The Problem With Being Creative Is That You Start To Feel Very Guilty When You Haven’t Created Anything

instead of continuously over-donating to ao3 when those running the site are racist zionist sympathisers who shut down support of palestine from its volunteers 1 / 2 (among myriad other issues that u should NOT be funding) please direct your attention to these incomplete fundraisers for people in gaza and various tangible operations doing work. this is a call that if u have donated even a cent to ao3 to a) match that in your donations to palestinians/causes and b) stop donating so uncritically and unconditionally to ao3, pressure them. id like to direct u to @end-otw-racism

fundraiser masterpost by @el-shab-hussein

mona

care for gaza

help gaza's children

operation olive branch

the palestinian children's relief fund

unrwa

the palestinian red crescent society

buy an e-sim / donate for mass buying

Resource Post: Blue Lock Light Novel Translations

Volume 1: Isagi, Nagi and Bachira

Isagi part 1

Isagi part 2 (translated by Hoshi801_)

Nagi part 1

Nagi part 2 (translated by Hoshi801_)

Bachira part 1

Bachira part 2 (translated by Hoshi801_)

Illustrations (sourced from Hoshi801_ and around the web)

Volume 2: Chigiri, Reo and Rin

Chigiri part 1

Chigiri part 2 (translated by Hoshi801_)

Reo (full) (translated by 705point8)(deleted)

Reo (full) (translated by mzk_70)

Rin part 1

Rin part 2 (translated by Hoshi801_)

Illustrations (sourced from Hoshi801_ and around the web)

Volume 3: Niko, Kunigami and Hiori

Niko (full) (translated by carbunnyra)

Kunigami part 1

Kunigami part 2 (translated by Hoshi801_)

Hiori part 1

Hiori part 2 (translated by Hoshi801_)

Illustrations (sourced from Hoshi801_ and around the web)

Disclaimer: I do not own Blue Lock or any of its characters. Blue Lock was created by Kaneshiro Muneyuki and Nomura Yusuke. The light novels were written by Moegi Momo. All rights belong to the publisher, Kodansha. These are fan translations of the original Japanese and distributed for entertainment only.

i think one of the best things about starting a new series is when you had it on your list for so long and when you finally give it a chance, it’s one of the best series you’ve ever read/watched! or when you go back to a series you’ve paused for a while to catch up on everything you missed and falling in love with the story all over again. it’s always so much fun to discover new media! it’s also amazing to finally catch up on the series you have loved for years!!!

Save a horse RIDE A COWBOY 🗣️🗣️🗣️

AAAAAAAAA IT'S HIM

HE HAS A LITTLE TURTLE FRIEND

something something alignment chart of all the relevant legendary/super epic cookies

russia is currently executing civilians in ukrainian vovchansk. russian forces are taking civilians captive, executing people trying to escape captivity. they are also shelling the entire place with cluster munitions to kill any survivors left

A lot of propaganda is not actually misinformation.

A lot of propaganda is not even half-truths.

A lot of propaganda actually is telling you the truth, but is feeding you a specific conclusion that the author wants you to draw from it.

This makes it a lot more robust, because if you go searching for sources to confirm the information, you'll find them!

So an important thing in evaluating information is not just "Is this true?" but also:

"Wait, does this lead inevitably to the conclusion this person is presenting? What other conclusions could I draw here? What other reasons for this piece of info could there be? How does this information fit into what I already know?"

"What are the motivations of the person who wrote or created this? Why did they want me to draw that conclusion? Do they themselves believe the conclusion they're drawing, or are they just trying to convince me? If they do believe it themself, why? If not, why are they trying to convince me? What's going on for them here?"

"What other pieces of information might I be missing? What am I extrapolating without noticing? What did this person deliberately leave out, or want me to ignore or gloss over? What other contexts and comparisons are applicable here?"

"How does this information with in with not only the specific conclusion that is presented, but with the author's overarching thesis? When I use it, how well does it fit into my thesis? When I take a step back, does this piece of information actually make any sense as supporting evidence for this person's thesis?"

Hopefully this is helpful, and can help your skills at evaluating information and arguments become more robust!

The first couple of pages of Episode Nagi parallel Nagi's journey and hint at Nagi understanding his originality after death

Episode Nagi chapter 1 page 3

Nagi wakes up and gets pricked, causing him to awaken- just like how experiencing frustration for the first time in the team Z match "awakened" him.

Despite being awake, Nagi doesn't get out of bed bc "getting up is such a pain..." so instead he focuses on "beating the daily challenge" This may refer to Nagi wanting to/succeeding at beating Isagi, though I think it more so parallels Nagi’s decision to start “making an effort” in blue lock, given that he dies.

So then Nagi dies, which forces him to get up and go to school. At the same time, he realizes he's hungry

This is a pain, because to be hungry is to want things and be human. Being hungry makes you do things to sate that hunger. It forces you to live. And to Nagi, living is a pain.

After chapter 298, we have reached the part where Nagi “dies”, which will forces him to get out of bed. Right about now is when Nagi should be getting "hungry" too, which can be understood as understanding his “originality” as Ego describes. This is whatever deep intrinsic desire he feels he wants to fulfill.

Maybe the reason why Nagi’s death kickstarts this understanding is because it denies him of what he wants, causing hunger. Maybe it’s because it’s only at rock botttom, having lost everything, that Nagi can face what he wanted in the first place. After all, if he’d faced it earlier, he’d have to face the possibility of losing it. Now, that’s moot point, as he’s dead and lost it all.

What is this originality? It may be related to his fear of losing Reo, which he expressed in his dying moments. But what he hungers for shouldn't just be being by Reo's side. That's settling. Settling in a place like Blue Lock is no good.

Nagi got mad at the implication that he was Reo's toy. What he should aim for isn't just Reo letting him tag along by his side, but being Reo's true and real partner. He needs to find the bravery to chase that instead.

What Nagi's been doing through his lack of communication with Reo (and, what Reo has been doing by assuming certain things are impossible) has been settling. They need to stop settling for a situationship and get together. They need to get to a point where they have a mutual understanding of their partnership that isn’t functioning to keep them together, but rather only exists because they decided to be together and understand each others feelings.

For an example of settling, take Reo’s 300 mil proposition and Nagi’s unenthusiastic agreement. Nagi clearly doesn’t care about that, but he wants to be with Reo, so he doesn’t object or correct him. He settles for being a passive participant in the relationship despite getting mad at Barou for calling him Reo’s servant, and later gets to the point of begging Reo to let him stay by his side by 298.

For another example of settling, take Reo’s assumption that without soccer they could never be together, and that they will separate once the World Cup is won (in the extra chapter). This is part of what leads him to react the way he does in 2nd selection.

By the time of 298, Nagi clearly thinks the same- though this wasn’t a given to him like it was to Reo. He’d asked Reo in the harujuku extra chapter what they would be if Nagi had no soccer talent, and Reo had told him Nagi’d be abandoned- though there was no way Nagi didn’t have talent in Reo’s mind.

Even if Nagi had gotten past that idea by the time they entered blue lock, it would have been reinforced when Reo accused him of forgetting their promise/not caring about him anymore by choosing to play with Isagi, demanding Nagi to throw him away. Being rejected because of not playing soccer with Reo despite working toward their dream would send the message that their partnership is reliant on soccer. At least, to someone as passive as Nagi. Thus, “I am not your toy”. But it seems like he’d settle for that.

After that moment he uses kanji instead of katakana to refer to Reo which has been confirmed to mean he feels more distant from him.

The fact of the matter is that playing together doesn’t necessarily make one play better. Your motive cannot be being helpful or useful to someone else, out of transaction for their company. Partnerships only work when mutual interests align instead.

That may beg the question- doesn’t that mean relationships of convenience are the way to go? Ie the Karasu Otoya route, for instance?

Well, no. Relationships of convenience are for when two different/opposing mutual interests align. What we haven’t seen (yet) is when mutual interests align because they are so similar- because two people want to win together at the end of the day. They understand this shared desire, and trust each other to do their best to carry it out- resulting in an ideal partnership.

The nagireo endgame… potentially.