People On This Site Cannot Or Intentionally Refuse To Distinguish Between Systemic Oppression And Lateral

Hey everyone, I know it's going to be a busy day for a lot of people, but Google enrolled everyone over 18 into their AI program automatically.

If you have a google account, first go to gemini.google.com/extensions and turn everything off.

Then you need to go to myactivity.google.com/product/gemini and turn off all Gemini activity tracking. You do have to do them in that order to make sure it works.

Honestly, I'm not sure how long this will last, but this should keep Gemini off your projects for a bit.

I saw this over on bluesky and figured it would be good to spread on here. It only takes a few minutes to do.

Football, fame, and solitude

In the emotional and thematic climax of the Neo Egoist League, Blue Lock concludes this arc not with shouts of victory, but with silences that resonate louder than any ovation. Chapter 301 presents a delicate counterpoint between the noise of fame and the echo of intimacy, and in that contrast, its true heart emerges: the insatiable desire that drives the players, and what is sacrificed in its name.

Kaiser and Ness: ruin, redemption, and the spell of affection

The first act of the chapter is a fall. Kaiser, broken, faces utter loss: not only of victory, but of the image he held of himself. His rhetoric is filled with self-loathing “I’m trash,” “I’m destroyed” as if his worth depended solely on winning. In front of him, Ness takes a step that subverts everything we’ve seen from him up until now: no longer a servant, but an individual who chooses to stay. “I’m not going to do what you say anymore,” he says, and it’s perhaps his most powerful line in the entire manga.

What follows is not a promise of success, nor a motivational speech. Ness speaks of a spell, a cure for the broken Kaiser. He speaks of affection, of humanity. What he’s trying to revive is not the player, but the human being. Until this point, football seemed to consume everything. But Ness reminds us that bonds when not based on dependence or manipulation can also be a form of resistance.

The parade of new heroes: masks of glory

The scene shifts abruptly, transporting us to a bus with the 23 players, still unaware of where they’re headed. There are jokes, anxiety, trivialities. The confinement in the bus recalls the early episodes of Blue Lock, when everyone was merely a number. But now, they’re about to face the other extreme: the public showcase.

The parade in Roppongi is the consecration of this transformation. The world applauds them, shouts their names, fights for their images. It’s the highest point of visibility they’ve ever experienced. Yet, Isagi’s monologue blankets it all with a disturbing haze of clarity: “With a single shot, you can become a hero or plummet.”

That line encapsulates the essence of the new football: there is no safety net, only the vertigo of the result. The spectacle is glorious, yes, but it’s also cruel.

Compared to the early days of the manga (that closed space, without windows, filled with psychological bars this parade is an external triumph). But internally, the bars remain. They’ve changed form: now they’re made of expectations.

The silence of Nagi: a world without football

And then, just as the noise reaches its peak, Blue Lock chooses to be silent.

The chapter ends with Nagi. Alone. At home. Facing his cactus, Choki, the same one that accompanied him before entering Blue Lock. His monologue is neither a celebration, nor a reflection. It’s a statement: “Nothing has changed. We’ve simply returned to the routine, to an empty everyday life.”

This ending contrasts with the frenzy of the parade. While everyone bathes in applause, Nagi returns to square one. There are no teammates. No football. Only the void. His “I’m back” doesn’t sound like victory; it’s a surrender, an acceptance that, without that competitive fire, the world loses its colour. Nagi represents the player whose motivation was external—the duo with Reo and now that that bond is broken, he seems to wonder if there’s anything left to fight for.

The comparison couldn’t be starker: while Isagi sees the summit as an abyss he must climb, Nagi looks at his surroundings as a desert he doesn’t know how to fill. One finds meaning in the vertigo; the other drowns in the silence.

Conclusion

The chapter doesn’t close with a coronation, but with an open question. What is left of the human being after submitting to a system that turns them into a hero? Is that recognition worth it when bonds, certainties, and even purpose crumble off-screen?

Blue Lock has often shown us that egoism can be a tool for greatness. But in this chapter, it suggests that it can also be an unbearable burden if not balanced with humanity, with meaning, with something beyond the result.

Because when everything fades away, when there are no stadiums, no applause, no rivals... the only thing left is silence. And not everyone knows how to live in it.

By @isthepame

Invalid reasons for why a character should not be redeemed:

They’re too evil! - Redemption has nothing to do with how good or evil you were to begin with.

They don’t deserve it! - Redemption is not something that can be “deserved.”

Their actions are unforgivable! - Redemption has nothing to do with forgiveness.

It’s too late for them to change! - It is only “too late” to choose redemption when a character is dead (unless the scope of the story includes an afterlife in which change is possible).

Valid reasons for why a character should not be redeemed:

It doesn’t fit the themes of the story.

They’re not an important enough character for showing the process of a redemption arc to be worthwhile.

They’re more interesting as a character who isn’t doing the right thing.

It’s more satisfying to let them keep being evil.

It makes it more satisfying when they die.

There’s probably more, but you get the idea.

Remember, redemption is when someone realizes they are wrong, and takes steps to doing the right thing. That is not something that can be “deserved,” it is not something that hinges on forgiveness, and it is not something that it is ever too late for! …Unless the person is dead or something.

So, to recap, Hayato Suo:

Does basically everything with a permanent smile on his face (it's NOT always reassuring).

Wears an eyepatch and we absolutely do not know if there is a working eye beneath it.

He claims there is a Chinese spirit under the aforementioned eyepatch. In the character book he states this seal was "about to be broken", whatever that means.

He introduces himself as Leonardo Fucking Dicaprio for some reason.

He is touchy.

He calls other guys "Cutie" (derogatory) (is it only derogatory?).

He teases people (Sakura) as if it's second nature.

He can (and might) actually kill you.

His Hobby is freaking Human Observation which leads to his best subject being Chem and his freaking best skill being World Manipulation.

His favorite music is Folk Music.

His dream is the Emancipation of Slaves (which. Holy Moly Ravioli. The others listed a gf or a trip and there he goes).

Has a Master and Brothers (Relatives? Other disciples of this Master?) we know absolutely nothing about.

He NEVER eats. The single panel in the manga where he is shown eating has been "corrected" in the anime adaptation with him handing the food to Nirei. And he claims to be on a (unspecified) diet.

He has yet to go all-out.

Berates others on what it takes to be an adult (he is at most 16).

He claims to be a "chill guy" (spoilers, he is not)

What is wrong with him.

People talk a lot about how they hope Akutagawas vampirism will heal him of his lung disease, but I really hope it doesn't. Curing Akutagawas illness this way would feel incredibly cheap, and I'd be highly disappointed. Especially after this

This moment is not only impactful because Akutagawa confesses his illness (something he views as a weakness) it was the first time Atsushi saw humanity in Akutagawa it was also setting up stakes for Akutagawas character i feel like throwing that all away with a magical vampirism cure would be one of the worst things for his arc

We have confirmed with multiple patient reports that in the last 1-2 weeks the Israeli government has unilaterally & sneakily begun forcing patients who medically evacuating from Gaza to sign paperwork at the exiting checkpoints saying they cannot return to Gaza. None of the NGOs helping with the coordination of the medical evacs were informed by the entity or any governing body this would happen.

Ethnic cleansing aside, mothers are being forced to leave their children behind to travel with a sick child and almost every family is being forced to leave family members behind. And now they are being told that they will not be able to see them again.

Not that the Israeli government cares, but this violates international law and given the document was signed under duress it is unenforceable—meaning it is not worth the paper it was signed on.

Further this jeopardizes the entire medical evacuation enterprise in multiple ways. (1) Countries will be much more reticent to accept medical evacs from Gaza’s (2) All aiding countries will now be accused of being guilty of collaborating with Israel’s ethnic cleansing crimes. (3) This will upend Jordan’s commitment to accept 2,000 patients & be blowback against Pres. Trump.

This can stop as quickly as it started. Israel thinks we aren’t paying attention, but we are. Pressure is needed on Israel to stop this illegal & sneaky practice.

Read the rest of the thread for details on this.

for atsushi to comment on akutagawa’s eyes here makes me crazy because of how much it means

in a manga where the artist visually portrays character mood and morality in their eyes, especially during key moments, this means a lot

atsushi recognizes those eyes… he recognizes akutagawa’s true character and his virtue, he’s no longer holding a morality bias over him

he understands him, finally…

akutagawa might not recognize him but atsushi remembers

and he understands now.

Reblog if you think asexuality is a legitimate sexuality.

I'm trying to prove something.

A good thread on whether “queer” is a slur and if it should be used or not.

i do find it very interesting how different the foxes and the trojans go about caring for and supporting each other. well, actually, i mostly find it interesting how differently people seem to feel about it, especially in regards to kevin's drinking problem.

the way kevin's clearly unhealthy relationship with alcohol doesn't get condemned or fixed in the original trilogy for example is something that many people in the fandom have been pretty upset and critical about for many years and jean's reaction to it seemed to have really moved people (though that in particular, imo, had at least as much to do with jean's very restricted and in itself unhealthy relationship to food and drinks as with him uniquely seeing and caring about kevin's substance abuse issues. like, yeah, he really, really cares about him, but i don't think he'd have been thaaat much less upset if kevin was coping by eating chips or something. but well, whatever).

but to me, that never really read as no one caring about kevin or thinking alcohol is the ideal way for him to regulate his emotions.

the whole premise of how wymack runs the foxes and how they treat each other is just very built around the idea that all these people have been through awful things and that the way they'll cope with that won't always be pretty. but as long as they cope at all, they'll be around for another day, and another, which'll buy them to actually get better.

which is how you get stuff like wymack, in good conscience, not only tolerating but at times even soliciting underage drinking. and looking past the harder drugs some of the team are doing. and it's how him and the team all accept that neil is definitely lying about pretty much everything but mostly just leave him be. and how they all agreed to let andrew get off his legally mandated medication during games even though that could have terrible consequences for all of them. and how matt's mom said "sure random eighteen year old calling me on the phone, do give my addict son speedballs, you seem to have a higher success rate at getting teenagers clean than me 👍" because they all view life less as you're either doing good or you doing bad, and more as you're either surviving whatever it takes to do so, or you don't, so who cares if you aren't coping in healthy or acceptable ways, as long as you are coping. (and then once they're ready to work on getting better, they do have a support system in place to help them get there)

meanwhile the trojans are mostly pretty normal and well adjusted, so they have a pretty clear idea of what a healthy person who's doing well looks like, and that's what they generally want for other people, especially those they care about. so when they see someone who's not doing well and not dealing with it in healthy ways they are very direct about it, sort of a "your behaviour is not healthy, stop doing it" thing. your eating habits are really restrictive? try eating different food anyways, it's really good, i prommy. you hurt yourself when you're upset? here's how to physically stop this from hurting. you get incredibly startled when you're touched unexpectedly? well, just let me try hugging you again. you drink to deal with your feelings? please don't, it's not good for you.

and obviously that's a lot more normal and straight forward than what the foxes are doing, and it's done with love and support. and a lot of fans find it very moving and beautiful and sweet. but i also know that i'm not the only person who was really put off by this and still finds it kinda disconcerting. to me it feels, especially in contrast to the foxes, who would largely find this sooo overbearing and rude and uncomfortable, kinda like strongarming someone into doing well, with (at least in the context of these specific books) shockingly little regard for personal boundaries.

my point isn't that one's better than the other or anything, i think both approaches are going to work differently well for different people and within the books it makes perfect sense why the different teams would act this way, and it's also perfectly understandable why some people really resonate with one approach and find the other irritating or unkind. it's simply some thoughts that have been rattling around in my head. building up to: nothing really. oh well