#in case i need to find it later

[fagsarecool]

Unedited and entirely self indulgent fic about Enoch and Secondo a month after the "end" of the world, featuring Olive :)

Out of all the things Secondo would have expected to experience after being resurrected, nightmares had never crossed his mind. Logically, he knew the trauma of being killed and missing over five years of what should have been his life with his family would affect him, but Secondo had never been the type to have nightmares. So when he had one, he never saw it coming.

As far as nightmares went, it was rather tame. Secondo wasn't running from some vague threat chasing him and his teeth certainly weren't falling out. He was simply back at the moment he had died, sitting at a table with his brothers and losing horribly at Uno. Only this time, he knew what was coming.

He had tried to open his mouth, tried to warn his brothers, tried to do anything at all, but it didn't work. He never deviated from what had happened, and only felt fear for the incoming pain and the sudden blackness.

When it happened, it hit him like a truck. Suddenly, rough arms were around him, keeping him still and driving that needle into his neck. He tried to call out for Enoch just like he had done that horrible night, feeling guilty for leaving him behind yet again. But instead of sinking into that pitch black again, Secondo woke up.

His eyes opened, and he was staring at the familiar sight of his ceiling and breathing heavily. The fear that had coiled in his chest began to dissipate, and Secondo breathed a sigh of relief. He was alive, and he was fine.

And, judging by the warm weight of Enoch sleeping beside him, Enoch was fine as well.

Secondo turned to him and smiled. It had been a month since he was brought back, and it had been a difficult one. Secondo had felt so angry. Not at Enoch, never at Enoch, but at the people who should have taken care of him, who should have been there.

Secondo scowled slightly as he watched Enoch sleep, his anger now replacing his fear. Copia was lucky to have gotten away before Secondo regained his strength. Secondo had never killed a human before, but he would have for Enoch.

Still, at the end of the day, Secondo still had Enoch. They were happy together. Not like before, because Secondo was very much aware that nothing could ever go back to how it was. No, It was a new kind of happiness. It felt final.

Secondo leaned forward and wrapped his arms around Enoch's waist, pulling him closer and kissing the back of his neck. The man was sleeping, but Secondo still wanted to touch him and show him that he was loved.

He didn't expect Enoch to speak to him, and he certainly did not expect the words that Enoch had said.

“Copia, stop,” Enoch groaned, half asleep. He moved away from Secondo's touch, one of his hands pushing Secondo's grasp off his waist as he rolled over and fell back asleep.

It was such a tiny thing. Enoch wouldn't even remember that he said it when he wakes up in the morning, but Secondo could feel his heart break all over again.

Secondo didn't bring it up to Enoch, but he couldn't stop thinking about it. He wondered if that was what Enoch subconsciously associated with touch now. If he only felt threatened now because of what Copia had done. Enoch had always been rather closed off, both physically and emotionally. He didn't like touch, and Secondo had known that. Before his death, Secondo was Enoch's exception to the rule. Enoch let Secondo touch him, even encouraging it at points. He had felt safe around him, and Secondo treasured that feeling.

Of course it would be different, Secondo realized over breakfast the next morning. Years had passed in Secondo's absence, and many terrible things had happened.

Secondo felt angry with himself now. Enoch had wanted to leave the ministry back when Terzo had been dethroned. He had told Secondo this many times, and every time Secondo had told him to wait. To wait until Secondo helped Terzo, to wait until the ministry decided who would be the next Papa, to wait until Secondo was ready. If Secondo had listened to him, had packed up all of their things and left, would things be different? Maybe Secondo wouldn't have been killed in the first place. Maybe Enoch would have been safe and happy even as Copia and Sister Imperator took control of the church. Secondo could be with Enoch now, raising the child that he had with him instead of-

Secondo stopped himself. He couldn't think like that. Enoch would hate to know that he was having these sorts of thoughts.

Secondo continued to drink his coffee in silence, listening to Enoch as he moved about their little home. They had moved a few weeks prior, as Enoch was unable to stand being in the ministry anymore. Secondo didn't argue with him that time, because he wanted to leave as well. Besides, with Copia’s disappearance and Sister Imperator’s death, that meant someone had to lead the church.

Thankfully, Terzo stepped up to that role. He was happy in it, Secondo believed. Even more so since everyone who had stopped him from reaching his full potential the first time was now dead.

Secondo sighed to himself. He would need to call Terzo. Hopefully he would have some advice for him about this. The younger brother seemed to be very understanding about Enoch's situation, more than Secondo thought possible.

“Look who's awake already!” Enoch said softly from the hallway. Secondo turned and saw Enoch carrying a sleepy Olive in his arms. The boy leaned against his father, his eyes only half open and his hair messy from sleep.

Enoch set him in his chair and kissed him on the head before bringing him his food and a juice box. Secondo watched the two of them, his heart wrenching in his chest. Olive looked like Copia, especially as he sipped his juice.

The feelings that burned in Secondo's chest were not jealousy or anger. It was grief. Grief and love.

“Good morning.” Secondo said to Olive, “How did you sleep?”

Olive looked up at Secondo, his mismatched eyes meeting Secondo's own. Secondo felt himself smile.

“I had a dream that papa made too much pasta sauce.” Olive said sadly, “It was bleh.”

Enoch faltered for a second at the mention of Copia, but quickly caught himself. Sitting down at the table, he smiled at his son.

“Feel free to tell us if we make too much sauce at dinner.” Enoch said softly, “Though, keep in mind that we are having guests tonight. We'll need extra sauce.”

Olive perked up at this, clenching and unclenching his fists in excitement.

“Will papa be coming home?” Olive asked, “Do you think he'll bring me a present?”

Enoch's smile fell. He looked at Secondo for support, but Secondo didn't know what to say. No one knew where Copia was or if he would ever come back. Personally, Secondo hoped Copia never showed his face again, but…well, Olive deserved to see his father.

“Not tonight.” Enoch said, and Olive wilted. For a few weeks now, his questions about where Copia was had grown in number. It seemed that every day he was asking for answers, answers that Enoch could not give him.

“But your sisters are coming for dinner. They'll be staying with us for a few days, and we're going to have fun.”

Olive nodded silently, still upset at the fact that his father wasn't returning today.

“And…I'll get you a present instead. Anything you want! You can come with me to the airport and you can pick out anything from the gift shop.”

Olive smiled at this, momentarily forgetting his sadness.

“Really?” He asked, “Anything at all?”

“Within reason.” Enoch told him, “I'm not buying you the plane.”

Olive laughed at this, before giggling to himself as he ate his breakfast. Enoch breathed a sigh of relief before he turned to Secondo.

“Do you want to go with us?” He asked, “I’ll get you a gift too, if you’d like?”

Secondo nodded, before reaching for Enoch's hand. The touch of his skin against Secondo's almost burned, the memory of what Enoch had said coming to the forefront of his mind.

“You're the only gift I need.” Secondo said, fully aware of how cheesy he sounded. He didn't care. He meant it, and he needed Enoch to know this.

Enoch scoffed, rolling his eyes and squeezing Secondo's hand.

“You are a sap,” He replied, “but I feel the same.” Enoch lifted his hand and pressed his lips against Secondo's knuckles, his breath tickling the hair on his hand.

“My love.” Enoch whispered.

Secondo smiled. They were going to be okay.

[wizardpotions]

one of my favourite examples of preserving atmosphere in a remake or HD version of a game will always be deciding not to remaster any of the music for twilight princess HD, and actually not changing much of the visuals either, something about that games atmosphere comes from the hazy and and dream like quality of digital media from the time. the muffled audio has this incredible ethereal quality to it that you just do not find in games anymore. there was something truely magical about 2000s dark fantasy media that i hope we will see again someday

[99thpercentile]

places where the audio distorts

image ids under the cut

tmagp 4:

tmagp 5:

tmagp 7:

tmagp 8:

the audio distorts when people lie.

I imagine this knowledge will come in handy later.

[id: ALICE: This is not something you go poking around in. Not if you want to keep your job… or your neck. SAM: (a little amused) Okay, okay! I get it. Consider me scared straight. "Consider me scared straight" is highlighted. end id]

[id: LENA: Now, while I understand your concerns, you need to understand that Colin has held the IT Manager position for some time without incident, and although he is somewhat… frustrated with his current assignment, he can request help from the central IT team at any time. I am certain that should he find his responsibilities unmanageable, he will request assistance. Or resign, of course. Either way, the problem will resolve itself. "Or resign, of course" is highlighted. end id]

[id: CELIA: Is there any way to look up specific files? ALICE: Like what? CELIA: Oh, I don’t know. Every case about… being buried alive, or meat, or… whatever. ALICE: Well, there’s a search bar, but it doesn’t actually do anything. You’d have to dig through them all manually. (suspicious) – Why do you ask? CELIA: Just figuring it all out. Ah well, I guess I’ll need to find Bigfoot on my own time. "Just figuring it all out" is highlighted. end id]

[id: GERTRUDE: I see. Well, I’m sorry, but I don’t think Gerry can help you – GERRY: (casually) Yeah, I barely remember any of it. "I don’t think Gerry can help you" is highlighted. end id]

[id: GERRY: Oh yeah, but I was pretty young. I remember filling in a bunch of forms and questionnaires, then some old men asking me questions about what books I liked to read, who did I look up to, that kind of thing. And then I left. SAM: (disappointed) That’s all? GERRY: Yeah, afraid so. Other than just sitting around with a bunch of other kids in a room that smelled like old books. "Yeah, afraid so" is highlighted. end id]

[id: CELIA: I’m trying to look into… Weird physics stuff: time travel, other dimensions, teleportation, all that good stuff. Freddy doesn’t really do searches, so you could keep an eye out and let me know if any come up in your cases? SAM: Uh, sounds a bit sci-fi compared to our usuals. What’s this for? (amused breath) You’re not doing research for that podcast you were on, are you? CELIA: (surprised) You know about that? SAM: I might have given you a quick Google. CELIA: Then… yeah. I’m doing a favor for Georgie. "yeah. I’m doing a favor for Georgie" is highlighted. end id]

[todayisafridaynight]

[deadliestpieceontheboard]

I need kit connor to play a broody/serious character so I can get behind the twinyards fancast... he's got the looks nailed down but all I see is adorable puppy

[hungriestheidi]

what would you recommend new f1 fans read/watch to learn as much as they can about the sport, its rules/functioning and its history?

Oh this is a great question!

I think dts is actually not a bad introduction to the sport. At least the first two or three seasons are good to get to know the sport on a superficial level. It's an intro! Also Rush as a film introduces you quite well to the 80s era of the sport. Niki Lauda himself said the movie is about 80% accurate to the history so, it's a good appetizer.

Also the F1 YouTube channel has the F1 Origins playlist which is another good way of learning about the teams origins.

And! This is a great video about the history of the sport inspired by Bill Wurzt (history of the entire world I guess)!!!

In terms of reading material, Jenson Button's books are hilarious (Life to the Limit and How to be an F1 driver) while also being really insightful! Mark Webber's Aussie Grit is a good read too, Prost vs Senna is absolutely brilliant and Lee McKenzie recently released a book that has great reviews!

For the rules you have incredible -and easy to understand- videos on youtube. Cleo Abram's F1 for rookies and Marques Brownlee's F1 Explained are excellent examples, they have some small mistakes but don't really take away from the experience.

Hope this is helpful! Let me know if there is anything specific you want to learn/know and I'll be happy to help :)

[theflyingfeeling]

I hate it here sm

[internet-tears]

[ego-osbourne]

2023 WIP Art Wrapup

I couldn’t fit all of these so I made them into collages, hope you don’t mind

1. A gore piece of Ego during the Alduin fight, with Dragon Aspect

2. Wounded Rakell and protective Velehk

3. Sanguine lighting WIP

4. Dagon being grabby with Ego’s arm

1. Paarthurnax teaching Ego

2. The full sheet from the one post with Sam x Ego shenaningans

3. A scrapped concept of Dagon’s Prince of Hope design

1. Dagon x Ego big hands stuff (also a very early draft of something I went to redraw and finish!)

2. Akatosh concept and defo nothing else :]

1. Sanguine x Dagon

2. Rakell getting the shit beat out of him by Kyrahk

3. Ego and Sam in their pirate wear

4. Shadowmere, Mory, Brenna, and Veezara

1. Sanguine carrying Ego away from a fight

2. Dagon giving a thumbs-up

3. Sanguine dancing

4. Oz, another alter ego (in the same way that TES Ego is a branch of an alter ego), this time for Bloodborne’s universe!

1. Caspian losing his eye to a firework

2. Cicero

3. Sanguine looking very mischievous

4. Nervous Ego x Sanguine

And an animation base for Caspian losing his eye :]

There is a very grand possibility that I finish none of these, but it’s not impossible that I finish a few! However, it’s more likely that I simply take these concepts and remake them entirely

See you soon with an art wrapup!

[gregoftom]

pretty sure i’ve seen romance movies with scenes like this

[ssruis]

Losing the idgaf war over here but re: “tsukasa needs to be saved from wxs/rui actually wants to hurt him”

Read it’s on! Wonder halloween

Read it’s on! Wonder halloween!

Rui: ascending to the stage from the seats won’t have enough of an impact. He needs to make a powerful impression as a knight…

Rui: Oh, I’ve got it! That will definitely be better! But I’ll have to assess it’s practicality and safety first.

Read it’s on! Wonder halloween!

Rui: anyways, the stage is sorted and we’re ready to hold our show. I’ll start planning the next one in the meantime.

Rui: hmm… maybe I can make it easier for tsukasa by reusing some of the gimmicks that worked with him last time.

Read it’s on! Wonder halloween!

Read it’s on! Wonder halloween!

Tsukasa: ah, it’s wire-flying time!

Rui: he somersaults in the air and flies past his pursuers…

Emu: that’s going to look INCREDIBLE ♪

Tsukasa: this is just the kind of daring performance I was born for! What comes after that, Rui?

Read it’s on! Wonder halloween!

Read it’s on! Wonder halloween!

Rui: but you have me mistaken, Tsukasa… I… I’m making changes to improve the show…

Tsukasa: and I’m telling you to quit lying like that!

Tsukasa: I told you that I’m going to make the most of the role you’ve given me. I’ll pull off whatever you throw at me, no matter how tricky it might be!

Tsukasa: we have the potential to put on a jaw-dropping show, but you’re holding back!

Read it’s on! Wonder halloween!

Read it’s on! Wonder halloween!

(Asked if he was mad at himself for getting hurt) Tsukasa: Of course! I still am too! I killed the director’s confidence, didn’t I? I’m not a star, I’m a disgrace!

Tsukasa: a real star inspires their director to entrust them with any role! To unleash their imagination and try new ideas!

Read it’s on! Wonder halloween!

Read it’s on! Wonder halloween!

Read it’s on! Wonder halloween!

Read it’s on! Wonder halloween!

READ ITS ON! WONDER HALLOWEEN!!!!!!!!!

[jasongraceenthusiast]

.

[liquidstar]

a friend who'd wait :)

[stuck-in-the-ghost-zone]

preemptively sorry for how fucking long this is it is YOUR FAULTT THOUGH!!!! large bowl of seeds for u. it is almost 2am sorry.

SO. there are. two ways to assign the prime defenders powers etc. the first way is just, like, categorize their existing powersets within the prt framework, & the second is to give them entirely new abilities based on the way worm works. delightfully, all the powers they Do have work really well for the most part, so even that doesn't require a ton of shuffling.

categorizing their pre-existing powers:

wiwi-- breaker w/ a shaker subclass. neither of them rated very high, but that's already a rare and versatile enough combination!!

dakota-- brute babeeeey!!! brute/mover its so straightforward. hell yeah babey. i don't know what he'll end up looking like post-heart removal & stuff but my guess is that'll end up looking more like a mover/striker.

vyncent-- now THIS one gave me trouble. i... hm. to say this without talking about stuff that i don't think has come up much already, (hey!! you're at that clockblocker pov! directly related to what flechette says!) i'd call him a grab-bag cape, irt the greats at least. post-greats-- again, i don't know what his powerset will look like after this arc! but if he's going all in w/ the fire magic, that would for sure be some striker shit! :]]]

giving them new powers... man i'm reining myself in so hard from five more paragraphs on Why exactly i'm saying all this.

wiwi still breaker for sure, maybe breaker-master, maybe master-stranger. yknow. powers are fluid, the prt categories are pretty rigid. i... don't know. enough about his situation yet to be clearer than that vague idea yet-- i really like the idea of him just. ditching his body & using a noncorporeal form but he still has to keep an eye on his body i think that's great. the noncorporeal form would b able to change its visibility but still b limited by proximity to the body. & fluctuating energy shit powered by fluctuating amounts of recent-death in the area, maybe probably also limited in that it's only accessible in his breaker form.... also i think u will appreciate this style note from the [UNNAMED PARAHUMANS TTRPG] i'm referencing a lot here.

dakota--in this situation he probably would not. have that mechanical heart and shit. he' would still be a mover/thinker-- thinker rating is for faster mental processing + senses imminent pain for the people in his immediate vicinity. not danger, just pain; it immediately registers ambiently & can be generally traced back to whoever it is. no he can't turn it off ever, it manifests as feeling a similar level of pain, yes it works on himself. + mover-- he can fucking fly. no super strength, just very fast flight & the general "won't splat himself flying into something" capabilities, which meshes well w/ the faster processing & reflexes. i'm split on how exactly this would work mechanically but i will NOT go into that now. i am also not going into the 15k discussion in my brain on why dakota 'notoriously bad at thinking about things' cole would be a thinker but u gotta trust the process ok??

vyncent-- trump!!!! somehow this is the only straightforward one to me? he can copy powers at the full strength or ability level of the original for an unspecified amount of time that's usually 1-30 minutes by touching the cape. crucially, he doesn't have any edge on how to use these powers + can easily misuse or become extremely overwhelmed by them. he's easily the most powerful out of the three of them <33

ashe-- ashe is NOT HERE currently and also it's 1:30 am so i gotta go fucking sleep soon BUT they would be a master. easy. :o) they can make some lil guys n do stuff with them!!!!

in general these are pretty fucking cracked abilities, all of them would b oosely above a seven or so in a number rating once they're really settled in their powers-- this is mostly because i'm assuming that they would still be heirs-apparent to the prime force equivalent, which would b the triumvirate :]] anyway. good lord. this is like the cliff notes edition of what i've been thinking and scribbling in the notes app for the past several hours. sorry if it's fucking incomprehensible. gn!!! <333

AAAAAH FUCK YESSSSSS OKAY OKAY OKAY my response is probably going to be equally as long. so it's fine. oooouh buddy.

I KNOW WHAT BREAKER MEANS NOW !!! I dontttt think ive learned shaker yet. breaker is like.... breaking the laws of physics/shifting planes or whatever. PERFECT for william hell yes. for putting them actually in worm world ... ughhhh breaker/master william is REALLY cool. I havwnt learned stranger yet but i think he would develop a complex over being classified as stranger <3 (like how weld doesn't like that he's classified as a brute even though that's not exactly what it means, he just doesn't like the word) . GODDDD just thinking abt putting pd boys in worm is fucking me up haven't they been through enough. I want to see them all in a fit of despair. william ditching his body is SO good I miss when he would do that, also the powers being limited by how far away he is AND THE AMOUNT OF RECENT DEATH IN THE AREA. holy shit. that's so fucking good . im sure he would not overthink at all the fact that he is stronger when more people around him have died . I'm sure he'd do awesome in the leviathan fight for sure for sure .

DAKOTA BRUTE <3 DAKOTA BRUTE/MOVER I LOVE THIS A LOTTTTTT hellbyes. awesome. it's so perfect for him <3 worm world I'm SURPRISED u didn't stick with brute for him. eyes emoji. I trust your judgement but now i am Thinking... Hmm..... YOU BRING INTO QUESTION something I have been thinking about. and I'm going to probably get derailed a little here but stay with me. how the way powers manifest directly relate to the trigger event. because for a WHILE before we learned taylors I was like "OH i bet the powers are going to be directly related to what traumatic thing happened to them" and then we learn about taylor and grue and a couple more and I kind of lost that theory because while you can. technically draw relations between their powers and their events it seemed like too much of a stretch to do . HOWEVER now my thinking has changed AGAIN and I think the powers ARE related to specific trigger events but it's not as straightforward as "oh something scary happened to you with bugs so now you have bug powers" I think it's gonna be more complicated than that. WHICH. THE WAY THIS RELATES. BACK ON TOPIC NOW. to DAKOTA . assuming his trigger event is still he and katori falling off the building I think it's AWESOME that his powers would manifest as FLIGHT for one. and the fucking. pain sense thing. fuck me up. dakota extreme hero complex cole would be so fucked up by a power where he ambiently senses pain from the people around him at all times and cannot turn it off. I'm sure he would feel so normal about being around william chronic pain wisp 24/7. also I can SO CLEARLY imagine how this power specifically would lead to him getting super overwhelmed in chaotic situations like he does in canon. and just fucking. bolt out of there because it's too much. again. he'd have such a wonderful time in the leviathan fight

I AM AT CLOCKBLOCKER POV !!!! actually technically I'm on kid win pov now but I haven't finished his chapter yet. vyncent grab bag cape..... yeah... I think it would be EXTREMELY funny imagining the PRT in pd world trying 2 classify vyncent like. what the fuck does this kid do . what do we do with him. hes got other guys in his head that give him powers. is he a master??? no he can't fucking control them. is he a striker??? only SOMETIMES. is he a blaster?? AGAIN ONLY SOMETIMES. cannot classify him bitch!!!!!!!! giving him worm powers though.. UGH. being able to touch someone and COMPLETELY copy their powers but only for a short period of time???? I fucking love that a lot. he WOULD be the most powerful out of them!!! I can hear taylors inner analysis dialogue about him now and it's very similar to the clockblocker "DONT LET HIM.TOUCH YOU" panic. loooove imagining this playing off of the rest of pd,,, i know there was AT LEAST one time where he had william sort of transfer some of his ghost powers for a minute? I think it was during the lich fight in the theatre but i just remember vycnent floating and going intangible and NOT KNOWING how to control it or anything. loveeee that. in world dynamics I feel like vyncent would be a late addition to their team (instead of coming from another world maybe he just. had his trigger event happen way later than the other two..or something.) and not trusting them as much at first/being REALLY shaky using either of their powers but after a while being really comfortable in a fight with using either Williams or dakotas powers in a fight. Just like. imagining the fluidity of how they'd work together in a tense situation assuming they're not being complete dumbasses <3333 UGH it's really good

AAAASHE ASHE ASHE IM SOOO SO GLAD YOU INCLUDED ASHE IN THIS I miss him.so much every day. from what I know so far master involves having/making/controlling some sort of minion (cannot think of a better word than that rn) AND I THINK THATS REALLYYYY perfect for ashe. i assume he would actually work pretty closely to canon in that his limitation would be the book? or if he doesn't have the book maybe his limitation would be a) having only a few different types of things he could summon (the big hand, the water fairy, duck etc) and/or b) only being able to control them.for a short amount of time after they're summoned so he has to be quick about dismissing them. can't keep the demon hand around for too long or it might start picking things up and throwing them at random. putting teammates in danger bc he can't control it anymore etc etc. alsooooooo in clockblocker pov they VERY briefly mentioned the possibility of having secondary trigger events (?!!!!?!?!) and you know I locked onto that SO FUCKING HARD. ashe being born with powers and then his secondary trigger event being his mom's death <3 im.NOT even going to attempt to talk about how the trickster would work in worm world/if it would even exist in this setting bc i don't know enough about the types of powers and things yet..but just know. I am keeping this in the back of my mind "this is a fun surprise tool that will help us later" style

[roirence]

the dog meme feat kijiama (I know i posted the first one already but u kinda need it for the second part)

Kofi / Twitter

[makeste]

update part two: THE SPOILERING

~*~THIS POST IS ENTIRELY ABOUT BNHA MANGA SPOILERS.~*~ IF YOU ARE NOT CAUGHT UP WITH THE CURRENT EVENTS OF THE BNHA MANGA, PLEASE DO NOT READ THIS POST. I do have a separate "hey guys I'm back" update post here which is spoiler-free!

THIS POST, THOUGH, IS NOT SPOILER-FREE. IT IS THE OPPOSITE OF SPOILER-FREE. IT EXISTS SOLELY FOR THE PURPOSE OF DISCUSSING THE BIGGEST, MOST SPOILERLY SPOILERS EVER. IF THAT IS NOT YOUR DESIRE, PLEASE PROCEED AWAY FROM THIS POST WITH ALL HASTE.

I am, however, assuming that something like 90% of this blog's readership does, in fact, know exactly what this post is about, which is why we are going to TALK ABOUT IT right here and right now underneath this tidy read-more.

okay, so! gonna stick with the random imaginary Q&A format from my other post just to make things easier.

1. "wow makeste, way to randomly go on spoiler lockdown hiatus for NINE WHOLE MONTHS only to MAGNIFICENTLY DROP THE BALL by running smack dab into THE BIGGEST BNHA SPOILER OF ALL TIME."

I know right??

2. "so what do you have to say for yourself."

short version: I made the critical tactical error of existing as a human being in the general vicinity of the internet in early August 2022. very poor move on my part. rookie mistake.

long version: so there I was, minding my own business, watching the trailer for BnHA season 6, as one does. when out of nowhere, YouTube's algorithm decided to be all "OH? THIS PERSON LIKES MY HERO ACADEMIA? BOY DO I HAVE A RECOMMENDATION FOR THEM." next thing I know, I'm scrolling through my YT home page and ALL OF A SUDDEN THERE'S A DETAILED PICTURE OF MY SON'S MANGLED BLOODY CORPSE, RIGHT NEXT TO AN ALL-CAPS DESCRIPTION READING -- I SHIT YOU NOT -- "BAKUGOU REALLY JUST DIED!!! THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING!"

seriously though. that is word-for-word verbatim what it said. the internet literally got right up in my face and said "OHOHO!! LOOKS LIKE SOMEBODY FORGOT TO DELETE LITERALLY ONE SINGLE MHA-RELATED VIDEO FROM THEIR WATCH HISTORY! TIME TO DESTROY HALF A YEAR'S WORTH OF PAINSTAKINGLY DILIGENT SPOILER AVOIDANCE IN ONE EARTH-SHATTERING BLOW!" and just like that, my miraculous fate-tempting seven month spoiler-free streak came to an end. the sequel to blah blah SIXQUIRKS. something something BAKUGOU DIED. JUST THOUGHT WE'D SHARE THAT LITTLE UPDATE WITH YOU. HAVE A GOOD ONE, AND DRIVE SAFE!

so naturally my first reaction was basically just. looooooool :) :) :) what the fuck.

here I am. a working mom. who left her seventeen-year-old fictional son in the care of a 36-year-old Japanese man for the better part of a year because HE SAID he would take good care of him. Jump Festa 2022!! quote unquote!! "I’ve said this to Okamoto [Nobuhiko]-kun in LINE, but Katsuki will be having his greatest scene in the manga in future developments. I hope people who like Katsuki and hate Katsuki will look forward to it." bruh. we have the receipts right here! "greatest scene," he said! oh, goody, I said! something to look forward to when I finally have the time to catch up! "yes," Horikoshi smiles evilly. "something to look forward to, indeed." this fucking guy. can you even believe.

and just to be clear, when I say that I was otherwise 100% not-spoiled up until this point, I mean it. one hundred percent. I had absolutely ZERO knowledge of anything past chapter 339. the last I saw of Bakugou, he was hanging out with the rest his class showing off his cool new moves to Deku and being blindsided by Aoyama's betrayal and stuff. then bam. seven months later, fate mails me a postcard of him lying on the ground with a bloody hole in his chest. like WOW, OKAY. ZERO CHILL. OF COURSE THIS WOULD HAPPEN THE ONE TIME I DECIDE TO GO ON HIATUS FOR TWO HUNDRED DAYS, SMDH.

anyway so that's my story.

3. "so exactly how spoiled are you?"

lol I'm not even sure. I guess my best answer would be, "SOMEWHAT?"

or, if you don't mind reading more words, I can tell you exactly how spoiled I am by summarizing the Things That I Do Know in a bullet list.

THINGS THAT I KNOW

all of this apparently takes place between chapters 359 and 362, with 362 being the big "oh he DEAD dead" chapter. I think. based on all the fics that have since cropped up on AO3 with ominous chapter 362 spoiler tags.

I am pretty sure Bakugou was fighting either Tomura or AFO when it happened.

I have this vague idea that somehow his heart exploded or something?? like I don't really know the details, but that's what I've been able to glean.

apparently Jeanist and Edgeshot were involved in some sort of effort to save him?? but apparently that didn't work out too well I guess. OR DID IT? I actually do not know.

I have the vague impression Edgeshot may have also died, somehow, as a result of those heroic efforts. OR DID HE? again, I actually do not know at all. this is basically the knowledge equivalent of me overhearing half of a phone conversation between two people who were trying to recollect half of a phone conversation that they in turn overheard, several months earlier.

lastly, I know that Bakugou was apparently carrying around his All Might trading card from waaaay back in his chapter 118 flashbacks, in his pocket or something. because he's a giant fanboy nerd. who wanted All Might to sign it. but was too shy to ask I guess. "WHO COULD HAVE SEEN THIS SENSITIVE SIDE OF HIM COMING?? BAKUGOU CARES ABOUT THINGS??? HE REALLY DID LOOK UP TO ALL MIGHT JUST AS MUCH AS DEKU THE ENTIRE TIME??? WHAT A DEVASTATING REVEAL?!?" is how we were supposed to react to this, I'm guessing, lol. but I'll have you know that SOME of us have already written approximately 1200 essays on how much of a secretly sensitive All Might weeb Bakugou is, and so WERE ACTUALLY NOT SURPRISED AT ALL! yeah that's right! TAKE THAT HORIKOSHI. TRYING TO CATCH ME OFF GUARD AND MAKE ME CRY. WELL YOU WASTED YOUR GODDAMN TIME, because I would have cried anyway! and I did cry! and I will cry again!

anyway so yeah. and I think the card got blown up and/or otherwise destroyed somehow, just to add insult to injury. which, don't tell anyone, but between you and me, I'm not sure what he expected. "let me just take my precious limited edition All Might trading card, my most prized possession, along with me into the intense final battle with the final villain. for good luck or whatever. there's no way this could possibly end badly." did he even bother to put it in a zipper pocket. wtf were you thinking Katsuki. again I do not actually have the slightest idea since I have not actually read this chapter lol.

anyway! so that's everything I know! and let me just add to that a quick summary of things which I in turn do NOT know, the short version of which is: Literally Everything Other Than What I Just Typed Above. including but not limited to:

whether Bakugou actually was fighting Tomura, or AFO, or both. ??

who was fighting with him (except that for some reason or another Deku wasn't there, because I guess he fucked off to go do something else?? you and I fell into the exact same trap there, Deku. "surely Kacchan will be fine and dandy for the next five minutes or hours or days or however long while I go take care of this Other Important Business." yeah, you would think so, wouldn't you? BUT WE LEARNED OUR LESSON, DIDN'T WE.)

what Deku’s reaction was (but I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say: PISSED)

literally anything else about the context of this fight, including where, when, and why it took place.

literally everything else that has happened in the manga since chapter 339. for real you guys. I just have to stress again how utterly out of the blue this was for me. to read this spoiler completely without context. WHAT HAVE THESE CHILDREN BEEN DOING FOR THE PAST NINE MONTHS. I'm terrified to learn the answers lol.

anyways but moving on now to the most important section of this post, starting with the one question which I think is by far the most pressing and important, and which I can thankfully answer with a single sentence.

4. "so... do you think he actually is dead?"

no lol.

but since you insist, here is my list of Reasons Why I Don't Think Bakugou Is Actually Dead, based on my nonexistent knowledge of the events of the past 40 chapters, and the actual context and details of his death. and I guarantee there is not a single point here which has not already been discussed to death on thousands of other blogs, but dammit I've been stuck without an outlet for all these thoughts since August, so the hell with it:

so for starters, in my experience, characters whose older selves narrate the story From The Future ("in that moment, there were no thoughts in my head... my body just moved on its own") tend to be pretty immune from dying, overall. just throwing that out there.

from day one, the series has made it very clear that this is the story of how Izuku becomes "the greatest hero" (more recently retconned/updated to become a pluralized "this is the story of how we ALL became the greatest heroes").

also from day one, Katsuki's narrative arc has been set up as a (first contrasting, and then later evolving to be more complementary) parallel to Izuku's, down to them having the same goal.

as the series has progressed, that concept of "becoming the greatest hero" has been further defined as "becoming a hero who always wins no matter what, and always saves everyone no matter what."

Katsuki in particular has expanded on this idea to emphasize that the greatest heroes are the ones who save EVERYONE, no matter what. "I made a pledge! I will achieve absolute victory, every time! we're taking this 4-0, no casualties! the strong don't settle for anything less!" and more recently, "because to live up to those ideals and surpass All Might... we gotta save you, the civilians at U.A., and the people on the streets. because saving people is how we win."

therefore, any victory in which either Katsuki or Izuku dies in order to defeat AFO is not a perfect victory, and will not result in them becoming the greatest heroes.

this is also a flagship Shounen Jump manga and the spiritual successor to the Big Three, meaning this would basically be the equivalent of killing off Sasuke or Zoro or Rukia. a.k.a. not gonna happen ever lol.

on top of that, it's also Horikoshi's tribute to Western comics, particularly those produced by Marvel, a.k.a. the guys who practically invented the No One Ever Stays Dead trope.

and last (actually not last but this really is getting too long) but not least, the number one reason why Katsuki cannot and will not actually die: because AFO does not get to win. seriously. he just doesn't. he got to kill All Might's important person and be all smug and cruel about it. he killed Nana's family and was all smug and cruel about it. he's tormented generations of heroes by deliberately targeting the people they love most. and so even without me knowing the actual context or circumstances of Katsuki's supposed "death", I have no doubt that's why it happened, because that's what AFO does. and that's who Deku loves. and so of course AFO would try it, yet again. that's his fucking modus operandi

but, because he is the final villain, we know he is going to lose in the end. and so this, imo, is the biggest and simplest reason why Katsuki isn't dead: because if he is actually dead, then AFO wins. even if he himself dies in the end. he gets to go down knowing that he took a part of the hero with him. he gets to hold on to that one last triumph. even though he loses, he keeps the hero from winning and saving, and he gets to savor that.

so, since we know that he's NOT going to win, because this is a "good guys win" type of story and not an "evil prevails, sorry, it's called REAL LIFE, bitches, enjoy your tears" type of story, that means that Katsuki is not actually dead. or will not stay dead. either way. period.

anyway so yeah! that's basically the gist, though by no means are these all of my comprehensive thoughts, and I can safely promise you many more rants to come, especially as I prepare to take on the challenge of reading through 39 new BnHA chapters with the foreknowledge of my son's untimely not-death looming in the back of my mind the whole time! looking forward to that! both ironically and unironically! should be interesting to say the least lol.

so on that note, one final q&a before we conclude:

5. "is it cool to discuss other manga spoilers with you?"

I would prefer not to, mainly in the hopes of trying to preserve as much of the "pure" unspoiled liveblog experience as possible, both for myself and for anyone else who cares to actually read said liveblogs. I do already feel bad for depriving people of the experience of watching me naively frolic my way through the upcoming arc(s) all BLISSFULLY UNAWARES lol. instead you'll have to settle for watching me timidly cry my way through while yelling at every single character who blindly tempts fate with their stupid foreshadowing comments. and don't even try to tell me there won't be foreshadowing comments. I know what type of story I'm reading. and more importantly, I know exactly the type of person who's writing it. ~*~gReAtEsT sCeNe~*~. you son of a bitch. THIS ISN'T OVER, HORIKOSHI.

anyway, so basically I would prefer to be as spoiler-free as possible, same as always. but I also no longer have the time or frankly the will to police every potential spoiler out there, so at the end of the day I'm pretty much just going to leave it up to you guys! also because I figure that at this point, WHAT'S THE WORST THAT CAN HAPPEN lol. (but for real there's probably a ton of important stuff that could easily be ruined still, so yeah if you don't mind let's just try to steer clear of all that lol.)