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crookedcrowclub · 6 months

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Review for A Conjuring of Light by V .E. Schwab

5/5 ⭐️

WOW.

reading this felt like reading a crossover novel of all my favourite characters from the previous two books because each of them were so incredibly fleshed out that this could’ve been anyone’s story. it feels as if i’ve met these characters and had conversations with them because they seemed so tangible.

Plot & Pacing

what book 2 lacked in terms of plot and pacing, book 3 more than made up for it. the story picks up right where book 2 left off and the momentum doesn’t slow down one bit. it only kept getting better with surprises and twists at every turn. if you know me, you know that books are my sole sustenance when it comes to escaping the horrors of reality and ACOL swept me off my feet from the very first chapter!

Characters

the character dynamics were much more nuanced and their interactions were TO DIE FOR (!!!) not to mention, they all had insane chemistry with each other and some wholesome moments thrown in as well. kell, lila, and holland have cemented themselves as my ultimate disaster trio and i just couldn’t get enough of them.

the flashback scenes gave a deeper insight into each of the characters’ backstory and i ended up caring more about them than i imagined. holland’s especially packed a punch. his chapters were agonizing to read, emotionally charged and tugged at my heartstrings. i saw him as the villain at the beginning of this trilogy but it turns out, he’s an anti-hero who deserves to be happy after everything he’s been through. his chapters alone were a solid 5/5 stars for me, and he has earned a top ten spot in my Most Favourite Fucked Up Characters of All Time 😌.

as for lila, she had it all: beauty, brains and brawn! but besides that, we also see her come to terms with her attachment and abandonment issues that she’s struggled with since book 1. her arc was moving yet powerful. most of it strongly resonated with me because it hit too close to home. delilah bard is basically me but in different font and i adore my knife wife so much 🫶🏼.

kell’s daring persona that i sorely missed in book 2 made a sweeping comeback and his character was even more striking than before! unlike in the previous book, he was very level-headed in this one and took on the fitting role of a natural leader who guided his team in their quest to defeat evil. he kinda reminded me of kaz with the easy way he almost always got the final word. his chapters were poignant with direction and focus, which was refreshing to read.

i was thrilled that we finally got alucard’s POV (!!!!) i like his character but sadly, he didn’t really stand out in the book for me. it felt as if he was merely a plot piece to keep the story going. things were happening and he was just kinda there. either way, i enjoyed being in his head and learning more about his past.

rhy was less annoying and bratty (thank goodness) which i think had a lot to do with alucard’s presence at the beginning. he also had lesser chapters in this book but he started growing on me around the 70% mark. i liked how resilient he was in never giving up or cowering in face of adversity and how much he cared for his people. towards the end, he proved to be a well rounded character with a satisfying arc.

side mention: the minor characters (hastra, lenos, tieren, maris, ned, maxim, emira, even cora!) were amazingly well developed and despite their limited page time, they stole the show all the same! i would deadass be down to read each of their spinoff stories if the author ever decided to write them.

Conclusion

overall, ACOL struck a perfect balance between character-driven and plot-driven storyline to the point where the characters ceased to be fictional and started seeming like actual people in my head. not only that, this trilogy felt like getting a warm hug from an old friend because it reminded me of six of crows and a couple other YA novels which i loved during that time. it was nostalgic reading it even though i’d never read it before.

as for the ending, it was satisfying but the suspense was over quick. i wanted to see more action in the final fight scene after all that buildup but either way, it was fulfilling to see my beloved characters find closure after everything that happened. i can see where the continuation trilogy is headed and im beyond excited to read it!

ANOSHE✨

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ghostampede · 1 year

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a soc adaptation that was just that duology abd respected it’s characters and knew how to show their povs despite not being in their heads would’ve been so good, we have been robbed <//3

getting to just see how kaz acts with others vs seeing his face when he’s alone or sees inej, hell seeing how each of the crows are in their vs how they’re perceived by certain people through visuals and sound design alone, the gorgeous lighting throughout the rugged and fun dark streets of ketterdam in contrast to the whimsical nature of fjerda, jesper’s gambling problem being a legitimate issue that builds up, the crows still getting to be kids cause thats the Point (my ghost wouldn’t associate with your ghost type of stuff before they witness more Terrors), inej’s trauma being explored actuality and how kaz and her mirror each other in some ways, flashbacks meshing with present time in a very cool way, visual metaphors that weren’t in the book or were interpreted from the book, hints at wylan’s character in s1 that push just slightly beyond what the book could’ve done, wylan flashbacks in s2 that were never fully explored or seen, things having time to build throughout the book through like timed tension you can’t get through reading making an immersive experience cause god damn the kids are fighting and even im uncomfortable but in a good way, amazing fight scenes and heist scenes in the ice court, the way the framing and filming changes dramatically in big hectic moments vs the aftermath, hearing the word Investment with no background music or anything and all the weight that word requires, idk im not a showrunner but i have visions of what their show could’ve been and it makes me so sad because even if they do get their spinoff, i personally have zero faith in it after s&b :(

#anti s&b #six of crows #matthias helvar #nina zenik #kaz brekker #jesper fahey #wylan van eck #i am sorry if you like s&b ig #i just thought it was actually criminal #and as someone who is very passionate about what i like #i can’t help but imagine an alternative #idek if this makes sense #i hope you see the vision #do you see the vision #who knows #dorian writes

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tanstar · 4 years

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Rambling about RE2R and RE3R’s cut content part 2

Read part 1 here.

Part 2: RE3R

So I’m gonna be honest, I really like RE3R. It’s narrative and characters are 10/10 for me, something I haven’t been able to say about RE in a long time (honestly my biggest gripes with re5 and 6 are the complete wasted potential of their narratives and characters). I’ll go more in depth about it later but yeah I’ve got no complaints about the story or characters. My problems with RE3R come down to it’s length, level design and the utilization of Nemesis. So let’s get started.

spoilers ahead

Cut/altered/new content:

Live select options were cut in favour of a cohesive narrative and characterization (which have been expanded upon greatly), Jill’s apartment is now explorable, Nemesis ambushes Jill at her apartment and her escape is now playable, the graveyard is gone (though there is a nod to the graveyard at the start of the rpd section), the clock tower interior and its puzzles are gone (it’s exterior is used for the boss fight against Nemesis form 2 like the original), no water puzzle, the gravedigger has been merged with hunter gamma as a common enemy type, Uptown is now a linear setpiece that cannot be revisited, there are fewer Nemesis encounters, Nemesis item drops aren’t as worthwhile as the original, there’s a new boss fight with Nemesis as he wields a flamethrower, tram has been changed to a subway train, fetchquest for the tram has been cut, Mikhail is now fully conscious for his entire appearance, new character Dr Bard included with new vaccine subplot, fetchquest for the gems has been made optional instead of mandatory, Mayor Warren’s statue is no longer fetchquest related and can be found before crossing the bridge to the clock tower, battery fetchquest for the construction site elevator has been changed to fuses for the underground storage facility elevator, Nemesis destroying the helicopter has been moved to the beginning of the game, Brad is still bitten at Bar Jack but heroically sacrifices himself rather than act like a huge coward, Brad is not killed by Nemesis, Brad infects Marvin (which ties in well with both og re2 and RE2R surprisingly), Racoon city in general has been redesigned to look like an american city instead of a japanese one, Stagla still explodes but cannot be entered, the zombie horde at Stagla has been moved to the hospital in a tower defence sequence, Drain Deimos and Brainsuckers have been merged, no leeches, no spiders or crows, new enemies the pale heads and parasite zombies, construction site and power station have been merged, once Jill has been infected Carlos takes her to the hospital instead of the chapel iside the clock tower, likewise Carlos doesn’t wait for 2 days before deciding to find a cure instead it takes him around 12 hours to find Jill and he immediately looks for the vaccine, hospital has been expanded, underground storage facility replaces the park, dead factory is merged with a new lab area, Tyrell is now an actual character and dies to Nemesis intead of an explosion, final boss is now reliant on Jill operating the rail gun herself rather than coercing Nemesis in front of it, iconic STARS line has been moved from the final boss fight to a chase sequence, the confrontation with Nicholai has been moved to the climax of the game, Nicholai is implied to be working with Wesker instead of Umbrella and of course the alternate ending with Barry was cut.

So RE3R does cut or alter the content of the original but in most cases it does try to replace whatever was cut. Also regardless of cuts, re3′s narrative has been expanded upon with character arcs and lore tying it to the rest of the series, that alone justifies this game’s existence for me. As much as I love the original, its bare bones plot and narrative structure (a result of being a sort of choose your adventure game) as well as the fact that it started as a spinoff game and the fact that its last three levels were added last minute (hence the vaccine plotline coming out of nowhere) really don’t do it any favours. I still enjoy the original story and characters but I think the remake did a better job at both these things.

So I had some major problems with the writing for RE2R in both terms of the overall narrative (there is no cohesive overlapping narrative between our two leads) and the portrayal of certain characters (Leon and Ada), so what did I think of RE3R? It’s good. It’s really good actually, the acting is probably the best in the series tbh. Jill’s ptsd from the mansion incident and how it has made her distrustful but also self sacrificing is so interesting. This is perfectly displayed when she agrees to help the UBCS, she knows she shouldn’t help them, that Umbrella is out to get her but with civilian lives on the line she decides to fulfil her duty as a STARS officer and help out. But she isn’t just abrasive or snarky, she shows she is still a very caring person too, this can be seen in her interactions with Brad, Kendo and even Dario, she wants to genuinely save all three of them but things just don’t work out that way. Carlos is great, way better than his original incarnation and I say that as someone who likes that version too. He’s a great support character for Jill and also acts somewhat as a foil for her character and his arc about learning of Umbrella’s wrongdoings is handled well. I think everyone can aggree that Carlos and Jill’s dynamic is fantastic, the growth of their relationship feels very organic and genuine. I never expected to care about Brad so much, in the original he’s just a huge coward who exists to be killed by Nemesis but now he actually feels like a person and someone who Jill valued. Also holy shit that scene where he bites Marvin is so much more narratively fulfilling than his death by Nemesis. Mikhail’s expanded role as captain is great, as is his death. Tyrell actually gets to be a character this time around and I actually hoped he’d somehow survive. Dr Bard is a total scumbag and his inclusion finally explains the vaccine’s creation as well as adding to the overall corruption of RC via Umbrella. Nicholai’s a total ham and a dickhead, I mean this in a good way I would describe all my favourite RE villians this way (the Weskers, the Ashfords, Salazar, Carla Radames, Jack Baker). And form 1 Nemesis has some fun dramatic flair that I enjoyed. Also I will defend the choice to remove Barry from the ending, I really like Barry but it was the right decision not to involve him as it would really work against the game’s narrative and Jill’s character arc.

Now onto RE3R’s level design and structure and in my opinion it should have borrowed more from the og re3′s level design way more. What we have isn’t bad but it could’ve been much more. The streets being redesigned was inevitable to me, I really enjoy the aesthetic of the original but it looks very Japanese and RC is supposed to be a US city, so this change doesn’t bother me. The linearity does. The streets should have been more open and you should have been able to return to Uptown to explore (adding back in a fetchquest would justify this), this would give way more opportunities for Nemesis to stalk the player. What’s strange is there is a mod that opens up Downtown to be almost completely explorable and Nemesis’s AI can actually track you throughout it’s entirety, why bother programming him that way if the intention was to make the area more linear? When Nemesis does show up in the remake he’s great but he should have been present way more, he’s like the opposite of Mr X in RE2R. Mr X follows the player semi randomly around the RPD for a while but he is pretty toothless as a threat (seriously, you can out walk him), Nemesis on the other hand is a genuine threat but is only semi random for an incredibly short portion of the game. Expanding the streets would fix this issue. The park could’ve been an explorable area before the RPD, I personally don’t mind the park being cut but i know a lot of people do. They should have implemented more puzzles. I also think the clock tower should have been explorable and if I’m being honest I think it was supposed to be, it’s referenced in the subway and then we get the pamphlet before crossing the bridge, I think it was cut for time. I think a lot was cut for time and I don’t think it’s M2′s fault, i think Capcom is the problem here and all you need to do is look at RE2R and all of its cut content for proof.

Honestly if this game had just reintegrated some more of the original games levels and structure I think it would have been a 10/10, I still enjoy what we got I just want more! I hope we get DLC in the future and there’s certainly ample opportunity, we could have a ghost survivors scenario with Brad escaping Nemesis, we could play as Nicholai as he collects data on the outbreak before the main game, a dream sequence of Jill exploring the clock tower, Tyrell could cut through the park as he makes his way to the hospital and of course I hope we get Mercenaries mode. I guess time will tell.

#resident evil #resident evil 3 remake #resident evil 3 #re3 #rant

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timahina · 6 years

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Arc-V and the Legacy Characters

We all know and love the characters of YGO. Ever since GX (the first spinoff) it’s always been a thing to want to incorporate the previous show characters in the newest one and that has been done before.

Grandpa Mutou in GX hanging out with Judai and gang on their field trip to Domino City

Saiou meeting up with Seto Kaiba

Judai having a duel with Yugi at the end of the series

Pegasus in GX

DMG dueling Judai

BBT

Dark Magician, Blue Eyes, DMG, Red Eyes, and Neos as legendary monsters in zexal

The little teaser Easter eggs put there and we all went fucking nuts and loved them all. GX and Arc-V are unique in the sense that both have characters from previous series in the anime but AV was the first to use them for plot related reasons rather than fan service.

Now, let’s not be blind and say there isn’t a little bit of fan service in them returning. Jack and Crow are incredibly popular characters in 5Ds, same goes with Kaito. Edo and Asuka I’m more iffy on their popularity but that’s more because I am unfamiliar with GX fandom (even Edo’s VA was surprised that his character returned). For the most part, they did pick popular characters to bring back. And better yet, they weren’t the protagonist as in previous incarnations (BBT).

Now I know what you’re thinking: “in GX, they brought Grandpa and Pegasus (who was in multiple episodes). So technically, GX did it first!”

Hm, “technically” yes. But I’m gonna reject that argument on the basis that the returning characters in GX were in fact fanservice. They did nothing to enhance or change the plot. In fact, take them out and nothing changes. Literally all of it was due to fan service. Now, I’m not gonna rag on GX for this since it was the first spin-off series and they were trying to find a rhythm. Making obvious references such as bringing back minor / familiar characters made sense as they were trying to attract an audience.

By the time AV came around, they have an audience as well as YGO formula and so had to have a plan to bring back previous characters.

Here, I will discuss the point of each character and their importance to the plot and perhaps. How they could’ve been improved upon.

Now that that’s settled, let’s begin.

Jack Atlas

Jack in AV is different from 5Ds Jack. In 5Ds, Jack was ashamed of being poor and from Satellite, running away and stealing Stardust Dragon from Yusei to become king and play puppet to the Tops if it meant escaping poverty. Only after losing to Yusei does he start to accept his past as a part of himself.

Now, in AV it’s a different story. Jack is proud of his background, never shirks from it. In fact, he is all about entertainment and is a PROUD individual. Since there is no Yusei or Satellite, there is no reason for him to be ashamed or to run away. It’s still virtually the same tho, he still fights his way to the top and becomes King. Same basic story and he still has the same personality.

Here, he acts like a mentor to Yuya and forces him to examine his ideology and how to go about it. Jack calls Yuya arrogant for preaching to the crowd before he’s done anything like he’s self-important. As much as I love Yuya, Jack has a point. He hasn’t done anything, he doesn’t identify with these people and is simply telling them what they believe is wrong. Yuya is able to truly polish his entertainment and speak to the crowd and his opponent upon dueling Jack and form his OWN brand of entertainment dueling rather than regurgitating his father’s words.

It’s a really crucial point in Yuya’s development, his relationship with Jack. But also, Jack affects another character. Reira. Reira has only heard positive things from very few characters: Reiji, Yuya, and Tatsuya.

Tatsuya told him he was like Reiji which made him happy since he was being compared to Reiji, who he heavily respects. Reiji encourages him as best he can, telling him to keep up the good work. Yuya is the only that kinda wants to shelter Reira and he’s the only one really trying to keep him from danger. Jack on the other hand, also encourages Reira and tells him that he wants to see his strength.

He gives Reira confidence that really no other character can because Jack sees a lot of himself in Reira. He too grew up with nothing and built himself up. Reira grew up in a war torn country, also having nothing and had to fend for himself - protect himself as Jack did. If Jack was able to get out and become the strongest duelist in Synchro Dimension, then it’s possible for Reira to be strong. It’s after this that Reira doesn’t want to be weak and apologizes to Tsukikage for wanting him to lose and tells Reiji that he wants the Synchro Dimension to know they are Lancers and they are there to fight against Academia and defend this dimension and their home.

Jack is instrumental to the development of characters such as Yuya and Reira who are major players to the plot as we all shouldn’t forget here. Hell, fucking Sergey too. He got through to him where Yuya couldn’t which inspired Yuya and made him understand what he was trying to say.

Also, he provides a good example of the mobility of Synchro Dimension. Anyone can move up - it is possible to get from the bottom to the very top from sheer strength. Jack comes from Commons (AV version of Satellite) which is the 99% and is now King, a Tops and they even proclaim him as that - that he belongs to them so long as he remains King. Once Sam (remember the bellhop kid?) talks to Jack in the elevator and even sees Yuya use the tuner card - he really realizes what Jack was trying to tell him.

Jack kinda forces Yuya to grow up and acts more like the stereotypical rival role in this season than Reiji (whose VA was hella busy and character didn’t talk as much but Reiji isn’t really the traditional rival so that’s another essay). Jack makes sense in this world and is necessary to the development of other’s. He’s.. kinda a plot device. An enjoyable and well-incorporated one tho.

Crow Hogan

Oh Crow.

Basically the same story. Grew up on the streets and poor all his life. But no Yusei or Team Satisfaction or Martha. His focus though is more on the opposite side of the coin of the Synchro Dimension. Whereas Jack shows the mobility of this society and how it’s technically possible for anyone to rise through the ranks, Crow thinks of Jack as a traitor who turned his back on the Commons and changed nothing. Crow doesn’t have any belief in the corrupt system.

His character is important to Shingo, Yuya, and Shun in terms of their development. Crow himself doesn’t really development but he’s key to others. For example. Shingo. Let’s talk about Shingo.

This boy is an arrogant idiot. He’s very high and mighty and really remains that way for the majority of the series. But this mentality changes when Crow breaks his duel disk against BB which saves him from being carded and Crow sacrifices himself to save him. Shingo is humbled at long last due to Crow’s selflessness. That’s a big turning point of his character and finally brings humanity and realism to this comedic relief character. It’s suddenly not all about him - he’s not the center of the world. He even prays to Crow’s card and for an arrogant character like Shingo, he seems to put Crow on a higher pedestal than himself. He thinks highly of Crow (as a person) and is probably the only character he has that opinion of in the series.

As for Yuya, he makes Yuya realize that... his way of being happy is not the ONLY thing to be happy. That whole “food vs smiles” where Yuya thinks smiles are most important whereas Crow thinks food is most important.

Neither are wrong, ya need both. Yuya is kinda forced to see things from another point of view. To Crow and everyone like him, smiles are nice and all but... they broke and starving. So food brings a filling meaning to them rather than someone telling them to smile. It makes Yuya examine himself and part of the course to not be so stubborn (or as Jack puts it, ‘arrogant’) about his ideals.

During the chaos where Commons were overthrowing Tops and that kid was crying on the street, Crow went to comfort the kid (always the sweetheart) and was saying how they were the same. Nothing would change by reversing the position, meaning Shinji’s take was wrong. Shinji isn’t wrong to rebel against the oppression, but wanting to oppress the oppressors isn’t the take to go. He’s seeing it only in black and white and not seeing from another point of view.

Yuya had to think of another way to bring the City together rather than just blindly saying that smiles will make everything better. Meaning he had to communicate... which is the whole point of the food vs smiles thing. Ya gotta communicate what’s most important and get that done first instead of assuming.

Even if they overthrew Tops, the system - SOCIETY was the problem. Big lesson there.

Lastly, Crow’s effect on Shun. They have the shortest interaction, one duel. And this duel is the turning point of Shun’s development i.e. where it begins to change his behavior for the better.

Before this, Shun was angry and vengeful and full of rage and did indeed take that out on everyone (see season 1 for proof). During his duel with Crow, Tanner said that they’ve known bully guys like him and they don’t like people like him. Meaning that... just because bad things happened to you, doesn’t give you license to be an ass. Crow and Shun bond over their mutual love of children (whether you believe that is up to you, personally I don’t and I won’t lie about that but that’s not the point). The point is, this wakes Shun up that he’s not the only one who has suffered and Crow is the first one to make him mellow out because he sees how similar they both are. He calms down after this and begins to be far less full of rage and more willing to work with the Lancers because he’s learning it’s not Shun vs The Rest of the World and he has no right to take it out his anger on them.

I wouldn’t call Crow a plot device like Jack but... he’s really static.. no growth or development but instead there to highlight other characters (mainly Yuya Shun and Shinji and later - Shingo) and help them along their journey.

Kaito Tenjo

Kaito is unique in the sense that... he’s the only one from zexal to return. His backstory is really different too. Here, he goes to the same duel school as Yuto and Shun and is Shun’s rival. After Academia invaded, he joined the Resistance but later abandoned them after his family was carded. We never see Dr. Faker or Haruto so family is... vague.

His character is an angry and vengeful duelist, carding (effectively slaying) all his opponents indiscriminately and is just him against the world. Sound familiar, right?

Yea, it’s Shun. It sounds like a repeat but actually, it’s a little different. When Shun meets up with him, he’s changed now. Shun is no longer that vengeful loner who is fighting this war all by himself as Kaito is going about it now. In fact, when Shun fights him - it’s not really Kaito he’s fighting.

If anything, he’s fighting himself. He’s fighting his own anger and grief. Him losing the duel doesn’t matter, it was never about winning the duel. It was about getting through to Kaito. When Shun loses the duel, Kaito is about to card him but instead spares him and leaves.

Shun faced his vengeful nature - a mirror of his past self and overcame it. When we see Kaito again, he talks about how importance comrades are and defends Yushou’s honor. Now it may seem that it come pretty quickly and while it did and I’m not really gonna defend that except in one aspect... it would’ve been a repeat of Shun. And also, it would’ve “taken attention” from other characters. Like Sayaka, another character tied to him.

She was one of the reasons he didn’t card Shun - most likely since she saw enough of her comrades carded and it no doubt traumatized her and this poor girl definitely going through some PTSD. We can infer enough that it made him re-evaluate his actions and what he was about to do and see how far he’s fallen (this is where fanon can fill in and whatnot) and when he sees her again, she gives him her card since she can’t be there in person but she still wants to fight alongside them (doing her best and all).

I wouldn’t say a lot of Kaito affects Yuya but more shows how motivation through rage and vengeful isolates into near self-destruction as it nearly did with both Shun and Kaito. And after this, most of what Kaito does is trying to save other characters and there’s not much in terms of motivation.

Edo Phoenix

The GX kids have the funniest change in the sense that their backstories are really different. Originally, Edo was a Pro-Duelist who was searching for his father’s killer and got mixed up with a cult. Here it’s... simpler. He was an Academia student chosen to be a leader of the invasion in Heartland and is conflicted about the ideals between Academia / Professor (what he’s been brainwashed to believe) and what Yushou was teaching him.

We meet him as he’s already conflicted and torn between these two decisions and given the fact that he’s a child soldier, it’s a hard thing to shake off and make an easy decision. How does he betray what he knows for something that makes him happy?

Yuya describes Edo like a pendulum, swaying between Professor’s ideals and Yushou’s ideal and there’s a bit of a tug of war there. Edo believes in Professor’s ideals of uniting the dimensions and creating a utopia. However.. how can he really do that through this violence?

During Yuya’s first duel with Edo, Yuto immediately discards the ideals he heard from Ruri (which were given to her by Yushou) and that results in a tie. Yuya fails to communicate with Edo because he didn’t commit to his ideals that he finally accepted after his time spent in the Synchro Dimension. It doesn’t go well and when Yuya duels against Edo again, he fully commits to his ideals and finishing what his father started and teaches Edo the importance of egao. That no peace can be achieved by violence - only by communicating and Yuya communicates through his entertainment dueling, which Edo listened to.

This is to show how Yuya is meant to combat Academia or even the darkness inside of him (later known as Zarc). It’s easy to fight and be violent but Yushou’s method is hard. Peace is hard. And Edo is meant to show how Yuya isn’t just relying on blind faith when Edo himself sheds his Academia rank and decides to lay down all their arms and rebuild Heartland since this war is senseless. If Yuya can do this in Heartland and bring peace there - where the war started - then he can touch the hearts of those in the Fusion Dimension as well.

I almost think this role would’ve been better served with maybe Kaiser Ryo but that might have been a repeat of his character which is never any fun and Edo filled it very well and was really enjoyable. There are a few... tweaks to his character that I would’ve done.

Asuka Tenjoin

Asuka’s the hardest one to talk about to be perfectly honest. She never has a clear cut role.

Her story here is that she’s a student of Academia. Once a friend of hers tells her of the horrors they committed in Heartland, they run away and Asuka watches her get carded before her very eyes and in that moment, she realizes that this girl was right and Academia acts dishonorably. They don’t see a distinction between friend or foe, everyone stands in their way.

Asuka immediately meets Yushou (who got transported to the Fusion Dimension by Edo) and becomes his student. Uh... after this, it’s a little hard to know what her character was supposed to be?

I commend them for bringing back a female character. And I like the direction they were going with in her duel against Yuri where it almost hints that he was jealous that her dueling skills brought her love and admiration among her peers whereas his talent only brought fear and isolation (lol nice foreshadowing to Zarc tbh...) and that’s why it seemed like he was particularly harsh against her. But there’s just... a disconnect with her role here.

For example, her being Yushou’s first student in Academia, it would’ve made more sense for her to duel Dennis rather than Kaito. One Academia student against another, one “traitorous” student vs a loyal student. It would’ve made a great contrast since it would show how much Asuka escaped Academia’s control and tries to save Dennis. (I liked the Dennis vs Kaito duel but... I woulda preferred Dennis vs Asuka.)

Asuka doesn’t really steal the spotlight from any of the existing characters but she doesn’t bolster any other character. Though I’d like to believe that in the Yuri vs Asuka duel, it was supposed to be what I said up above which is interesting (tho I still am slightly bitter she got carded after not doing a lot but eh... that’s life.)

In any case, I like her story that she’s an Academia defector and believes in Yushou’s words and wants to fight against Academia using the ideals of peace and escaping the brainwashing that her and her peers had suffered through. There is an interesting story and character arc there and I can’t say this is a disservice to her since she technically is given more and does more here than she does in all that I’ve seen so far in GX so.... C'est la vie.

Conclusion

Now, it’s possible to create a new characters for these positions but truth to be told... it’s much easier to bring back older characters and put them in the mentor / foil roles and is honestly less bullshit. You don’t have to create new investment for the audience because the investment is already there. The audience doesn’t need to be convinced or brow beaten for several eps to care about these characters. You don’t have to create new character arcs, development, or really anything by bringing back old characters but putting them in mentor roles or even foils actually helps the story because now you don’t have to waste so much time focusing on other characters and still maintain the focus on the characters you want.

I wasn’t forced to sit through episodes of backstory with King WhatHisFace after he duels Yuya and have to see this man be humbled - nah, it’s Jack. I know how this goes. I don’t need to sit through eps of backstory with ANY of the returning characters - all we got was a few minutes of attention to get their minimal backstory (and their own development was tiny if that - I’d call it non-existent) and the rest of their time, we got them supporting the characters originating from this series. Also truth to be told, you have new characters like Chojiro, Shinji, Grace, Gloria, Dennis, etc. to fill in the void of characters who are similar to the returning characters and have the development that they don’t. It’s not that the returning characters outshine the ones from this series, they really don’t. The show did not give them the substantial enough focus - everything these characters did was to support another, not for their own development. The fans may have given them a lot of love and attention but ya can’t really blame them because these are popular characters who RETURNED with new backstories and provided new AUs and bonds and all sorts of possibilities.

AV committed the usual YGO crime of having too many characters but it could’ve been a lot worse had they been force to try and create backstories and redemption arcs and development for all these new characters instead of... just doing a shortcut and bringing back old characters and honestly enhanced their universe by incorporating legacy characters (AU versions of them anyways) and providing really new ideas. By changing up their backstories (and by changing, it was more like tweaking), we were spared the obvious questions:

Where are the other protags and why aren’t they getting off their lazy asses and helping? (which is a problem I have while watching GX cuz Yugi and Kaiba keep getting mentioned and shown and they just... do nothing lol. Or even in BBT which confirmed canon in 5Ds and never mind the amount of plot holes that opened up.) AV saw those plot holes and said nope. Just decided to not even bother and created new things for these beloved characters.

Most importantly... people were gonna get mad no matter what. There’s no such thing as pleasing everyone. I do sincerely recall everyone losing their shit (positively) cuz the one thing everyone has wanted since forever finally happened. That’s why crossovers keep happening, people do legit like them and this one created a new world where it’s possible for this to occur. You can’t have your cake, eat it, and then get mad that you were given cake that you’ve been bitching about wanting for 20 years.

AV did them well. Not perfectly but the legacy characters were given enough love in terms of their revision and written well enough to be at worst, passable. It still was the first YGO series to do this and to this magnitude, especially to the spin-off series (since the one given attention is usually the original).

#arc v #jack atlas #crow hogan #kaito tenjo #edo phoenix #asuka tenjoin #arc damn it #omg this took two days take it #i've been wanting to write this for a year

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pendulumprince · 7 years

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Looking at your blog has me speculating arc v, and I just realized some shit. Did Kaiba not have any idea of what was happening at Academia? Does he ever find out? How do you think the series would've gone if he was involved?

Interesting question!

The one thing that we should probably always keep in mind is that KaibaCorp was the main force behind the development of duel holograms (season 1 of DM) and later, duel disks (DM through 5Ds). Just as we can’t the separate the contemporary card game from Pegasus, dueling technology can’t be separated from Kaiba. He and his company created the foundation on which every other dueling-related technological advancement stems from.

Which means that no matter what universe we’re talking about, Kaiba had to have existed in it. His life and his work is a ‘fixed point’, so to speak. And we know that although the meat of his story was told in DM, that he had a presence in both 5Ds (through the Momentum Generator) and GX (through Academia). Even in Zexal, the fact that duel gazers existence can be taken as proof that Kaiba was once alive.

Arc V’s version of Academia would not exist without Kaiba. But in order to fully answer this question, we’d have to look at the timeline of the five spinoffs and see how they connect.

@astraldirectrix and I were just talking about this recently, and we came up with a tentative theory. There are some vague points just because there isn’t any canon evidence either to support or refute the theory (though if anyone can think of anything, by all means, jump in). But stick with me, I have a method to my madness.

We know that DM-5Ds was one continuous timeline, but that things started getting dicey in the Zexal era. Unlike the first three, Zexal took place not in some incarnation of Domino City, but in an entirely new setting—Heartland. There were instances of people using Advanced, Fusion, and I thiiiiink even Ritual summoning, but not a word on Synchro. D Wheels were also never mentioned.

It’s almost as though… Zexal is what the world would have become, had Zero Reverse never happened.

Old theory, I know. But again, no matter the timeline, Kaiba exists. Zero Reverse was caused directly by the overload of Momentum, a form of energy developed by the MIDS group… founded and funded by KaibaCorp. So working on the assumption that 5Ds and Zexal are two completely different timelines: Zexal is specifically a version of the world where KaibaCorp never went into developing Momentum.

I know you asked about Kaiba and Academia. Don’t worry, I’m getting there!

Now, we know that one of Kaiba’s main, defining character traits is ambition. He’s a risk taker; the threat of disaster doesn’t deter him if he considers the goal to be worth it. So what would stop him from pursuing the development of Momentum?

We can theorize that in what would become the Zexal timeline, something happened to Kaiba towards the end of GX/the beginning of 5Ds’ backstory. Frankly, the only thing I could picture stopping Kaiba from running his company is death, so let’s go with that. Kaiba dies. Mokuba takes over. He continues to conduct research into dueling technology, but does not pursue Momentum energy. Thus, the development of D Gazers, the absence of D Wheels, XYZ instead of Synchro, ect.

So 5Ds and Zexal take in concert with one another, on alternative timelines. They happen, they end, that’s it.

Remember, DM and GX took place before all of this.

Then… something happens to merge the two timelines back together, thus creating the Original Dimension. The only thing I can think of is the creation of solid vision—a momentous occasion that would give duel monster spirits a physical host in the corporal world. We can theorize that it happened at once, in both timelines, allowing the worlds to merge.

And it’s necessary for this to happen, because both the history of 5Ds and Zexal would need to be present in the Original Dimension—because this is the only way both Synchro and XYZ monsters to exist at the same time.

And then, we all know what happened: Zarc goes wild, Ray stops him, the Original Dimension splits up into 4.

Because of this, the timeline is reset. The events of DM, GX, 5Ds and Zexal never happen. Several characters are reborn/remade to fit this new reality (Asuka, Jack, Crow, Kaito, possibly others). Everything is given a clean slate.

One of my favorite Arc V theories is the one stating that Zarc somehow took out our previous 4 protags, and replaced them with his own reincarnations. He would want to minimize the chances that his revival would be stopped, right? And if he couldn’t take out Ray specifically, then the least he could do was take out 4 proven, capable heroes.

And this is supported by the fact that the boys are all foils to the protags who correspond with their main summoning method. Yuya foils Yugi; Yuri foils Judai; Yugo foils Yusei; Yuto foils Yuma.

Back to Kaiba and Arc V’s Academia: Kaiba became the character we all know and love largely though his interactions with Yugi and Yami. Think back all the way to DM’s first episode: Kaiba attacks Grandpa, Yami duels and defeats him… and as a result, is able to exorcise the evil in Kaiba’s heart.

But in Arc V’s time, Yami isn’t around to do that, because Yugi isn’t there to finish the puzzle. So Kaiba stays just as he was in DM’s first episode, with every ounce of vitriolic evil that comes with it. And because everything happening in the four dimensions is happening in concert, there is no time for him to go through character development by any other means. Evil!Kaiba develops duel holograms, develops duel disks; Leo comes in with solid vision. The Fusion Dimension is morally decayed as a result.

I also believe that evil!Kaiba would have been the founder of Academia—whether or not he intended it to be a military school is unlikely, because even at his worst, he never wanted to be like Gozaboro. He founds it to operate as part duel school, part orphanage (seeing as Serena, Yuri, and possibly Sora were all born and raised there).

He runs the school from afar for a few years. Then Leo, in Standard, regains his memories, and for some reason chooses the Fusion Dimension as his base of operations.

And it’s here that we enter the realm of pure speculation. I… don’t see Kaiba willingly selling the school—evil or not, we know because of his history that he wouldn’t want it to be a place churning out child soldiers. I also don’t see Leo successfully deceiving Kaiba with what his intentions for Academia are, nor would he have been able to con Kaiba out of ownership.

You see where I’m headed, right? Leo likely took Academia from Kaiba by force. There’s no evidence that they were ever in any sort of partnership, and knowing them, they wouldn’t have worked well together anyway. There was probably a duel. Kaiba likely lost that duel. Leo, if he had the technology for it already developed, would have carded Kaiba to keep him out of the way.

So to answer your first two questions: Kaiba likely would have had an idea of what Leo’s plans were. He likely didn’t live long enough to stop them.

Now, for your last question: how would the series have gone had he been involved? Remember, Kaiba is still his early DM (possibly even season 0) self. He’s evil. He may not care for child soldiers or war, but that doesn’t make him a good guy. I could see him entering a partnership with Leo, all the while making plans to dispose of him at the right moment.

Would Leo tell Kaiba about Ray, and what his true plans were? Depends: would Leo know about Mokuba? Would this, their only true source of common ground, be something these two villains would ‘bond’ over?

Keeping in mind that here, Kaiba is evil—as opposed to Leo the anti-villain—I don’t think Kaiba would be sympathetic at all. He would regard Leo as laughably weak for not being able to protect his daughter, or his original home. I think he’d also be one of the few to see plain as day that all Leo’s plans are really doing is accelerating Zarc’s revival.

So things would have been different in that Academia’s internal structure would have been disorganized. There would be staff loyal to Kaiba, and staff loyal to Leo. Leo would have to deploy his troops behind Kaiba’s back. Kaiba, again, would be working constantly to get rid of Leo—because this is his home, his school, his students, his legacy, his domain. To Kaiba, Leo is an interloper who has to go, ASAP.

And let’s say he does get rid of Leo? If it’s before the invasion of Heartland, then fine. Leo’s gone, things go back to normal. Kaiba rules the Fusion D with an iron fist but doesn’t wage total war on a defenseless population—mostly because he’d have no reason to.

But if he isn’t able to do away with Leo until after the invasion? Especially if he’s already taken Ruri and Rin? Then shit just got real—because now the boys know when and how to find each other.

What he’d likely do is stop the invasion and send the girls back home, but… the boys still know how to find each other. Yuri has tasted enough power—and Yuto and Yugo, enough grief—for Zarc to awaken and influence them towards each other. So Zarc will be coming; it’ll just take longer. And by the time it does happen, Kaiba likely won’t intervene (seeing it as not being his problem) until it’s too late and the Supreme Dragon King is destroying Academia proper.

Above all, Kaiba would not be a hero here. He’d only be heroic in that he’d oppose Leo; and he’d only oppose Leo because their goals and values wouldn’t have much overlap.

As for Kaiba’s presence in Standard, the Sycnhro D, and the XYZ D? Kaiba could’ve been the one behind The City’s toxic capitalism-gone-wild political structure. Perhaps Standard is only as good as it is because of Yusho’s influence. We don’t know enough about the XYZ D to say why it’s a utopia, but… well, Zexal is the one world where Kaiba, presumably, wasn’t around to see himself. So maybe that could explain it.

#yugioh dm #yugioh gx #yugioh 5ds #yugioh zexal #yugioh arc v #seto kaiba #yugi mutou #yami yugi #leo akaba #my replies #pinkocean316

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wbwest · 7 years

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New Post has been published on http://www.williambrucewest.com/2017/05/26/west-week-ever-pop-culture-review-52617/

West Week Ever: Pop Culture In Review - 5/26/17

Here we are, on the verge of a 3-day weekend, which means nobody’s gonna read this thing. Still, “the show must go on”…

Well, the week was filled with spider news, as last Friday Sony announced that Tom Hardy will star in a Venom film. If you’re not “in the know”, Venom is a Spider-Man villain comprised of an alien symbiote suit and Peter Parker’s professional rival, Eddie Brock. Sadly, the film’s not meant to cross over with Spider-Man: Homecoming or any bit of Tom Holland’s portrayal. I’m starting to think Sony’s deal with Marvel Studios is actually a bad thing, as it seems like Spidey’s addition to the MCU is to the detriment of his expanded universe to which Sony still owns the rights. I don’t really care about a Venom without a Spider-Man. To add to that, yesterday, Sony announced a film starring Spider-Man supporting cast members Silver Sable and Black Cat, to be directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood (Love & Basketball). I really don’t think there’s much to say about these characters without the possibility of a Spider-Man cameo. I get where Sony’s coming from; they have all these characters, so they might as well do something with them. That said, earlier talks made it sound like they were building their own Spider-Man-centric film universe, but since the MCU deal went through, Spider-Man no longer seems to be part of the equation.

Meanwhile, the Licensing Expo was this week, and we got our first look at the poster for the animated Spider-Man movie, starring Miles Morales. Apparently it was created by a child. Maybe a Make-A-Wish kid? Seriously, that thing is terrible.

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It wasn’t all bad Spider News, however, as we got the third trailer for Spider-Man: Homecoming. They’re basically giving away the movie at this point, but I’m still a guaranteed butt in a seat. A lot of people are having issues with it, but I kinda like that this is basically Iron Man 4. I really didn’t need a new Spider-Man, so throwing Tony Stark in there is a good way to get me interested. I mean, I liked Tobey Maguire. I liked Andrew Garfield. I’m sure I’ll like Holland, but I’m kinda tired of the Spider-Man revolving door. Now that he’s tied into the MCU, I hope the Holland casting sticks. Then again, we’ve had three Hulks already, so…

This poster, however, is horrendous, but endearingly so. I mean, it’s really bad Photoshop, but I still kinda like it. It’s busier than Times Square at rush hour, but I love it in all its ugliness. It looks like it should be airbrushed on a denim jacket at the mall.

Across the aisle, things aren’t going so well for the DC movie slate, either. First up, Doug Liman has dropped out of directing the Justice League Dark film due to his commitment to Lionsgate’s adaptation of the young adult series Chaos Walking. In case you didn’t know, Justice League Dark would focus on the more mystical DC Comics characters, like John Constantine, Zatanna, Deadman and others, battling supernatural threats – ya know, like the kind the Suicide Squad had no business fighting. I’ve got no interest in this, but that’s ’cause I don’t really like magic. If they manage to get Swamp Thing into the movie, though, I think it’ll increase its appeal. Right now, though, they’re just a bunch of magical nobodies coasting on the Justice League name which might not even hold any power if that movie fails this Fall.

In sadder news, Zack Snyder bowed out of Justice League post-production work to spend time with his family as they grieve the loss of his daughter, Autumn, to suicide. It was revealed that Joss Whedon was brought in to finish the film, which now has fans cautiously optimistic. Just last week, there were reports that there had been so many reshoots that the film was basically a different movie from what was originally shot. It’s possible, however, that these reshoots were part of Whedon’s plan. It’s really unfortunate what the Snyder family is going through, and it’s deplorable that some folks are making jokes about the situation.

In other movie news, it was revealed that Tom Cruise’s upcoming film, The Mummy, will kick off a Universal Monsters cinematic universe called Dark Universe. I bet they stayed up real late to think of that one! Anyway, Russell Crowe will portray Dr. Jekyll (who also appears in The Mummy), Javier Bardem will play Frankenstein’s monster, and Johnny Depp will play The Invisible Man. The next film in the franchise will be The Bride of Frankenstein, to be released on Valentine’s Day of 2019. Ya know what’s funny? DC’s Justice League Dark film was also going to be called Dark Universe. Somebody’s gonna have to lawyer up!

In TV news, it was reported that Hamilton scribe and star, Lin-Manuel Miranda, will voice Fenton Crackshell-Cabrera AKA Gizmoduck in the upcoming DuckTales reboot. Cabrera? Really? He’s even brown now to go along with the name change. I know some folks are gonna have an issue with this. Hell, I even kinda have an issue with it. But if they’re gonna inject some diversity into Duckburg, I guess I’d rather them do this than, say, Launchpad McQuack-Jenkins.

While we knew that Bobby Moynihan was leaving Saturday Night Live, just hours before the season finale it was revealed that Vanessa Bayer would also be leaving. Then, Monday morning, it was reported that Sasheer Zamata would also be leaving the show. I’m really gonna miss Vanessa, as she definitely grew on me. Her characters have this adorable aloofness to them that I’ve come to enjoy. She’s got a big future playing the best friend in romantic comedies ahead of her. Sasheer was simply underutilized. She was always in the background of sketches, or only had a line or two. I hear that she really shined in the writers room, coming up with sketches like Black Jeopardy. I feel like SNL will merely be a footnote on her resume, as she goes on to bigger things, like Noël Wells and Jenny Slate.

Last week, I had the pleasure of joining some of my favorite people on the Nerd Lunch podcast, where discussed some of the greatest pop culture deaths. Nobody was safe, from Santa Claus to Michael Knight! And I finally got to join my pal Vincent (@RobotsPJs) on a podcast, which has been years in the making. We had a great time, and I think you’ll have a great time listening to it, so check it out!

Song of the Week

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This week, I’ve got “It Ain’t My Fault”, by Brothers Osborne. Not only are they local boys, but I love the fact that this song/video has layers. Read the title and then watch the video. They’re trying to tell us something – the same kind of thing that sank the Dixie Chicks all those years ago. My how times have changed!

Things You Might Have Missed This Week

Fresh off playing nurse Claire Temple in the Marvel Netflix shows, Rosario Dawson is in talks to play Dr. Cecilia Reyes in the X-Men spinoff film New Mutants. Just go to medical school already, Rosario!

Twin Peaks made its triumphant return for those of you who are fans. Based on the ratings, that’s not many of you…

The Get Down was canceled by Netflix after one season.

Chicago Justice was canceled by NBC after one season.

The Ben 10 reboot was renewed for a second season at Cartoon Network.

SpongeBob SquarePants was renewed for season 12 at Nickelodeon, taking it through its 20th anniversary.

Trial & Error was renewed for a second season at NBC.

The Black-ish spinoff, College-ish, received a 13-episode order on Freeform.

TruTV’s Impractical Jokers will enter national weekday strip syndication this Fall.

The bodies haven’t even gone cold and they’re already announcing a reboot of the Resident Evil franchise, this time produced by James Wan (Saw).

Tom Holland has been cast as young Nathan Drake in the film adaptation of the Uncharted video game.

In the realm of musical sequels that no one asked for, Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again! will be released July 20th, 2018.

Elizabeth Banks is producing a Charlie’s Angels reboot, scheduled to be released June 7th, 2019.

Tom Cruise announced that a Top Gun sequel is planned to begin filming next year. Fat Val Kilmer is waiting by the phone.

TJ Miller is leaving HBO’s Silicon Valley at the end of the season.

Surprising no one who’s been paying attention, Power Rangers continues the trend of just adding “Super” to the title of its latest incarnation’s second season with Power Rangers Super Ninja Steel

The Boss Baby 2 is a-coming, March 26th, 2021.

Sophia Bush is leaving Chicago P.D. after last night’s season finale

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In the UK, there’s an annual event called Red Nose Day, where they’ve been raising money to end child poverty for nearly 30 years. Launched by the nonprofit Comic Relief, the event has since raised over $1 billion globally. The event came to the US in 2015, where you can buy a red nose at Walgreens for a dollar, with the proceeds going to the charity. One of the co-founders of Comic Relief happens to be Richard Curtis – writer and director of one of my favorite movies, Love Actually. Now, a lot of people hate the film because it gave way to Garry Marshall imitations like Valentine’s Day and New Years Eve. You know, those schlocky romantic comedies with an ensemble cast where all the storylines converge at some point. I don’t care, ’cause I happened to like those movies, too, but I especially like Love Actually.

Well, to celebrate this year’s Red Nose Day, Curtis reunited most of the cast of Love Actually to give us a 15-minute sequel to the film, called Red Nose Day Actually. We get to catch up on the characters 13 years later, and I have to say that I was smiling the entire time. It was great seeing those characters again, from Bill Nighy’s Billy Mack to Hugh Grant’s Prime Minister. I could’ve done without Rowan Atkinson’s meticulous shopkeeper, but it was even sorta nice seeing him again, too. You feel old as shit, though, when you see little Sam, who’s now 26 years old. I think his segment made me the happiest of all. Or maybe it was seeing Jamie and Aurelia and their kids. Or maybe it was seeing Martine McCutcheon again (why doesn’t she get more work stateside?!). I don’t know. I loved the whole damn thing.

The special originally aired in the UK in March for their Red Nose Day, but they’ve gone to great pains to keep it off the internet. Yesterday was the US’s Red Nose Day, and a new version of the short aired last night on NBC. Ya know, they should really have everyone celebrate on the same day worldwide, but what do I know? Anyway, I actually missed the NBC version because of things, but I was intrepid enough to find the UK version online. This morning, however, NBC posted it on their website so I was able to compare and contrast. The only real difference is that the UK version cut out the Laura Linney update, with Patrick Dempsey as her husband. It was a nice aside, but I guess British audiences don’t know who Dempsey is, so they didn’t miss out on much. Anyway, I wish more movies would give us short reunion updates, maybe on anniversary edition Blu Rays or something. It was nice to get just a taste of what everyone’s been up to, without them being burdened by a full film that would be more than likely fall short of the original. If you’ll excuse me, I’m gonna go watch this thing a few more times, but it’s safe to say that Red Nose Day Actually had the West Week Ever.

#Country #DC #Knight Rider #Marvel #Movies #Power Rangers #Race #Syndication #Television #Video Games #West Week Ever #X-Men

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