#a boy and his samurai

[hellishgayliath]

Leo then proceeded to make him fish out all of his clothes immediately after he ate

He really do be doing this tho

[skitskatdacat63]

I think a lot about this painting that was, presumably, given to Fernando at the 2012 Japanese Grand Prix, which there is just zero explanation for it, other than these pics:

Where is it now????? It better be hanging up in a place of honor in one of his houses istg!

But what makes this better is that after he crashed out from that race, he tweeted a samurai quote 😭 I like to imagine him just nonsensically mumbling samurai quotes while staring at this painting in despair

[ranarenee]

I'm kinda funny if you ask me

[hauntingofhouses]

(concept art of young taigen - source ; art credit: @abigaillarson)

i cannot get over this concept art of young taigen. god.

just look at this angry bratty boy, too many feelings that he doesnt know what to do with! an abused 9 year old kid in poverty always playing with sticks in the dirt, obsessed with greatness and dreaming to escape his decrepit village—and he does!

he does escape. he runs away. this angry little boy, all claws and teeth and biting words uttered with a lisp, going on the run into a world he's never seen before until he makes his way to kyoto. and knowing him he probably forced his way in to be accepted by the dojo, growling and kicking even as he's thrown out, back into the streets, too stubborn to take no for an answer and never knowing when to give up.

taigen calls mizu a dog, weak, an orphan, a scrawny street urchin. but i can't help but think that he feels so bold to use those words because he had them spat at him too.

because taigen had the idea of "this is how the world is" beat into him from birth. he learned quickly that if you couldn't beat the world you could join it. but that meant losing your way, your values, your principles. and isn't that what true honour is? not just titles and status and glory?

we don't get to see what taigen, as a child surrounded by peers encouraging and goading him on, would've actually done if that meteor hadn't fallen right in front of them at that very moment. would he have really tried to throw that stone on mizu, killing her? we don't know.

but we do see what taigen (his true self, with no one around) does, when presented with the same opportunity. when mizu passes out in front of him, unconscious and near death, vulnerable, the path to restoring his honour lays itself out for him on a silver platter. and he wants to take it, wants to kill mizu, to claim what is his and return to kyoto and get back everything he'd worked tooth and nail for. he feels like it's what he should do. but he doesn't.

and later, again he is presented with the chance to betray mizu, likely offered by heiji shindo to get his rank reinstated within the shindo dojo. and again, taigen doesn't take it. he refuses. "stupidly loyal," fowler calls him later. loyal, like a dog.

because now, pulled away from the sneering looks and jeering words of people around him, telling him that this is what the world is, taigen had met ringo and mizu, two outcasts who refuse to follow a predetermined path to greatness. and so inside something blooms in him. something like hope. a chance to live in a world that doesn't kick you down every chance it gets, to live in a world where genuine kindness and and love and friendship and even weakness is possible, allowed to simply exist without fear.

because he'd been running away from the very idea of it the whole time. when he ran from kohama, he never looked back, never wanted to remember what it was like to be a child, afraid and hungry and angry and hurting, without the words to make sense of it, desperately wishing for something. something more. he doesn't know what. but he hears stories of great swordsmen and decides, yes, this must be it. this is what i want: glory, greatness. the twisted seed gets planted and thrives in this barren land.

and when he returns to kohama with mizu and ringo, he at last is forced to stop running. he must face the child within him again, and he tells that child to put down the stones in his hand, tells him to stop barking at anything that moves or looks at him wrong.

the child drops the stone, and taigen buys dumplings instead, gives them to mizu. the child within him, wide-eyed at the prospect of friendship, moves him to pick up a hammer and toss it to mizu. he's smiling inside even as he does it; giggling like a kid hiding a silly prank. as soon as mizu drops the hammer after him, he leaps at her, tackling her to the ground and they wrestle and laugh unbridled like two children playing while the adults aren't around to barge in and yell at them.

and then his gaze catches on mizu's lips, he stares into mizu's eyes, a sparkling blue, inviting like the open sea in good weather.

it's a man's desire that takes hold then, the child in him sinking away again, and he curses himself for it, because it ruins the moment.

everything goes to shit from there, and then it's back to being a man, back to putting on his grown-up's armour to play hero.

it fails. the shogun dies. fowler's beatings reopen all the wounds left by heiji shindo's torture. "honour is meaningless," mizu tells him. "nothing comes from being a samurai but death."

the words follow him, and he follows the words.

as everything burns down, he runs, leaving the fire behind him, and sees akemi, as well as the verdure of spring behind her, calling him. he does not hesitate then to hold his hand out to her, inviting her to come with him. "i don't want to be great," he says. "i just want to be happy."

what is happiness to him? perhaps he doesn't know it yet, or perhaps he does. but really, i believe happiness is what the child in him always wanted but never received. happiness is a home.

[milkteataro-chan]

I would die for him. Aaaaaa he’s so perfect your honor

[moonshynecybin]

digging into the little avatars that some riders have.... all of them are so cute and representative of their riders... im only gonna talk about a few here but i might add more later !

vale: cartoony turtle. the first to do this as far as i can tell! originated from a toy turtle (i think a teenage mutant ninja turtle lmao) that his mom gave him as a kid that he mounted on his helmet. classiccccc vale, very ironic and tongue-in-cheek, tattooed on his body in the funniest place possible, and of course the joke relies on the audience knowing that he's the fastest dude in the room ! very in-character choices all

marc: fire ant. he said i am tiny. he said i am SMALL. he said i am fierce and strong for my size... not a classically fierce choice but nonetheless makes a lot of sense to me ! also very funny that the intial design for the ant was made by vale's helmet guy, though i think he's moved towards the sharper design in recent years post-divorce and the legal stuff with its image rights... fun post about marc choosing it as his mascot by @frongsonabike here (also a very deeply catalan choice, according to @babynflames !)

bez: scorpion !!!!! this man is undeniably keyed into astrology lmao. hes a scorpio and he LOVESSSS IT. absolutely fascinating implications for his character on that, considering scorpios are a sign that catches a lot of flack. like. he looked at a list of scorpio traits and said omg me fr i need to convert this into a branding opportunity...

cele. the WAVEEE literally iconic to me. fits him SO well imo. serene. immutable. undeniably and probably unintentionally hilarious when used as punctuation. my favorite of these in the graphic design sense and i love that he changed FUCK ALL about it design-wise when he moved to KTM. also very cute that the 13 on his bike looks like the bottom of a pool!

fabio. el diablo !!! very fun considering i think hes the biggest lover boy on the grid but hes also FASTTT so i get it, its baddass etc. i DO think he would prefer the devil emoji on instagram to be red but that has been cruelly denied from him by apple.

[rhinocio]

[libbyrequiresescapism]

>:T

[loptrcoptr]

sometimes I doodle stuff and anyway everyone should go read @kaladinkholins bes fic A New Ember and appreciate Goma the cat and Mizu’s new Barbie dream horse 🩵🩵🩵

[jellybeepin]

Some Ryo practice. Not 100% happy with the shapes though.

[umhuhwellthen]

Had a realization while mopping the kitchen,

Jotaro is all three of his parents child, because listen

Usagi:

He looks like a carbon copy of the guy and acts similarly to him, same drive, same temper, everyone points these two things out

Kenichi:

I like to make the cuck joke as much as anyone else but let's not forget that he and Jotaro have a real father-son relationship!!!! Jotaro calls him father and loves him like one!!! Kenichi knows Jotaro isn't his and his rival is his sire but doesn't care and loves and raises him anyway!!!! Also I'm pretty sure that Kenichi is always/mostly wearing purple in colored comic issues and what is Jotaro wearing???? Purple!!!!! The symbolism????? Because Usagi may be Jotaro's biodad but he is not the man that raised him, fed him, clothed him, Jotaro is wearing Kenichi's colors!!!! Because he is as much Kenichi's son as Usagi's!!!

Mariko:

obviously he has her ears and nose but also! May be grasping at straws but! His clothes have a pattern like she does and(correct me if I'm wrong) Kenichi doesn't! Kenichi's are plain with only the reigning Lord of the lands Mon and Mariko's and Jotaro's has a design! Similar in how they both love Kenichi but they also love Usagi! Jotaro wants a father-son relationship with Usagi but not at the cost of one with Kenichi! Mariko has affections for both Kenichi and Usagi but it's pretty obvious her feelings for Usagi run deeper than for Kenichi, but that doesn't mean she doesn't love him! Because for all that she loves Usagi, he didn't love her enough to stay and Kenichi did. Even though Kenichi had to leave the Dogora school in shame he still could've been a retainer to a lord like Usagi but instead he stayed! This man raised her child knowing damn well how he came to be and didn't care! Married her knowing she could never return his feelings with the same fervor!

Jotaro loves his parents and wants to respect all their wishes! This poor fucking kid...

[rockintapper]

then fall soshi

[the-witchs-cafe]

Rhythm Heaven Witch Cards

Orrec

The Boxing Machine Witch, with a stagnating nature. The deep well of emotions within him has imploded upon itself; it was never in his design for him to express, much less feel, these ever-swaying sentiments. Deemed to be defected, he was locked away within this claustrophobic prison, with the order that, for every teardrop he had shed, he must strike down another opponent that came his way until his heart rusts and his emotions run dry. In the midst of fighting for his freedom, he had long forgotten exactly what he had craved for outside these walls.

--

Nikōbō

The Witch of Flowing Rivers. It is in his nature to be lost adrift. Having vowed to rid the world of all misfortune long ago, he had lost his way and the goodness he saw in this world amidst the thunderous waves. With his sense of justice turned to ash, he strikes all who enter his labyrinth down without a crumb of hesitation, whether they were a human or another witch, as he wanders the land with no direction in mind.

--

Pāṇini

The Witch of Intercommunication, with an inquisitive nature. Ever-so curious for what lies beyond their horizons, the witch is constantly sending out radio signals in the hopes of their message being received by any and all recipients from beyond the stars. Its letter of love and appreciation are sewn with words far beyond human comprehension; sending whoever unfortunate enough to listen to it into irreversible madness after having been given full, unfiltered knowledge of what awaits them at the far reaches of the cosmos at once.

-

Asimov

The Factory Witch. It is in its nature to crave. Desiring to keep its operations going on, to keep giving and nurturing the lives it has created, the witch targets any and all life forms that dare trespass into its domain; draining them of their vitality in order to gift them to their little automata - its familiars -. The robots are its pride and joy, yet they are individually weak, so it dares not to allow them to leave its sight; even a single one's absence could send it into an unfathomable sorrow.

-

Vega and Altair

The star-crossed witches. It is in their natures to take on burdens. Due to their overlapping barriers, similar natures, and the way they interact with one another, it isn't uncommon to mistake the two as a singular witch. They are known as the Meteor Witch and the Satellite Witch respectively.

Once having spread her influence all over the world, the Meteor Witch, having long burnt herself out, is on the eternal search for new horizons and the comfort of oblivion through the darkness of space. Born from the Earth, the Satellite Witch, not desiring the Meteor witch's final moments to be tainted with agony and roadblocks, took on the role of a lookout; constantly blocking away any debris that came her way. They travel the galaxies as a connected unit, yet they maintain their distance from one another; their opposing gravitational pulls will tear the both of them to bits, and all that shall remain is the surviving half's hushed murmurs echoing throughout the vast emptiness of the cosmos.

[wingsofhcpe]

just watched shogun episode 7 with my mum and I feel so bad that I burst out laughing at the ending where Toranaga's son tries to kill the baddie but slips falls cracks his head and dies like... MY GUY YOU HAD ONE JOB-

[koilarist]

A feral woman dressed up to the neck in all black rolls up to your door, kicks it down in one fell swoop, and drags you off by the ankles to commit crimes against humanity together. What do you do?

Locke belongs to @krokaxe

[silverselfshippingchaos]

the line where he asks r.yoma to spar with him is so cute