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horrible Adam apologist

@aro-ainosuke

Adult. Yes, I did start a Tumblr account so that I can hyperfixate on a ship. Tagging will be inconsistent, blame my ND brain. Since I'm braching out to other seires, I'll need to update my pinned soon  DNI: anti tadaai, Adam/Ainosuke haters, pro harassment, TERFs/gender criticals, and queer assholes. Check my #about tag for the full list. I am neutralship, if that's a problem, block me. Discord: Adam lover#4913
My LoveBlossom playlist

(It is angsty as hell, for obvious reasons, focussing more on their relationship as teenagers. Song meanings and POVs elaborated on down under but in case you want the direct Spotify link and don't wanna read through the crap, here you go-

Blame game- mxmtoon

So I actually think this song works very well in both Cherry's and Adam's POVs.

Adam- because let's be real for a second here, he doesn't think what he is doing is in any way wrong or harmful. Adam is a character in need of help, and twisted as his idea of love is of course he'd take Cherry's unwillingness to put up with his abuse as betrayal, and that Cherry doesn't love him etc etc. I do imagine he, himself was pretty heartbroken when his and Cherry's relationship fell through. Here's a quote from the song-

'And I know,

That it's not the first time,

That I've given so much away to be left with,

Someone who just won't stay.'

Cherry- He is very righteously upset about who Adam is becoming and how he treats people. These lyrics from the song come to mind-

'And I heard,

You say your goodbye

But denial is my greatest skill,

Bending the truth to feed wishes of will.'

These differing narratives and blaming the other person on both of their parts, just makes the title hit harder.

Cherry- Lana Del Rey

(and no I didn't add it because it has Cherry's name in it XD)

The intensity of emotion and the darker thrills of being in love that Lana sings about in this song are how I see younger Cherry viewing their relationship in the very beginning.

'A touch

From your real love

Is like heaven taking the place of something evil

And letting it burn off from the rush.'

Dangerous- Big Data ft. Joywave

This song has Adam written all over it. It deals with how intensely he feels emotions and how he thinks his love, despite the inherent dangers that come with him as a person, is worth everything. It also talks about a need to get away and disappear and just- it is Shindo Ainosuke's theme song in my head.

'You understand, I got a plan for us,

I bet you didn't know that I was dangerous,

It must be fate, I found a place for us,

I bet you didn't know someone could love you this much.'

Devil Side- Foxes

Cherry struggles to find and hold on to the Adam he fell in love with.

'I want you

Not for your devil side,

Not for your dangerous mind,

Just for you.

So tell me why,

It's always your devil side

It's always your dangerous mind

And never you.

So who's gonna save you now, who's gonna save you?'

Hurt People- Jack & Jack

A nice pop hit about the cycle of hurt and pain that never truly seems to end. Here are some verses-

'Thought we had a chance, that's true,

But you have weapons,

Didn't know you have weapons.

Now I am insecure and stressed out,

When someone gets close, I shut down.'

...

'Hurt people, hurt people,

Hurt people, so lethal,

'round and 'round we go,

Guess we're used to the pain.'

Icarus- Bastille

I feel like this song works from three different POVs for two different instances.

First, it depicts Adam's descent into insanity. He flew too close to the sun, yes and yet the song goes on to say-

'Icarus is flying too close to the sun,

Icarus' life has only just begun.'

Which I feel is a good parallel for the freedom Adam thinks he has achieved in this spell of hatred and loneliness that he has cast around himself.

Further, the song has another verse-

'You put up your defences when you left,

You left because you're certain,

Of who you want to be.'

Secondly, the song can also be a metaphor for Cherry and Joe's ditch efforts at trying to protect and save Adam, which ultimately result in grievous hurt to Cherry.

'Your hands protect the flames,

From the wild winds around you.'

...

'This is how it feels to take a fall,

Icarus is flying towards an early grave.'

I come with knives- IAMX

ADAM ADAM ADAM ADAM ADAM ADAM

'I never promised you an open heart or charity,

I never wanted to abuse your imagination.

I come with knives, I come with knives,

To love you.'

It's all in vain- Wet

The first time I heard this song it gave me big Cherry vibes, but the more time I spend with it, the more I see Adam in it.

I see an Adam who's losing his faith in his relationship with Cherry because he walked in to that relationship with messed up standards for love, anyways. He doesn't believe Cherry loves him, even though he desperately wants to be loved. He doesn't feel seen or understood, and he knows it's driving their relationship towards its end.

'Tell me baby, tell me slowly,

All the things you couldn't show me,

Tell me one more time before I leave,

Now I see you hardly know me,

Look at you, you look right through me,

Tell me one more time before I go.'

Just give me a reason- P!nk ft. Nate Ruess

Hear this song as a conversation between an Adam who's beginning to lose himself and his love and a Cherry desperately trying to hold on to him and assure him they're all right. Read this verse as bold for Adam and Italics for Cherry. (The song is sung by two people so you'll clearly be able to see the distinction.)

'Oh, tears ducts and rust.'

'I'll fix it for us.'

'We're collecting dust.'

'But our love is enough.'

'You're holding it in.'

'You're pouring a drink.'

'No, nothing is as bad as it seems.'

'We'll come clean.'

Love Runs Out- OneRepublic

Adam giving himself over to the thrill of the kill, so to speak.

'I'll be your light, your match, your burning sun,

I'll be the bright in black, that's making you run,

And I feel alright, yeah I feel alright,

Cause I worked it out, yeah I worked it out,

I'll be doing this, if you have a doubt,

Till the love runs out, till the love runs out.'

Pretty when you cry- Lana Del Rey

Broken-hearted Cherry vibes.

'I'll wait for you babe,

It's all I do, babe,

Don't come through babe,

You never do,

Because I am pretty when I cry.'

Reckless Love- BLEACHERS

Cherry trying to come to terms with how unhealthy and toxic his relationship is, and how he still finds himself unable to distance himself from Adam.

'I could use a bad disguise,

To guard me on the darkest nights,

I keep finding my way to the harshest words,

I got a strange, strange vision of a reckless love.'

Take What You Want- ONE OK ROCK, ft. 5SOS

The aftermath of their dramatic ass breakup. Cherry's POV.

'I don't want anything in our broken home,

Not the memories or the things we own,

Not the picture of us on the wall,

So take what you want.'

...

'Can you hear me?

I am trying to hear you.

Silence strikes like a hurricane.

I am singing for you.

You're screaming at me.

It's hard to see your tears in the pouring rain.'

You Give Love a Bad Name- Bon Jovi

(come on guys this is me there was bound to be at least one classic rock song somewhere in there.)

(also, also, shouldn't this be like our fandom-wide Adam anthem?)

'Shot through the heart, and you're to blame,

Darlin' you give love a bad name.'

Hi im emi and i think way too much about sk8 the infinity part 261

COLOUR THEORY TIME i just had like, a brain blast in realisation.

Reki is yellow coded, langa is blue. Usually people would ASSUME reki is the "red" character of the show because of his hair, but i think that just helps to show off his passionate and firey personality. His colour is yellow because he is energetic, friendly and most often optimistic (especially when it comes to helping people learn how to skate or make friends)

Langa is blue coded, usually used for quiet, cold and mysterious characters, or those with lots of sadness (think inside out). BUT because he is pastel blue, his sadness is lighter because of people like reki lifting him out if it. He is still young and has time to grow.

Because they are yellow and blue coded, its different from what is the usual trope of red and blue which are most often rivals or opposites. BUT because theyre yellow and blue, theyre actually perfectly made to compliment each other. I like to see it as reki being the sun to langas moon.

Now. You know who IS red coded? Adam. He is passionate and all about love and anger, the two emotions most connected to red. Because he is red, it links into his whole idea of thinking he "belongs" with langa, but he is already fulfilled by being with reki.

Then we see adams colours slowly change from red to that dark blue we see him wearing in the finale. He comes to realise that he was chasing after langa because he thought they were the same (blue = sad and hurt. Adam being a deeper blue means his emotions and sadness runs deeper aka because he has had YEARS longer to sit with his feelings and trauma) but it takes langa, a fellow blue, being happy and excited and wanting to skate with REKI not him, to show him that he doesnt have to put on this red boisterous persona. If we look at Adam through the years, he's never really had a red-coded personality. It's always an act. How he thinks people wANT him to act.

He's a blue, just like his hair and the suit he wears.

Now. Joe and cherry.

Cherry being pink is so INTERESTING TO ME. Its seen as graceful and youthful, but is also just a toned down version of red. Cherry CAN be graceful and composed, but is also full of so much anger and emotion (especially towards adam) and the fact the two are similar in colour makes me so invested. I also think Cherry has a complex colour pallet- being not only pink, but also wearing deep blues and whites. He is elegant and complex.

THEN JOE. oh joe. My deep green giant. He is down to earth (haha get it) and is always trusting his gut with everything, AND IDK IF YOU HAVE NOTICED THIS BUT HE NEVER GIVES BAD ADVICE!! Green is usually associated with grounded and level-headed characters, but green is also the colour of jealousy. Joe doesn't seem like the jealous type, but he has this strange loneliness to him. All he has is his restaurant and Cherry. He never seems to be able to fully grasp what he wants, so finds his fufillment in other places.

Now onto the fact that pink and green ARE opposites and so are cherry and joe. Where cherry is quiet and reserved, joe is loud and energetic. Their lifestyles and jobs couldn't really be more different. They argue and bicker and always seem to know what perfectly annoys the other most.

BUT!! Pink and green (while being opposites) ARE ALSO COMPLIMENTARY!!!! they work well together beCAUSE theyre so different. And being together just seems to work out somehow.

ANYWAYS. Yeah. Sun and moon coded renga are very special to me :)

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YES!!! YOU GET IT!!!!

this is an interesting read, but i think when it comes to adam, you actually have the color associations backwards! there's a lot more to the color choices with him to consider than just his two S outfits. he wears blue when he's a child, actively being abused by his aunts:

he wears blue as a politician, still clearly under his family's control and having to carefully navigate the expectations of polite society:

in the flashback of his board being burned, both his father and tadashi are wearing blue (aiichiro's tie, tadashi's vest):

and he wears blue at his absolute lowest point, for his own "funeral":

the dark blue adam wears isn't an honest reflection of himself—it's the color he wears in his deeply repressed day-to-day life, where he can't even smoke and he has to come home to his aunts asking if he's disgraced the family name. it's the color of his childhood and his family trauma, the scars of which are what comes to a head in the final race, as he's shouting to langa about not being acknowledged or loved if you don't win.

conversely, he wears red at S, the place he created to indulge the parts of himself his family tried to crush. like he says, S is his one place of freedom:

of course his S persona in an act to an extent—a huge part of his character is that he's an entertainer, and when he's at S he's always putting on a show for the crowd. but between this and the persona he puts on as a politician, this is his more honest self, and it even slips through the cracks—when he gets the idea for the tournament, he can't stop himself tapping his feet like he would dancing at S, even in front of kiriko. his most emotionally honest scenes with tadashi are most frequently with him in his S costume (without the mask) as well, even. the passionate red of love and anger is this honest side of himself he's constantly forced to repress.

in the zone, even in the finale, his glowing outline is red to langa's blue:

which is also the same as it was with the boy he was skating with as a teenager:

and then leading into his breakdown in the finale, when he nearly loses to reki, the red of his outfit gets covered in mud:

he's mocked and unrecognized for his victory in the place he's supposed to be "king" of:

and when he realizes how alone he really feels, in the moment that seems to be him tipping over the edge into his suicidal spiral in the finale, he's surrounded by deep blue:

but then at the very end of the finale, the way that it's shown that he's back to his normal self and langa reminded him of the fun of skating is by having him back in his red costume:

in utsumi's TV guide A stars interview, she even commented on the fact that it's the first time adam shows up in this outfit in the daytime, and how bright the red looked. it's not him going back to putting on a facade—how much better he's doing in the end is shown through the fact that he's appearing as his truest self in the light of day, showing up to congratulate langa at his victory party instead of hidden away in his own "kingdom."

utsumi's coloring instructions were insistent on adam's color being red before the designs were even finalized—in her words, "the color of love and blood! he's a guy who stole the protagonist's color." (between that, cindereki and the stageplay pamphlets adam stealing things from reki seems to be a running joke.) his hair is only even blue because the colorist picked it to have a better color balance with langa (utsumi left it up to her to pick between that and purple, she just wanted something that would be "dracula-like"), and the colorist also talks about langa's mainly white outfit being made to contrast adam's red. from the very beginning the series was planned to end with a race between the two of them; adam and langa were created as foils as much as langa and reki were, and they have the red/blue palettes so often associated with rivals very intentionally. (sorry the links are in japanese, i wanted to have the quotes directly from skaters' backstage.)

(adam's whole presence as a flamboyant masked villain is also evocative of masked gundam characters and the many similar characters gundam inspired, the original and most famous of which being the "red comet", char aznable, who has a very complicated and intense rivalry with gundam 79's teenage protagonist amuro ray, who frequently wears/is associated with blue.

so considering utsumi's discussion about drawing on a lot of similar flamboyant characters when trying to characterize adam, gundam specifically getting namedropped in reference to him, and the fact that adam's voice actor played one of the gundam franchise's many char clones, this nearly 50-year-old red/blue rivalry probably had at least some influence on why sk8 uses the colors it does.)

i originally put this in the tags but actually i'm adding it in here as well, with regards to cherry, not only is pink a toned down version of red, he wears a red obijime:

and the colorist explains that she decided on utsumi's suggestion to use red, adam's image color, to represent cherry's determination to beat adam. so adam's color being red is relevant to cherry's design beyond the red/pink similarity, as well!

Finding his Eve

After 2 years, I finally get the chance to work on my fanfic. I’ve been brainstorming Ainosuke’s emotion after his loss, it’s gonna be the first thing I post. I’m still gonna have something with the rest of the skaters, but for now I’m working on Ainosuke finally removing his mask. It’s going to be titled “Fining his Eve” because I feel like it’s the best way to capture his character. 

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Bigger brother instincts

I think this could be taking place a few years after the movie, giving Donnie the chance to learn more about nimpo and mystic powers...

And play with it 🙂

Also don't ask me what happened to Mikey guys, this is open to interpretation. I ain't gonna hurt my skittle boy on screen (this time lmao)😇

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blorbo alignment chart where one axis is "doesn't need much therapy" vs "needs SO MUCH therapy". and the other axis is "would willingly attend therapy" vs "needs to be dragged, kicking and screaming, to therapy"

i'm sure someone in the notes has made one already but i decided to whip one up

I edited the top left for those who don’t need theory because I didn’t have enough space in the bottom right  + i think it looks nicer that way. 

Anyways here’s the chart and reasoning. First we have the “doesn’t need therapy” and only Oka is there. Reason = at this point, skating is a form of therapy  for the cast. 

Next we have “needs so much therapy” and of course Langa and Reki are there. Langa because his father just died and using skating as an outlet for grieving and connecting to his father. Reki because he’s been hurt so many times and he needs others for self worth. 

Bottom is “would attend therapy willingly”, with Joe and Tadashi, followed by Miya and Shadow in the middle. The first two would go because of their lovers and because they don’t feel threaten by the suggestion. 

Miya would go, but give attitude, and Shadow (out of his sk8sona) would go willingly & make a fuss in costume. 

 Last is “needs to be dragged to therapy kicking and screaming with Cherry and Adam. Cherry would kick and make a fuss, but eventually give it a shot. Adam would fucking do anything than to address his problem. 

I would go more in dept in my explanation , but I have an exam to prepare. I might pick at it again during my break.  

I just had a thought

TadaAi are the original traumatized ones

Several reasons, some of which were uncontrollable for them, why their relationship fell apart. I made this account trying to figure out how and why that is. There’s the fact that their environment wasn’t safe to miscommunication/lack of awareness to the actions that they either took to not realizing (or realizing too late) that they’re attracted to each other.

MatchaBlossom are the original (lover) victims 

They were around the same age when shit went down for TadAi, so of course they’re the ones who are most affected. I have to post something about them soon on how their role affects the 2 other relationships. 

Regna are the generational lovers curse. 

They have elements of TadaAi. But because they’re in a healthier environment, they’re able to express their emotions to each other, whereas the couples above couldn’t.

Tadashi is actually a terrible person as long as Ainosuke doesn’t ruin the family name, commit suicide Tadashi doesn’t give a crap. This dude was willing to let Langa a minior skate with Adam despite the danger/ Adam’s instability. 

He also had no right to drag/ manipulate Reki into the situation. 

tadashi Is still one of my ships and I like Tadashi as a character, but I just don’t agree with the overall fandom reading of Tadashi as an innocent good boy. He’s done a lot of shit. 

Though I hope he uses his devious little snake brain to get rid of the aunties. 

You’re getting there

Thoughts on Adam x Cherry

So I watched Skate 8 Infinity recently and these two have given me a lot of food for thought. And I have seen zero meta on them so here we go a deep dive on   Cherry X Adam as a whole. 

Honestly having watched all 12 episodes of the show. I think if we’re talking healthy, recovery, realization  Adam the best options for him would be either Cherry or  Tadashi. 

While Tadashi has his own issues and Adam x Tadashi is a very mixed bag for me. This isn’t about them so i’ll save my thoughts on them for another post because oh boy do I got thoughts. 

So anyway Cherry had a huge crush on Adam you’d have to be blind not to see it. The way he silently looks at him tells so much. I also don’t think the feelings were one sided like a lot of others seem to think. 

Adam catches Cherry in his arms at one point and that has been the  romantic short hand visual in hetero media forever. Its basically the writers winking at the audience that they should start thinking of  these two as a couple. That they have feelings for each other.  

While its unclear if they actually did date since this a thinly veiled subtext show. Either Adam and Cherry had a full on closeted secret relationship or they just pinned for each other relentlessly.  

Also Adam has issues but he did in fact cherish Joe and Cherry. 

There’s a clear scene where Adam takes off his hood and when Cherry remarks on the dangers of this. Adam replies  that its ok if Joe and Cherry see his face, implying their special. 

There’s also some bitterness from Adam and one or two remarks in present day implying Adam felt abandoned by Joe and Cherry. 

Adam also refused their beefs with him and while some may take his your boring comment as face value, I dont but we’ll come back to that.  

The fallout from what i understand is Adams obsessive need to find his Eve. Adam got more intense and willing to hurt others and Cherry and Joe got cut out of his life for trying to make him see reason. 

I think it was Joe at one point states  Adam cut them out first. 

Adam didn’t want to hear it and if Adam and Cherry were a couple. Adam’s need to find his Eve must of really stung. Its kind of ironic to me that certain fans see Kaoru as not a perfect skate board partner for Adam and that means their not meant to be in a relationship. 

Adams whole issue is he is looking for someone who can be his everything but a rival in competition has an opposite set of requirements then what one looks for in a romantic relationship. Adams abusive family has blurred those lines in an unhealthy manner. Skating has become Adam’s whole life to the point Kaoru being unable to compete with him equals not meant to be. 

Cherry is still clearly hung up on Adam in the present day and wants to pull him back from the brink. Viewing Adam’s rejection of their offers to beef as a sign Adam still cares. 

Cherry’s whole thing with Carla and measuring each degree so he can go faster, even seems to scream look at me! I can go toe to toe with you! suggesting that Adam made Kaoru feel inferior because he wasn’t good enough for Adam. He wants to both help and show Adam he is worth it. 

Which I agree with for all Adam’s talk of abuse is love. Adam can only up until the Cherry affair, hurt other skaters he competes with those he devalues and objectifies as his Eve. Adam doesn’t know crap about Reki, Miya and Langa or the other skaters he trashes. 

He projects a false image onto them and forgets them when they fail to live up to this image of the perfect Eve. (something he clearly learned from the aunties!) Langa isn’t even special he’s part of an ongoing pattern. 

But Adam won’t beef with Joe or Cherry. When Cherry taunts him about this “ were you scared”  in an attempt to push Adam to admit he still cares about him and Joe. Kaoru gets a skateboard to the face because Adam lashes out aginst the threat to his Adam persona. 

Even before their beef Adam drops his madador of love act completely. He acts distant and not like his usual flamboyant self. In fact he acts more like he does to Tadashi. Your not seeing Adam in that moment your seeing  Ainosuke. 

Cherry wasn’t attacked for being boring he was attacked because he saw though the illusion. He knew Adam was a lie.  At this point Adam wanted to drive him and Joe away. So he could continue to bask in his dellusions. 

Though there seems to be some resentment that in Adam’s mind Joe and Cherry” didn’t love him enough”  Adam ultimately in his attack on Kaoru rejects the reality of love for a false promise of “perfection” an Eve. 

If Eve was the lie Kaoru was the real relationship Adam could of had. The one rejected for the ideal.  

So where do they go from here? 

I like the ship on two fronts one the tragic angle Kaoru is  Ainosuke’s  karma he screwed up a good thing or ruined the chance for something chasing Eve who  never existed. Adam hurt Kaoru so badly he’ll be lucky to be  allowed to crawl back into the friend zone. (Kaoru was still hurt/ salty by the end and he was allowed to be) 

 Tadashi  is Adam’s second chance with Kaoru being his lingering regret. Even if Adam wanted to try again with him Kaoru has moved on. 

Or  Ainosuke is hit in the head with the fact he still has feelings for Kaoru and   has to actually work his ass off to make it up to Kaoru and has to learn to handle an real adult relationship with someone who adores him but will not put up with his shit.  

I like either option honestly because both would lead to interesting stories. 

So those are just some of my thoughts on Adam x Cherry and or Love blossom. 

So are your thoughts on the subject? 

TadaAi is to blamed /lh

I discovered the Bowuigi tag and this ship has been on my mind ever since the Super Mario Bros 2023 trailer and now I need to make content. Enemies to lovers have consumed my mind. Just like TadaAi, I will soon make a place for Bowuigi.

A fandom problem I’m seeing a lot of lately is minors refusing to curate their online experience and avoid things that make them uncomfortable. You’re all absolutely allowed to be uncomfortable with something—adults are too. But that’s why tagging exists. It exists on tumblr and AO3, and it should honestly exist on every fandom majority space. If a ship makes me uncomfortable, I block the tag for it. If a user I follow consistently does not tag the ship that makes me uncomfortable, I unfollow them. It’s that simple. The block button also exists.

Please, for the love of God, learn to tailor your online experiences. Stop going into spaces that you know aren’t for you and demanding people change to cater to you personally. Absolutely ask someone to tag properly, if they’re not. But ultimately no one is obligated to leave a fandom simply because their presence makes you uncomfortable. People don’t just magically stop being fans of things as they grow older. I’m sure you’ll all learn that eventually.

Thank you

I have seen a Twitter post about Joe/Kojiro being with 2 women as a reminder of the guys he love (Kaoru and Ainosuke) and the only thing that's stopping me making a fan theory is school.

https://twitter.com/AinosukeTadashi/status/1610479496154742786?t=7OGiFf_5Kg5XlRmUtkBkmA&s=19

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