"He's always been like that, even as a kid. Who even knew what was in his head? You're talking about picking up bottles, and then he’ll look up, blink, and ask if I think that butterflies see their wings."
"They don't," Snuffy replies.
Snuffy won't love him, but he can give him a decent life. If only things were that simple.
Tags: Pre-Canon, Character Study, Family Drama, Trust Issues, Abandonment Issues
my Snuffy & Lorenzo fic using this characterization
Snuffy is the epitome of the word 'control'. From his motto to the use of his body with its perfect, calibrated balance on the field in the form of jiu jitsu (elements of which were also utilised by logic genius Sherlock Holmes in Conan Doyle's fictional style).
Snuffy controls everything from the individual strengths of his players to their place in his strategies, while also building all of his logic on a solid, confident base: for example, when constructing his team at Ubers he goes by the club's tradition and builds it on defence rather than attack. Even Lorenzo was raised by him to be flexible and adaptable (and most importantly, with the understanding that the most important thing is not to win, but to live), which can be seen in his attitude to the game - both serious and entertaining at the same time. And capable of accepting both losing and winning with dignity.
He controls even personal relationships, clearly defining the conditions for both sides, their benefits and losses - where it would seem that there should be no room for formalities. And if about Barou this could be hardly regarded to the football, then with the starving Lorenzo everything is a bit more complicated.
And I think it's obvious to everyone that this not entirely healthy level of control, going far beyond the boundaries of dedication, grew out of his trauma from Mick's death and their failure.
It's evident even in his relationship with the characters closest to him, Lorenzo and Barou. Through them both - two people so similar to Mick Moon (Lorenzo in appearance in his homeless era, Barou in both appearance and personality) - Snuffy recreates his trauma in an attempt to rewrite it with a happier ending. The kind of thing that Barou gets a glimpse of and is rightly angry about.
Of course this is hardly fully realised, only partly - in life, for example, kids who were bullied in their childhood sometimes become teachers. And then they stop the bullying near them as working adults, giving the new kids the happy ending they once deserved. And that's exactly Snuffy's case: he saves his players from a fate he himself couldn't avoid. He's willing to keep them as safe as he can control, growing them in almost hothouse conditions, which is exactly what Barou hates. So much so that he's easily willing to take the blame if they fail.
But at the same time, which makes perfect sense for such a person, Snuffy hates it when things get out of control, especially when there is deliberate sabotage - which is actually what Noa is teasing him about. I'd even go so far as to say that Snuffy is the kind of person who can only focus on a far-reaching goal by completely ignoring the unimportant things along the way - for example, he saved Lorenzo's life, but it seems they never talked about the fact that he didn't have to play football for Snuffy to love him, and that "worth" of his isn't that important.
Remember how Snuffy reacts to Barou's attempts to get out of his control and break his patterns: he's full of cold fury. That look is far scarier than shouting and punishment.
Because through Barou's prism Snuffy sees both his and Mick's paths. And most of all Snuffy is terrified of falling back into that helplessness - when he wasn't prepared for the event that broke his life in two. An event over which he had no control.
But it would seem impossible to be prepared for such an event. It's like a natural disaster and a terrorist attack - it's something that tears the usual fabric of life apart.
But when has that ever stopped anyone, right?
So Snuffy, in the moment of tragedy that destroyed his past, felt that he had a duty to anticipate everything. He had to know how and where to act, find the right words for Mick, save the careers of both of them, and basically hold the world on his shoulders so that it wouldn't break them apart.
It's terribly cruel and certainly unfair upon himself - but that's the way trauma works.
And that's why the journey he takes with Barou's help is so satisfying and liberating. Blue Lock does show overcoming one's traumas and chains visually and vividly very well - and how, with Barou's help, Snuffy was able to transcend his limitations, rising like a phoenix from the ashes, is perceived both visually and consciously, because it's relatable.
Because a person who is able to prepare for everything, to expect both loss and failure in advance, who knows exactly all his skills and advantages....
...also clearly sees the limitations of his body and mind. He simply cannot go beyond them - because he controls himself so much that he unwittingly limits himself, almost self-sabotaging - just to stay on predictable, familiar ground.
Logic is incapable of improvisation.
And this is what Barou is talking about - and what he teaches Snuffy anew, re-igniting his desire to live and play.
He shows Snuffy again that both life and football are made up of unpredictable moments - those where you are happy that something unexpected has happened that you weren't waiting for, those where you amaze yourself by going beyond your limits, those where you are happy and at the peak. Those where you need logic, but where you can't build your victory and happiness on it alone. Because happiness is in illogicality and unpredictability.
These moments are the things a person's destiny consists of.
The moments that Mick Moon lived for.
And the moments for which Marc Snuffy survived and rose again.
you can love a character and still admit when they’re wrong…. i love homura but can acknowledge her flaws (she has none) and can hold her accountable for her wrongdoings (she’s never done anything wrong in her life) and call her out for her actions (which are always correct)
do u ever just see an art style that makes u wanna draw. like not necessarily draw similar to that style but just like looking at it you're like :J and it just instantly boosts ur motivation to make ur own stuff
