#I want to see barcha again

[victim-of-subtraction]

blue lock spoilers!!

specifically for ep nagi! ^^

i dunno if anyone has said this yet (i havent really checked), but I genuinely think something will happen to chigiri's knee again

like in chapter 27 of episode nagi, it makes a weird little cracking noise for a brief second, and chigiri looks a little thrown off by it, but ultimately decides it's fine

right after, nagi is reasonably concerned, but chigiri brushes it off, responding with this:

not to mention nagi's:

"you'll break" ????? that HAS to mean something.

like I feel like it's important to remember that episode nagi is fully canon to the original blue lock manga, so adding small details like this DOES impact the main story too. I'm aware that he plays with no problem during the u20 and previous nel matches, but manshine still has one left to go.

from what chigiri said, I think what may happen during that match is that nagi (and reo I guess) will make their epic comeback, like they're been planning, but during the match, something will happen to chigirI.

he says his leg OR nagi's dream, which leads me to believe we're either getting one OR the other in the manga, we can't have both.

and with most pieces of media, when something like this is introduced so early on as a previous problem that had a quick resolution, it's almost SURE to be brought back up again. call it chekhovs gun or whatever, but I think this is either gonna be insane foreshadowing or the biggest red herring ever 😭🙏

(anyways, it's either gonna be him or Yukimiya. they both clearly have something with the potential to completely ruin their soccer career and disable them for life, and if Kaneshiro doesn't do anything with that then what's the point)

[la2yn0va]

Hey do you mind doing something related to Hyoma Chigiri x Male Reader please

Jealous Crush

My first bllk request. And it’s with the pretty girl boy

CW: Homophobia (I think?)

———

“Hey m/n-san. Come with me” chigiri said as he grabbed m/n and dragged him away from Nikko “Ah— C-chigiri-! Wait—!” Nikko could only watch as his friend was dragged away, a smile of confusion on his face.

“Chigiri! Seriously dude relax, I can walk on my own— OW!!” He felt chigiri tighten his grip on his hand as he dragged him away onto a soccer field. Chigiri was too embarrassed to face m/n, yet he also couldn’t stand it seeing him so buddy-Buddy with someone else.

He hated how m/n was so chilled out with his rivals, he hated how m/n was practically everyone’s favorite, he hated how m/n wouldn’t pay attention to him…! No.. that wasn’t it.. it was something else… but he couldn’t bring himself to admit it.

“Come on. Let’s play a friendly game. Nothing serious, just pass the ball to each other. M’kay?” “I..I guess? Is that why you dragged me away?” He asked abit nervous, not wanting to anger the pretty boy further. Chigiri didn’t respond, simply looking away before placing the ball down and passing it to m/n.

They continued this cycle for a while, talking about random topics such as games, movies, future goals in their soccer careers. Talking about how their goals were advancing in the clubs they were in. Chigiri was in manshine city, while m/n was in the Ubers.

“So, you just follow Barou?” “Hah! Please. Fuck snuffy and his ‘rely on Barou’ strategy. Sure he got that hat trick on yall, but I got the hat trick on FC Barcha” M/n said, hitting the ball abit harder towards Chigiri. “Well.. I’m glad you’re not just being a sheep. I still this you should’ve came with me to manshine”

“Oh? So you WANTED me, did ya~?” He teased as chigiri’s pass messed up, his embarrassment making him kick the ball past m/n. M/n laughed at chigiri as he tried to rephrase his statement “DUMBASS!! I-I just meant that you would’ve been better off working on your physicality!! A-and… well, me and you are a good duo!”

“Mhm, if ya say so” “Ughhh” chigiri turned around and squatted down, hiding his face in his arms. Why.. of all people, why was HE…attracted to m/n…? Why couldn’t it just be admiration? Why did it have to be a full on crush? He tried to hide it, but it became impossible. Seeing m/n around others just made his heart ache his whole attention for himself!

“Hey.. you okay princess?” M/n said as he patted his back. The contact alone made his heart beat faster. ‘God I’m pathetic…’ he thought to himself, as he reassured m/n by calling him a dumbass “Yep. Still yourself” m/n laughed as chigiri faced him. His eyes shined at the sight of m/n, his skin glowing ever so slightly due to the perfect lighting at that quick minute.

Chigiri then felt doubt crep up in his mind.. there’s no way m/n would feel the same way about him.. he hears him talk about girls with other blue lock boys. It was nothing short of a miracle that m/n would be gay for him as he was for him.

“Hey. Help me up dumbass” Chigiri commanded as m/n stopped laughing, helping his pinkette friend up. Unexpectedly, Chigiri hugged him “Uh.. you okay there buddy?” “Sorry… I just… can you just hug me?” M/n was confused, Chigiri always seemed a bit strange to him—at least the way he acted with HIM in peculiar.

However, he didn’t see why he would reject this request. So, he hugged back, wrapping his arms around chigiri’s waist and standing there for a minute or two. That moment seemed like heaven for chigiri, m/n’s skin was soft, his scent seemed perfect for him. And in that moment, he would stop any insecurities from appearing again.

“Hey m/n… do you like boys?”

-The End-

[glamourscat]

¿Besos? | Meguru Bachira x fem!manager reader

synopsis: the manager of the FC Barcha team, helps Bachira practice his Spanish. And maybe it turns into something more

cw: explicit towards the end, Bachira's bad spanish lmao

“¿H—hola, cómo estás tú? Mi amigo mejor, pero no habla mucho bien.”

Your head turns back, eyebrows furrowing in confusion at the words you just heard. What the hell? As you enter the lounge room of the FC Barcha team you are met with the sight of Bachira, his head down and the back of his hair up thanks to a small hair clip in the shape of a bee. His tongue pokes out from his lips in concentration as he marks and scribbles on his notebook.

“Bachira?” you call gently as you approach him.

The boy’s head whips around to meet your eyes, his face lighting up immediately as he sees you.

“Y/N-chan!” he exclaims, his tone overly excited as always. Before you know it, he has pounced on you for a bear hug, his legs almost wrapping around you—almost, if it weren’t for the fact that the unexpected hug almost made you fall backward—almost though.

“¡Ay, Dios mío!, Bachira?!” you say with a small gasped chuckle as he had almost knocked the breath out of you.

“Sorry, sorry,” he says, giggling quietly, his head on your shoulder tilted to stare at you with those bright yellow eyes of his. His cheeks are slightly red as he squeezes you a bit in the hug.

“Are you practicing your Spanish? I can help if you want,” you murmur, gently caressing his hair, making him almost purr at your touch.

“Sí, por favor,” he murmurs, giving you his deadly puppy eyes.

⠂⠄⠄⠂⠁⠁⠂⠄⠄⠂⠁⠁⠂⠄⠄⠂ ⠂⠄⠄⠂☆

Well, that was a mistake. It’s been three hours and you two have moved from the lounge room to your dorm room. Bless his heart, but Bachira has the memory of a goldfish. Just when you think he understands a concept, he shows you that he, in fact, does not. It’s been hours of trying to teach him basic Spanish grammar, and he’s been moving, fidgeting and whining like crazy. It’s like talking to a toddler.

“If you don’t want to learn, we can stop, especially if you’re tired—”

“Noo… I want to,” he pouts, kicking his feet in the air in annoyance as he lays on your bed with you.

“You’re doing everything but that, Bachira. It’s not working. It’s okay to take a break—” you start, but he interrupts you again.

“No,” he whines, hiding his face in your legs.

“Meguru…” you say, side eyeing him, his name coming out slightly harsher than intended.

“Don’t be mad at me,” he whispers, turning to face you but still resting his head on your lap.

You sigh, rubbing your eyes for a moment. “I’m not mad… I’m just tired. We’ve been doing this for hours.”

Bachira’s eyes soften as he looks up at you, his usual playful demeanor replaced by a rare moment of seriousness. “I’m sorry, Y/N-chan. I just… I want to get better at this but it’s so difficult” he sighs, pouting a bit in contemplation.

“But, I want to keep trying. Can we do that little game you suggested earlier? The one where I ask you questions in Japanese and you in Spanish back to me and whoever gets the answer wrong, needs to take something off? Pretty please” he says, smiling a bit.

“Really? Now you wanna do that?” Your voice amused as you nudge him.

His soft giggles filled the room as he kissed your thighs gently. “Pretty please?” He repeats, stretching the last syllables.

⠂⠄⠄⠂⠁⠁⠂⠄⠄⠂⠁⠁⠂⠄⠄⠂ ⠂⠄⠄⠂☆

You don’t know how you always end up in these situations. Bachira has a way of expressing himself through his actions that make you a bit weak in the knees. And each damned time you two go from doing something productive to this… Like now. Where you got your 5th question wrong. Not that he was doing much better, left in only boxers and one sock. But it was your turn now, and since you got a question wrong this round, your bra came off.

Not surprised though, when his hands immediately found your breasts. And your lips found his. Soon it wasn’t really about the questions anymore, as the focus shifted on the rather good makeout session you two were having.

“Wasn’t part of the plan..” you moaned between kisses

“Hmm, maybe. I am not opposed to it though” he moaned back as his hips grind against yours, making you feel his erection. “Mami, hazme sentir bien por favor.” he whispers, in the most filthy whiny tone he could master.

Your eyes go wide at the words he spoke in Spanish, mouth slightly agape, staring at him dumbfounded.

Maybe, after all, the afternoon had not been wasted as you initially thought.

⠂⠄⠄⠂⠁⠁⠂⠄⠄⠂⠁⠁⠂⠄⠄⠂ ⠂⠄⠄⠂☆

Mami, hazme sentir bien por favor= mummy, please make me feel good

© GLAMOURSCAT (all rights reserved. do not share, modify, translate and re-upload my work outside of tumblr)

[riririnnnn]

ngl as much as i like isagi it gets boring when he's winning too much 🤷‍♀️ i still hope he wins tho lol but he needs to lose sometimes idk wtv i love kaiser

Hm, I agree with you, but at the same time, I don't too—Isagi isn't winning 'too much', he is, simply, reaping what he sowed.

So, let's start from the start:

Isagi's initial ranking was 299 which is HELLA low, but, you know, that ranking was, somewhat, pretty.. false.

In short, there were 5 strata and EVERY team in each stratum was named from V to Z and EVERYONE, initially, held a ranking from 241 to 300, so we have no way to truly calculate Isagi's true ranking out of 300.

One more reason why I don't trust that ranking is because Ego is one hell of a cunning man—I bet there were more than just 'skills' as a criteria to rank them because I can never in my whole life accept that Niko ranked above Kunigami.

And in the first selection he LOST to Barou—he did NOT win right away. He did NOT score ALL the goals in their subsequent winning matches too—Bachira, Chigiri, Gagamaru, Kunigami, even Kuon shined in their own times. Isagi did NOT have the spotlight onto him all at once.

Skipping towards Second Selection, we remember him getting praised by Anri that, "Ooh, that kid is improving so fast," and it was, by no means, a protagonist point because, my brother in Christ, one of his abilities is literally adapting!

And after we get his new ranking of 15, and as said by Ego, it's a true ranking rather than a false one like earlier.

Then the story proceeds and he challenges Rin, and guess what?

HE LOSES TWICE AGAINST RIN!!

And then.

HE LOST AGAINST THE WORLD FIVE TOO!

HE IS THE LITERAL PROTAGONIST AND HE HAS BEEN SHOWN LOSING SO MANY TIMES ALREADY!!!!!!!

If he really had an actual plot armour, then he would've won against Rin the second time and would've gotten VERY close to winning against the World Five too.

You getting me?

And then he doesn't even have a ranking in the Top 6!?! His ahh wasn't even the runner-up of it—Bachira was!

And trust me when I say it, if it would've been any animanga other than Blue Lock, then that protagonist would've been the CF during the U-20 because WE ALL KNOW HOW IMPORTANT THAT MATCH WAS SINCE BLUE LOCK'S LIFE LITERALLY WAS DEPENDENT ON IT!!!!!

I'm so sorry. I promise I'm not angry or yelling at you. Please don't be mad at me, I'm just being passionate.

Now comes the current arc: NEL

I've already made a post about why Kaiser chose Isagi to be his rival (it may differ once we get Kaiser's backstory revealed), so keeping it aside, I want to say that Isagi is THE pacifist because if Kaiser did all that to ME, then I would've swung so fast like who tf you calling a clown, huh? You wanna catch these hands? Guess what, I'll give you these legs too.

Well, now focusing on FC Barcha match, remember that Isagi didn't score. He PASSED. How can people even forget that? Yukimiya nearly threw hands because of that only!

And then came Manshine City—bro, he literally got blocked by Kaiser and then he PASSED again and then he FAINTED!?!?!?!?!

All this time he was SLOWLY building up momentum and that's what we low-key saw in Ubers match and are seeing in PXG match.

He EARNED everything.

He wasn't winning everytime.

He has lost many times too.

We just have too many characters who are given proper amount of character developments which sometimes reduces Isagi to being just a protagonist—God! Us Fandom is so spoiled, aren't we? We are so well fed that we have become bratty, LMFAO.

And yes, I love Kaiser a lot too.

But in the end, the Roman Empire fell too, right?

[maochira]

hello everything is fine? I saw that requests are open and I would like to know if you can write paternal headcanons with (noa, lavinho, snuffy and chris) with the reader who is the only girl in blue lock? (does the fem reader have a calm, balanced and analytical personality?) Thank you in advance.

Hi! I only write fem!reader if reader is a lesbian, so...

Tags: fem!lesbian!reader, dad!character, something with periods (not reader getting it), I didn't exactly stick to reader's personality like in the request I'm sorry, I got very carried away with this one

Additional characters: non-binary!afab!Kurona and Isagi (Bastard München), transmasc!Chigiri and transmasc!Reo (Manshine City), non-binary!amab!Bachira and Otoya (Barcha), transfem!Aryu and transmasc!Sendou (Ubers)

Dad!Noa + non-binary!Kurona and Isagi

Because Noa and Ego know each other, you got to join Blue Lock right at the start of the second selection. You never bothered to hide the fact that you're a girl. In the beginning, your fellow players were confused but at the end of the day, they really didn't care since all they wanted was to become the best striker. They only saw you as another obstacle to overcome. Because of your gender, they figured you'd be easier to beat than the other guys. But they were very, very wrong.

Nobody expected you to win the second selection, where you ended up in a clearing team with Shidou, Igaguri, Reo and Kurona. You and Kurona became great friends quickly, as the two of you were able to bond by sharing experiences from growing up being treated as a girl, which all of the other boys in Blue Lock could never relate to. And now in the Neo Egoist League, together with Isagi you've become an unstoppable trio that's constantly talked about on social media as "Kaiser's and Ness' biggest rivals."

In the first few weeks of your participation in Blue Lock, Noa was very unsure if he made the right choice by letting you go there. Of course, he gave you the choice, but he had the final say. He was mainly concerned about what Ego's approach to soccer might do to you, and he was worried that that might make you lose your passion for soccer. The moment your father got to see you again in the Neo Egoist League, he realized his worry was unnecessary because your new, egotistical approach to soccer didn't end up changing anything about the you he knew before.

Dad!Chris + transmasc!Chigiri and transmasc!Reo

You came along when your father travelled to Japan, but participating in the Neo Egoist League wasn't your original plan. But during your first conversation with Ego, he mentioned even though you play for a girl's team back at home, he thinks highly of your skills and would like you to participate.

Although, you found yourself regretting that decision very soon. Only being surrounded by boys you didn't know made you uncomfortable. Combined with your rather shy personality, that led to you never talking to anyone outside of soccer training and matches.

Despite Chris' attempts to get you to befriend any of your new teammates, you preferred to stay in your room whenever you could. That changed when one evening, you heard a knock on the door to your room. When you opened it, you were met with Chigiri and Reo awkwardly asking for a pad because Reo got his period. You were confused for a moment before the dots in your head connected and you realized Reo must be assigned female at birth. You didn't waste any time and quickly brought Reo an extra pack of pads. To avoid any uncomfortable silence, Chigiri laughed a bit and mentioned he would have given Reo a pad, but he only had tampons left and Reo was uncomfortable with those.

You started complaining and joking about your period as well, which quickly led to the three of you becoming friends. Even though you were so intimidated by everyone around you when it came to any interactions outside the field, this situation broke the ice and finally made you comfortable with at least two of your teammates.

Dad!Lavinho + non-binary!Bachira and Otoya

Lavinho took you along to Japan without even mentioning the reason. No matter how many times you asked, he would always respond by saying it'll be a surprise.

And a surprise it was. You were overjoyed when you found yourself in the Blue Lock building. You had previously seen the Blue Lock Eleven vs U-20 match and were impressed by their skills.

Unlike your father, you weren't a soccer player. You had always aspired to become a coach, though. Lavinho promised that he would let you take over as a coach in the Neo Egoist League, and that he would simply stay at your side to make sure everything was going alright and occasionally give you advice.

You and Bachira became best friends the moment you looked at each other for the first time. It was like platonic love at first sight. And as Bachira's best friend, you would spend all your free time with them, playing soccer together, despite your miserable skills on the field, and talking about anything on your mind.

Occasionally Otoya would attempt to flirt with you, despite your frequent reminders that you're only into girls. At some point, it became a running joke within the team and everyone would start flirting with Otoya, quoting the exact things he said to you.

Dad!Snuffy + transfem!Aryu and transmasc!Sendou

Being in the Ubers team is like being at a big family reunion. Just without the awkward questions about what you plan to do in your future and everything else relatives like to ask. All the dynamics within the team resemble some sort of typical family stereotype.

The dynamic between you and Aryu is the one of an older sister teaching her younger sister all sorts of things about clothes, make-up and talking about dating. Although, the roles of who's the younger and who's the older one keeps changing all the time. Sometimes it's you giving Aryu dating advice, sometimes it's her teaching you how to use make-up properly. The two of you frequently have what you would call "girls night" and stay up way too long.

Despite Sendou being a little older than you, you've become like an older sister figure to him. Sendou often gets insecure about his body, and you're always there to comfort him. With you and Aryu as the only other girls around, you've become his safe space.

Before coming to Blue Lock, Snuffy was worried about how you might handle the new environment and how it could influence you negatively. But now he's more than happy to see how well you get along with everyone.

[xincountry]

Why and How Kunigami Rensuke Can Still Score in BM vs PXG

mega copium by certified kunigami glazer aka me... spoilers until ch 283. if 284 leaks come out right now and disprove this entire essay please pretend i never posted it

Like. This is Copium Supreme. I do not genuinely believe this is realistic, it's just what I want to happen, so I'm trying to find evidence to back it up.

The evidence, since BM vs PXG started.

1. Chapter 248.

In the entire NEL arc, this is the first encounter we have directly with Kunigami in what is assumed to be Wild Card. Right before the PXG vs BM match. Based on descriptions he himself, Noel Noa, Reo etc have given us—quotes like "The Wild Card... was an experiment to create a "vessel". Someone with the same physique as Noel Noa.", and Noel Noa himself explicitly referring to Kunigami as "wild card copyman". To me, this is some kind of foreshadowing that Kunigami may actually do something in this match, because I just cannot understand why else this snippet of Wild Card will be given here otherwise.

I wonder what on earth could've broken his resolve for him to become like this after it. But interestingly here also, Ego explicitly says "Abandon your ego." And then:

2. "Kunigami's ego is still burning" — Isagi Yoichi, Chapter 255.

They're dangling the Kunigami character development right in front of me I swear. Since Wild Card, this match has been the most clear-headed (for lack of better word) we've seen Kunigami, when he's always come across as conflicted or unnecessarily (almost pretentiously at times) obnoxious and rude, especially when he didn't have the skill to back it up sometimes. (Like in chapter 213 with the Egoist 4 and going "I'm not interested in that reunion shit" etc—but when you see how they treat him, despite how much he's changed, it should've been more obvious that he's never changed at all. Maybe) In a way, I perceive this as his ego "reawakening", or at least morphing to fit the limbo between the old hero him, and the him now, changed by Wild Card.

As I'm writing this, for all we know, this is just another "build up" to the Wild Card reveal in the post-NEL/Japan U20s arc, and I wouldn"t even be surprised. But to that, I ask, again and again: why now? Why bring up the idea of Kunigami's ego "still burning", the memory of them sharing steak together after Isagi's assist during their Team Z days, now?

I think there's definitely an impending chemical reaction with them happening at some point—again, remember that this happened Before Kaiser/Rin's awakenings in chapters 260 and 271 respectively, but I think there is potential for them to team up again if the three minutes for Star Change System runs out/a Kunigami subsitution—and for their chemical reaction to actually be successful.

3. Noel Noa subsituting Kunigami out for Igaguri

Really, this match feels like the perfect time for Kunigami to awaken, properly. He's playing against Shidou, and his time on the field to keep him at bay is being replaced by the person he's supposed to copy and Igaguri. Arguably a character which is not liked because he really just feels like the lowest of the lows—and yet during 2nd selection he took up a spot that could've very much been Kunigami's. Which, well. Just Kunigami's bad luck.

Chapter 276

Narratively, I get it. Igaguri here is being used to contain Rin—in a way, the way Kunigami was marking Shidou. But at the same time I just really think its neat how they're really making Kunigami face up against his second selection rivals—the people who ruined his life.

4. What happens after the Star Change timer runs out?

In the Barcha match, Kunigami is subbed out for Isagi after he fails to contribute to the team's attack, and after that Noa subs himself in when Lavinho does—as he always does, but crucially, this is the event we're facing now in BM vs PXG. After the Star Change timer runs out, Noa subs in Kunigami and says this:

Chapter 167

Somehow, I think after the events of Chapter 255, and Kunigami having to play against Shidou, he'll have a different feeling when he's told to mimic Noa. That could be a segue into Kunigami's awakening as his "new ego", or it could be me just being copium.

Another thing that is similar from the Barcha match and PXG is Isagi's chemical reaction/assist to Kaiser. In chapter 283, we see Isagi try to defeat Rin by intentionally putting himself in a "supporting role" for Kaiser to block Rin's shot. This is explicitly stated as a "talented learner x talented learner" chemical reaction.

Chapter 283

Now, parallel to the very first match in the NEL with BM vs Barcha, where Isagi passes to Kunigami instead. The scores are perfectly identical right now: 2 - 2 on both sides, and Kunigami scores.

Chapter 167

Specifically, Isagi tells Kunigami "Awaken your flow. Let's destroy Kaiser and this team." In a way, this is very much what is happening in the match against PXG, where Kunigami entered flow while defending against Shidou—instead of "this team" the destruction could be redirected towards PXG instead?

Kunigami's ego

We know Isagi has been trying to categorise the people on the field into different "ego types." I'll like to talk about this first: world-type and self-type, and how this plays into the "genius" vs "prodigy (talented learner)" ideas that Isagi/Ego brought up.

Chapter 267, Chapter 282

By this definition, Kunigami is a genius: someone who has strong beliefs in their own talents, born with extreme physical abilities, etc. "Self-style/genius" people also feel what they believe in/like is of the most importance, emotions which help them further develop their ego, which is evident in people like Shidou ("my soccer"/"it's a biological need"/"explosions"), Itoshi "I Need To Surpass My Brother" Rin, etc. This is also evident when in chapter 255 where Kunigami manages to completely shut down Shidou, motivated by the desire to get some sort of redemption for what he did to him:

Chapter 255

As a prodigy (world-style ego, someone who can adapt and "use" the talent of geniuses to do good. Where the geniuses are concerned about the one goal they score, the world-style ego prodigies are more concerned about the environment and the circumstances that lead up to that goal, and their attempts to contribute to it.) I think Isagi will need to learn that he has an arsenal of geniuses (Kunigami) on his team, and more than just trying to beat a genius like Rin through the nature of being a genius (aka: fixation on certain emotions and obsessions to improve), or the prodigy x prodigy chemical reactions he wanted to form, he needs to make use of a genius. Kunigami being one is really important, because I think he's gonna get subbed in after the Star Change timer runs out, given that there's really only 10 seconds left on the clock.

Chapter 284 and beyond

The title of chapter 284 is titled "Soul". I am literally hoping for the love of all things bright and beautiful and amazing that this is referring to Kunigami's soul: trying to resolve his conflicting two halves of being an emotional hero and being a cyborg. Like please. This is all I ask for—given that the timer on the Star Change at the start of 283 was literally 10 seconds I hope in the time it took for Rin to scream Isagi Isagi Isagi Isagi and shoot and when Gagamaru blocked it I hope the ball went out of play and now they have to subsititute people or something. Please.

Also, with the U20 Japan arc coming up and Sae probably being on the team with the other bluelockians hence revealing Sae's (S)Pain Backstory I can't really find a space where Kunigami would have his true time to shine as a Wild Card survivor—given that Noel Noa, the guy he's supposed to be a copy of, will only be here for this arc presumably like he'll go back to Germany after the NEL. I think. There's also the impending Chekov's gun of Chigiri's ACL reinjury which I'm not looking forward to and I'm really hoping it doesn't happen (my shipper brain has turned it into "Kunigami sees Chigiri injure his ACL on the field, is reminded of all the times they spent together, and has an awakening" and now I'm trying to avoid that scenario) so. Really. Please.

@ Kaneshiro, when you say Kunigami has a focus/awakening, I hope you mean in these next couple of chapters.

[popponn]

things about michael kaiser.

kaiser is genuinely interesting and i really want to see more of him really. despite the vendetta i have against him for touching isagi's chin. so im rotating him in my head for a bit here for reasons. this is more of me observing and putting down what i perceive so far, especially with his personality. some are hcs and assumptions. manga spoiler up to uber match ending btw.

this guy is teasing isagi a lot and does not shy away from touching isagi when doing so. their literal first meeting, that one headpat—like is it more of a display of power? very likely.

but then look at how his face was at his teammates during vs barcha, then vs manshine, and in that screening room with ness. this guy is cold, like his expression change between cold, expressionless, or pissed. with sheeting and smug as an extra.

then come the vs uber + fragile ego theory (his volume cover that use glass chain instead of iron as usual, a pretty popular theory)—and yeah if his confrontation with chris and lorenzo is any indication. yeah, this guy got something going on there

which is where after this, as there is no backstory for him yet let's start headcanoning and/or analyzing his behaviour and lil bits of info. first thing first noa.

in barcha, part of this guy's strategy is staying away from the masters' 1v1. which is smart, very cool and understandable. shows that kaiser is not all smug and drive the point even more that he is talented and smart too. is in line with isagi's perception of him, a very good player—paraphrased btw.

but then vs mc came and stuffs gets interesting. after nagi's miracle goal, chris and noa enter the field. if you look at his face around here, he is clearly not happy.

and i think this is where kaiser's fragile ego really starts to show. nagi—the 'shitty baby chick'—pretty much 'win' against him and isagi and scored what pretty much is a super goal. a flashy one.

and now chris and noa, the #2 & #1 is in the field.

remember kaiser's goal? the one where he want to get out of bm via auction. and if anything so far, NEL shows us that you have to stand out to win higher bidding.

put it simply, probably the reason he is not happy at that point is that his chance to shine more is pretty much getting heavily hindered already.

and this is more headcanonny, but this guy definitely has a complex and a tendency. the said tendency is pretty much spelled out by chris—"going against the weaker one, but escape the stronger one". and even tho kaiser get pissed and go head to head with chris—probably due to a bruised ego, which would be a point that would came up again later—this tendency seems to be in line with him wanting to go out from bm.

"he can't shine with noa there"—if this was isagi or barou or rin, i highly doubt this sentence would appear at all. which is interesting because undoubtedly, so far, kaiser is shown as someone who is as strong if not stronger than isagi. but this, along with the line that kaiser said about him only feeling happy when putting people down, only shows his reluctance in 'fighting' noa. opting to just be in another club to reach the top.

i think this has potential to be read as "kaiser's ego is all about destroying other people" (aka the already corrupted mean girl esque guy get even worse and corrupted) or "kaiser will get schooled by the plot and isagi" (aka character development baby, in 'true? ego awakening' kind of way that might or might not be similar to various bluelockers). but as of now, uber is just ending and rin just appeared again. pxg and backstory not out yet so who knows

back to topic, calling kaiser's ego 'weak' right now is not wrong tho. it is easily bruised—it has been repeatedly so far, by chris and isagi during vs mc as the two most in the face examples.

but on another side, kaiser really is not an all talk guy. he is effective, definitely put himself on a high standard, and is not a lazy player (quite harsh on himself, if that uber goal of his was anything to go by). (personal bias and opinion, but i really hope his character will grow even after NEL. this guy is entertaining as hell to watch and he is like an onion. writing wise, i really like him.)

then there is his vendetta (?) with noa. while how and what their bond truly is hasn't been explicitly shown or talked about, there is definitely an odd, pretty antagonistic relationship as a mentor and a pupil there. noa seems to held a certain expectations for kaiser while kaiser seems to not like when noa meddles or comment on him. (and tbh, while isagi is the one 'chosen' by noa so far, i would be 0 percent surprised if noa in a way 'use' isagi to shape kaiser too. rationality, something something, rivalry, something. i will go back to this after i sleep maybe)

idk how far it goes but this guy sounds like a theater kid and he is dramatic. idk what to do with this.

so far we dont even know his age and height. and it's uber match ending......i will update this list one day. hopefully.

kaiser also has two popular theory going on about his back story. 'really poor like noa (and that's why in that one cover the ball under his feet is dirty)' or 'really rich because he seems pretty spoiled and unknowning of the harsh world (hence his weak ego)'. personally, i think both theories have their strength and weakness. so i will just shut up about this.

but back to kaiser's ego—which seems to be the biggest peek into his personality as a whole so far—i really wonder how will the theme of 'fragile ego' will eventually intertwine with his theme of 'doing the impossible'. like, blue rose, the sheer concept of kaiser impact being that OP, his overall capability in changing the flow of a match—this guy is just a reasonable and believable deus ex machina sometimes, for the lack of better wording.

but, truly, the fact that his friendliness and teasing persona is more of a facade. while the 'truer' part is more angry and cold is just chef's kiss.

it makes one really wonder about his speech about envy to yukimiya and his attitude. like this guy is disgustingly cocky towards those he saw as below him, is bothered when someone goes against him, and really dislike it when someone is better or manage to put him down.

and then there is still his comment about isagi—who still keep going even though kaiser repeatedly prove to him that kaiser is superior. like, again, this guy is so interesting in the way while there are conflicting aspects of him, i genuinely think they make sense. this is the guy who keeps looking up and put a high and harsh standard on himself, all while actively choosing to face people he knows are inferior to him instead of actively going up and clashing against stronger opponent. all while being very very skillful and talented.

while honestly there is a very sad undertone here, if my gut is right, this approach of his is really... cowardly? pathetic? in blue lock setting. like, the fact that he is not the main character aside, with this sort of personality and mindset? yeah no way he is becoming the best in the world.

all in all, a very interesting bastard that is more than what meets the eye. isagi being surprised of his play being so good feels relatable now.

very hc territory, but the classic trope of 'flirty confident guy with issues' being twisted this much is so fun. the issue genuinely makes me squint my eyes.

yeah okay, this guy have issues. i smell insecurities. with high self standard that must be hell. (hc, unconfirmed. still no kaiser backstory or height info or bday in sight so far.)

[animentality]

more people want to see what's going on with Manshine vs Barcha because who gives a fuck if Bastard Munchen wins yet again, or if PxG breaks the boring NEL formula, I WANNA SEE BACHIRA VS NAGIREOCHIGIRI.

we haven't seen BACHIRA in so fucking long, that I swear to God, if he doesn't have a hat trick by the next time I see him, I'm gonna set this world on fire with a blowtorch.

[lazysublimeengineer]

Honestly, if by at the end of the match Kunigami doesn't do anything aside from marking Shidou. Again. Then fails in the middle of it. Then I don't know where his character will go.

It just baffles me that his relevance to this arc is diminishing by every match that passed by.

He just went to the Wild Card and to be resurrected in this arc just for what? Aside from being Noa's copy, be a stepping stone to other important characters to further develop.

He's not even my favorite character but from an objective standpoint, his character is being wasted. His character has been teased in a subtle manner that he's about to do something impactful but there's no breakthrough yet.

The last glory I've seen him was during the Barcha match. Jfc. Yes, he's done other important things but it's not mindblowing yet. I want to see his POV in any of this. The author really needs to bring justice to his character and why tf he's still in the top 5 in tie with Chigiri - this beautiful redhead who has been carrying the Manshine in this fucking arc until Nagi wakes up and have character development.

I ain't saying that he should score the last goal (although it would be nice and unpredictable) in this match but jfc I hope that him being back there would be an opportunity for him to have his own shining moment.

I DON'T WANT HIM TO JUST MARK SHIDOU.

I WANT A MATCH UP.

I WANT A BLOODBATH BETWEEN THE TWO OF THEM.

A PROPER RIVALRY.

[indzae-mayumi]

Why Can't You Let Me?

(Rin x Nanase fanfic. "Blue Lock" is by Kaneshiro Muneyuki and illustrated by Nomura Yusuke).

The Neo Egoist League ended with Bastard Munchen winning the game against Paris X Gen. The final goal had been made by Isagi, much to the anger of Rin, who dedicated his entire life to being the soccer monster he had become. His destroyer mode had been destroyed by someone who he knew admired him months ago.

It was pathetic, he thought very bitterly.

Following the game, the bidding came next. Isagi came in first and with a yearly salary bid higher than he had received during the end of the game with Ubers, but guess what? He received that offer from Re Al, the same team that wanted Michael Kaiser. Rin came in second, with a bid coming from PXG. That's how much the club wanted him. Kunigami remained one of the top 10 players in the NEL.

Manshine City won against FC Barcha. As usual, sprint princess Chigiri stayed in the top 10 of the highest bids, though Nagi's and Reo's rankings dropped. Bachira also remained in the top 10 players. But those were nothing to Rin. The eyesore that irritated him was him being second to Isagi. It should have been the other way around.

****

While the rest of PXG stayed at the dining hall chatting, Rin went to the monitoring room to view the games. He wanted to know what went wrong.

Meanwhile, Nanase finished dining early so he could catch on his sleep. Loki had them rest for two days to give time for them to recover, especially mentally. But when he came inside the four-man bedroom he shared with Rin, Tokimitsu, and Zantetsu, he realized he was the only one in the room.

As Rin's disciple, Nanase knew when not to disturb Rin when he's pissed off. That's why when they bathed after the game, he could only look at Rin silently. Nanase could tell that even when shampooing his hair, Rin wanted to pull his hair off his head out of frustration. He learned one time that talking to Rin when he's pissed off could result to Rin displacing his anger on him very verbally. So Nanase stayed away.

But he was really worried. He wanted to comfort Rin. So he turned off the lights and went out of the room. He knew Rin took off early during dinner, so he searched for him everywhere. He also asked his teammates where Rin was until Endoji said he saw Rin entering the monitoring room. Nanase thanked him and started heading towards there.

By the time he entered the monitoring room, Rin was still there, fixated on the monitor. He gingerly entered and sat down silently beside the ace of PXG.

After minutes of silence, Rin finally acknowledged his presence, but in exasperation.

"What is it, Bumpkin?" Rin asked.

Nanase could hear the frustration and tiredness in Rin's voice.

"I am aware ya probably do not want anyone to bug ya."

"I'm glad you know. Why," Rin asked, exaggerating the question. "Are you even here?"

Rin stared at Nanase with such intense look in his eyes, and Nanase thought it was because Rin was excessively just angry.

"I wanna comfort ya," Nanase said softly.

Rin glowered at him even more. "Why would you want that? Can't you see I want to be alone?"

Nanase thought for a bit before replying, "As yer disciple, isn't it mah duty to be there for ya when ya need someone the most?"

"I don't need you," Rin huffed as he looked back at the screen. He got angrier as he watched Kaiser and Isagi's images on the monitor.

"Ya probably don't," Nanase said softly again. "But if ya need ta vent out, I'm just here."

Rin closed his eyes, opened it again, and turned back at Nanase.

"Just why?"

"Why what?"

"I don't know what kind of relationship you want from me, other than you being my property," Rin said, pain in his voice. "Just tell me, you stupid bumpkin. What exactly do you want from me, huh?"

Nanase's heart broke. He liked Rin so much. Maybe, he had loved him. Maybe, he had fallen in love with the greatest ace in Blue Lock. He could love Rin one-sidedly, but if Rin wasn't willing to give back, he'd understand. But all he wanted right now was just to comfort Rin. He wanted Rin to open up, even if it would mean Rin wouldn't be his.

"I... I am not askin' fer anything in return from ya, Rin-san," Nanase said, trying to fight back his tears. "I just want to comfort you."

Rin realized he was about to make Nanase cry. He had subjected his teammate to massive hardships just so the country boy could be useful to him in the field. But making the other boy cry was never one in his agenda.

"I did my bestest to be yer post playah in the field," Nanase said. "I trained my hardest. I did all I could. I will be willing to sacrifice again and again just ta give ya better options in the field. I did all I could coz I asked ya fer a favor. Ya did so much fer meh. Shouldn't I do somethin' in return?"

Nanase tried to hold back his tears, but he couldn't. He turned his back on Rin and started sobbing. Rin was startled because he indeed had made someone cry. He had not experienced something like this before.

"I know why you're like this, Bumpkin," Rin said, his voice gentler than he ever intended to. "You're not just desperate to stay in Blue Lock. In fact, I am glad you took the 20th spot for the new U-20 team. And I am proud of you."

Nanase turned back at him, still with tears in his eyes. He realized it was the first time he saw Rin with such a gentle expression on his face.

"I'm sorry for making you cry. And... I have a feeling that you like me."

Nanase's crush on Rin was busted. "R--Rin-san."

"But please don't go deeper on your feelings for me," Rin begged. "I don't deserve you."

"Why not?"

"I don't deserved to be loved."

"But... Rin-san," Nanase asked, pain in his voice. "I am not asking ya to like me back. I am just askin' ya a chance fer me ta comfort ya. Are ya afraid ta let people in, ta let me in, coz ya don't wanna show me yer vulnerability?"

Which was the truth. Rin wanted to wallow in his own pride and pain. He did not want to open up.

"I love ya, Rin-san. Heck, I forgot when I started fallin' in love with ya," Nanase finally confessed. "All I want is a chance fer ya to be vulnerable around me."

"You're too nice, you know?" Rin said. "You're probably the nicest guy I've met here in Blue Lock. Maybe nicer than Isagi before I hated him. But I am your master. I don't want to show you how weak I am."

Nanase, still with tears in his eyes, inched closer and held Rin's hand. Rin flinched before relaxing. The country boy had such warm hands.

"Ya can be weak around me, Rin-san," Nanase remarked. "Yer just a regular guy after all. Don't be too strong all the time."

Nanase looked down at their intwined hands. He did not realize that some of his tears fell on their hands, which Rin felt. Rin felt that Nanase's tears burned him not because it literally burned, but because of pain and guilt.

"Shidou-san flirts with your nii-chan a lot," Nanase said.

Rin shuddered at the thought. It made him want to puke. The guys he hated so much flirting with each other? He really wanted to vomit.

"One Itoshi has someone by his side," Nanase said as he tried to stop crying. "I want to be beside ya. So why can't ya let me?"

It should've let Rin get defensive even more, but the thought of a gentle soul wanting to comfort him somehow made Rin... jelly inside.

"You're so demanding and persistent, Bumpkin," Rin scoffed.

"I know," Nanase said in return.

He knelt in front of Rin and wrapped his arms around the ace, bringing Rin closer to his chest for an embrace. Rin felt his face warming up to get this intimate with his disciple, but he breathed in an even pace when he took in Nanase's scent. It was the body wash issued by Blue Lock, but it also was mixed with Nanase's own scent. It felt comforting to Rin, and most especially when Nanase's chin rested on his head.

But the moment Nanase started stroking Rin's back, he gripped on the other boy's sleeve of his tracksuit, and he shed out his tears of frustration and anger, everything that had built up the moment Sae decided to forsake him.

He had been betrayed many times. Sae betrayed him. Isagi was trying to play nice until he decided Rin to be his rival. Rin did not want Nanase to leave him too. Which is why he tried playing hard to get and mean so Nanase will stay away from him. But on the contrary, Nanase stayed.

On the other hand, he feared it is he who would leave Nanase should he be scouted by a better team and leave Nanase in PXG.

Nanase was more muscular than him, but the embrace had a feminine touch to it. For Rin, Nanase was the perfect balance of harsh and soft, and he suddenly felt the urge to dwell more in it. He rubbed his face on Nanase's chest and allowed the other boy to see how broken he was. Nanase knew how cruel Rin could get during training, so maybe, Nanase would still accept him being this weak.

The two stayed inside the monitor room, with Nanase comforting Rin, and Rin silently crying his heart out.

****

By the time they entered their shared room, Zantetsu looked at them strangely, with his usual stoic appearance.

"Nanase, did you make Rin cry?" he asked.

But Nanase only shook his head. Tokimitsu wanted to ask what happened, but he backed down when he saw Rin glaring at him. The next thing startled the other two occupants in the room: Rin moved to bring his bed closer to Nanase's.

"Oy, are you going to sleep together?" Zantetsu asked as he felt his cheeks heating up.

Nanase felt his face heating up too. Tokimitsu also blushed.

"You mean 'sleeping next to each other'?" Rin asked in his usual stoic voice. "If ever Nanase and I are going to do that, it's none of your fvcking business."

Zantetsu cleared his throat and told Tokimitsu to sleep already. The perpetually anxious boy immediately did as told, and pulled his blanket over his head. The resident intelligence poser immediately turned off the lights and headed straight to bed.

Rin only rolled his eyeballs as he and Nanase settled on their beds. What exactly was that Baka Zantetsu thinking? When the two of them were already settled in, Rin moved in closer and pulled Nanase's blanket so the other boy won't feel cold. Only the reddish night light lit the room, but it was not enough to see Nanase's cute face in the dark. Nevertheless, Rin thought that Nanase appreciated the gesture because the other boy held him by the hand. Rin moved in even closer and wrapped his arms around Nanase before they went to sleep.

"Thank you for comforting me earlier, Nijirou," Rin said, finally calling Nanase by his given name.

****

"Oi, Bumpkin. Wake up."

Nanase slowly and weakly opened his eyes. He realized his vision was blurry because Rin's face was not clear. When his vision cleared a bit, he saw some kind of worry etched on Rin's face.

"Rin-san?"

Rin turned around to Tokimitsu and ordered him to get lots of water at the pantry. And to Zantetsu, a wash basin and a washcloth. It was when Nanase realized that his other roommates were in there too.

"Are you okay now, Rin-san?" Nanase asked.

Rin had a questioning look on his face before answering, "What do you mean? You're the one who's not okay."

Nanase felt Rin's hand on his forehead. He realized his body was warmer than usual.

"I tried waking you up so many times. And Tsurugi had been calling you too," Rin said matter-of-factly, but with a hint of worry in his voice.

Nanase watched as Rin left his side to go to a drawer near Tokimitsu's bed. It held their first aid kit, and Rin took out the medicine kit with antipyretic tablets in it. He returned to the country bumpkin's side.

"When Tokimitsu comes in, drink your medicine," Rin ordered.

Nanase nodded, then watched as Zantetsu came in with the washcloth and the basin.

"The water should be cold enough for you," he said.

"Cold?" Rin asked back. "Nanase will be more febrile than he already is. You mean 'tepid,' perhaps?"

"Oh, sorry," was all Zantetsu could say.

Rin searched the first aid kit and found a digital thermometer. He operated it and inserted it in Nanase's armpit. It took a long time for the thermometer to beep, and Rin's eyes narrowed when he took the thermometer and read it.

Nanase indeed was febrile. Thirty eight point five degrees Celsius, it said on the monitor.

Finally, Tokimitsu came in with water, and he told Nanase to take medicine and to drink lots of water. Nanase smiled. PXG might be one of the baddest leagues here in Blue Lock, but he found family in his teammates. The other two assisted Rin as Nanase took his med and drank water. Zantetsu said that he should stop worrying about peeing a lot, as that what's expected.

"You sure know a lot about it," Tokimitsu said to Zantetsu in wonder.

"My parents are dentists, but that's what they taught me as a child," Zantetsu remarked, finally making sense.

Rin had Nanase strip off of his upper tracksuit so he could do a sponge bath. The ace of Blue Lock told Zantetsu and Tokimitsu to go ahead with training and to tell Loki he won't be joining in.

When the two left, Nanase told Rin he could manage with sleep.

"But why are we practicing, Rin-san?" Nanase asked. "I thought Loki told us to rest for two days after the NEL ended."

Rin rose an eyebrow, "The game between Bastard and PXG will be in four days. I want you to get well before our game."

And it was when Nanase realized that he was just dreaming. Even knowing Rin's POV in his dream felt like Nanase had omnipresence and omnipotence too.

"What do you mean by us having a rest after the game?" Rin asked as he tapped the wet washcloth on Nanase's arm.

"It was just a dream, then," Nanase murmured weakly.

Damn. In his dream, Rin finally opened up to him and reciprocated his feelings. He wished Rin would do the same now. As he looked at Rin, he saw that Rin looked at him, with worry again in his eyes. Nanase knew that Rin had him train three times more than every other Blue Lock player in PXG, but it was the first time he saw Rin worrying about him.

"I want you to be at your best for our match," Rin said to Nanase as he continued rendering sponge bath. "You have to drink medicine, that's why I have to monitor you here. I can't leave you alone."

"Thank ya, Rin-san," Nanase said in a weak voice that is closer to a whisper.

After the sponge bath, Rin went to his own drawer to look for lighter clothes. Alas, the one he had was the red jersey from the Second Selection. And they're definitely not light for someone with fever, but it's better than nothing. He'd let Nanase wear his jersey since he did not have the patience to search through Nanase's clothes. He handed it to Nanase and had the country bumpkin wear it.

Nanase blushed even more, the romantic thrill and the fever mixing in. With him having romantic feelings for Rin, wearing Rin's jersey would feel like that one time when his female cousin wore her boyfriend's basketball jersey.

Rin did not know it was something that had been running in Nanase's mind. He took the wash basin and the cloth, and entered their shared bathroom to keep those. When he came back, he saw Nanase lying down, now wearing the jersey bearing the number 1 on it.

"You skipped breakfast too," Rin said in a gentle voice. "Do you want me to make you something light?"

Nanase smiled as he held out his hand for Rin to hold. Without hesitation, Rin took Nanase's hand and patted it gently with his other hand.

"Miso soup. Just with wakame, and no meat or tofu," Nanase said gently and weakly.

After patting Nanase's hand, Rin raised a hand and tapped Nanase's cheek lightly.

"I'll make it for you then, Nijirou," Rin said. "And tonight, I'm going to push my bed next to yours so I can take care of you better."

He still did not smile at the country bumpkin, but Nanase could sense Rin cared. It was the first time that Rin showed this side of him to anyone. When Rin went out of the room, Nanase smiled as he bit his lower lip. Could it be that Rin had started to like him too? Instead of calling him "Bumpkin," Rin had called him by his first name. How cute could it get?

Nanase had always imagined how it would feel to hold Rin in his arms, or to feel Rin's arms around him. His thoughts went wild despite the fever, imagining how Rin would hold him if he would push his bed closer to Nanase's tonight.

Rin, meanwhile, started to cook Nanase's miso soup. As he went on his way, he lit up a small smile. It's probably been years since he last smiled. He thought that if his despicable nii-chan had found love in the equally loathsome cockroach that went by the name of Shidou Ryusei, he perhaps could also start to open his heart to someone as kind and gentle as Nanase.

He did not know when he started feeling that something was off with him whenever he looked at his "property," but he thought it was confirmed earlier today when he saw Nanase weakly opening his eyes because of the fever. His protective instinct kicked in, and he wanted to take care of the country boy. Heck! He even want to embrace Nanase right there!

If there would be someone who should take care of the sick Nanase Nijirou, Rin knows it should be him. It's not only because he was Nanase's master, but it was also because he had started to feel something warm towards the other boy.

Blue Lock might be a very competitive place that was like prison. But somehow along the way, Rin had found something fluffy to keep his mind off the darkness of the place.

--end--

[bachirasbodyguard]

Best and worst match in the NEL so far

Thank you for the question!!!

My answer is going to be greatly influenced by what characters are in the teams that BM was facing and my personal preferences so this will be biased as fuck. Also, I think it’s a little hard to evaluate because the circumstances were so different for each one re Isagi’s role in the team, but here's my take.

The Barcha match: Way too short. A HUGE plus was simply Bachira being there though (and Otoya's scrawny ass as well). Also, I really like Lavinho. I think Barcha as a team has great vibes and swagger and I'm really sad we didn't get to see more of them.

Obviously, it's understandable why this game was so short - it just served as an introduction to how this arc was gonna work and who Kaiser is. Still, I wish there had been more...

The MC Match: The length and pacing of this game were great. Unfortunately, I can’t evaluate this match very fairly because I simply do not give a single shit about Nagi or Reo, and since so much of the focus was on them, I just didn’t enjoy this game that much. One big plus was Chigiri being a baddie and the amazing ending with the whole “how does it feel to be a clown in my story” spiel. Also, I liked seeing more of Noa and learning about his attitude towards Isagi.

I think Isagi's and Kaiser's relationship/rivalry was explored so well during this match. Additionally, and very, very importantly, I really liked seeing Isagi... struggle. I liked seeing him fail and lose his shit and be desperate and angry. It added stakes and anticipation, and really left me as a reader wondering what he was going to do next. It was great.

The Ubers Match: I love Ubers as a team because many of the characters I like are on it + Lorenzo was a great new addition + the team has a great dynamic.

The one huge fucking minus was that during this game things started going well for Isagi to an almost cartoonish degree. The flip from "Isagi is struggling! How will he ever beat Kaiser and become the best? The suspense is killing me!" to "Isagi can do everything and everything goes his way. C'mon, he's the main character," was a little too fast for me; I kind of didn't enjoy it. He became too successful too fast. I hope the PxG game fixes this somehow.

What I did enjoy immensely however was whatever the fuck was happening with Kaiser and his character development. Like all true Kaiser fans, I want to see him fail and cry and scream and throw up, and we actually got that here! Here's to more of that in the next game. 🥂

To summarize: I have no idea bro. I think that overall the MC game was probably the best one pacing, story-telling, and stakes-wise, but, again, I didn't personally enjoy it that much simply because of who is on the MC team. I liked reading through the Ubers game the most but I don't think it was the best writing-wise.

[bluelockednyx]

what's your thoughts on chapter 244? And did you have any expectation for PXG dynamics since we are at the start of final match (BM vs PXG)? Ty

Already knew that Isagi didn't see himself as Blue Lock's number one (because Rin), so no surprises there. And we finally get to see Bachira again!! Fingers still crossed that he gets his time in the limelight, with a goal or two to boot. Barcha had time to train - they have got to have something up their sleeve, please.

Per my meta, I've speculated that Rin's growth path as a character should be that he grows to form proper bonds with the other Blue Locks, and here in this chapter we're seeing him rely on people who have previously been shown to be friendly towards him, i.e. Tokimitsu and Nanase. Shidou's character arc should also be the same as Rin, and he is also working together with Karasu and Zantetsu. Although Rin and Shidou haven't been shown to be working together properly yet in the same game, I still believe that it's where their individual character arcs, in keeping with the story's themes should be headed towards. I still want to see Rin working together with Karasu, so there's that too.

Minor Otoya-Karasu face-off!! I adore these two so much as a pair, and it was fun to see them interacting with each other on opposing teams, since we've only ever gotten to see them playing on the same side thus far. Hope that there's more of them to come.

I'm so-so about Charles Chevalier's character design (feels like creativity has been running a little dry in this part), though given the unusual emphasis on his eyes he probably has some kind of vision-related skill too. He may or may not be a NG-11 (I'm leaning towards no, since it wasn't brought up), but it'll be interesting to see how he compares with Sae, and I'm curious as to what exactly his purpose is where Isagi's growth is concerned.

[maochira]

Masterlist: Neo Egoist League assistants

Originally, this was supposed to be a writing event I wanted to do during my 2 week school break. But I ended up enjoying it so much, I decided to turn it into a series that I'll be writing for in the longrun! These don't form a coherent story, but everything is based on the introduction.

Requests for these are still open!

Series synopsis: you, Claire (@deerangle3 ) and Mao (me) are assistants in the Neo Egoist League. For more details, check out this post!

Not specified to any teams

Introduction: Becoming an assistant/getting to know your coworkers

Girls night with Aryu, Anri, Hiori, and Chigiri

Coaches and Ego as father figures

Going on a picnic with the coaches

The coaches try to get presents for you (headcanons)

Bastard München

Spending time with the team + you fall in love with Kaiser

Meeting your brother Kunigami again

Brother!Kunigami apologizes

You fall in love with Yukimiya

Field day with the team + eating German food

You fall in love with Ness

Becoming best friends with Kaiser

Kurona's twin!reader

Crying in front of Kunigami

The team simping for the assistants

Wc!Kunigami seeing his s/o being hit in the face with a ball

Beach day with the team

You kiss Sendou

Being caught by Noa eating pasta at night with Gesner

You try to make Noa say "meow"

Kaiser mistakes male!reader for another player (headcanons)

Ubers

Spending time with the team

You fall in love with Lorenzo

Dyeing Barou's hair

Girls night with Barou and Lorenzo

You fall in love with Sendou

Barou asks his teammates for dating advice

The team simping for the assistants

Snuffy and Lorenzo find out you have a crush on wc!Kunigami

Barou refuses to admit he has a crush on you

Possum dad Lorenzo

Surprise birthday party for Aryu

FC Barcha

You become best friends with Bachira (Lavinho's child!reader)

The team simping for the assistants

PxG

Spending time with the team

Making Rin's favourite food

The team simping for the assistants

Falling in love with Rin

Let me be crucified - on you! (Shidou x reader)

Manshine City

Spending time with the team

The team simping for the assistants

Reo, Nagi and Chigiri ask Chris for dating advice

Beach day with the team

Reo, Nagi and Chigiri ask Claire and Mao for dating advice

[northshoregadgets]

Can Dogs Cry and What Exactly Is Dog Crying?

Canine communication is one of the most fascinating and confounding facets of our lives with dogs. They may not possess the means or ability to produce articulate speech, but dogs are as communicative in their way as any human, and more honest. Whether it’s body language, tail movement and position, staring, or making a wide range of vocalizations, our dogs are almost always telling us something. It seems easy to recognize when a dog is happy; but do we recognize when they are sad, grieving, or in pain with such facility? Can dogs cry and what exactly happens with dog crying?

On the surface, these are simple questions, but also ones that are worth giving some serious thought to. In the absence of a universal dog translator, dog owners are left to wonder and speculate upon how to interpret dog behavior. Is it accurate to equate phenomena like whimpering, whining, or howling with human expressions like bawling or weeping? A more penetrating or precise question might be, “Can dogs cry tears like humans?” Do dogs perform and vocalize pain, loneliness or grief through their tear ducts in the same ways as their owners?

This is what it sounds like when dogs cry. Photography via Pixabay.

Let’s start with the basics on dog crying and go from there:

Do dogs have tear ducts?

Can dogs cry emotional tears?

Are whimpering, howling, or whining similar to crying?

Do dogs respond to our tears?

Do dogs have tear ducts?

Absolutely. Anyone who owns a light- or white-coated dog — the Bichon-Frises, Maltese, and Poodles of the world among them— can easily attest that dogs do indeed have tear ducts. They know because the phenomenon of tear staining that develops with age is effectively written on the body. Tear staining is also known as epiphora, a condition in which dogs experience excessive tear production. For dogs whose tears are less conspicuous, what role do tear ducts and the liquids they produce serve?

Practically any animal with eyes has lacrimal ducts, commonly called tear ducts. Dog eyes certainly excrete tears, and they perform the same range of practical purposes as they do in humans. There are three primary categories of tears; both human and dog eyes produce two of them: basal and reflexive. Basal tears are produced and released constantly, but very slowly. They keep the eyes moist. Reflexive tears offer ocular protection, and flow more quickly in response to the presence of irritants and allergens. These dog tears keep eyes clear of obstructions and flush away foreign objects.

Can dogs cry emotional tears?

Having just surveyed two of the three kinds of tears, what is the third? In humans, the third major variety of tears are known as psych tears, or emotional tears. These are the very ones we’re here to investigate dog crying. Emotional tears are produced more suddenly and in greater volume that either basal or reflexive ones, and generally arise during moments of great emotion. Can dogs cry in response to emotional stimuli in the same way as we do? It’s an important distinction, and our curiosity leads us to distinguish between biological necessity, and what we might refer to as “real” tears.

Epiphora is a medical condition that gives the impression that a dog is crying. Photography via Wikimedia Commons.

Does dog crying ever signify distress, sympathy, or pain? The answer is complex and unsatisfactory for those of us who want to see our life experience mirrored by our dogs. In his preface to the second edition of the “Lyrical Ballads” (1801), William Wordsworth famously defined poetry as the “spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings,” which also serves as a succinct expression of how and why humans weep. Canine tear ducts do not function in this way, nor for the same reasons. While the outward manifestation of emotion we associate with crying is not found in dogs, this does not mean that dogs are stoic or unmoved. They simply experience and express those emotional states in different ways.

Are whimpering, howling or whining similar dog crying?

Dog vocalizations like whimpering, howling and whining are frequently linked in the popular imagination to canine emotional states. An obvious place to start is the experience and expression of pain. According to Dogster’s resident veterinarian, Dr. Eric Barchas, however, these vocal expressions, whining in particular, are not necessarily or directly related. Certainly, in the exact moment of pain — a paw stepped on by accident, for example— dogs’ instinctive reactions are similar to our own. A dog thus startled may emit a sudden yelp or yip, but won’t do it repeatedly or regularly in response to long-term or chronic pain.

For dogs, barking, whining, whimpering, and howling tend to be oriented toward expressions of need or having distinct desires met. Dog vocalizations are, by and large, communicative rather than emotional. Dogs whine and whimper when they want food or exercise. They bark and howl when they sense strangers or perceive threats. There is reason to be suspicious of these vocalizations, though. Dogs learn behaviors, after all. When they discover that making certain noises yields desired results, it can become not only repetitive, but manipulative. It is safe to say that howls, whines, and whimpers are similar, but not equivalent to human crying.

Do dogs respond to our tears?

Human babies and children learn behaviors, too. Their cries, wails, and screams — especially noticeable and grating in public places — can be as self-serving as those of dogs, if seemingly more interminable. Because dogs don’t express grief, sorrow, longing, loss, rage or joy through their tear ducts, that doesn’t mean they are stoic or emotionless. We know that dogs suffer negatively from separation anxiety, fear and stress. I can speak from personal experience that dogs do respond when their humans are in distress.

What we call crying in dogs is similar, but not identical, to human tears. Photography by Shutterstock.

I once incurred a pair of severe and painful injuries — a torn ACL and meniscus in my right knee — as a result of a particularly intense performance at karaoke. I managed to make it home that night, and at the very moment I opened my car door, I heard my dog make the most curious noise. It wasn’t a whimper or a whine, but a vocalization somewhere between them; it was certainly mournful and empathetic. I never heard her make a sound like it before, and I never heard it again. I knew that she knew that I was in great physical pain.

Share your experiences of dog affect!

Whenever I think of Tina, the memory of that sound is the first thing that rises to mind. It lasted only a few moments, very unlike the crying I did before surgery and during extensive rehab, but it was powerful and affecting. Our dogs are such huge parts of our lives. We certainly mourn them when they pass away, and their memories stay with us.

Have you had experiences similar to mine, when you were just certain, no matter how brief or ephemeral, that your dogs expressed grief or concern in a way that seemed to echo human crying? Share your experiences with dog crying in the comments!

Thumbnail: Photography by Shutterstock.

Read more about dog eye issues on Dogster.com:

Can You Use Human OTC Eye Drops as Eye Drops for Dogs?

Keeping an Eye on SARDS and Other Dog Eye Diseases

Dog Eye Discharge — What’s Normal and What’s Not

The post Can Dogs Cry and What Exactly Is Dog Crying? appeared first on Dogster.

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[animentality]

slogging through everyone unlocking meta vision rn 💀 idk if because im not enjoying it that much so i missed something but i also dont understand how this is different from isagis other vision power ups

it's essentially not different at all.

how many ways can you really say, yes, he has spatial awareness?

we GET it. He can see behind his head.

the main problem for me is that meta vision and analyzing the field end up being VERY long and pointless dialogue explaining Isagi's every muscle twitch.

which we already got too much of. so it's just heaping on extra.

it's really boring, plus, here's the other dirty secret.

Barcha was fine, because it was 9 chapters, and it was mostly just Bachira and Otoya and Lavinho getting to shine. These are fairly likable characters (quirky, you know?), even if they get brushed over.

Manshine was really good, because while it was long-ish, it was exciting because Nagi is always fun to see, since his goals are insane, PLUS he and Reo "fixed" their beef during the match, which was something to get you emotionally invested in Nagi's success.

Plus, Chigiri vs. Kaiser was epic, since we all love Chigiri, and can root for him to beat this smarmy little prick.

Chigiri, Nagi, and Reo have had the most development, since they've been with us from first selection, and are in general, very relatable/interesting people. They have emotional depth. They kept us very invested.

But then you get to Ubers, and it's like...

I like Barou, ok? I think he's great. I didn't like him originally, but being humbled by Isagi made him a pretty good character in my book...

But he can't carry that match alone.

Look at the cast, man.

I'm sorry, but Aryu? A shallow character who can be funny here and there, but has largely lost relevance? Niko, a guy with no backstory, who has always been just a pale imitation of Isagi AND who can't stop yapping too?

Aiku, who was interesting originally, but barely gets to do anything in this match which was SUPPOSED TO BE about how good Ubers is at defense?

I also personally don't like Sendou, although I know some people do (he's too het for me). Not really sure what his character traits are, besides him wanting to date a Hollywood actress.

These are like, the surface level characters.

They don't have the rich history of Nagi and Reo. They don't have the character depth of Bachira or the realism of Chigiri, nor the sympathy that those two characters evoke.

These are like, just opponents Isagi has to surpass.

Like the other characters technically are too, but, at least they felt more personal. These guys, nah.

Now I did like Lorenzo, the ace eater. He's a very interesting idea... but he does lose his relevance, and become nonexistent, the way every character does in these matches.

And Barou, I mean... I like the guy, but something was just missing for me...him changing the plan was...kinda whatever to me. It somehow felt like it went on too long, while also happening way too fast... and that's been all of NEL for me.

And that's the other issue, besides the characters.

The pacing of NEL is pretty bad.

Barcha was super short, and Manshine wasn't so bad until the end... but Ubers is where the drag happens.

Just so much dialogue. No emotional investment, just rambling about where isagi's foot was five minutes ago.

That's the biggest issue, ok?

It always is. You can't expect an audience to care, if you don't give them characters to root for.

Isagi was such a prick during Manshine, that I was starting to dislike him. But Ubers was where he started to feel like he was never going to lose again.

So that's where he became really unlikable to me during this arc...and then we get to Ubers, where he's like a god, and it's like ok... a god who can do no wrong, against characters we don't care about?

great.

why should i care

so you have my condolences, anon.

all i can really say is, get through it.

speed read it if you must. god knows i did.

the only emotional moment in that match is related to Hiori, but it unfortunately is dragged out way too long, and it makes no fucking sense.

plus it's nothing we haven't already seen before?

And it sucks, because I LIKE Hiori. I WISH he had better development...but as he is, he feels kind of flat.

He's just a guy who passes to Isagi, same as Kurona.

so yeah.

i can at least promise that the next match is slightly better. there's more emotional moments, at least.

but it's too fucking long (it's still ongoing) AND worse -

it crams SO MUCH into the match, that you WILL be hoping to die by the halfway mark...so...yeah.

I love Blue Lock, but... this arc, man.

It's been awful.

Anyone who says differently is just an Isagi glazer who wants him to win every game he's in.

[lunarcloak]

I also kinda interpret it as him finding a new technique/person to obsess over until he's understood it/them and adapted to it/can devour them. "The strongest guy", implying he's just found the highest target he can currently beat with high probability. "Rin Itoshi's kick traced in the air" because Rin is/was the biggest rival he could get at the time, and since that moment he has obsessed over shadowing Rin, understanding him and then eventually beating him.

Similarly, seeing Kaiser's super goal and calling a "superstar" is probably similar to how he saw Kaiser as the "ideal" version of his play style back in the Barcha match. Kaiser is still the benchmark of technical prowess Isagi wants to get to (and Rin is up there too, although he's not been given enough time in this match), so seeing him surpass Isagi again with this goal probably reinvigorated that.

How did people look at this panel and think it's Isagi giving Kaiser heart eyes???

Guys, that's his ego eyes 😭

From chapter 2:

If you want Isagi heart-eyes, see how he looked at Rin in second selection:

Both situations have Isagi amazed by the other person's shot. But while Isagi is looking at Rin's shot with pure admiration, with Kaiser's he looks like he's getting ready to devour him. Y'all should be worried 😭