because I can’t keep up.” vs “Reki doesn’t want me to skate against ADAM. He’ll get mad at me. But I want to. He’ll understand because he always does. He loves skating the way I do.”

Also, as a side note, Langa as a character already doesn’t understand most of what’s happening. He’s continued to show a lack of internal understanding. So although he knows something is wrong, he doesn’t understand it. Reki doesn’t reply to his texts. He ignores him when he skates. Langa continues to ask Reki if everything is okay, and Reki says everything is fine. So Langa doesn’t pick up on the cues and all it does is push Reki harder. And Langa wants to tell him how he feels but Reki can’t hear it because he’s too caught up in his own feelings. They’re kids. It’s a misunderstanding. It makes sense.

And that’s why this story is so interesting. Because we know the stakes. We know how they feel. But those 2 are just kids who LOVE skating with each other and found a special someone willing to do what they love together. Reki found someone who loves skateboarding and is obsessed with it the way he is. He puts so much time and effort into Langa’s board. Langa found another sport that makes him happy. He is amazing and everyone thinks he’s great, but he chooses to be with Reki. He wants to skate with him and doesn’t even bother skating when he realizes Reki was missing at the beach. In the end these two choose each other. They want to skate together.

Update: Also I forgot to add 2 things.

1. Let's please remember that Langa is not aware of anything negative being said to Reki. For that alone he deserves the benefit of the doubt.

2. I love the choice of the wording that Reki uses: "You and I aren't a good match anymore." Because ultimately that was what their skating was. They absolutely matched in what they wanted to accomplish. Reki loved skating and wanted someone to be interested in it with him. And Langa got just as obsessed. All he did was start to skate and talk about boards and create them and watch it all together. Learn tricks. All of that was fun and just a love for it. And they had 2 like minds. But now suddenly their motivations changed. It was more than just a good time. Langa wants to be the best. Reki just wants a friend to skate with and do cool tricks. But now their ideals don't align. And that's why it's the perfect line. Because as much as it hurts they really don't match anymore. And that what makes this so soul crushing.

#sk8 the infinity #sk8 #langa hasegawa #reki kyan

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deltaengineering · 3 years

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that was the winter anime 2021 that was

Still not quite ready for a dozen posts about how terrible the likes of Combatants Will Be Dispatched are, sorry. Watch Vivy though, it owns. Here’s some more things that are (mostly) good. As always, worst to best.

Yatogame-chan Kansatsu Nikki S3

Yatogame has long run out of hot Nagoya facts and its ensemble comedy never amounted to much, so now it seems mostly content to just spam more and more wacky character designs. About the only thing that it has left going for it is that 3 minutes a week are more effort to drop than to watch, so I expect them to make a movie next. 4/10

Go-toubun no Hanayome S2

Quints is a weird one. S1 was a barely good enough (i.e., well above average) implementation of the ages old harem chestnut. S2 is actually better at the core of its appeal, since it gives all the characters a sharper profile (things like taking Nino from joke to badass and making Ichika a villain are no mean feat), but it does pay a steep price for it. You see, to deliver a steady drip feed of meaningful character moments it apparently has to rush through the source material at a breakneck pace, which completely wrecks the "story" part of this story and makes every episode seem like a recap. And it still keeps wasting precious time on vestigial nonsense like its framing device and the Kyoto flashback scenario that was already the worst part of S1. But by far the most annoying aspect is its insistence on keeping all the options valid, since it prevents any real progress and makes everything seem arbitrary and pointless. So sure enough, after a season of much ado we still don't end up anywhere — you can't really raise the stakes if all at stake was "who wins" to begin with. It's watchable and even enjoyable scene-for-scene but it's getting harder and harder to call it a solid show overall. 5/10

Skate Leading Stars

I was watching this primarily because I didn't like Yuri on Ice much and wanted to see if something that is a blatant attempt to cash in on it would be better — because while YoI delivers on one aspect (being hella gay), it really is an absolute shambles of a sports show. And sure enough, Skate Leading has none of the auteur appeal of YoI, but it just works much better. In particular I appreciate how it managed to make me care even a little about a cast of assholes, which is a nice contrast to the nauseatingly ingratiating way YoI tries to make you love its characters. Also, Skate Leading is just generally cheap and unambitious, so not susceptible to trying hard and painfully flaming out on the presentation side like YoI is. But at some point you gotta let go of these comparisons and on its own Skate Leading is... just fine, I guess? Competent, mildly engaging, not very memorable. And that's probably where it loses to Yuri on Ice in the end after all, even if I think it's "better". 6/10

Idoly Pride

Idoly Pride sold itself on me with a really good (and hilarious/tragic) first episode that was just too bizarre to ignore — I mean, how can you ignore GHOST IDOL MANAGERS. Well, the majority of the show isn't like that. It's a competent and solid version of the idol franchise show, yes, but it really had more potential than that. Especially midseason, it gets lost in these dozens of characters, and while they're all likeable, it does seem like a waste of a good story just centered on Mana/Kotona/Sakura. By the end it comes back around to the heart of the matter with a Maeda-style sob story, which could be a disaster but seasoned veteran Jukki Hanada makes it work anyway. Overall, there's quite a bit of ridiculous hacky melodrama in this, but quite honestly that's the best part and I wish it would concentrate more on it. The rest is just okay. 6/10

Yuru Camp S2

Yuru Camp is still likely the best pure iyashikei show when it gets down to business. Compared to S1 though, this seems to happen less and less. At its peaks (i.e., basically any quiet moment with Rin) it's at least as good as ever, and there's some good cast additions like Mini-Inuko, but it appears that Yuru Camp simply has run out of things you can do with camping and it fills up the time with other... stuff. This stuff includes the generic school club shenanigans it was never particularly good at, and a gigantic helping of crass consumerism. Yeah, I would say the majority of Yuru Camp is just a straight up infomercial at this point, which itself ranges from the perfectly acceptable (which cute anime isn't about food constantly), to the sketchy (I don't know whether the Izu tourism board cut this production a fat check, but if they didn't, Yuru Camp still gives its best effort to make it seem that way) to the highly irritating – I am aware that camping requires gear and you can't just ignore that, but you most definitely do not require whole arcs dedicated to talking about raising funds for the purposes of acquiring the Lamp of Comfy Happiness at your friendly local Caribou™ either. Not to mention an arc where the aforementioned lame school club does the same, for double irritation. Make no mistake, this show is so riddled with scenes that beg for a solution to embed affiliate links in video files that it makes me wish I was watching something as anticapitalist and underground as Love Live. And irritating really is the last thing a show with this core concept, as stellar as it is at that, can afford to be. Bummer. 6/10

SKOO the Infinity

Skoo has one really huge asset: ADAM, its magnificent villain. It also has one really huge liability: Reki, its not magnificent protagonist. To be more specific, it's very good at anything outrageous, physics-defying and silly, such as most scenes ADAM is in, and quite bad at anything serious, dramatic (in a serious way) and down to earth, such as most scenes Reki is in. So, what's the verdict? Well, the rest of the cast is more ADAM-like, and Reki's co-protagonist Langa is fine as the straight (yeah, right) man. The tedious buddy drama is a comparatively small part of this show, and at least it pays off quite well in the end. Seriously, I was ready to give this a 6, but the final episode is probably the best one of the show, in all of its aspects. That's really not something you see often. Skoo's a great time. Except when it's not. 7/10

Non Non Biyori Nonstop

Speaking of the rare good ending, what about we gave one of those to a slim and inconsequential slice-of-life show? NNB has always been solid, comfy and amusing quality with a couple of standout moments (usually something with Renge), and Nonstop has that plus an ending as conclusive as any show of this type is ever going to have. Besides, it does a lot of things right by focusing on more characters than the central 4 (especially Konomi has great material in S3), it expands the universe just enough to not get stale, and it moves things forward — It's definitely a lot better than the movie, is what I'm saying. Apart from that, well, we're three seasons in, if you have any interest in this you probably don't need me to explain what's good about NNB at this point. Bonus points for being nothing but an ad for the manga. 7/10

Wonder Egg Priority

Oh boy, so here's the big one. Wonder Egg is the rare Meaningful Arthouse Show About Real Issues You Guys, as you might have heard. And well, the long and short of it is that it's a very good show with quite a few glaring problems (besides not actually being finished due to production issues, but what we have is enough of an ending to be able to meaningfully talk about it). In particular, one problem: WEP is, at its core, one of these metaphorical Magical Girl-ish series that are just a thin layer of abstraction over coming-of-age or societal problems. The issue is that "metaphorical" in this case means "literal" and "thin" means "basically nonexistent". This show is not subtle regarding what it's about, at all. This is a double-edged sword — on the positive side, some things really should just be said aloud, and I'm really, really fucking tired of the Ikuhara style of "here's some wacky things, maybe a blog post will eventually tell you how it's actually about the most important thing ever" obfuscation — if it's really so important, just spell it out. On the other hand, there are limits to this and when a second, different Ai appears I don't really need a voiceover line telling me that yep, this show is about parallel universes now. WEP spells out many important things, but it also spells out many things that are implicitly clear or better left vague. Not to mention that with being so obvious up front, the show's tendency to leave figuring out what it's actually saying about it up to the viewer can leave the wrong impression. Again, I settled on the opinion that it's subtle after all where it counts the most, but you might easily get the impression that it pulls its punches (Ikuhara does this the exact other way around — once you figure out what the fuck he's talking about it's abundantly clear what he's saying about it).

In fact, this show is so good at subtle, quiet character moments that it calls into question the need for big huge fighting fantasy layer in the first place, especially since I'm not a fan of the fantasy designs and the fights aren't great. Sure, they look impressive on a technical level (this show is very good looking in general), but the lack of actual impact or rhythm makes me think this is not made by people who are very familiar with action and maybe they should have asked some seasoned shounen veterans for this — or just, you know, not do it. They can (and do) impress with character acting in quiet scenes just the same. And while Ai's character story actually does pay off quite nicely by the end we got, and Momoe and Rika are also handled well, Neiru's backstory is significantly less good, not to mention the whole Frill subplot regarding the show's mythology that they introduced just before (and that's the part to be resolved at a later date), which is a huge can of worms. We'll see how well they handle that, I suppose, but as it is it's a weird and vestigial detour that doesn't add much besides thematic headaches.

But yeah, apart from all that — I like it, a lot. Great character writing in the details, cool looks for the most part, tons of ambition, and a message that I consider to be appropriately handled — for the most part, and for now. Not quite ambitious arthouse anime at its finest, but also not a pretentious disaster like Sarazanmai, Monogatari et al. 8/10

#anime #review #winter2021 #Yatogame-chan Kansatsu Nikki #Go-toubun no Hanayome #Skate Leading Stars #Idoly Pride #Yuru Camp #sk8 the infinity #Non Non Biyori #wonder egg priority

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awesome-cookies-and-cream · 3 years

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Reki and Langa’s dynamic

It’s speculation at my part and a shameless rant on what i like about sk8 just to get it off my chest I’ve been so fixated help

it’s 5am I’m at uni and i have a shit ton to do, am I really gonna make an essay about sk8 instead? yes abso-fucking-lutely. strap on to your metaphorical skateboards kids. this is going to be long ride

this isn’t to call out anyone lol so in case you get that impression I’m sorry. I understand everyone is out to interpret media in whatever they like and that’s fine, but sometimes i feel like either some missed some points of the story? anyway here are my thoughts tho

alright so what i absolutely love about sk8 is how they didn’t make anyone into a genius.Genius is a mockery of the hardships everyone does to attain that level of skills. And no Langa is not a genius or a prodigy which I will explain later. I’ve seen enough shounen animes back in the day and usually it’s ‘annoying heart of gold beginner vs. calm and collected genius’ they usually hate each other’s guts and bicker all the time though secretly, deep down care for each other but would rather die than admit it dynamic. While I’m glad we’re moving past that, I really thought Reki and Langa would be like that so....

imagine my surprise when Langa was the ‘beginner’ in skating. He has the potential to be a second sasuke here lol. (blue, handsome, cool) but no he isn’t. he’s an adorable idiot, an airhead, head empty only skating dude and i love it.

Reki as well. He could have been the usual protagonist. (sucks at his sport, loud, hardworking, and by the power of friendship he suddenly beats everyone else which i think is pretty overused at this point, don’t you think?) some people complain how Reki despite being the MC isn’t given screentime and hasn’t won a single beef. (and sure that’s true. he should have won some and langa lose some but we only have 12 eps so lol) but he’s not the usual protagonist you know? and sk8 isn’t about winning. if it was, I think they would have focused on the techniques. the hows and the what to do.

Idk if you noticed, but sports anime with winning in its goal would often explain in detail certain techniques. (see haikyuu) but shows like Free and Yuri on Ice isn’t exactly talking about how to win that seriously as Haikyuu did. It’s more focusing on the feelings and how their lives are affected with their passion for this sport. it’s about the character development!!! and i think SK8 is something like that too. It explores the character’s feelings rather than sport. (like what i tell my sister, they use the sport as a character device if that makes sense?)

this was literally in the opening lol. it’s really about the feelings you know?

so anyway it’s been pointed out several times that Reki was already feeling insecure about his skills in skating since ep 1 way before Langa came. But he still likes to skate and despite feeling never enough, he still enjoyed it. (some also pointed out that Reki’s reason of going into a beef against Shadow has been because he insulted his way of skating not because he wanted to be the best) so the show from the get go was already hinting at his self esteem issues.

this also implies that Reki has always been feeling like this in a while, added with his tendencies to bottle things up, it makes sense that he’ll blow up at some point and he’ll need to release all of those feelings. (so yeah i think this is just the right amount of eps for their fall out. i see some people complaining shush. otherwise it would also feel too rushed. this is years weighing him)

and i guess it’s also implied in here he’s had days like these too in the past! seriously it’s an ongoing problem he’s been carrying. i think 3 eps is pretty good enough pace to internalize it

so point: Reki was already down way before Langa came. langa just added to that. And don’t go blaming Langa cause the boy did nothing wrong.

Consider that Langa just lost his dad (i think we need more backstory on this though. please sdsjkdksl i need little Langa and his dad interactions) he just moved countries, and the only connection to his dad (snowboarding) is gone cause it doesn’t snow in OKinawa

though one also argues that Langa hasn’t been snowboarding since his dad was gone.

so for Langa, Reki introducing skating to him was revolutionary. You’re someone grieving over the death of what is probably the most important person in your life, the thing you love the most no longer gives you joy (as was shown in the flashbacks and basically Langa going ‘it’s the same’) and you’re in a new country with a language you barely are fluent. you can’t even read or write, and you barely have friends granted you don’t have much back in the day. it’s horrible.

and then this guy you barely know talks to you, befriends you, helps you get a job, and teaches you something you thought you’ve lost and through that you made more friends??

yeah you see why Langa likes Reki. You also see why he’s obsessed with skating. It’s kind of like a coping, a fixation. plus he’s bad with social cues i guess? the interview says he’s likely to get dumped for being too inattentive lmao and that’s what makes him interesting!

also the thing that really surprised me when they first interacted was how supportive Reki is to Langa. it also got to me with how much Langa thinks highly of Reki. Again a deviation to the ‘i say i hate you but deep down i care for you’ trope. they’re full on supportive and protective. i like that. it’s fresh to me. I thought Reki was going to the tsundere ‘hmph that’s not a big deal’ route at the start of ep 2 but he’s really amazed. (kinda also says he’s been very desperate for someone to share skating with but that’s another topic)

so Reki teaches Langa how to skate. and Langa sucks. Which was interesting to me because I thought Langa would be some flawless prince-like character. But nah. He trips and faints at his own blood lol. He’s so uncool and i love it.

Some people say Langa is over powered with a thick ass plot armor which gets him to win (which is why i see people saying he should have won against Joe and I actually agree that Langa should lose some beefs but again only 12 eps, so little time)

but I still wanna talk about it anyway so it’s revealed Langa was snowboarding since 2. That’s 15 years. I think that should be around the same time Joe and Cherry should be skating. and i think if you start earlier as a kid, your body develops differently. (should Langa, “an amateur” win against Joe a pro? the question falls more on whether you can classify Langa as an amateur) i think it’s like Langa being very used to motorcycle tricks from age 2 then suddenly he’s using a regular bicycle, and sure the feeling is mostly the same but there’s just something off. Your body doesn’t easily forget what you know, especially if it did it for 15 years. and so Reki customizes a board for Langa so it’ll feel exactly like snowboarding

So Langa has a customized board that he needed to get used to before he went pro. He really sucked the first few eps lmao. but that’s more of him getting used to the new rules. he pretty much told Reki in ep 2 that he can’t do a skateboard ollie, but he can do a snowboard one bec it’s attached to his feet.

(i may just want to add that one thing i also like about sk8 is that it really doesn’t care what you need for accommodation? if that’s how you do it best, then go for it. When Langa says to Reki he can’t do the ollie without the board attached to his feet, Reki immediately goes his way to accommodate him. usually people in real life might say ‘it’s not real skateboarding if you need a modification etc. but look at Cherry with a freaking AI board and people are like yeah whatever do what you want man. whatever rolls your board.)

so anyway Langa vs. Joe with Langa winning despite being an amateur? if you can even call him an amateur that is. Plus all his tricks are snowboarding tricks lol. everything he’s done is testament to his 15 years of snowboarding?? We don’t even know how good Langa is in snowboarding. Someone make a post about how difficult the snowboarding equivalent of those tricks Langa has done just to show people it means he’s pretty pro (I’ll even argue maybe Langa’s real talent is his creative ways of going around things which kind of why Adam is highkey obsessed, and calls Cherry who calculates everything to the last second boring but that’s a different can of worms I’m opening later) plus Langa barely won against Joe so there’s not much difference in level i think. Should Langa have lost though?

I think some have missed the point of that beef in Reki’s pov. and if the Renga reconciliation is done well, it would be worth it.

that beef got Reki to realize he what he really wants! that it’ll kill him if he can’t skate anymore! that he doesn’t wanna only cheer on for others and be a support! THAT HE WANTS TO SKATE BY LANGA’S SIDE WHICH IS THE REASON FOR ALL THIS INSECURITIES if Langa lost, that cathartic realization might not have happened. He might have gone to Langa and cheered him up, brushed off his insecurities and, made up with Langa halfheartedly without addressing his problems

I’m going to go back to Reki’s insecurities. In ep 6 he’s been afraid of being left behind, and sure Langa came back for him but he still forgot until midway. (will that parallel how Langa got too excited with the idea of skating, the same feeling he thought he lost forever. The same thing that he thinks connects him with his dad, and might have left Reki behind, but later remembers and goes back to chase him? hopefully) in ep 4 it’s obvious he’s afraid of the near death experience Adam gave him, and he’s just realized how different their skills were. in ep 5 he worries about Langa, enough to get nightmares about it. mixed with his friend getting hurt. it’s obvious the feelings are very very muddled there.

So he begs Langa not to skate with Adam.

And what did Langa do? say that he wanted to skate with Adam. (again he’s not the most attentive. he probably thinks he’s just skating with his best friend, all is good then boom. Reki leaves. as a person shit with dealing with other people, i don’t blame him at all) he’s trying to fix it though, but his bond with Reki primarily revolves around skating! how else was he going to warm up with Reki? He also doesn’t know that Reki has self esteem issues that’s always been there since the beginning. He probably doesn’t understand it too because he holds Reki up highly. in ep 6 when Reki was going over his board, Langa thinks he’s pretty cool. he didn’t hear what other said to Reki. He’s earnestly having fun with his friend

We should also note that Reki was never angry at Langa’s skills, he wasn’t resentful that Langa was far ahead. Again he’s been nothing but supportive. He doesn’t want to pull Langa down. He wasn’t like Miya’s friends that lashed out at Miya for being better. in ep 7 he tries his best to follow Langa

it feels like he’s mostly regretful that he can’t catch up. he doesn’t want Langa to slow down, he wants to go faster and meet him where he was. So it makes the realization that all he wants to do was be in equal with Langa more frustrating because he thinks he can’t keep up. (and this only ever started when he heard he’s like Langa’s plus one. there’s that daunting feeling about being pulled around. not being his equal)

if you need further proof, when Langa and Joe were having a beef, he wasn’t aggressively hoping Langa would lose. in fact he encouraged him. He worries deeply He calls him out when he was doing badly. Still very supportive as ever. So really the frustration isn’t to Langa, again, it’s all internal. He wants to be better

so he’s feeling shit and Langa goes to him in the middle of the rain, bless langa for trying, thinking talking about skating (what he thinks Reki loves and would probably cheer him up, not knowing that’s exactly his problem) tells him

which is probably the worst he could say.

THAT’S what got Reki mad, not really Reki being insecure though that’s part of it, that’s what they’re fighting about, Reki is angry he’s breaking his promise. He thinks Langa doesn’t care about Reki, that he’ll easily break a promise between them that Reki obviously cares about just so he can go skate with Adam who is way better than him. It blows to the self esteem. Reki probably also think that if only he was better, langa wouldn’t bother skating with someone that dangerous. it doesn’t help at all.

but langa doesn’t know this. he doesn’t see all this. Langa might have been too up the high of skating like in ep 6, he sorta left Reki behind again.

it kinda makes Langa’s mom’s words hit harder though

and he did just that. he got too engrossed.

It parallels adam, cherry and joe’s friendship then probably tadahsi’s too but who knows? reki and langa, and tadashi and adam might parallel too, the master and the student thingy Adam might have gotten too obsessed. So Joe trying his best to make sure Reki and Langa won’t end up like them hits a little harder in my chest ;’)

but Langa won’t be to engrossed i think

because unlike Adam who’s aggressively looking for his ‘equal’, Langa is just looking for someone who makes his heart beat, to make him feel like he’s skating with his dad again, someone he loves dearly. (there’s a parallel about loves here too between Adam’s and Langa’s. but I can’t write it now) and he probably already thinks Reki is his equal anyway. He just wants to have fun. he doesn’t think much about the skills.

maybe at first he does. that’s why he’s drawn to Adam but from ep 9, it was pretty much shown that skills really doesn’t matter from when he skated against Joe

if Adam easily discarded his friends because he think they’re boring (which was why the whole skateboard to the face thing with Cherry), langa doesn’t think like that

if anything Reki is important to Langa because he only has fun skating with Reki, who taught him how to skate and made his board. (his board that was customized to fit his style btw, and arguably the only reason he could skate that well. without it, he might as well be a beginner once again.) so without reki, langa is left with nothing. especially with his broken board

no fun in skating, no way of skating. He’s only manage to get this far because of Reki and he knows that now. All of it would be pointless if he doesn’t have Reki (and either he gets so obsessed in chasing that feeling again, or he stops completely) but in case you haven’t noticed it, Langa’s motivation revolves around having fun with skating no matter the skill or place. And he’s having most fun with Reki.

But Reki obviously doesn't know Langa’s feelings. He thinks Langa was forever looking for someone better. So he’s still caught up in the idea that Langa won’t want to skate with him (even though Langa has never shown this) and he left S entirely, thinking what he wants is impossible. fucking just talk you two motherfucker

(I also wanna point out that Reki has always been shown from episode one to be good at making boards. And that’s amazing? We need some support recognition and appreciation, seriously) I think maybe most who find problem with Reki not winning beefs like the usual shounen protags aren’t used to the nuance and perspective of being someone ‘ordinary’. Reki’s character is relatable because most of us feel ordinary, never enough, surrounded by geniuses, ‘inferior’. And if we’re being realistic since a lot are saying joe should have won because langa winning is unrealistic and you want realism so bad no I’m not salty at all there will always be someone better than you. ALWAYS. but what’s important is for you to have fun in what you love! in what makes you happy! AND even if you’re not good at one thing (in Reki’s part, skating) he’s also good at other things (making boards) so does he need to stop one for the other? no. He’s shown to enjoy skating with Langa, he doesn’t wanna stop it hurts him so much he quit. But he can also hone his skills in making boards as well as skate. He’s equal with Langa in a way he doesn’t even notice when he made that board for Langa, but even Reki’s presence alone makes Langa enjoy skating the way Reki also wants Langa by his side.

So I think the next ep is the best time to confront all these feelings. And how it happens might be what’s tricky. Like romantic or not, i personally can read it both ways though i prefer if they do become canon. (idk if it’s queerbaiting. i guess friends can care as deeply as that but ngl, these shounen bestfriends having deep connections that are written off as friends while also giving us bland af hetero love interests who did nothing but exist and be straight really is messing with my perception of romantic and platonic love irl) anyway their talk better be done really well, or else all those episodes of tension would be for nothing

It’s a nice perspective to give a shounen protagonist this time. It’s new, it’s fresh. How many incarnations of underdog turned the best at their craft can you take? variety is nice! and if you don’t like it, there are always a dozen other animes like that for you to turn to. to conclude, IT ALL GOES BACK TO THE START: WHAT IS YOUR HAPPINESS???! AND FOR THEM IT’S THE POWER OF FRIENDSHIP BUT IN A VERY DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE. FRIENDSHIP DOESN’T SUDDENLY GET YOU TO LEVEL 100000000000 TO DEFEAT THE FINAL BOSS. FRIENDSHIP IS WHAT MAKES DEFEATING THE FINAL BOSS WORTHWHILE

Anyway tldr; maybe the real Eve is the friends we made along the way :D and idk if I’m making sense but obviously I’m head empty only sk8. Renga needs to talk, i can’t believe they have the audacity to make a recap episode as if i wasn’t head empty only sk8 since february, and if there’s more emotional edging to come, i will burn some of the palm trees outside my house

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floral-and-fine · 4 years

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Stitched Together part 1

The creature/Adam x fem reader

Frankenstein AU/ Modern Frankenstein

Warnings: brief mention of suicide, death, and body horror (a little)

Summary: The reader is a mortician and a friend of Victor Frankenstein. After receiving a strange message from Victor, the reader finds herself with a lot of unanswered questions and a new roommate.

A/n: Yay! I wrote something! Sorry I didn’t finish the drawing, but I’m satisfied with it, mostly, lol. Anyways, I’m pretty excited about this story. Enjoy!

Tags: @rusticup @luna-xial

This was insane, in fact, it was by far the craziest stupidest thing you had ever done in your life, but here you were standing out in the rain, in the middle of the night, with no flashlight trying to pick a lock.

Yes, technically you were breaking and entering, but you had to know if Victor was alright. Rationally, you probably should’ve called the cops, but you weren’t exactly thinking rationally right now. For all you knew, he could be laying on the floor, clinging to life somewhere in his lab.

God, you were going to feel like an idiot if everything was fine and you were just overreacting.

You blinked in surprise when you heard the lock finally clicked.

Pushing the door open, you gasped as you entered Victor’s lab, immediately upon entry you were assaulted by a foul stench. Using your shirt, you covered your nose and mouth.

It was too dark to make out anything, except for the occasional flash of lightning that lit up the room for a brief second.

“Victor?” You called, feeling along the wall until you found a light switch. However, after flipping the switch nothing happened.

“Damn,” you muttered under your breath. With shaky hands, you reached into your pocket taking out your cell phone.

The small light didn’t reach far, only illuminating a couple of feet in front of you, but at least you could see a little.

His ‘lab’ was an old warehouse he was renting. Why he needed such a large space was beyond you. Victor was very secretive of what he was working on, deflecting your concern with vague answers. Very few people were even aware that he was renting this place to use for his experiments.

With your small light, you scanned the area nearest to you.

The warehouse was an utter disaster. There were notes with anatomical drawings littered everywhere, furniture tipped over, and broken shards of glass scattered on the ground.

From the state of his lab, you could safely assume it had been abandoned. It appeared as if Victor left in a hurry, or as if it had been ransacked.

Neither option gave you much comfort and just brought you more worries. This warehouse, those drawings, all the notes were Victor’s life work, and his work meant everything to him.

From the moment you met him, all he seemed to care about were his studies. He spent all his time here, rarely slept, and only left for absolute necessities. He even lost the lease on his apartment, so he could continue to afford the rent for the warehouse.

“What the hell happened?” You whispered to yourself. What had Victor been up to? Why did he disappear? Where was he now?

...

Victor had become an acquaintance of yours through a mutual friend.

You were a local mortician who lived near the university your friend was attending. You often mingled with various professors and graduate students, because of it.

Victor had been part of a graduate program to become a doctor before he dropped out. Amongst his colleagues, Victor was known for his peculiar curiosity of death. Upon discovering your friend’s relationship to you.

Victor practically demanded him to arrange a meeting between the two of you.

You were able to answer most of his questions, having more expertise on the subject than his peers. At first, his questions seemed innocent enough, but as you continued to get to know Victor the more strange and morbid his questions had become.

You chalked it up to his youth and his ambition to learn. Not to mention, at the time, you didn’t really question his odd fascination with the subject.

In all honesty, you almost welcomed his straightforwardness and his interest in your work. So many of the people you met always skated around the subject of your job, or visibly cringed anytime you mentioned the morgue. It was very refreshing to be able to talk about your day without having to worry or freaking someone out.

In a short time, you became friends with Victor. You checked in on him frequently, dropped groceries off at his place hoping he’d take a break and eat something, but

Then suddenly he fell off the face of the planet. He stopped visiting the morgue. He didn’t return any of your calls. Weeks passed before you received a rather cryptic voicemail from Victor.

What he said in the message didn’t make a lick of sense, he just rambled on and on about how he had finally figured it all out, that it had to be done tonight, and that it was all thanks to you.

You had tried calling him back several times but each time it went straight to voicemail.

...

Letting out a long sigh, you hoped you would find the answers to all your questions.

Steadily you took a few steps forward, and slowly moved the light your phone provided, scanning your surroundings. You frowned as you stepped in something wet, the squelching sound underneath your foot was rather unpleasant.

Looking down, you covered your mouth and stumbled backwards. Dropping your phone in the process.

“Oh God!” On the floor was a pile of discarded limbs in a pool of blood. “What the hell did he do?”

You noticed a familiar tag hanging off of a toe in the pile.

“He didn’t,” you thought out loud. “He wouldn’t...”

You shook your head and closed your eyes tightly. He used you, he got close to you so he could learn about the morgue. God, how did you not realize it?

A few weeks before, around the same time Victor seemed to disappear, several bodies were taken from your morgue. You reported the break in when you arrived to work the morning after. You couldn’t imagine why anyone would steal bodies.

Feeling an overwhelming mixture of disgust, betrayal, and stupidity, all you wanted now was to leave this nightmare and report your findings to the police.

Grimacing, you bent down to pick up your phone wiping the screen off with your sleeve.

Lightning flashed, and suddenly, you heard a loud crash, as if someone had bumped into something metallic knocking it to the floor. Your head whipped around to the direction of the sound, “Hello?”

The silence that followed was somehow quieter than before. You stared out at the vast darkness, waiting for a reply.

“Victor?” You called, rising to stand. “Anyone there?”

Once again there was only silence. You used the light from your phone as you proceeded to search.

Your brow furrowed as you discovered various machines you didn’t recognize. They were large, with all sorts of wires, cords, and coils. In the center, was a surgical table covered in blood.

As you studied the scene before you, from the corner of your eye, you saw movement. Without thinking you pursued whatever it was.

You managed to corner it, watching as the creature withdrew into the darkness, cowering on the floor.

You shined your light on the shadows to reveal a man huddled in the corner. His legs were pulled up to his chest, his arms curled over his head.

As you got closer, the man curled further into himself even more, shrinking down as far as he could. He flinched back, shielding his eyes from the light.

“Oh, sorry,” you murmured, lowering your phone. “Is that better?”

Slowly, he moved his arms down. His yellow eyes watched you cautiously, but he gave you no indication as to whether he understood anything you were saying.

Crouching down to his level, you noticed that he was completely nude. Long strands of greasy black hair hung in front of his face. His skin was pale and sickly looking.

You wrinkled your nose as you noticed the stitches all around his wrists, then the ones on his forearms, shoulders, neck, knees...

Slowly reaching out, your fingertips lightly brushed against his arm, feeling along the stitching. Upon further inspection his skin appeared thin like paper, and almost transparent with a bilious yellow tint to it. Underneath, you could make out clearly, blue and green veins all over his body.

Your teeth clenched and your stomach dropped, as you started to realize what Victor had accomplished.

This poor man and those poor people he used for his experiment, they were all victims of the careless ambition of Victor Frankenstein, a foolish boy trying to play God.

The creature trembled under your lingering touch like a scared rabbit.

“Are you cold?” You asked him, without thinking you stood up faster than the creature cared for, who flinched and shrunk away again due to the sudden movement.

“It’s alright,” you cooed, reassuring him as you would a scared child. You made a conscious effort to make your movements slow and fluid as you searched for something he could cover up with.

You spotted a thin white blanket on a cot that was in the corner. You figured Victor was probably sleeping here after he lost his apartment.

Returning to the creature, you slowly knelt down once more and offered him the blanket, but he remained still. It was unnerving how he kept staring at you, but you doubted he meant you any harm. The poor thing was simply so frightened that you couldn’t hold it against him for being so wary.

“Here,” you murmured as you gently placed it around him. “Isn’t that better?”

You smiled, as he clutched the edges of the blanket and wrapped it around himself tighter.

Slower than last time, you stood up again. “I’m y/n,” you introduced yourself offering him your hand. “Would you like to leave this place with me?”

This was crazy, but you didn’t know what else to do. You couldn’t just leave him here alone, he had already been abandoned once in this dark cold warehouse by his negligent creator. You couldn’t do that to him, he seemed so helpless.

Shyly, he accepted your hand and rose to his feet.

Looking up at him you couldn’t help but gawk. The man towered over you. He didn’t appear to be so large when he was cowering in the corner.

“We’re going to my house, okay?” You shared with him giving his hand a light squeeze. Still holding his hand, you led the way out and back to your car. He moved awkwardly and walked with a slight limp, so walked at a casual pace.

Reaching your car, you adjusted the passenger side seat moving it back, to make more leg room so he could sit comfortably. Helping him into the car, you buckled him in.

You didn’t say much on the drive. It all seemed so surreal, like you had been dreaming. Even when you arrived home and he followed inside it still didn’t seem real.

“Home sweet home,” you chirped, opening the front door and turning on the lights. You guided him inside and kicked off your shoes .

Finally, seeing him under some better lighting, you realized how dirty he was. He was covered in all over with some kind of filth, mostly dirt and blood you assumed, but you couldn’t be sure.

“You need a bath,” you announced. Walking into the bathroom, you turned on the faucet, allowing the water to warm up before putting in the stopper.

Once the tub was full, you guided your guest into the bathroom. Gently, you took the blanket from him and discarded it on the floor.

“Get in,” you gestured to the bath. “It’ll be alright. We just need to get you cleaned up.”

He hesitated for a moment before stepping in and slowly sinking down. He held the sides of the porcelain tub with a tight grip, as if he were to slip he’d drown in this shallow tub.

You couldn’t help but giggle over how endearing he acted. Getting on your knees next to the tub, you gently started to wipe off the dried blood on his face with a washcloth.

Despite the discoloration of his skin and the unnerving yellow of his eyes, he was handsome. He had a strong jawline, pouty lips, high cheekbones… you shook your head when you noticed you had been staring, not that he seemed to mind.

His own eyes were busy moving, looking at everything, taking in all of his new surroundings. It was kind of cute how awfully skittish he was for such a large person.

You couldn’t imagine what he was going through, or even what was going through his mind. As much as you hated Victor after discovering what he had done, you were still aware that this man was just the product of it, not the cause. He didn’t ask for any of this.

As you began to wash his arms and chest, that’s when you noticed a familiar scar on his wrist. One of the bodies Victor had stolen was of a young man who had taken his own life.

It always broke your heart when you had cases like that, not that your job was a happy one and that you didn’t care for the other people who ended up in your care. It was just that you often wondered what sort of pain were they feeling that ending their own life was a better solution.

You recognized a few more familiar body parts, but what rattled you was how the creature’s face and a few of his other limbs weren’t familiar at all.

Biting the inside of your cheek, you tried to figure out where else Victor could have gathered parts for his experiment. They would’ve needed to have passed away recently, they were probably taken from a nearby location...

You shook your head, none of that mattered right now. The only thing you should be worrying about is this strange man, who was sitting in your tub patiently waiting for you to finish.

Once he was clean, you helped him out of the tub allowing him to lean on you for support so he wouldn't slip on the tile floor. He seemed to still be figuring out how to move correctly, as he kind of moved in a disjointed fashion.

Grabbing a couple of towels, you wrapped one around his waist, and then led him to your living room and had him sit on the couch. With the other towel, you leaned in front of him and dried his hair, arms, and chest.

He tilted his head to the side as you dried his face, his eyes focusing on you. Unexpectedly, he caressed your cheek, you lowered the towel and smiled at him.

“I’ll be right back,” you told him, before getting up and heading into your bedroom.

Digging around your closet you tried your best to find anything that would fit him. Sadly, the best you could do for now was letting him borrow your bathrobe. You laid it on your bed, so you could change into something more comfortable.

Stepping out of your room, your heart almost jumped out of your chest, as you came face to face with your guest, who was waiting patiently outside of your door.

“Sorry that took so long,” you laughed, recovering from the slight scare. “I found this for you to wear for now. Tomorrow, I’ll try to figure out how to get you some actual clothes.”

You covered your mouth hiding your smile. The poor dear looked ridiculous. The silk robe barely reached above his knee and the sleeves ended at his elbows, but at least his private bits were covered.

Now that he was clean and dressed, you wondered what else he needed. Was he hungry? thirsty? Was he bored?

“Do you need anything?” You asked, knowing there was a good chance you wouldn’t get any kind of response. He simply just looked down at you.

You bit your lip, as the two of you just sat there in silence, side by side, on the couch. Hopefully, he’ll learn to talk or perhaps find another way to communicate with you. You weren’t sure how long you would be able to care for him if not.

“Well, I’m feeling a little hungry, so I’m going to get us a snack,” you explained standing up.

He watched your movement and then followed you to the kitchen, similar to what he did earlier when he was waiting outside your bedroom. The creature stood outside of the kitchen and watched as you prepared a couple of cups of tea and grabbed a pack of cookies for the two of you to share.

You felt a dull ache in your chest as you realized that him following you around, was probably out of fear, scared that you were going to leave him.

Gently, you placed your hand on his arm and tried to comfort him, “I promise, I’m not going to leave you.”

Carrying your snacks into the living room, you turned on the TV, putting on one of your favorite movies and started eating. The creature sat next to you, and watched carefully as you took a few sips of tea.

He didn’t seem all that interested in any of the cookies even after you offered him one, but he did pick up his cup and repeated what you had done, including blowing on it before taking a sip.

You tried to focus your attention on the movie, instead of worrying about the crazy day you just had. This was usually your way of unwinding, having a warm cup of tea and watching a little TV before bed. But your eyes kept wandering over to the creature.

You frowned at yourself, referring to him as the creature was wrong, even if it was just in your head and not out loud. The poor guy needed a real name.

Resting your chin on your hand, you mulled over different options, making an imaginary list of names, and trying to decide which one suited him best.

Lost in thought, you were surprised when he suddenly yawned, in fact the action seemed to startle him too. He looked over at you wide eyed, causing you to laugh lightly. He probably hasn’t slept since being created.

“C’mon,” you started, getting off of the couch and taking his hand. “It’s time for bed.”

You led him into your room. “Here,” you said, pulling back the comforter on your bed. “You can sleep here for tonight.”

He climbed into the bed, his feet hanging off of the edge. Despite his size, you couldn’t get over how small he acted, how timid and afraid.

You brushed a few strands of hair away from his face, and caressed his cheek, “Good night, Adam.” You smiled, glad you finally picked a name for him.

As you started to walk away, his hand shot out and grabbed your wrist. Adam looked up at you with pleading eyes.

He didn’t have to say anything for you to figure out what he wanted, since meeting him it seemed that all he wanted was not to be alone again.

“Oh, alright,” you relented, approaching the bed. “But just for tonight.”

Adam shuffled to the other side making room for you. You crawled into the bed, and turned off the light on the nightstand.

Laying down, you realized how exhausted you actually were. Before passing out, you felt Adam’s hand finding yours, his fingers curling around it and holding it gently as you fell asleep.

#Frankenstein’s monster #Frankenstein’s creature #Frankenstein au #Frankenstein #Frankenstein fanfic #the creature x reader #reader insert #female reader #frankenstein imagine #Frankenstein fanfiction #frankenstein's monster x reader #Frankenstein's creature x reader

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fantastic-rambles · 3 years

Note

Ahhh yaknow what you’re right. I just went back and looked over some of the rod, and I didn’t see Langa explicitly agree to not to skate with Adam. He promised that he wouldn’t quit skating with Reki, but he only acknowledged Reki’s warning to not be reckless. It actually makes a bunch of sense why Langa would be confused by the distancing and argument. I see now why you were upset with Reki’s behavior. It feels kind of like a ‘secret contract’ sorta thing where Reki got upset over a broken rule Langa never realized he was supposed to abide by. And not only is that unfair like you said, but it flipped the situation as if Langa was being untrustworthy to his word when really Reki didn’t trust Langa not to quit skating with him just because of danger/injury. And especially since I’ve seen people make solid arguments for Langa being neurodivergent or neurodivergent-coded, it’s really not a stretch at all for him to see the situation like you did. Langa most likely saw the issue as solely reckless behavior leading to quitting. But clearly Reki’s own jealousy/insecurities added Langa preferring better skaters as potentially leading to them not skating together without ever discussing it until Langa was blindsided during the argument. I would’ve looked a better apology from Reki where he fully explained why he was upset when they were making up. It’s human for his feelings on the issue to change, but that should’ve been better expressed to Langa. Although Langa did a great job of accurately smoothing over what was bothering Reki without that. Maybe that’ll be rectified if he apologizes to Miya. I think Miya deserves one especially since Reki physically shoved him after he opened up about why his actions were such a sore spot for him. I actually thought Miya’s words would help Reki see the other side of things so seeing Miya get pushed was like a “Bro wtf??” moment for me. Again it’s understandable that people act out when they’re angry and Reki was obviously already struggling with his emotions, but it should be acknowledged again how wrong that was. Boy are you opening my eyes to a lot of problematic stuff lol.

Also, I’m very curious as to why you hate Shadow. For me, it’s because I can’t move past that comment in ep 1. I know ppl brush it off as just an (unnecessarily misogynistic) act for his persona, but that woman literally didn’t say anything to him and he insulted her for no reason by using her body as trophy to be defaced if he won. Ew. And just because he’s super nice to the flower shop lady, he does not get a pass. If he’s only respectful to women he’s attracted to and jumps at any other the opportunity to degrade women, he’s still a misogynist. And I’m pretty sure that he already new flower shop lady when the series started, so I don’t think you can argue that his character developed to be better towards women as a whole because of her or that he wouldn’t do something like that again at this point in the story. Especially since the goal of proving yourself as a “strong man” has not historically worked out to men being compassionate with women. (Tho within a vacuum devoid of his other actions, I can appreciate his commitment to a makeup routine)

Oh! And I would totally wanna read that fanfic if you write it!! I’m not even as gung-ho about Adam going to jail as most fans and Adam-haters tbh. Mainly because it’d probably be for political corruption via money bribes which is already kinda common and I don’t think the show has stated him to be doing anything particularly bad with it I don’t think so?? Like it seems to be mainly for the purpose of keeping S secret which is indeed a waste of money and effort when he could just buy it, but on the other hand, there doesn’t seem to be any ill consequences on the citizens the politician represents. So yea, it’s illegal so the jail time is technically deserved. But also like... no harm no foul🤷‍♀️ If he would be getting charged for assaulting other skaters than I definitely think that’s fair, but I doubt that’ll happen in the show just because I feel like no one will actually say anything when the time comes partially due to the shock of his arrest if they’re even involved. And I mean, Cherry was pissed at Adam for getting skaters hurt but still rolled out the hospital and joked like he was fine, so I just don’t particularly see anyone calling him out on it to the point of it being apart of his sentencing. The end of ep 11 with Cherry and Joe arguing about one of them going against Adam just doesn’t sound like condemning him to battery charges to me XD

But yaknow I’ve been loving hurt/comfort type fics lately, so I’d be really interested in seeing Adam truly work and change himself for some type of redemption in that setting. I can see hitting rock bottom as being really good for him given it may provide a reprieve from having to manage his image. Adam is underrated in complexity so it’s always cool when people try to flesh him out more and dive into his inner world. And of course Tadashi is kind of my fave (if you couldn’t tell) so I love anything healing for him as well :)

Yep, I was majorly pissed at Reki for how he treated Langa and Miya. His behavior is absolutely problematic. Not as bad as Adam, obviously, but with everything I’ve said and you’ve realized... yeah. I’m glad he made up with Langa and will probably make up with Miya, but it doesn’t invalidate everything he’s done before. Yes, he’s still an immature teenager, but I don’t think he realizes how messed up his behavior was, even after making up with Langa (the resolution seems to be based on him accepting that he’s not an ace skater, rather than recognizing how toxic his behavior was), so I’m still not satisfied. But hey, it’s probably just me being hyperfixated on trivial details that nobody else even cares about. /shrug

(I’m glad to know that I wasn’t misinterpreting the “promise,” or lack thereof, though!)

And I have two major problems with Shadow. My first--and biggest--problem is, as you’ve pointed out, that he’s an enormous misogynist. At “S,” people have the freedom to be exactly who they are beneath the facades that they show to the world. For example, Adam is someone desperately searching for someone who can understand him, not the perfectly put-together politician Shindo Ainosuke. Cherry and Joe are more true to their “real life” selves, but there are differences in their behavior on the track and off. And then there’s Shadow, the overcompensating “strong man” who threatens to make a guy tattoo “Dumpster Slut” over his girl’s name. So I 100% agree with everything you said about Shadow. He’s a chauvinistic pig.

The second problem is that I honestly think his actions when he’s racing are worse than Adam’s, and the only reason it’s not made out as such is because he’s the buttmonkey rather than the villain. I believe that, as problematic as Adam’s antics are, he does not intend to cause severe physical harm to his opponents. I’ve discussed this idea in more detail in other posts, but in short, even in the most extreme case--Cherry’s--his injuries were far lighter than they would have been if Adam had seriously wanted to hurt him. Death, coma, etc. were all highly probable outcomes of that situation, so the only reason they didn’t happen was because Adam was holding back. Or anime logic. But even anime logic can only stretch so far. And against lesser opponents like Reki, he generally holds onto them to ensure that they don’t accidentally hurt themselves when they’re panicking.

Of course, Shadow doesn’t intend to cause severe physical harm to his opponents either, but he does not exert any control over the situation after he throws fireworks at his opponent or shines a laser in their eyes. We’ve twice seen his opponents fall off the course as a direct result of his actions: Reki in the first race, Harry in the quarterfinals. They could have just as easily fallen off the cliff or slammed into a wall (at full speed) and been badly injured. If Shadow were an actual villain, I fully believe that he would have an actual body count of people who died racing against him (as opposed to Adam’s trail of injured opponents). So it bothers me that people shrug off what Shadow does while screaming for Adam’s death.

As for the scandal subplot... I’m *pretty* sure it’s a lot more serious than Adam bribing the police to leave “S” alone. I think he’s actually involved in some majorly shady/illegal activities politically. Like, in Episode 7, when the other Diet member gets pulled over, arrested, and has his house searched... there’s no way that has anything to do with “S.” At the very least, the two of them were collaborating on something really bad, something serious that Adam lied about under oath, and that’s enough for Adam’s staff to worry about what’s going to happen, especially Tadashi. We don’t know what it is specifically, but it’s definitely a lot more than just passing out bribes to hide “S.”

Lol, I’ll have to see how it goes. Probably won’t start it until after the anime finishes at the very least so I can see how it turns out for Adam and Tadashi, plus I have another half dozen WIPs at the moment and nowhere near enough time to work on them all. xD

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recentanimenews · 3 years

Text

FEATURE: Madoka, Wonder Egg Priority, and the Future of Late-Night Magical Girl Shows

Beware! This article contains spoilers for the beginning of Puella Magi Madoka Magica.

It is January 21st, 2011. In the shadows of a witch’s labyrinth, two girls named Madoka and Mami form a close bond. Mami is a magical girl, powerful but lonely. Madoka decides, then and there, to fight by Mami’s side. But then, in the middle of combat, the witch Charlotte transforms into a giant worm and bites off Mami’s head. Madoka’s eyes widen in shock. A broken china cup seeps tea on the ground. Smash cut to the wails of goth rock trio Kalafina as black clouds roil and a single flickering shape strides toward oblivion. Three episodes in, Puella Magi Madoka Magica threw down the gauntlet. Over ten years later, the mark it left is still there.

Puella Magi Madoka Magica was special. But why? Not because it was the “first dark magical girl series.” Sailor Moon, the modern magical girl standard-bearer, became popular not just because of its charming characters but because the show could do things like briefly kill everyone during the series finale. Even magical girl series aimed at younger audiences, like Ojamajo Doremi, tackled subjects like the death of a pet or the aftermath of a divorce. Not to mention the infamous 46th episode of Magical Girl Minky Momo from 1983, when the titular heroine was hit by a truck! Truly, everything has been done before.

The secret to Madoka Magica’s success is that it is not really a magical girl show. It is a suspense thriller cunningly disguised as a magical girl show. It has as much in common with Kamen Rider Ryuuki as it has with Sailor Moon, and was written by Gen Urobuchi, a former eroge game writer who ran in the same circles as Kinoko Nasu and Hoshizora Meteo. Madoka Magica is not interested in the slow process of endearment by which magical girl series ease you into the daily routines of their characters — the weekly monsters, transformation stock footage, holidays, and very special episodes. It presents as such only as long as it takes to put you off guard, and then (clad in the gorgeous raiment of art team Gekidan Inu Curry) it goes for your throat.

So it was that Madoka Magica became the standard-bearer of a new kind of late-night anime. Rather than “cute girls doing cute things,” let’s call this genre “cruel things happening to cute girls.” Take something charming and unassuming, like a magical girl story or a high school slice-of-life show. Populate it with fun, marketable characters. Then set those characters screaming when the real story pops out like a jack-in-the-box. The frisson between cute and scary hopefully generates enough charge to catch the attention of audiences, but — most importantly — audiences don’t have to reach that far to engage with it. That is because these shows are built off those same conventions that anime fans are familiar with. Those conventions just happen to be evil this time.

As often happens in the entertainment industry, the success of Madoka spawned many copies. These projects did not have Gen Urobuchi, and they were often not lucky enough to have an art team as singular as Gekidan Inu Curry. All things considered, they tried their best. YUKI YUNA IS A HERO brought a different former eroge game writer, Takahiro, on board. Magical Girl Spec-Ops Asuka made its team of magical girls a proper military unit. More recently, GRANBELM added giant robots to the stew. I’d say Granbelm is my favorite of these, if only because the giant robots were pretty cool! I’d love to see them in a Super Robot Wars game one day.

Some of the more interesting entries in the “cruel things happening to cute girls” genre didn’t have any magical girls in them at all. Selector Infected Wixoss was a card battle show about teens fighting for wishes; writer Mari Okada smartly changed focus from the cruel system tearing the characters apart to the way that individual selfishness keeps cruel systems running perpetually. SCHOOL-LIVE! featured a group of schoolgirls continuing their slice of life activities within a world devastated by a zombie apocalypse; the anime production was bolstered by a murderer’s row of writers from Nitroplus, Urobuchi’s former stomping ground. Episode 3 — a flashback to teacher Megumi on the day of the outbreak — is a genuine triumph, precisely because it is so earnest. Rather than pushing hard to shock or disgust the viewer, it allows the characters to breathe in the moments leading to disaster and lets the horror come naturally.

Traditional magical girl shows, in the meantime, have been doing just fine. We’ve seen several good seasons of Precure and two fantastic ones, the all-rounder Go! Princess Precure and uneven but groundbreaking Hugtto! Precure. Sailor Moon’s Crystal remake seasons and movies have steadily improved after a rocky start. The first few seasons of magical idol series Aikatsu are charming and introduce a fun legacy quirk that ties together characters from different seasons. Even Ojamajo Doremi has seen a follow-up film that puts the spotlight on the generation who grew up watching it.

Madoka’s successors, on the other hand, are in a trickier place. Some of them have been successful, others have been good, but none have recaptured that lightning in a bottle that made Madoka a hit. Even a recent Madoka Magica series based on a phone game, written by Gekidan Inu Curry themselves, came and went without much buzz.

In the years since Madoka aired, there have been plenty of folks who have expressed their reservations about the “cruel things happening to cute girls” genre. After all, magical girl series can be revolutionary or transgressive without being cruel. Hugtto! Precure introduced the series’ first male Precure (equally comfortable wearing dresses as skating outfits) and featured a romantic partnership between two of its female leads. Go! Princess Precure’s best fight scenes are as spectacular as anything in this year’s Jujutsu Kaisen, yet remain perfectly accessible for its target audience of young girls. Madoka's progeny may have been targeted at older — and often, male — audiences, but outside of some blood and gore just a few of these series were more genuinely mature than the children’s series they riffed upon.

Image via HiDive

I do still see a future for late-night magical girl shows. In 2016, a weird magical girl series called Flip Flappers aired. Directed by animation wunderkind Kiyotaka Oshiyama, it featured two girls in love traveling through many strange and colorful environments in search of macguffins. Hidden inside a candy coating of marketable elements was everything from the Freudian fairy tale theories of Bruno Bettelheim, to architectural oddities such as thomassons, to occult figures like Jakob von Uexkull. Flip Flappers harnessed some of Madoka Magica’s sense of danger, putting its cast into intense and scary situations from the very first episode. But it was not a show about girls being tortured by an evil system; it was a show about girls exploring surreal dreamscapes. A new genre had been created: “cute girls doing weird things.”

Here are the cornerstones for the “cute girls doing weird things” genre: you need girls of course, maybe even magical girls, but the rules behind their magic are nebulous. Rather than take children’s genres and corrupt them, you build out atmospheric settings, drop in the characters, and see what happens next. You give the cast room to express themselves within the bounds of the story, rather than leading them down an assembly line to their doom. The malevolence of Madoka is not off-limits, but more useful still than malevolence is uncertainty. The goal is to unsettle the viewer rather than disgust them.

Image via Funimation

Five years after Flip Flappers, a new show walks these same steps: Wonder Egg Priority, an original series from CloverWorks. Of course, Wonder Egg Priority is aiming at something totally different than Flip Flappers. Its spooky environments are incidental. Its main aim is, through riffing on the work of Kyoto Animation and famed director Naoko Yamada, depicting in full and uncompromising detail the difficult emotional lives of teenage girls living in the modern-day. Those lives just happen to be filtered through an anime lens of trauma manifesting as horrific creatures that have to be destroyed, and girls that need to be saved. Yet to me, Wonder Egg Priority captures the dreamlike atmosphere that Flip Flappers achieved in its best moments — the means by which characters exploring unfamiliar spaces reveal themselves in new and different forms. Despite being made of familiar parts, in execution, I think it is something new.

Somewhere between Flip Flappers and Wonder Egg Priority lies the future of late-night magical girl shows. They should not ever replace the ones made for kids; those do perfectly fine on their own, thank you very much. But in their embrace of uncertainty, I recognize a ghost of what I once felt when I first saw Charlotte’s gaping maw. The sensation that the ground had disappeared, and that — like magic — anything was possible.

What's your favorite recent magical girl show? Are you excited for the newest season of Precure? Does Wonder Egg Priority terrify you on a weekly basis like it terrifies me? Let us know in the comments!

Adam W is a Features Writer at Crunchyroll. When he isn't reciting lines from Revolutionary Girl Utena, he sporadically contributes with a loose coalition of friends to a blog called Isn't it Electrifying? You can find him on Twitter at @wendeego

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shutupandshipit · 3 years

Text

Sharpen Your Blades - Ch.5

Summary: “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”

The thinning of Aizawa’s patience was evident in the twitching of his brow. “If you stop asking questions, maybe I could finish explaining.

”With a huff and roll of his eyes, Katsuki glanced away from their coach.

“City Hall and the SC want us to give them more variety. We are a team solely made up of single skaters. Every year, we dominate the rankings for single skate while Shinketsu dominates the pairs, so this year both cities are being required to split their skaters evenly between singles and pairs with at least one pair coming from out top five.” There was a collective intake of breath, but no one commented, choosing instead to remain silent. “Unfortunately, for us, it’s a lot easier to switch from pairs to singles. With our male to female ratio, alpha/beta/omega ratio, and those of you actually experienced with pair skating, we’re at a disadvantage. So, I’ve decided to choose your partners for you.”

…..

Or where Katsuki and Izuku are forced to be partners so they can continue to compete, but the blood in the water may be thicker than anyone realized.

Pairing: Bakudeku

Rating: T

Chapter: 5/20

Previously <- Chapter 4: Fear

Chapter 6: Something about cats and bags -> Next

Chapter 5: Nine-Years-Old

Izuku was tired, had been tired for so long. Being with his alpha partner should have helped, should have put at least a little pep in his step, but their point of contact only seemed to suck at the dregs of his energy.

After his first heat when all of his energy had been sapped, he thought maybe it would return. He thought maybe the first cycle was just the hardest, and he’d feel better after. He didn’t. He’d been able to hide the strain with the promise of something new. With the promise of meeting Katsuki on equal footing, facing him as a rival rather than a partner, of making individual progress. It had been exciting. They’d both been looking forward to that.

And then it had been taken away from them.

With his new partner, it was difficult to hide his discomforts, but it didn’t really matter. He never noticed anyway. ‘Would be bad alpha,’ his newly woken omega whispered to him as they slowly skated in tandem around the rink for warm up, ‘Better alphas than him. Not our alpha.’

‘Not our alpha indeed,’ Izuku replied silently, eyes barely focussed at all.

Izuku didn’t blame Katsuki for breaking off their partnership, it had been the only logical decision after they’d lost. They couldn’t go any further as a pair, and Izuku’s performance had steadily been getting worse with each heat. Better to break it off than shoulder the burden of a failing partner.

Heat burbled beneath his skin, sludgy with suppressants. ‘Need to take my dose soon,’ he thought idly, allowing his partner to guide them through the next warm-up without much thought. He jumped, landed, continued on, all without the same enthusiasm he used to have.

Wind jerked at his curls as they picked up speed, stinging cold against his warm cheeks.

The doctors had started him on suppressants after that, trying to use chemicals to ease his pain. They’d helped, but had also taken something from him. Stolen the love he’d always held for skating, making it a chore that he only did because he didn’t know what he’d be doing otherwise. The drugs made him slower, exhausted, apathetic. Like he was underwater, and only surfaced for a gasp of breath when Katsuki was close enough to catch his scent.

“Ready? Let’s fucking do this,” Izuku’s partner muttered in his ear, “That new throw. Four rotations at least before I catch you.”

‘But we don’t have spotters. We’re not proficient enough to do it alone yet,’ Izuku thought slowly, confusion speeding his pulse. ‘Wait.’

Large hands tightened on his waist, and unable to protest, Izuku readied himself the way he’d been taught. All he needed to do was stay tight, compact, and rotate. His partner had to do the rest. He just needed to trust his partner. He could do that.

There was the familiar drop of his stomach as he went airborne. The lights above smeared into streaks of white as he rotated. Silently, he counted; one, two, three. Four rotations. Five. Six? The arms that were supposed to catch him were absent, and fear set in.

‘He didn’t catch me,’ Izuku thought, but instead of disappointment, there was just the expectation of the failure that he hadn’t realized had been in his chest. He didn’t make a sound as he untucked from his rotation.

‘Untrustworthy alpha!’

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught Katsuki’s expression just before his skate connected. Disgust. Horror. His mouth opened, but Izuku didn’t hear what he said.

The pain tore through his body. First his hip, then his ankle, his wrist, his forearm.

Everything narrowed around him. There was the cold of the ice beneath his cheek, the searing heat of pain, his lungs struggling to breath, his throat constricting, and Katsuki’s scent. Allspice and cinnamon with the overwhelming heat of cayenne pepper filling his nose, his mouth, his lungs. The scent of Katsuki’s rage grounded him, kept him present, chased away some of the pain, but never brought him back.

He didn’t drop completely into unconsciousness until Katsuki’s scent disappeared.

…..

October Week 3

With a huff of breath, Izuku wiped the sweat from his brow and glided to a stop along the wall where Uraraka and Iida were huddled close around a phone. He couldn’t see what they were watching, but the music was familiar. Peaking over their shoulder, Izuku could only catch the glimpse of brightly colored costumes. “Hey, guys, what are you watching? Research for your program?” he asked, grabbing his water bottle.

“Deku!” Uraraka cried, the red on her cheeks spreading further as she laughed, “You surprised us.”

Izuku smiled. “I can tell. What’s up? You two seemed really engrossed.”

The pair exchanged a look, and Iida said, “Yes, we were doing research for our program, and came across some videos of you-”

Uraraka didn’t let him finish, whispering, “You didn’t tell us Bakugou used to be your partner!” Excitement visibly thrummed through her, and her softly sweet scent flared brightly.

Izuku swallowed before laughing nervously. “You know, I think someone told me Aizawa wanted to talk to me. I’ll be going.” Anxiety made his movements stiff as he turned to leave. Uraraka grabbed a hold of his wrist, and held on tightly. The sudden need to run as fast as possible flooded his body.

“We’re just surprised is all. I mean, we knew you two had pair skated, but we didn’t know you had pair skated. It’s just really surprising since Bakugou is so adamant not to skate with you. It’s weird, you know, and you two look so happy in these videos!” She turned the phone towards him where the video was still playing, and Izuku saw his nine-year-old self grinning from ear to ear as Katsuki caught him around the waist. “You were so small and always smiling at each other. Even Bakugou! It’s kind of sweet.” She was smiling, but it slowly fell away as she dropped her hand back to her side. “Was Bakugou, you know, the one who caused your injury?”

Irrational anger rolled through Izuku.

“What!” he shouted, voice nearly a screech. With effort, he lowered it, but the urgency to make them understand and the anger that they could ever think that was still there. “Kacchan would never drop me or anyone! He’s very strong and capable, and always has been. Even if something did happen while practicing, he would definitely do everything he could to catch his partner like he’s been doing with Mina. It was someone else. They don’t even skate anymore.”

Iida and Uraraka exchanged another glance, this one wide-eyed.

Iida held out a hand between them. “Pardon, but did you just say that someone else dropped you?”

“As in you had a different partner than Bakugou before your injury?” Uraraka asked.

Tugging at his braid, Izuku considered what he wanted to tell them. Considered if he wanted to tell them anything at all. Even if he decided to stay quiet, they could just go searching. He knew they would, especially if they continued watching his and Katsuki’s competition videos. If he wasn’t the one to tell them, he wasn’t sure what the internet would give up instead.

If he asked them not to dig any further, he was sure they’d listen, but they deserved more than that. They were his friends after all.

After a moment, he sighed and dropped his hand from his hair. “I had a different partner for only about six months. He was a little older than us, another alpha from our hometown team. Kacchan broke off our partnership, but that wasn’t his fault. The year after we presented was really hard. It wasn’t his fault, and I don’t blame him for going to singles. I wanted to follow him, but our coach made me stay on pairs. If he’d had it his way, Kacchan would have stayed too, but you know Kacchan. Our coach decided he’d rather have only one of us in pairs than lose another of his top skaters, especially after Usagiyama left.” Izuku shrugged, reaching for the end of his braid again. “Honestly, it’s not a surprise Kacchan hates me so much. I caused a lot of problems for him.”

Again, Uraraka and Iida looked at each other.

He wished fervently that he could understand their strange silent language. More, he wished he had someone that he could communicate with silently like them.

Pursing her lips, Uraraka released his wrist, but grabbed his shoulder instead. “Honestly, Deku, while I know I’m still missing some of the story here, I think there might be a misunderstanding between the two of you somewhere. Maybe if you talked, things would make more sense.”

Izuku laughed, and shrugged out from under her hand. “I appreciate the advice, Chako, but I don’t think you know how much Kacchan really hates me. I honestly don’t think we’ll ever be able to talk like we used to. It’s fine.”

“Well, maybe-”

Cutting off whatever Iida was about to say, Izuku pointed to the phone at Uraraka’s side. “You were looking for videos, right? I’ll show you a couple channels that I watch. They’re really informative, and the couples have great chemistry. There’s a pair who are about your guys’ height and build, so it should be perfect.”

…..

Frustration made its home in Katsuki’s body, and he was all the more irritated by that simple fact. He was frustrated with his progress with his program, still feeling far more behind than the rest of the team after the week he had to spend away for his rut. He was frustrated because Ashido was a paltry substitute to his actual partner, and with her, he felt like he was actually regressing in his progress instead of moving forward.

The most frustrating thing of all? Everything was his own fault, and he knew that very well. He wasn’t about to admit that he’d made a mistake to anyone though. He had a reputation to uphold, and he’d rather suffer than let his pride take a blow.

His mood only got darker as practice dragged on, and it felt like the last straw when he found the entire team gathered right over his bag at the end. Only Izuku was still out on the ice talking animatedly to Aizawa and Yamada.

Slipping his guards over his blades, he marched toward the clusterfuck of skaters with a snarl. All of the pair skaters were at the center of the group, crowded around the one person with their phone out. “Get out of the way, extras. You’re standing right on top of my bag, and I’ve got shit to do.”

Denki and Hagakure’s heads popped up from where they were leaning over Uraraka’s shoulder, grins pulling at their mouths. “Yo, Kacchan, I knew you skated pairs before, but I didn't know you were good!” Denki crowed, laughing, “You and Deku killed it as kids. We happened, dude?”

Narrowing his eyes, Katsuki looked over the crowd and found the person who should have been standing closest to his bag. “Soy sauce, give me my fucking bag.”

“Don’t be like that, Bakugou!” Hagakure interjected, reaching out a hand with a wide placating smile, “We’re just wondering. Just look at the two of you. You’re so proud of your first place medals!” She plucked the phone from Uraraka’s fingers, turning the paused screen for Katsuki to inspect. “How did you go from those cute squishable faces to hating each other?”

Katsuki recognized the event immediately. It was the last one they’d skated as a pair before they were supposed to go to singles, before presenting, before going official. It was the last competition that had gone well for them as a pair. And they did look happy, ecstatic really all wrapped around each other on the top of a podium. So proud with heavy gold medals too big for their still growing forms hanging around their necks from blue ribbon. Katsuki’s hair had still been wild and untamed, and his smile had been untempered by failure. Izuku’s eyes had still sparkled, the dullness of suppressants and injury still months to come.

His heart squeezed painfully in his chest.

Shoving her hand out of his face, he snatched his bag from Sero who’s expression had gone sheepish. “Shit happens. People change. We presented,” he snapped, turning to leave.

“Why would presenting change anything?” Uraraka asked, and when he turned, there was concern on her face.

He was actually surprised the nerd hadn’t caught his nerd friends up on everything that had happened when they were kids. Given them someone to blame for his injury. It wasn’t like they would be wrong.

He just stared as her concern seemed to grow with each passing second, then something changed. Understanding dawned on her face, and he turned with a snarled, “I’m leaving. I don’t have time for the past. Go ahead and keep wasting yours.”

He wasn’t far enough away to not hear Iida’s murmured, “Maybe we could find a video of him with his other partner? That could clear some things up.”

Before he could stop himself, Katsuki whirled back around. “That sorry excuse for an alpha wasn’t his goddamn partner! Don’t fucking-” Izuku’s scent wafted towards him across the ice, mint and a thunderstorm rolling in, and he snapped his teeth together. With a quick glance towards the omega’s curious expression as he glided towards them, Katsuki made his escape without another word. What the fuck were they trying to pull by bringing up old shit anyway?

The past didn’t change anything that was happening in the present.

#my hero academia #mha #bakudeku #dekubaku #decchan #bakugou katsuki #midoriya izuku #omegaverse #a/b/o dynamics #alpha!katsuki #omega!izuku #figure skater au #no quirks au #my writing #sharpen your blades

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