#now you have an essay to show som8

[everyscreentoobeseen]

Langa might have been written ace on purpose. Let me explain.

After reading a bunch of ace spectrum headcanons and then rewatching Ad*m ruin everything the anime.

I've realized something. Ad*m and Langa are obviously written to be compared and contrast to each other. They were both taught to skate by a person close to them. They are both prodigious in skateboarding. Hell, they are the only two people to enter "The Zone" and not get seriously injured. But there is a big difference between them.

No, it's not the money. No, it's not their friendships with their mentors. No, it's not even their hair color. It's one of the most overlooked aspects of their characters.

It's about sex. Or lack thereof for Langa.

From the first moment, we meet Matador Hisoka, is when he is watching Langa win against Shadow, on his dozens of flat screens, shirtless. I know that when I saw it I was immediately uncomfortable because it evoked the image of a guy watching p*rn alone in his room. With Langa being the sex object he prefers to view.

Then we see it get worse. He grabs people and pulls them as close as close as he wants them to be. He talks like he's in an Christain bdsm erotica comparing Langa to Eve, the wife and submissive lover of Ad*m. Calls Tadashi his dog and makes a lot of sexually charged comments to both of them.

It's no surprise that the fandom was quick to call him a r*pist and a ped* because that man seemed to see everything in a red tinted light. The only times when he wasn't making innuendos was when talking to politicians. Which is infered to be him hiding his true self. Now take everything I just said and compare it to Langa.

Langa dosen't do innuendos or metaphors. Everything he says is printed on the label. He says what's on his mind and keeps it short. In the beach episode he didn't give a damn about trying to get a girl. While Reki and Shadow were angry then elated when Joe was picking up the girls then scewred up. Langa was chewing on a Watermelon. Probably thinking of skating.

Miya only messed with Joe for a laugh/ to make Reki and Shadow laugh. Langa was offscreen and didn't even engage in the scene besides the iconic "I'll protect you." scene. If Ad*m was there? *shivers* Just imagine that horrible fate. But why does that matter? What does this have to do with Ad*m?

Well, think about everyone else he raced with. With the first Reki beef, he didn't hesitate to grab him, place him in suggestive positions, and just make him really uncomfortable. Reki knows the innuendo of these actions. Whether or not he's str8, g@y, or b!, he is affected by ad*ms advances and it scares him.

Miya talks to ad*m before the beef and finds out about Ad*m's past and that he was *in love* with all his skating partners who he put in the hospital. We pan to a shot of Miya's face being freaked out. He loses the beef.

Cherry and Ad*m have a past. Cherry spends the entire race believing that since Ad*m and him were close once there is nothing Ad*m can do to mess with him. That must be why Ad*m never skated against him before. Then he assaults Cherry. Then he callously remarks, "I never raced against you because you were too boring. The only one worthy is Snow." Adam might've well bitch slapped Cherry and said "I only dated you cause you were easy. Youve already been replaced so dont think our relationship was anything more than that."

Now after all those examples let's compare them to Langa's beefs.

The first time he's doing it as a requirement for the beef Reki lost. When Ad*m gives him a bouquet, he just straight up accepts it. No blushing, no weird looks, nothing more then a thanks. Every one else is creeped out, rightfully so. But then the beef starts, Adam's psychological game of a smoking headstart doesn't work on Langa.

He came for a proper match not to be toyed with. Adam puts the cigs away and races Langa. Then he grabs Langa. Makes him pose in weird angles. Spins him around like a doll. Grabs his hands and pushes him into a suggestive stance. But when he asks Langa if he's scared, Langa smiles.

When I first saw this I was confused? Was he having fun with Adam? Was he thrilled by the near death experience. Looking back on it I think I finally have an answer.

Langa found the chink in his armor.

Everyone else was so caught up in being uncomfortable with Ad*m touching them that they didn't realize something important. As long as Ad*m is holding onto his partner, neither of them can win. If the partner falls while holding onto adam, Ad*m gets pulled down with them.

So he rushes forward and holds on tight. Adam takes this as a sign. That Langa and him are the same but they're not. Langa wasn't doing it to reciprocate any feelings Adam had, he was doing it to win the race.

It probably didn't cross his mind what the action could be misinterpreted as, he was just trying to have fun and skate.

It doesn't matter how much Adam tries to provoke langa in a sexual manner, the only Langa cares about is skating. Getting back into "The Zone" is what keeps Langa interested in Ad*m not some weird sexual awakening like many had theorized.

As far as I can tell all sexual aspects go right over Langa's head, which is a common experience in the ace community where someone might make a sex joke and it might not click until later. I can attest to that one personally.

A little while later this becomes a conflict between Reki and Langa in ep 7. When Langa enters the tournament he's dosen't get why Reki wouldn't want him too. In a way he doesn't understand the psychological harm Adam caused Reki.

Adams advances on Reki felt violating.

Adams advances on Langa were nothing.

The fact that Langa cant wrap his head around why it's a bad idea to skate against someone as dangerous and gross as Adam is a real issue.

Just imagine if someone made you uncomfortable, manhandling you, and then sending you to the hospital because you didn't respond to them correctly. Then your bestfriend spends alone time with them but then comes out completely fine. You make them promise to never hang out with them again and then they just casually remark they are going to meet them again on Friday.

That's a messed up situation and the fact that Langa cares more about skating with Ad*m then how Reki feels about it is an actual issue that warrents a 3 episode freindship hiatus.

Then Langa thinks about how skating isn't fun without Reki and Reki cant enjoy skating without Langa. They come together and have that proposal scene which will go down in history as the gayest sports anime scene without kissing. On Langa's side I think he realized while Adam might be able to get him into "the zone" it's not nearly as fulfilling as the relationship he has with Reki. (romantically or not)

Reki might of just been ready to forgive Langa after being miserable without him for a few days but hearing Langa go on and on about Reki made him realize that Langa doesn't actually care about Adam the way he was implied to in Ep 7. He was just trying to skate and didn't quite realize the effect it had on Reki.

While I do think we needed an episode focused on Reki getting over his fear of Adam before the beef it was nice to see Reki taking on Adam similarly to Langa.

He took all the blows like a champ and when the time came, he used the chink in the armor to his advantage and almost won against him by using strategy against brute strength of talent. We also got protective!Langa so we can infer that Langa realized that Adam being near Reki wasn't an okay thing anymore.

Then we have the last beef. All the dramatics and sexual undertones didn't faze Langa. Then only thing that hinders Langa is "The Zone." Where he becomes stuck in the numb state. Langa feels nothing even when he's falling. That only thing that snaps him out of that state is when he sees the FUN on his board and remembers that Reki is waiting for him on the other side. He gets himself into gear and even manages to pull Adam out of the zone.

Then when they crash into eachother and Langa is getting up, he holds his skateboard up and asks Adam to skate with him. Maybe he realized that Ad*m wasn't having fun and decided to be the good guy. (I don't know, I don't like this scene very much) But it makes Adam remember how he met Tadashi. Back when they were both little kids who just wanted to have fun. That shakes him up. Adam existed in a world where everything had an underlying meaning and for him to realize the importance of just plain human connection made him reflect on his life so far. Especially with the contrast of two little kids who hung out to skate with the implication of them now being to grown adults who probably are into some 🐶👀 kinda shit. Langa's innocence was what shook Adam and that even after Langa met all the requirements to be his "Eve" he didn't try to harass Langa after the race. (The parachuting scene doesn't count dont ask me about this. I don't have an answer)

Langa won and jumped into his bestfriend's arms like a little kid. Adam walked away from the finish trying to figure out what the merits were in having a relationship based on love instead of obsession.

Adam is still a sexual being. That's not something even Jesus himself, could change but he now doesn't feel the need to have every conversation be filled with sexual undertones. Unless it's Tadashi. Who I think is now in a monogamous relationship with him. Could be wrong though. The dog thing could be interpreted many different ways. Langa opened his eyes to a world where skating and relationships were more innocuous.

In conclusion, Langa was written as someone with little to no sexual urges as narrative foil to Ad*m's constant sexual nature. Whether or not the writers intended to make Langa asexual is up for debate but it's not a coincidence that the fans are headcanoning Langa as ace since he was essentially written as one in order to face Ad*m as a formidable opponent without being tripped up.

Just to clarify I dont think that ace people can't be made to feel violated or are unable to understand when they are being harrassed. But Langa's ability to be unfazed by Ad*m's sexual undertones was important to the Adam vs Langa plot as it made him a psychologically strong individual that Adam could barely get into his head. Then helped Adam realize something flawed in his understanding of people and skating.

It was also important to Reki and Langa's relationship because Langa needed to realize the importance of empathy and having freinds who establish healthy boundaries and respecting them even if you don't understand why they have them there. Also that even if you feel fine around certain people when your freinds are suffering because of that person it's best to acknowledge that and be willing to protect them.

Therefore, Langa being ace is just as heavily implied and important to the story as Renga's relationship is. I think it's really cool how Langa's sexuality wasn't even brought up once but still impacted the story in a subtle but quintessential way.