#it was actually unbelievable the level of skill he has | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

raisedbythetv89 · 6 days

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The writers I think mostly completely by accident with the assistance of James charming his way into becoming a main character created the perfect storm to ensure people who love spike would reach absolute peak levels of being completely obsessively deranged about him forever

Season 2:

He’s a punk rock villain with killer cheekbones, enchanting eyes, and an absolutely DEVILISH smile - who’s an incredibly dedicated and dangerous fighter who specifically seeks out challenging fights he’s not guaranteed to win (brave and reckless - normally traits seen in heroes) hates everyone except his mentally ill physically sick wife (the statistics of men who leave their wives when they get sick in the US is horrifying like nurses literally have to warn married women who get sick it happens so often) who he’s hopelessly devoted to and unbelievably soft with and always listens to her while also exuding a psychotic amount of sex appeal and is just F U N he loves being a vampire and he loves fighting and it makes it so much fun for the audience. While still showing how much he respects and admires his enemy for her skill, strength, resourcefulness, and intelligence - NEVER underestimating her just because she’s a tiny blonde girl - and instead of destroying the world for love he SAVES the world for love - a villain doing good to get the love of his life back who essentially dumped him for her ex????????? D E V O T E D and shockingly extremely trustworthy??? And has amazing chemistry with our heroine and is there for a pivotal moment in her life and is the only one there for her when she has no one else????? *enemies to lovers girlies ENTER THE CHAT*

Season 3:

He shows he fucking MEANS IT when he says Dru is the love of his life when he shows up in Sunnydale because he blames Angel not Buffy or Drusilla but the man actually responsible for all their problems and he is the most pathetic mess we’ve ever SEEN!!!! He’s crying and drunk all the time and he’s so sad he goes to Buffy’s mom TO TALK 💀😭 our pathetic sensitive little self admitted lover boy who KNOWS he’s love’s bitch and he won’t be pretending he’s anything otherwise who shows how clearly he sees and understands other people and the depths of his emotional intelligence so much so Buffy herself admits she can’t fool Spike she can fool her friends BUT NOT SPIKE OR HERSELF EXCUSE ME MA’AM WHAT???????

AND Spike doesn’t just uselessly MOPE forever he gets some perspective and is like I know what I’m gonna do to her back and I’m gonna go do that now! 😁👍🏻 showing he never stays down for long and is always gonna get back up to keep fighting for his love while BOTH he and Buffy still honor the truce even though he’s broken it by coming back??? While Buffy’s all “I violently dislike you” YEAH OK GIRL WHATEVER YOU SAY *enemies to lovers girlies chomping at the bit intensifies*

Season 4:

CLEARLY heartbroken about Drusilla (DEVOTED!!!) but it’s turned into anger and resentment directed at Harmony who how bizarre looks nothing like Drusilla but A LOT like Buffy…… hmmmmmmmmmmmmm HOW INTERESTING *enemies to lovers girlies are vibrating with anticipation that turns into a full blown combustion when something blue happens*

Spike doesn’t pretend to love Harmony in order to get what he wants from her (shown in direct contrast to Parker) he’s ironically very honest despite being a villain - he’s showing he’s STILL loyal to Drusilla in ONLY loving her even after she’s dumped him... again!

We see Spike treat Buffy the EXACT same way he treated Drusilla during something blue reaffirming THIS IS HOW THIS MAN LOVES WHEN HE LOVES YOU. He’s extremely affectionate, helpful, protective, caring - D E V O T E D - and is truly just the most certified lover boy we’ve ever fucking seen

Season 5:

SURPRISE HE’S SECRETLY A LOVESICK MAMA’S BOY POET AT HEART UNDERNEATH THE BAD BOY PERSONA AND A PROTECTIVE BIG BROTHER AND NOW BUFFY AND HER FAMILY’S MOST LOYAL DEFENDER AND IS WILLING TO DIE NOT JUST FOR BUFFY BUT FOR ALL THE SUMMERS WOMEN AND HE KNOWS AND SEES BUFFY SO DEEPLY AND INTIMATELY AND CAN HOLD SPACE FOR HER PAIN LIKE NO ON ELSE CAN AND SHOWS THE DEVOTION THAT ONCE BELONGED TO DRUSILLA NOW BELONGS TO BUFFY AND IT IS GOING NOWHERE EVEN WHEN SHE DIES AND WE'VE SEEN IN HIM CRY BEFORE BUT NEVER HAVE WE SEEN HIM BREAK DOWN LIKE HE DOES AT THE SIGHT OF BUFFY'S BODY!!!!!!!!!!!

*all of us screaming, crying, throwing up, climbing the walls and generally just losing our minds*

Season 6:

No soul, his love is so great for Buffy as is his loyalty and devotion to her, he now helps all of his dead love’s friends fight evil and is raising her sister and dreams of saving her every night for 148 nights 🤚🏻😭 don’t even fucking talk to me I can’t take it

Forgive the absolute 180 in tone change here:

Dick game is FIRE - his touch is the only thing that makes Buffy feel alive AND SHE WAS IN HEAVEN BRO SHE KNOWS WHAT IT FEELS LIKE TO BE IN HEAVEN AND SPIKE IS THE ONLY THING KEEPING HER GOING like damn girl yes YOU FUCK THAT HOUSE DOWN!!! Also he is now just naked 50% of the time just to drive us all even FURTHER out of our minds and somehow has just gotten even hotter as the seasons have gone on like this is what’s been hiding under the leather jacket all this time! Enjoy!

And THE MOST unintended consequence of jw’s vindictive writing:

SPITE

He clearly didn’t want us to love Spike and tried to manipulate us into hating him in such a blatant and clumsy ooc attempt all that did was weed out the weakest amongst the Spuffy/Spike fans until all that remained were us:

The most devoted and stubborn fans who REFUSED to have the thing they loved ruined or taken away from us and were smart enough to see through his bullshit manipulation attempt in the first place.

Genuinely they created the equivalent of supersoilder strength level fans with this absolutely lethal combination of events 💀

AND THEN as if all that wasn't enough he goes and gets his soul on purpose for Buffy so he can be the man she deserves and she can love him without hating herself for loving him despite the immense pain it will cause him which is the most selfless thing we have ever seen anyone do for Buffy only to be topped when he sacrifices himself to destroy the hellmouth, save the world and free her from Sunnydale!!! Plus ya know once he gets the soul even though he did it for her he never tries to use that as leverage to get anything from her like he truly expects nothing from her at all but still wants to help her and James delivers the most devastating performances we've ever fucking seen, finally tells her friends off which has needed to happen for 5 seasons, the "you're the one speech" him being a dad to all the potentials with Buffy giving us supernatural parent core who made it through their rough patch with their first kid in season 6 with Dawn and now are just the beautiful team with their found family and Buffy finally has someone who can truly carry her burdens with her and just all the tenderness and devotion they both deserve after so many years of pain and fighting. Basically giving the audience the message that even if you have a metric ton of pain and trauma there are people out there who see you and understand you and there is a chance for you to heal both together and separately to build your own version of a more normal and stable life. It's a message of such hope and I personally know several people, including myself who watched what Spike and Buffy have and it inspired us to look at the relationships we were in and realize we deserved SO MUCH MORE than what we were getting and in my case it turned out I was being emotionally abused and manipulated that entire time!! Much like Buffy was by both Riley and Angel. So it isn't an exaggeration to say Spuffy saved my life in a lot of ways both in being there for me at such a dark time and helping me draw a map of how to get out. Not to mention loving them in fandom spaces has helped me connect with so many people just like me who share very similar experiences and have helped me feel so much less alone and has helped me heal in so many ways 🖤

Spuffies get "hOw cAn yOu liKe sPiKe aFtEr wHaT hE dId" all the fucking time and truly the better question is how can you NOT like Spike???? HAVE YOU BEEN PAYING ATTENTION AT ALL??? DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT GOOD RELATIONSHIPS NEED TO WORK?? BECAUSE AT THEIR CORE SPUFFY HAS THEM ALL!

It's jw writing so NOTHING will escape his toxic bullshit but Spike - because he was hated by jw for so long - so much of the time when he tried to make Spike less popular he just kept making him better and more complex and more and more targeted to the female gaze which is exactly why he snapped and made the choices he literally forced everyone else to go along with despite their protests with that scene to make it the most traumatizing scene in all of Buffy history not just for the audience but for the actors as well because yes it is incredibly horrific and upsetting to watch (which is why I skip it on rewatches) but I still am able to see if for what it is which is a narcissist lashing out at people he hates because he hasn't been able to control them and too bad for him I refuse to be manipulated by his bullshit so it failed completely and made so many of us that much more stubbornly protective of Spike and his and Buffy's relationship not just from other fans but from the creator himself 🙃🖕🏻like he basically just trauma bonded us to Spike and Buffy which has led to the creation of one of the most devoted, loyal, intelligent fanbases who is absolutely unhinged (affectionate) with their love of this character and his relationship which is why we are all still creating and writing about this character 25 year later and show absolutely zero signs of slowing down or stopping 💀

#spuffy #spike btvs #meta #btvs meta #spike and buffy meta #spike btvs meta #spuffy meta #also every spuffy I know shares so much life experiences and personality traits with buffy herself like we are often making choices #and judgements about the narrative from the perspective of buffy herself & we’re all picking spike #so many people who pick other love interests truly so often rarely see buffy for who she is either #if you don’t get spuffy you don’t truly understand buffy herself

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aroacehanzawa · 1 year

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On Dazai, his heartrate, The Book, BEAST, and metanarratives (or: how we may or may not already know how it all ends)

Have you noticed that in the opening of season 4, Dazai is the only one who is shown to mouth along to the lyrics? Specifically, he mouths along to the last part of the line that goes something along the lines of "The context in which my soul beats, turn it into a heartbeat" (魂が打つ文脈、鼓動に変えてしまえよ (source)).

This is interesting, because as Ango established in episode 11, Dazai has been communicating with the outside world by adjusting his heartrate to encode deciphered messages. And i hate this plot point with a passion, hated it when it came up in the manga and still hate it after the latest episode, so i will cope by doing the following in this 3k word essay (which i wrote in about 5 hours on the day i have an actual real-world deadline):

Trying to figure out 1) what this skill of Dazai implies about his character and role in the overall story, and 2) how this implication is supported by the lyrics of the opening theme, "True Story" by SCREEN MODE, and 3) how this opening suggests a more intricate connection between BEAST and the main timeline, and 4) what all of this means for the current arc, the overall story, and the author(s).

I. The heartrate gimmick

The reason why i'm so put off by Dazai's superhuman ability to control his own heartrate is that this is the first time in the series where something significantly breaches the realm of plausibility which has so far been established in the universe of bsd. However, that in itself means that it may be a hint to a much bigger picture.

To start with, we've seen that human biology in bsd verse still follows the rules of our own world, and any anomalies can typically be explained by abilities, such as Kenji's superstrength. The same goes for non-human anomalies: instead of outright breaking the laws of known science, they are either some kind of manifestation of abilities or otherwise derived from abilities, such as skill weapons (like Well's time-manipulating camera, or Fukuchi's space-time sword. The plot of Fifteen and Stormbringer, even.)

Even Dazai and Fyodor's galaxy brain moments generally fall into the realm of possibility, like Fyodor memorising all the cards in Ace's deck based on their scratch marks, or Dazai predicting Sigma's rock-paper-scissors moves with Sherlock Holmes-esque deduction skills. (Dazai and Fyodor communicating in code based on their past conversations is something more unbelievable, so for now i'm putting that in the same category of unexplainable as Dazai's heartrate trick.)

The thing that bothers me is this: Ango says that Dazai's heartbeat trick is something only he can do, but it clearly doesn't fall in the realm of biologically possible as we know it (controlling heartrate to some extent maybe, but being able to encode complex messages like that?). We also already know Dazai's ability, so it can't be related to that. (Or do we? Dazai's ability in itself is a paradox, a non-ability, and that arguably places him outside the circle of typical ability-users.)

Now, when it comes to things that have gone beyond the general level of plausibility in bsd, it could be said that they are all somehow related to The Book: the reality-altering that took place when the ADA got framed, Sigma's existence and the Sky Casino, and BEAST. The island on which Yosano was stationed is possibly also related to The Book, as it apparently came out of nowhere and is surrounded by its own anomalous properties.

If so far all the discrepancies between our own world and the world of bsd can be traced to either abilities or The Book (even historical differences are caused by the overall existence of abilities), we can extrapolate that any unexplained phenomena can likewise be traced to one or the other. We know Dazai's ability, but that alone doesn't seem enough to explain Dazai, which leaves us with The Book.

I'm far from the first one to suggest that Dazai is somehow connected to The Book, and others have written some excellent theories about it, so i'll move on to my next point: the lyrics to the opening theme "True Story":

II. What exactly is the true story?

When i listed the known (or at least most significant, because i can't remember more) cases connected to The Book above, they are all significant plot points in season 4, except for BEAST. However, that may not be as obvious if we have a look at the lyrics of the opening theme.

I wont go into too much detail because i don't know any Japanese (i'm just referring to google translate as well as this fan translation of the lyrics) so if someone who knows the language decides to continue this analysis that would be amazing!

The first notable line is this: 何者でもない　白紙だった僕に　刻まれていくMy True Story ("To a blank page that wasn't anyone, my true story is etched" or "My true story is engraved on me, who was nothing but a blank page"). Here, the speaker is likened to a page of the book, something initially empty but given a purpose through the telling of a story. The reference to a blank page unmistakably reminds us of the page from The Book, that has played such a significant role all throughout this season.

I'm not going in order, so the next notable line i want to point out is: 魂が打つ文脈、鼓動に変えてしまえよ ("My soul reflects the context, turn it into a pulse" or "The context in which the soul beats, turn it into a heartbeat"). There is the clear mention of a heartbeat, and this is the line which we can see Dazai mouth along to in the opening, so let's continue by assuming that Dazai is the speaker in these lyrics.

While the song as a whole is very metaphorical and can be applied to a large part of the cast, it becomes more interesting for the purpose of this analysis if we take a more literal perspective, whilst simultaneously assuming that these are Dazai's thoughts.

Idk how to say this in a less convoluted way but: if Dazai's very existence, that is to say including his soul, is anomalous itself, then the superhuman manipulation of his heartrate could just be considered as one application of his existence. Or rather, of the context of his existence: something anomalous beyond abilities.

The mention of "context" is also interesting as something inherently tied to a story and storytelling. So far we have a page, a book, and a story, and they all point towards Dazai. Let's then assume that Dazai is indeed the speaker to whom the "blank page who wasn't anyone" is likened to, whether figuratively or literally.

The next line I want to bring your attention to is: 傍(かたわら)にいる　誰かを救うため　刻みこんでいくMy True Story ("To save someone who's by my side, I engrave (it into) my true story"). And this is where i'm going to bring up BEAST, a concrete example where Dazai has specifically succeeded in saving Oda by writing the plot of BEAST into existence in The Book or one of its pages.

If we then connect this line to the previous one with "my true story", we can say something like: Dazai saved someone important to him by writing his story onto a blank page not unlike himself.

In fact, he says so himself: 何者にも委ねないで　書き残せ自分自身で / ……書けるさ、魂を (Don't trust/entrust yourself to anyone, write it down yourself, write it down with your soul/write down your soul.") Here we get an implicit connection between writing down something, and doing so with one's soul, arguably with Dazai's existence (or writing down one's soul/being into existence, depending on what's the accurate translation).

Given the theme of The Book, we can't help but connect the act of writing to the act of reality-altering. Therefore, if we consider that Dazai writes i.e. reality-alters by either writing down his soul or by engraving a story into his soul, something akin to a blank page, we arrive at the conclusion that he is himself a reality-altering page like one in The Book.

The whole thing turns in on itself: Dazai does something external to affect the outside world, but that something is directed at himself. This circular or paradoxical nature is reminiscent of his own ability, which instead of manifesting outwardly like other abilities, is something that negates the outside, reverses an existence into an inexistence, even turns his own ability into a lack of one.

Now, an especially interesting line is this one: この命こそが文章-sentence-だ ("This life is the sentence") because the word "sentence" is intentionally sung in English, retaining its dual meaning of "a formally pronounced punishment" and "a cluster of words usually containing subject and verb".

For the first definition, there is obviously the prison sentence Dazai is currently iin, but you could also say that he considers his life a similar burden. For the second definition, does he mean his whole life has been written into existence in one sentence (knowing that it's possible to write a human into existence, if we take Fyodor's word for it when it comes to Sigma), or would it be more correct to assume that by "life" he means his and everyone else's life in the present timeline? Combining both definitions, we could even say that his life is a burden or an inescapable prison precisely on account of it having been brought into existence as a story.

Like i said, the "Dazai is the Book" idea is nothing new, but interpreting the lyrics in this way offers some interesting support to the theory, and will lead into what I want to say in the next part, which is how BEAST relates to all of this.

III. The role of BEAST

The refrain with which the song opens and is repeated several times is: 未(ま)だ語られない　物語の先へ　踏み出して征(ゆ)くのが勇気だ ("I still can't speak of the story ahead, it takes courage to take a step/to step forward and conquer"). This can be taken as apprehension towards the future, but there's something about the song that also makes it sound like Dazai already knows what's ahead, he just doesn't have the courage to say it.

Specifically, it's this line here: 出来過ぎた結末が　用意されてたって ("Even if the too perfect ending was prepared for me"). The lines following it are rather difficult to interpret through mediocre translations, but there's something about not being able to abandon ("it"? what? something or someone? "those who give up"?). We could continue with the interpretation that Dazai knows something about the future, about his ending, but there's actually another approach we can take.

I'm just spitballing here, but what was a more perfect ending for Dazai (whether prepared for him by an outside force or achieved with his own hand) than the one in which Oda lives and writes a book, and in which he himself gets the sweet release of death? Yet there's something he can't abandon - those around him, or life itself, or his own self that gave up.

I've heard the "main timeline is a prequel for BEAST" theory before and others may have also proposed what i'm going to say next, but i'll say it anyway: BEAST is the prequel to the main timeline. (Or better yet, it's both, with some variation. But that's too convoluted for now.)

The line that i mentioned before about "saving someone who's by your side" might hold the key to this idea, depending on how accurate the translation is and how we interpret it. It depends on if being "beside someone" is meant as like being with "someone important" or more like literally being next to someone, even being with them in life. Because as much as Dazai found the ending of BEAST as perfect as it could get, it is still not the same as being able to stand next to Oda in every sense of the word - at the same place, at the same time, in life, as friends, as equals.

Then there is this line: 自問自答を繰り返して　撰(えら)べ　本当はどう生きたいのか / 本性が知る解釈、根拠はそこにあるだろ (Unavoidable decisions, even if they are arranged, am I just a dull existence if I just accept them") where Dazai shows reluctance to accept something predetermined, "unavoidable decisions" such as those that would lead to either Oda or Dazai surviving but not both. There is also the implication of things being arranged by an outside force, so if we go with this assumption then the previously mentioned "perfect ending" could also be said to have been prepared for Dazai by this outsider, even if he presumably arranged it himself as he says.

And this is where we delve into the truly meta part of this analysis.

IV. The role of Dazai

First, I'm going to go back to the part where Dazai is shown to mouth along to the lyrics in the opening sequence. He is the only character to do so, effectively breaking the fourth wall by engaging with an anime opening theme, singing along to the line specifically mentioning a heartbeat, and saying out loud the lyrics that would otherwise be considered only as inner thoughts (like with character songs etc).

This is not the first time Dazai has shown to take on a role precariously close to directing the narrative. He does this explicitly in BEAST, whose universe exists because of his own meddling with reality. In the main timeline, his predictions and strategising border on the omniscient and almighty.

There is one significant line towards the end of True Story that is worth examining now: 今語る言葉　物語を創る ("The words I speak now create the story"). This line could mean that Dazai is currently crafting the story to save that someone, to create the life he wants to live etc etc everything that the song is about. But it could also be related to him specifically singing this song, the opening theme of Bungou Stray Dogs Season 4, and laying out the story that will take place this season.

All of these things add up if he truly is an existence beyond ordinary humans or abilities, like something intricately connected to The Book. That is because there is at least one more existence that's found these things - namely, the author.

With that in mind, if Dazai knows that the endings (of BEAST and/or of the main timeline) have been prepared for him by someone else such as the author, that could be the reason why he says the line "Don't trust anyone, write it down yourself" etc. To be precise, that could mean that Dazai acts as the "author" of the current arc in defiance of the true author (and the lyrics contain a lot about "truth" that i haven't touched upon at all).

But what does that mean in the long run? Is Dazai the author? Is Kafka Asagiri the final villain? Who is the mastermind? Idk, this is already the furthest my brain has gotten for now.

I do want to quickly mention an interesting discussion i saw recently about how the different instalments of bsd all have separate protagonists, who are not Dazai - yet Dazai remains this central character in all of them, somehow deeply rooted to the narrative yet standing at a distance from it. And that may be precisely due to his nature of being more than just a "character" of bsd as we know them.

So, to put together allllll of these different points and make sense of what i've been trying to say:

The existence of Dazai's character and abilities must be explained by something adjacent to The Book, or something even beyond the in-universe explanations.

Dazai is able to alter reality, either in his own right or with help from The Book (which may itself be connected to him) but the alterations he makes may have been compelled by a greater force.

In the event that BEAST acts as a prequel to the main timeline, Dazai's dissatisfaction with the pre-determined ending (and distrust of others) leads him to write his own story, in order to save someone important to him (Oda, if we take the word "someone" at face value, or it could be something more abstract like the value of his own life).

This act of writing with/into his soul relates to the reality-altering aspects of writing into The Book or its pages, so the entire main timeline can be considered as originating from words on paper following the events of BEAST.

Dazai goes from protagonist to author (which also explains his Godzai moments) but this very act pushes him outside of the story, thereby alienating himself from the circle of characters. Effectively, he has taken on all three roles of Reader, Writer, and Protagonist.

Then, how about the "we may or may not already know how it all ends" that i alluded to in the title of this post? Easy: it ends when Asagiri stops writing.

Sorry i couldn't keep out the Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint brainrot at the end there. But if you know what i'm talking about then you get it.

#my phd thesis also known as: the orvification of bungou stray dogs #bsd #bsd dazai #osamu dazai #bungou stray dogs #me writing english essays on tumblr dot com for an audience of like 5 people #<- my neglected meta tag #bsd spoilers #bsd meta

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ebonyslasher · 9 months

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Spicy Alphabet: Sephiroth

A = Aftercare (what they’re like after sex)

Y/n, Clean up time~. And he expects to be spotless as he reclines as you wipe him. Make sure to apply lotion, you absolute beauty. Sephiroth will hold your hand, but let him cover his hair first. And yes, that is your big bonnet he stole.

B = Body part (their favorite body part of theirs and also their partner’s)

Sephiroth: HIM.

You: Hands. Your fingers were neat and graceful. Watching them wander his perfect body was entertaining. The feel against his soft skin was divine. Bonus points for you if you get them done. Oh y/n, that's fucking arousing. Wrap them around his heavy cock.

C = Cum (anything to do with cum, basically)

Hentai level cum. Purposefully blue balls himself for a colossal load. Sephiroth will hold your legs open to watch his semen flow out of you.

D = Dirty secret (pretty self explanatory, a dirty secret of theirs)

While crushing on you, Sephiroth would alter reality many times to pretend you were coming on to him, flirting, being sensual, calling him god.

E = Experience (how experienced are they? do they know what they’re doing?)

He tried to be a whore, but didn’t work out. Too standoffish in his youth. Found out he was too picky with his partners. He has a select few (his former close friends) he’s had experience with.

F = Favorite position (this goes without saying)

This

G = Goofy (are they more serious in the moment? are they humorous? etc.)

His version of being goofy is his dry-ass humor… and it's not for the bedroom. You are not amused.

H = Hair (how well groomed are they? does the carpet match the drapes? etc.)

Carpet matches thankfully. Y'all know he's groomed to the gods, the fuck.

I = Intimacy (how are they during the moment? the romantic aspect)

Weird to see him intimate. You’ll get moments here and there. Does care, it just shows differently.

J = Jack off (masturbation headcanon)

His favorite way is spying on you while doing something regular and he jacks off without you knowing. Sometimes he will actually be somewhere near, but you'll never know

K = Kink (one or more of their kinks)

Worship, size difference, affectionate cruelty, energy play, latex, mind control, mutual masterbation, tease and denial

L = Location (favorite places to do the do)

Any alternate reality you want, the possibilities are endless. The moon? An ice cave? In a lavish mansion? Tell him what you want.

M = Motivation (what turns them on, gets them going)

Call him god. Parade around in a latex outfit. A sucker for taking care of his hair and offering servitude cutely, looking up at him with those pretty eyes. Although, it's pleasing to win submission with a fight.

N = No (something they wouldn’t do, turn offs)

Nothing that will negatively affect his appearance, if you stop worshipping him, mention anything about Shinra, talk about Cloud and his posse positively

O = Oral (preference in giving or receiving, skill, etc.)

Would rather receive. Chocking you with his cock is an experience he adores too much. Seeing your cute brown ass struggle to take it in is too much fun. He'll give if you've earned it. Better do a good job to get that y/n.

P = Pace (are they fast and rough? slow and sensual? etc.)

Fast, rough, with some sensuality.

Q = Quickie (their opinions on quickies, how often, etc.)

Huge Fan. He's passionate about catching you off guard. Wild man.

R = Risk (are they game to experiment? do they take risks? etc.)

Yeah, he's down! A powerful being like him can do anything you desire. Ask him for permission and he won't turn you down. He’d fuck you in front of Cloud if he wanted to.

S = Stamina (how many rounds can they go for? how long do they last?)

God level. Can go all day. Literally, you've had to gleefully suffer through a full day of sex. Sephiroth was unbelievably horny that day.

T = Toys (do they own toys? do they use them? on a partner or themselves?)

Yes. He owns a few toys and will use them. He likes to roleplay, so he has props for specific scenes.

U = Unfair (how much they like to tease)

Head Unfair Bitch in Charge. Sephiroth will leave you unsatisfied if he is not pleased with your performance. AND THEN!!!! Continues to toy with you and edge you at irregular opportunities. He's laughed hearing you dog him out in your mind.

V = Volume (how loud they are, what sounds they make, etc.)

Silent. He will either talk to you or smoothly give orders.

W = Wild card (a random headcanon for the character)

Sephiroth will utilize telekinesis to project provocative imagery in your head. Him stroking his massive dick, pre-cum dropping amazingly from his tip. Fingering you open, stretching enough so you could see the inside of yourself. It pleases him to see you stop, your pretty eyes glazing over.

X = X-ray (let’s see what’s going on under those clothes)

8.5

Y = Yearning (how high is their sex drive?)

Varies too much to determine a pattern. Good luck and watch out.

Z = Zzz (how quickly they fall asleep afterwards)

Does he even need sleep (serious question)??? He won’t

#sephiroth #sephiroth x reader #black reader #x black reader #final fantasy xiv #final fantasy 14 #final fantasy 7 #??????????#idk which ff he shows up in #ff #spicy alphabet #grown folks business

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doctordumblesstark · 23 days

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Things I loved about season 3 of Alex Rider

Yassen as Alex's mentor and guardian

Julia Rothman as the vengeful leader of Scorpia, she plays Alex and Yassen very well, pulling the strings behind their backs.

Mrs Jones. Just wow. Her scenes were so powerful, just all around impressive

Nile and Yassen's relationship

The water bottle fight. World class.

Alex being sassy and a little brat

Alex complying when Yassen declared the training over after refusing when previously told to stop.

Albert Bridge! The way they immersed Blunt and Alex in showing what really happened was a wonderful piece of film work.

The planning of the operations Alex carries out with Yassen, just gave me so many Devilverse vibes

The department actually having Alex's back and them working together. Especially the rescue mission from the home secretary.

Alan Blunt getting character development and not just being a cartoonish bad guy as he is in the books. I actually prefer this more rounded version of Blunt

The action scenes were better choreographed, more visually impactful and really well done. The overall mix of action, dialogue, stealth, drama and humour just was well done

Malagosto. Not surprising that with how they have chosen to depict the department (in constant darkness!) Malagosto would be underground, but it really worked well with the aesthetics they have chosen and makes sense in the universe. Also the rivalry between Alex and the others... I'd be worried too if the newbie gets a single room when I have to share with the others ;)

Scorpia's threat level. They are a really well balanced opponent to the department, making them hard to take down and in charge and control for most of the season with the department having to work incredibly hard to take them down

A great balance between technology/gadgets and old school spying. Really felt realistic and good use of Kyra, Smithers and Scorpia tech without it becoming a trope like Batman's utility belt

The overall more rounded off storytelling approach and more realistic character representation

Things I thought were unrealistic or unbelievable

Jay not knowing his brother is into film, when he clearly knows Tom and Alex are not going to the beach. Tom's character is shown again and again as a film buff and we all know his desire for pursuing a film career

Also felt weird of dropping that in and then never resolving that storyline. What was Jay's purpose other than some comic relief and one piece of wisdom and for Tom to show he chooses Alex over himself?

Jack saying "if Alex can do spy shit so can we". What an utterly stupid line. That's not how it works, Alex is trained and has skills you guys don't have. There are many good reasons Alex is good at this and not many for the rest of you to think you'd be too.

Kyra saying to Tom not to say anything to the police and then answering the police officer after Jack has already essentially freed them

The whole conversation between Jones and Jack in the garage was confusing. It felt like they switched roles halfway through.

#alex rider #alex rider series #alex rider season 3 #alex rider spoilers #yassen gregorovich #mrs jones #alan blunt #tulip jones #julia rothman #scorpia

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zwy01 · 28 days

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Noble OCs - Kertia

Making five OCs for every clan!

Betzalel Kertia: Non-pureblood. Alive in the present day, belongs to Raskreia’s generation.

Betzalel used to steal…a lot. He wasn’t trying to be a real criminal. He was just very bored and had nothing better to do. If he’s a human shoplifter, then he steals candy bars, nail polish, and toothpaste. He never touches the more important belongings of others and only takes what he deems as trivial. Betzalel is very skillful at being stealthy and he simply enjoys showing it off. Theft is one way for him to reinforce his sense of pride in his abilities. Plus, he gets to add a few new things to his treasure box even though they aren’t practical to him. This ordeal doesn’t last for long though because he gets bored of it. Maybe it’d be interesting to get locked up and wonder what’s in there they have to offer, he thought. So Betzalel turns himself in and provides evidence of himself stealing others’ belongings. Petty crime of this level usually doesn’t warrant jail time, but he also made up stories about how he wants to steal even more and they have to stop him or he’s really going to do it. And he gets what he wants. Turns out being behind bars isn’t interesting either. The tranquility is nice, but that’s that. So Betzalel starts to flirt with the prison guards. Cringy, intense flirting that makes one question if he even has any sense of shame. There aren’t any rules about having to stay silent, so he runs his mouth all day long. He just wont. Stop. Talking. The guards never respond to him though they are perplexed with how he manages to be so annoying. They’ve never met such a talkative prisoner before him, and they all dread the time when it’s their turn to watch him. Some of them even requested to be assigned to other shifts and sections to avoid him entirely. Betzalel tells cheesy jokes, recites tongue-twisters, overshares less appealing details of his own life, asks about the guards’ favorite colors, and suggests that they should get a drink together once he gets out of jail. Soon, he gets released because they find out that he really just stole out of boredom and he didn’t mean it when he said that he’ll keep doing it. To their surprise, Betzalel is back again… except he’s not a prisoner this time. He is now a prison guard, as he applied for the position a few days ago and their jaws all drop in disbelief when he walks in as one of their colleagues. Hello again, fellas. He did it as a joke, but there’s more to it. Apparently, all but one of the prison guards ignored him during his time here as a prisoner. Being a prison guard is rather boring after all, and there was no way Betzalel could escape anyway, so might as well respond to his cheekiness and see where it’d go. The casual back and forths turned into genuine, deep conversations and they felt a spark between them. They officially start dating when Betzalel joins the prison guard team. In a few months, they both quit and join the Central Order instead. Now Betzalel can actually put his stealthiness to a good use. He finds love in jail and gets a fulfilling job… how nice! His partner thinks it’s unbelievable as well, but hey, every good ending counts. The two of them are very affectionate and have one child together.

Hali Kertia: Pureblood. Entered eternal sleep, belonged to Gejutel’s generation.

Hali was the mother and predecessor of Ragar. She always looked outside the window with a sad expression on her face. She kept zoning out at times and Ragar wished he could help her but knew there wasn’t much he could do. Hali used to have older twin brothers but lost both of them when they killed each other in an attempt to claim Kartas for themselves. The brothers were over-competitive and jealous in nature. These traits had been evident since they were small children and remained unchanged until the moment of their deaths. They were never really on good terms with each other and always fought over who is stronger, faster, and more qualified to become Clan Leader after their father and predecessor. The twins loved their little sister Hali yet hated each other. Hali loved her brothers equally and seeing them hurt each other tormented her immensely. She always tried to stop them from fighting to no avail. She’d run between them with tears in her eyes as she’s begging them to please get along, and they’d pause and tell her go away because it’s dangerous. Then they’d continue to fight when they see that she’s gone. Hali could only stand by and wait silently until they’re done for the day and she’d tend to their wounds one after another in separate rooms because they’ll start quarreling again otherwise. She tried to get them to see that there are more important things in life than prestige and honor but they’d always answer that it’s not something she can understand. Neither Hali nor her parents were able to get the twins to put an end to their meaningless rivalry. The dreaded inevitable occurred, and Hali became her father’s successor following the death of her brothers. She never expected to become Clan Leader since it simply wasn’t what she wanted for her life, but she worked hard to prepare for the role because it was her duty. Hali was a decent Clan Leader and a good mother to Ragar. She told her son stories about his deceased uncles and sighed as she commented on how if only there had been a way to split a Soul Weapon. Then her beloved brothers wouldn’t have killed each other, she said. Hali caressed Ragar’s cheeks and smiled as she asked if he could figure that out one day. She wasn’t serious because she knew it was impossible, but little did she know that Ragar took her suggestion to heart. He swore to his mother that if he ever has children of his own, he’ll make sure to give an equal chance to all of them. Hali entered eternal sleep when Ragar was ready to succeed her as Clan Leader. She loved her partner and son, but the grief from losing her brothers had thinned out her will to live and she chose to leave the world peacefully after saying goodbyes to her family. Before Hali’s death, her hobby was home decoration. She designed the rooms for her future grandchildren she knew she’d never get to meet yet already feel affection for.

Erytheia Kertia: Non-pureblood. Alive in the present day, belongs to Raskreia’s generation.

Erytheia is completely obsessed with Rael. She doesn’t love him romantically, though. Her feelings are akin to unconditional admiration and loyalty. She doesn’t get in proximity to him and is perfectly fine with watching him from a distance. She’ll just stare at him from afar and he doesn’t even need to know that she exists. Erytheia thinks everything Rael does is absolutely right and justifies all of his behaviors. The brattiness and ill-temper? That’s just him being himself, why should he change. Doesn’t address his brother as Clan Leader in public? Why do the rules even matter, who cares about being proper. Destroyed everything around him because he got rejected? That’s totally Seira’s fault, she doesn’t even realize how lucky she is and deserves to be harassed because of course Rael should get everything he wants… objects and people included. To Erytheia, Rael is perfect. She is proud to be a Kertia because he exists. She has mountains of his portraits and busts in her home and her collection is still growing to this day. Erytheia believes that Rael deserves the best and only the best. For this reason, she hated Razark. He was an eyesore to her because his existence meant that Rael couldn’t be their Clan Leader. She knows that Rael loves his brother, but that doesn’t stop her from wishing for Razark to be gone forever. Erytheia was sad for Rael when they all learned that he had lost his brother, but at the same time she was secretly overjoyed and celebrated Razark’s death because that means Rael is their new Clan Leader. What a timely sacrifice on Razark’s part. Finally, her idol gets to have his happy ending, she thought. He is finally complete, they are finally complete. Despite being twisted in a way, Erytheia makes sure to maintain her image in public and doesn’t reveal her true nature to anyone, not even her close friends. They just think she’s a very loyal clan member and she definitely enjoys this positive attention. Erytheia doesn’t really have any hobbies that stand out because she’s always obsessing over her new Clan Leader. Sure, she did learn how to paint and sculpt just so she can make even more “collectibles” of him. That’s pretty impressive, not gonna lie. She could pursue a career in the arts if she really wants to. Too bad that’s not happening because it’s an exclusive skill dedicated to her one and only role model in the world. Erytheia has a lot of on-and-off lovers and she doesn’t tell them that she only gets together with them because they’re all Rael’s lookalikes. They think she truly loves them because she treats them with so much respect and affection, when in reality she is just doing what she would with the real deal if she were to be this close to him. Erytheia loves her cousin Heidi but thinks of her as traitor and a lost cause because the latter chose to join the Paradiso’s bodyguard team instead of pledging her loyalty to their Kertia Clan Leader. In Erytheia’s eyes, Heidi is wasting her pureblood potential on an outsider.

Dzeve Kertia: Non-pureblood. Alive in the present day, belongs to the Previous Lord’s generation.

Dzeve has a bit of a temper. He tries his best to not let it get to him but sometimes it comes out anyway. His friends don’t really mind, and he appreciates how patient they are with him. Dzeve makes masks. Many of the masks that his fellow clan members wear are the masterpieces of his designs. He is extremely passionate in this aspect and thinks the Kertia masks are sacred and must be perfect down to every last detail. To him, this piece of apparel carries tremendous symbolical meaning and should be the pride of all Kertia clan members. He sources only the finest fabric in all of Lukedonia to work with because anything else of a lower grade would be an insult to their clan. Dzeve’s concentration and dedication to his craft is unparalleled. When he’s focused on his job, everything else becomes irrelevant. Not even the worst world-ending disasters can distract him. Meteorite strike outside and everyone is screaming and running around frantically? Eh, won’t notice any of that, he’s not leaving his workshop. It’s just white noise. When he’s working, he filters out all stimuli around him and he’d be dead before he even realizes if there ever is a real emergency. The only time Dzeve will stop is when he’s finished with what he’s doing. For this reason, the nobles have learned to leave him alone when he’s “in the zone”. Dzeve makes custom masks for each and every clan member and never reuses any of his designs. His love for his clan is evident in his craftsmanship and his fellow clan members greatly respect him. Dzeve has three supernatural bat friends who are assistants in his workshop and their names are Parfait, Éclair, and Soufflé.

Myskia Kertia: Pureblood. Alive in the present day, belongs to the Previous Lord’s generation.

Myskia is the partner of Euphranor Blerster. She was the one who suggested that they should move out of Lukedonia for a new life. She didn’t do it for him, though. Euphranor being the fun-loving type was merely a coincidence. The real reason behind Myskia wanting to leave the nobles’ land is that she killed Phachoen Mergas. That’s right. She ambushed and assassinated a high-ranking legislator. Perhaps it was justified on her part, but murder is murder regardless of motivation and if Myskia were to be caught, she would have to face punishment. Phachoen was a relentless believer of extreme justice, and the friends and families of his victims hoped that he’d be gone but there was nothing they could do. Myskia took the matter into her own hands. Her uncle, cousin, sister, and best friend were victims of his unreasonably harsh laws. She waited for centuries before doing the deed and for the whole time, she had been planning and mapping out the perfect assassination to end him for once and all. Myskia’s talent is shadow manipulation. She is self-taught and her gift is evident in her ability to tag the shadows of others. When she marks someone, she can use their shadows to track them at all times even when they’re on the opposite side of Lukedonia. Her senses tell her everything about them from current location to mood and level of wariness. From this, Myskia was able to predict Phachoen’s movements from his habits and plotted his death flawlessly. The execution was excellent and no one can ever trace it back to her. She managed to finally avenge her loved ones and herself, but the rage inside her did not seem to dissipate in the slightest. Myskia tried to move on and adjust to her new life with little success and ultimately came to the conclusion that Lukedonia isn’t her home anymore. She loved Lukedonia, but it was a constant reminder of her pain and the only way to stop that was by leaving. Several decades after Phachoen’s assassination, Myskia finished saying her silent goodbyes to her home and suggested their new life to her beloved Euphranor and they embarked on their journey as travelers. Currently, Myskia lives somewhere in the United States and works as a detective. She and her lovely wedding photographer husband have two children together. The happy family owns a truck and they’re very fond of living amongst humans. Myskia doesn’t want to visit Lukedonia ever again and tells Euphranor that they should just stay in the United States with their kids. Euphranor assumes that his wife just likes it very much here and doesn’t think too much about what else there may be behind her reluctance. To this day, he is oblivious to the fact that she is the murderer of Phachoen. Myskia is determined to take this secret to the grave. In Myskia’s free time, her hobby is online shopping. She keeps buying the cheap knockoff version of goods because she thinks they’re fun to collect. That’s only for herself, though, because she only buys the best for her husband and children. And you can bet she won’t ever pay unless there’s free shipping.

Thank you for reading! Landegre is next!

#noblesse #manhwa #myart #original character #oc #betzalel kertia #hali kertia #erytheia kertia #dzeve kertia #myskia kertia

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ifacotarwasgood · 8 months

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why was chapter 4 of acotar bad? some short craft lessons

CH 4

DISCLAIMER: not an exhaustive list, etc etc

click here for the full comparison between the original chapter and my revision.

all caps dialogue = amateur hour

tamlin has never felt less threatening than when he bellows, "MURDERERS!" if you ever feel the impulse to all-caps your dialogue (especially when its already tagged with an appropriate descriptor, e.g., "bellow," and italicized), don't. it's distracting and never gives what you think it's giving.

inconsequential micro action = bad pacing

a scene doesn't have to be a catalogue of every action. if I made note of every time one of sjm's characters looked at another character, or took a step, or otherwise moved in a way that had no bearing on the scene on either a physical or emotional level—we'd be here all day.

99% of the time, describing where your character is looking is a waste of words. the human brain can't imagine fine detail very well, so visualizing where a character's gaze is directed can be hard, especially as it changes over the course of a scene. it's also usually unnecessary: if two characters are talking, we can assume they're looking at each other in various ways.

it also isn't dramatic action. 'dramatic' in the literary sense, rather than the theatrical: it doesn't do anything. it doesn't increase tension. unless it's extremely well-placed, it doesn't underline the emotion of a scene in any significant way. all it does is become gristle that the reader has to chew through to get to the meat of the scene.

passive protagonist = deflated stakes

this was the chapter that originally convinced me to do a rewrite. it's such a textbook missed opportunity, I can't believe sjm's agent or editor didn't ask her to change it (it's totally possible that they did, and sjm chose not to).

it's sjm's first real opportunity to show us feyre's character: she's gotten herself into a situation that feels impossible to escape. she's killed a faerie, a crime punishable by death, and we feel the jaws closing in.

but instead of outsmarting or outrunning it, feyre doesn't have to do anything. tamlin (for reasons I guess make sense later? but are ultimately unsatisfying) rescues her from a situation that he put her in by suggesting she come live in prythian. we're told that feyre is good at surviving, but we don't get to see her put that skill to use. we're not shown her thinking on her feet; we're shown her saying 'yes' to a false choice.

tamlin handing feyre a way out makes no sense on a narrative or character level. it also undermines the apparent danger for the rest of the book. tamlin represents how dangerous faeries are: he's literally about to kill her to avenge one of his own. but then he decides not to—not because of her quick-thinking, but just because.

it seems like a small moment, but moving forward, it's hard to take any of the faeries as legitimate threats. not just because we've seen our first example completely undermined, but because it happened seemingly for no reason.

feyre hates her family = unbelievable motivation

purely on a character level, I find feyre's resentment of her family annoying. but who cares? one person's subjective judgement doesn't have any bearing over what should be done at a narrative level.

the problem is that feyre's primary motivation is keeping her family alive. once she's in prythian, all she wants is to return home so she can make sure they're taken care of. but that's hard to believe when we're constantly shown how little she actually cares for them.

time and time again, we're shown her resentment—her sisters are entitled, her father is useless—and yet we're supposed to believe that all she wants is for them to be safe.

in this chapter, sjm doesn't even give her a goodbye with each of her family members. she just has papa archeron tell her:

"You were always too good for here, Feyre. Too good for us, too good for everyone."

???

even a single moment of connection between her and her family would make her motivation feel more real, which would, in turn, propel the plot. it's a massive missed opportunity not to see her saying goodbye to each of her family members.

so that's why I included an extended goodbye in my rewrite. even a small moment of tenderness between each of them helps me understand and believe feyre's motivation as we move into the next sequence.

#a little craft lesson as a treat #ch 4 #actoar #sjm critical #acotar critical #anti acotar #writing advice #writing

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miss-andromeda · 6 months

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2012 TMNT 😁

The first character I first fell in love with:

This should be a no-brainer...I think you know him. Tall, purple bandana, gap between the teeth, way too smart for his own good...yeah, it's him. 😌💜

The character I never expected to love as much as I do now:

Honestly, Raph! I started the show thinking very surface-level of him; awesome ninja, anger issues, stuff like that. Then when I started rewatching the show, I started to see how vulnerable and soft he could be with his brothers - along with unbelievably sassy he can be. Seriously, dude has some of my favorite one-liners in the whole show.🤣❤️

The character everyone else loves that I don’t:

Oh, this is gonna be interesting...I'm gonna be blunt here, Leo. Don't get me wrong, I like him a lot and he has some amazing moments, but he doesn't necessarily have the snark that makes Raph and Donnie stand out, and the sunshine and humor that makes Mikey so endearing. I love Blue, but he's 4th place out of the four. 💙

The character I love that everyone else hates:

Hmm...probably Shredder. I've seen people say that his motivation is pretty lame (which, in some way, it kind of is) but he's not just a bratty child. He's a really twisted villain and seems to really believe his motivations are completely justified - and you can't deny he's completely ruthless in battle. Really exemplifies the concept of the head of the Foot - and honestly, I think he's a great villain.

The character I used to love but don’t any longer:

Probably April. I liked her a lot when I was younger (the concept of girl power and she's got a potential romance with my favorite turtle? Sign me up!), but once I got older...she really grated on my nerves. Don't get me wrong, I like her in season 1; she's an inexperienced teenager who's dealing with the pain of having her dad be kidnapped and is meeting some new friends along the way. Season 2 onwards? I wanted to strangle her. Not just because of the love triangle (although that is a part of it,) but also because she lost a lot of that awkwardness that made her likable in season 1, and just became a cliche girlboss. But she wasn't even likable there; she just felt like the token female character needed to add "diversity" to the group.

The character I would totally smooch:

See my first answer. 💜

The character I’d want to be like:

Probably Raph; minus the short temper, I'd love to have the skills he has and the undying love with an animal - be it Spike/Slash or Chompy. Plus, the sass. ❤️

The character I’d slap:

Well, I already mentioned April, but I like her in season 1 so that saves her. And it's kind of a cliche choice to pick a villain, so let's pick someone that I've despised since the beginning - even when I was a dumb kid.

Casey.

Does he get better in later seasons? Yeah, I'd say so; he becomes less in your face and more...just annoying, but kinda like Mikey annoying where you can't hate him. But in season 2, I wanted to strangle him too - and admittedly, still kinda do. He's way too obnoxious for his own good, is way too gross in his flirting with April (he's not chauvinistic or anything, but you just roll your eyes a lot of the time), and doesn't back up his bragging or anything with actually being likable, unlike Raph.

So yeah, he's the one.

A pairing that I love:

If you asked me this when I was a kid, I would've said Apritello - April and Donnie. Now, I don't shame anyone if they ship them, but let's just say I way prefer my version in All's Fair in Love and Science (shameless self-promo 😅) where they love each other platonically and April shamelessly teases him about his crush on my OC, Andi.

But to answer, a pair that I love? Mikey and Renet, personally. She captures that inexperience as a Time Master wonderfully, and she never comes off like an idiot - she's just trying to find her footing. And Mikey's so in awe of her that it's kind of adorable. They both have that same kind of childish, free spirit that makes me just want to protect them. 😅🧡

A pairing that I despise:

Okay, there are two.

One is the aforementioned Apritello. I used to like them as a kid, but watching it in hindsight is just cringeworthy. Don't get me wrong, I am all for Donnie having a crush (and admittedly, I'm a sucker for the love at first sight trope), but did they have to make it so forced and awkward? And I understand April feeling uncomfortable and not wanting to ruin their friendship about his feelings for her, but that's what communication is. And by not having that, she just kept leading him on and making him think he had a chance - only to either ignore him or just continue treating him like just a friend. It was so forced and awkward and...ugh.

And for the obvious - Leorai, Leo and Karai. Okay, who thought it was a good idea to imply that two siblings could have a romance - and have it be canon that one sibling had a crush on the other? Don't get me wrong, I love Karai; she's bar none my favorite female character in the show. And like I said, I love Leo - but the crush he had on Karai is what brings his character down for me. If they wrote him as impressed by her skills and seeing the good in her from a platonic point of view, it would've been sweet - and added another layer to Leo's character. But no, they went with the pseudo-incest perspective and made us all creeped out.

----------

Thank you for the ask, girl! ❤️

@kikithedreamerwriter @m1dnyt3-w0lf @margoteve @jasminarts01 @thelaundrybitch @raphsmuneca @happymoonangel @android-cap-007

#tmnt 2012 #ask game #tagged!#dee's random thoughts

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studies-in-the-art-of-deduction · 8 months

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Did you have any experience or did you learn any knowledge that helped you to improve your deduction skills extermely in a short time or immediately? It can be one of your theories(building, timeline etc.)or experiences.

Okay so, this is post-answer Damian here, this turned out to be a massive answer to your question, so uuhhhh, have fun (?)

Hello! So before i answer this question let me just say, please don't try to speedrun deduction, i don't know if that's where you're going with this question, but doing so it's like trying to speedrun playing an instrument, you'll just end up with a nice party trick instead of an actual skill. So yeah, with that out of the way, onto the actual answer

So yes, i have found a few things that helped me sort of "boost" my learning of deduction at different stages, i'm still finding things like these today. These are like moments in your learning progress where everything you've learned up to that point just sort of clicks, and to be completely honest a lot of my theories come from those moments. I do genuinely believe that these moments are different for everyone, since everyone takes different paths to learning deduction and everyone has different moments of clarity where everything they've been trying to learn just settles into your brain, and it's suddenly all understandable. For this reason i won't necessarily explain what experiences i had or what things i learned that prompted this (also because that's why i post my theories, since they're a product of these moments, and i still have at least one you haven't seen yet), but rather i will share how i got to these moments

For me a tool that i used and still use to get me to these moments is analyzing other people's deductions, and bare with me cause this might sound like complete nonsense but trust me, this is really a good tool. You can analyze actual, real deductions, but unfortunately it's very hard to analyze an actual deduction, because the deductionist has to provide the reasoning behind it, and for some reason that's something a lot of deductionists nowadays seem to be allergic to doing. This is why i provide the reasoning to every deduction i post here if i have the reference picture of what i'm deducing (the grand total of two i've posted so far... slowly but surely). As an alternative, and something i do a lot, is analyze deduction scenes from BBC Sherlock, i've always said these scenes are an almost perfect portrayal of what actual deduction looks like

Now, let me be very clear (and go on a slight tangent to justify what i just said). A lot of people in the deduction community will give you the typical advice of "Sherlock Holmes is fiction, keep that in mind, he is the perfect deductionist, and trying to be on his level is an unachiavable goal!", and i get where that sentiment comes from, but i fundamentally disagree with it. Sherlock, at least the BBC version, is definitely fiction, but it was written in a way that aligns very well with how actual deduction works. In deduction you're presented the effects of something, and it's your job to trace that effect to it's original cause. Writers go through this process too, they have an effect they want (a murder that looks a specific way, or a killer that works in a specific manner, or even just a way for Sherlock to know John is an army doctor), and they have to come up with a plausible, believable way for that effect to work, a cause for it. By doing this, Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss stumbled upon some unbelievably realistic portrayals of what deduction looks like

Now, this is not to say that Sherlock isn't fiction at all, there is definitely fiction in that show (starting with the actual cases), there are definitely ficticious parts in the portrayal of deduction, but the fiction (in deduction specifically) doesn't come from the skills Sherlock displays, or from the mental processes he uses, but rather from the situations he finds himself in. Sherlock, in that show, always has all the specific information he needs for his deductions to come to fruition, he always has the necessary clues to get to a specific conclusion, and this is not something you're going to find in real life. That being said, if a deductionist were to be presented with the same information Sherlock is presented with, there is no reason why they shouldn't be able to make the same deductions he makes in that show. So keeping this in mind, we can take that show and analyze the processes Sherlock goes through, analyze the methods he uses, and apply them ourselves, or learn things about actual irl deduction from them

So, rant over, let's get into how to actually analyze a deduction, from Sherlock or otherwise. This something i haven't yet figured out how to explain in a post, i actually have been toying with the idea of making a Youtube video going through how to break down a deduction and analyze the trains of though present in it's reasoning.

So i'm still working on showing you guys how to do this, what i can tell you is pay attention to what a deductionist is saying saying when they explain their deductions, not to the actual words that explain "this is how i deduced this thing", but rather how and why they arrived to the conclusions, or how and why they went a specific direction or down a specific route. You're not looking to understand E=MC2, You're looking to understand what was Einstein thinking, and how did his trains of thought let him reach E=MC2.

In every explanation of a deduction you have the input, the trains of though that input goes through (what we call The Blackbox), and the output. The input and output is what the deductionist explains, the cause and effect, the A+B=C. But The Blackbox, the process inside their brain that allows them to go through that reasoning, the tools they use to connect observations to a conclusion, keeping in mind probabilities, keeping in mind things like Occam's razor, the tools that allows them to build up from one deduction to the next, that's something much more complex to explain or even put into words, and that's what you're looking to decipher from how they deduce.

I recommend writing down the explanation to a deduction, maybe make a mind map about it, write down all the deductions into sticky notes and make them into a diagramn, identify different types of deductions, what makes them different? what makes one more or less complex than the others? why did the deductionist start with deduction A and then move on to deduction B and not the other way around? why did they start or end at a certain point? etc. this is how i arrived at my theories. My Building Theory, for example, comes from doing this and realizing that the diagramn i ended up with was entirely dependent on the deductions being stacked on top of one another, some of them literally supporting the next level. Of course once i made a connection like that one i went out and tested it multiple times, and upon seeing that it worked, boom, new theory, and these theories led to a massive boost in my deduction skills

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flannelepicurean · 11 months

Text

Saiyan Pride

I started off having a crack fic continuation from this situation, but I started bleep-booping on it this morning and it turned into some fluffiness featuring a transgender reader with three excitable alien roommates, and a "lost in translation" that actually hit me kinda deep when I got into it. So, uh...yeah. I was having some trans feelings today, here you go. 💖

————————————————

They really wreaked some havoc when they landed. Or tried to, anyway. Goku and the boys took care of it, or that's what you heard (not from them, though; they tell it a little different). Either way, it's not that hard to believe, no matter which direction you squint at the story.

They're okay roommates, though.

Sure, they come and go at weird hours, and they can get pretty loud. And it's hard to explain the space ships, and the bunker add-ons, but after the first time Nappa grumbles, "Lemme handle this," nobody ever gets a parking ticket at the house again, and they always come through with rent, so you don't ask a whole lot of questions.

It's not clear what they do for a living. Their soft skills leave a lot to be desired. Vegeta can at least dress himself like a halfway normal person, but his skills are granite. Iron. Even Raditz has better customer service game.

But they treat you decently. And when you finally take the plunge, and change your hair, and put on the new outfit you bought, and grab a bag of your old stuff to take to the donation center, you pause for a second in the living room.

And sure enough, Raditz looks up with slight puzzlement and remarks, “Your hair’s different.”

And you shrink a little, and stand up straighter anyway, and explain that there are going to be some…changes. You do your best to explain it, in hopes that it will come out right, and it’s still a little awkward, but you explain to your roommates that you’re transitioning.

They all hop up from the couch immediately, and the atmosphere becomes raucous and excited.

“Whoa, you can DO THAT?!” Raditz squawks.

“Unbelievable!” Vegeta cries. “I didn’t even know you’d been training!”

“What are your new powers?” Nappa demands, and then whirls toward Raditz. “Get the scanner, I wanna see what level–”

You wave your hands and raise your voice and explain that GENDER, it’s a GENDER transition, TRANSGENDER!

They fall silent, eyes wide.

“Trans…?” Vegeta breathes. “TRANSFORM YOUR GENDER?! Not even Kakarot is that powerful!” He places a hand on your shoulder. “You must truly be an astonishing warrior.”

Raditz leans in with a friendly but feral grin and a jubilant, “You wanna spar?”

You back slowly toward the door with promises of pizza in hopes of distraction.

It works.

————————————————

“Whoa, you look cool,” Raditz observes. “What’s the flag for?”

You inform your roommates that you’re meeting up with some friends to go to Pride, and find yourself immediately caged by a cluster of keen-eyed Saiyans.

“Wait, what?!” Vegeta inquires. “Where are you going?”

You stammer out an explanation about Pride. Pride Month. You add that there’s a parade.

They exchange glances at lightning speed, and round back to you again.

“THERE’S A WHOLE MONTH?!” Nappa hollers.

“IN WHO YOU ARE, AS YOURSELF?!” Vegeta confirms.

“There’s a parade…about PRIDE?!” Raditz yawps.

You nod, quaking.

Vegeta throws an arm around your shoulders, beaming with lunatic glee. “WAVE YOUR FLAG HIGH AND GET IN THE SHIP! EVERYONE! EVERYBODY GET IN THE SHIP, WE’RE GOING DOWN THERE, RIGHT NOW!”

————————————————

They act exactly like aliens. Which…makes sense, really, but still.

Your friends are polite about holding in their laughter. But they also don’t know exactly how to deal with the situation. The Saiyans gawk unabashedly, but with the same bewildered and bewildering reverence they gave you.

One of your friends nudges you and motions to a space a few yards away, where Vegeta stands, craning his neck to ask a towering glamazon, "So, you're telling me they tried to crush your spirit, because of who you are, but you found your way in a hostile world and became both fierce and fabulous?” He rubs his chin and muses, “Your power levels must be off the charts..."

You trade a shrug with your friend because…well…he’s not wrong.

And you’re not really surprised when Nappa declares, with the carnival glee of a spirited child and the full-chested power of an enormous Saiyan warrior, “This…this is the BEST PLACE ON EARTH!” And, looking around at the crowd, the different flags, and the many different folks, the colors and shapes and all the visuals, the feathers and flair, and cargo shorts and clogs, and rainbows, and neon, and leather, and glitter, and tee shirts and jeans, and everything else, you kinda get what he means.

You can’t really explain why he’s right, but for some of the wrong reasons. But his heart’s in the right place, maybe? And you’re having a pretty good time.

————————————————

You look up at a sharp knock on your bedroom door, and open it to find all three of your roommates crowded into the hallway, looking serious. Your stomach and heart take racing elevators in opposite directions.

“Hi,” Raditz says, with some measure of cheer.

You give them a cautious greeting.

“Seems like the transformation’s going well,” Nappa observes, encouragingly.

You pause for a moment, then just smile and offer some thanks. It’s a little complex. A little complicated. They still don’t get it. But they’re really supportive, and that’s nice.

Vegeta adopts a businesslike tone. Informs you, “We very much enjoyed attending the Pride festivities last year, and owe you a debt of gratitude for introducing us to the other warriors.”

You offer a hesitant nod.

He continues, “Some of the individuals at the collective have been training us to join the alliance.” Before you can sort out quite what he means, he motions to Nappa and Raditz. They shuffle around a bit while he explains, “You’ve clearly been training hard, but it’s important to be properly equipped, as well.”

He steps out of the way, giving Nappa room to step forward, and present one of those weird cases they ship stuff in. They maneuver it into your room, and watch while you open it.

“We know this isn’t your final form, but this should be able to handle it, whatever the transformation brings.” Vegeta explains, nodding toward the set of Saiyan battle armor. Just your size.

You nod toward it as well, stunned. And puzzled.

You look back up at your roommates, and find them watching you with a look you’ve never really seen from them before. It’s a bit like that weird, smirky expression they get when they cheat at board games, or catch each other cheating at board games. But the fierceness around the eyebrows is different. And the eyes have a kind of contentment that’s still pretty intense.

They just seem…proud.

So, inevitably, whatever else you may be feeling, you do put forth the critical question.

They nearly ricochet off the walls.

“Of course we’ll go with you!” Vegeta assures.

“ARE YOU GONNA BRING THE FLAG?!” Nappa booms.

Raditz sidles up to you and murmurs, “That’s technically battle armor, it’s not really, y’know, formal. LIke, parade-style. But I think you’d be okay.”

And so you prepare yourself to head to Pride with the Saiyans again.

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night-rise · 1 year

Text

I think the biggest issues I had with the Owl House series were centered around two specific characters:

Alador and Hunter

One character’s story wasn’t as great as it could’ve been and the other character’s story was more great than it needed to be.

I’ll break it down separately:

(Once again as always with these negative posts before choosing to read know that these are my own personal thoughts and feelings on the show and don’t speak on the behalf of the Owl House community or its creators. If you have any negative feelings towards what you read I sincerely apologize and know it wasn’t meant as an attack or slander to you on a personal level. That being said feel free to comment what you like, I just ask you please keep it as mature, calm and civil as possible) That being said on to the post:

Alador! The Head Blight of the prestige Blight family household. Praised as a brilliant Abomination user and inventor. His work has earned him not only fortune and wealth, but reputation and respect.

With all of these facts in mind, how was his story UNBELIEVABLY underwhelming?

From the moment he was “debuted” we can already feel the power radiating off of him. You could hear it in his tone, his word was LAW and his ambitions focused and clear. He was the rule maker in the family. Plain and simple. He decided what his family does or doesn’t do.

He sounded like the type of man that wouldn’t even do what Belos would tell him to do.

The type of man and individual that Belos would want to keep close to him at all times. Which is why it PAINS me to this day that Alador wasn’t a Head Coven Witch.

Him and Odalia! Think about it.

The Blights were a BIG DEAL in season 1. Amity was looked upon and praised as the most important witchling on the isles because she was a Blight. She had expectations and special treatments because she was a Blight. Because she was also born with talents and skills of a Blight.

I mean come on! How does a “common” family be able to afford and provide Amity the Head of the EMPEROR’s FREAKIN COVEN as her personal mentor?! THE HEAD! Lilith was the right hand FIST of the Emperor. The Darth freakin Vader! And the Blights were able to get Lilith to teach their daughter!

A daughter that wasn’t part of the emperors coven yet. Still in school. That is incredible. Amity got to be Lilith’s student-

RAVEN MOM! YES!

…

(I am so sorry… I’m still recovering from that ending hug, please excuse me) ANYWAY

With such special treatments and fame around Amity wouldn’t it had made sense for her parents to be higher up the food chain than what they were in the actual show?

Alador and Odalia should’ve BOTH been Head Witch’s. One for Abomination and the other Oracle. Being the only witches in history to be of the same family but both climb to Head Witch status.

This storyline not only would’ve been more interesting but it would’ve saved sooo much more time.

Think about it, we have two Head witches we know NOTHING about because there simply wasn’t any room for them.

Alador and Odalia being head witches would’ve given our heroes a reason to interact with them and given more depth to Amity’s story. Something she DESPERATELY needed. Her being ANOTHER character who’s story wasn’t as great as it could’ve been.

And I mean we don’t have to make him the abusive controlling parent. Just stubborn and neglectful.

Odalia is the still the abusive controlling one. But Alador is in full control of it. Allowing it, as long as it makes his kids stronger for it.

Alador would’ve made an amazing villain. A complex villain. Someone that was a HUGE threat to our heroes but could easily turn around and do the right thing whenever he felt like it.

Alador could’ve at some point choice to protect his family rather than do what the Emperor wanted him to do. It wouldn’t make him forgiven, but more respected and seen as an ally instead of an enemy.

Alador’s story, it was nice, but we ALL know it could’ve been a thousand times better.

HUNTER! The Golden Guard… The personal guard of the Emperor of the Isles. Of all witch and demon kind. …this guy had an aura of power around him since the day we met him… literally…

When we first saw him in season 1 we were ALL convinced he was going to be this top tier spy/villain. But instead we got… well, a child in a mask.

Before I go any further I feel the need to say I freakin love Hunter. He’s a sweetheart. A badass. And overall amazing character that I’m happy they brought onto the show.

HOWEVER. His story was way “more” than it needed to be. Way more complex. Way more deep and involved. I’m happy we have him, I’m just bitter of how much of him we GOT.

I love his (original) origin story. A powerless witch with no powers since the day he was born. That could’ve been taken in so many directions.

First off it would’ve thrown us off the “spy” scenario. I REALLY wanted a spy to infiltrate the Owl family and sabotage them.

Hunter being introduced as the new kid at hexside. Everyone picking on him because he’s a “no witch” orphan, from a long line of “no witches”. His being the ONLY witch family on the Boiling Isles with no powers. Luz also having no powers and Willow being the “half a witch” sympathize and befriend him. Just like he planned.

Willow developing feelings for him overtime and Hunter conflicted starts feeling the same towards her. Which would make his reveal all the more heartbreaking and devastating.

Amity, being the ONLY one suspecious of him, investigates him. Causing a rift and tension from an already shaky bond with Willow, and problems between her and even Luz, when she tries to warn them about her suspicions.

Amity eventually figuring out who Hunter truly is and “betraying” the group by joining the Emperors coven and being a spy of her own. Hunter giving her early access to the coven in hopes of keeping her quiet. But really she’s only in it to protect her friends from him. Going as far as to pretend she hated her friends for not believing her.

A moment of redemption for Lilith as well when she tries to get her former student out of there by begging Amity not to make the same mistakes she did.

All leading to amazing fight scenes between the group.

I’m talking Amity vs Willow, Luz vs Amity, and then eventually:

Luz and Amity vs The Golden Guard

That would’ve been an AMAZING fight! Hunter with his artificial magic staff, mask and all vs Lumity on the day of Unity! Around the same time Harpy Eda and Harpy Lilith were fighting Belos on top of the Isles head! It would’ve been beautiful. Romantic! Symbolic! A master piece! Everything going down under blood red skies…

Hunter not wanting hurt Willow or the new friends he made, and discovering Belos orphaned him by murdering his family (via information provided by Amity who found The Emperors journal while remaining a spy) betrays the Emperor and joins the group.

A quick and easy turn that keeps his character the same and makes Huntlow canon.

None of this Grimwalker/Caleb stuff. Caleb doesn’t even exist. Philip was the ONLY human to ever be on the isles before Luz. And Hunter is a descendent of him.

Philip wasn’t even evil. He just became evil by being corrupted and possessed by the spirit of an evil Titan. (No collector either)

Belos plan was to revive himself by transporting his remains to the human realm and combining the two suns.

Short and simple. Not overly complicated. Not overly dramatic. Simple and Clean that gives more time and development to characters that were already introduced in season 1.

That’s the BIGGEST issue I have with Hunter, his story took ALL the limited time we had on the show. All the time we could have had on Lilith’s redemption story and Amity’s development.

Amity’s story could’ve had WAY MORE DEPTH if Hunter’s story was cut in half.

His story did NOT need to be as big or as deep or as complex than it needed to be.

It’s actually unbelievable looking back at it now… these were the two I was most afraid of besides Belos :/

#the owl house #long post #alador blight #toh alador #hunter the golden guard #toh hunter #hunter toh #hunter the owl house

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cycloplasm · 1 month

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Even more more fruitbugs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Spelt Wheat, he's an Ontario Cereal Leaf Beetle. An Alien-like fruitbug who has the incredible ability to make things come true for a few seconds- but as intangible illusions. He simply has to say something to have his ability activate- even from across the world. Unfortunately for everyone, he uses it to spread lies and hoaxes alike. Spelt usually makes unbelievable creatures and flying objects appear, since that's what entertains him the most. People tend to believe his illusions since they usually don't get close enough to touch the creatures. If you can get somehow past the hoaxes and give him some earnest love, Spelt can actually be bashful and clingy.

Caillette Olive, he's a Mediterranean Banded Centipede. A sunshine type of guy who owns a few orchards by mountains in the Medit level. He's always ready to share his fields' results, for very little money. Caillette is somewhat superstitious (hence the evil eye jewelry), but not unhealthily so, and doesn't force his beliefs on anyone. People tend to be surprised to meet a nice centipede, for once (Cherry, Pumpkin, Habanero and Saskatoon gives centipedes a bad reputation unfortunately).

Rhino Horn Banana, he's a Motyxia Sequoiae (Sierra Luminous Millipede). He's essentially a living neon sign, who can twist his body in almost any way he wants. He generally uses his flexibility to create fake signs in front of businesses and buildings he doesn't like- he for example takes the shape of a thumbs down in front of Grape Coco's casino/mafia headquarters. Unfortunately, Rhino Horn does this kind of thing with smaller, nicer shops- usually because he dislikes whoever owns them for petty reasons. You can touch Rhino Horn's body (if he lets you do so that is), but doing so for extended periods of time will give frostbite...

Candy Coralberry, he's a Red and White Bird-Eater Tarantula. Despite the 'bird-eater' name, Candy wouldn't hurt anyone or anything- he's a nurse, so healing you is his job! He's good at what he does and very kind and understanding- he's honestly appalled by rudeness as a whole. However he has a strange passion for a nurse: poison. He would NEVER give any to his patients or to himself, but Candy likes making his own poisons and pretending to be a bad nurse when he's all alone. Manchineel and his music are entirely to blame for this, Candy is a big fan of his.

Soursop, he's an Arthropleura- yes fruitbugs can be extinct arthropods too! In their world they're not extinct, the fruitbugs world is essentially a place where arthropods took over the world with little to no extinction. In any case Soursop is an adventurous guy, who lives in a jungle- he wants to explore it all! Not out of scientific interest, but rather because the jungle is his home, and he wants to know it like the back of his hand. Soursop is no stranger to dangerous situations, but he fearlessly goes through them- usually in a hotheaded way. To get close to him, you have to be as adventurous as he is...

Xinomavro Grape, he's a Mediterranean Hyalomma Marginatum Tick. He's the fruitbugs god of beauty, much to many, many fruitbugs' jealousy. He lives in the Medit level and holds festivals in his own honor. He can make people in a second state of mind with his power, which he uses to make people worship him. If you can get past his godly ego and mind bending power... He's still very full of himself and will consider you a 'mere mortal' but will have a relationship with you that he'll deem 'temporary'. In the lifetime sense. Also note that his body type might change...

It's Simka again! but with a new outfit for a new, swamp/'black lagoon' boyfriend... Who could it be? Wait don't click this link noooooo!!!!!!!

Velutina Banana, he's a Picasso Moth. Velutina is a rich man who makes his duty to uplift and financially support artists, regardless of 'skill' (there's no such thing to him). He very often holds expositions and auctions to make his artists known. Velutina also goes to small markets and the like to find new artists to support. If you're an artist it's very easy to get close to him, and he'll be very supportive, both financially and emotionally- Velutina wants all artists to believe in themselves. He loves all art... Except Kiwano's. Velutina hates him.

Autumn Royal Grape, he's a Micaria Jumping Spider, specifically this one. He's a star who got so famous that he got god-like powers. He still performs and creates music like a normal person, but his fans worship and pray to him like a true idol. Unfortunately, outside the stage, Autumn dislikes that! He loves attention and praise but even this is too much for him- and he can't escape his fame, paparazzis and fans always find him, and his godly powers won't go away. He needs a relationship where someone views him as a person first and foremost...

Zea Mays Everta Corn, he's a Flatid Planthopper. A famous actor who attends all showings of films he was on- even 5 seconds cameos. He was once a common popcorn seller, but a company noticed his acting talents on a play, and quickly made him a star. He kinda acts like everything is a act, it's hard to get close to him. But Zea Mays loves interacting with fellow actors, and he'd love to have a partner to act with- he's actually pretty lonely.

Snakehead, he's a Snakefly (unsurprisingly). A sly individual who tries to wiggle his way into important events just for entertainment. For example, if a king were to need an assistant for important decisions, Snakehead would try to be the one to do it. He just loves being mischievous and causing problems. Though one thing about him is that he develops crushes easily and might do bad things and get away with it to impress whoever he likes.

Bungulan Banana, he's a Green-banded Urania Moth. A man who loves radiation so much, he soaks it like one would with sunbeams- making him radioactive while he's at it. He's always looking to absorb more radiation, but in the fruitbugs world, radiation is found only in suspicious labs- so Bungulan breaks into them and steals things from there. He's actually Manchineel's best friend.

Rio Star Grapefruit, he's a Pink Ladybeetle Spider. A beach goer with slight fire power- slight as in he can make only small flames, unlike pepper fruitbugs who can create more or less important fires. He's always seen during sunsets on the beach, making him a special character to interact with- he disappears at any other hours. Rio Star is pretty nice but also has a temper. Also, don't tell him he has a bunny face- he is painfully aware of that.

Oregon Grape Holly, he's a Common Blue Damselfly. A guardian of a sunken city deep in the sea, he generally stays underwater or above water in the high seas, but occasionally you can see him on wild beaches. He has a legend going on around his existence- not about his sunken city surprisingly, but rather that he is connected to Carolina Reaper Pepper and Blackthorn Sloe. Oregon Grape Holly IS a mix of the two in some ways, so in-universe fruitbugs fans and players have a lot of theories about him. He is unfortunately aware of that and dislikes it greatly.

Chanion Kritis Orange, he's a Orange-tailed Marsh Dart (Damselfly). A powerful entity that used to be a god for an ancient culture, but when the latter was lost to time and lacked scripture, his title was gone as well and he faded to obscurity. In the fruitbugs game, Chanion Kritis is hidden in the code, much like Olive is (but the latter doesn't remember Chanion Kritis), so only hackers get to befriend him. He tends to act like he's above everyone and that you're not worth his time, but if you listen to him talk about his culture, you might get a chance to get close to him.

#o #fruitbugs #koncept drawign #sorry theres a nonshowed one- im not trying to be mysterious or whatever i just want it to be respectful 😔#like i used the wrong term ('based on') but he happens to have a cultural theme so i want it to be good.#simka has lots of boyfriends but they all have a theme in common that you'll see fully one day... i just need to finish the others #chanion kritis is in a wheelchair in case that isnt clear (first time drawing one front facing)#fruitbugs spelt weath #fruitbugs caillette olive #fruitbugs rhino horn banana #fruitbugs candy coralberry #fruitbugs soursop #fruitbugs xinomavro grape #fruitbugs simka plum #fruitbugs velutina banana #fruitbugs autumn royal grape #fruitbugs zea mays everta corn #fruitbugs snakehead #fruitbugs bungulan banana #fruitbugs rio star grapefruit #fruitbugs oregon grape holly #fruitbugs chanion kritis orange

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sir-yeehaw-paws · 2 years

Note

Did no one seriously ask you about Ocelot for the character meme? Well, I guess I gotta do everything around here. As a fanfic writer I'm very curious abt your thoughts, namely mgs3 era but all is good with me.

It's definitely never too late ^_^. I'll be answering these for as long as people feel like sending them in.

Send Me a Character to Rant About/5 Things About Them

Ocelot Ocelot. I have some thoughts and ideas about Ocelot. If Major Ocelot is your main interest I'll put much of the focus of the ask on that, but I'd like to include later Ocelot as well. Thinking about Ocelot is like putting a thought into a blender and every thought becomes their own thoughts and a lot of that is definitely intentional given how many flavours of Ocelot exist and yeah. Narrowing this all down into something vaguely coherent is going to be challenging, but I’m sure I can do it.

After all, it’s no secret MGS’s man behind the majority of the series grey-to-black Russian cowboy is one of my favourite characters, and that I have lots of thoughts about him. (Funny enough Major Ocelot’s actually the one I have the least general information on in my head, but there’s plenty there).

Ocelot came into this world violently, left it violently, and brought down the Patriot’s with him. This man operates on a level I can only vaguely grasp at but funny enough “how tf does this man keep his plans straight’ doesn’t baffle me quite as much. I imagine he has little file folders in his brain, and those file folders have subcategories and he can pull from those categories when required and-

Anyway!

Five Things about Ocelot, let’s go!

(Obviously this won’t be all my Ocelot thoughts, this is another book on it’s own, these are just some)

1. All the world’s a stage (or is it?) Person vs Performance and Ocelot’s Mixing of Both.

It’s a no-brainer that one of the biggest and most consistent character arcs of Ocelot is that he’s putting on a performance 90% of the time, and with almost every interaction. As a spy, as a soldier, as a person. One could ask ‘who actually IS Ocelot?” and be left wondering that themselves. Most of the games end with an infamous post-credits moment of Ocelot, once again, being behind the whole ordeal you just played through. Once the player gets comfortable with what they assume to be Ocelot, the rugs ripped out from under them and once again, we are left asking ‘Who the HELL is Ocelot?!?” Good question! The man has a seemingly near-endless ability to be whoever the person he’s working for (or persons) is at any given time. Someone able to shape himself to the situation as it calls for it with an almost endless array of personalities at hand to aid him into doing just that. And he’s very good at doing this, but that isn’t just who he is. Because if one does observe him throughout the course of every game, some patterns do begin to emerge, and there are some consistencies throughout.

Ocelot was raised by the Philosophers. Trained from a frighteningly young age to be a spy, to be the man they wanted him to be. We can’t even truly confirm if he was raised within the Soviet Union, or in various other places. We know that by 1984 he speaks 7 languages (one of the highest language stats on Mother Base, though some surpass him). Someone with enough skill behind himself to be inserted into the Soviet Army at 20, in his own spetsnaz unit. Now, some of that was obvious string pulling and meddling, but they aren’t going to send a guy into a role like that who hasn’t got a serious set of skills either. That’d be mission suicide. Especially for a mission as unbelievably complicated as that. Eva is a spy too, and she’s older than Ocelot.

I can imagine most of his earliest personality was what the Philosophers wanted for it to be, and he had to sort of..figure out who he was for himself sometime later than that. We know Major Ocelot is fairly arrogant, but he’s also arrogant in a way that can come off as trying so hard it cycles back to being cute, and immature in a way older Ocelot almost never is. He’s trained, he’s working hard at his spy and soldier duties but he’s still young and experiencing growing pains. And that’s okay!

I think Ocelot learned a lot about himself during the events of Snake Eater, and that learning helped shape him into the person that he’d later become. I think he might’ve taken Snake Eater as a very viable lesson in how to arrange and mold himself into further situations down road, and the sort of things he may have wanted from life after that.

All this aside, what do I think Ocelot is like as himself, when not focusing on a role? I think these are the character traits that come to mind when I consider Ocelot as Ocelot and not ‘Ocelot and the crafted persona for the necessary job at hand.”

Mainly:

How smart he is.

His personal quirks *his guns being the absolute biggest personal quirk I can think of, along with his fondness for the cowboy aesthetic*

His sense of devotion.

His sadism, and personal taste within that. His personal enjoyment and investment with torture and interrogation is confirmed multiple times within canon, and I think it’s a key factor in his personality. It’s important to who he is as a character.

The fact that he’s morally dark-grey to black (I don’t believe MGS has any characters that are just all black, or all white, or all grey, I think of the MGS characters in flow, as complicated as real people are and none of the ones entrenched in the war machine are good people) Ocelot’s darker than most of them and personally, that is how I like him.

His competence. His Mother Base stats are..nothing amazing, many of the soldiers outrank him in pure stats alone, but that’s ok. They don’t really have a set stat book for the things Ocelot is bringing to the table.

The fact that he’s queer. Not much to expand on there in this instance. He’s queer. People can argue it all they want, YouTube, Reddit etc the internet can Russian taunt it out of the abyss and back, the guys queer. And he knows it himself.

2. Growing Pains and Ocelot Being a Fast Learner

It’s probably not a surprise that one of the most legendary soldiers in the world birthed a son with the sort of abilities we see within Ocelot, and while the man gets his ass handed to him more than once, I don’t think this does him a disservice, in the long run. Young Major Ocelot is humiliated in many of the fights he has within the series, and Snake has him on the ground within minutes of their first encounter after single-handedly taking out his unit, but what happened before that?

Before this, Ocelot shot 6 KGB agents, in a single round. The last one tries to run away. He isn’t successful, thanks to Ocelot’s apparently super human ability to utilize ricochet. People react to him with some trepidation and fear, and that didn’t just come of tossing a well-known name around, since Ocelot is able to back up his skills.

(From a player stand point too, I find his fight before the Pain interrupts genuinely challenging too, so I appreciate that). He picks up CQC largely from OBSERVATION. “I picked up a few new moves!” Yes, yes you did sir, and in the space of..days? That’s impressive, and there’s no denying that fact. Snake isn’t turned off by him either. Happy to help him within minutes of defeating him, and only seems genuinely upset in Ocelot’s presence when he tries to shoot Eva to death. Which seems pretty understandable of Snake, to me. Ocelot’s naturally observant, not just to the degree of soaking up information like a sponge, but also being able to then take that information, be it world events or a new move, and use it later. Fairly quickly to. He’s an extremely adaptable guy, and that’s a very useful skill to have. I’ve seen several people headcanon him as ambidextrous because of the gun twirling, and I can see that being possible. If not by birth, then something he forced himself to become, because it’s a damned useful skill to have. Major Ocelot is boastful, and arrogant, but at least it’s not coming from nothing and made out of wild dreams and hopeful thoughts.

Eva flattens him with the motorcycle (something he deserves in the moment, this is still war and this is still people fighting for their lives), but he also puts up a damned good fight and chase on his own bike when Eva and Snake are escaping from the Shagohod. It’s one thing to be arrogant with absolutely nothing to back that up, another when there’s at least some probable cause. And as I said, Major Ocelot’s still young and immature in ways his elder self absolutely is not,

3.Soldier, Spy, Interrogator, Torturer and Sadist (Shalashashka and Everything in Between)

Ask anyone about Ocelot and this is what comes to mind first, and not without reason. In series, he’s the interrogator. He’s the guy that’s getting your answers (with some painful persuasion) and he’s good at it. Huey is by far the best example we are given of this (I have listened to Huey’s interrogation tape more than is possibly healthy, and I am never not fascinated by how Ocelot is able to break down Huey’s arguments and get what he wants from the man, not just with suggestive words, but with gentle probing and being able to get into Huey’s head frighteningly well. He knows what Huey’s about, and he gets results. I also believe Venom lets Ocelot deal with the “issues” that might arise in the brig. I can easily see Venom looking to the brig, and then instructing Ocelot to just do his thing.

It’s suggested Ocelot didn’t care as much about torture until Snake’s torment under Volgin in MGS3, and I do believe that to be the case. But not that I think Ocelot didn’t have some interest in it before, but that Volgin was so incredibly bad at torture Ocelot didn’t see how it could be useful until it was someone he was deeply invested in on the receiving end, and notably, someone who didn’t die during the process. Once Ocelot had a more personal investment in it, and saw it beyond ‘victim dead in three hits’ he was able to let his mind wander and expand upon that, which is where I think his real genuine interest in it began to take root.

Torture and Interrogation are not the same thing. They can exist together, and they can also exist outside of one another. Torture is often a by product of interrogation, since breaking someone to get answers is a common hand-in-hand with the situation, but torture can also just exist for the sake of torture. I think Ocelot has a genuine, invested interest in both but he’s not delusional about it either. I think he enjoys breaking people down, getting to the core of their conscious and twisting it to get what he wants. I think he takes great pleasure in getting good at something (pride) and isn’t afraid to let himself indulge when the moment suits him to it. Sure, he has a job to do, but he’s not going to not have some personal fun either if he thinks he can get away with it in the moment.

Note my sidebar of my blog a moment.

Congrats, Huey. You manage to have even less of a moral code than Ocelot. Take a bow.

I want to point out a couple things here.

1. Only person who can see this right now, is Huey. Ocelot is beyond needing to intimidate Huey. Huey is already plenty well intimidated by Ocelot. He’s been in this room many times up to this point. They have surpassed the need for Ocelot to have to resort to scaring the guy, he’s in denial, but I’d imagine he’s plenty scared. So..why bother?

2. Well, because even it’s for a split second, Ocelot does enjoy his job. He’s not a good person, isn’t pretending to be a good person, and if he thinks he can indulge..why not? Sure, it’s selfish. Ocelot’s selfish sometimes. I highly doubt he cares if it’s selfish. This moment of brief, intense cold smirking lasts SECONDS (getting this actual screenshots kind of a nightmare, it’s so damned fast). he’s doing this because Kaz can’t see his face, Boss isn’t here to argue, and he’s not above flicker-brief personal enjoyment if it suits him. Hypnotized or not.

But! I want to note something else here too, I think he might reserve that for people he genuinely despises. And Huey is someone he genuinely despises.

Something that I find interesting about his most famous interrogation and torture scene, that is, when he tortures Solid Snake in MGS1, is that not once does he actually LOOK at Snake.

Oh console, thy be fascinating! (Twin Snakes has better lighting sue me)

He only looks at him when he is asking him questions, or talking to Snake.

(I was too lazy to cap out the red youtube line again sue me) Something something Russia something something ideology he probably doesn’t give a right shit about. Being a quadruple agents tough.

But when he is electrocuting him, he stays fixated upon the console. Now, one could argue about that (well he has to control the console, he has to focus) but the guy can multitask. I don’t believe he dislikes Snake at all. The torture of Snake doesn’t have the underlying current of personal disgust or interest (unlike Huey) so for Ocelot this torture is more pragmatic and job oriented and doesn’t carry the moments where Ocelot might let his more..depraved sense of self slip in because Snake doesn’t disgust him as a person, Huey does.

Which also tells me Ocelot is capable of separating the two AGAIN. He’s a sadist yeah, but he’s not unreasonable either. He’s a skilled, competent professional. He openly tells Venom about how his Shalashaska moniker got a little bit out of hand, but it’s also something he’s not about to argue with if it’ll help his situation. He’s practical that way.

4. He’s a weirdo, and I genuinely adore him that way.

I need a slight breather and this is already frighteningly huge. Ocelot is one of those characters that is going to be read differently based on the person viewing him. Personal lens I think is going to affect him a great deal, and like with any character, I don’t think there’s a totally right or totally wrong way to interpret him. He’s one of those characters that’s so multilayered and complicated that you could talk to ten people and every single one is going to get something different out of him. And that’s okay! Heck Ocelot would probably agree.

He has some quirks I think are again, as I said above, all him. I think he developed the cowboy fondness and aesthetic on his own. Probably one of the first truly himself things he made after breaking out of the grasp of the Philosophers. To me, he’s got some vanity, and cares about his appearance, but is willing to be practical about that too. (His boots are scuffed and muddy in MGS3, and I don’t know how many personal indulges he has. I like to think he had a pink mustang at one point, because it amuses the hell outta me)

I wish he had this at some point, please let him have this.

The meow battle rally was his idea too. Why? By the time he was called Ocelot he probably thought it was just perfect.

The gun twirling was something he originally intended to be off putting, A way of a younger, less established him to intimidate, annoy and confuse his foe. Overtime *coughs, Snake*, he ingrained it into his personality. Something he choose to keep doing as a habit, and never stopped doing. It’s also incredibly amusing *and kind of touching* to me that Ocelot made Revolver a huge part of his personality and self just because Snake suggested it to him. Snake left an impression on him, big time. Of course, that could also serve as possibly the second most well-known Ocelot fact, couldn’t it?

That being said.

5. Ocelot’s Love for Snake is the most genuine thing about him.

Ocelot loves Snake. It’s a no-brainer to say isn’t it? Least, it sure feels that way sometimes. Why did the Patriots get taken down? For Snake? What did Ocelot spend 50 years of his life dedicated to? Big Boss. How much of the MGS plot as a whole exists because Ocelot fell grave-deep in love with an American CIA agent and never recovered or wanted to? Why does Venom exist? 1. Because Zero wanted it and 2. Because once told it would do Big Boss good, Ocelot was more than on board.

I’d note though that genuine and pure are not the same thing. Ocelot fully, willingly destroyed an entire person at the behest of helping the man he loves the most. There have been countless victims in the trail of this love, and well..this is just fiction, so it doesn’t bother me. It fascinates me. But there’s some genuine more pure elements to that as well. If you broke down all of that, and pushed aside every single complicated element that came of it, (and I’d like to also point out the love isn’t one-sided, Snake had a genuine interest in Ocelot too, enough that people around him questioned it, Snake is just uhm..dense is unfair, maybe not as..obvious?) because if there is one thing that Ocelot just cannot ever be subtle, or transparent about, it’s how much he goddamned loves Big Boss.

Being in love with Big Boss ain’t unique in MGS, but Ocelot is not like the others. He’s not a soldier in the Big Boss cult. He’s not Eva, he’s not Kaz. He’s the one who fell in love and spent his entire life dedicated to helping him, and, ultimately, died for him.

(I also believe Ocelot knew he was queer before he met Snake, but Big Boss activated a real primal feeling within and brought everything else to that forefront). I don’t think Ocelot ever held any strong ideology. He’s vaguely patriotic in MGS3 (completely appalled that Volgin’s willing to nuke his own comrades) but not enough so that it’s going to make him lose sleep, and I don’t believe his speech about Russia losing it’s ideology that he has to Snake in MGS1 really bothers him that much) I think Ocelot crafts those ideologies when he requires it, but at the end of the day, the thing he really, ultimately believes in, above ALL else, is Big Boss. That also might be a very simple way of breaking down an unbelievably complex man, if you really wanted to do so.

6. All the Ocelot Versions are Genuine to some degree (Negating perhaps Liquid Ocelot)

*Liquid Ocelot is a whole other thing that I need another brain to think of and this ask is already way out of hand length wise.

A complaint I’ve seen before is that hypnotized Ocelot in MGSV is out of character because he’s not hamming it up, isn’t being overly dramatic, and isn’t as ‘fun’ as the Major Ocelot of MGS3. But I have an argument about that. At this point, Ocelot is 38. He’s grown into himself as a person, he’s competent, confident, and has nothing to prove because as far as his blissfully hypnotized self knows, he’s right where he wants to be, at the side of Big Boss. What is there to perform or fake where he’s quite possibly in one of the happiest scenarios he could possibly come up with?

Major Ocelot is genuine as the youngest we’ve seen him. Not only playing a role, but with something to prove. That’s as genuine as a middle-aged Ocelot (again, self-hypnotized but not completely devoid of his personality), and the later, far older Ocelot who is working for Liquid (probably through somewhat gritted teeth) and flamboyant once again because Liquid isn’t Big Boss, nobody else is Big Boss to Ocelot and all the people he’s dealing with are people he doesn’t know and gets to scare, intimidate all over again.

Ocelot is an incredibly dangerous man. A point I haven’t really touched on much but definitely wanted to get there too. He’s skilled, he’s competent, aside of ‘Big Boss’ you almost never know what he’s fully about. He has a mind that would be genuinely amazing to pull apart and dissect. He’s clever and quick and plays mind games on a completely different level than any other, but it’s not just the head. He’s skilled as physically as he is mentally. He’s feared and with good reason. Flamboyant, strange, quirky, incredibly threatening, intimidating, dangerous and morally questionable. A villain, an antagonist, a man I could rotate endlessly in my head and genuinely never get tired of.

I need to pull myself together. I’m going to start talking in circles at this point and I feel bad that I didn’t just really address the MGS3 Major Ocelot as you’d requested, but I have trouble not looking at him as a whole. I am sorry if it seems like I ended up saying a lot and cycling back to saying a bunch of nothing, but I tried.

Meow, and thank you for sending in! These are only some of my thoughts, and I hope this ask at least gave something to work with.

#mgs #revolver ocelot #this is SO LONG it might also be a lot of me yelling and saying nothing #nates headcanons #ask #asks #nate rambles #this got very out of hand #and really i do have more thoughts i just desperately have to reel it in a bit in this ask #character posts: revolver ocelot

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jennycalendar · 5 months

Note

💤📚🎻

FUN. i shall go with felix (jenny's dad) because i'm working on the sequel and he's on my mind!!!

💤 SLEEPING SIGN — is your oc a light sleeper or a heavy sleeper? how are their sleeping habits?

felix is an obnoxiously heavy sleeper and also a snorer. and a blanket-hogger. just like Dramatically Taking Up Space whether he's awake or asleep.

📚 BOOKS — what level of education has your oc most recently completed/is currently in (GED, undergraduate, grad school, phd, etc)?

man finished high school and immediately went No Thanks No Higher Education For Me. he works as a contractor OR a handyman OR a plumber OR a car mechanic depending on what he wants to do that month. this has created some real Situations™ because sometimes repeat customers want their sink fixed and felix is like "sorry, i am only fixing cars right now :/ come back next week!" unbelievably, they actually do, because he's just that pretty. (this is where jenny gets the Insufferable Factor from, btw, except he's worse.)

🎻 VIOLIN — does your oc play any instruments? what is their skill level (beginner/intermediate/advanced/virtuoso/etc)?

felix thinks he can play any instrument he picks up. danica thinks if felix picks up another fucking instrument she's getting a divorce.

#asks #felix cervenak #writing about this man and going. god. maybe jenny's dad just has undiagnosed adhd. very probably.

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fandomjumper22 · 1 year

Text

Crack SVSSS AU

Luo Binghe’s Washerwoman mother becomes accidental protagonist

Shang Qinghua is tired, so unbelievably tired.

Ignoring the fact that his 20 something modern day man has never dealt with anything resembling the scale of running an entire cultivation peak.

Or well *ahem* assisting in the running. Not that his Shizun actually did much other than throw papers at his face or drop by to schedule another “seclusion” aka vacation.

He also has to deal with the irritatingly attractive and violent demon popping into his rooms ever so often with absolutely no warning nor preparation.

There are only so many excuses he can give for some alone time in his room with silencing talismans before people come to a very different and very awkward conclusion.

Oh and did he mention there was also an invisible, omnipotent and omnipresent being giving over his shoulder dictating his each and every action?

Needless to say, Shang Qinghua is very very tired. He is also very very rapidly losing patience.

He sighs, loudly.

And because he can, he does it again, louder.

Unfortunately, his sighing doesn’t change the mountain of paperwork in front of him.

“Hey System,” he says, glaring resentfully at the pile of paper that sits there mocking him.

Ding

How can the System help User 1?

He waves tiredly at the pile on his desk. “Is there some kind of tool or skill that I can use to make this go away faster”

Ding

The System aims to please! There are a multitude of potions and artifacts that can enhance work ethic and energy!

Shang Qinghua lit up, “really! Why didn’t you tell me earlier? How much do they cost?”

Ding

These items can be purchased through our exclusive enhancements menu!

He quickly scrolls to where the System directs him to, only to stop and glare at the hovering blue screen.

“What do you mean it costs 600 B points to unlock!”

Ding

Our enhancements shop is available for high level players and promises high quality products that will greatly increase Users life quality!

“I barely even have 700 B points”

Ding

User 1 is encouraged to work hard to earn more B points!

Shang Qinghua groans as he collapses in his chair.

“Ugh, wish I had some kind of program so that I can hack the stupid paywall” he grumbles grabbing another scroll.

He pauses

“Hey System” he asks cautiously.

Ding

The system is always here to please!

He licks his lips wondering if what he wants to do will actually do anything.

“Execute order #420,”

The System, pauses for lack of a better word before popping back in, screen red.

Ding

Error, order #420 is invalid

Shang Qinghua laughs, “holy shit can the System accept orders like this?”

Ding

The System would like to know what Use is planning

He just waves it off, “nothing nothing, everything is fine,”

He bites his lip, giddy with excitement.

Over the next couple days he experimented with tossing the System some orders. Most of them were failures. But some of them worked.

For some reason Order #39753 would make him trip in place, no matter where he was.

And order # 2956383 would toss a handful of flower petals on him.

Nothing useful, but it did break the monotony of his days and make them more interesting.

Until one day,

“Execute order #304862,”

He tossed out casually, chewing on a melon seed while staring at the most recent budget proposal from Bai Zhan, always running out of training dummies that one.

Ding

Executing Order #304862, reassigning protagonist Halo

Shang Qinghua felt his soul drain from his body. He jolted up knocking a small pile of scrolls of the table.

“Wait what no system don’t do that!” He panicked trying to frantically remember the number he’s randomly spit out.

“Execute order #304862,” he repeats frantically, “reassign the halo to Luo Binghe”

The System pauses again seemingly buffering.

Ding

Error Luo binghe not found, reassigning Protagonist Halo to nearest possible designation, Luo Binghe’s Mother

The System pauses and buffers like a dying computer.

Shang Qinghua could do nothing but stare in horror as it combusted in front of his eyes.

Ding

Congratulations congratulations congédias Gish,.. 010010bdons, This system aims to please.

Please have a wonderful transmigration experience and good lucanshd

Shang Qinghua stared in horror at the spot where the System used to be

What did he just do.

#svsss au #svsss #shang qinghua #Crack #humor #Luo binghe’s mom #scum villian self saving system #idk should I continue this?#help I wrote this on mobile

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