#I've literally gone from 'this is my fun little non-canon never going to happen favorite ship' to

[lunar-years]

re: “the jamie factor” to the roykeeley resolution in the finale, they really do have to do something about it because they heavily implied that keeley still had feelings for him multiple times at the beginning of the season and that was… never resolved? unless they intended the resolution to just be that she wanted to be friends with him?? but (and maybe this is just my shipping goggles) I don’t feel like that really explains how she was talking about him to shandy and jack

Exactly.

This is one of the few things that will actually hack me off if it's done incorrectly in the finale (read: Roy/Keeley getting back together and Jamie is neither mentioned nor shown. Or, 1000x worse, if they do show him finding out/one of them telling him afterwards and he's just like "Oh I'm so happy for you guys! my two best friends who I absolutely don't also have feelings for! together at last! :)" because WHAT). I'm pretty confident they won't do that because of how little sense it makes but like. It's still an illogical fear of mine.

And look, I'm all for an ambiguous ending in which ot3 isn't defined. I don't really need any further confirmation beyond what we got last week. But the fact that the narrative did start (and subsequently interrupt) an "I don't want to just be friends" conversation between Roy & Keeley makes it an almost certainty that they're going to finish said conversation. In which case, I don't see how Roy and Keeley could make any choice about their relationship without thinking about/including Jamie. The only route to ambiguity I can see is Keeley turning Roy down (maybe after some more glances in Jamie's general direction to suggest to viewers with eyes that he's part of the reason) and then the three of them shown briefly as friends again.

As you say, there's been several moments in the season where it's been made pretty clear Keeley is thinking about Jamie in that way again. And even in the moment where Roy/Keeley are talking and Jamie interrupts them, Keeley 1) does not look like she's about to give a resounding yes to Roy and 2) drops her hand SO fast the moment Jamie walks through the door. How else are we supposed to read this, like ?? We know Roy still loves Keeley, there's been nothing to indicate Jamie isn't still in love with Keeley (as he told her last season) and everything Roy/Jamie this season has not been subtle development... the dots are connecting in a way that the writers absolutely have to not only be aware of but also intentional about at this point.

Not to mention that last week the entire Jamie Roy Keeley plot was however many minutes of "there is no heterosexual or monogamous explanation for this" so uhhh. yeah. I can only conclude that ot3 is going to be addressed.

#ted lasso #ted lasso speculation #ted lasso spoilers #royjamiekeeley #like the shipping goggles ARE admittedly on but this is also genuine analysis based on what the show has shown us. #I don't think I'm being delusional because how else can people be interpreting some of this. cmon. #and I started off the season being 100% fine with r*yke*ley endgame btw #but now something about it would feel very aggressively 'no homo actually! cheers xx' and i would hate it #BECAUSE of everything they've shown us!! #I've literally gone from 'this is my fun little non-canon never going to happen favorite ship' to #'this is the only endgame that makes an ounce of sense'

[miyukousawa]

The Importance Of Miyuki's Character in Daiya

Hello my darlings. ‘Tis I coming back with something nobody asked for, but y'all are gonna get it anyways because I've had this on my mind for the LONGEST time.

Disclaimer: I am a peasant who does not know what goes on inside the mind of Terajima-sensei. Please do not take anything I say and be like “is that true!?” because I am just a fangirl who likes to overthink.

Let's get started. This is gonna be a long text pos, so if you're ready, buckle up, get your popcorn.

Here we go!!

--

We all know Miyuki Kazuya, our devilish catcher, was the soul reason for Sawamura Eijun to take the Seido scholarship because he wanted to pitch to Miyuki's Mitt again. Yadda yadda. We all know that story.

Let's rewind all the way back to before the main story even takes place, before Eijun and Miyuki even meet each other.

In life, there are different paths. Every little decision we make determines our future. Sometimes it's good, and sometimes it's bad.

One of my favorite things as a writer is the “butterfly effect” - “a butterfly flapping its wings and causing a hurricane” but in simpler terms: “one small thing can change everything”.

And here is where we're I'm going to apply this: Miyuki's middle school team loses to Chris', and while he sits on the bench lost in thought, Miss Takashima (seido’s scouter) approaches him. If you pay attention, she was originally going to scout Chris. But she decided to scout Miyuki not knowing he was still a middle schooler. And he took the offer.

Now, here is where things are going to get interesting: What if Takashima hadn't approached Miyuki or Miyuki decided not to take the offer?

Miyuki says the reason he was at Seido is because of Chris and Takashima. We're gonna explore the other path. The one where Miyuki does not go to Seido and how this one, small change majorly impacts the entire story.

Narumiya Mei and Miyuki were friends; Mei gathered a bunch of all star players to convince them to go to Inashiro and make the ultimate team. In canon, Miyuki rejects this offer, saying he was scouted by Seido, but...what if that offer was never there or Mei manages to win him over? Because Inashiro invited him to attend their school.

Miyuki deciding upon going to Inashiro is where everything you know in canon no longer happens. Scary, yet intriguing, right?

Inashiro usually prefers not to not have first years in main positions or the starting line-up. Mei started off with the number 18 his first year. You might think that Miyuki's skills would blow Kunitomo's mind, right? Not so sure about that. Because they have Masa-san (Harada). Who is a second year. Who has more experience in high school baseball than Miyuki would.

The reason Miyuki even had number 2 at Seido his first year was because of Chris' unfortunate injury. Seido was willing to put their hands in a first year because... They really had no other option; Miyuki was the most qualified for the position.

Seido without Miyuki is...not the same team. He's their pillar. He's their leader. Without him, what are they?

With Chris down, and Miyuki being at Inashiro, my guess is that Miyauchi would be the main catcher for Seido up until he retires.

If Takashima still goes to Nagano and scouts Eijun, when she takes him to Seido to observe the grounds and he gets into that quarrel with Azuma over bullying Nori, (my fellow misawa shippers y'all better clutch your chests) there is no Miyuki to offer catching his pitches.

Because he chose a different path.

Miyuki was Eijun's reason to come to Seido. And because he isn't there and Inashiro doesn't know this boy even exists, Eijun is not gonna see a reason to leave home just to attend Seido. What will he do with his life? Probably go to a regular high school and if he's lucky, he'll be on the baseball team.

But Eijun's growth as a pitcher was because of Seido. Because of Chris. Even his most recent achievement “the numbers” was because of working with Miyuki.

Although Eijun isn't at Seido, he'll be with his childhood friends and his family. So that's a positive. Though with pros there are cons: not going to Seido means baseball may end for him when he graduates high school. Seido is a school that scouters keep an eye on, especially during tournaments, for any talented players they have.

I really do not think Eijun would go university/college because it's expensive and no team is going to take him in the condition he would be in. As said above: Eijun's major growth as a pitcher is due to Seido. Maybe his high school would try to work out the kinks, maybe they won't.

My theory is, since the Sawamura family live on a farm, Eijun would work on it. Not exactly the future he would want.

Applying our friend the butterfly effect, Eijun not going to Seido changes the future.

The reason for Chris snapping out of his funk was because of Eijun. As the fandom likes to refers to him: he's the literal embodiment of sunshine. Without Eijun there, Chris would never find it in himself to move forward with his life. To love baseball again.

Chris is not the only one who had some sunshine cast into his life: Okumura came to Seido specifically for Eijun. If you remember the first time we met him, he and Seto had come to watch the Teito vs Seido match. The school who won would determine where they would go to high school. He also took quite the interest in Eijun as well just from that one match.

Without Miyuki, there is no Eijun. So even if Seido does manage to get this far and they face Teito, there is nothing Seido has for Okumura to consider going there. Considering Seto and Okumura do go to this game. If there is no Eijun, there is nothing for Okumura to consider. Why is this important? To keep spoilers to a minimum for my non-manga folks (the anime will cover this), Okumura, like Chris, is in a funk where baseball is not fun and it takes a certain southpaw to bring that spark back. Without Eijun, Okumura will not be able to let go of his past and never be able to move forward.

Miyuki's absence doesn't just affect Eijun's future, Furuya also came to Seido for Miyuki. Long story short: Furuya was outcasted in Hokkaido due to being a powerful pitcher. Being an introvert, he doesn't open up to people easily, so being excluded from the thing he's good at is difficult. He didn't play baseball in middle school because of being a “monster” pitcher. Furuya saw a magazine cover with first year Miyuki on it and thought maybe this genius catcher would be able to catch his pitches.

Tying everything I said above back into this, Inashiro doesn't usually have their first years in starting positions if they can help it (Itsuki is an exception to this, most likely due to being the best pick of the entire first and second years); with Harada being their main catcher, Miyuki will possibly be on the sidelines. Therefore, his picture won't be on the cover of a sports magazine when Furuya is still in his last year of middle school. And thus Furuya will not go to Seido.

Where would he go? Most likely a regular school in his area or maybe even Komadai Fujimaki. Would he be happy? No. Seido is what brought out his true potential as a pitcher. Where he's respected by his teammates. Furuya doesn't make friends easily. You can conclude Eijun and Haruichi were his first real friends. But because in this world of actions have consequences, he doesn't go to Seido. He won't meet Eijun (who stays in Nagano) and Haruichi.

This one decision Miyuki makes doesn't only affect the characters I've gone over, it affects the entire team.

After the third years retire, Kataoka begins to think about resigning which is where Ochiai comes into the picture as the coach that will take over for him.

Seido does not have Miyuki, Eijun, Furuya as their key players, so their lineup will be quite different. It's quite possible that when the third years retire, Ono would be the main catcher and Nori as the ace with Toujou as a relief pitcher.

The reason Seido has gotten as far as they have is because of Miyuki’s game calling and their pitcher relay.

Take all that away, and you have a completely different team. Kataoka would resign and leave Seido, leaving Ochiai in charge of the team.

So you see, one simple decision of what high school to attend can change the entire story. For good or for worse, that's up to you to decide.

That's all. If you read this whole thing, I applaud you. Because that takes effort.

If you liked this, and want to see more stuff like this, you can always message me or slide an ask along.

#daiya no ace #miyuki kazuya #diamond no ace #ace of diamond #diamond no ace act ii #character analysis #this took two days #I need a break #everyone liked the og analysis I did #so I did another one #nobody asked I just did it for myself #I just wanted to write thid #bc im intrigued by this