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thepoparena · 2 months

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Thoughts on "Quiet on Set"

I imagine, being one of Youtube’s “Nickelodeon Content Creators”, you want to know what I thought. QUIET ON SET, the new four-part documentary detailing inappropriate behavior and abuse on the set of Dan Schneider’s various Nickelodeon shows, starts off on its worst foot, with all the earmarks of trashy tabloid journalism. A couple of gossip journalists walk us through events and interject how you’re supposed to feel about them. There’s one moment where Leon Frierson, former ALL THAT cast member, talks about how uncomfortable some of the costuming made him, about how the noses on a nose-themed superhero costume has some unfortunate phallic resemblances, and then we cut to a writer from Buzzfeed going “and then the sneeze gag is basically a cum shot joke!” Frierson never says that. In a later episode, a similar comparison is made to a gag on ZOEY 101, but there it’s actress Alexa Nikolas making that connection from the workplace environment she had found herself in. It’s an authentic observation, where in the earlier example it was outsider sensationalization, playing to the “crusaders” on Twitter and Tiktok where the public side of Schneider drama has mostly lived over the past decade. They bring on Marc Summers, Nickelodeon elder statesman who had virtually no presence in this era of the channel, for all of twelve seconds so that he can watch a clip of a Schneider show and go “oh, wow, they aired that?”

You can imagine how the producers' eyes must have lit up when they learned that Brian Peck, former Nick dialogue coach and convicted sex offender, owned a John Wayne Gacy painting. I mean, yeah, that’s fucked up, but it has virtually nothing to do with anything. It is, however, a perfect “can you believe this” moment that can be clipped and shared on social media for shock value. It’s something that the documentary can ride as a viral moment.

QUIET ON SET was produced for Investigation Discovery, whose bread and butter is schlocky true crime documentaries. Shows like EVIL LIVES HERE and WHO THE (BLEEP) DID I MARRY. Not exactly tasteful television. The channel is owned by Warner Bros Discovery, and was simultaneously released on Max. Warner Bros Discovery owns Cartoon Network. The documentary puts emphasis on Nickelodeon being on the top of the children’s cable game, and often brings up the Disney Channel as Nick’s main competitor. At no point is Cartoon Network mentioned, because, well, nobody wants to say their competitor is doing better than them, and saying you’re doing better than Nickelodeon would defeat the documentary’s narrative. My point is that I do not believe QUIET ON SET comes from a genuine place. It’s cheap schlock shock documentary filmmaking that wants to attract the same crowd who watch serial killer shows for fun. However. It’s also a space where a lot of people who were hurt during this time at Nickelodeon have come forward to tell their stories, and that pretty much nullifies all the gross exploitation elements present in the early parts. When these people start speaking for themselves, the documentary has no choice but to let them speak, and its more garbage instincts fade away. By the time Drake Bell starts telling his story, the gossip journalists all but vanish until the end, and there’s a stronger sensitivity to everything. The topics raised are harrowing. Workplace discrimination, sexual harassment, child abuse, sexism on set, racism on set, and general mispractice paint a meaningful picture of the toxic environment Nickelodeon was allowing at this time. The stories told by AMANDA SHOW writers Christy Stratton and Jenny Kilgen are infuriating. And then the sexual assault of Drake Bell by Brian Peck. Not an easy watch. It shouldn’t be an easy watch. What a fucking awful thing. It’s heartbreaking to watch. The documentary handles it with an unexpected tact and evenhandedness. It doesn’t excuse Bell’s later behaviors, and it allows Schneider to come off as one of the few adults who handled the situation correctly, even if the rest of the documentary is largely against him. I wish this had been the tone of the entire piece. QUIET ON SET is an important document of a terrible entertainment workplace. It’s a shame they dumped a bunch of trash on top of it. It’s not an easy watch, but it’s one of those things that’s going to be referenced to a lot over the years, and I hope that the people who make children’s television were learn the right lessons from it.

#quiet on set #nickelodeon

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ifishouldvanish · 5 months

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Some Olrox Analysis & Headcanons

Have you seen this man? Now you have! 🥰

I have a lot of thoughts about Olrox Castlevania Nocturne and I'm dumping them here.

DISCLAIMER: We know so little about Olrox's past and I am but a humble stan looking at an expressionist painting and projecting my own deranged nonsense onto it. I'm fully prepared for 90% of this to get jossed in season 2, but for now I'm just letting the worms in my brain wiggle and send me beautiful visions of what could be 🥹

1. Olrox Was a Commoner and Does Not Respect Hierarchies

I've seen people point to his manner of speech and dress as evidence that he must come from a privileged background, but I think he displays too much contempt for the wealthy/nobility to have been one himself. I think these things are just symbols of power he has learned to use to his advantage.

Of course, there's everyone's favorite quote: "I prefer my blood blue." But he also demonstrates virtually no respect for authority or symbols/institutions of power in general:

He refuses the escort sent by the marquis when he arrives in France and insists on staying at the inn because he likes to "keep his ear to the ground". He would rather be around 'the people' than accept anything from the wealthy.

When Drolta is reminiscing about her glory days as a priestess, there's really not any nostalgia or sentimentality when he interrupts and says "and now those temples are half-buried in dust."

For as good as he is at presenting himself as a Gentleman of Status, he cannot bring himself to even pretend to enjoy himself at Erzsebet's lil debutante ball at the chateau.

When Erzsebet insists she is a goddess, his response is "Of course you are, sweetie 🙂"

His whole speech to Mizrak in the morning-after scene is basically a deconstruction of what power means, and how it is only a perceived vs tangible thing, a temporary position vs an immutable one:

"There are petty demon princelings you can haggle with and cheat. There are demon charlatans whose faces you can laugh in, spit in. There are demons who once were gods... And those who still are."

Foucault? In MY anime adaptation of a vampire video game?? It's more likely than u think 🤔

(continued under the cut bc this got long as hell)

2. Olrox was an Adult when Cortés Arrived

(I don't have a relevant screenshot for this point, so here's Olrox being pretty for no reason)

I've seen it float around some places that if we adhere to historical timelines to a 'T', it would make most sense for him to have been a child, but I'm of the opinion that it's more useful to take what the text itself gives us and fill the gaps with bits and pieces of the actual history where it's convenient. At the end of the day, this is a work of fiction/fantasy. So what does the text tell us?

He lived a long time as human and vampire

As of 1783, he'd been a vampire for approximately 250 years

Now, if we want to take this 250 figure literally, that would put the year of his turning at 1533. But I think we can give ourselves +/-15 years leeway because 250 is just the kind of rounded, even number one would use in natural speech in place of "267" or some shit like that. It's just how believable dialogue is written. So what lies in this +/-15 year window? The invasion by the Spanish, 1519-1521.

Now, he tells Mizrak: "Long ago, when I was still human, I watched men wade ashore from ships..."

I think this is another case of how important dialogue is. Because if he was a boy at the time, this line would likely have been written as "Long ago, when I was just a boy..." or something like "One of my earliest memories is of..." instead. "Still human" implies not only was he a human, but that he had been human for quite some time already. That the events he's describing fall in the stretch of time leading up to "still human" no longer being true.

tl;dr: the Spanish arrival and him becoming a vampire happened within a few years of each other, and if turned vampires stop aging, then he would have had to have been an adult at the time.

3. Olrox Became A Vampire Willingly

I assume that vampirism is something that was introduced to the Mexica by the Spanish in the same way it was introduced to Haiti by the French, in Annette's case.

However, rather than vampires creating spawn left and right, the persistent lore (in the show at least) is that to be turned is to be accepted into the sort of elite in-group of vampire society. (Carmilla questioning why Lisa was never turned, the Count never turning slaves, etc). Vampires feed on humans, they don't view them as potential spawn to have in thrall or whatever.

The Spanish weren't going around giving natives The Bite, because vampirism is power. So what I think, is that Olrox recognized that power, and decided to take it for himself. Rather than being the passive 'recipient' of the 'gift' of vampirism, he pried it from some Spanish vampire's cold, undead hands. (i.e., he drank their blood)

Do I have any proof of this? No. It's just what the worms in my brain are telling me 🤷 But!!

Do I think it would be a sexy little inversion of the way Erzsebet drank a god's blood to obtain her power? Yes.

Do I think it would be thematically very appropriate for a morally grey character who seems to have a very... Interesting relationship with power (individual power vs institutional powers, the subverting of power, the weaponization of symbols of power, etc)?? Oh absolutely fuck yes!!1!

[sickos.jpg]

4. Olrox Was a Priest, But Not Like That.

Priesthood in the Mexica empire was largely dominated by the nobility, whose children would be sent to the calmecec to learn how to read and write, speak the noble dialect, perform rituals, etc. But if the circumstances were right, the children of commoners could also get in!

Olrox says he's never been much of a believer, but he's highly intelligent and incredibly good at reading people. Even if he was never a man of faith, the priesthood was still a powerful institution where one could climb the ranks and earn influence over the nobility. No doubt someone as sharp and charismatic as Olrox would be able to take advantage of the opportunity to get a good education and maybe try to undermine the system from within/play a bit of political games while he was at it.

Also... Olrox's weapon of choice is the dagger. Obviously a dagger is an appropriate weapon for a character who's kind of rogue-ish, but also consider: Aztec warriors used a lot of weapons in combat: clubs, spears, arrows, axes—but an obsidian dagger? That's something that would have been used by a priest during rituals.

5. Olrox is a Bitch™ Who Knows Just What to Say to Get Under People's Skin

A common myth is that the Mexica welcomed Cortés at first because they thought he was Quetzalcoatl. But this is a misreading of the way Mexica social conventions/the noble dialect worked, which was kinda ~passive aggressive in a way, such that the more loftily and overly politely you spoke with someone, the more you were actually telling them to go eat shit and die. I think Olrox's dialogue demonstrates this beautifully in the scene where he meets Erzsebet:

"Taker of Souls, Vampire Lioness, She Who Mauls, The Messiah of--" / "Yes, charmed to meet you 😒"

"Her magnificence has heard much about you." / "Flattered. For a god to have heard of me. 🥱"

"I am a goddess!" / "...Of course 🙂"

His words are receptive, respectful, docile, even... but his tone and delivery are completely the opposite. Compare this with the way he speaks with Richter and (in later interactions) Mizrak—which is more informal, open, confrontational. He's more direct with them because he actually respects them.

As far as reading and getting under people's skin with pinpoint precision, I present the following interactions:

When he catches the marquis' severed head in the catacombs, he reads him (and potentially also Drolta) like a book: "This one? He was just an opportunist, following the messiah because she's powerful. But there are those who love her [looks to Drolta]. So I'm told."

When Drolta gives him a verbal slap on the wrist for feeding on the wealthy, he says "mY Ap0LoGiEs, I didn't realize how invested you are in keeping the mortals happy." - To which Drolta goes on to grumble about how their alliance with some of the mortals disgusts her.

When Erzsebet is waxing poetic about how everyone will see her beauty and worship her, he has the balls to—without missing a beat—say "PaRd0n mEe, but you mean to do this through an alliance with a man who will never worship you? 🫢" right to her fcuuckin face mgod I love him so much (this is the point where she whips out the big guns and yells "I am a goddess!!" while threateningly flashing her orb of darkness btw. Like she did NOT like that)

6. Olrox Has an 'Eye for an Eye' View of Justice

A prevalent theme in Aztec religion is the idea that like... ain't nothin' in this world for free. Sacrifices to the gods weren't symbolic gestures of devotion, but an act of paying the gods back for providing humanity with the means to survive.

The idea that everything has a price pervades the dialogue he has with Mizrak in the morning-after scene:

"What was the cost? Who pays it? Just him? Or all of you? Will you? Which demon will claim his price when all this is done?"

And it's also present in the very first scene where we are introduced to Olrox:

"You see, your mama took someone from me I loved, just as much as you loved her. So, she had to die."

What's interesting about this scene is also how... calm he is the whole time—before the fight, after the fight. Yes, he's motivated by the murder of the man he loved, but he brings zero of that passion to this confrontation. It's just an execution, something inevitable that must be done.

That he's fine with confronting a terrified Richter immediately afterwards to explain what just happened (and is completely unapologetic about it) is also telling. It suggests that Olrox views this kind of thing as just 'the way of the world'—a hard truth that Richter will be better off for having learned sooner rather than later.

I think this also helps explain why, years later, Olrox seems to treat Richter with a little more.... Familiarity than we might consider appropriate. He approaches Richter in the catacombs like he's just an old acquaintance, as though Richter should have no reason to be terrified of him. When Drolta mentions the incident later, he seems kind of lightly amused by it. Then, when he drops off the book, he's visibly/audibly frustrated that Richter starts gearing up for a fight. To Olrox, the whole "killed your mom" thing is water under the bridge, nothing personal.

7. Olrox is a Vampire of Prominence in The New World

Obviously, he has to be kind of a big deal to give a Belmont a run for their money. But let's go deeper into the IMPLICATIONS!!

"In 250 years, do you know how many vampire hunters have promised to slice me in two?"

"Her magnificence has heard much about you."

"You will be her guide into America."

He's enough of a big deal that countless hunters have promised to kill him. Enough of a big deal that Erzsebet has not only heard of him, but sees him as a valuable ally who knows enough about America to guide her as she builds her empire across it.

Olrox wasn't just a powerful vampire who got entangled with the politics of colonial Massachusetts and happened to cross paths with a Belmont. He's presumably had a hand in matters across the continent. Erzsebet refers to the colonists as "American upstarts" but for her, this is a conflict between humans vs vampires. The American colonists aren't allies or even rivals to her—because they're not vampires. They're just more pesky humans to be dealt with. (Also??? 'Protestant Vampires' as a concept is just hilarious to me, I'm so sorry)

So.

What the worms in my brain are telling me is—And this is Big!! This is a Steaming Hot Take!!!

(...seriously, tin foil hat tier headcanon incoming)

Olrox has established a network of indigenous vampires who are resisting the colonial threat. He's been turning them (or at least select individuals who are into it), and thereby redistributing the power he took from the Spanish colonizers to wield against the British colonizers.

(Look I have 0.01% faith in this actually being canon or anything. I just think it would be cool as fuck.)

Anyway.

Thanks for coming 2 my Ted talk or whatever. 😘

#Olrox #castlevania #castlevania nocturne

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st-rayy · 4 days

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your general cyno headcanons?

Cyno Head-Canons (in general)

Firstly, sorry this took so long but I wanted to play and inhale all the lore from Lupus Aureus Chapter 2 before I share my Cyno head-canons to not say things that dont make any sense with his lore (or to repeat stuff that his lore already confirmed) Secondly, omg, I never thought somebody would actually request head-canons but I'm happy somebody did. I don't know where to start but :3 Thirdly, I'd like to add that things mentioned here are NOT canon. Head-Canons are what one imagines to be "canon" for a character/series but is not (obviously some head-canons can become reality if it is later confirmed by the creators but that chance is soooo low, so don't see this as anything canon even if most of it might be based on canon in-game events)

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I'll throw some minor and short points at you before I go into detail about some Head-Canons I have... >-<

vvv

Cyno's a complete workaholic and nobody can stop him

Cyrus and Cyno act like "Student and Professor" when in public but they call each other "Dad/Father" and "Son" in private

When Cyno is stressed out he'd chew on his nails or pull on the skin of his lips without even noticing

He can swim, but he dislikes water if it's too deep for him to stand in safely

Cyno, at least once in his life, encouraged Collei to do something plainly stupid

If he fears something, it's Tighnari's or Cyrus' wrath

If he ever ecountered the deepest emotional low ever, he'd cut off his hair to cope with it

He's a calm drunk: If he's drunk, he's completely quiet, just minds his own business and gets really sleepy

Taj is like an uncle to him; when Taj had died, it hit Cyno harder than one would think and he cried in his room and at Taj's grave on ungodly hours so nobody would see

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Now, I present to you things I think about at 3AM when I can't sleep:

Cyno is Collei's father figure / adoptive father Cyno adopted Collei at some point, in my opinion. He takes care of her, visits her and I'm sure she means a lot to him as well. For everybody that hasn't read the official Genshin Impact Manga: Cyno was the one to seal the Archon Residue in Collei and took her to Sumeru so she could fullfil her dream to cure Eleazar. They also have a lot in common and I think Cyno sees a younger version of himself in Collei and he's so proud of her to see her grow and live her life.

Cyno was bullied as a kid Knowing that Cyno grew up in the Academiya after Cyrus took him in and that scholars don't think all too good about people from the desert, I think Cyno received a lot of mean comments during his time as a scholar. Canonically, the matra are also not treated kindly by the scholars, but since Cyno is an adult now and seemingly unbothered, even fancies what the scholars say, he just learnt how to deal with the comments...

Lisa and Candace are "big sister" figures to Cyno Cyno and Lisa seem to be very close, especially with their connection to Cyrus. I like to think that Cyno sees Lisa as his older sister and she also sees him as her younger brother, mostly taken from how they interact with each other in the official Genshin Impact Manga, Lisa trusts him and Cyrus from the Academiya the most. Candace meanwhile just acts overly sisterly towards him, she worries about him, looks after him and scolds him if he does something reckless. They just give off "big sister-young brother" vibes from how they've behaved around each other during the Sumeru Archon Quest and the Lupus Aureus Acts.

Cyno has Lichtenberg Scars on his arms If you don't know what Lichtenberg Scars are: Those scars are inflicted by lightening strikes and look like tree branches. Hermanubis himself also had Electro powers or powers that inflicted lightening, therefore I also think that this applies to both Cyno and Sethos

Childhood Trauma This is the point where I bring up the things Collei and Cyno have in common. Both were sold or given away to somebody by their parents; Collei was given away to the Fatui and Cyno was sold to the Temple of Silence as vessle. They've both been used for experiments and most likely endured painful experiences + they were severly sick in their childhood as Collei suffered from Eleazar and it's symptoms while Cyno suffered headaches, fevers and probably some minor injuries he can't remember. As Cyno said himself that not everybody could probably endure what he and Sethos had to go through, I believe he meant both physical and mental pain which explains why he lost so much memory from the time at the Temple - it was his mind, perhaps even Hermanubis, protecting Cyno from the upleasant and traumatic events he endured during that time (that is called "dissociative amnesia"). I also believe that little Cyno (and Sethos) must've been terrified during that time and it mustve been hard for older Cyno still, probably even after Cyrus took him to the academiya.

Cynari (Cyno x Tighnari, yes, the ship, skip this if you want <3) Inhales - I don't think I need to explain that canonically speaking Cyno and Tighnari have multiple times described themselves as their best friends. No, you dont have to like the ship and nor do you have to agree with the ship since it is NOT CANON, hoyoverse can't and won't put any same sex romantic relationships or general romantic relationships between playable characters into their games anyway for obvious reasons, the most they will do is hint at them like they do with Xingqiu and Chongyun or Ningguang and Beidou (the characters are written that way to leave us imagining, not to confirm anything). However, I'd like to think that they are in a loving relationship because of their chemistry and that both act as Collei's parents (Dads). I know this means nothing, but the way they worry for each other, care for each other, act towards each other and think about each other simply fuels my brain with "Look at those two idiots being in love".

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Honestly, I just wrote my mind because general head-canons take up a lot of my mind and I feel the need to explain myself so people understand what I mean or where I'm coming from ;-; So, sorry for the wall of text, ehe.....

ERM!!! I'm free to discuss things in the replies or dms if you want!!

#genshin impact #genshin #cyno #genshin cyno #headcanon #my hcs #hc #genshin hcs #collei #tighnari #cyno hcs

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moonspirit · 4 months

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Papamin Propaganda - Armin's natural affinity for children

This is nowhere near as lucid or detailed as I wanted it to be, but I've managed to throw a few points together, so have it anyway.

There are quite a few characters in AoT who have shown remarkable compassion and empathy toward children, notably, Levi, Reiner, Jean, Hange, and so on. In this post we'll talk about Armin.

Episode 72 (S04E13) is titled "Children of the Forest" and I think it's quite self-explanatory at this point - as Sasha's father put it, the children of this ruined world have been roaming around in a forest of endless violence, unable to find a way out of it. By the end of AoT, the characters who are presently "children" (i.e, Gabi, Falco, Kaya, and so on) do end up exiting this 2000 year old forest, toward a new world of harmonious co-existence. What I love particularly about the episode titling sequence however, is that Episode 71 (S04E12) is called "Guides" - and it deals mostly with the people who will act as the literal "guides" to the "Children in the Forest". This is of course, Hange & the surviving members of the 104th, and therefore also, Armin.

(In a previous post I've talked at some length about why I consider Armin to be *THE* guide out of the forest, for not only children, but humanity as a whole; so we will not go into that here. Instead we'll stick to why Armin has a natural affinity and flair for handling children specifically.)

It's important to remember that Armin was a bullied child, one at the receiving end of a never-ending stream of insults, kicks, and violence. Despite being abandoned by his parents and eventually also losing his grandfather, Armin never lost his kindness and gentle persona. This, at an age when children are heavily influenced by their surroundings and what they witness through the behaviors of other people, *can* be a bit surprising. It is a known fact that bullies are born due to (among other things) a variety of self-esteem issues and jealousy. I would say Armin retained this softness because in spite of being orphaned, & considered the 'weakest' among the 104th, he always received love from those around him (the fact that he couldn't see this love and value placed in him is a different thing entirely), and was treated with kindness too (ah the days before Floch came along with his insults were peaceful #_#)

Moving on to the aforementioned episodes in particular: It is Sasha's father who introduces the concept of the forest, we know Hange cries "Genocide isn't right!" twice (and thereby making it clear that she is the most senior "guide" in all of the bunch), but it is Armin who is the first to put to literal action the meaning and role of being a guide that brings children out of the forest.

Between episode 71, 72, 81 (S04 P2 E06), 82 (... E07) & 83 (... E08), the events taking place are very tightly packed together. Everything from the first reveal of Eren's Jaegerist faction to the beginning of the Rumbling takes place. It is a period when the military is in shambles, Eren has pushed his friends away and become that giant bony monster, Falco's been taken hostage, Hange's hiding away taking care of Levi, and the rest of our characters are dispersed across various locations, stumped and paralyzed with fear and hesitation about what to do about the world getting trampled outside. It is a period of intense confusion, and there is no unity between anybody. The Alliance hasn't been born.

In this duration of time, we see the following:

1. Armin helping a battered and bloody Gabi get up in Niccolo's restaurant and helping her walk to the next room, away from the arguing adults.

2. Telling her in no uncertain terms that she's not going to be killed out of vengeance. It's important to note this because while Gabi's already received the kindness of other people by this point (Sasha's family), she soon comes to know that Armin is Eren's best friend, i.e the Devil's best friend, and yet, he's still kind to her.

3. He meets up with Gabi, and tells her honestly what's happened. Now this is a favorite scene of mine, but you'll notice that when Gabi falls to her knees, everyone's standing around towering over her, but in the end, Armin kneels to her level, holding her gently by the shoulders. Body language is a powerful tool to convey a person's emotions and intent; he does ask her about what she saw when the walls fell, but he still does it gently, and at her level of height where she doesn't have to crane her neck up to look at someone 'commanding' her. It's a humane action, gentle and kind, an indirect way of saying "I'm listening, you can trust me, so don't be afraid." It's also pertinent to note that of all the people around Gabi in that moment, Armin's the most approachable. Mikasa's withdrawn, in a turmoil of her own. Sasha's family is clueless. Connie kidnapped Falco, not a good image. Jean's rough, prone to losing his temper. Hange & Levi nowhere to be seen. But Armin? He was kind to her at the restaurant, and continues to be so, retaining his softness both in manner and speech, with her.

4. With Mikasa immediately after (the outburst scene), we see him say many things; that the line of command has broken down completely, that they need Gabi's trust if they have to do something by forming a team with the Cart & Jaw titans. Remember: Hange & Levi are missing, two of the closest superiors the kids know to look for guidance; and yet he alone makes the difficult decision of going after Falco. This move of his does three things: (a) It wins Gabi's trust in full, (b) Tells Gabi (and also to us as the readers) that he doesn't agree with Eren's actions, (c) Lays the very foundation for the Alliance before anybody's even told him to.

5. With Falco's scene, things are once again, self-explanatory - but I like one specific detail. We see the others trying to catch some shut-eye (Mikasa, Jean, Annie, Hitch, etc). Earlier with Mikasa, Armin had expressed his wish to just sleep for two days straight. And yet it's HIM who rides with Gabi all through the night non-stop to get Falco back, trying to catch up to Connie who's had a head-start, waaayy before them. This little detail, imo, shows his dedication and drive for what he believes in, as well as strong empathy and understanding for these hurting children, who don't know any better. (I don't know if Gabi knows he's the holder of the Collosal titan atp... I think she knows? If yes, it would show how much she already trusts him, going with him alone. Now tell me that isn't because of the compassion and empathy he's shown toward her.)

It's obvious that all of the 104th understand where children like Gabi come from - brainwashed and rabid as they are. But in choosing to show Armin as the one who takes the first step in bringing the Alliance together, through the heart and mind of a child, I find myself believing - this man's going to be a GREAT dad.

Sorry if this was all over the place xD I wanted to make it more coherent, but I don't have the energy, welp. Feel free to add your thoughts!

#armin arlert #attack on titan #meta #aot #snk #arminarlert #shingeki no kyojin #aot meta #character analysis #papamin propaganda #as for the fluffy papamin thoughts.. later

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beatrice-otter · 4 months

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Formal Parties at Wayne Manor

One minor thing that always makes me roll my eyes is batfam fics where all the kids are expected to go to the Wayne Family Gala and not just go but stay for the whole evening. This is not a family party, this is a formal event. That isn't how formal parties work! Especially large ones held in the evenings! In most large formal parties, even the hosts do not bring their kids, because it is not an event designed for kids. The kids are going to be bored and unhappy at best, and disruptive at worst, and a lot of the attendees are going to be unhappy that there are kids present. And they have big enough houses that even a very large event will not fill the whole house, so the kids can stay in the family area and not have to deal with the guests, and there are staff to look after kids too young to be left alone.

If the host's kids are present at ALL, they will be present for a brief time early in the evening and then go back to their rooms and miss the rest of the event. The party in The Sound Of Music is actually a pretty good example of this. It's a large, formal party, and it's got dancing, dinner, and then (presumably) more dancing after dinner. The serious partying is going to start at dinner time. The kids are present when everybody's arriving and during the initial dancing, BUT they are not participating in the party; they are off to the side, watching it through the window. They are not in the ballroom dancing, they are not in the hall circulating with the guests and schmoozing like their father is, they are in nice outfits but NOT the formal wear that the adults are wearing. They are sent up to their rooms for the night before dinner. They have a short presentation before they go, of the "aren't our host's kids cute?" variety. Even the oldest, the sixteen year old Liesl, is too young to stay for dinner and the main party. Liesl is almost old enough to join the party, and if the Nazis hadn't come probably would have been allowed to participate in a year or so, but at sixteen she's still not old enough for the adult party.

So Damian is not going to be at the party, or not for longer than a brief "this is my son, isn't he cute" moment at the beginning. Tim and Steph and Duke probably aren't going to be at the party unless you're writing them as 18 or older. Jason would never have attended a gala before he died (except for a brief "this is my son, isn't he cute" appearance). If Dick is an adult, then he's old enough to attend ... but given how rocky his relationship with Bruce was when he came of age and moved out, he might not have been to very many of them.

Now, less formal events, they might have attended; they might have attended formal day events like garden parties. But even with day events or less formal events, they probably didn't attend many things that weren't specifically events for children. Because rich people usually don't bring their kids to events unless the events are specifically for children.

If you want something more realistic, you could have the kids doing something fun while Bruce (and possibly Dick) are stuck in the ballroom. Whether that fun is patrolling and foiling a criminal scheme or having a movie night or finding hiding places to watch the party and make fun of what people are wearing, there are a lot of options. Or maybe Bruce has a radio on so he can listen for danger to see if he needs to go change into the Batsuit, and the kids try and say the most outrageous things through it to try and get him to break character. There's lots of ways to handle it! And at this point, "the kids attend a gala" is a fandom trope, it's not going anywhere. It just makes me shake my head when I see it.

#dc comics #meta #batman

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st0r-fruit · 2 months

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HEAR ME OUT HAYARYUU SHIPPERS!!

Hayaryuu as girldads. Yes. You read that right.

Kamitani learning to tie his daughter's hair, learning all the styles so she can have variety of looks. (Akdhslkak imagine the visual of him sitting behind his daughter with his sleeves rolled up as his hands parting hairs into sections while the rubber band is hold by his mouth)

Ryuuichi cooking up her favorite things, packing up cute bentos for her lunch. (you can't tell me this man would NOT wake up earlier just to make bunny shaped rice with seaweed face or swan-carved carrots for his daughter)

Kotaro and Taka becomes best uncle babysitters, both being chaotic. Gaming together, eating together. She said "oh i can't play with my uncles tonight they have homework" and people around her are confused as hell. (Age add by 10 years so the kiddos r 12 years old)

Ryuuichi and Kamitani spoiling the hell out of their girl. Tea parties, picnics, outings, pretty outfits, toys, etc. They won't be adopting another kid because they have their little brothers to take care of as well so the little girl was the perfect addition.

Kamitani teaching her handy things in life like how to change tires, which screw is which, how to drive how to shop smart, baking, etc while Ryuuichi teaches her cooking, soft skills like talking to people and handling them, presentation, life lessons and morals, etc.

Both dads being supportive as heck in whatever their daughter does. They're the loudest cheerleaders and you bet they make motivation banners and props. Kotaro and Taka is there too, being their biggest fan aside from the dads.

Getting side eyed by parents in their daughter's class thinking their daughter should need a mother not two fathers but they're one of the PTA organizers and class representative and they're the cool parents kids love.

Ryuuichi bringing snacks to class events, and every kids love them he starts thinking of selling them in school. Kamitani being the competitive sports dad that argues with the coach when the coach gives a yellow card to his daughter cause what the hell. (He almost got into a fight with the coach)

Being protective girl dads, but not to the point it's toxic. Kamitani being the average dad when his daughter brings a boy to their house, very suspicious but is still polite. (Do no harm but take no shit--Kamitani)

They're definitely emotional in their adult daughter's wedding. Surprise surprise Kamitani's crying, sobbing. Ryuuichi having to have tissues by his lap to wipe it away on Kamitani's face.

I have more but this is it at the moment.

#st0r fruit #gakuen babysitters #school babysitters #ryuuichi kashima #kamitani hayato #hayaryuu #kotaro kashima #kamitani taka #gakuen babysitters x reader #reader x gakuen babysitters #child reader #headcanons

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sirfrogsworth · 1 year

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So, I'm out in the digital world, trying my best to defend drag queens, but every conservative fucker has a link ready to go for the drag queen Christmas show. And if I'm being honest, it definitely makes things harder.

The show was advertised as "all ages" but in the way that R rated movies are all ages. The idea being, if your parents think you are mature enough to handle the content, they can accompany you. The drag Christmas show was at 8pm, which is not exactly a time for children's entertainment. The advertisements even said it was not for young kids. And yet, some parents brought their 9 year olds.

I will agree, it wasn't a good look.

I don't think the 9 year olds are going to be traumatized by some dirty jokes or anything. The show wasn't even all that lewd. There was no nudity or live sex acts or whatever. Just some off color sexual jokes and I think some paper mache boobs? But I definitely think it was a bad idea to bring them to that show.

But that is on the parents. That was their poor decision making, not the drag performers.

That said, when you see a 9 year old at a show where drag queens are making dirty jokes, that's pretty much all the evidence these folks need to start making the lives of queer folks miserable. They're even trying to pass local laws that say you can't wear clothes meant for the opposite gender.

Maybe people can just say they are wearing a kilt or something.

It's just frustrating. Parents can be idiots. I'm sure some parents took their 9 year olds to an American Pie movie at some point. Didn't want to pay for a sitter. But no one blamed the people who made the movie.

And now people are conflating drag Christmas, which was an adult performance, with things like drag queen story hour, which is a wholesome event for children. Straight performers create adult entertainment. Straight performers create children's entertainment. We can pretty easily distinguish between the two. Robin Williams' stand up act was filthy. But he also made Jumanji and Aladdin.

This entire thing is a mess and I am just really worried that it is going to lead to some scary violent acts.

"For the children" is their ultimate call to arms.

The root of the problem is these conservatives all think any queer identity is inherently sexual. You tell a kid you're gay and they are like, "Little Billy is too young to hear about gay sex!" And then you're like, "What? Who said anything about sex?" Which, they are kinda telling on themselves there. Why are they so quick to think of sexual things when presented with gay or trans people? I bet their internet search history would be very telling.

In any case, the drag Christmas thing just derails any debate I've tried to have about this. They just scream "IT SAID ALL AGES!" and there is really nowhere to go from there.

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acoldsovereign · 3 months

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CONNECTIONS & CONTINUNITY.

Maiz has one future-- one where she dies horrifically. Or, she used to have only one. Decisions taken fracture her true, 'original' ending. Now, she is either doomed to live out her own personal dark, bleak future or avoid it altogether (--or to varying degrees, anyway).

MAIN VERSE (Z to Super):

Maiz makes her debut appearance Pre/During the Cell Games. Some 'space' months after the events of Broly -- The Legendary Super Saiyan, she touches down on some unnamed planet for resources, and ends up finding a frozen corpse. At first she thinks about passing it over (and does), but one of her slaves-- a Kokytan, alerts her to a thought/'feeling' they picked up: 'Pain. It hurts.'

The corpse is NOT a corpse.

Curiosity gets the better of her and she decides to bring it back to her ship for further studying. Through testing, she finds out this is a Saiyan body and drops everything to tend to him. Nursing him back to health, Broly is canonically the first survivor she ever sees since the Genocide. This also is the first time in-story she displays altruistic behavior. They eventually bond over time and become friends of the murdering kind. (Broly mentioned here is Kuro's/ @gazelessmenagerie).

Between the Discovery/Recovery of Broly and the last arc of Z, seven years have passed. Maiz at some point returns to the far reaches of outer space to continue her business; maintaining and seeking expansion of her twelve planet-empire. She officially touches down on Earth, and takes issue with the shape of the Race therein; Earthlings. She finds their mortal shells (which are remarkably similar to Saiyans) as a serious affront to her, and makes it a point to punish them for it. The majority of her exploits in-story takes place near Buu Saga and onwards:

Encountering and fighting an alternate Future Gohan that survived 17 & 18 (@likeadragcn).

Encountering, fighting and crushing on Future Trunks (@hopefromadoomedtimeline) In one scenario, he's successful in killing her but falls himself some time later and goes to visit her in Hell with King Yemma's permission.

Encountering Goku Black, allying herself with him and befriending him (@roseplendence) Other things happen. Several things happen, one of which leads her to meet Hearts (@clairvoyantcubes ) .She ... dislikes Hearts.

Encountering, fighting and eventually becoming engaged to/later marrying Future Trunks. (@peoplcshope).

Encountering, antagonizing/instigating a fight with Adult!Gohan, and being a general menace to him because his reactions are funny. (@n3rdb0x).

Encountering Vegeta and slowly bonding with him over lost culture/befriending him, encountering Turles and teaching him the old variant of the Saiyan language, encountering Granolah and antagonizing him about his Saiyan trauma when she finds out about it (@dragvnsovl).

Encountering, trying to and FAILING to antagonize Son Goku but ends up fighting him anyway (@age736).

And so on.

NOTE: Some of the verses detailed above (like the one concerning Broly) may or may not share loose/soft continuity or commonalities with each other! For example:

Z ERA:

The Maiz that fights Future Gohan (in the present timeline) is similar to the one that antagonizes Present/Adult!Gohan. The point of canon divergence is her personality. The version of Maiz that fought his future variant was colder and harsher; she was new to the planet. In fact, this interaction is the origin story for why she despises and loathes humanity (and Earth) so much. Maiz is emotionally and physically aggressive, abrasive, and dismissive of all things not immediately entertaining or interesting to her. In the second scenario, she's visited the planet multiple times but still loathes it with a fiery passion. Present Gohan is unfortunately a victim that was in the wrong place at the wrong time as this version of Maiz has picked up the habit of choosing people (humans, specifically) at random to antagonize/'learn about'. Any and all curiosity she has surrounding Earthlings are malicious in nature.

The version of Maiz that crushes on Thane's Trunks is the one that finds out where Yusuke Urameshi (@thuganomxcs) lives by stalking him. Hilariously enough, it's the same, exact Maiz-- the condescension, the violence, the sadism, aggression and egotism. The only divergence is who she chooses (which affects how she develops). The verse where she's with Yusuke instead is a derivative of this one; she only targeted him because she found out he was an ally or friend and aimed to torture or kill him to get to Trunks. (In actuality, all Trunks did was a pick up job for him, begging the question of how exactly she came about this information in the first place).

Six months later after she failed to get a rise out of Yusuke via banter, her response was to burn his house down and kill sixteen people. When that failed, she resorted to physical violence, concluding he wasn't completely human, because his lack of 'proper' responses to her were odd. She was proven correct. With her new goal of torturing Yusuke in mind, she picked up an Earthling contact to teach her his native dialect. They're still heavily unhealthy towards each other five months later; she's eaten parts of his flesh and drank some of his blood. He encourages her behavior while teasing her (and recently gifted her some of his flesh willingly). Oddly enough, he thinks her violence and unwarranted aggression towards him is attractive whilst she's become accustomed to his voice. This is the first time in-story Maiz has developed any type of sexual masochism.**

**Maiz's budding lean towards verbal degradation applies to Yusuke, only.

Also Trunks, in-story, was the first person Maiz grew romantically attracted to since the Genocide. Her deeper feelings escape self-reflection initially but she's becoming aware something is wrong. They've been enemies ever since they laid eyes on each other, they've been fighting ever since-- and yet, at some point she's shown different sides of herself. A side that knows mercy, a side that knows when to give him a break, one that honors (or remembers) rest. A side that knows jokes and humor-- and gasp!-- she has a flirtatious aspect. A side that remembers Bardock. She does not like what's happening but subconsciously wants him to reciprocate and will not take things well if he doesn't. Their 'relationship', if it could be called that, is complicated by many things; Trunks' moral compass, Maiz's lack of transparency and control issues, miscommunication on both sides and the lack of understanding of who the other really is or could be under the right circumstances.

The tragedy of this romance (if not addressed) leads to a scenario where she dies by Trunks' hands after 11 months of fighting/meeting him. In that verse, they're finally able to make up and talk to each other normally but not at first; Maiz is despondent, reclusive, silent. It's . . . not pleasant to see. After six years of staring at nothing in Hell, she talks to him-- finally remembering how to speak. Even worse, she holds no remorse for all the lives and homes she's destroyed. Unbeknownst to her, this is now fine with him. He doesn't care-- he doesn't have to. He's dead and has no moral obligation to uphold anymore.

The Maiz that meets Goku at the End of Z is disconnected from all other storylines, as are the ones that antagonize Granolah, the Maiz that meets Vegeta and so on.

SUPER ERA:

Maiz is focused on figuring out the secrets of aging to prevent it. She's close to 70, and will start showing her chronical age/her body will start to decline when she hits her 90s or 100s.

This quest for cellular dominance brings her to Black's doorstep. Err, his backyard actually-- and at night. The two are rather cordial and polite all things considered. It's not hard to see why they get along so well so quickly. Seizing his chance to learn more about his body, Black assumes the identity of a "low class Saiyan who was sent off planet" to gain her trust. Fortunately, it works. He is unaware that Maiz is very accepting-- she doesn't once ask why his Super Saiyan state is pink nor why he's like that all the time. Like with Thane's Trunks, she just assumed he was an atypical Saiyan with strange traits. These two bond, and in-story, he's her first friend and confidant, as well as the first healthy relationship she ever has. The base is not violence but one of mutual understanding, respect and civility-- this is because she sought help for her issues when she first suspected something was wrong with her. At first she thought it was a heart issue and so, sought a doctor. Hearts was who she found. It was a heart issue, but not the one she thought. She returns to Black some time later and is glad their bond has not only stayed intact but has grown stronger. They continue their occasional killing sprees on other planets (which eventually crawls into a slow stop due to lack of challenges and other reasons), tea outings and other mundane and not-so-mundane activities. He learns he's capable of caring for someone in that manner and she learns emotional honesty and patience when it comes to him. He's not well-versed in relationships for a reason . . .

This version of Maiz and Trunks (played by Jay) starts off a lot more violently and suddenly. The Maiz depicted here and the relationship itself could be a considered an extreme canon divergence of the Z version. Trunks is post Super instead of Pre Super/Post-Dabura/Dabura Era. He's also a Time Patroller. Maiz doesn't go looking for him-- he brings the fight to her. He has to. If he does not, Earth dies in a cold/heated space war between Universes 6 and 7.

Further differences are: They do not meet on Earth but on other planets. She doesn't know him, doesn't take him seriously, nor does she want to get to know him. Dislike of the other is mutual and strong, so much so that Maiz actually is trying to kill him from the start and is surprised when he doesn't die. Trunks can heal himself to a great extent but he's no Dende. Regardless, Maiz is PISSED when she witnesses him do it in front of her. She breaks a couple of his ribs with a kick for being 'dishonest'. The fighting stretches out over eight months. Both parties are tired of the other and try to end things. Doesn't work, but names are exchanged finally. Maiz is annoyed but curious about him. Eleven months later, same thing-- he discloses he's a Saiyan and his occupation, but leaves out he's only half. She's confused by his moral alignment but welcomes the fight all the same. Less annoyed by him and more curious, Maiz learns in-story to fight up close instead of constantly flinging and hitting him away. He's gotten stronger and yet, Maiz has some sort of advantage-- she's older and more battle experienced than him. The gap IS starting to close, however. He can feel it. It's not until two years later that things come to a head. The full fruits of his labor show-- he's not getting launched or pushed away so easily, and he's able to withstand her cold. Without realizing it, she's trained and conditioned him to be a tank. She's become more analytical and ruthless as well, going as far as to actually look forward to their fights. This was supposed to be the last one because as fun as it was, she couldn't neglect her planets for the thrill of killing one man. It was supposed to be the end. So why did they did end up sleeping with each other in Earth's freezing Tundras? Because she saw Bardock in him.

#Ship Dynamics: You're Lucky to Have Me #{{ Don't be like Tina. Have all your RP notes out and done before you start roleplaying..... 😭 the fact I had to condense so much-#{{IN ONE POST is insane. dear kami I'm never doing this ding a ling shit ever again my GOSH.#{{ I purposely left some details out but this is the gist of her major personal developments-- *holds Maiz up* i think she's neat. :3 #Domestic violence mention #domestic violence tw #violence tw

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scottxlogan · 9 months

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WinterIron Bingo Master List

Hey everyone! It's that time of year where the bingo fills are rolling in and this time around I'm sharing my own WinterIron (@bingowinteriron) Bingo fills as I've completed my bingo card for this round. For anyone who loves WinterIron and wants to take part in this AMAZING bingo, please feel free to check out more on the bingo at https://bingowinteriron.tumblr.com/ as it's a great crowd and a lot of fun!

That being said under the cut is my master list for my bingo fills on my card! Thanks for stopping by and to @purpleicedteas and everyone involved in making this happen for putting together such a fun event that I'm thankful to be a part of!

Title: Nothing But You Author: scottxlogan Card #: B1027 Square(s) Filled: I1: “When I drift off, I will dream about you. It’s always you.” I2: AU: Library I3: Ex-Boyfriend Steve Rogers I4: Watching the Sunrise I5: Panties Rating: Mature Warnings/Tags: Hopeful Ending, Angst, Cheating, Implied/Referenced Sex, Swearing, Adult Content, Past Steve Rogers/Tony Stark, Past Bucky Barnes/Steve Rogers, Past Peggy Carter/Steve Rogers, past Tony Stark/Emma Frost - Freeform, Steve Rogers/Emma Frost - Freeform, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Library, Mutual Pining, Past Relationship(s), Bachelor Parties, Past Pepper Potts/Tony Stark Summary: Bucky's best friend Steve is getting married to the girl of his dreams and Bucky is playing his part as best man for the pre-wedding festivities. As Bucky works towards putting together the events leading up to the big day, Steve makes a request from his best friend that brings Bucky's secret past back to haunt him. When Tony Stark rolls into town it opens the door to a yearning that Bucky promised himself that he would never return to again. Faced with temptation in Tony's arrival, Bucky finds himself fighting his forbidden attraction to the one man that years earlier Bucky told himself that he could learn to live without. Word Count: 18,942 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/45801637

Title: Hunger Author: scottxlogan Card #: B1027 Square(s) Filled: G1: Blowjob Rating: Explicit Warnings/Tags: Clubbing, Sexual Content, Smoking, Past Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Alcoholic Tony Stark, Blow Jobs, Swearing, Adult Content, Bucky Barnes & Steve Rogers Friendship Summary: Driven by a hunger for something more than the mundane, Bucky heads out to an old familiar club in the city where he's met by new surprises. After his latest time in rehab Tony's making the most of his night on the town looking for something to fuel his fire. When Tony spots a familiar face at the club, it appears that he's found just what he needed in the promise of a night neither he nor Bucky will ever forget. Word Count: 7494 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/46075519

Title: Turning Point (Chapters 1, 2, 3) Author: scottxlogan Card #: B1027 Square(s) Filled: B2: Tony Stark Needs a Hug, O1: Holding Hands, G5: Steve Rogers Rating: Mature Warnings/Tags: Therapy, Sexual Content, Secret Relationship, Forbidden Love, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - College/University, Heavy Angst, Violence, Tony Stark Has Panic Attacks, Past Steve Rogers/Tony Stark, Alcohol, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Bucky Barnes Needs a Hug, Winter Soldier Bucky Barnes, Not Peggy Carter Friendly, Bad Parent Howard Stark, Two timelines, Mind Control Summary: In the present Tony reaches out to an old alliance to cope with the new truths he's uncovered about those he trusted. While revisiting those missing pieces of his past, he finds himself facing a darker truth about those people in his life he'd come to believe held his best interest at heart. Word Count: 35,937Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/46162234/chapters/116211598

Title: Home Again (Chapter 25) Author: scottxlogan Card #: B1027 Square(s) Filled: B3: Sam Wilson Rating: Mature Warnings/Tags: Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Canon Divergence - Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Bucky Barnes Needs a Hug, Supernatural Elements, Canon-Typical Violence, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bucky Barnes Has PTSD, Bucky Barnes & Sam Wilson Friendship, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Angst with a Happy Ending, Angst and Romance, Adult Content, Explicit Language, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Past Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Slow Burn, Sexual Content, Sexual Tension Summary: Inside the auction pre-party Sam and Bucky team up to find the truth behind where Tony is being held captive. In their quest to take down the Power Broker, Sam and Bucky make some startling discoveries that lead them closer to danger. Will they be able to save Tony in time or have they just found the key to the end of the world before them in discovering the mastermind behind Tony's disappearance? Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/38259688/chapters/116409283

Title: Home Again (Chapter 26) Author: scottxlogan Card #: B1027 Square(s) Filled: N3: Free Square Rating: Mature Warnings/Tags: Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Canon Divergence - Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Bucky Barnes Needs a Hug, Supernatural Elements, Canon-Typical Violence, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bucky Barnes Has PTSD, Bucky Barnes & Sam Wilson Friendship, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Angst with a Happy Ending, Angst and Romance, Adult Content, Explicit Language, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Past Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Slow Burn, Sexual Content, Sexual Tension Summary: Bucky finds himself facing a new enemy as an old friend threatens to destroy his future. Caught up in a battle, Bucky faces down some darker parts of his past while he, Tony, and Sam take on the Architect's army. Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/38259688/chapters/116856637

Title: Just Do It Author: scottxlogan Card #: B1027 Square(s) Filled: O2: Mile High Club Rating: Mature Warnings/Tags: Mutual Pining, Idiots in Love, Sexual Content, Implied Sexual Content, Mile High Club, Feelings Realization Summary: After the battle is over and the team flies back home, Clint encourages Bucky to go catch up with Tony to discuss where their relationship is headed with one another. Word Count: 5242 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/46775440

Title: Turning The Page Author: scottxlogan Card #: B1027 Square(s) Filled: O3: Arc Reactor Rating: Explicit Warnings/Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Stripper/Exotic Dancer, Strippers & Strip Clubs, Stag Nights & Bachelor Parties, Sexual Content, Lap dance Summary: The night before Tony's wedding he and his friends have decided to spend his last single night going out on a high note with the party of the century. Surrounded by those close to him, Tony finds himself facing the prospect of happily ever after until his friends encourage him to take on a sexy private lap dance with a far too tempting dancer that could change the way he views the future moving forward. Could one dance change everything about Tony's future? Word Count: 6683 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/46798801

Title: You're My Home Author: scottxlogan Card #: B1027 Square(s) Filled: B1: Morgan Stark Rating: Teen and Up Warnings/Tags: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst and Feels, Bucky Barnes Has PTSD, Kidnapping, Mind Control Aftermath & Recovery, Trauma, Psychological Trauma, Reunions, Rescue Missions, Mentioned Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Cabin Fic, Winter Soldier Bucky Barnes, Hopeful Ending, Established Relationship Summary: Upon Bucky's disappearance Tony and the others worked their way into a rescue mission to bring him back home. Things take a turn for the worst when the mission forces Tony and Bucky to flee into the bitter winter weather trapped together in a cabin where Bucky has no memory of the life he put behind him after Hydra's latest torture. Concerned for his lover, Tony works to find a way to reach Bucky after the trauma. Word Count: 4,178 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/46870918

Title: First Holiday Author: scottxlogan Card #: B1027 Square(s) Filled: N1: First Holiday Together Rating: Gen Warnings/Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Christmas Fluff, Family Fluff, Art, Fic and Art, Parent Tony Stark, Parent Bucky Barnes, Family Feels, Alternate Universe - Domestic Summary: Tony wakes up to reflect on the blessings in his life in sharing his first holiday with his family. Word Count: 1644 (plus art) Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/46117828

Title: Tuesday Author: scottxlogan Card #: B1027 Square(s) Filled: Adopted (in place of O5) Rating: Teen and Up Warnings/Tags: Getting Together, Sexual Tension, Flirting, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Making Out, Feelings Realization, Massage, Adult Content, adult conversations Summary: Tony's Tuesday morning at the office takes him by surprise when Bucky arrives with a bold suggestion for the two of them moving forward. Word Count: 4138 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/47054182

Title: Birthday Beginnings Author: scottxlogan Card #: B1027 Square(s) Filled: Monthly Prompt: Tony’s Birthday Rating: Explicit Warnings/Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Post-Endgame, Canon Divergence - Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Sexual Content, Dirty Talk, Flirting, Parent Tony Stark, Injury Recovery, Happy Ending, Second Chances, Past Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Protective Bucky Barnes, Hurt Tony Stark, Reunions, Birthday Party Summary: Tony's made peace with his ending after the battle against Thanos has him leaving the world as he knows it, but instead of finding a place to rest, Tony wakes up in a new world where everything is almost the same except for the fact he's waking up next to Bucky Barnes in his bed on Tony's birthday. From his awakening at the end of it all Tony finds himself facing a second chance at a new beginning. Will it prove to be everything he ever needed in his life? Word Count: 7156 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/47166235/chapters/118837336

Title: Birthday Beginnings (Chapter 2 of 2) Author: scottxlogan Card #:R1027 Square(s) Filled: G3: Happy Ending Pairing: Bucky Barnes/Tony Stark Rating: Explicit Warnings/Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Post-Endgame, Canon Divergence - Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Sexual Content, Dirty Talk, Flirting, Parent Tony Stark, Injury Recovery, Happy Ending, Second Chances, Past Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Protective Bucky Barnes, Hurt Tony Stark, Reunions, Birthday Party Summary: Tony's glimpse of his new world leaves him longing to hold onto the new joys he's found in his life. Will this awakening on his birthday be the key to his happiness or a tease before the big finish to a long life of struggles? Word Count: 13493 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/47166235/chapters/119176831

Title: Home Again (Chapter 27) Author: scottxlogan Card #: B1027 Square(s) Filled: B4: Bruce Banner Rating: Mature Warnings/Tags: Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Canon Divergence - Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Supernatural Elements, Canon-Typical Violence, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, References to Depression, Bucky Barnes Has PTSD, Bucky Barnes & Sam Wilson Friendship, Pre-Relationship, Angst with a Happy Ending, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst and Tragedy, Angst and Romance, Blood Loss, Adult Content, Explicit Language, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Blood and Injury, Dreams and Nightmares, Slow Burn, Sexual Content Summary: Bucky's race to save Tony's future results in a final, dark showdown against The Architect. With the future on the line, only one will be left standing at the end of this war to save the world and bring Tony home again. Word Count: 14071 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/38259688/chapters/120018727

Title: Home Again (Chapter 28) Author: scottxlogan Card #: B1027 Square(s) Filled: G2: Wakanda Rating: Mature Warnings/Tags: Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Canon Divergence - Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Supernatural Elements, Canon-Typical Violence, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, References to Depression, Bucky Barnes Has PTSD, Bucky Barnes & Sam Wilson Friendship, Pre-Relationship, Angst with a Happy Ending, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst and Tragedy, Angst and Romance, Blood Loss, Adult Content, Explicit Language, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Blood and Injury, Dreams and Nightmares, Slow Burn, Sexual Content Summary: The aftermath of Bucky's sacrifice leads Bucky to a surprising discovery where his life and future with Tony are concerned. Word Count: 10998 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/38259688/chapters/120199294

Title: Home Again (Chapter 30) Author: scottxlogan Card #: B1027 Square(s) Filled: O4: Blushing Rating: Mature (chapter is Explicit) Warnings/Tags: Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Canon Divergence - Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Supernatural Elements, Canon-Typical Violence, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, References to Depression, Bucky Barnes Has PTSD, Bucky Barnes & Sam Wilson Friendship, Pre-Relationship, Angst with a Happy Ending, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst and Tragedy, Angst and Romance, Blood Loss, Adult Content, Explicit Language, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Blood and Injury, Dreams and Nightmares, Slow Burn, Sexual Content Summary: After a few surprising truths are revealed Bucky and Tony are reunited at the reservoir in Wakanda. Will it spell disaster or prove to be the happy ending they've both been searching for? Word Count: 19408 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/38259688/chapters/120980371

Title: Never Have I Ever Author: scottxlogan Card #: B1027 Square(s) Filled: B5: Jealous Bucky Rating: Explicit Warnings/Tags: Sexual Content, Jealousy, Implied/Referenced Cheating, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Not Steve Rogers Friendly, Past Steve Rogers/Tony Stark, Past Bucky Barnes/Steve Rogers, Minor Sharon Carter/Steve Rogers, Light Bondage, Angst with a Happy Ending, Light Angst, Blindfolds, Restraints, Declarations Of Love, Established Relationship, Angst, Alcoholic Tony Stark, Past Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism Summary: When the team gets together to spend a night under the stars playing a game of Never Have I Ever, it opens the door to a tense situation where Bucky and Tony are left facing an uncomfortable truth about the history they have with Steve. Will it prove to be the thing that pulls their blossoming relationship apart or will it bring them closer together when everything is said and done? Word Count: 14,368 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/48269416

Title: Looking At You Author: scottxlogan Card #: B1027 Square(s) Filled: G4: Yoga Pants Rating: Mature Warnings/Tags: 5+1 Things, Romance, Implied Sexual Content, Implied/Referenced Sex, Falling In Love, Jealousy, Yoga, Light Angst, Happy Ending, Digital Art, Prompt Fic Summary: Bucky reflects on those five times he's seen Tony in his yoga pants and the way they made an impact on him. Later Tony reflects on the one time he saw Bucky in his. Word Count: 2659 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/48316507

Title: WI Round Robin Author: scottxlogan Card #: B1027 Square(s) Filled: N5: AU: No Powers Rating: General Warnings/Tags: Summary: When Natasha talks Bucky into pretending to be her boyfriend so her nosy (but well-meaning) family will leave her alone -- the last thing Bucky expects is to run into his crush: Tony Stark. Word Count: 2242 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/48357784

Title: Dark Obsession Author: scottxlogan Card #: B1027 Square(s) Filled: N4: N4: Tony Grieving The Loss of his Family Rating: Explicit Warnings/Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Clubbing, Explicit Sexual Content, Dirty Talk, Light Choking, Rope Bondage, Light Dom/sub, BDSM, Wax Play, Sex Toys, Restraints, Swearing, Switching, Biting, Ice Play, Strangers to Lovers, Smut, Past Steve Rogers/Tony Stark, Past Bucky Barnes/Steve Rogers, Steve Rogers & Tony Stark Friendship Summary: On the anniversary of his parents' deaths Tony finds himself looking for a distraction after Steve stands Tony up on their night clubbing. Undeterred in his quest to find a new distraction Tony works his way into a steamy new club in town where he finds himself drawn in by a sexy stranger who turns Tony's world around in unimaginable ways. Word Count: 17988 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/48772465

Title: Waking Up To Forever (Chapter One) Author: scottxlogan Card #: B1027 Square(s) Filled: Adopted: Honeymoon Rating: Explicit Warnings/Tags: Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Canon Divergence - Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Supernatural Elements, Multiverse, Established Relationship, Adult Content, Angst and Romance, Honeymoon, Dreams and Nightmares, Parent Tony Stark Summary: Tony and Bucky's happily ever after begins in Wakanda on their honeymoon where Tony's return to the world around him has opened the door to new possibilities for his life moving forward. Finally home again Tony had everything he ever could've asked for with his husband and his family, yet in his newfound joy Tony finds himself returning to a dark place in the world where another version of himself had been caught up in a dark war under the thumb of a tyrannical ruler. When Tony's dark dreams of another man's life threaten to steal his joy from him, Tony and Bucky realize the only way to save their future for those they love is in understanding the past through another's eyes in a world that was never meant to be theirs to begin with. Word Count: 5571 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/49392865/chapters/124645909

#winteriron #tony stark #bucky barnes #winter soldier #iron man #winteriron fic #bingowinteriron2023

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echosinthedesert · 14 days

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Why I’m Echo

🗝️🏷️ RAMCOA (trafficking and scripting)

Growing up, I didn’t know why they called me Echo. I’ve always been hard of hearing, repeating what little I heard so people would listen. My family hated how I slurred my words and spent too long guessing what they had said to me. I echo. I read the Narcissus myth in grade school. I remember thinking that’s where the word came from, but I didn’t realize then just how much that story mattered to me.

I was raised with the story of Echo and Narcissus as the narrative of my life. I was a confidante to the women of my church. They told me I was so smart, so good with words despite barely speaking. My mother was an English teacher, and I loved to read.

They took me to the school where they worked one summer, had me clean up the classrooms. Eventually, they left me at a table to do homework, sent another woman to watch me. She helped me with my math while the other woman went on ‘lunch break’ — apparently sleeping with that woman’s husband. At the time, I hardly knew what was happening. They were all so mad.

It wasn’t a coincidence, I don’t think. They did something similar in my church group, then again at a ‘house party’. Every time, I was the distraction. My homework, my writing, my ‘services’. As punishment each time, they took away my books. Those books were my door to language, used to bring them everywhere, and they ripped them apart and hid them.

While all this was going on, my church group was doing something similar to another boy. They made him hunt with the men, never let him look in the mirror, set up all these confessions towards him and trained him to be cruel to the people confessing. We were bonded together like that. They made me go confess my love to this stranger boy, who was fairly pretty, and made him hurt me. They kept us together often, even though we didn’t like each other, and we fought like cats and dogs.

For a while, I was sure he was dead. They told me he offed himself because of me (he was so stressed and angry, I really did believe them). I didn’t see him for a while. It was an ordeal figuring out how to get him back to himself, after finding out he wasn’t gone forever.

We get along better now, with years between that shit show and now. We get that so much of our lives were staged by the adults around us, and we think we know why they did it — not the logic of why they thought it was a good idea, but what they were trying to get out of it ig. We weren’t the only kids they did this to, and we’ve both played minor roles in other kids’ training.

Narcissus and I are alters in a system. All of my trigger words and all of his are linked up according to how we were trained. That’s not the point of my blog, but the context is important.

The people who orchestrated it all are outside humans, still alive for the most part, and all the events happened in external reality with the exception of Narcissus and I having actual separate bodies (they just had someone else stand nearby so we thought the person we were talking to was physically present).

It’s been a journey piecing together where our stories fit together and placing it back in reality. We’re not the only alters like this in our system, and we’re not the only system this happened to. The perps are still doing this, but we’re getting safe and trying to stop them from doing this to others.

So. My name is Echo, like the Greek myth, and I’m just a Deaf girl. This is my blog about being Deaf and living with the fucked up childhood I had because of it. I’m one of three Echos who came out of that fiasco, using this blog with every other ASL native alter in the system. The worst is passed, and I’m excited to make a life for myself in the present. Nice to meet you!

#ramcoa survivor #ramcoa #pluralgang #osddid #cds system #deafpride #deaf

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somekindofsentience · 3 months

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the nature of unrequited love, or personal headcanons on sunny and aubrey

SPOILER WARNING: MAJOR OMORI SPOILERS

CONTENT WARNING: GRIEF, LOSS, GAME-TYPICAL CONTENT

READING-THIS WARNING: I REALLY DON'T WANT A FIGHT, THIS IS MOSTLY ME BACKING UP MY PERSONAL HEADCANONS THANKS :) also i would like to clarify that i DO NOT support shipping the older members of the squad with younger ones. that's gross. it is literally not that hard to do better. (also i believe sunburn requires a lot less therapy than sunflower, and i can totally see it post-game, so i really don't wanna fight with sunburn fans. )

Alright. The goal of this post will be to attempt to prove that Sunny's childhood crush on Aubrey is one-sided, and due to the nature of Aubrey and Mari's relationship, that there is a possibility Aubrey had a slight crush on Mari as a kid. Alternatively, I'd at least like to highlight how much of Aubrey's life revolves around Mari still, even somewhat in secret.

Again, to clarify, I don't condone Mari x Aubrey (are there not three other kids for y'all to ship Aubrey with??) , but rather we should consider the fact that many kids get small crushes on older teens or adults they look up to. I'm sure Aubrey was confident it would never happen anyway - HeroMari is basically canon, and Aubrey is far from emotionally ignorant - but I still think there's a potential that she may have had some unrequited feelings for Mari.

I'll bring in all my evidence and speculation and you can think on it :)

SUNNY'S RELATIONSHIP WITH AUBREY - COMPARING HEADSPACE AND THE REAL WORLD

(If this segment seems similar to another analysis post on here, please let me know because I'd actually like to cite it here as inspiring me, but I can't find it and it annoys me that I can't. Look at me and my great citations, good work sentience.)

Within Headspace, Aubrey's crush on Omori is prevalent and obvious. She tries to get his attention, wants to go on adventures with him alone, and defends him from the Slime Girls. Conversely, Omori rarely reciprocates, likely because at this point, his emotions are so repressed that he can't express more than the simple emotion mechanics required to fight. Aubrey, Kel and Hero all express emotion in their conversations, but Omori remains numb, the effects of repression seeping into the character himself.

We have to remember that Headspace is an extension of Sunny's mind, and while it is heavily influenced by the real world, it's still unreliable. I personally don't like it when people use Headspace evidence to support Real World theories, or vice versa - we need to be clear that these are separate, and Headspace is heavily biased.

There are two pretty key pieces of evidence in Headspace that point toward Sunny's crush on Aubrey being one-sided, and those are the Aubrey School Event and the Rainy Day memory.

The Aubrey School Event is found in Lost Forest 2 (also known as Looping Forest) in Black Space 2, but it is also found when interacting with a TV in the Otherworld using the universal remote. It is a short sequence, oddly colourful in the dark realm of Black Space, where several Aubreys fight to the toast for Omori's love. Omori is asked to choose between the last two Aubreys standing, and the event abruptly ends and Omori returns to Black Space.

The ending is particularly interesting...

We know Sunny daydreams a lot from the Lost Library excerpts...

I personally think that this fantasy and its parallels to the way Aubrey acts in Headspace suggest that the Aubrey School event is one Sunny regularly fantasised about, now present in Black Space 2 as a small remnant of the world he left behind. I also think this points to Sunny's crush being one-sided - if Aubrey's Headspace reflection is similar to Sunny's fantasy of her, then it suggests that this isn't the real Aubrey, and the real-world Aubrey may not have reciprocated feelings or Sunny may have been too shy to own up to them.

We see a big difference between their relationship in the real world and Headspace with the Rainy Day memory. Unlike Aubrey's constant expression of love for Omori, in the Rainy Day memory, the roles are reversed - Sunny is instead the one who wants to see the picture of Aubrey, and Basil even teases him about it, to which Sunny doesn't try to deny it.

Not many of the real world photos feature Aubrey and Sunny alone or conversing together, and Aubrey was asleep when her head fell onto Sunny's shoulder during the Lost Library excerpts. Aubrey is usually arguing with Kel, or hanging out with Mari, or with the group as a whole; and Sunny tends to be with Basil, or typically with the group. Obviously these photos are missing a significant amount of background as to what life was like before Mari's death (which a surprising amount of people tend to forget - those photos are by no means a reflection of the reality!!), but they provide some insight into character and relationship dynamics.

In my opinion, Headspace and the Real World just don't add up for Aubrey pre-incident. Which is why we're going to discuss...

AUBREY'S RELATIONSHIP WITH MARI - PAST AND PRESENT

Past

I believe the actions of present-day Aubrey hold some more weight, so this segment is mostly speculation.

We know that Aubrey and Mari were very close before her death. Due to the dysfunctional nature of Aubrey's household, it's likely she saw the friendship group as her family.

In a lot of the Faraway photos, we see Aubrey and Mari together, whether that be Mari reading to her, the two licking popsicles, Aubrey falling asleep on her shoulder, or the two's promise to dye their hair together, it's clear they're very close.

While we don't have a lot of information other than the album about life before the recital day, Aubrey in Headspace is also very fond of Mari, rushing excitedly to see her. Despite it being heavily influenced by Sunny, there is no real reason for him to obscure other relationship dynamics as it means nothing to Omori's goal.

Which is why I'd like to propose that Aubrey had a little childhood crush on Mari, which she was probably aware would not be reciprocated. She's 12, so she somewhat understands what love is, although considering time context, Aubrey may not have understood lesbianism and might have just assumed she was really fond of Mari, or something.

Mari would never reciprocate, as most of the rest of the group seems relatively aware that Mari and Hero are an item, so Aubrey probably pushed it all down, and was devastated when Mari died. Her friend, but someone who truly cared about her, which Aubrey didn't get a lot of as a child.

She watched the friendship group fall apart, and felt so angry, how could they betray Mari like that? Hou could they betray Aubrey like that?

Present

This post explores how much of Aubrey's current identity revolves around Mari - Aubrey continues to dye her hair regularly (as is evident by the visual absence of any roots), Aubrey spends all her time at the church and the graveyard, and she clings onto the photos of Mari that were defaced.

I find the fact that Aubrey spends her time in the church incredibly interesting. For one, considering what Sunny and Kel have to do just to know where she's gone, it seems as though Aubrey keeps her visits to the church a secret from her friends, aside from the closest. We also know that Aubrey is relentlessly judged by those at the church,...

Aubrey is a complete outcast at this place, and there is no way she's unaware of this. Despite this, Aubrey's nature is to stay true to herself, and clearly Mari means so much to her that she's willing to undergo judgement and ostracization just to feel close to Mari again.

But we can also consider the way Aubrey acts after Mari's death holistically, instead of parts of a greater whole. If she truly just looked up to and wanted to be like Mari, wouldn't she tend toward mimicking Mari's behaviour after her death? Why does Aubrey instead feel vehement anger toward others for "betraying" Mari, and spend all her time near Mari's resting place?

It is possible that Aubrey felt she couldn't be Mari, and she gave up and instead sought for her protection; or that she tried to reconcile the group, but the sheer betrayal and ignorance of Kel, Sunny, Basil and Hero broke her, and she flipped. I'm not going to deny the possibility of these.

But I think there's also a possibility that Aubrey doesn't want to be like Mari, but instead mourns her death as the loss of someone she had a crush on. As a result of this, Aubrey's life centers around Mari, and she is incredibly focused on trying to understand why Mari did it, which is why she spends her time near Mari's resting place. She does these things so she can feel close to Mari again, not so she can follow in Mari's footsteps.

Aubrey misses Mari more than she wants to be Mari. Which is a perfectly normal response to loss.

My main concern with this headcanon is it makes it significantly harder for Aubrey to forgive Sunny and Basil. If she is still much closer to Mari than those two, then I can't see her forgiving them anytime soon. and i am a massive baby and really want her to forgive them

Thanks for reading! idk what else to say. reminder that aubrey x mari is disgusting and so is shipping hero or mari with anyone else in the gang, especially during the events of the game, as hero is LITERALLY TWENTY and everyone else is LITERALLY A MINOR. omfg.

#omori game #omori spoilers #omori sunflower #omori aubrey #omori sunny #omori analysis #my headcanons please dont hurt me #i do not ship mari and aubrey at all thats gross #i think its possible it could've been somewhat of a small crush on auby's side #because of how much mari meant to her #absolutely no way it would ever be reciprocated and she knows #im a kelbery shipper anyway #my gay is showing when i use y'all #tw: grief #tw: loss #sentience's stuff

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sweetandglovelyart · 4 months

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Kirby Things I Plan to Draw at Some Point

Making a list of things I want to draw and plan to draw at some point once I have more time just so I can keep track of all of it and get people’s thoughts on it/see if anyone is interested in it. Here are all of the ideas I have under the cut.

- Susie redemption arc comic

I definitely want to draw this after I finish up Knightfall in Dream Land and I’ve started doing sketches to plan it out. The goal of this comic will be to redeem Susie and also set up a friendship/eventual romance between her and Taranza since I ship them. After the events of Planet Robobot, Bandana Dee discovers that Susie is still on Popstar and informs Dedede, who sends Kirby to stop her from causing harm to the planet again. But after finding Susie and seeing that she no longer has the resources to mechanize anything or anyone Kirby befriends her and tries to introduce her to his other friends.

They’re understandably wary of her given what she’s done to their world and what she’s done to Meta Knight, so Kirby gets the not so bright idea to try and get Susie to apologize to Meta Knight and promise not to mechanize anyone else so that his other friends will feel more relaxed around her. This goes about as well as you’d expect, Meta Knight and his crew are all still angry at her (and Susie doesn’t think that she did anything wrong at this point and doesn’t see a need to apologize) so Kirby comes up with another idea. He thinks that if Susie experiences something similar to what she put Meta Knight through then she’ll know what it feels like and will understand why he’s upset. This is where Taranza comes in.

They all go to Floralia and Kirby asks Taranza to use his puppeteering magic to possess Susie, Taranza and Susie both agree to this but Susie doesn’t find the experience of being puppeted to be all that distressing. Meta Knight is tired of her being on Popstar at this point and Susie wants to return to her home planet, so Meta decides that he and his crew will personally take her back to her home world on the Halberd to get her off of the planet as quickly as possible so she won’t harm anybody else. Dedede, Bandee, Kirby, and Taranza come along (as extra muscle in case Susie tries anything on the ship) and they set off for Susie’s home planet.

- Daroach backstory comic

An associate of one of Daroach’s old flames shows up asking Daroach for a favor. Daroach’s ex is the leader of a rival gang, and Daroach hasn’t seen her since she abruptly broke up with him many years ago when they were both young adults. I know some people like to give Kirby characters specific numerical ages, but my headcanon is that Kirby characters don’t age like humans do/different species age differently/real life years between the games releasing doesn’t necessarily equate to years passing for the characters (just look at Adeleine, she’s still a child in Star Allies even though that game was released almost two decades after Crystal Shards lmao) so I don’t like to assign characters specific numerical ages, but I do headcanon them to be in specific age ranges (like child, teen, young adult, older adult, etc.). At the time he and his ex split up Daroach and his ex are both really young adults, probably the equivalent to an 18 or 19 year old, and Daroach in the present during the events of the games is quite a bit older, probably the equivalent of being in his mid 30s. Anyways, the associate wants to bring Daroach to his ex so that he and his ex can discuss some very important matters/talk about some things that were left unresolved when they broke up.

- Short comic explaining what Taranza and Dedede were doing before they went to help Kirby defeat Sectonia

This would be a fairly short comic explaining how Taranza ended up teaming up with Dedede to help Kirby at the end of Triple Deluxe. I wanted to give my take on what he was up to after Sectonia blasted him away and how he decided to switch sides and help Kirby in the end. It’ll also explain how he becomes the king of Floralia since in my AU of things he becomes the king after Sectonia’s death and the People of the Sky serve as royal advisors/an advisory council to assist him.

- Comic explaining how Dedede and Meta Knight ended up as a couple

I ship Dedede and Meta Knight and they’re married in my AU, but this would be a comic explaining how they went from being good friends to growing apart for a while to reconciling and dating. The start of this comic will be set right after the Revenge of Meta Knight subgame from Kirby Super Star/Ultra. Dedede is furious at Meta Knight and plans to banish him and his crew from Dream Land until Kirby intervenes and demands that Dedede should let them stay, since Kirby knows that Meta Knight isn’t a bad guy even though he did a bad thing and Dedede owes Kirby a favor after all of the times Kirby has saved him in the past. Dedede agrees not to banish the knights but his friendship with Meta Knight appears to be over. The two of them end up becoming distant with each other, and during this period of time they only see each other when they’re both spending time with Kirby and end up going off on their own solo adventures (explaining why Meta Knight isn’t in Dream Land 3 or Kirby 64 and why Dedede isn’t in Amazing Mirror) until the events of Squeak Squad. After Kirby beats up Dedede and Daroach steals the chest containing Dark Nebula, Dedede finally decides to call up Meta Knight so they can figure out what to do about it (I’m going with the headcanon that the two of them fought and sealed away Dark Nebula before meeting Kirby so that’s why Dedede has the chest that contains Dark Nebula and why Meta Knight knows about it). They have a heart to heart talk with each other, clarify some misunderstandings, and reconcile and admit their feelings for one another.

- Short comic about Taranza and Susie helping each other to grieve their lost loved ones

This will be a short comic centered around Taranza, Susie, and an OC of mine who is Taranza’s mother. This will be set after Susie is redeemed. Susie and Taranza have become close friends after her redemption, and she goes to visit him in Floralia regularly. One day when she visits Taranza and his mom are about to go visit Taranza’s father’s grave since it’s the anniversary of his passing (in my AU Taranza also has a dead dad like Susie but his dad died when he was a kid so he’s had more time to process it/grieve even though it’s still painful). Susie offers to go with them to support Taranza even though it’s hard for her since she’s still struggling with the loss of her father, so the three of them visit the grave and leave some flowers. Taranza is grateful that she went with them and gets the idea to help Susie set up a little memorial for her father so she has a place to visit/leave flowers for him since he doesn’t have a grave/there’s nothing left of him. I thought it would be sweet to depict the two of them helping each other through the grief of losing a loved one. Taranza is still grieving over Sectonia too and Susie also helps him work through that but I thought I’d also give him a dead dad so the two of them could relate to each other over losing a parent (and also to create a parallel between Taranza and my OC who’s his mom by having them both lose someone they were in love with in a very tragic way).

- Comic explaining how Taranza and Susie start dating

This will be set soon after Star Allies, so the mage sisters and Hyness have been redeemed and join the cast. Susie and Taranza’s friendship has grown even stronger, and all of their other friends get the impression that their feelings for each other go beyond friendship… Dedede and Meta Knight decide to intervene and act as the “dad friends” that give their younger friends a little nudge to confess their feelings to each other. In my AU Dedede and Taranza become good friends after Triple Deluxe and Meta and Susie become good friends after Susie is redeemed and apologizes for what she did to him, so I thought it’d be nice to have Dedede and Meta give Taranza and Susie some guidance.

- Comic explaining how Dedede and Meta Knight got engaged/showing their wedding

I’ve established that they’re a couple in my AU but I haven’t actually explained how they proposed to each other or what their wedding was like, so this comic would show that. I could see both of them proposing to each other instead of only one of them proposing lmao… and instead of wearing engagement rings or wedding rings I think I’d have both of them wear bracelets instead. They’d wear their engagement bracelets on one wrist and their wedding bracelets on the other, my explanation for why we don’t see their bracelets in the games is because they’re hidden under their gloves/mittens most of the time lmao…

Is all of this stuff that you guys would be interested in seeing? I would really like to draw all of this at some point but if I get around to it it’s likely not going to be for a while since I’m pretty busy with school/work things. But I’d love to hear everyone’s thoughts on the ideas I have and any suggestions for other stuff to draw! My ask box and my DMs are always open, I love hearing from everybody!

#text post #Kirby #I have so many ideas for stuff I want to draw but not enough time to actually draw all of it lmao #I definitely want to do the Susie redemption arc comic at some point when I finish Knightfall in Dream Land #I find Susie and Taranza both really interesting as characters and want to further develop both of them #and I love Daroach a lot as a character too and want to give him some more backstory and development #me looking at the Kirby series and thinking HAL refuses to elaborate so fine I’ll do it myself lmao #the franchise has all of these cool characters but we know next to nothing about most of them #I’d love to hear everyone’s thoughts on the ideas I have is this stuff that you’d all want to see?

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officecyborg · 2 years

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“Aaaa guys don’t do it! :/ You’re gonna create Noein or whatever is happening in this show!”

— @autopotion

Okay here is the explanation of what’s going on in Noein that nobody asked for (sending it To My Future Self).

Present day dimension:

The quantum revolution is about to happen. A corrupt billionaire (Shinohara) is funding a physicist (Mayuzumi) to create the first quantum computer, called the Magic Circle Project. They’re intending to use it to invent teleportation and other cool stuff. ‘Previously’ this experiment took place ten years in the future, but now, thanks to Time Scromblies, it’s occurring much sooner than it should.

The shady development of this project is being investigated by a government scientist (Uchida) and a cop (Kooriyama).

also there’s like, quantum ley lines involved here. Hakodate is an area of high quantum activity, whatever that means.

Our protagonist Haruka has reality warping powers. She can do all the stuff the quantum computer can do, on her own. If she observes an event, then it’s retconned to have happened in whatever timeline she’s currently occupying. If she observes a person, they exist.

One day, she happens to see Karasu get hit so hard he’s knocked into her dimension. Having observed a guy from the future in the past may or may not contribute to her dimension developing level 1 time scromblies.

Lacryma dimension:

Several years in the future, the Magic Circle experiment happens, causing time scromblies for the entire planet. It’s terrible. Down is up, etc. People keep blipping out of existence.

an adult Haruka volunteers to use her quantum observer powers to fix time. Her brain is used to power a quantum computer. Everything is fixed!

Well, until Noein, a time travelling… thing… from another future dimension invades this one and start assimilating it with the help of his robot army. Large portions of the earth are destroyed, Atori and co. are orphaned, etc.

The Quantum Committee who I guess are the government now creates an elite unit of soldiers to fight the invading robots, who are hooked up to the quantum computer and therefore able to teleport, etc. The volunteers include Yuu and Isami.

While fighting one of Noein’s robots, Karasu gets punched into last week an alternate past timeline, where he sees Haruka. This gives the Dragon Knights the brilliant idea of taking child Haruka from the ‘simulated’ alternate past and attaching her brain to the computer as well, thereby defeating Noein. Twice the Harukas, twice the power.

Of course, as we know just from watching the first episode, the ‘alternate past’ people are definitely just as real as the future ones. Also, some of the Dragon Knights are extremely leery of bringing their own, friendly Noein into the mix.

Shangri-La dimension:

after Circumstances, a being called Noein was created. His powers are the opposite of Haruka’s—he can observe an alternate timeline, and declare it doesn’t exist, piece by piece. He’s Ultimecia, basically.

At the point the show starts, he’s already assimilated every other future timeline apart from Lacryma, which is on its last legs.

His goal is to assimilate everything except Haruka, and have her use her powers to cherry-pick which elements of the multiverse are real. This would create a happy paradise dimension where every person who ever lived is at peace, at the small small cost of removing all human autonomy forever and micromanaging every aspect of existence.

#noein #I feel like I wanted to add more to this but My Future Self doesn't remember what. so.#clearing out my drafts

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denimbex1986 · 8 months

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I recall watching the 1978 TV miniseries Holocaust when it premiered and having a reaction similar to, as I learned, a number of journalists. The series, about the murder (in the context of the Nazi rampage), of a German-Jewish family named Weis, has a crudity that made some dismiss the series out of hand, although it became useful as a teaching tool, introducing those who won’t read to the major events and places of the Nazi genocide. One issue, however, is the Hollywood-handsome cast, and how few of Holocaust’s actors were in any way recognizable as Jewish citizens of Western Europe. We don’t want caricature (such as with Bradley Cooper’s [another non-Jew] absurd, outsize prosthetic nose for his role as Leonard Bernstein in the forthcoming Maestro), but we see here an old problem, namely the Hollywood refusal, for the most part, to deal in ethnicity not Anglo-Saxon. We therefore have name-changing, hair-straightening, and make-up that will make actors conform to preferred white models. Holocaust might be the problem writ fairly large in its day; the more contemporary model might be the summer 2023 hit, Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster Oppenheimer. This film, paired with a far larger 2023 hit, Barbie (which gives acceptable politics to the doll once condemned by feminism), together formed a calculated phenomenon called “Barbenheimer,” together making well over a billion dollars and keeping theaters open a trifle longer, fading as they are in the wake of “streaming” and other asocial media consumption.

The story of the “father of the atom bomb,” Oppenheimer presents a crucially important tale about a Jewish intellectual who stands in a pantheon, reminding us of the Jewish mind’s centrality to the advancement of human consciousness, and essential resistance (there are important exceptions that tend to prove the rule) to reactionary forces in the human narrative. There are people whose contributions to the human intellect are extraordinary. They include Spinoza, Marx, Freud, Einstein, Kafka – I’ll add Bob Dylan, our Nobel (I say “our” to represent both Jews and the generation of the 1960s, the true “greatest generation,” if we must have one, for its inquiry), and J. Robert Oppenheimer, who transformed our notion of Being. In the film, J. Robert Oppenheimer is played by Cillian Murphy, an Irish actor popular for his role in the “streaming” TV series Peaky Blinders. Oppenheimer did such impressive business that Murphy is already a strong candidate at the next Oscar ceremony. But in no way can I say he conveys anything like the essence, and not the details, of the scientist-poet who made the hellish “gadget” (as it was nicknamed during its development).

I have thought of Oppenheimer as the “scientific Kafka.” There is some physical resemblance; both, as young men (Kafka did not have a long life) had shocks of dark hair, Oppenheimer’s worn to the right. They had pointed features, and above all notable gazes. Kafka’s eyes were penetrating, looking into the horrors of the century which at times seems his alone. Oppenheimer’s eyes, and countenance, were poignantly sad. Both men understood persecution, at personal and intellectual levels, Kafka the great master of persecution narrative in The Trial and other works, many destroyed, Oppenheimer, tormented in school, locked in a freezer by bullies. He tended to bring on the torment, since for all his intellect he could not understands the culture of the bully, as child or adult, unwisely showing off his intellect.

Toward the end of his life, the Oppenheimer sadness seems overwhelming, not only because of the loss of government clearance (for a man who permitted the U.S. government to exist by allowing its “victory”), but because of the truth he witnessed. He is known for, among other quotes, the apocalyptic line from the Bhagavad-Gita, said by Vishnu to the Prince: “I am become death, the destroyer of worlds.” This, in the context of a late interview, was filmed in tight close-up, as Oppenheimer wiped an eye, holding his pipe. He is an old and stricken man, still not really advanced in age. In the Nolan film, we get the line, in one form or other, several times, once when he is in the middle of sex. Sex, as an affirmation of life over death, isn’t inappropriate, but here it is simply adolescent, lacking in instruction. This, with other moments, loses Oppenheimer.

As a Jew, Oppenheimer is lost many times. He was well aware of Hitler’s plans for the Jews of Europe simply by watching the lunatic and taking the daily press seriously, also knowing that what his research would unleash would destroy Europe. But he was too late, faced with the prospect of “winning the war” by wiping out Japan. Anti-Semitism would be addressed only in the affirmative, with Oppenheimer the archetypal propitiatory victim.

This topic needs attention. To me, the book by far the most useful on the dropping of the atomic bomb is Gar Alperovitz’s The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb (1995). This meticulous book dispenses once and for all with notions that the bomb was the only way to bring the “Japs” to heel, and that the bomb was the only way to “win” the war in the Pacific, which would have been at the cost, so the story goes, of millions of lives had the bomb not been used. Japan, by late 1944, was surrounded, facing the prospect of a Russian invasion, out of food and other provisions. The emperor might well have demanded fealty to the bitter end, but this would assume he was of the same cynical pragmatism as the American brass, the same savage immorality as Harry S. Truman, our “common sense” president, whose down-home wisdom is revealed in Merle Miller’s interview book Plain Speaking (1973). The same plain-spoken man informs us of his lack of conscience, so when he made the decision for genocide, he didn’t mull over it, he wasn’t a “crybaby” (as he accused Oppenheimer of being). He was the man from Missouri, the “show me” state, the state that opted for slavery, bringing about the Missouri Compromise on slavery in 1820, thus assuring the ultimate cataclysm. Truman needs much examination indeed. An entertaining start is the 1982 satirical documentary The Atomic Café, which shows Truman on camera announcing the bomb, preceding his remarks with a little smirk to the newsmen, then, putting on his serious face, implores god to make sure the bomb is used for “His purposes.” A priest appears, as if to bolster Truman, suggesting that people take “protective devices” with them into the home fallout shelter once the H-bomb became a reality. Truman was the common-sense guy who got behind the National Security Act of 1947, creating the alphabet soup of intelligence organizations including the CIA. He argued for “Soviet containment,” but the U.S. was equally contained, as Truman prepared the country for McCarthyism. For a time, especially during the Reagan era, Truman Democrats stood out in the halls of state, as people who had no truck with liberalism and the Sixties rabble. Oppenheimer had reason to cry.

The men who opted to blow up two fragile cities filled with women, children, and the elderly, were nothing but monsters. But was Oppenheimer among them? Of course he was. This Universal Man, who thought that ultimate questions could be answered more by the humanities than the sciences, was a cheerleader. In the Nolan film, Murphy/Oppenheimer addresses his scientists at Los Alamos post-bomb. At one point, a shaken “Oppie”, as he was known, envisions his audience, the skin melting from their bodies. This is the moment of Oppie’s empathy, so it seems. But what about the Japanese children with melting skin hanging from their bodies like so much dripping chocolate? Is the newsreel footage of the Hiroshima/Nagasaki catastrophe simply passe? Or is it in bad taste, judged so by the man who made three Batman films?

The destruction produced by Oppenheimer would have a place in the science-fiction cinema, where giant bugs and lizards would be used as inadequate metaphor, since Oppenheimer showed us that in an instant the human race could become a myth. Edward Teller, the Joker/Lex Luthor/Dr. Strangelove of the tale, drove the point home a thousand times over with his H-bomb. Here, Oppie becomes the most inert, impotent Superman, shriveled from being out of the sunlight too long, bathing instead in the poison of the bomb.

It has been reported that after the success of the bomb, Oppie was known to stride about Los Alamos in a manner reminiscent of Gary Cooper in High Noon. This makes sense. He wanted, for a long time, to replace the sissy with the superman, the boyish Jew with the macho man. General Leslie Groves, in charge of the project, let Oppie wear the slouch hat, the bomber jacket (or the sport coat), even an Army uniform (he was reminded that this was too much), and place the project in New Mexico, where he could ride horses and survey the land like a real cowboy.

I couldn’t help in watching this film but be reminded of the TV series Breaking Bad, about which I’ve written. The show is about a family man, a scientist (he knows much, but his peculiar sense of self consigns him to high school instruction) also in New Mexico, who stops being a teacher, deciding instead to manufacture an addictive drop, a perfected one, in massive quantity, as he goes about bolstering his reckless ego and annihilating domestic life. Is Walter White a symbol of American masculinity equal to Robert Oppenheimer? Certainly not. White would not go crying to Harry Truman. Oppenheimer retained the ability to cry, even on the cusp of the TV western’s hegemony, which White would have enjoined. And White could care less about recommending to Einstein that T.S. Eliot be brought to the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton, to meld the humanities to advanced physics (F.R. Leavis might have brought up his tirade against C.P. Snow and the “two cultures,” but I think Oppenheimer would have had Leavis’s favored answer – we have only one culture).

The complexity of the Oppenheimer personality is lost in this movie, which becomes grindingly tedious, especially in its last hour. We are faced with endless shots/countershots of Oppie vs. bureaucrats out to nail him for not getting with the program, and being sympathetic to “commies.” This story is well-known. We need its drama, and the factors causing Oppie’s promotion by the press after the bomb (the basics, are, again, well-known), and his utter dismissal as a sacrificial lamb at the start of the Cold War. We are deprived of the factors transforming him into the destroyer of worlds, as well as those making him into the pathetic cowboy, and the smart aleck who could not mount a sensible defense in the face of imbeciles without being a stupid, juvenile comedian. He seemed to understand that Shakespeare, Donne, T.S. Eliot, and the French Symbolists, might save us, not theoretical physics. Or perhaps these coupled together. We’ll never know.

There is a compelling documentary of some thirty years ago entitled The Day After Trinity. There isn’t a lot of revelatory data, but it doesn’t engage in posturing, as is the case with Oppenheimer. Trinity gives us some privileged moments of Oppenheimer, as much an enigma as the artists and scientists he admired. Could he, had he not crumbled, informed us why we exist? He seemed to toy with the preposterous but central question; it’s entertaining to speculate, but perhaps a waste of time, especially as the humanities are dismissed.'

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pridepages · 1 year

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eARC Review: Darkhearts

A HUGE thank you to Netgalley and Wednesday Books for providing me an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

GOODREADS SYNOPSIS: When David quit his band, he missed his shot at fame. For the past two years, he’s been trapped in an ordinary Seattle high school life, working summers for his dad’s construction business while his former best friends Chance and Eli became the hottest teen pop act in America. Then Eli dies. Suddenly David and Chance are thrown back into contact, forcing David to rediscover all the little things that once made the two of them so close, even as he continues to despise the singer’s posturing and attention-hogging. As old wounds break open, an unexpected kiss leads the boys to trade frenemy status for a confusing, tentative romance—one Chance is desperate to keep out of the spotlight. Though hurt by Chance’s refusal to acknowledge him publicly, David decides their new relationship presents a perfect opportunity for him to rejoin the band and claim the celebrity he's been denied. But Chance is all too familiar with people trying to use him. As the mixture of business and pleasure becomes a powder keg, David will have to choose: Is this his second chance at glory? Or his second chance at Chance?

RELEASE DATE: 6/6/2023

See my full review under the cut!

Sutter’s latest novel Darkhearts is a strong, bittersweet work about grief and regret.

This book is difficult to classify. While it has some elements of a romcom (friends-to-rivals-to-lovers, secretly dating, finding yourself, etc.), it doesn't actually read like one. The romance between narrator David and his love interest Chance is the main plot, but arguably the story is really about how David has been stuck in the past and needs to find a way to move forward. If I had to register a critique, it would be the fact that band member and friend Eli's death wasn't handled in a way that served the narrative or the readers.

This is the event that kicks off the plot and brings Chance and David back together. Narratively, we are set up to expect it will be tied to the emotional development of both characters. Maybe it will help them learn to let go of old grudges because life is too short? Maybe it will cast doubt on how they used to see each other or the wider world? Maybe something else, but (pardon the expression) you can’t raise a ghost like that and then just expect it to...fade away.

But that’s exactly what happens. By the midway point of the book, Chance's feelings of guilt are "resolved" for narrative purposes...Or maybe they just get forgotten? Either way, the fact that this event just falls away is troubling.

It’s particularly insensitive considering that Eli’s death is a tragedy related to substance abuse. This is an incredibly serious topic, one that affects many young people, particularly young queer people. Chance--who lived in the bubble of teenage stardom side-by-side with Eli--is no doubt traumatized by the loss of the person who understood him best in the world. But somewhere along the line, David and Chance have maybe one honest, vulnerable conversation about it...and then they never speak of it again!

The only thing I can think of is that maybe this is meant to be another sign of David’s selfishness. He’s the narrator, and by the end he realizes that he’s been ignoring the emotional needs of his friends and family to feed his own resentment. But wouldn’t Eli’s death be a trauma for David too? After all, he perceives Eli as having left him behind for fame just as much as Chance did. Knowing David as a character, I find it hard to believe he wouldn’t obsess over the fact that he’s not ever going to get some kind of closure with Eli.

As always, there’s also the Big Question of all queer self discovery stories: to come out or not to come out? I understand that not every teenager is in a position to come out before becoming an independent adult. I also recognize that in real life celebrities often choose to live in the closet because homophobia has real consequences that could put them and their dreams in danger.

Still! I hate reading stories like that. I live and breathe homophobia every day of my life. I don’t want to escape in a book and see queer people having to settle for a half life of stifled unhappiness, resigned to reality because that’s just the way life is. Why do we write fiction if not to bring back some measure of power to our lives with our voices?

So I also thought I would leave unsatisfied by the 'resolution' about the choice to come out or not.

Until those last couple of lines...

Well, let's just say I liked it better than I thought I would.

I'd recommend this book to fans of YA, coming-of-age novels, and bittersweet romances.

#darkhearts #earc review #james l sutter #mlm #gay #bisexual #lgbt reads #queer lit #ya books

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