#just like Isagi is broken into pieces

[chodzacaparodia]

Every time Isagi does his puzzle thing, I have my own "Try Not To Laugh Challenge".

Come on, look at this:

This can't be funny just to me

[tteokdoroki]

no cus isagi being slightly crazy and saying the most absurd things to the men who approach you is like weirdly attractive…

૮ ͈>◡< ͈ა warnings — please read + mdni ! characters aged up to 20s, suggestive, sleazy men, manipulation kinda, threats of violence LMAOO, possessive + pro player!isagi, fem!reader.

god,, it’s so fucking hot…

the idea of isagi always protectively looming over you, always around and a little too close when a guy approaches you. you think it’s normal, that he’s just looking out for you because men can be assholes or gross but really he’s just as outlandish as all the rest — perhaps worse and it’s just never been directed at you.

you’ll be out in public, making googly eyes at a guy who’s ordered the same coffee as you, swearing on your life that you feel some sort of connection like it’s a meet cute or something. but isagi is possessive, telling you he’ll watch your stuff with his sweet smile and big innocent blue eyes when you head to the bathroom one moment and in the next he’s damn near snarling at the guy, saying stuff like “you look at her like that again, and i’ll shove this coffee so far down your throat that you’ll never know what it’s like to breathe again.” he’s so unwell, so unhinged but he can’t stand the thought of someone else having you the way he does.

when you’re out clubbing or celebrating a win with the blue lock team — they’re all probably teasing isagi about keeping an eye on you, wondering who he’ll stop you from going home with tonight and placing their bets on the poor soul that dares to touch you. and it’s not that isagi blames anyone, you’re beautiful and enchanting and the sway of your hips under colourful flashing lights is enough to make a man weak in the knees.

but he still has this innate need to shield you from other guys because you don’t know what they’re like and you need him to protect you. “your hands are a little too low, don’t you think?” isagi all but smiles after sneaking up on the guy you’re dancing with — nausea bubbling in the pit of his stomach from watching you grind on one another. “they fall an inch lower ‘nd i might have to rip them off, yeah?” he breathes out the threats like they’re air, and smiles like he’s said nothing wrong.

and when the poor guy slips away from you out of fear, isagi is quick to replace his warmth behind you. “you probably don’t wanna dance with dudes like that, they’re good for nothing, yanno?” he says softly when you spin around, soothing the flame of disappointment that licks at your heart. but you trust him, isagi has never lead you astray and has done all he can to protect your beating heart — he’s always been a little too good to you. “i don’t want you to get hurt.”

it’s fascinating how charming and kind isagi is around you, but when it comes to the men that show up to your doorstep with roses and good intentions — he becomes off putting, unpleasant and scary. he wouldn’t be able to count on one hand how many potential dates he’s had to tell to “fuck off.” or “back off.” before he threatens them with a whirlwind of pain and hospital bills.

though, all of it is worth it, for the way you curl into him and offer yoichi up the pieces of your precious broken heart, stroking his ego without even knowing ( you drunkenly tell him “i wish you would date me ‘ichi, you’re a good guy…” ). and he is, he’s good for you, perfect even — but nice guys don’t take advantage of girls that cry their hearts out.

he’ll wait a few more days to make you his, only then will all of isagi’s efforts have paid off.

[ada7201]

bllk boys …

with a clutz s/o! < hcs >

gn! reader

part 1 ⭠ ★ part 2 with Isagi, Bachira, Nagi, Reo ⭢ part 3

note: if you have anything you want me to write, please suggest me some things! ( ˘ ³˘)

Isagi Yoichi

he tries really hard not to laugh

but he can’t help the little giggle he lets out

of course he helps you up, though

the way you always manage to get yourself into clumsy situations really confuses him

sometimes catches you the hood of your jacket (if you’re wearing one)

he tried to teach you ways to be slightly less clumsy, such as watching your step and other things but he ended up falling himself. (he never tried that again)

doesn’t let you do anything such as hold your bags, open a door, etc.

partly because it’s the “gentlemanly” thing to do, and also because he just doesn’t want you to trip over your feet and break something.

like Kaiser, he hates seeing people laugh at you or make fun of you when you slip up

you and Isagi were at a cafe, just eating and chatting with each other as the morning went by. it was a nice day, the sun was shining - the temperature wasn’t too hot, or too cold. it was just right. almost a perfect day for the two of you.

“really?” you’d ask with a smile on your face, your dominant hand reaching out to pick up your cup.

“mhm.” Isagi would nod with a matching smile, which soon faded when he realised what was going to happen -

CRASH!!

“oh.” Isagi sighed, chucking softly at your mistake. you sat there, eyes wide as an embarrassed blush covered your cheeks. really? again?

the people around you began to laugh and giggle, some giving dirty looks. Isagi watched as you sunk into your seat, ashamed at how you managed to break the cup.

“what are you all laughing at?” Isagi would announce, eyebrows furrowed angrily as he turned to the other people around you. “this isn’t a show for you to laugh at! mind your own business!” he’d add with a huff, before turning back to you. “i’m sorry, love.” he then said, staring lovingly into your eyes.

“you didn’t have to do that… it was my fault.” you mumbled shyly, avoiding eye contact with him - until you felt his hand gently touch your chin, turning you to look into his eyes.

“don’t ever say that again. it was a simple mistake, i love you and your clumsiness.” he’d smile reassuringly.

he did get a little upset about having to pay the cafe back for the broken cup, but got over it after a few kisses.

Meguru Bachira

he absolutely adores your clumsiness

it was probably one of the main reasons he fell for you.

you were walking (carefully) along the halls of an art gallery, making sure not to break anything as you looked at each art piece. that was, until you bumped into someone - causing the two of you to topple onto the floor.

“i-I’m sorry!” you would squeal, immediately hopping off of the mystery person as you apologised profusely afterwards. only for them to respond with - a giggle?

“you’re cute!” a sweet voice would say, sitting up and looking right into your eyes. Bachira would smile happily, watching the way your cheeks seemed to get warmer.

“oh- uh! thank you!” you responded nervously, looking back up at the handsome man in front of you.

“you wanna walk around with me?” he asked, followed by a childish giggle as he grabbed your hand and helped you up.

he most likely falls with you every time you fall

and a lot of the time, he’s the reason you fall!

makes it a habit to step on the back of your shoe.

has a photo album of you fallen over.

buys you cheesy shirts that say things like “i’m clumsy”

claps and has a whole celebration when you pass a record of how long you can go without having a little mishap. (not in a mean way, like he is genuinely excited for you. you know?)

finds you the cutest thing ever and loves to tease you about your clumsiness

Seishiro Nagi

at first, he thought you were a hassle.

you were a clumsy girl, even growing up - so it was no surprise when you ended up in the nurse’s office for tripping down the stairs. Nagi and Reo were there for other reasons, but they couldn’t help but notice the way the nurse sighed when you came in - was this a regular occurrence?

“y/n again?” one of the other nurses would whisper as you came closer - was your nose bleeding?

“what’s up with that girl?” Reo would chuckle to Nagi, who was staring intently at the way you walked.

“is she limping?” Nagi asked curiously.

“i mean, it looks like it…” Reo responded, watching the way you had a slight limp and - you had fallen over again. right in front of Nagi and Reo. you groaned, sitting up on the floor as you sighed. it didn’t seem to bother you that much, which intrigued the pair. Nagi thought it must’ve been a hassle for you to be so - so - clumsy?

“y/n, at this point i think you need a wheelchair.” a nurse would say, chuckling.

“not even that could help the poor girl. she’d probably end up falling out of it!” another would reply, a grin on her face.

“is she really gonna let that slide?” Nagi would whisper to Reo - who was simply watching as you struggled to get up. “what a hassle.” he added. “Reo, help her up.”

Reo did what Nagi had said, holding his hand in front of your face.

“y/n, right? here.” Reo said with a polite smile.

it took him a while to realise he actually wanted to help you.

like, he’d always get Reo to do it - until he started getting jealous. like, why was Reo holding your hand?

when the two of you started dating, it was a bit of a shock to Reo, but he was happy of course

was very surprised whenever he saw Nagi help you.

he literally hates it whenever you feel insecure about your clumsiness. like he’d overhear you just mumbling to yourself saying things like “i’m too much of a hassle to him -“ before he interrupts you with a big fat hug.

he doesn’t like to let you hear his gaming setup, because of that one time you almost tripped over the wires - but still allows you to be near him.

he doesnt want you to feel sad or lonely!

tries to comfort you, but he’s not very good at that

keeps a pack of bandages that Reo bought for Nagi to give to you in his bag or pocket, for if you ever hurt yourself

when you were all at school together Nagi absolutely refused to let you to the nurse’s office and got Reo to find some dirt on the nurses.

nobody hurts his clumsy baby’s feelings >:(

Reo Mikage

he finds your clumsiness super cute, and isn’t bothered by it at all

he was slightly surprised at first, but is always patient with you

he chuckles every now and then when you fall in a funny way or situation, but apologised after.

when you first came over to his house, he spent ages organising his room so it would be the neatest and almost impossible for you to trip or break something.

has you go places in his limo. he can’t risk you falling over in the streets.

he buys you plasters with cute designs on them that he knows you’ll like

sometimes forgets you’re a bit of a clutz so he turns to look at something - and you’re staring at him with a shattered phone in your hands and a nervous expression on your face.

he bought you a new phone after that - along with a screen protector.

“you’re so cute, y/n. it’s my pleasure” he’d smile, giving you a hug. “i’ll get you anything you want, and you don’t have to worry about breaking it! because i’ll just get you another.” he chuckled, kissing your cheek gently.

“thank you, Reo!” you would say, hugging the purple haired male back. “you’re so sweet!”

He’d simply chuckle, pulling back from the hug to pat your head.

gets super happy whenever you fix something yourself, like - you dropped his favourite plate or something and the next day you’ve got the same plate but glued together.

he thinks it’s the sweetest thing ever!

always ties your shoelaces.

“Reo, you don’t have to do this.” you would say, looking down at Reo who was on one knee and tying your laces.

“no, but i want to.” he’d respond with a smirk, giving your shoe a little tap before standing back up.

“now you can blame me if you trip over!” he’d add, kissing your forehead sweetly, intertwining his fingers with yours as he held your hand.

he gives you piggybacks if he can (Nagi likes to have that privilege most of the time…)

[kissagii]

tired

isagi x male!reader – 650 words – warnings: one knife metaphor, not proofread

note: a little comfort fic for these trying times <33 stay safe out there folks

Isagi wasn’t entirely sure what to think when he arrived home after practice to a silent house. After all, you were always there to greet him, it was the greatest blessing of his life. But tonight you were just… gone. 

“Baby? Baby, where are you?” He calls out, stepping into the house. At your lack of reply, his heart sinks in his chest, a chill seeping into his body. Isagi calls out a few more times, following the lights into your study, where you sit staring at a too-bright document marked with too few words.

Silently he wraps his arms around you, inspecting the mostly blank screen of the computer and the cursor that blinks oh so teasingly. Isagi rests his head gently against yours, glad to be near you at last after a long day of practice, though a voice in the back of his mind nags and nags about how strange it was to see you silent, how unusually cold you felt in his arms, how you had yet to type another word. At a loss, he only tightens his grip, a silent reassurance as the cursor blinks and blinks and blinks.

And then he notices the tears – A single glimmering streak tracing down your beautiful cheek. 

“Baby… you alright?” He whispers, heart shattering. Why, after all, should his darling boyfriend have a reason to cry? Why, after all, would some unknown thing feel the need to do harm to the single most beautiful soul Isagi had ever met? Why, after all, did that accursed blinking cursor take the sharpness of a knife to the heart of a tender lover?

Humming a cracked affirmative, you nod. But the tears, no matter how you try to stop them, betray your lie, and even if he were blind, Isagi would have known all the same.

“You’ve done enough work for tonight, sweetheart,” Isagi murmurs, pressing a delicate kiss to your tear-stained cheek, the salt an ache upon his lips. He pulls the chair away from the desk and lifts you tenderly out of it, carrying you the excruciating few steps to your room, where he laid you upon the plush mattress and places himself at your side.

The blankets shuffle underneath as you curl into Isagi, burying your face in shame. “Yoichi… thank you.” The words come out shakily and muffled.

“Work giving you a hard time?” Isagi asks, and your lack of reply tells him everything he needs to know. Would that he could do every piece of it for you, just to ease your mind. He wraps an arm comfortingly around your waist, fingers tracing shapes along your back.

“I know you like to be the big scary boyfriend… but just for tonight, let me do that, ‘kay?” He murmurs, “I’ve got you, baby, it’s gonna be alright.”

For a moment the two of you lay in silence, sweet silence broken only by the soft rising and falling of two souls breathing in sync. For a moment it seems as though every trouble in the world began to fade, insignificantly small beside the greatness of that winged thing called love. For a moment there was only you, Yoichi, and the unspoken beauty of the love between you.

But there was more to life than laying infinitely in a lover’s arms, though it would be so sweet if it were otherwise. Isagi places a final kiss on your forehead, wiping away the remnants of your tears. He smiles at you as if you were the most beautiful being he had ever laid eyes upon. And, in all truth, you are. Tears and all.

“You get some rest, sweet boy,” He says tenderly, prying himself from the comfort of your embrace, “I’ll come get you when dinner’s ready.”

The aromas that float in from the kitchen are unmistakable – scents that carry with them a sweet unspoken phrase. I love you. 

i kinda like isagi. just a little bit.

[gachagon]

Hiori's ego is really fragile glass

and it's really fucking cool, I adore the imagery they used for this reveal. In Blue Lock there's always this big moment where the characters come flying apart in strange fragments, either in puzzle pieces or weird black "monster goo" etc which is supposed to be representative of their ego. And we finally have Hiori's ego!

When I first saw it I thought that maybe it was just random shards not meant to really represent anything but this panel where he and Isagi are both thinking at the exact same time about the same play let me know that this is him showing his ego off proudly, and I think Hiori's ego is super cool in a unique way.

Often times, when we think about glass or mirrors, we think about how easy they are to break. How fragile they are, and when mirrors are broken you can't exactly see the reflection in them clearly anymore. That is exactly why Hiori gets paired with glass shards as his ego, because seeing everything all at once was the thing that was holding him back. From Hiori's perspective, whenever he would play, he wouldn't do it for himself but for the dreams of other people. His parents expectations weighed heavy on him, and were the sole reason for him joining Blue Lock.

When he's finally breaking free from the idea of playing for others, the moments on the glass shards are from his childhood, times where he had played soccer just for the benefit of his parents and nobody else. So in a sense, Hiori is breaking apart but in the best way possible because now he's playing for himself and making choices he wouldn't have thought about making before. He's not seeing the "big picture" that his parents had forced on him, which is why he relies more on his instincts instead.

I really feel like this is an interesting subversion of the predator eye skill that has been touted in other chapters, because those characters all had this big revelation the moment they could use it. They all spaced out, and were awed at just how much thinking and brain power they had to do in order to fully use it on the field. But Hiori isn't thinking, he's just playing by ear for the first time in his life, and that's how he's able to use this new skill to his advantage.

Breaking apart was the key Hiori needed in order to unlock his ego, because the thing that was holding him back was this constant anxiety and fear about doing things on his own. Being allowed to fail in life is such an important thing that people need to experience, and since he was never allowed to be anything less than perfect at soccer, he built this whole solid wall around himself when he played and would only rely on others to try and get ahead instead of truly playing selfishly.

He may have thought he was an egoist simply because he joined Blue Lock, but it's clear Hiori didn't think he'd ever have the possibility of being like the others, of truly being number 1 (because being the number 1 striker isn't even a dream of his, it's someone else's entirely).

And what's also really neat about Hiori's ego being represented by glass is how it contrasts Isagi's puzzle pieces. One is a chronic over thinker who's always seeing everything all the time in his head, and the other just turns his brain off to do the sickest shit on the field with pure reflexes. Now it makes so much more sense as well why Hiori's backstory chapter included him playing so many video games, specifically shooters. Because those are games you play where you mostly have to rely on your instincts and reflexes. You don't have to see everything in front of you, you don't even have time to do that in those types of games.

So it's cool to see how this little hobby of his was foreshadowing the way he'd use his skills in the upcoming match. The only thing left to wonder is if this will really be enough for them to win. If they don't score here Noa will be really upset by it since he let Isagi take a gamble with adding Hiori to the field. Part of me is optimistic, but I'm also convinced they'll lose because they've already won most of their games so far lol.

[boinin]

Broken Hero: Kunigami's journey in the Neo Egoist League

Overanalysing one edgy orange

0. Background and references

This weekend, I read an excellent analysis on Kunigami on Reddit (it spawns things other than fraud allegations and thirst posts sometimes)... and I was not OK as a result.

I'd been building up to writing an analysis of Kunigami's character for some time, and when the hyperfocus kicked in, it kicked in hard.

Come with me to explore how Kunigami's character arc and journey may pan out within the Neo Egoist League. Manga spoilers throughout, including up to the latest chapters (226 at time of writing).

I'd highly recommend reading StarBurstero's analysis (and their other work!) as this piece heavily draws on the points they raise.

All manga panels are sourced from the official translations, due to the possibility of nuance and foreshadowing that may not arise in scanlations.

Like this? Want to reference these points in your own analysis, on Reddit, YouTube, wherever? Go ahead! A shout out to this post is appreciated. (Straight up plagiarism isn't.)

Pre-Wildcard Kunigami: a wannabe hero

Kunigami has his grumpier moments in the first selection (see: him yeeting Bachira, or breaking up fights), but all in all he's a stand up guy. That's clear from his interaction with Isagi in the cafeteria, where they both share his goal-point steak.

Another character defining moment for him takes place after Team Z's victory against Team V. Kunigami doesn't support Kuon's actions, but he is willing to forgive him now that all has been settled. Raichi is decidedly less forgiving. But Kunigami lingers, and helps a bloodied Kuon to his feet. The choice of dialogue is interesting.

We'll advance together. We know this won't be the case. Both Kuon and Kunigami fail in the second selection, and Kunigami is the sole participant that leaves Wild Card.

But nevertheless, this exchange showcases Kunigami's core attitude. He sees the best in people. He values teamwork and unity, even if he shows egotism in relation to his own goals. He's someone that helps others.

2. What canon information do we have on Wild Card?

...just crumbs. Information on Wild Card has been intentionally vague, with only Ego, Kunigami, and possibly Noa knowing what happened.

Ego simply calls it a secondary route for the losers, and doesn't specify whether there were any entry requirements. The pile of bodies and the attention given to hands suggests two things.

Firstly, contrary to my own assumptions, Wild Card was likely open to all participants eliminated during the second selection. Ego threw the losers a bone, despite having a very specific outcome in mind. The vast majority wouldn't have had a hope of meeting the criteria.

Is that cruel? Maybe. But it's consistent with Ego's attitude towards "lumps of talent". He admitted both Chigiri and Isagi into Blue Lock despite their lacklustre performances in high school, on the basis that the programme might bring forth their sealed egos. He was proven correct.

The focus on hands, other than being creepy, hints at ambidexterity being a key deciding factor in the Wild Card programme. Kunigami confirms this above, in a panel from chapter 213.

Kunigami himself refers to Wild Card as a survival battle, where participants had to match Noa's physical specs number for number. He implicitly confirms that he himself got the closest to Noel Noa's physical abilities, thus winning Wild Card.

3. Kunigami's mindset

We're all Isagi in the bottom corner of that last panel, wanting to know more. But Kunigami has yet to elaborate.

In the Reddit post I linked, StarBurstero theorises what's going through Kunigami's angsty little head: becoming the best striker. Not a midfielder, not a false nine - a striker, and only that. The author proposes that, having had to crush and eliminate everyone in Wild Card, Kunigami has limited empathy for those such as Isagi and Kurona, who are remoulding themselves into other roles to fit into Bastard Munchen.

This tallies with how Noa sees himself, in explaining the distinction between him (the world's best striker), and Snuffy (the world's best player) in chapter 223.

As a player Isagi is closer to Snuffy, in terms of his ability and willingness to adapt, than he is to Noa. Isagi is willing to do whatever it takes to participate in the Neo Egoist League, even if this means providing assists or playing in midfield. But he still maintains his dream of playing as a striker.

As different as Kunigami and Isagi are on the surface, they share a dream. Both want to be the best strikers in the world. In that, they're a lot more similar than the fandom give them credit for.

But the conditions of the Neo-Egoist League pose a stumbling block.

There are limited forward positions, not only in Bastard Munchen, but on the national team itself. To nab a starting position for the U20 World Cup, the characters have only two choices: outshine everyone else playing as a forward, or forsake their dream by assuming a different position. They must choose wisely.

4. Resolve versus adaptability: the Bastard Munchen test

Thematically, Isagi and Kunigami are reflections of one another. They are each others "what ifs?" in a sense.

Heroes in the first selection, both Isagi and Kunigami faced elimination in the 2v2 stage of the second selection; Isagi survived, while Kunigami lost. Isagi emerged as the hero of Blue Lock, following the U20 Japan match. At the same time, Kunigami battled to become the "hero" of Wild Card.

Eventually Kunigami joined Bastard Munchen, alongside Isagi. But they're not co-operative teammates as they were before. They're rivals, battling against one another for the role of striker on this team.

Theirs is a quiet competition, secondary to Isagi and Kaiser's more hostile conflict. But I believe there's thematic significance to their rivalry. For this reason, it's interesting to trace their dynamic over time.

Isagi considered himself outclassed by Kunigami in the first selection. Back then, Kunigami didn't the same "goal sense" that Isagi had. He wasn't particularly technical as a player. He relied on passes and his physicality to get the ball and score goals, using his strength to reliably score from a distance. He's still extremely impressive, in Isagi's eyes.

As Isagi sees it, Kunigami's key attribute is his resolve. He trains hard to maintain his physique. He has a clear vision of who he is, and what kind of footballer he wants to be. At the same point in the story, Isagi lacks this. Even at the start of the Neo-Egoist League, Isagi struggles to articulate what his ideal form is as a player, which Noa calls him out on.

It's understandable that Isagi struggles to formulate what his ideal is, because Isagi's genius lies in his adaptability. Throughout the manga, Isagi has been placed into situations that are chaotic, novel and difficult. His approach to football and his abilities have been challenged in every match, and he's been forced to rebuild himself over and over again.

This is what makes Isagi exceptional, in addition to his incredible eyesight and football sense. He's constantly evolving, constantly coming up with ways to beat his competition. No wonder he can't settle on an ideal, when he's been forced to change constantly. All he's certain of is his desire to play as a striker.

5. Chasing strikers: Isagi's journey

Isagi's problem is that he's never been the best striker in Blue Lock. It's his dream to play as one, but purely in terms of his ability to convert opportunities into goals, Isagi is outclassed by a number of players. Rin. Nagi. Shidou. Arguably Barou.

When these players receive the ball near the goal, their ability to put it through the goalposts is simply better than Isagi's. They have the physique, the strength, or the technical skill to outmanoeuvre whatever obstacles are in the way. This is also true of Kaiser: both have metavision, but Kaiser is far better at scoring, as Isagi himself admits. Kaiser is another prodigy, like Nagi or Sae.

Kunigami is also better at securing goals than Isagi is. However, he's not a prodigy, and he lacks Isagi's insane playmaking ability. Nor does he have Ness, Kurona or Yukimiya on his side. Nobody on the team has a reason to support Kunigami or his goal-scoring competence. Least of all, Isagi: his rival for the position of striker in Bastard Munchen, and his antithesis in a sense.

While Isagi assisted Kunigami in the Barcha match, he does so to stay relevant, after Noa threatens to bench them both.

In the Manshine match, Kunigami poaches Isagi's goal attempt. As furious as Isagi is in this moment, it's not obvious that Isagi's shot would have gone in by itself. He targeted the corner of the goal, but the trajectory appears to veer up and left, beyond the goal.

Kaiser alludes to the shot's inaccuracy, and Isagi acknowledges his shortcomings after the match ends. While his eyesight is his "god given gift", he realises that he lacks the physical ability to make his foresight a reality, per this conversation with Hiori.

Who else does he approach?

While he has the wrong idea (seeking Kunigami's advice on becoming ambidextrous), Isagi's dialogue is on the nose.

Kunigami has what Isagi lacks: the physique and ability needed to consistently score goals. Halfway through the Neo-Egoist League, Isagi realises that to secure a position as a forward, he needs to emulate Kunigami in some way. His hard training pays off: his ranking jumps six points between the Manshine and Ubers matches.

Kunigami is a mirror that Isagi looks into and learns from. And like a morphing reflection, their positions are starting to reverse. While Kunigami performed better initially in the Neo-Egoist League, both in training and in the Barcha match, now Isagi is coming to the fore as the strongest Blue Lock player in Bastard Munchen. His performance in Manshine was incredible. His playmaking in the Ubers match so far surpasses it.

If they are intended to be mirrors, then what can Kunigami learn from his reflection: Isagi?

6. Inert hero: Kunigami's arc

Analysing Isagi is straightforward. We have access to his thoughts and development, all the way through Blue Lock. The same can't be said for Kunigami, whose POV was shown rarely during the first and second selection, but not once since his return in Chapter 155.

There's still conclusions we can draw, despite leaning into extrapolation territory.

Kunigami has always trained hard. The Volume 3 omake (Team Z's schedule) alludes to the guy spending every hour he can in the gym.

While Kunigami entered Blue Lock at a higher level than arguably anyone in Team Z, he stagnated as his teammates rapidly developed. He doesn't have a documented awakening, unlike the other Egoist Four characters. The single moment of progression shown was his first goal against Team V, but this was more Kunigami challenging his limits than truly evolving.

My theory is that this goes back to his key attribute: resolve. His formula of working hard and playing consistently has worked so far. Why change?

Other characters like Isagi experienced failures and setbacks prior to and during Blue Lock, but we don't see Kunigami experience anything similar until the second selection.

It's unfortunate that he only experiences a first setback in losing to Team White. Had a moment of failure taken place earlier, the second selection may have played out differently for Kunigami. As it was, this segment of Blue Lock was not forgiving of mistakes. Only players who could adapt and evolve, devour and be devoured, made it to the third selection.

Kunigami just didn't have that adaptability. It's contrary to his nature of working hard, consistently and fairly.

Shidou remarks on Kunigami's resolute nature explicitly after their 2v2 match. It's why he chooses Reo over Kunigami.

Analysis often focuses on Shidou's criticism of Kunigami's heroic idealism, given that Kunigami goes on to reject this himself. But the second point Shidou makes is more important. He's really critiquing Kunigami's inability to adapt and react, not his strength or his motivation. But Kunigami seemingly only internalises the first part.

Failure in the second selection made Kunigami discard heroism as his motivation, in addition to the conditioning forced on him in Wild Card. But Kunigami continues to struggle, even after leaving his so-called naivety in hell.

He came out of Wild Card stronger, faster, and more competent at scoring. It's still not enough to out-do Kaiser and impress Noa in the Barcha match.

If Kunigami took Shidou's words to heart, he might consider his success in Wild Card proof that he can break himself down and be rebuilt. At a minimum, we can speculate that Wild Card consisted of the participants being deconstructed piece by piece, egos eroded and replaced with a drive to become Noel Noa's "vessel".

But in truth, Kunigami already had a lot of the traits needed to become Noa's copycat. Other than developing ambidexterity and packing on even more muscle, the "breaking down" that took place was really the overwriting of his idealism with that of Noa's.

When Ego considers the ways participants may succeed in the Neo-Egoist League, both Isagi and Kunigami are pictured. At the present stage in the manga, Isagi seems to be the fish adapting to his environment and thriving - slowly dyeing the fabric of Bastard Munchen to suit his playstyle.

Kunigami is the one suffocating, unable to breath in this claustrophobic environment.

His core issue - his lack of adaptability - persists. He is unwilling to consider being anything else than a pure striker. In the Neo-Egoist League to date, he has failed to make chemical reactions with anyone.

If Isagi is a universal catalyst, Kunigami is inert. For now.

7. Hero rebuilt: Kunigami, secondary protagonist

Kunigami is an important part of the Neo-Egoist League arc. Not only is he a returning character, but a significant parallel to Isagi. It's no coincidence that they are presented together in many of the panels relating to the arc as a whole.

There's a lot of symbolism in Blue Lock. The panel announcing the Neo-Egoist League establishes Isagi and Kunigami as dual protagonists, with Kaiser as the primary antagonist. The end of the Barcha match really reinforces the idea that these characters are the main heroes within Bastard Munchen.

Isagi has been on a learning journey from the beginning of this arc, starting with his underdog struggle against Kaiser. If Kunigami's journey is a mirror of Isagi's, then we can expect him to encounter his most difficult hurdle later in the arc, leading to an epiphany about his playstyle. At this point, it's fair to conclude this will happen in Bastard Munchen's match against Paris X Gen.

These are my outstanding questions about Kunigami's journey, which I believe the manga must eventually address:

What will be Kunigami's darkest hour: the low point where he realises he must change or die (metaphorically)?

When he overcomes this moment and emerges stronger, like a phoenix - what will Kunigami's true ego be? Will he return to his original heroism, or strike a balance between his past and present selves? Hero and Wild Card, accepting both?

I'm not going to delve much into Question 2. Hero, Wild Card, Dark Horse, Phoenix - all of these could work as a manifestation of Kunigami's ego. The only thing I can say with confidence is that his ego will manifest. This has been the case for each of the other Egoist Four characters (although Isagi's true ego remains in flux). Personally, I'd like to see an ego manifestation that reconciles the personas of pre- and post-Wild Card Kunigami. I trust the writer and mangaka will serve on that front when the time comes.

On question 1, the fandom (and myself) are hyped for a particular reunion. It's hard to imagine a better catalyst for Kunigami's change than the person that sent him to Wild Card in the first place: a literal demon, the manifestation of Kunigami's internal woes.

Shidou is the opposite of Kunigami in many ways, when they encounter each other in the second selection. Although both are strong with imposing physical abilities, Shidou is chaotic while Kunigami is lawful; Shidou abhors dull players, the ones that cannot spark "explosions", while Kunigami sees Shidou as a violent psychopath. Shidou has no qualms in crushing weaker players. Kunigami defends them, regardless of their nature.

But Kunigami has changed greatly since their last encounter. He and Shidou have more in common than before. In Wild Card, Kunigami had to learn how to crush the weak, despite his inclination to advance together. He's had to become more aloof, more violent even, to survive in Wild Card and in the Neo Egoist League. He's more resolute in becoming the world's best striker than ever.

But Kunigami still doesn't know how to explode. He doesn't have chemical reactions with other players. The part of him that valued teamwork died in Wild Card. Compare this to Shidou, who thrives off what he calls explosions. He adores Sae, because their chemistry on the field made Shidou soar. Sae unleashes Shidou's inner dragon.

I believe in facing Shidou, who will form reactions with his supportive teammates, Kunigami will come to realise that he cannot overcome his demons without assistance from outside. He'll realise his heroism was never the issue: it was his lack of adaptability. To overcome Shidou, Kunigami will need a catalyst to create a chemical reaction.

Luckily, Bastard Munchen has the one person capable of reacting with anyone: the embodiment of adaptability. Who better to set the true Kunigami free than his idealogical mirror? The one person who, thematically, has been by his side since the start?

A link-up between Isagi and Kunigami - dual protagonists, reflections of one another - would be an amazing way to round off both Isagi and Kunigami's journeys in the Neo Egoist League. Even better if the final goal against Paris X Gen is the result of their genuine teamwork - mirroring their resentful co-operation during the Barcha match.

I'm manifesting this and I hope you might too. If for no other reason because... can you imagine the look on Kaiser's face if this happens?

Absolute gold.

---

If you read to the end, thank you! I'd love to hear my fellow nerds thoughts on this and Kunigami generally.

Further reading: short analysis of Kunigami's effectiveness on the pitch up to chapter 232.

[prettyboykatsuki]

if u don't mind... could you tell us more about the isagi arranged marriage brainrot

LOOK. I HAVE A VISION ABOUT IT U HAVE TO HEAR ME OUT

im thinking about isagi who is coming out of a long term relationship. a failed one where things go really bad rlly fast towards the end and he's still in his sopping wet era. when his parents are like hey. do u rmb that kid who u used to be friends with and then moved away and u were sad? well theyre back in japan and they want to see u. and btw shes single. and you're both like mid/late 20's and isagi isn't looking for anything

BUT hes so torn up about his break up and when your parents bring it up to the both of you hes like. you know what. fine. okay. it cant get any worse.

you're also in a similar boat!!!! youre jaded about a long term unrequited crush so you agree to get married. and you start living together and the both of you come to a mutual agreement to just give each other support as partners. you've basically given up on love completely and isagi is the same which is why it works.

BUT IT WORKS TOO WELL!!!!!!!!

isagi is transparent with the fact that he can't give u himself right away. but you want to get along w him so you're very kind to each other.

and slowly but surely isagi starts to really fall in love with you. and he realizes that its the first time he's ever felt so strongly about a person just because of their characters. he falls in love w how supportive and calm and loving you are and its a HUGEEE source of stress bc he hadnt planned on it. and it ends up being this whole ordeal where he is so in love w u and he doesn't know if he can even tell you !!!!!!!!! HE KNOWS U FEEL SOME WAY ABT LOVE

AND HYPOCRITICALLY HES SO JEALOUS OF THE GUY YOU USED TO BE INTO SO HE'S JUST ALL IN PIECES!!!!!!

its so distinct in my mind anon its driving me insane.... this like mutual agreement of two broken hearted people...SECOND CHANCE LOVE AND PINING ISAGI...... LIKE AAAAAAAA

[kaiisers]

BLUE LOCK ꒰ sfw ꒱

none of the works here belong to me. credits to rightful authors. most of these works are f! or afab! reader. ALSO! minors + blank + ageless blogs will be blocked.

⿻ last updated: feb. 04, '23

𖨂 ⸱ ꕤ ⸱ BACHIRA MEGURU ⸱ 蜂楽 廻

needy. ──── 1.6k

cw. f!reader

𖨂 ⸱ ꕤ ⸱ CHIGIRI HYŌMA ⸱ 千切 豹馬

none yet!

𖨂 ⸱ ꕤ ⸱ ITOSHI RIN ⸱ 糸師 凛

die for love and loyalty.

⌜ ୨୧ ⌟ you wait for rin to come home and no matter what, he always does.

cw. fem!reader. mentions of injury, blood, bruises, broken bones, suggestive content, slight nipple play, mentions of babies, angst, mentions of death, emotional piece, slight character study, rin n reader are in their mid 20s

if you’ll have me, I’ll have you always. ──── 3.2k

⌜ ୨୧ ⌟ rin finds out you’re pregnant and cannot keep away from you any longer

cw. fem! reader. mentions of pregnancy. ex bf! rin (but y’all are still obsessed with each other like–). angst w/ eventual comfort (i think??). use of y/n + pet names (mostly baby)

parisian paradise.

cw. just a little angsty, but otherwise fluff, alcohol

twenty sundays. ──── 10.6k

⌜ ୨୧ ⌟ twenty sundays ago, itoshi rin walked into your grandmother's laundromat where you spend your weekends working. twenty sundays ago, he was nothing more than a stranger. but with every passing week, rin begins to spend more time in the shop. you get to know him more, until he's barely a stranger to you, falling for him somewhere along the way.

cw. cursing , a few death jokes , slow burn , they're idiots + they're in love , a poor attempt at humor , so much fluff

𖨂 ⸱ ꕤ ⸱ ITOSHI SAE ⸱ 糸師冴

deal.

redbone.

cw. fem reader , love at first sight , use of pet name once !!

𖨂 ⸱ ꕤ ⸱ ISAGI YOICHI ⸱ 潔 世一

god, i’m so fucking in love with you. ──── 3k

⌜ ୨୧ ⌟ the bracelet you make isagi ends up becoming his most prized possession, and his lucky charm. afab! reader

cw. mostly fluff, but sassy isagi does make an appearance. slight suggestive themes. cursing.

𖨂 ⸱ ꕤ ⸱ KUNIGAMI RENSUKE ⸱ 國神 錬介

none yet!

𖨂 ⸱ ꕤ ⸱ MICHAEL KAISER ⸱ ミヒャエル カイザー

none yet!

𖨂 ⸱ ꕤ ⸱ MIKAGE REO ⸱ 御影玲王

none yet!

𖨂 ⸱ ꕤ ⸱ NAGI SEISHIRŌ ⸱ 凪 誠士郎

cloud 9.

like father like son.

cw. babies, mentions of birth & food, nagi and reader are in their late twenties, husband!nagi, fluff fluff fluff

love clicks into place.

⌜ ୨୧ ⌟ nagi feels like love just clicks into place with you.

cw. f!reader, sfw, slightly suggestive.

pillow baby.

cw. pet names, fem reader, just cute times with nagi !!

shopping with him.

⌜ ୨୧ ⌟ you take your boyfriend out to shop and it’s one of the hardest things you ever had to endure. come on, it’s nagi. he’s a big baby. what did you expect, really?

sick day.

sleepy.

⌜ ୨୧ ⌟ waking up a slumbering genius was never an easy feat, but you think that maybe you’ve gotten the hang of it.

cw. sfw! sleepy nagi + soft mornings, he’s a pro!player in this

𖨂 ⸱ ꕤ ⸱ OLIVER AIKU ⸱ オリヴァ・愛空

none yet!

𖨂 ⸱ ꕤ ⸱ SHIDŌ RYUSEI ⸱ 士道 ���聖

none yet!

[joeys-piano]

Tagged by @voxofthevoid, who usually tags me in writing games when I feel a sort of way with my writing. It's happened twice so far, not including this time, so I feel something. I hope you don't mind the whiplash because I'm going off of my most recent works, and I've written for 5 different fandoms in the past 6 months.

Soft tagging: @fellshish, @sid3buns, @boinin, @kryptalia, @chenqing9, @heymacareyna

Rules: Post your favourite line or passage from as many of your published works as you’d like. Let yourself feel proud of your creations! Tag as many people as you post snippets, so your fellow fic friends can be proud, too.

To the Marrow, To the Bone | Blue Lock

“Guys like us…” Isagi pauses, and then he swallows. “The only thing that makes it better is to win the game, and prove them wrong.” And to show them, he doesn’t say that but it’s evident at his mouth. Him pressing edges of a broken nail against his lips now to cool the sting, him pulling away as he’s out of bed to feel the world beneath his feet. “And there’s no other option – ”

But that’s not true.

He thinks one of his ribs has shrunken in, like a ball and chain for a smaller heart than the one fighting inside his chest. Because he breathes in—all he smells is a brand new football from a shelf. And it’s on his clothes, on his bed, on his pillow, within the padding, on the heavy lurch of him trying to walk, and irrefutably in his mouth. He can swipe it across his lips. It’s in his organs, blood and bones. It’s the cover box to a thousand puzzles pieced together when he’s on the pitch. Because in Blue Lock, you start in the middle. But in Ichinan you start at the edge, and once the border is in you build the next one as you meander towards the centre.

Where the Book Ends, It’s Hard to Say | OHSHC

And so it goes that every fairytale had a beginning, middle, and end.

The doors had opened; the doors were closed. The guests arrived; the guests were home. The play was had; the play was done. The hosts were princes, and now there were none.

As Fire Tempers Steel, So Too Does The Cloth | Blue Eye Samurai

Safer still was a battered inn, battered safekeep, a single room, about as wide as one tatami if someone lied to you about the length.

Behind the checkpoint to old Kyoto, these sprung up as the shrines do. Twenty steps in—there’s an inn. Upon thirty others—then there’s two. One could pilgrim the forty stations of rickety rooftops above their heads before every stray line turns to one. Old Kyoto, there at the end. If you can manage it: sunken floorboards, nothing softer than your flesh, a row of strangers sent to rooms where even two of you was just too much, and there is no guarantee you’ll survive here after a single meal off the bone, a missing coin or two, someone fights, pray the sutra: and survive the night. Yet safer still was to wake up with a stranger inside your breath, tongue for tongue trying to bite you before they lose you for a ghost; but even easier was to wake up beneath a cedar or its limb.

Buoyancy | Link Click

“I’m taller.”

“So you are.”

“And so are you.”

“I’ve noticed.”

Cheng Xiaoshi narrows his eyes. “We’ll be in and out before it rains.”

“Then after you,” Lu Guang tells him. There’s enough room to move around him. “Hold the umbrella.”

He lets go. But the touch of him still remains: the trace of his outline fades to nothing just as silently as he walks, but still is the warmest spot on his elbow—as far as Xiaoshi would’ve noticed.

Sasaki and Ogasawara Discover Friendship is a Beautiful Thing | Sasaki to Miyano

“So spill it. What are they like?”

“Cute.”

He considers. “Anything else?”

“Oh, the height difference.”

“Just call ’em short, man!”

Sasaki laughs. “That’s weird, huh?”

“Unbelievable…”

“Big wooooooorrrd, ’gasawara.”

“So y’think they’re cute – ”

“I know they’re cute.”

“ – and you’re into shorties.”

“Am I that tall?”

They’re about the same height while sitting down. And who gives a fuck, but he indulges him.

“So you’re Godzilla and have a crush on ’em.” He finishes the chickens without him choking, sparing the soggy ones into a corner for Sasaki to nibble on. “And like ’em so much you don’t wanna hurt ’em.” Between the nibbling, Sasaki nods. “So what else?”

Hostel | Trigun

He is a cruel man, Nicolas, to love the worst of him, Needle Noggin. And to say the worst of him is still as beautiful as this fucked up little world.

[giggly-squiggily]

I’ve been waiting for this one! Okay so friend, let’s talk about Blue Lock. Rin and Sae, so I don’t know why BUT Sae is at Blue Lock I guess to help them get better and Rin is not having it at ALL like he’s constantly side eyeing him and making snide remarks. Sae is not saying anything because you know older brothers have a tolerance for bratty younger brothers. Bachira being Bachira is calling Rin out about it and teases him for it. Rin obviously denies it. Bachira lightly elbows him in the side in Rin gasp and flinch. Sae sees this and that’s when it dawns on him that he can put his little brother back in his place(and see him smile, but he won’t admit that)

YES! Oh my god, Lee!Rin makes my heart go pitter patter in the best way! This came off more Ler!Bachira but I promise the Sae and Rin tickle fight is in the making! I hope you like this little dabble in the meantime! :D

CW: Swearing

It was official- Rin hated Blue Lock.

Specifically, he hated this week of individual team training.

Why? Because Sae freaking Itoshi, aka the devil was here.

Ego must have had quite the sense of humor to put these two in the same room.

“Wow, RinRin, I’ve never seen you so grumpy.” Bachira grinned cheekily as he bounced up during a break, flopping down beside the green haired boy. Right now Sae and Isagi were having their one on one, the older boy going over different plays and ways for Isagi to improve. Normally Rin would be there to learn as well, but he was currently engaged in “Ignoring Sae and everything he does” matters.

Yes it was petty and more likely to screw him over in the long run but he didn’t care.

Ego wanted to bring Sae here, so this was the result.

“I’m not grumpy, I’m simply uninterested in anything he has to say.” Rin replied shortly, shooting a glare. Bachira grinned, unfazed.

“Sure, and that’s why you’re shooting side eyes at him and mumbling rude remarks the entire practice hoping he’d react?”

Silence. Bachira took it as a win. “You know- your brother’s pretty good at this stuff. It’d be best to listen.”

“It’d be best to shut the hell up and go back into whatever hole you crawled out of.” Rin growled, hoping his aggression would spook off Bachira.

“Oo, did I hit a sore spot?” Bachria laughed, elbowing his side. “Sauri Sauri, give your arm a shavy~”

“Tch, whatever.” Rin jumped at the contact, lowering his arm. He must have been noticeable, for Sae looked over, brow raised. Rin glared back.

“Oo, he’s looking at you! Smile!” Bachira poked him a few times, each gesture more intentional than the last. Rin flinched at each jab, his arm pressing tighter against his side as he tried to hold his glare. Sae tilted his head curiously.

“Bachira, yeah?” He called, making the other stop. Said boy blinked up at him. “Go for his hips, he’ll die.”

“Sae, you piece of sh-” Rin only just got out before said spot was ruthlessly attacked, Bachira laughing alongside him as he sang his broken english song about shaving arms on a “Wed-ness-day”. “Fuuhuhuck ohoohohohff, bohoohhwl cut!”

“Should we…” Isagi began, staring in awe at the duo.

“Nah, let it be.” Sae shook his head, something like a glimpse of a smile touching his lips as he turned towards their discarded soccer ball. “That’ll teach him for being such a brat today. Come on- let’s go over your footing once more.”

Send me a headcanon and character(s) and I'll write a short 300-500 word dabble for it!

[maiiyahh]

why sports anime charas wouldn't immediately get folded by ppl from shounens

okay so obviously this isn't going to talk about people from REALLY REALLY op verses like fucking dragonball or bleach or one piece, because literally everyone gets folded by them except for ppl from their own worlds and the mcs from those shitty reincarnated time-traveling tower climbing bullshit manhwas. i will mainly be talking about my hero academia and black clover bc these are the two that i think are somewhat 'weaker' (relatively!! relatively!!!!) compared to other mangas and animes ive seen. also when im refering to shounen i mean like,, ones with powers. ALSO, and this is really important, I AM NOT SAYING THAT THE SPORTS CHARACTERS WOULD WIN. i'm just saying that they're stronger than they get credit for, especially since a lot of people who i see debating this stuff aren't athletes and don't really understand how sport affects you in other parts of your life (including but not limited to fights)

SO!! point 1!! i think this gets swept under the carpet a lot whenever ppl are debating who's better, but powers that work in a specific sport can be translated into something outside of that sport. take midorima from knb as an example: he can shoot really good 3-pointers. well, outside of basketball, that probably means that he would have: a, really good spatial awareness since he never loses the ball or bumps into someone while shooting, b, insane hand-eye coordination, and c, crazy accuracy whenever he throws stuff in general. that's all stuff that's pretty useful in a fight, ngl. honestly, this skillset is kinda better than half the ppl in class 1a. like, sure, they've got quirks, but take away their quirks and most of them are basically useless.

POINT TWO. if a character has a power like isagi's meta vision or kuroko's vanishing thing (idk if it has a name) it's not gonna go away as soon as they get in a fight. meta vision literally lets isagi predict the future. there is no reason why this ability wouldn't give him the upper hand in a fight with someone else. especially since it's not strictly confined to football. the only thing he needs is data, and he can get a lot of that from watching fights. honestly, meta vision is so broken that i just know if he was in bnha it would count as a quirk.

POINT THREE, specifically for people like kise ryouta and reo mikage. anyone who can copy other people will still be able to do it. like obviously they're not gonna be able to shoot fire or do a domain expansion or summon a stand or any of that shit, but they can still copy physical moves. so if they go watch 100 videos of ppl doing krav maga or some shit they'll be able to do it, which would make them pretty strong. considering how in bnha (sorry bnha fans ur anime is just the easiest to compare too) people with more mentally-focused quirks can become really strong just by relying on a weapon or learning some sort of fighting style. in black clover literally half the people get beaten up by some kid who has zero magic and a sword. like, what's stopping kise from grabbing a sword and slamming into some random ua kid's head?? it's not like they'd see it coming.

okay i know you're getting sick of me at this point but just hear me out

sports anime are only underrated in fights because people assume that every single person with powers immediately solos. like, normally they do, but a lot of the time it's not a zero diff fight, like come on. sure, zoro would kill hinata, but would yaomomo really beat reo mikage?? like are you sure?? are you only going off the fact that since she has powers she wins?? think about it for a second, please, i beg of you. powers =/= strong. thank you for coming to my ted talk.

[bluelockednyx]

at the very first page of chapter 147, there is a picture of a broken puppets(?) wearing a black glasses, which is kinda strange, i cant intepret it in any revelant ways to what happens next. Can i ask for your thoughts?

This is actually related to Rin's flashback. When Rin hadn't yet started to play soccer, he was drawn playing with toys outside of the fence while Sae had his practice and matches. The puppet with black glasses seems to be a superhero figure, and Rin used to play it against a black dragon/godzilla figure.

Above is from C123. The hero toy looks like a Power Ranger to me with the helmet and black goggles/glasses. I'm pretty sure that Power Rangers have a godzilla villain somewhere, but as someone who never watched the franchise other than the movie reboot a couple of years back, I'm just making my best guess here.

On interpreting the broken toy:

First, the chapter title: Last Strike. There are two potential references where the title is concerned, with 1) Rin surpassing and defeating Sae in that 1v1, a last strike that gets the ball away from Sae's possession, and 2) Isagi getting the final goal right before the end of the match, the last strike that wins the match for Blue Lock. Given how MC-centric Blue Lock is, Isagi's accomplishment is a better fit/more relevant to the title, but the conclusion of Rin's character development throughout the U20 match fits as well.

Since we're talking about Rin, we can skip Isagi's part altogether.

I have two ways of interpreting the symbolism of the toy.

The first, is that the toy is a representation of Sae. More specifically, it's a symbolic reference to Rin's idolisation of Sae. Rin adores and thinks the world of Sae, putting him on a pedestal. In many ways Sae's like a superhero to him. But the truth is Sae is a deeply flawed character, and Rin has imitated and adopted a lot of Sae's flaws as well. This mini arc is when Rin makes the conscious effort to break free of his idolisation and imitation of Sae and Sae's playstyle, and so Sae is no longer that superhero and invincible older brother figure to Rin any longer. Hence, the broken toy.

The other is that the puppet symbolises Rin himself. Rin's 'puppet-style' play that he's relied on thus far, as that particular arc shows, is not his own playstyle. It's a playstyle he adopted and developed from Sae himself and his own youth club experiences. His real ego and playstyle, is the destructive one that draws out the strengths of other players and crushes them deliberately.The destroyed puppet could be symbolising Rin breaking out of the puppet-shell that Sae and by extension, Japan's football environment, has unintentionally put him in, and growing into himself.

Another thing: if the toy is supposed to symbolise Rin himself, then it's also implying that his destructive playstyle is 'villainous', since the hero is literally broken apart into pieces. So it could also very well be foreshadowing Rin being Isagi's antagonistic/villainous mirror in the future, though given the greater narrative and themes + Blue Lock's overall optimism where it's main cast is concerned, I personally don't think that's the case. Time will tell.

This is one of those panels that's up to readers interpretation, given the general ambiguity of it. Maybe the puppet will be brought back in the future, maybe it won't.

[wateringpastelgreen]

I need a fic about lego nerd Rin, lego is hella therapeutic 🛐

I want to expand on this and so here is— ✨

MY HEADCANON ON THIS AU!!!

Sae bought Rin's first ever lego set by himself with his own money. It was an impulse purchase, it's not even a significant date like Rin's birthday or for any kind of celebration, Sae just wanted to give Rin something different for once and he thought that Lego would be just perfect for Rin. He didn't expect Rin to be attached to it so quickly, but he's happy for Rin so he keeps buying him more and more until their bedroom is filled with lego and Rin had to convince him to stop buying more because they ran out of space and Sae could barely put his toys anywhere and Rin can deconstruct and reconstruct his toy as much as he can with Lego so please you don't need to waste your money nii-chan you can use it for yourself!

Rin's ideology and perception of self is forever changed. But his brother issue still prevails because Sae left him and came back so differently he doesn't fit into Rin's life anymore. Sae was the most important piece in Rin's world, Sae was all about rationality, calculation and efficiency—he was what Rin based his perception on. Sae was the most natural thing to understand and rely on. But nothing about the current Sae makes sense to him, he doesn't click like he always did, he was so different and Rin doesn't know how to react. Sae abandoned his dream—he abandoned Rin.

In a desperate attempt to keep Sae with him, Rin was forced to destroy and put himself back together again and again and again to fit the current Itoshi Sae in his life, yet no matter what he did, how much of himself he changes, or what shape he assumed, his brother never stayed. He doesn't fit anywhere in Rin's world. Because Sae is his rationality, it doesn't make sense for Rin that Sae doesn't make sense. Does that mean Rin is the one irrational here? What did he do wrong? Sae can't be irrational, wouldn't it make more sense that the world itself is irrational???

And so instead of thinking that Sae actually doesn't make sense (blaming and wanting to crush Sae, as per canon), Rin thinks that Rin himself is the one at wrong for not being able to make sense of Sae, he blames the world for making him irrational. It drives him to break over and over, and rebuild himself piece by piece. In the process, he makes himself more irrational. His anger doesn't show outwardly but rather inwardly—it doesn't explode like in canon yet it hurts him all the same.

Meanwhile Sae is a guy who doesn't know how to communicate himself through words well. He knows deep down that Rin's current state of madness was his fault, but he is at a loss as to how he could help Rin—because the current Rin doesn't make sense to Sae either. Their perceptions of each other are so disconnected and utterly unaligned. And as long as they don't talk for real, this cycle will never get broken and neither of them will get better.

Lego AU Rin understands himself perfectly. He can make distinct versions of himself by stacking pieces of himself differently. Each time it makes him think and act a tad stranger than the last which results in unpredictable decision making.

Isagi hates Rin's play style to the bone because every time he plays with or against Rin it feels like different guys altogether.

This Rin is more honest with his expression and body language, he doesn't have anything against people, his problem is with himself. He is rather sociable if a bit inept and territorial. Rin is insanely self critical. He is willing to sacrifice a lot for people he cares about.

Rin is trying so hard to fit his irrational self on this completely irrational world where the only thing that (should) make sense to him is Sae. This world is maddening and Rin is looking for something or someone who can anchor him even a fraction of what Sae had been. One that makes sense. One that doesn't drive him insane.

+Bonus! (Beware of fun and feels~)

Rin brought several sets of lego with him to Blue Lock at the beginning of NEL, he was itching to get his hands on something to fiddle with when he's got downtime. (One time he almost threatened a janitor to give him a tool kit so he could disassemble a treadmill by himself, it's very tempting.)

Rin assembles lego while doing some yoga stretch in the bedroom, he might look ridiculous while doing that but tbh he doesn't care. Rin is comfy and nobody ever told him not to do that.

His roommates Karasu and Nanase often joined him. Rin will never allow them to touch the themed set, but he let them play with the regular ones. He has so many of them and he can't use everything at once and he doesn't want it to get wasted, so he is willing to share.

Who would've known that being Itoshi Rin's mentee will involve getting tutored on how to build lego structure? Not Nanase, for sure. But he enjoys every single moment of it because Rin looks very happy when he's playing with lego.

Nanase had never touched a lego in his entire life—he lived in the countryside and these things are kinda expensive you know? So he just makes whatever shape and most of the time it is senseless, Karasu makes fun of him.

Karasu is a pro at separating the bricks, he shows off how he can detach 1x1 with his bare hand.

Somehow it becomes their little bonding exercise and their room is filled with rows upon rows of lego structure. Nanase is eager to recreate his home in lego to make Rin understand him better.

Little by little he is cementing himself as a point of rationale in Rin's nonsensical world. Rin doesn't know if it was good or bad but he still keeps that piece of Nanase in his mind, not allowing it to slot in the construct called "Itoshi Rin" just yet. Nanase is simply that simple to understand and just as easy to love.

One particular morning Nanase didn't notice a lego brick was stuck on his sleeves, it dropped to the ground on his way to the canteen and a barefooted Shidou stepped on it. Cue loud expletives from the pink cockroach who swear to hell and back he will find out who brought lego into Blue Lock and make them run on it.

That threat doesn't really work for Rin because he grew up stepping on lego it doesn't feel like anything in particular. Though Karasu and Nanase are careful not to let anybody but themselves and the faculty staff have a look inside their lego filled dorm room, they dreaded the day they have to move out of that room.

Karasu started to prank people to step on lego bricks and willingly spread the chaos to the other strata by giving Otoya and Hiori some lego pieces, they might rope Aiku into this. They're thinking twice about Manshine cuz Chigiri might step on it and get shooketh he hurts his leg which Ego will (maybe) chastise them for sabotaging an enemy and also anyway they don't know who they're going to reach out for in Manshine.

They unanimously threw MC under suspicion of being the culprit of this prank cuz none of their players stepped on lego lmaooo

If you reach this far, thanks for reading this long rambling.

I love you~~💚

You know what toys would’ve been perfect for little Rin?

Legos

They’re literally made to be put together and destroyed

[m1ckeyb3rry]

LMAOOO but no fr considering how dramatic bllk is too some of the backgrounds just really don’t feel all that important? Like being in the situation irl is one thing but it doesn’t really match the same vibe in fiction since the ceiling for angst in fiction is so high if ykwim?? I feel like it’s even worse with all the recent backstories we get where they try to make them spicy by adding some form of angst or drama which I totally understand but it kinda waters down the impact even more imo LOL

Fr cackling the new profiles are too funny Kunigami being the only one to be properly influenced by his sisters is lowk crazy LMAO THE NUMBER TWO HAD ME SENDING kuronas such a silly little guy though the hedgehog thing totally matches him also LMFAOO THAT WOULDVE MADE MORE SENSE the raws literally says “broken bone girl” though and I fr double taked (apparently because the celeb constantly wore a cast or something that’s still crazy work though)

So true!! I know I stay hyped because I’m always looking for new Karasu moments but imagine if we got the same amount of detailed play through for the side matches in the main series but alas….

LMAOO FR I’m just glad to see Karasu animated and hear his voice (that one scene where he gives chigiri a chance to show off with the dramatic lighting was so good though) but it’s funny how it really looks like a slideshow transition sometimes

BROOO WHAT IS THAT??? Ok if we ignored the ship though the art style isn’t bad but why…?? It’s so random LMAOA whenever I see ships like these it’s not even me being like ew wtf it’s how tf did you even come up with this pair???

Ok also read the KAISER fic before coming here but I narrowed it down to either him or Isagi but had a feeling it was him based off your prev comments LOL 18k words for opp Kaiser is crazyyyy work but I LOVED the subtle little foreshadowing moments of y/n feeling cold despite it not being cold I caught the first one and was like “ohhh yeah death flag right there yup this ones diseased” I also really like the angel take on the fantasy au!!! Very unique and refreshing the whole angel of death contrast was really cool like kaisers appearance being a death flag itself too LOL another fire piece also love the colors and layout you made (I’m suddenly forgetting the tumblr word for it) but the color combo is very visually appealing LMAO

Also NEW THEME OMG WAIT THE NAGI BAROU KARASU PANEL IS PERFECT literally made for you LMAOOO but WE GOT KARASU ON THE BLOG OMG!!!

- Karasu anon

HAHA tbh sometimes the drama in bllk is so unserious too like at the end of the day so what if they fail they can go work a 9-5 in the corporate world like everyone else /j i do think bllk is better about it than most sports animes where the stakes do feel a bit real (especially in first/second selection i was fr on the edge of my seat watching the first season) but compared to the type of stuff i usually watch it’s just like…ok…was it really ever that serious…and agreed they’re just giving everyone sad backstories but not even in impactful ways??? like icl kiyora’s wasn’t even necessary especially at that point in the manga and same w himizu’s SDKLJFHS of the recent backstories introduced i’ve really liked karasu’s from (not just favoritism i think it fits with his established character rlly well), kaiser’s, and snuffy’s

i feel like now i have to do kunigami justice just because he’s the only one who was raised right LKSJDHFSKD (also barou but he’s the older sibling so it’s different) WAIT DID YOU SEE KARASU IS APPARENTLY THE NUMBER TWO GENTLEMAN IN BLLK??? yayoi canon equivalent ate with that one but we’ve KNOWN from the start that he’s built like that…my goat fr 🥹 PLS THE NUMBER TWO WAS CRAZY WORK kurona is so unserious HELP not hiori literally being attracted to casts omg somebody karasu save white butterfly y/n ASAP that’s actually insane 😭 sometimes i try to incorporate things like that into my writing (like their types and all) but i in fact will just be pretending i did not read that because wtf

no yeah the animation isn’t AMAZING but karasu looks beautiful…and so does otoya…haven’t seen yuki/nagi yet but those two are def the animators’ favs this season so i think they’ll be good…idgaf abt isagi rin and kinda shidou being done dirty because i’m not a fan like that so me personally??? I AM WINNING 🔥

THAT’S WHAT I’M SAYING like i’m not even judging i just NEED to know how they arrived at the conclusion that karasu and sukuna would be a good pair??? i know a lot of people ship megumi and sukuna maybe it was like a black spiky hairstyle thing or smth?? but like i said i mean the art ate i guess so good for them…😭

I WAS GOING THROUGH IT WRITING THAT FIC OMG this was literally me the entire time:

not even justin biebering anymore just straight up suffering…but yeah i cannot believe it ended up at 18k i don’t want to ever hear people saying i don’t write a lot for my opps IT’S LITERALLY THE PROMPTS GUYS I SWEARRR GIVE ME SMTH GOOD FOR ISAGI AND I’LL COOK FOR HIM TOO TRUST AHAHA anyways thank youuuu hehe i had sm fun dropping in all of those little hints that she was dying literally the ENTIRE story (had to add in a disclaimer though in case people thought i was just making women be weak for the silliness of it all 😭) and yesss heheh kaiser himself being foreshadowing and a mere plot device as well as the “male lead” (ngl i wouldn’t even say it’s a romance because at the end of the day it’s never confirmed if he loves her or if he just realizes that all of humanity doesn’t suck because of her plus like y/n says we don’t even know if angels are capable of feeling things like love so it’s very reader-interpretation)

ANYWAYS so fun fact that story is based on pope gregory’s vision at castel sant angelo which i visited a year or two back and for some reason something about the myth had me SO inspired that i’ve wanted to write smth based on it since i heard it 😩 i never got around to it and never really had a character it would work for until i was like ok fuck it kaiser’s name is LITERALLY michael and the request is for fantasy i’m just going to do it and hope for the best SDKJFHSD i feel like he’s not the perfect character for it necessarily because in the story i made him be a bit more detached and, eventually, merciful, which idk if canon kaiser would’ve been like that but eh close enough i hope it wasn’t awful

OMG YAY I LIKED THE LAYOUT TOO ACTUALLY!! i tried to make the gradient thematically appropriate…since the gold and blue relate to the story sm and are mentioned a few times i thought it made sense hehe i think that’s the format i’m going to follow for this event since it’s a little easier to do (just find a good panel, run it through the ibis paint x color change filter, make a gradient on canva, resize it to a line that doubles as the divider, and put it together on picsart or smth) especially compared to my typical “graphic design is my passion” ahh headers LSDKJFHS

BROOOO AS SOON AS I SAW THAT PANEL I WAS LIKE BAZINGA it’s toooooo good SLDKFJHS WE MAKING IT OUTTA THE FACILITY WITH THIS ONE 🔥 karasu AND barou getting their spotlight on my blog truly as they deserve

WAIT I LITERALLY FORGOT OMG EDITS

karasu (you’ve def seen this)

THIS OTOYA ONE HAS ME LAUGHING he’s pretty though

[misterdetectiveswag]

❝SOLACE IN THE MIDST OF THE RAIN ❞

summary; in which, yoichi plans a cute little date for you by the hillside near your apartment. only for every plan he had to shatter like a mirror, not breaking but only making fun out of pieces that were meant to be broken.

pairing; Isagi Yoichi x gn!reader

warnings/tags; use of 'pretty' to describe reader, cursing cause isagi is your average teenage boy, not proofread, small makeout session but i swear thats all.

today marked the day of your first anniversary with yoichi! his text told you to wait for him at your door at 5:00 which turned into 5:30. your heart hurt just a little by the thought accompanying you in your mind saying that he was just gonna ditch you.

you had faith in him. he wouldn't do that, would he?

yoichi was at the flower shop in an extremely long line. it was his bad for not pre-ordering the flowers instead. now he had to suffer the consequences of not thinking this through, but with a determination thay could be compared to iron; he stood his ground and waited. for 30 minutes. just for you. he should've gave you a heads up but the shop didn't have signal.

isagi bolted through the doors and it just about reached 5:34 when he reached your door. aggressive knocking, gave you a quick fright but got you off the couch and opened the door for him.

"hm. you're a little late..." the annoyance in your voice was evident as a quick apology slipped from his mouth. though, with his disheleved hair you could tell he went through some trouble just to come by at your door. he ruffled your hair as if it would help. (it did)

"sorry, pretty. the flower shop had a long ass line and I didn't get pre-order it." yoichi whined as he hands you the flowers. his rough hands completely contrasting from the softness of the petals.

"can you give me a kiss to remedy your tardiness?" as cheesy as the line may be, it had been an unspoken rule to give their s/o a kiss when they done something to upset the other.

yoichi does it no hesitation, as if he's been waiting for it. his lips pressed on your cheek. packed with love and care that nothing else could compare. he was already slipping his hands around your waist as a soft sigh from you slips out.

he gives you another kiss, this time on your lips. as if things could take get better, it did. isagi's hands travel up to your neck and then pulled away. talk about ruining the moment.

"Is that alright for you?"

a more cheery reply came from you, like that lips just lifted up your spirits. "mhm! ♪"

a tug at his lips that got him to smile. he took in your hand and dragged you out your apartment

"come on! I still have a small date planned, y'know?"

you nodded along as you two strolled around the pavement. eventually, isagi led you both to the hillside, where he initiated his first kiss with you. a small detail but it held a thousand words that got your heart to pound.

"i brought a basket for us, and I made the cooking myself. hehe, my mom helped me make it. 'hope you like it."

"of course I will!"

the next thing he knew, it started to fucking rain. plus, the basket he brought was all wet now! he was half-expecting you to be disappointed like him, but he only received that sweet smile of yours. accompanied by the muffled chuckles you held with your hand.

he doesn't think it was a waste at all if he got to see you this happy.

© misterdetectiveswag