#normally I'd be more hesitant to post pics with other people in them

[yaninus-de-venoix]

oh right, I never posted the photos from last year! the pics from Rose & Thorn last year turned out fantastic:

went to Rose & Thorn over the weekend! it's a new(ish) SCA event focused on women and gender minority fighters! (this was the second year it's happened, I went last year as well)

lots of cool classes and panels. the tourneys were restricted to only women and gender minority fighters, though plenty of other folks showed up for pickup fights and classes and whatnot as well. it was bigger this year, 2 days instead of 1, with some instructors coming in from out of kingdom.

I love having a space of our own 💚

[ithildinwrites]

let me convince u to read windbreaker (PART 1)

windbreaker is a manga by nii satoru and as of 2024 has been adapted into an anime! season 2 (KEEL arc) is coming in spring 2025 :D

i'm going to split this into sections okay here we go this is prob gonna be a long post

THE - MAIN/RECURRING - CHARACTERS (not in order of importance - more in order of appearance) (written last name then first name)

sakura haruka (the mc): sakura has two toned hair and heterochromatic eyes and has been shunned before he moved to makochi (town the series is set in) so he has a negative outlook on a lot of stuff and doesn't normally expect to be treater well by people so he is quick to anger. he also gets flustered very quick when someone is nice to him because he isn't very used to it. he didn't have friends / anyone basically before he moved to makochi and started at furin high school

tachibana kotoha: the first person sakura meets when he moves to makochi and he also saves her from these weirdo guys. nothing romantic has been implied between them btw, she just seems like a very good friend to him.

nirei akihiko (his fit changes literally in the same chap he's introduced and then stays like that lmao): the first friend sakura makes from furin even though sakura is hesitant about it initially. he's not very good at fighting but he's very smart and has a great memory. he's got a good heart. he carries a notebook with notes about lots of the people who go to furin so knows a lot about various people. i'd say he's 1/3 of the main trio alongside sakura and one other guy called suo.

suo hayato: genuinely i think one of the most mysterious characters in the show???? we know next to nothing about him. he's a very good fighter and has mentioned he has a master who taught him but that's about it. he's very chill and makes a lot of jokes but he doesn't look it. he's can be scary when he wants to though, i think he's the cold anger type of guy. he makes up the last bit of the main trio. also no we don't know why he wears an eyepatch

sugishita kyotaro: borderline worships / greatly admires umemiya (the number one guy at furin). he's a great fighter too but he's always angry and we don't know too much about him either. he's got some sort of rivalry with sakura i think but it isn't the main focus or anything, it's like a background thing sorta

umemiya hajime: the guy at the top. he's the number one at furin and the leader. he's very much gives big brother vibes and he's a very sweet guy and he just loves to garden lmao. he worked hard to get furin to where it's at today. he's also a third year. he has a whole arc dedicated to his backstory (wild bc we don't even know much about sakura's backstory). (i put two pics bc the second one is when u properly meet him, the first one he's just talking through the intercom at the school)

hiragi toma: one of the four kings of furin (the 4 third year leaders directly under umemiya). he has stomach issues so he's constantly popping pills lmao but he's a very good fighter. he is also often stressed because of umemiya.

togame jo: second in command of shishitoren (another gang / group). he talks quite slowly but he's a very good fighter and i really like him and his growth as a character throughout the series. he calls sakura "othello-kun" lol

tomiyama choji: the leader of shishitoren. he's very childish but he's a very good fighter. he kind of goes through it during the shishitoren arc but we learn a lot about his motivations and his (and togame's and shishitoren's) backstory during thar arc. he has a lowkey obsession with umemiya to start with, all he wants to do is fight him.

sako kota: there's a history between him and hiragi that gets touched upon during the shishitoren arc and throughout the next few arcs - like it keeps going until like 161/162 i believe, so we learn more and more about them even now. he's a very good fighter, i believe he was called one of the top 5 at shishitoren.

tsugeura taiga: one of the main 5 first years i think? along with obv nirei, suo, sakura and one other guy called kiryu. he's all about muscles and i think he might have an accent? i'm not too sure but he sounds like he's got more of a drawl. he's all about asking people what their virtues are which lowkey reminds me of todo from jjk. he's a really sweet guy though and his fighting style is very wrestling coded. oh update just confirmed he speaks with a kansai dialect - it was said in the notes in one of the later chaps

kiryu mitsuki: the last of the first year's gang i suppose. he's very strong and it seems he's popular with girls but !!!! he seems stylish and is on his phone a lot - i believe he likes gacha game.

kaji ren: he's the second year tamon grade captain. he has anger issues so he always has a lollipop in his mouth. he also talks super loud because the music in his headphones is very loud. he actually reminds me of sakura a lot.

tsubakino tasuku: one of the four kings. very older sibling coded and super caring to his kouhai. it is a guy but he just likes to put makeup on and wear heels and dress the way he dresses. he also is confirmed to be canonically gay! and is in love with (an oblivious) umemiya! i love sakura and tsubaki's relationship genuinely so much

i think from here on, i'll just put the pictures without a description because i want to avoid spoilers as much as possible :)

kanji nakamura

shizuka narita

suzuri shuhei

endo yamato

takiishi chika

THE PLOT (kinda) & STRUCTURE!

PLOT (or part of - as much as i can give without spoiling stuff): sakura moved to makochi to go to a high school called furin because it's supposed to be delinquent central with everyone fighting etc and he wanted the top spot in the school. but upon coming here, he finds out that furin actually protects the town and are their guardians essentially from other gangs and turf wars etc and he learns how to get along with people and makes friends because he's never really has friends before or grown close to anyone. it's a story about his growth and how he changes after meeting people and learns to be cared for kind of and that people can be nice, he protects the town and UGH so much more about building bonds with people :')

i actually see a lot of people compare this to tokyo revengers and i personally don't see the similarities? i watched tokyo rev recently and the only thing i could potentially see to be similar are that there's fights and gang / turf wars but that's more prominent in tokyo rev. i guess you could say there are close knit relationships in both too but i don't really know

ARCS:

introduction arc: chaps 1-4; eps 1-3

shishitoren arc: chaps 5-30; eps 3-10

KEEL arc: chaps 31-55; eps 11-13 (13 is where s1 ends so this will continue in s2)

sakura / tsubakino arc: chaps 56-66

roppo-ichiza / gravel arc: chaps 67-87

umemiya's backstory arc: chaps 88-97

noroshi arc: chaps 98-162 (currently on this arc / at its end i believe - the conflict in it ended so it's like just wrapping up)

MY PERSONAL NOTES / THOUGHTS

i just love this series for all the heartfelt moments and genuine growth you see from sakura specifically. also, whether you choose to interpret the relationships you see as platonic or romantic, they're written so well and i feel like they're so meaningful like they have DEPTH, they're not just surface level friendships or whatever. these people genuinely care about each other so much and it's so nice to see it because i feel like with these types of mangas you don't typically get to see the relationships / bonds between characters given this much care / attention during writing. i love it :')

THE RELATIONSHIPS (interpreted platonic or romantic whatever u want) - this will be continued in part 2

[watchingblsnowandforever]

Hello again! =D

Here's Part 1

*looks at all the remaining screenshots and sighs* I really need to learn to take screenshots more selectively-

Warning: long post 😊😅

This is the sole reason Phum chose to ride the cycle, because we all know he brought his car.

I'm not complaining though. In fact-

Peem, give this man all the hugs in this world. He deserves them. <3

HANDS!!

Aunt Pui Live Reaction

She ships them hehe

She's the best wingaunt 😭🫶🏼

Oh, it's his turn with the braincell finally hehe

Oh, that little kernel of insecurity making him question this :(

And it's Phum's turn to immediately refute any doubt about his feelings.

Oh yeah, telling him all the reasons you like him is the only reason you'll "have" to stay over at his place, Phum. It's not like you wanna cuddle him or anything. Pfft of course not.

Peem's reaction is so cute (no pun intended-) oh gods 😭

This is what told me for sure that Phum knows about Peem's feelings.

The way he framed this, the absolute lack of hesitation in his voice, the way he smiled, the way he looked at Peem.

Just because he doesn't confront Peem about it doesn't mean he doesn't know his feelings are reciprocated.

No wonder Peem's reaction looks so genuine 😭 (Pond improvised this part)

What do you do when the guy you like keeps shrugging off your hand? Keep trying of course! And then lock your hands so he can't shrug them off.

Mission Side-Hug Your Crush: Accomplished 😌✅️

Me:

Wait- WAIT, you're gonna leave the cycle right there in the middle of the driveway?! WHY 🥲😭

👀

Yep, same pic.

The moment I saw this I was like where have I seen this before- OH yeah.

See, now Fang isn't hesitating to call him out on it. Now he knows for sure Phum likes Peem, and it's okay to talk to him about it. But he still doesn't prod much, and only takes what Phum tells him.

In conclusion: Fang is a good brother. 😌

Others: Byee! Have a great time!

Chain: I'll play the guitar for you.

Let's be honest, who's the enabler here? Pun might come up with the strangest most complicated plans, but who's the first to go along with it?

ASKFDGHYTRUASKJNCHDFJ

WHAT WAS THIS KISS?!!!! AND WHY WAS IT TAILOR-MADE TO MAKE ME GO CRAZY?!!!!!

WINNYSTANG. I liked you before but to be very frank, I was kinda indifferent, but now you have my full attention. Make me go even more crazy.

Ooh they have a third brother??

See, up till this point, I was willing to ignore their parents (not what they did, but them as people, because they do not deserve any attention) but this? Stopping Fang from going to check on his brother? NUH UH. That's a line you don't cross.

So now, I'm handing Peem and Tan their weapon(s) of choice and letting them have a go at it. The bodies? Oh, don't worry about that, we'll handle those. :)

What I really love about this scene is that Peem hugs first, then asks questions.

Ah I love hugs so much 🥹🫶🏼

No. They can't.

And similarly, our parents can't always be right. They might always want what's the best for us, but that doesn't mean that what they do is always the best for us.

Also- I'm completely normal about the fact that Phum and Fang went to Peem and Tan - their respective safe zones. Very normal. 🥺

AND THOSE 'I LOVE YOU'S BY TANFANG OH MY GODS I-

I could write a whole essay about just these few minutes (of that PhumPeem hug and this TanFang moment) but I don't have that much time or energy 😭

I'll just go sob in the corner because this entire ep was made to attack my heart with fluff but this scene just broke me.

Also- we finally get actual wind-ruffled hair in BL hehe

Isn't he already Golden Retriever enough? 😭

[Also, at this point my anxiety spiked because I had 7 more screenshots, but I'd already done 25, so tumblr would allow only 5 more 😶😭]

Yes.

Peem finally getting his confidence and sass back! Hehe

That peck had me blinking and then smiling so wide and rewatching those few seconds at least four times.

He says no, and yet his face is tilted and eyes closed and he's all ready to be kissed so sweetly.

You betray yourself, Peem *smh*

HANDS!!!!

The day I stop screaming about hands is my last day on Earth.

This broke my heart, but this hug and Peem's reply put it back together. <33

He-

He said it. While he was awake. 😶

Listen, that nose boop and him telling Phum he'd done a good job the first time changed my brain chemistry so much I collected all the stray strands of my nonexistant giffing skills and made a gif just to put it as my header (replacing that scene from Cherry Magic that I've probably watched a million times now, and had changed me viscerally).

AND THEN THEY GIVE ME THIS.

They're playing table tennis with my heart 🥲

Anyways. Love this scene. So much.

BONUS: I couldn't upload the screenshot of this, but that horse riding scene is so funny to me, because Phuwin is the one who can ride, and Pond's the one a little scared (a little like that roller coaster scene except reversed hehe).

Also "I feel like a prince, riding my horse led by my servant." uh huh. no reference here. just a random line in a random series where the main leads acted in a series previously where one of them was a khun chai and the other worked for him. no reference at all.

Finally!

That's it for ep 12, see y'all next week!

If you got this far, thank you so much for reading! 😊

Here, have some pancakes 🥞

All my previous We Are posts.

@inonetoomanyfandoms here's part 2 hehe