“and The Universe Said…”

Does anyone else feel lonesome?

Not lonely. Not alone. Just... lonesome. Like you don't feel connected to anyone. Like you never feel that you will find anyone that understands you, that will see you truly, let alone someone who will even like you. You see friends everywhere, but you don't see yourself in their place, like that is not for you, like you're not made for that and that's not made for you. You see people having fun and laughing and dancing and getting drunk and falling in love and you just... don't feel that for yourself. Like you're not supposed to have that, like you can't because it's not for you and you're not for it.

Like you're supposed to be seeing all these beautiful things in the world but not experience them yourself. Like you want to experience so much, experience everything, but be overwhelmed by it so you don't do any of it.

Like you want to be everywhere and do everything, but you don't belong anywhere and can't do anything. Like you're not supposed to be here. Not in a self-deprecating way but in an incongruous way. You want to live you want to be alive, but you feel you're not supposed to be. Not here at least, not like this. Just a presence in the world, not an active member of it. Even your body doesn't feel like home, your face isn't a face you recognise, like you're not supposed to have either. Like you're just supposed to be.

Like you're supposed to observe, but not experience.

What I still don’t get about young Xehanort (the time travelling one in particular) is whether all the weird stuff around him is just a bunch of plot holes or it’s all a deliberate choice. 

The jackassery with his age for example? He is supposed to be Xehanort before Scala, yet that Xehanort is obviously younger than him.

Scala Xehanort is time travelling Xehanort’s age only when his training comes to an end, as we see him talk about it with Master of Masters in that one Re:Mind cutscene. 

You may say that maybe YMX left for the future after leaving the Islands and finishing his training at Scala, but no.

I can’t think of any explanation apart from this being a plot hole, but it’s apparently not a plot hole since this age difference junk continues to stubbornly appear. If it was a plot hole they would have noticed it and stopped making it worse (AT LEAST I HOPE SO). 

Either Xehanort did something to rewrite the past and leave the Islands sooner than he’s supposed to, or he magically looks 18 when he’s like 15, or he aged up while he was time travelling. The last option is the most reasonable one, if you ask me. If that’s the case his age was probably just reset when he returned.

His age shenanigans is not even the weirdest thing about him though.

He says this line in the Toy Box before he blasts Sora into Verum Rex (with a weird red attack he never used before that looks kinda similar to riskcharge from Rage Form for some reason)

It’s implying that this moment played out differently before and YMX is CHANGING IT. This should be impossible as you can’t change the events that already happened and everything you do just sets them in motion.

Impossible, unless it’s the second rendition of events after the jump to another worldline. Here everything may play out differently (strongly recommend to read the sleeping realm theory if you didn’t). Why is YMX aware of events being on their second run then? Is it because of his time powers? Is it because of something he’s done during the original timeline? 

Anyway, here’s some examples of him knowing stuff He’s Not Supposed To.

Here’s him talking about Sora being held together by Kairi and the other princesses of heart after the fall.

Here he is telling Sora to find the hearts of the fallen guardians. 

He’s essentially telling him to escape the fated fall to darkness. When all of the guardians fell, the X-Blade was forged, which means Xehanort won with no one left to stay in his way. 

And yet, when Sora brought everyone back Xehanort lost. So why did YMX tell Sora to find them? Why is he happy about Sora ceasing to exist and still believes he’s won in the end if he told him to go after the hearts of the guardians which ultimately led to Xehanort’s defeat?

There’s something wrong about all of this. YMX goes out of his way to make sure Sora bodies the old man and disappears. Which takes us to the next part of this wild ride and we are going right off a cliff. 

YMX was supposed to go back to his time after the events of DDD. Why is he in KH3?

The only answer I can give (besides Nomura being unable to write a straight story to save his life and forgetting that YMX said that he is going back to his time at the end of DDD, of course) is that YMX from KH3 is either a replica or not Xehanort at all. My guess, considering that this guy constantly contradicts himself in KH3, would be that it’s both and there’s two of him, like there’s probably two of Riku. In case you’re not familiar with the sleeping realm theory (go read it!!!!!), Riku from San Fansokyo may be not the same person as Riku Replica that’s on Xehanort’s side. He also has a very high chance of harbouring one of the original 13 Darknesses from Union X, the ones that Master of Masters wanted to trap. This Riku’s actions, just like some actions of YMX from the Toy Box, don’t line up with the Organization and Xehanort’s goals. Here’s a quote from the theory because I’m lazy: 

“It turns out, there are multiple “Darkness”, and they often refer to themselves as a group. Conveniently as does Riku in BH6.

While we’re led to assume it’s just the Organization, this is a frustratingly perfect narrative loophole. Something to point to later going “Ha HA! The “we” he mentions is actually a different group entirely! GOTCHA!” which is pretty par for the course so far as this series is concerned. Something else that lends to this is that his goals don’t really align with the Organization. His goal here is to find a way to recreate the heart, possibly using data while focusing pretty strictly on darkness. The Organization on the other hand has plenty of hearts to go around, several options at their disposal to the point multiple characters are benched or go AWOL and they still meet their quota. 

The point remains at the end, regardless of WHO it is, that the Riku in BH6 is most likely NOT the same one in the Keyblade Graveyard.

Rikunort 1 (????): Org coat, calm and smug demeanor, doesn’t get his hands dirty, calls plans into question, focused on data and uses actual Bug Blox from Re:Coded (and now frequenting KHUX), no qualms with not being “real”, has obvious ulterior motives.

Rikunort 2 (Repliku): Dark mode suit, aggressive and cocky attitude, very ready to get his hands dirty, follows orders willingly, insists he’s real til death, actually confirmed to be Repliku. Loves long walks on the beach.”

So Riku is looking for a way to recreate a heart in BH6. And what YMX does in the Toy Box? He’s looking for a way to place a heart in a vessel. Of which, by being Xehanort first and being in the Organization second, he is supposed to know plenty. 

Moreover, why would he want to remember something if he knows that he will forget everything when he returns to his time? It doesn’t add up. 

This phrase doesn’t sit well with me too, as like with BH6 Riku, the usage of “we” could mean not the Organization, but some different collective. And this YMX’s actions (throwing Xehanort under the bus, searching for a way to put a heart into a body) do not align with the Organization at all, but align with BH6 Riku’s goals perfectly. Which could signify that YMX from the Toy Box may be one of the Darknesses too. That could explain why he knows so much - if I’m not mistaken MOM mentioned that Darknesses might have sneaked a peek at the book of prophecies. It would also stand to reason why they want Xehanort out of the picture - he wanted to restart the world and rid it of both the false light and the darkness. 

Where is YMX that’s on Xehanort’s side? He’s the one that catches up with Sora in BH6 after he recovers Lea’s heart and the one at the Keyblade Graveyard. 

This all may seem like he knows a bit much too, but it’s actually different - he just makes observations and arrives at a logical conclusion as the dangers of misuse of the power of waking is a common knowledge between keyblade wielders - Mickey knows about it, Yen Sid too. Why would he scold Sora for going after his friends’ hearts if he told him to do it himself anyway?

There’s an important divide between the way YMX-Replica (lets just assume he’s a replica, I don’t have any other answer to why is he even there) and YMX-Darkness treat this matter: the replica warns Sora about the dangers, thinks that Xehanort will win anyway and is happy that Sora will cease to exist, the Darkness just tells him to do it and it even looks like he’s helping him. And it’s not returning the hearts of the guardians that makes Sora go take a vacation in Shibuya either - it’s jumping between guardians’ hearts to reach Kairi’s. And young Xehanort would know about a backup plan to make Sora run after poor Kairi’s heart in case they somehow avoid the fall. Kairi brought the armored Xehanort with her after all, which gave him a second chance to try and press the “reset the world” button. We know that the old man pLaNs FoR EveRy eVenTualitY and YMX knowing about his plans is not knowing too much. But YMX telling Sora to actually go after the hearts is very unnecessary and actively harmful to Xehanort.

A curious weirdness can also be noticed during the very first exchange with YMX at the Toy Box.

This (like everything else) may be far fetched, but why wouldn’t Sora remember him? If we don’t take this being the second run of KH3 events as a deciding factor of the time period because Sora doesn’t realise that more time has passed since, DDD happened days ago. Though, there is one thing from the dream that Sora may not remember.

This guy.

He’s the only nightmare that’s human, he has YMX’s body model that is unique to him, he uses red blades just like the ones YMX used in BBS, uses a bunch of YMX’s attacks and a couple of Ansem’s. He’s just Xehanort all around but also isn’t. What are nightmares again? One of the forms darkness takes in the sleeping worlds?  

Him being “the first of the Xehanorts” would make sense too, as Xehanort is a reincarnation of the player character that was possessed by 4 different darknesses. This may just be one of them.

Moreover, this mister bears a striking resemblance to Sora’s Rage Form.

The eyes are the same and the patterns are very similar. I’m not saying that Sora is a Darkness too, of course not. What I’m saying here is that some Darkness or even multiple ones are helping Sora. Rage Form is there to save his life after all as it only appears when he’s low on HP. 

I already mentioned that this weird move that YMX pulled looks very similar to riskcharge.

You can use riskcharge up to 3 times. Every time you use it a little crystal appears.

The texture of these crystals is identical to that of a heart. It’s like they are shards of hearts.

Every riskcharge changes Sora’s combo finishers. One of which is the summoning of these dark pillars - one for each charge. 

Of course, let’s not forget about the stance Sora takes while in Rage Form which is similar to Vanitas, YMX and Riku’s stances.

Another similarity between these three that would further prove their status as Darknesses is that they all have Gazing Eyes in their keyblades. And what’s interesting about Riku and YMX having it is that they don’t have it in their other keyblades (I don’t count the No Name old man Xehanort has as his, it’s MOM’s keyblade). Soul Eater that later becomes Way to Dawn has it, Braveheart doesn’t; YMX’s No Name has it and Xehanort’s keyblade from Dark Road doesn’t. Vanitas is a confirmed Darkness, Riku and YMX have a potential to be Darknesses. It wouldn’t be surprising if MOM needed a way to spy on them. If he knew whose form they will take and when they will take it he could just sneak a little Gazing Eye on that person’s keyblade. It could also explain why Sora’s eyes transform in the data bossfight with YMX - that’s how MOM probably does his spying thing. It’s not like he could see anything from a keyblade that gets swung all over the place. Woudn’t it be more comfortable to see eveything through nearby person’s eyes?

So, Riku, Vanitas and YMX have similar fighting stances, Gazing Eyes in their keyblades + three shards circle Sora and he can summon three pillars of darkness while in Rage Form that looks a lot like that one Nightmare from DDD that’s probably related to YMX. Very interesting chain of coincidences. 

Also, remember Vanitas saying that?

Rage Form doesn’t cast a shadow.

Lastly, there’s this interesting detail with villains’ final conversations with Sora. Almost everyone gets their sweet little character development moment. Everyone but Vanitas, Riku Replica and YMX (Xigbar/Luxu too, but at least we know what his problem is). And even if Repliku and YMX that are defeated at the Graveyard are not the Darknesses, the fact that it’s them who get this special treatment, along with Vanitas, is still kinda telling.

Thoughts On SaiTeru & Why It Makes Sense To Me

Honestly speaking, I wasn’t too big on this ship but over the time, it has definitely grown a lot on me and I’d actually like if they took that route. Mainly because Saiki ending up with someone other than Kokomi wouldn’t make sense, after all the progression they went through, ending up with each other is natural. Besides, whatever Kokomi wills eventually happens so if I had to guess I’d go with the prior lol. That aside, imo they fit each other the best.

I haven’t done ship analysis posts before so the sequence is pretty messy but I’ll try to keep it as organised as possible so it’s easier to read. Let’s start anyways :

Starting off with the very thing that places Kokomi at the top of the food-chain : her charms. Due to Saiki’s x-ray vision, that ability is rendered completely useless against him. As a result, Saiki recognises her for her true self and knows her inside out. While he’s aware of her flaws, he also witnesses her growth as a person. She makes true friends and starts to enjoy their company and care about them. For Saiki, she stops dreaming about marrying a rich guy and rejects Saiko.

Kokomi even gives up on playing the perfect pretty girl which she has been doing for years, just for his sake.

Likewise, Saiki’s psychic powers have little to no effect on Kokomi because she’s loved by the God himself and she gets whatever she wants. Regardless of how hard Saiki tries to win against her, he always ends up losing instead, all the while her likability with him increases.

Her efforts in her role, her wits and abilities surprise him enough to make him wonder if she’s actually perfect. He even goes as far as to say that they’re invincible together. Saiki goes from being half-scared of her powers to fully acknowledging and admiring her by the end.

Before Kokomi, Saiki has dealt with people who had crush on him- Imu and Chiyo. He made them give up on him with ease which resulted into him believing that it’s easy to move people’s hearts. Kokomi however, breaks that misconception by moving his own and shows him that she loves him just as he is and that won’t change.

And it’s because he’s aware that her feelings are genuine, unlike the other two, he stops resisting her completely and starts avoiding possible misunderstandings. When Kokomi changes herself to suit his tastes, Saiki doesn’t actively try to make her give up on him instead tries to revert her back to her usual self. He isn’t bothered by her feelings for him anymore, rather prefers her the way she is.

There are only a few times in the show when Saiki gets nervous. Even Nendou and Kusuke who he can’t use his telepathy on, don’t have that effect on him. Yet being alone with Kokomi makes him nervous. Prior to the mixer event, Saiki has been alone with her on more than one occasion. After that day however, Saiki’s perception of Kokomi changes. He’s aware that she truely loves him and won’t give up on him no matter how indifferent he acts towards her. It’s fairly new to him, accepting the fact that someone loves him despite all the odds and she actually manages to make him happy because of it.

Just like how Kokomi gives up on the most important thing for Saiki, being perfect that is, he does the same for her. Saiki hates drawing attention to himself and he puts a lot of efforts in that. However, he gives up on that without a moment’s thought and catches Kokomi in his arms in front of the entire school and takes her to the infirmary. There couldn’t be any better way to draw attention.

My point remains the same even if I don’t include this because Kokomi’s beauty has always been irrelevant in their relationship and this is the first and only time we see Saiki being attracted to someone. Ironically, Saiki reacts to seeing Kokomi just as any other guy would and he’s too transparent about it. Not to Kokomi but to the readers.

From time to time, Kokomi’s likability with Saiki increases to such point where he subconsciously sees her differently than others. I’m sure there are people who would disagree because Saiki makes exceptions for all his friends and Kokomi shouldn’t be different. There are multiple counter to that arguement.

One of the two is when Saiki turns invisible and shares a drink with Kokomi. Honestly, whatever happened in that chapter doesn’t make sense in the least.

Saiki has gone out of his way to get Kokomi’s valentines chocolates. I can say that’s because he loves sweets. He buys her a birthday gift : the cat mug, I can reason that he even got Chiyo a soft toy back when she was dating Takeru to make their relationship last. Several times he has gone out of his way to check up on his friends such as when Aren received a fake love letter or when Kaido and Chiyo had a misunderstanding and stayed with them the entire time to make sure everything was alright.

However, this time the only thing he has to do is avoid her and go home. Kokomi isn’t in any trouble nor does she need his help for anything. So he succeeds the moment he manages to lose her by getting up in the air. All he needs to do his teleport home.

But he doesn’t. We don’t know why.

He just turns invisible which saves him from the men searching for him, again he can teleport home or even walk home. But he just decides to sit there with her and share her drink for some reason and leaves only when she thinks of doing the same. Which is outright ridiculous because he could just leave the moment Kokomi lost him but he does the opposite and does exactly what Kokomi wanted on his own free will except, differently.

Last but not the least, the most significant moment is when Saiki hears Kokomi’s voice in the end. Having read the manga, it’s clear that Kokomi’s part is supposed to stand out from others but the added scene in the anime makes it more obvious.

I think there’s more to this moment than most talk about. Other than the fact that Saiki reacts to Kokomi’s name, what makes him smile is that even when Kokomi knows that her life is in danger, she still thinks about him. He realises that the girl he finds so troublesome truely does love him. And he knows that in the end, what she wants, will happen. Through him this time. Personally I think this scene acts as the trigger to Saiki realising that he needs his powers and he doesn’t actually hate being a psychic.

All in all, Kokomi is the only one who balances out Saiki perfectly and Saiki is the one who made her develop as a person. They’re compatible with each other and even Saiki believes that. Both have lasting impact on each other even without being able to use their respective powers which solidifies the fact that the progression is genuine. Both have polar opposite nature, Kokomi loves receiving attention while Saiki hates that. However when push comes to shove, Kokomi’s willing to sacrifice her perfect pretty girl role while Saiki’s ready to draw attention to himself despite all the efforts they both put into their respective places.

Kokomi influences Saiki’s thought process despite him being able to read her like an open book. She makes him guess his choices and decisions. She brings surprises and challenges in his life. Saiki does the same since he isn’t affected by her charms, he makes her focus on other things beside looks. And he’s literally the only one who recognises her for herself and not her beauty unlike her own brother. I could go on forever about how they complement each other but that’s for another day.

I may not be the biggest SaiTeru shipper out there but I most definitely think Saiki should either remain single or end up with Kokomi. I prefer the later.

Dear Ferrari drivers I hope you are getting paid for all seven jobs you are doing.

Reblog this if you ship rare pairs!

Poles, podiums, and the best of the rest.

Who are all these handsome young men in colorful jumpsuits that seem to have taken over your dashboard this year? And where exactly are they going in those really fast cars????? 

Over the past few years, Formula 1 has spread into all corners of culture, and Tumblr is no exception. People around the world have learned about F1’s 70 years of history, its international circuits in cities like Monaco and Abu Dhabi, and its Grand Prix schedule of Free Practice, Qualifying, and the races themselves. Tumblr being Tumblr, though, it’s really all about the drivers: 20 of them per year, two for each of the ten official teams. Add in all the other assorted characters that orbit around the current grid, and you have quite the lineup to follow each weekend. 

F1 and its fast boys have been appearing in our Week in Review lists as far back as 2020, and on last year’s Year In Review Athletes list, drivers took up a healthy 6 out of the top 10 spots. This year, the sport’s domination of the dashboard kicked it up a notch: There was an 18% increase in engagement with the Formula 1 tag in 2022 compared with last year, and Lestappen (aka Max Verstappen/Charles Leclerc) became the very first F1 ship to hit a Week In Review ships list on July 10, 2022.

A lot of this might have something to do with the growing popularity of Netflix’s Drive to Survive docuseries, which follows the twists and turns of each F1 season, shining a light on the personal lives of the drivers and their team members. Tumblr’s interest in the sport just feels natural: with all of its drama, excitement, and contained, charismatic, and frequently controversial ensemble cast, it seems tailor-made for Tumblr users who enjoy sports anime and adventure dramas. 

So, what’s the pitch for F1? Whether you root for the underdog or support the champion, there’s a storyline for you. The interweaving backstories of the drivers, many of whom have grown up driving together since they were kids, are like catnip to Tumblr’s love for characters with history. And, of course, there are the races themselves—high-tech cars going hundreds of miles per hour. What’s not to love? 

Or, as @gaslightgirlsummer puts it: these men are all millionaire tax evaders trying to kill each other and/or themselves in the fastest cars on the planet (that are worth more money than most people will ever have in their lifetimes) on a weekly basis.

Whether a longtime fan or newly interested, you’ve probably seen F1 around Tumblr this year, featuring in fan art, GIFsets, and a plentiful amount of very silly memes. But, in case you’ve ever been curious about who Tumblr loves the most, here are the top 35 Formula 1 tags in 2022, featuring not just current drivers but retired drivers, reserve drivers, upcoming drivers, race engineers, and team principals, too. 

Lewis Hamilton

Charles Leclerc

Daniel Ricciardo

Sebastian Vettel

Max Verstappen

Lando Norris

Mick Schumacher

Pierre Gasly

George Russell

Carlos Sainz

Yuki Tsunoda

Valtteri Bottas

Alex Albon

Esteban Ocon

Fernando Alonso

Lance Stroll

Sergio Perez

Toto Wolff

Kevin Magnussen

Zhou Guanyu

Kimi Raikkonen

Oscar Piastri

Antonio Giovinazzi

Nicholas Latifi

Nico Rosberg

Christian Horner

Michael Schumacher

Callum Illott

Jenson Button

Mattia Binotto

Nyck De Vries

Peter Bonnington

Mark Webber

Zak Brown

Nico Hulkenberg

And, because it wouldn’t be Formula 1 without a Constructor’s Championship, here’s the ranking of teams on Tumblr: 

McLaren

Ferrari

Mercedes

Red Bull

Aston Martin 

Haas

Alpine

Alfa Romeo

Williams

AlphaTauri

i deserve nothing. i am nothing. all i do is make things worse.

sorry for not posting much! they only let me out twice a month

I would never chase a man, but if he’s monegasque, 5’10”, 25 years old and a racing driver, I might jog a little bit.