#i'll add it on here later
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writing-heiress · 4 months ago
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The Maidens of Night Raven
WE'VE DONE IT FOLKS!
TWST x Magical Girl AU has finally been published onto AO3! The first chapter is already out, and I'll finish the rest of the Origins Arc very soon (...hopefully)
Tags: (in the comments)
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deeva-arud · 8 months ago
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So, about that one AU that's been marinating in my mind for years
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lilybug-02 · 11 months ago
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Any more random Soul or other such Lore you’d like to share with us that you’ve come up with but can’t fit in the comic anywhere?
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GET READY TO READ. Chara Timeline Lore!!!
Also take all of this as soft cannon. Most, if not all, will not be showing up in the comic (or at least in this amount of detail). And the comic does not need this information to make sense.
These book entries are from an in-universe source.
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I hope you enjoyed the world building :> Again this is mostly all for fun!
4th Wall Break Time! - Humans are completely oblivious to the fact “soul entities” are humans themselves. Their little heads would probably pop if they truly knew. So don’t tell them! - Monsters are still made of dust in my AU, but they are more physical than their Undertale counterparts, only slightly… - Both Humans and Monsters cannot do magic freely. They would need to go through extensive training to get…a Wizard license! :O - It’s strange, but the Monsters seem more human than the actual humans in this world…huh…
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canon-gabriel-quotes · 11 months ago
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Transcript: No, you're not an icon.
You're not a slay queen or an e-boy.
*pause for dramatic effect*
You're a sinner.
Original post being referenced
Audio source (Twitch)
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starflungwaddledee · 9 months ago
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Hear me out…Meta Knight and Starstruck
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✧˖°.✧ gravity ✧˖°.✧ ɡravɪti (noun) 1. the force that attracts a body towards the centre of the earth or towards any other physical body having mass 2. the degree of intensity of gravity, measured by acceleration 3. extreme importance; seriousness 4. solemnity of manner
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moodlesmain · 1 year ago
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Hi. Look at this.
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I just spent two days straight making a digital conspiracy board trying to piece together my favourite genre that isn't really a genre and more just a very particular niche which doesn't really have a name.
If you want to look I reccomend downloading and zooming in on the image to read everything LMAO, I want to try and convert it to a page on my neocities at some point so its easier to view but for now you guys just get a big ol' jpeg. You're welcome :)
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temporaerthaervaerk · 8 months ago
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I really am a sucker for dual male lead media where they appear as complete opposites only to end up being eachothers foils and somehow also ending up being completely depended on eachother despite of (because of) their differences
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diana-bluewolf · 2 months ago
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@traceyc-uk, our disaster duo is hanging out.
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Tangerin Prefect William belongs to @lil-grem-draws Aww, look at this frown. They grow up so fast <3
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estcaligo · 4 months ago
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⚡️If I Loved You Less⚡️
If I loved you less
I would invite you to the best and most renowned cafes in town, Instead of cooking simple homemade meals at dawn.
If I loved you less
I'd gift you countless lonely books With every famous tale and rhyme, Instead of reading by your side In cherished, silent time.
...if I loved you less
I would take grand portraits of you with cameras of the highest kind, Instead of sketching you sweetly, oh, line by humble line.
And if I loved you less
I'd gift you emeralds, peridots, Adorning you in gems so fine, Instead of small crocodile charms That speak of love divine.
I would declare your name so bold, For all the world to see and hear, Instead of savoring our love, In moments quiet and dear.
If I loved you less
I'd write you endless letters, yes, In gilded, rosy, perfumed ink, Instead of whispering loving words, As we drift off in sync.
I'd claim your whole time, yet I know Your duties call - fulfill them well, And though your presence's most desired, I swear I won't compel.
…if I loved you less…
I’d be unnerved by lightning strikes, I’d tremble at the sound of storm, Instead of finding calm with you, Embraced, forever warm.
I would enjoy night Briar air, If only, if I loved you less, But there's no need in it, no more- You took my every breath.
I'd give the stars, the Moon, the Sun, My soul, my life… But I digress- Believe, I'd give the world to you.
If only-
If I loved you less
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zukkaoru · 5 months ago
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do you have any fave fics on like. any bsd female characters? like character exploration etc.
good fics centered on female characters are pretty hard to come by in the bsd fandom but i have compiled a list for you <3
if i am lost for a day by featherx THEEEE louisa fic of all time!! ft minor montcott, but mostly a louisa character study
the quintessential girlhood of yosano akiko by lizandre yosano character study, ft transfem yosano
we die alone, we'll all die young (what you care to die for?) by hannieuphoria gin character study, canon divergent au, mind the tags but ohh this fic is So Good
Morning glory by CureIcy kyouka-centric, ft. transfem kyouka
so temporary by justadino agatha christie x zelda, brief agatha character study, very good i love it
blue moon by ringingmaybelles kyouka-centric centering on platonic kyouka & atsushi
now i feel my stars align by thatwasanticlimactic higuchi-centric with black lizard found family and minor higugin
if i leave in the morning, don't be mad by paperkids lucygin no powers friends with benefits to lovers (there's no smut; it's rated t)
desert to ice floe (i will follow) by littencloud9 ranpo & yosano siblings fic (the focus is spread about evenly between yosano and ranpo)
Dreamhouse by halfpastmonsoon montcott with lucy being horror movie protagonist coded. as she should be <3
The Castles Garden by TheMidnightThief higugin royalty au fluff
forget-me-not by feralshadowdemon kouyou character study (haven't read this one myself but it was written by a beloved mutual whose other fics i love)
a butterfly in the country of spring by hail_hex yosano-centric, also haven't read this one but i've heard good things
and i'll add some of my own fics because why not!
beneath the candy-coated clouds higuchi/margaret florist x candy shop employee au
the wonder that we'll inspire  lucygin with gin adopting a lizard
with sweet understanding higuchi-centric valentine's day higugin
i'll hesitantly put my akutagawa siblings characters study fic here too since it has a lot of focus on gin, but with a disclaimer that gin is written as nb transmasc, and obviously there's focus on akutagawa as well since it's a study on both of them
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blusherbaker · 9 months ago
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TWST Kink Headcanons: Octavinelle Edition
Minors/ageless blogs DNI; all characters are 18+ for these scenarios
Each character is given a short write-up of one of their main kinks, as well as a list of other kinks they may like (with a little more info added in some cases), and a list of things they would dislike.
Warnings: Smut, discussion/mention of multiple kinks of different varieties, including those related to D/s dynamics, bondage, feeding, etc.
<——« Savanaclaw
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Azul: Voice kink
It doesn't really matter what your voice sounds like, Azul will absolutely melt simply by hearing your voice (or vocalizations) in the right context. Whether your voice is deep and gravelly, high and light, smooth, lilting, nasally, brassy, breathy, or any other colour / timbre, he will love it. And should you want to make Azul's hearts really race, just adding the slightest layer of a seductive tone to your speech will definitely do the trick.  It's also a good idea to talk to him - at length - while you're intimate with him. Hearing your voice will in equal parts calm him down, get him out of his head and into the moment, and make him very turned-on, especially if you add in even a little bit of dirty talk. Tell him what you want to do to him, or want him to do to you. Let him hear what you feel. And if a few little moans, or sighs, or whimpers happen to make appearances between your words, his arousal will simply go into overdrive. 
Other possible kinks: 
Submission
Domination (sometimes - like Riddle, he's a sub-leaning switch)
Bondage 
Cockwarming?
Lingerie
Dislikes: 
Degradation
Humiliation
Exhibitionism
Mirror sex
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Jade: Shibari (and other types of bondage)
Jade appreciates so many things about the art of shibari. The trust, the power, the creativity, and the interplay, with you and him doing a sort of dance, are all things he would find appealing. He would love moulding your body into beautiful shapes ornamented and restrained with ropes (or perhaps ribbons, with the less restrictive binds) and watching your reactions during the entire process. And he loves the controlled unpredictability of it all. Each tie is never the exact same twice - changing even the littlest things, from the speed, to the tension of the rope, results in a completely novel experience each time. That is one of Jade’s favourite parts of shibari. Jade is also a patient man. He takes his time. And he will definitely want to do many, many different ties each and every session. Jade also makes sure things are absolutely perfect, in every aspect - he will have learned and practised the knots and ties before even considering bringing up the idea to you. Each session, he will have an entire routine planned out, his hands moving you smoothly from one position to the next, knotting then undoing the ropes over your body, likely for hours. But don't worry, he will make sure to take care of all your desires as well, you only need to ask him to. Jade will keep you waiting in anticipation, but he will never leave you unsatisfied.
Other possible kinks: 
Stuffing (mostly receiving)
Sadomasochism (he’s more of a sadist than a masochist, though)
Orgasm control
Marking
Dacryphilia
Dislikes: 
Exhibitionism?
Submission (most of the time)
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Floyd: Sensation play
Floyd's kinks often shift and change, so you can be certain you'd never simply fall into a routine with him. He's always wanting to try something new, being a bit of an experimentalist at heart, but one thing that stays consistent in one form or another is his love of sensation play. Everything from gentle massages, to the sting of a paddle, to playing different genres of music, to feeding each other different combinations of flavours, to even using various types of lighting, Floyd has so much fun playing with his (and your) senses. Sometimes, the sensations get almost overwhelming, but often, that’s exactly what Floyd needs.  However, despite liking most types of sensation play, his absolute favourite thing is playing with temperatures. And while the heat of things like dripping wax is something that Floyd really, really enjoys, his preference is definitely the cold. He almost always loves the sensation of ice gliding over his warm skin, leaving a trail of goosebumps over his body, and making him shiver as the water slowly evaporates (and he'd adore the feeling of a chilled glass toy cooling him from the inside out, too ♥︎). The cold feels both exciting and comforting to him, and is something that - to Floyd - just overall feels good. 
Other possible kinks: 
Exhibitionism
Feedism
Marking
Sadomasochism (he’s a little bit more of a masochist than a sadist)
Sounding
Lactation
Wax play
Dislikes: 
Bondage (being restrained, specifically)
Other than that, he’s pretty open to trying most things, though he may or may not like them at different times
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And with that, my headcanons for the Octavinelle boys' kinks are complete! These three are some of my favourites, and I really had a good time putting this together. It took a bit longer to get out than I thought, but I hope you enjoyed reading through my ideas ^v^
If you have any additional thoughts or opinions on these headcanons, I'd love to hear them!
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thatswhatsushesaid · 9 months ago
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thyandrawrites · 11 months ago
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On (soccer) partnerships, commitment, and why Nagi and Reo are the poster children for always doing the opposite of what the series is about
Alright fellas, this started out as something completely different, so forgive me in advance if it feels disjointed, but.
Have you wondered why in chapter 18 of epinagi, Nagi’s inner monologue complains that his “heat is being stolen away”? Or why even in the main series Nagi can’t seem to win a single match even after he and Reo get on better terms? Well, if you have, this post might be a fun read for you. If you already have answers, I might sound like I’m stating the obvious because none of this is particularly subtle or particularly new. But since both series have hit the Nagi Flop Era, I thought it’d be fun to take a deep dive into his character and Reo’s, the themes of the story, and how their codependence contradicts the entire premise of blue lock, intentionally so. I’m going to go over why stagnancy is the entire point of their partnership, and why the fact that they keep failing and failing is instrumental to the type of story Kaneshiro is trying to tell. 
So, without further ado. Get comfortable, this will get long. 
So, as I anticipated, Nagi and Reo are very very often written to be at odds with the themes the story functions around, and I think their regression is another instance of that. In a manga that often underlines the importance of making soccer your “reason to exist” if you’re serious about it, Nagi and Reo are the only duo repeatedly singled out as more committed to each other than to the sport itself. This, the story tells us, being the root of why they so often fail. 
The premise of blue lock is that you can’t become the best in the world until you dedicate your whole self to the sport. Only that egoism will push you in the right state of mind to go above and beyond for a victory. 
Time and time again, we see the most outstanding goals happen in what gets called the hottest place in the field. This “center of heat” comes up a couple of times, and it’s usually represented by a person. According to Ego’s philosophy, the idea is that the world’s best striker possesses a soccer-specific kind of charisma. When he enters a state of flow and pulls off a world-class play, he’ll have a ripple effect on the players around him, pushing them to reach flow too and elevating the level of the game itself. We saw this happening in the U-20 match. Ego’s not really aiming to create a national team, or to foster the talent of the new generation. He only cares about nurturing one person into that role, betting it all on the fact that once that striker awakens from its “rough diamond” shell, they will fire up their teammates & lead Japan to victory. 
Because of this, ideally, everyone aiming at becoming the world’s best striker should strive to be that center of heat. To an extent, even Nagi does. His motivation is spotty at best, but whenever a game heats up, Nagi’s ego gets tickled awake the same as everyone else’s. This is not limited to the times Isagi challenged him, by the way. He reacted to Rin’s skill in much the same way. 
Problem is, neither Nagi nor Reo seem to know how to become that center of heat by themselves. They only react to someone else raising the stakes of a match. Even when Nagi feels fired up, his lack of creativity & playmaking sense fail him against any opponent who is more tactical than him. In a similar way, even when Reo starts going after goals alone in the wake of his split from Nagi, he still can't see his vision of a goal through to the end, or gets outsmarted and beaten to the punch by other playmakers. 
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The only times they really get their head into a game is when they're working as a duo. Compare for example Nagi losing grasp of his heated frenzy when he splits from Reo to how quickly he reaches flow when they go back to playing together.
So why is this an issue? If Nagi's limit is his over-reliance on instinct, and Reo's is the lack of self-centeredness that's key to scoring, then shouldn't teaming up solve the problem and make them a powerhouse? How come, even after somewhat resolving their communication issues, their soccer still is no match to that of the blue lock elites? 
Well, before I can begin to unpack the answer to that… A big theme driving the soccer partnerships is that you won’t go very far if you rely too much on the other person to carry your weight. This is the reality Bachira faces in the 4v4, when he “disappears”, swallowed by everyone else’s growth. This is also the lesson Rin learns from Sae when his brother returns from Spain a completely different, overwhelmingly superior player. The series tells us that relying on others to pick up your slack makes you less sharp and prone to noticing your weaknesses because someone else will cover your back. 
For a practical example of this, Rin's style when he played with Sae mirrors Nagi's around Reo: they both relied on instinct, trusting that the ball would always come if they just positioned themselves in the right spot to score. And for a time, it did. But that's not the level the rest of the world plays at. Nagi and Reo's winning streak ends when they face an unpredictable, explosive talent like Isagi, who doesn't operate according to any predictable patterns. Similarly, Rin's playstyle gets wrecked in a matter of minutes by a Sae who got to experience the "real" soccer played overseas. 
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The point, then, is that Nagi and Reo never really assimilated any of Ego's lessons, instead resisting his philosophy to a fault by choosing each other. From the start, they’re not very good at being apart, given how their strength draws from being a team. Both of them are noted to only ever increase the level of their plays when they are working together, but not as much when alone.
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Nagi’s the brawn to complete Reo’s brain, and their dynamic too often falls back on that codependent partnership. In fact, they default to their roles even when they're not playing with each other. During the second selection, Nagi replaces Reo with Isagi, continuing to rely on someone else's creativity and game sense, while he just follows. And in the 3v3, we similarly see Reo fall back on playing the midfielder to Kunigami and Chigiri's forward, offering up the perfect passes to make them shine and get all the scoring options they want. 
But what about when they're together? Aren't they strong then? Didn't Nagi score a crazy super goal thanks to Reo's assist? What do we make of that? 
You'll probably remember how Ego got a sense of foreboding from Nagi's five shot revolver. Of course, you might say, Ego never liked their soccer! He was cussing them out for playing together since day one! Of course he's a hater! 
Well… Yeah. But Ego's also an authorial insert, and he's there to tell us the themes of the story, and comment on the characters growth. Or in this case, their stagnancy. Nagi's returning to his reliance on Reo's brains and Reo's willingness to entertain it are both framed as a bad thing because it specifically contradicts the idea the series is based on: that a real striker is an egotistic, self-reliant existence that doesn't bend to other people's rules, but instead dictates their own, and makes everyone follow or fall through in their wake. 
There are several players this definition already applies to. Rin, Barou, Shidou and of course Isagi all come to mind. Isagi's growth in particular has been rotating around this concept. Isagi not only believes in his (meta) vision, but he also possesses the sharp-wit and the cutthroat resourcefulness to see it through no matter the odds, at times even to the detriment of his teammates. Nagi and Reo, on the other hand, can pull off some incredible plays, but it’s never enough to land them a solid victory, especially in the NEL arc. Usually, in a story, when a character fails enough times to become stagnant, the author is making some kind of point. In this case, as the narrative itself points out through Isagi first and Agi later, it’s the concept that relying on their teamwork is actually making Nagi and Reo’s soccer worse. 
Sure, Nagi might've caught Isagi off guard with those feints once and managed to score, but that's still him relying on instinct over brains. If you dissect that match, you'll see that aside from the fake volley itself, which is the product of a non-replicable state of flow, there isn't a single move Nagi and Reo made during that game that Isagi didn't see through, expect, and match their pace at. This is by design, of course. It's meant to indicate that while Isagi grew, learning from stronger players and assimilating new elements in his arsenal of weapons, Nagi and Reo are still stuck playing the same way they did in the second selection. With Reo as the heart, brain and anchor directing Nagi around, and Nagi as the leg kicking the ball into the net following a momentary burst of inspiration. 
The fact that this is intended as a setback in their path towards a more egotistical soccer is made more obvious by the timing. It's not a coincidence that Nagi went back to Reo the moment he got frustrated by how hard creativity and tactics come to him when he's on his own, without a "handler" like Reo (and later Isagi) taking care of all the hard parts. 
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Nor is it a coincidence that Reo was faced with the choice to go back to helping Nagi out right when Reo was beginning to go after his own goals, without help. Nagi comes up to him and shakes him up literally one (1) panel after Reo's dramatic, resolute decision to prove himself alone.
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Had they gotten anywhere in their quest to polish their individual skills during the split, maybe their partnership could’ve aspired to become more like Isagi and Bachira’s, eventually. However, they weren’t apart long enough to master their respective strengths, or to consolidate their egos as something separate from their status as partners. Thus, when they resume playing together, they instead hold each other back. 
So is their ego the problem here, then? Ever since that five shot fake volley, we see Nagi’s dissolve, leaving him unmotivated again, grasping for answers he can't seem to reach no matter how many people he asks. And surely, its disappearance is significant, much like how Reo's ever changing definition of his own ego is also significant. But I think the real issue is something else. Egos can take many forms, and Nagi and Reo aren't the only players whose so-called “protagonism” isn’t rooting for their own success. Most recently, Hiori gained an ego too, and it was framed as a good thing even though it doesn’t strictly lead to him becoming the best striker in the world. 
My idea, then, is that it's less that they lack the "correct" ego, but more like they lack the correct attitude towards soccer to begin with. From the start, they're both motivated by something that is not inherent to soccer itself, but only tangential to it: the World Cup—or rather, their promise to each other that they'd win the World Cup. Because of this, I think, they center their football more around their partnership & their shared dream than any genuine passion for the sport, unlike pretty much the rest of the cast (now including Hiori. Yay!). In other words, the problem is that neither of their egos is really about themselves, yet. So it fails them because it's not conductive to "protagonism", but centered around an "us" that drags them off course.
Let's go with Nagi first. On the surface, "commitment" and "Nagi Seishirou" don't seem to go well in the same sentence. Nagi doesn't do anything excessively. He's content to coast through life doing nothing more than he strictly needs to survive. As long as he can put in minimal effort and still have time to play video games and nap, he's happy. When his teachers asked him to fill a form about his future, he couldn't think of anything he wanted to do. He's the embodiment of living one day at a time cause it's too much work to figure out his life past that. Yet, he genuinely commits to soccer. 
Or does he? 
Sure, he agrees to not only playing the sport, but to dedicating several years of his life to becoming pro. That’s dedication, for sure. But is it really for soccer? I would argue that no, Nagi’s commitment is to his partnership with Reo, not to the sport itself. And okay, you can’t have one without the other, but the distinction is important to understand Nagi’s (and Reo’s as well) resistance to character growth. 
So, Nagi had no passion for the sport until he saw the level some other elite blue lockers played at, and got curious and frustrated enough to put real effort in it himself. But until then, soccer was simply something he tagged along in. In fact, he was pretty unenthused with the idea of playing until Reo promised him an easy life and made it so Nagi wouldn’t have to work hard for it. Nagi signs up for blue lock with the expectation that he’ll be the one to flunk out first, without being too torn up about it. Clearly, it’s not a career as a professional soccer player he has an attachment to. I’d argue it’s more the fact that he feels comfortable around Reo, and he is invested in what only their agreement can bring forth. That is, a life more exciting than any nap or game. 
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The excitement part is the focus here. At their core, both Nagi and Reo’s characters are motivated by the wish to escape boredom. So much so, the epinagi movie made that its tagline. Thematically, dissatisfaction with boredom is the catalyst for every choice they make. While everyone else is motivated by an ambition that is inherent—that draws from their wish to excel—Nagi and Reo are more prize-oriented, lacking the conviction that they’re special on their own. It follows that the challenge of bringing home the World Cup represents just that—for Nagi, it’s the thrill of a final boss with the prospect of an easy life afterwards, and for Reo, something hard to obtain that he’d conquer by his own merit. In both cases, soccer for soccer’s sake is not the end goal. It’s just a tool to achieve what they really want. 
Neither of them ever really dreams of becoming the world’s best striker, and neither swears their entire life to soccer, either. Not even Reo ever brought up a career in the sport, past winning for Japan for the first time. This is why I say their commitment is more to each other than to football, and also why they struggle to advance in the program. 
Let's think about it. The Cup was never really Nagi's dream; beating Isagi was. Yet, when their partnership all but crumbles down, Nagi keeps making choices with the Cup in mind. The boy who never fought for anything becomes determined to honor his promise to Reo even if he's not certain that Reo still cares about it. By his own admission, he chooses Isagi and then England because both of those things bring him closer to their original goal, and Nagi's resolve for that has never waned, even if for a time he thought Reo's had.
It's like he clings to inertia to avoid thinking what the sport means to him. Despite how Reo seemingly turned his back on him, Nagi doesn't want to give up on what made them partners. To him, soccer never stopped being something they shared (to a fault). That's why, I think, when they make up, a big part of their reconciliation is going back to sharing a dream. This time, with Reo helping Nagi out instead of the other way around. And I'm saying that's a flaw because his subconscious need to seek answers and help from others made it so that whenever he's alone, he doesn't have a very defined idea of how to move forward. But again, a striker should be self-reliant, and have the capacity to evolve on his own even as the match is unfolding. But Nagi didn't even believe in himself until Reo convinced him he was special, so how can Nagi have the right mindset to seize his protagonism?
Similarly, Reo’s drive is also not based on anything inherent. From the start, he doesn’t believe he was “chosen by football” the way geniuses like Nagi and Rin are. Because of this, he never bought into Ego’s striker philosophy, nor has he been a very fitting candidate for it yet. Much like with Nagi, his set up as someone willing to step away from the spotlight positions him in defiance of the story’s themes. While Nagi has the talent and instinct to become a powerhouse but lacks conviction, Reo is a born leader outside of the facility, but within blue lock’s rules he can only make it to the U-20 bench, and so far no further. 
The point here is that Reo’s readiness to be Nagi’s crutch is lowkey framed as a voluntary burden he places on his potential growth, a fact that the narrative condemns. 
Reo was born for success—bred and raised with every luxury to make sure he'd step into his father's shoes and be one of Japan's wealthiest and most capable businessmen. And Reo takes obvious pride in his social status, too. We can see it in the flaunted wealth of his spending and daily habits, as well as in the way he interacts with his peers. He funds his Hakuho soccer team and easily seizes captainship. Blue lock teams don't have captains, but he still rises to a similar position even within an environment designated to promote violent competitiveness and a wolf-eat-wolf mentality. Heck, he asks Nagi to call him "boss" and demands Zantetsu recognizes him as "super elite". Pride in being the best and excelling at everything he does is written into Reo's code.
Yet, the moment Ego suggests that there is no such thing as cooperation within his training program, Reo is quick to bargain—take him, he’s the real star. I will tag along and ensure his success. 
Ever the businessman, right? Problem is, renouncing his pride for someone else is the opposite of the attitude he should have. Same as Nagi, Reo puts a lot of weight on their shared dream. Too much weight. Somewhere along the line, “I want the World Cup” became “If Nagi’s at my side, we will win the World Cup”. Being partners until the end became so entangled with Reo’s dream that he can no longer separate the two. When Nagi leaves, Reo’s image of that finishing line crumbles. Iirc, he doesn’t even mention the World Cup as his goal anymore until Nagi comes back to him. When asked to put into words what he wants to achieve with his soccer, Reo tells Chris that he wants to go after goals alone. It’s only later, when Chris questions what happened to his solitary resolve in the wake of Reo’s restored friendship with Nagi, that Reo is like “well, my actual dream was the World Cup anyway, so this still counts.” 
That is both true and a deflection from the truth. Yes, Reo’s real goal has always been the cup… but he also subconsciously sees it as something inseparable from his promise with Nagi. He can’t have one without the other. Or he thinks he can’t, is the point. Partly because of that, and partly because Nagi is his best friend, Reo is very resistant to Agi’s criticism. The story’s trying to nudge Reo towards personal growth, telling him that the only way out of this impasse is to quit what isn’t working. However, because Reo’s meant to resist the themes of the story, the choices he makes are rarely the right ones. That is, the choices a real egoist would make in his place.
This isn’t anything recent, by the way. For this same reason, for example, winning Nagi's trust back becomes his main motivation to survive past the loss in the 3v3. By his own admission, Reo is the only guy in blue lock who not only has a safety net outside the program, but a very comfortable life to fall back on if a career in football doesn't work out for him. But when push comes to shove and he faces the chance of dropping out, Reo resolves to improve by thinking of Nagi and their shared dream.
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Let’s compare that to Barou, who was similarly broken down and had to crawl his way up again. Barou goes the egoist way and finds his resolve within himself, vowing to double down on his king shtick and devour Isagi back. To Barou, the simple idea of passing a ball is akin to defeat. When he envisions a future of normalcy, with football as something to only watch on tv, Barou’s hunger to reign the field like a king rears its head again and motivates him forward. Reo, instead, never reaches a point where he embraces the series’ trademark selfishness. In fact, he does the opposite. When he vows to step up his game, he doesn’t do it because he thinks he’s the top dog like everyone else. The root of his despair is not a wounded pride, or a desire to prove himself further, to “devour” others back and rise to the top, but just the loss of his fix against boredom. Remember, chasing an exciting life is both Reo and Nagi’s main motivator so far. To put it simply, Reo doesn’t want what awaits him outside of blue lock. 
That’s the seed of his actual ego, by the way. Not the Cup, not making Nagi the best, but rather obtaining something by his own merit. But because of his reliance on Nagi (and Nagi’s on his), Reo hasn’t yet reached the point where he can realize this and use the knowledge to better his plays. In that sense, their partnership holds both of them back from exploring their inner motivations and individual strengths further.
And I said that this is instrumental to the kind of story Kaneshiro’s telling because it’s meant to show us all the ways a striker can’t be. This is not a manga where the power of friendship will get you anywhere. No matter how stubborn you get about having it your way, obstacles will materialize in your path and set you back the longer you refuse to play for your own sake. 
Yet, Reo doesn't want to advance in the program for the sake of becoming the world's best striker. He never did. He wants to move forward because Nagi left first, and he wants to meet him on the other side (quote, "beyond our dreams"). In other words, to return to being friends, even if he fears that Nagi might've replaced him with Isagi and "forgotten" about him. It doesn't have anything to do with soccer per se. It's more like Reo sees soccer as his chosen tool for self-determination. It was the trial to prove to himself, as well as his father, that his "worth" wasn't handed down to him by circumstance, but was inherent. He could achieve something worthwhile thanks to hard work, and not just reap the benefits of his last name. 
And the thing is…If he were literally anyone else, at this point he would’ve already channeled that into individualism, but because it’s Reo, he doesn’t. Despite possessing that seed of egoism, Reo doesn’t water it. His ambition doesn't make him an egoist in the way Ego Jinpachi intended, but instead becomes something that's meant to be carried by two people, contradicting the story.
Reo’s resolve is then always a bit off from falling in line with the rules of blue lock. Even when he gets something right, he does it for the wrong reasons, stumping his development. For example, his resolve after the 3v3 is both a step forward and two steps back. The positive is that he "engraved despair". He faced his shortcomings, realized his powerlessness, and took measures to improve to avoid being left in the dust again. The negative part is that being on his own should've given Reo a taste for real egoism, a hunger for self-reliance, but it does the opposite instead: it makes him long for what he had, and put all his willpower into restoring that partnership however he can. If the issue was that Nagi's improved enough to no longer be satisfied by the level of Reo's plays, then Reo's solution is to make his soccer exciting again in Nagi's eyes to, quote, "be enough to satisfy" him.
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Because of that, however, the moment he has Nagi's trust back, their partnership back, Reo pretty much stops trying to improve. His chameleon style is still a go, but it becomes yet another tool to assist in Nagi's goals. It didn't start that way.
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Initially, it was what Reo intended to use to score alone, remember?
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Yet, even after coming up with a style that's solely his, that focuses on his strengths and brings no value to Nagi's, Reo keeps committing to stagnancy. In different but similar ways, both do. 
Teamwork and passive codependence are the two things Ego asked all the blue lockers to leave behind, but Nagi and Reo make it their job to bring typical shonen manga dynamics into a series that sets out to break from the norm. And that’s the point! 
In this sense, Reo is more at fault than Nagi, who instead realizes that sometimes being apart makes you better, and doesn’t mean the end of your friendship. If I were to pin down Nagi’s role in the narrative, then I’d say he’s meant to show that talent doesn’t equal success without discipline, self-awareness and determination. So the world’s best striker can’t just be good. He needs to know what he’s doing, and when and where he can do it to make the most of every play, since nothing happens by chance on the field. Whereas Reo’s role is that of showing us the mindset of a real striker. Because Reo enters the program without accepting or even understanding Ego’s rules, Reo’s faulty beliefs get challenged at every turn, with the author basically spoonfeeding us the correct path to soccer stardom. 
So in the end, since they struggle so much to even understand what they should be doing, their fumbling around makes it so the story goes more into depth about its own themes. Their job is to be incompetent, basically, but in a way that doesn’t rule out eventual growth. They just need to come to terms with the rules of the competition they entered first. So far, they’ve been content to just live in a bubble and coast through the increased stakes of the selection. If they’re serious about their dreams, however (and we’ve established that they are!), they will have to make a choice between what’s comfortable and what’s necessary. Cause, to quote Ego from epinagi chapter 2, in blue lock there’s no place for self-conscious babies who don’t want to ever get their feelings hurt. 
So what will they choose? Each other again, or the only way they can make it past blue lock and thus actually chase their dreams? 
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st4rstudent · 4 months ago
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people seemed to like the last design so here's another drawing. this time featuring a surprise guest. haha wow whos that guy...
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no dialogue ver
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qrevo · 7 months ago
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Emotional Support Polar Bear 🐻‍❄️✨
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(Whenever you're feeling sad he will cheer you up with bear puns - he just can't BEAR to see you down!!)
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kaitaiga · 4 months ago
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Craig Alan Jones - Black Ops OC
GENERAL
Age: 46 (1981)
Birthday: 23 July, 1935 in Adelaide, South Australia
Occupation: SASR Trooper, ASIS Officer
Affiliation: Special Air Service Regiment (SASR)(Formerly), Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS)
Rank: Lieutenant (Formerly)
Face Claim: Mel Gibson
Height: 186cm (6'1)
Hair Colour: Dark Brown
Eye Colour: Blue
Identifying Marks: Scarring on legs, mole on left cheek
Languages: English, Indonesian, Vietnamese (minimal), Russian (minimal)
Song Associated: Sharp Dressed Man - ZZ TOP
AFFILIATES
CIA
Russell Adler
Frank Woods
Alex Mason
Lawrence Sims
Lazar Azoulay
"Bell"
Aleksandra Clarke R. (@alypink)
MI6
Helen Park
New Zealand Army
Koa “Hunter” Nikau ( @islandtarochips )
Other
Abby Mason (@revnah1406)
PERSONALITY AND TRAITS
Myers-Briggs Type: ENTP-A
Generally, Craig is a relaxed but confident, goal-oriented individual.
He isn’t afraid to speak his mind when he has opposing views on a matter. He prides himself on his own experiences that have built said opinions, which may come off as arrogant at times.
Craig has a habit of working alone without noticing, working autonomously to get a job done. He is self-motivated and does what he thinks is best for an outcome.
As a trooper, he learnt to be adaptable and resourceful to any given situation.
SKILLS/SPECIALISATIONS
As an SASR trooper, Craig has to work in a smaller force element, therefore has undergone training in many different areas, including:
Parachuting (HALO/HAHO)
Combat Survival
CQB/CQC
Demolitions
Signaller
SF Weapons Handling (mounted heavy-weapons, sniper, etc)
Urban Combat
BACKSTORY
Craig was born on the 23rd of July, 1935 in Adelaide. Raised just outside of the main city, his father was part of the city council in Bradbury and lived well beyond his means. Craig attended prestigious primary and secondary schools but was always rebellious, preferring to skip going to school to commit petty crimes, tarnishing the family name as he knew that due to his father's status, he could bypass getting in trouble.
Due to this and in addition to not wanting to follow his father’s path of going to university and becoming part of the city council, this lead to many arguments between the two and at 16, he was thrown out of the house and had to fend for himself on the streets. Craig’s father, not wanting to have any association with him anymore, placed a fake obituary in the newspaper to officially cut ties with him.
For two years, Craig changed his identity and worked at a plant nursery before undergoing mandatory national service within the Australian Army at 18. He enjoyed his occupation and the perks that came along with it that he fully enlisted into the Army after his mandatory service finished and later into the Special Air Service Regiment (SASR) in 196X. He spent his first brief deployment in Borneo during the Indonesia-Malaysia conflict before shipping out to Nui Dat, Vietnam in 1966 as part of Sabre 1 squadron.
Unbeknownst to his unit whilst in Vietnam, Craig was ordered by ASIS to keep an eye out and investigate any intel that could hint towards any Soviet activity, passing anything he finds onto a CIA contact. This contact was revealed to be Russell Adler. The two become acquainted and would go onto Operation Fracture Jaw alongside Lawrence Sims.
For the remainder of the Vietnam War, Craig and the SASR continued to work closely with MACV-SOG, providing intel and support until 1971 where he returned to Australia. He truely florished in his time spent in the military, from a petty thief to an extraordinary soldier who lead his unit through countless battles, a great leader and mentor.
COLD WAR
Fast forward to 1981, Craig now works under ASIS as an intelligence officer. Due to his knowledge and intel of Perseus from Vietnam, plus his connections to Adler, he joins the crew at the CIA safehouse to help track him down once and for all.
Missions:
Fracture Jaw
Brick in the Wall
Echos of a Cold War
End of the Line
The Final Countdown
Two years later in 1983, Craig married his unnamed wife and thus his son Lachlan Jones was born.
TRIVIA
Craig prefers to wear his R.M Williams boots in the style, 'The Craftsman' in dark tan.
His main choice of attire includes: two button down shirts layered and unbuttoned (inner white and outer dark blue) with a brown leather bomber jacket on top, boot-cut blue jeans and a brown leather belt along with his boots.
Smokes occasionally, likes the brand 'Lucky Strike'.
Drives a red Mitsubishi Starion.
Favourite weapons include: HK MP5, Sterling Submachine Gun, Colt M16A1 and L9A1 Browining Hi-Power.
Frequently visits casinos and likes to gamble.
He prefers his coffee made black with lots of sugar.
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