I guess I write now

I think I'm a writer now

[aaaaaaagghh]

happy valentine's day! ♡

[kuni-kuun]

Hopelessly devoted to you

[kuni-kuun]

Luck makes his entrance

[A little oc animatic i made a bit ago... epic!hermes seemed like a fitting character for faust]

[stanthespider]

Fanart of @chuuyanakaahara 's amazing fanfic 'starbound (we'll meet again)' Please read it there's no way for me to convey how much it lives rent free in my mind in text.

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/48961051

[pleucas]

joyride

[therealdeemz]

cars of retribution; michizou tachihara's 1991 mazda rx7 fc3c

HELLO RETRIBUTION FANS

IT IS I

THE BETA

I want to yap about the cars so much with the whys and the hows each character gets to them so I decided to start posting about the interesting ones one by one where I go into a lot more detail than the chapter overview ones AND YES I ALREADY DID ONE FOR CHUUYA but it's old and stinky I neeed to redo that one

Tachihara's RX7 FC3C (pictured is a 3S; the Coupe version. Tachihara's even more insane and picked up the cloth-topped convertible one) is basically... a race car. that happens to have a license plate.

The mod used in these pictures is the RE Amemiya Furinkazan mod which came in the Shutoko Revival Project car pack. Expect to see cars from there since a lot of the cars there follow the rough aesthetic I had in mind for retribution.

The car, pictured, has an RE Amemiya bodykit for the FC, and the rims are Enkei NT03's. The only real difference is that the car is a convertible, but I think he'd do an aftermarket conversion to make it a Targa top to make it look a little more savory to the eye (go look up how an FC convertible looks like......).

The engine in the car is a Mazda 20B engine block, which is different from the 20B-REW used in the Eunos Cosmos through intake placement or something like that... It's the 20B in specific because it was sourced from a former Group C Le Mans race car; the Mazda 757 (although there it's named the 13G).

I should mention that the rotary engine is different from your run-of-the-mill piston engine in many ways, also.

Rotaries are a triangle instead of a piston compressing a chamber, which means that the engine is a closer relative to a dirt bike engine rather than a normal car's engine. Power's high up the revs, and there's not a lot of bite when you first get it off the line compared to a similar conventional engine.

Anyhow, as Tachihara worked from just the engine block, a lot of the other parts are custom and unorthodox, to say the least. For one, the car's twincharged in that it uses forced induction from a supercharger and a turbo. Both modes had their advantages and disadvantages, though twincharging at that point is just a flex and pretty impractical despite the theoretical benefits.

Second also is the fact that the car is hell to drive. The fact that the engine is a race engine and the whole experience is built around race car sensibilities makes the car be infeasible to drive on the daily. The car lurches and jerks forward from a stop light, stalls at the drop of a hat, very low and stiff so you feel every pothole, hot and loud as hell... and I don't need many other adjectives for you to get the point.

However, when the car goes... it goes. It has way more power than you know what to do with in a mountain pass. And when you drive it, it wants you to go faster, like it's egging you to go rev higher, go for the power band and feel the car just overtake you from how fast it's going under your nose.

It's totally on-brand for him.

All in all, the car makes around 550~ horsepower to the wheel. Which, when you consider that the car is a death trap and wants to kill you... is a lot.

Now Tachihara got the car from his time working as one of the few full-time employees in Black Lizard Works. In retribution's verse, it's practically one of the most renowned tuner houses; Human Error and Arahabaki got their cars tuned there, as well as Akutagawa's and Gin's cars, naturally. You'd need a pretty penny to get a car built from the ground up there, but through the hefty fees, it's guaranteed that the cars are worldbeaters behind the right hands.

Black Lizard numbers the chassis of certain cars that they work on, and Tachihara's is #017. For reference, Human Error and Arahabaki's are #005 and #006. It also has a Black Lizard Works badge on the back, which is practically a mark of honor from the tuning house when they know it's good enough that people start asking whose car it was.

The car and engine started off as two different things. Tachihara bought a very ran-through example of an FC, one where the engine's starting to give up the ghost and is not worth it to salvage. It is also Tachihara's First Car. And the reason why it's absolute hell to drive is because Tachi keeps tacking on mod, after mod, after mod, with no regard as to how it's gonna effect everything cohesively. It's always a coin toss whether it's gonna crank up to life, or throw up a problem so obscure it requires scouring factory documentation on how to even begin solving it.

It's practically the monster that embodies many of the sensibilities of the generation of racers he's a part of... which is kind of poetic in that sense, but who am I kidding, Tachihara's just immature.......

If you'd like to know more or nerd out about the car please comment down and I'll be sure to fill in the details on what I have about his car!!! Maybe next I'll do Tanizaki or Gin's since those cars are also death traps

[sasheneskywalker]

i made a guide to help with ao3 tagging :)

[therealdeemz]

Cars of retribution; ch5

HELLO!!! The beta and car enthusiast of the retribution for the dead fic :3 I only occasionally post here for retribution stuff and I figure that today is one of those days, hooray!!! Special shoutout to that guy who doesn't even follow BSD but followed for the cars, I found all of the matching mods for the cars I liked in Assetto Corsa, so this one's for you <3

Tachihara's deathtrap - 1991 Mazda RX7 FC3C

(now this one isn't entirely accurate with the decals and all, but I think if Tachi were to kit out his FC, it'd look like this)

THE deathtrap. This car has an engine that's swapped from a bigger car, whose block was... -sourced from a period-correct Le Mans Race Car. I think that fact alone would have been enough for Tachihara to be compelled to put this engine into the car, even though the 13B on the FD would have been a more sensible pick.

The unorthodox choice of a 20B would also be why the car's constantly in the jackstands, because no one in Black Lizard Works truly knows what shit that car can pull. Sometimes it's the driveshaft that gives, sometimes it's the peripheral port, sometimes it's the apex seals- who knows! And Tachihara is way too stubborn to lift the engine and change it to a more sensible option.

Atsushi's loaner - 1995 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution III GSR

Since this is Akutagawa's car, it makes sense for it to be the exact carbon copy of Akutagawa's actual ride. I don't think Akutagawa's the type to want to have his backup car to be that different to his main one, so another Evo it is!

I think this car would be super tailored to how Akutagawa drives. The anti-roll bars, the stiffness of the springs, even down to the tyre compound used, I think would match Akutagawa's preferences to the T. This car is his and you can tell with how effortlessly he drives it behind the wheel. Consequentially, it's also a pretty nice car to push fast, which was why Atsushi got used to it so quickly

Mark's car - 1996 BMW M3 E36

We went through the whole fic without mentioning this car. Which was kind of why I was compelled to make this in the first place...

An unmodified Euro-spec M3 E36 that Mark uses as his trusty steed in Japan. The Euro-spec in particular, since the American spec E36 got neutered to sell more cars. Regardless! I think we discussed that Mark had 2 cars to mirror the two dolls in the actual series, and I can't tell if this is Huck Finn or Tom Sawyer, but I'm picking the color red because why not!

I want to cover the upcoming cars of the next chapter because they will be even more exciting than this so!!! stay tuned!!!

[therealdeemz]

(clears throats)

So you guys know how I have a fic right

.

Have I told you that Kazami's Corvette C5 in Magnum Opus has a C5.R bodykit

BASICALLY THIS. But with it being a bodykit instead of it being the actual homologation C5R

It also has Callaway Sledgehammer 1:1 Rim repros which are practically spec to spec with the real one, and it's all because Kazami canonically saw the actual Sledgehammer being brought to race on the Wangan when he was just a wee little lad

I should REALLY write that story out sometime but I think the fact that I can make a sledgehammer go band to band with the Supras and Skylines at the time is one of the perks of me writing my own stories

[oasisdew]

'Given' and grief

The first time we see Mafuyu think about Yuki consciously in given is in code 4.

And what we see him thinking is that he doesn't feel lonely.

Mafuyu thinks here, even when he knows he'll never see Yuki again, he still doesn't feel lonely because he still carries something within himself that Yuki loved.

And this was Mafuyu being in denial about Yuki actually really being gone. He was still trying to rationalise it.

“I am not lonely!” he protests, “The person that I loved so much, couldn't just become nothing! As long as I'm here, he is here somehow!”

And he keeps carrying Yuki's guitar everywhere, symbolising that burden. That thing that Yuki loved, yes, but Mafuyu wasn't a part of.

__________________

Then the story progresses. Mafuyu learns to play guitar. Mafuyu makes new friends, he learns to smile again and be excited, he starts to fall in love again. He starts to heal.

THEN Fuyunohanashi happens.

And we see him starting the song with, “I'm not lonely”, again.

He is back there. He is protesting, “you are not gone! You can not be gone! You are still in my head! Everywhere you once were you still are!!”

He has healed meanwhile, yes, from when given manga started to when FnH happened, he has. But he still hasn't come to terms with it.

And then, while performing this song, while on stage, this sudden realisation strikes,

“I am so lonely” he thinks. He has started to realise that Yuki is fading, Yuki's memory, his presence that Mafuyu imagined, they're fading slowly, and that is sad! That's why he is lonely!

After the performance of FnH, Mafuyu thinks again, “I am not lonely”, and this time it's not regarding Yuki. This is the general feel of it, Mafuyu isn't lonely anymore. He has friends, he has someone new he loves, he has started to heal, and with that comes the feeling of guilt.

“I wish I could tell you this!” I wish I could find closure from you!

_______________________

And then we get the extra chapter 'Umi E'. Expanding on the on stage "I am so lonely" panel!

Mafuyu realised on that 'blindingly bright stage' what 'loneliness' means. It's the healing part of the trauma. It's the guilt of letting go of the person who isn't here anymore.

If Mafuyu forgets Yuki bit by bit, which will certainly happen, because people can't keep living with someone's vivid memories forever, then who'll remember the Yuki that only Mafuyu knew? He will really be gone forever! And thinking about that is sad! And THAT is loneliness.

_______________________

Mafuyu is still there during CAC. Even though he has moved on, even though he is totally in love with Ritsuka and committed to him, it still feels like betraying Yuki somehow. The more he grows, the more he changes, the more the distance with Yuki grows.

Remember, that line in yorugaakeru that literally says, “even though you're not here, I can still continue to live on, in the end, that's what makes me sad.”

This part of grieving isn't talked about as much as it should be. It's the guilt you feel when you heal.

_________________________

This brings us to the last arc of 'given'.

There were many things going on with RitsuMafu the last arc, but part of why playing 'Umi E' for Mafuyu without telling Mafuyu was bad idea was because it meant forcing Mafuyu to confront something that he had no intention of confronting just yet.

But turned out it was for the best. At least for Mafuyu to realise that he has actually really moved on. He doesn't feel guilt for letting go of Yuki anymore. From the time they performed YgA to the SYH concert, Mafuyu has healed more.

See, compared to the first 'to the sea' memories, the last 'to the sea' memories are so blurry! He really forgot the details!

It's just a vague feeling of nostalgia to Mafuyu now! And it's still anxiety inducing, yes, especially seeing that he was already dreading everything.

But there's no guilt to be found of letting go of Yuki. His only concerns are not being able to connect to Ritsuka now.

Yuki is not somewhere inside Mafuyu anymore, or he doesn't feel pressured to keep him close to heart anymore. He has accepted the truth. He has found closure. Yuki is a memory now. A fond memory, preserved in a song, the memories are blurrier still. And Mafuyu is happy with that. Forgetting the details doesn't make him lonely or guilty anymore.

Which is why the last chapter we got, where just after being confronted by 'Yuki's song', Mafuyu still isn't sad or guilt ridden at all, he is sparkling and eager to perform alongside Ritsuka, he is so happy that he almost proposed to him, is so special!

[therealdeemz]

I'm re-reading uramado dogfight (one of natsuki kizu's doujins) and it just hits me with this profoundly nostalgic gutpunch that reeks of kissmanga, typing haikyuu and browsing through all the doujins there

[therealdeemz]

Soukoku's Driving in the Golden Era

I don't know how much of this will come out as coherent but I think you guys will appreciate it regardless because I think this is a neat parallel

Although Chuuya and Dazai were undoubtably *fast*, they're fast in their own distinct ways that they're enough of a treat to watch in on itself, and it shows down to how their cars are built in the first place.

Dazai's car is more built for downforce; the concept in motorsport that if you go fast enough, the wind would bog you down enough that it can add weight where it doesn't exist. It's why race cars have massive wings, and is commonly used in usecases where traction (the contact between the wheels and the road) is not broken and grip levels are predictable. This means that you rarely find it on cars built for a mountain pass like in Retribution. But at the same time, Dazai is batshit crazy, and I don't doubt that he could see the wind as he's pushing the car to the speeds that he does.

This necessitates Dazai's driving style back then to be precise, surgically precise. Every small movement of the wheel is smooth and calculated to maintain as much grip as possible, and his main goal is to get in front and leave his rival behind as he essentially paces his own race in the small stretch of mountain road he's given. I don't think you can even see Dazai when he's pacing his car in the speeds he does and in the sheer darkness of the Touge, but you could certainly *feel it*. You could feel that, whatever just passed you was just breathtakingly fast in a way that's just not possible.

Chuuya's car, on the other hand, was a rally car that was meant to tackle loose surfaces and tarmac on occasion, which meant that what grip the car had relied more on mechanical grip; the contact patch between the tyre and the road. Rally cars also have minute differences, like a faster acceleration speed, more driving wheels (all-wheel drive), etc etc, which heavily rewards a driving style that can work all orifices of the car as it courses down the tarmac.

Of course, Chuuya's driving style reflects it, as with every corner, you can *feel* his presence in an entirely different way that's simply overbearing. You know whatever's coming at you with all the tires screeching and the sheer sound emitting from it is *insurmountable*. And it's only added by the times that Chuuya comes into view, the car prances through the corner like a whirlwind, kicking up tyre smoke and an unhealthy amount of fuel that's not too away from being aviation gas. Chuuya drives the thing like it's alive, and he's making that car his bitch as he makes micro-jitters to account for every little thing that that amount of speed throws at him.

So in short, Dazai drives his car like he's threading a needle, while Chuuya drives his car like he's wrestling a bull.

They're both equally impressive, but considering they both carry the same speeds down that hill; a speed which is *far* removed from even Rashoumon or Burnstrike could chalk up (their best times are consistently 10-15 seconds away from Soukoku's best times). You can see why they have a cult following behind them; almost 3 or 4 years after their leaving. They're *Gods* to everyone's eyes, because they graze that ragged edge of reckless abandon and unfettered speed to an art.

[therealdeemz]

TID BITS ABOUT CHUUYA'S CAR

OKAY SO Chuuya has 2 cars in Retribution

One is a 1985 Audi Sport Quattro S1 E2 which is by far the most Batshit racecar from the most Batshit era of rallying and I think you need that type of car to *match* that type of energy with Dazai's 180SX

ROUGHTLY with this bodykit and with a tuned up engine over what was already in the car I think the car makes around 500~ wheel horsepower and is basically a race-spec Quattro that is DEFINITELY not road legal but he still has it just because he got it as a hand-me-down from Verlaine (long story but that's the only way it makes sense)

Has a gloss black paint with a small crimson red racing strip down the center but I don't think there's anything else

Chuuya also has a Honda NSX Type R NA1 which is what he drives nowadays and it's a gift from Kouyou when he hung up his keys

All Type R NSX's come in championship white (the color you see) and it has a more stripped out interior than a normal NSX and nowadays Chuuya just uses it as a daily driver (as far as I know) since it's from Kouyou and he's sick of racing

If you wanna learn more about the cars from other members of the cast then drop a comment here or an ask in my bio (idk how that works yet)

[chuuyanakaahara]

you ever realize you have certain mutuals and you're like, holy shit. how did you get here. you are so out of my league. you are so much cooler than me.

[therealdeemz]

THIS IS LITERALLY ME TO YOU BECAUSE YOURE SO COOL AND AWESOME AND YOUR WRITING IS SO FUCKING IMMACULATE LIKE??????. HOW DID I END UP BETAING FOR YOU I AM NOT WORTHY

[tsukis]

happy birthday, oikawa! 20/07

[the--concertmaster]

This was so brutal

[dianxia-edits]

ㅤㅤㅤ ⌕ 金﹕satou mafuyu messy layouts ᘏ

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