#zA Commentary
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There's a huge thread going around about the importance of relevance when choosing a critical lens to analyze a work which I don't want to add this onto cuz 1)it's Gigantic Already and 2)I don't agree with every addition in the chain I saw? But I want to just say:
Usagi isn't "the villain of Sailor Moon" because she becomes a queen in the future; Neo-Queen Serenity is a Queen because Usagi is a deeply awkward and goofy teenage, and DEEPLY self-conscious of that.
Neo-Queen Serenity is wish-fulfillment; she's a Teenager's FANTASY of Adulthood, and everything Usagi thinks she isn't. That Future-Usagi is a Queen IS important to Sailor Moon, but it's important because of what it tells us about Usagi and the context it puts her personal growth in, not because Naoko is trying to promote monarchism.
Indeed, in a very subtle sense, Naoko is actually deprecating monarchism by presenting NQ Serenity as a child's fantasy. The show is literally, if compassionately and with great understanding from having Fucking Been In Those Trenches Fam, saying that the desire to be So Smart and So Strong and So Beautiful and so Special and SO AWESOME that everyone on the planet adores you and does whatever you ask, is something only a child could want.
#Sailor Moon#Neo Queen Serenity#Tsukino Usagi#Metaphor#Characterization#zA Analysis#zA Commentary#zA Opinions#The Dreaded Animes#Critical Analysis#zA Writes#Our Staff
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for the wip ask game - ☔ & ❄️ ?
Thank you so much!!! :D
❄️Share a snippet from a WIP of your choosing.
COWBOYS ONE MILLION! This is a post-Wano 'filler arc' for OP H2O AU that takes place on an island shaped like a Sheriff's Badge, run by a lady named Sophie. The gang has encountered Sophie's group of workers before (Linda + Ryan) during a different 'filler arc' (where Luffy gets his wind powers), so this is kind of the resolution of that stray plot thread from pre-TS. Luffy stampedes around an underwater research facility causing chaos (and making friends), but this bit focuses on the backstory of the island :)
The statue is bronze, weathered and dull in the midday sun. It's undeniably a sea king, one with a bird-like beak and serpentine body, but there are wreaths of pink flowers adorning its head.
"Cactus flowers. They're pretty," Nami says as she leans against the stone base, fanning herself with a hand.
"All this for a sea king." Sanji rests the bags he's carrying on one leg as he lights a cigarette and takes a drag. "You don't see that too often."
Jimbe peers around the boxes of groceries. "It's rare to see an island that worships them these days."
Robin looks around. None of the townspeople walking by are giving them a second glance as they rest on top of it.
She isn't surprised- everyone here has been acting strange since they've arrived. It feels like most of them are in a daze, following a set routine without any thought as to why.
No one looks at this statue with reverence. The flowers are old and dried out. Robin thinks if she touched one, it would dissolve beneath her fingertips.
She crouches down to read the plaque and has to brush away a thick coating of sand.
'Altar of the Tide Mother,' reads the engraving. 'All we have become, we owe to her protection.'
And yet…
Robin stands and readjusts her old cowboy hat as she peers back up at the sea king. Its eyes are blank and nearly weathered away beneath the dead flowers. With the way the petals fall, it looks sad.
☔Is there a fic concept you have that you'd like to just explain and share because you're not sure you'll ever write it? If so, what is it?
I would LOVE to write an AU where the Strawhats are all magical boys and girls and Chopper is their power-granting mascot. I never really thought about the logistics of it, it's just something I would be SO down to create. AU crafting outside of the special interest doesn't come very easily to me though so it'd definitely take some effort!!!
BUT IT WOULD BE SO COOL. Maybe one day I'll be able to sit down and make it reality! For now tho, all I got are these doodles.
The vision is maximum!!!
Thank you again!!! This was great :D
#thank you!!#have you seen the newest DB/ZA commentary? the bit where they point out the continuity error in the background blew my mind#i literally never noticed until they pointed it out and now i will never unsee it LOL#but yeah thank you so much! you're the greatest :D#ask#ask game#OP H2O AU#One Piece H2O AU
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"Hmm...if I had a nickel for every time a Hero came back from the dead. I'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot but is definitely peculiar that it happened twice."
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Would you say that the political commentary of SBAHJ takes more inspiration from American MycCarthyism during the Cold War Era or from your own gaping asshole?
in the latest double releases, i was really channeling that feel when you of in the cold food of out hot eat the food drunk and you drop the shitty frozen pizza topping side down and fall ass first into the oven searing your ass like a steak.
so you get up and shimmy over to the shower to try and cool your reddened ass cheeks but, again, youre drunk so you slip in the shower and knock yourself out. when you come to, youve been pounded on both ends, and your house is on fire because you forgot to turn the oven off. as you shamble your sorry ass towards the exit, you find that your frozen pizza is some how miraculously cooked to perfection so you pick that up and roll outside.
your shit may be wrecked but at least you got some za is all im saying.
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ej a ja dalej kurwa nie wiem kto to jest bartek sitek. czy ktos mi moze strescic dlaczego jakis jutuber jest taki dojebanie ikoniczny :(
o ile bartek się zachował w mojej głowie jako bohater za wczesnego nastolatka to nie obserwuję go od jakiś 4 lat to się nie wypowiem jakoś bardzo i zostawię to osobom w notkach, ale generalnie barto był jednym z ikonicznej śmietanki youtubowej świętej trójcy polskiego commentary 2016 obok gargamela i tego od dobre pomarańczowe co go świat nie widział od połowy dekady, miał program w telewizji jakiś czas i jest współprowadzącym dwóch typów podcast i ludzie na twitterze go lubią chyba nwm czasami widzę screeny jego wypowiedzi u moich mutualsów 👍
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Oh, my love, don't forsake me
Take what the water gave me
When is a monster not a monster?
Oh, when you love it.
[...]
When is a monster not a monster?
Oh, when you are the reason it has become so mangled.
He came from the sunset
He came from the sea
He came from my sorrow
And can love only me
And if you don't love me now, you will never love me again... AKA sea monsters and their heart wounds, sea as a cruel mistress, queer desires, terrible crimes and drowning, in love, in hate, in liquor
list of used images and fragments + brief commentary for each under the cut
'Moby Dick', a fragment from the end of chapter 44, Ishmael talks about Ahab's obsession with finding the white whale, Herman Melville
My commentary: Ahab's obsession transcends a simple thrill of the hunt, it's not just hate that fuels him, the whale took something from him both literally and metaphorically, his obsession is not unlike the obsession of a scorned lover searching for revenge
'Our Flag Means Death', Backbeard/Edward Teach at the end of episode 10, creator David Jenkins
My commentary: Ed, assuming he had been abandoned by the man he loves, eventually descents into drunkenness, despair and cruelty, he becomes 'The Kraken' again, a monstrous identity he crafted to distance himself from trauma and guilt
'Disco Elysium', a fragment of a screenshot of the text bar in the game describing the effects of blue-lensed glasses, produced by ZA/UM, concept creator Robert Kurvitz
My commentary: Harry, the game's protagonist, experienced a failed relationship that was followed by a period of complete breakdown with disturbing, violent behaviours, in that context water/sea imagery reappears as inherently lonely, but pleasantly escapist
'The Lighthouse', Thomas Wake appears as a sea creature to Winslow, dir. Robert Eggers
My commentary: throughout the film, the tension between the two men is growing, the scene of Winslow beating Wake up comes up after a period of their heavy drinking when the tension, consisting of anxieties over their respective secrets, mutual distaste and desire alike, has a violent resolution
'Disco Elysium', a fragment of a screenshot of the text bar in the game, the protagonists mind tempting him into escapism, produced by ZA/UM, concept creator Robert Kurvitz
My commentary: the entire proposal sounds like a beautiful promise, but can be quite ominous, it could mean drowning, either literally, or metaphorically in alcohol, and the person waiting might be the past lover or even death itself, instead of the closeness and love Harry craves
'What The Water Gave Me', a fragment, Florence and The Machine
My commentary: the song is about a sense of loss and the things that are overwhelming
'The Old Guard', two shots of Quynh in an iron coffin at the bottom of the sea and Andromache preparing herself to fight, dir. Gina Prince-Bythewood
My commentary: Andromache sees herself as monstrous and drinks throughout the film to numb the sense of overwhelming guilt of abandoning the search for her perpetually dying lover stuck drowning in the coffin (additionally Quynh herself becoming monstrous out of resentment towards people as suggested by her comic original, Noriko)
'Start Here', a fragment, Caitlyn Siehl
'Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End', Tia Dalma/Calypso and Davy Jones, dir. Gore Verbinski
My commentary: in this scene it's revealed that although they love each other deeply, there is justified resentment between the two, Calypso is far from faithful and Davy Jones became a terrible, cursed man after learning of her betrayal, he's unable to accept her overwhelming, sublime nature and becomes a sea monster himself
'Come Wander With Me', a fragment, Sea Power
'Black Sails', episode XIII, Flint and Thomas' kiss, created by Jonathan E. Steinberg and Robert Levine
My commentary: the series has a running theme of monstrosity, often attributed to pirates, and to Flint, who, indeed, can be violent and unpredictable, but at least part of his actions stem from the despair of losing the man he loved when they were discovered
'Love's Wounds', a fragment, from Sonnets of Dark Love, Federico Garcia Lorca [trans. Paul Archer]'
My commentary: it's worth to acknowledge here Federico Garcia Lorca was murdered, and it is not unlikely that his homosexuality was one of the reasons why he was targeted
'Hannibal', the last shot of the series, after Will and Hannibal fall off the cliff into the sea, creator Brian Fuller
My commentary: the sea loves it's monsters, it welcomed the monstrosity of Hannibal and Will as killers as well as their overwhelming desire for each other, it's the escapist nature of death and drowning in each other, the sea consumes indiscriminately
#our flag means death#the lighthouse 2019#the old guard#black sails#nbc hannibal#disco elysium#pirates of the carribean#harry du bois#edward teach#davy jones#andromache the scythian#quynh the old guard#captain flint#hannibal lecter#will graham#tia dalma#love#sea#parallels#web weaving#comparative#I didn't spell out Kim's name in DE commentary but he is the love Harry craves#just so we're on the same page xD#arguably:#mermay#bc you know sea creature
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I think it’s worth noting that the creators originally intended Disco Elysium to be the first part in a huge, sprawling series of games that take place all over the world of Elysium, so I’m not surprised if some of the world building was intended for “later” if that makes sense.
fair enough, they might have had plans to do more with seol in a sequel.
although with the orientalist depiction that was evident in the game, i would've hoped that they do more with that and made a point about revacholian propaganda.
a part of me also expects that the writers fully intended for the orientalist depiction to be the actual canon and not a commentary on propaganda against enemy states of liberal nations. this would've gone against the themes in the game but hey sometimes a lot of writers out there aren't always consistent and won't always question their own blind spots.
it could go either way and a sequel seems very unlikely to surface at this point considering the legal issues between za/um and the original creative team.
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So wait do u think DE2 is coming out now?????
No, I'm pretty sure it's not coming out anytime soon.
If this is referring to the Martin Luiga tweet, I follow him and he mentions elysium related things sometimes, it doesn't mean anything that he tweeted a photo of a screenshot about Revachol now, he does things like this all the time. What I was wondering more about is his cryptic commentary (he doesn't tweet in code because he secretly wants to tell us about the game coming out, that's just how he usually tweets and makes art. To my understanding, sometimes it's free association and sometimes some words or images have fixed meanings. Sometimes he is joking. I think most of the time if he wants to tell us Elysium lore he just says it - like when he tweeted about Sola or the RCM)
It was summed up in this post (x)
Za/um studio still owns the IP, they stopped making the sequel in 2022 and they also canceled the development of a standalone expansion in this February. (source) There was a court hearing last year that we don't know anything about, and there will be probably more court hearings in the future, like once a year (it's a really slow process) (source)
how I see it, is that in the best possible scenario, if we are extremely lucky, maybe the original devs get back the IP magically in like a couple of years, and if somehow they have the rights to use the assets from the unfinished sequel, they spend years finishing it, or spend like at least 5 years making a new one, so I think there is no way we are getting a sequel now. Or if Za/um continues the development, maybe in a couple of years there could be a game (the cancelled standalone expansion needed two more years to be completed). But in the worst case scenario we are either never getting a new elysium game or we have to wait like 10+ years (at least thats what I think).
#i think if they got the ip back Martin Luiga would post more obviously about it. like collages celebrating it and stuff#I understand that if somone wasn't aware of the legal situation or familiar with Luiga's tweets it could look like an announcement but#I'm pretty sure that's not what it is
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Nightmare scenario of the disco elysium sequel. The canonical countries that Kim mentioned exist— we get to see them in Disco Elysium 2. And they are all extremely flat and toothlessly caricaturist facsimiles to real world countries. Like there’s an expy of America you can go to and it’s all presentation of Americana but no true substance to the politics and representative issues of the era so it’s just. American stereotypes that aren’t even a shadow’s semblance of the original game’s commentary on individuals who are all struggling under the shared pain, injustices and missteps of a region.
Thinking about a character that’s supposed to be from the current ZA/UM’s idea of what elysium is… I am too scared of the bone-vibrating and mind-altering hallmarks of Disco Elysium’s characterization to be washed away by an attempt to grab as many dollars as possible like a kid in one of those Chuck E. Cheese ticket-blowing machines.
#disco elysium#kim kitsuragi#harry dubois#za/um#I’m so sad thinking about this#I’m in my feelings and also slightly inebriated#bad combination to make me LARP idiot doom spiral
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Here's one of a few asks coming to your inbox for OC Bingo!
This set of questions is in regard to your original WIP, Close to the Vale.
How did you come to choose the title, Close to the Vale?
What is your favourite thing about writing for Faith?
What kind of setting can we expect in this story?
What kind of vibe can we expect this story to give?
Give us a small blurb on each of Faith's main companions!
Give us a spoiler with no context!
🥰🥰 Thank you for the asks! 🥰🥰
(This was a ridiculous help in regards to story building, so thank you so much!)
How did you come to choose the title, Close to the Vale?
A couple reasons for this. The main one being a reference to the ‘vale of tears’ expression. This isn’t exactly a happy place for most of the characters in it. Not anymore. Their lives are painful and full of difficult tests to their will. Their paths are something they must struggle through in order to reach the other side, whatever that other side may be. The second reason is that it's the latin for ‘Farewell’. Another concept that is prevalent in this story, and one of the major sources of their anguish. Third is because I hear Vale and I think ‘Shining Vale’ (show on Starz with Greg Kinnear), and it makes me giggle.
What is your favourite thing about writing for Faith?
I haven’t written too much for her yet, but when I do, I feel it. I start off writing what I personally want to say, and I can sense her voice coming in. Usually some snarky bullshit commentary on what I’ve already typed up, and that’s all it takes. She now has control and she’s damn well saying what she wants to say. And there’s a distinct lack of filter to her that's really fun to play with. No shits are given.
What kind of setting can we expect in this story?
I set the whole of this story in the fictional town of Marsden, Pennsylvania. I wanted to get a mix of city atmosphere, with a realistic chance of being out in nature as well. The specific settings themselves will be a few different bars, mostly all of the dive variety, Faith and Paul’s condo, the Greater Marsden Community College, the nature trail on the outskirts, and [redacted].
What kind of vibe can we expect this story to give?
Overall genre wise, I’m gunning for a supernatural/mystery/suspense vibe. Heavy on the dark, lots of angst, but I’m hoping to sprinkle in a bit of comedy as well. Bittersweet moments will also be pretty common. Have to have highs to make the lows mean something more than just bleak depression. I hope for it to be touching on themes of recovery and found family. But, as I stated above, Faith takes over, and has her own plans. In addition to this, Paul is very heavily influenced by my favorite fictional character (Glen Bateman), and I’ve had him throw me some curves when I was writing fanfiction. So Hell, I may be surprised where this story goes myself.
Give us a small blurb on each of Faith's main companions!
Paul Truitt - Faith’s late fiancé. Before his passing, he was a professor at the community college. Paul was always great at finding the humor in life, and generally gave off a warm inviting presence. Despite this, he still managed to rub people the wrong way. This was of little concern to him, which usually in turn, further exacerbated matters. After his death, colleagues and acquaintances would make passing comments to themselves regarding their lack of surprise at his ultimate fate. When heard, Faith is quick to tell them to go fuck themselves. Miserable pricks.
Zachary Belman - Zach came into town with his husband on a mission to find his missing brother, Adam Belman. Growing up, the pair complimented each other well. One risks, the other plans. Book smarts to street smarts. It was a good dynamic until their parents divorced. While Zach stayed back with his mother in their smaller rural hometown a few hours away, Adam had went with his father into Marsden. The city progressively took over his personality, and pulled them further apart. Over the past year, Zach has been unable to reach him at all, and even with the wedge that had been dividing them and Adam’s tendency to go off the grid, this has gotten to worrisome territory.
Cameron Greene - Zachary’s spouse who accompanied him on his quest. While Zachary has a tendency to see the best in his brother, Cameron likes to stick to the reality. He’ll be the first to offer a helping hand, but damn, you gotta want to get yourself out of the shit first. Adam liked to roll around in it, and he ain’t got time for all that. He does however admit that he likes to watch the dumpster fire, as long as there's no risk of being burnt himself. Or inhaling toxic fumes. He has a lingering suspicion that this trip may be a bit closer to the flame than he would like.
Emma Oaks - Faith’s neighbor across the hall. Part of the city nightlife, but of a more decidedly active variety than Faith’s. Dancing, karaoke, flirting, and drinks. On various occasions, she has tried to get Faith out of the hole she has fallen, but doesn’t exactly know the right lure to use. Maybe there isn’t one. But she tries regardless. Her dog, Sphinx, will occasionally steal Faith’s mail.
Give us a spoiler with no context!
(The wording may change as I get to this section, but the moment it's from would be staying the same in essence.)
Color drained from his face as she spoke, and his mouth opened and shut like a fish out of water. Words struggled to come to him, but he eventually muttered out his question. “Where did you hear that?”
Her words were familiar to him. His words were familiar.
“Where did I hear that? Where the fuck did you hear that?!”
Under the new line of inquiry, his eyes began darting around the room. Couch, chair, window. Anywhere but her. Quickly they moved object to object, only finally coming to a stop at the end table. Hesitantly, he took a few steps towards it, and picked up the picture frame. Shaking hands were amplified as the thin object unmistakably trembled in his grasp.
“From him. Before...”
He didn't need to finish; she knew. But how did he?
#thank you for this!!#original stories#close to the vale#oc: faith lochren#ocb2023#mouse is back on her nonsense
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Jezu, jak kochałam commentary na pingusiu. Każda poważna drama była omawiana. Tęskniłam za tym! Jak zobaczyłam wpis o kurzopkach aż zapiszczałam. Lubię. Zwłaszcza teraz. Nie że nie mam własnego życia, ale jest wyraźne tąpnięcie.
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It makes me so happy tfs still supports purpleeyeswtf despite him not posting anything for a while both of them were literally my childhood and none piece is my favorite abridged series
#IF YOU CANT TELL BY ME QUOTING NONE PIECE CONSTANTLY#Code ment close 2nd and db/za 3rd#Cruddy rambles#I'm watching the Christmas tree of might commentary#They do the same with faulerro tho nullmetal alchemist is not available anymore#I fucking love nullmetal alchemist too#*why is he carrots*#''he's great! WHICH IS WHY I MUST EAT HIM''#And yes I initially fell in love bc ep 1 used two steps from hell in it... Good decision past me
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Very similiar story happened to Disco Elysium and ZA/UM recently. Disco Elysium is this very popular, lots awards, anti capitalist political commentary game made by small art collective from Estonia. They struggled with financing their project so they got some Capitalists (‚ppl who understood money’) to help them get funds. Said Capitalists saw the game got big, fired the art collective that made the game, moved ZA/UM to UK from Estonia, sold the rights to TV show to Amazon Prime. That was in 2021, it was all hush hush until last month? 2 months ago? We finally found out they got fired. Now the OG team is fighting for their IP in estonian court and ZA/UM the game studio’s name is tarnished. Capitalists and their short term profit and line going up for a quarter of a year instead long time profit 🤡
GOD yeah I heard about this about Disco Elysium I feel so awful for them :( capitalists are literally like "I know the line went up but it could go up way more if I justtttt screwed over the people who made the line go up in the first place"
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I finally got restarted on the MSQ recently, and I’m almost done with Shadowbringers. Over the weekend, I tackled the dungeon that runs up the mountain and survived by sticking to my healer like a shadow, lol. Then last night, friends helped me with Crown of Innocence. Since it wasn’t likely we’d get 8 friends for that and I still shy from anything with strangers, we ran it unsynced with 4 people.
But no one had heals or tank at level 90. So we 4 manned an 8 person level 79 trial with a level 83 (DK) tank, a level 84 healer, a level 87 bard (Zas) and a level 90 dancer, @cinlat.
Mild spoilers for the fight, not the cutscenes. We kind of made it in a single run. We’d made it most of the way through the 1st stage when we got hit with the mind control that makes you attack other players if you didn’t turn away. I’d worried about that one because I wasn’t able to spot the warning sign in the video I watched. The healer and I both missed it, naturally, and killed each other while mind controlled. Cinlat’s dancer lasted a while longer but went down while the boss had about 10% health left.
And...the level 83 DK tank managed to stay up until the boss hit stage 2 before going down. Which meant we all rezzed at the beginning of stage 2 and didn’t have to repeat the first stage. Whew! The rest of it went pretty smoothly, thank goodness. I don’t think we even got particularly close to losing anyone else after that.
As far as the cutscenes afterwards I won’t comment in detail but OOOWWW!!! I’d expected some of it in a general way, but not the details, and a few things were completely unexpected. I did a running commentary with my daughter (the DK tank) that ran along the lines of:
“Well, they’ve been foreshadowing that forever.”
“Well, you said things would be OK? Where’s your great plan???”
“Ah, I wondered where he was.”
“omg, that was the least convincing attempt at a faux villain speech of all time.”
“Nice dramatic unmasking, lol.”
“wtf?? Oh shit, I’d wondered when that dramatic jackass would show back up.”
Yeah, even having guessed some (and the secret identity wasn’t exactly a secret,) that was an emotional kick in the teeth. And omg, the conversation with our counterpart in the inn room after you wake up and then on the platform. Shit. The parallels (and my continuing questions on what the hell is the tie between us?)
All the while my daughter’s sending me popcorn-eating emojis.
Also our little winged friend’s attempt at temptation 🤣🤣🤣
Hopefully, I’ll tackle the final dungeon this week and the last trial next weekend at the latest.
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About bears - I think AK did some commentary on S9.01 about how wild animals & birds would be making a big comeback this far into the ZA, so if you think about it bears & wolves, cougars, even packs of wild dogs etc would be a much bigger problem than what they show us on the show? Esp in Europe. Polar bears were a big deal in L0ST - used as test subjects for their high IQ & problem solving skills...
All great points! I can totally see Angela's commentary being a hint for the future.
And don't forget, they were once going to put out a Beth figurine from MacFarland toys that had a bear trap prop with it. Because she hasn't returned, we really still have no idea what that's all about. But it would be interesting if she was in Europe...capturing bears, or something, lol.
No idea, but it will be interesting to see. Thanks for your thoughts, Nonny! Xoxo! 🌺❣️
#beth greene#beth greene lives#beth is alive#beth is coming#td theory#td theories#team delusional#team defiance#beth is almost here#bethyl
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Serbia - Numismatic - 800 SILVER 1915 DINAR
In a polished commentary on inflation, this spoon is structured around antique Serbian currency. It won Pesma za Edible unanimously.
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