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npcemi · 11 months

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Here's that little quick piece I promised in my last post. Here is the chronological start of my planned multiverse. Though it all really started when My KP fic and how a part of that started event in cigarettes and valentine's.(my life is strange and Dr who crossover) now it's all got away from me and I digress. big thanks to the danny phantom and DC fandoms for giving me a great anchor point. Anyway like I said when I get out of the hospital I'll work on getting everything else updated. Here's the fic:

The long road of how starting a fight with superman over clone parenting eventually lead to Danny Phantom become God:

Danielle “Dani with an I” Phantom, the clone of Amity Park’s local ghost vigilante Danny Phantom, decided to start a clone support group. Dani had experienced firsthand the struggles and challenges that came with being a clone, and she wanted to create a safe space where clones from various backgrounds could come together and share their experiences.

Word spread quickly, and soon, they gathered at one of Danny’s safe houses he loaned to Danielle. She also had help so each member only had to go to a specific room at a nearby community center. Her father’s ghost abilities and Mama Sam’s Magic would take care of the rest to turn the doors into temporary portals that would bring each member to the safe house. Among the members who arrived were Linda Danvers, a clone of Supergirl, Conner Kent, a clone of Superman, and Jarro, a Starro clone.

Danielle welcomed everyone with a warm smile. "Thank you all for being here today. I created this little group so we can share our stories, support each other and just be there for each other. Being a clone can be difficult. I know that as well as anyone. Let's start by introducing ourselves, I'll go first.”

“I’m Danielle Phantom but you can call me Dani, that’s Dani with an I, and I am a clone of Danny Phantom. I was created because some fruit loop wanted Danny as a son and when he couldn’t get that he made me and then tried to get me to kill my original and his parents. Obviously that didn’t work out and now Danny and I are on really good terms!”

Jarro floated gently in the air before psychically speaking "I'm Jarro, a clone of Starro. Being a clone means constantly battling stereotypes and misconceptions. People assume I'm evil because of my origin, but I strive to prove them wrong every day."

Linda Danvers raised her hand and spoke next. "I'm Linda, a clone of Supergirl. Being her clone makes me feel as if I’m constantly living in the shadow of my original. People expect me to live up to her legacy, but I'm still figuring out who I am as an individual." Linda received many nods as they could truly empathize with her on living in the shadow of their original.

Linda Danvers took a deep breath, her eyes softened to reflect her vulnerability. "Being a clone of Supergirl has been a constant struggle for me,"

She paused for a moment, gathering her thoughts. "The truth is…I'm still trying to figure out who I am. I have my own dreams, desires, and flaws. It's hard to escape the comparisons and the feeling that I'm somehow a mere shadow of my original"

Linda glanced around the room, meeting the compassionate gazes of her fellow clones. "I often find myself wondering if I'm destined to live in her shadow forever. But being here with all of you, hearing your stories and struggles, gives me hope."

She continued, "I don't want to be defined solely by being a clone. I want to be Linda Danvers.."

Conner Kent could definitely understand how Linda felt. Conner’s stomach turned as Linda’s words hammered in the truth of his own relationship with the man of steel.

Danielle reached out, placing a reassuring hand on Linda's shoulder. "Linda, you're not alone. It can be a lot to remind ourselves and the world that our worth isn't determined by the circumstances of our creation. But that’s why we’re here, so we can support each other.”

“Thanks,” Linda smiled at Danielle’s reassurances.

Conner took a deep breath, his voice tinged with a mixture of sadness and anger. "I... I'm Conner Kent, a clone of Superman," he began, his gaze fixed on the ground. "But my relationship with Superman has been anything but what I expected. Instead of acceptance and guidance, I've faced rejection."

He looked up, meeting the eyes of his fellow clones. "Superman has never treated me as an equal. He sees me as a flawed imitation, a violation against his bodily autonomy. He constantly compares me to himself, highlighting how I will never be him. I’m not him, I’m me. My own person. I just wish he could understand that, it’s not like I asked to be created.” Conner’s voice rose with rage until he slumped back down, his voice damping in his own personal defeat.

A surge of anger coursed through the room. Danielle Phantom's expression hardened. "No one deserves to be treated that way," she said firmly.

"Conner, you are more than just a replica. You have your own strengths, your own worth. You don't need Superman's validation to prove that."

Linda Danvers spoke up "Conner, your value isn't determined by Superman's actions or opinions. Honestly it sounds like he is being a dick about the whole thing,"

Jarro joined in. "No one has the right to treat you as less than who you are. Conner, you should be treated with respect and dignity as any person would expect"

Conner’s eyes glistened with gratitude. "Thank you all. Your words and support mean more to me than you can imagine," he said, Danielle looked at Conner, "if you want me to do something about it, I can try to talk to my dad," she offered.

Conner looked at Danielle, confusion in his eyes. "You can do something? Like what?" he asked,

Danielle smiled mischievously, knowing exactly what she meant but choosing her words carefully. "Let's just say my dad has his ways of dealing with situations," she replied,

Linda, sensing the unspoken desire, arched an eyebrow and leaned closer. "Danielle, what are you thinking?" she whispered.

Danielle chuckled softly before responding, her voice barely above a whisper. "Let me talk to my dad, he might have a unique perspective on this situation."

Jarro floated closer, his curiosity piqued. "What are you saying…," he started, only to be interrupted by Danielle's raised hand “I have a feeling that my dad might be able to provide some guidance or at least offer a... different perspective."

“After all my dad, Danny Phantom has experience being the one cloned and he doesn’t like it when clones are treated badly, no not at all.” Dani shook her head silently laughing at what her father’s ‘talk’ with Superman would most likely entail.

As Danielle revealed her secret, a collective gasp filled the room, followed by a mix of surprise and awe on the faces of Linda, Conner, and Jarro. Linda was the first to find her voice. "Wait, you mean to say that Danny Phantom actually adopted you as his daughter?" Danielle nodded, a warm smile spreading across her face. "Yes, he did. After finding out about me, he took me in and treated me as his own. Danny has been an amazing dad to me. He provides love, and support, just like any other parent.”

Conner's eyes widened with astonishment. "That's incredible."

Danielle's smile turned somewhat sheepish. "It honestly is incredible. Sometimes, though, he can be a little overprotective.”

Jarro floated closer, intrigued by this newfound information. "A protective father, huh? I guess I know how that feels. My adoptive father is like that as well."

Conner gave a soft smile. "Your bond with your dad is inspiring. It gives me hope that not all clones have to face rejection and mistreatment.” The “like me” at the end of Conner's sentence, went unspoken.

“Exactly, and I’m sure my dad can talk some sense into Superman.” Dani grinned.

#fanfiction #danny phantom #dani phantom #kon el kent #dpxdc au #dpxdc

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canmom · 4 months

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Wait is ratfic not fiction about rats???

I can talk about fiction about rats too! Let's talk about some British childrens' book series! And one American comic book.

The four relevant works for our discussion would be the Redwall series by Brian Jacques, the Welkin Weasels series by Garry Kilworth, the Deptford Mice series by Robin Jarvis, and the Mouse Guard series by David Petersen. All these works portray a world inhabited by semi-anthropomorphic animals that are at the scale of real world animals. And indeed all of them include rats, albeit mostly as antagonists.

Redwall is perhaps the one that has most penetrated internet pop culture, thanks to articles like this one on SomethingAwful which mocked some of the series's recurring elements while painting Brian Jacques as a bit of a nazi. I ate those books up as a kid, but in retrospect I truthfully can remember only snatches: the shrews' battle cry of 'logalogalogalog!', the pages of elaborate descriptions of feasts.

Redwall is a big sufferer from the 'evil races' problem. A certain arbitrary set of species (e.g. rats, stoats, weasels, ferrets) are ontologically evil, and various other species are standins for various stereotypical British social classes (e.g. iirc moles are always working class). As unfortunately tends to be the case, it even makes the strange decision to double down on this - I believe in one of the books, a member of one of the evil species is raised in the Abbey, but inevitably his evil nature comes out when the good rodents and mustelids are once again threatened by an army of bad rodents and mustelids.

Nevertheless, as repetitive and ethically dubious as these books are, they do conjour a very specific flavour which makes them memorable. The author's enthusiasm for food as child of the Blitz shines through, as does his evident love for the idyllic Redwall Abbey. There's a lot of really charming elements like the 'logalogalog' thing. Having these read out to me as kid was great, it had a bit of a panto feel, where I could join in with the expected beats.

The first Redwall book implies that humans exist in this world, but this is subsequently quietly retconned to an only-animals fantasy world.

The Welkin Weasels series is a lot shorter at six books, and you may well bounce off the author's enthusiasm to insert puns and references all over the place (I recall one book managing to set up "badgers? we don't need no stinkin' badgers"), but from what I remember of them they benefit from having more explicit horror elements which makes the stakes much more engaging. I recall the weasels trying to weasel their way into a crypt full of horrible pitfalls and finding it very tense as a kid.

There is once again a sympathetic-unsympathetic species divide - weasels are our plucky heroes, while stoats tend to be aristocratic and cruel. However, it does play out a little differently: the first three books are in a medieval fantasy setting with explicit magic, but over the course of the novels, the mustelids manage to rediscover humans, leading to a timeskip forward into a more steampunk setting where the animals and humans have built a joint society together.

Honestly, I would quite like to reread these books! They may well not hold up today, but it would be fun to revisit them.

The Deptford Mice series by Robin Jarvis - author of Deathscent, a highly memorable novel in which Elizabethans have been transported by aliens into a space archipelago where all the animals are robots which run on the four humours - is a pretty fun one, although my memory is very foggy. It's set in our world, in London, and as I recall the first book involves an evil cat wizard attempting to resurrect the Bubonic Plague from the plague pits. I recall a scene in which rats dig up the plague pit and have their paws melted by the lime coating it. Beyond that I can recall very little but I definitely think it merits inclusion in this list of rat fic.

Once again we have the good rodent/evil rodent problem. Mice and rats are almost identical creatures, so it's weird that the sympathetic/unsympathetic divide falls so consistently.

Mouse Guard is an American comic series about mice with little cloaks and swords. Making it be a comic is kind of a great idea because you get to see how cute they are at every turn. The mouse guard are responsible for defending the other mice from threats such as snakes. They have a pretty high mortality rate.

I'm... actually not super familiar with the comics, but they inspired a roleplaying game by the creators of Burning Wheel, using similar mechanics - e.g. its beliefs system, the simultaneous-resolution combat system. That got a lot of buzz around the late 2010s. So if you want a game to play as an rat at the tabletop, it's probably a good one to check out!

We might also at this juncture mention the wildly popular novel Watership Down, which imagines an elaborate rabbit society complete with a substantially fleshed out rabbit religion. I wrote about the animated film for Animation Night a couple years back - it's quite a memorable one.

Sadly, this is mostly mousefic (with a bit of weaselfic). I don't know of any true ratfic - centred on rats as protagonists. Perhaps this is an opportunity for someone out there to write ratfic ratfic to correct this imbalance.

edit: omfg i forgot the rats of NIMH. thanks to both the people who reminded me of that one

#fiction #novels

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foap-enjoyer · 8 months

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Little sneak peak of my inclusion in 'AI-less whumptober' 2023!

CoD edition ;)

This is the day four prompt; Hiding an injury. I've got many more in the works of course, I plan to do all 31 days!

“Well, that went to shit.”

“Nicely put, Sergeant.”

At least Price agreed with him. Then again, it’d be weird if he didn’t; the mission had most definitely gone ‘to shit’. Out of an assigned twenty, three hadn’t made it home, and another fifteen had been injured. The literal, figurative, documented definition of shit.

Even Ghost. The lieutenant Ghost, had been among those injured. A minor wound, compared to some of the others, but at the end of the day, it was still a bullet to the leg. Soap had watched him fall. Hell, he’d been personally responsible for taking out the prick dumb enough to even consider aiming at him.

He would’ve been the idiot to have to drag Ghost out of the fray, but luckily, Gaz was there. He had been quick to charge forward, hooking his hands through Ghost’s shoulder straps and yanking, hard. They’d tumbled off out of view, into the brush surrounding the battle field. An embarrassing feat, and yet Soap never called him out for it.

He found out later Gaz had been shot too, reaching for their lieutenant. Shoulder, right besides his neck- way too close for comfort. Way too close.

Like he said. The mission went to shit.

He felt bad for the doctors, too- and the nurses, and field medics, and anyone during those grueling four hours out on the field who had any single drop of medical training. They’d been strained, and if he was honest, were still strained now. Injuries don’t heal magically once you step off of the helo and onto base, after all. Four of the fifteen had collapsed upon arriving, seven had needed surgery, and yet another had died along the way. It had been pure chaos.

So why would he bring up that he was hurt?

There had been no point. A couple of bruises is what he had, and that’s all they were. Deep, purple, ugly bruises that marred the entirety of his left arm, but simple bruises nonetheless. Nothing compared to what he had seen today, and by God had he seen a lot.

Sure, his arm ached, burned, even, but not as much as he imagined Corporal Ellias’ legs felt after being violently torn to shreds by a grenade in the field. He’d seen the man screaming as they wheeled him into surgery, where he sat in the waiting room with Price. There was no way they could save the legs, given the severity. He couldn’t compete with that. His bruises didn’t even come close to that.

So he did the next best thing; shut the fuck up.

Contrary to popular belief, Sergeant Soap Mactavish was very good at shutting up. An impressive feat for any soldier, let alone one who worked with explosives. They had a nasty stereotype of being crazy. Madmen. A stereotype that many of his fellow specialists happily filled in with no cares in the world. But him?

Being a member of 141 didn’t give him that privilege. He’d learnt to be quiet as his time as a rookie, because being quiet got him further than opening his trap and yapping. You sit, nice and quiet, like a little dog, and you’re rewarded. That was the game the military played, and a game he was very, very good at.

This was no different.

Sit like a good, quiet dog.

Price sighed from beside him. A heavy, achingly tired sound.

Soap blinked away the fog building in his eyes, glancing over at him. “You alright, Cap?”

Price looked at him, “Four men are dead, Soap.” He leaned forward onto his knees, holding his head in his hands, rubbing fingers stiffly against the bridge of his nose. “They don’t think Ellias will make it either.”

Soap leaned back into his chair, ignoring the way his arm screamed at him as he brought it up, crading it idly to his chest. “It doesn’t surprise me.” He thought back to the injuries on the corporal. Even if he did survive, he would be without legs, most definitely no longer a soldier. Mutilated beyond ‘repair’, according to the army. He could still live a good, happy life though. If he pulled through. “Have the nurses called his family yet?”

Price sighed again, “They’re gonna wait, see if he survives the night. Don’t want to put all that stress on them for nothing.”

He nodded. It made sense, after all. “You speak to the receptionist, then?”

“For a moment, before she shoved me out here.” Out ‘here’ was their waiting room. Outside of the actual medical ward their base owned. He wouldn’t even consider it a waiting room. More like a glorified corridor. “They’re over-run in there, poor sods.”

Sit like a good, quiet dog. “Yeah, no kidding.” He rubbed a thumb gently over his sleeved-injury, massaging the fabric over the bruises. It sent a shockwave of fresh agony through his body, causing him to jolt violently in his seat. Price didn’t seem to notice. Somehow. “Any news on, um-” Fuck, that hurt. “Gaz ‘n’ Ghost?”

“Ghost is doing fine. Bullet didn’t pierce anything major. He’s awake and moving, last I heard.”

“And… Gaz?”

Price inhaled sharply. “Gaz is in surgery. Bullet…” He exhaled, softer, this time. “Something about it is upsetting the doctors.”

“Fuck.”

“Fuck indeed, son. Fuck indeed.”

They sat in silence for a moment. Soap had no doubt that his Captain was thinking about Gaz. He couldn’t blame him, now, he was too. Until a clog in his mind clicked. “Have you been checked out yet, Price?”

His captain blinked, opening his mouth to speak. Nothing came out. Soap chuckled, prodding the older man’s shoulder with his good arm. “Go get checked out.”

“I’m fine.” Price found his voice, furrowing his brows. “Just a few scrapes.”

“Always better to get checked out, aye?”

Price’s eyes fell on him. “Have you?”

Soap smiled awkwardly, meeting his gaze. He watched as the man glared into his soul, studying every inch of him available to the eye. “I’m all good, Price.” He promised, “I got checked out on the plane.”

It technically was true. A half-truth. He’d gotten a nasty cut on his head, and a field medic had offered to close it up for him during their journey back, when she had had the time to take her gaze away from the grievous wounds of his teammates.

He sported the beige, sad, half-sticky plaster as a token of his truth.

“Go on.” He encouraged with a wave of his hand when Price jostled slightly, uncertain. “Get lost, go get looked at.”

“Alright.” That one word was filled with doubt. Soap smiled harder, a grin that bared his teeth. A defensive smile. “Stay here, will you?”

“Wouldn’t dream of leaving you, Cap.”

To be continued, look out for my oneshot AI-less whumptober book coming out on my AO3 :)

Tsukuyomi_Ravioli | Archive of Our Own

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memecucker · 2 years

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One of the things I really liked about Jennifer Michael Hecht’s book Doubt is how she doesn’t take the perspective of “history of explicit atheism” but more “history of people questioning accepted truths derived from religion” and this definitely includes the long history of antitheist literature across the globe but isnt synonymous with it.

For example you’ve got Rabbi Levi Ben Gershon from the early 1300s and you would not for a second say he was a “critic of religion” but he did say lots of things critical of recieved religious traditions including critiques of supernaturalism that some people today might believe were ‘impossible’ for a medieval person to conceive. For ben Gershon, God had created the world and intended reason to be the mediating factor between humans and creation. This meant that to assert things contrary to reason as the truth was something that went against the will of God. So ben Gershon went through scripture and for basically every supernatural event described beyond original Creation was actually either allegory or use of a literary metaphor or just a plain natural phenomenon that happened at a very fortuitous time eg; there are plenty of recorded instances of rivers or wetlands spontaneously drying up due to purely natural phenomenon like rockslides, drought, unusual low tides etc and something like that must’ve been what happened with the parting of the ‘sea of reeds’ in Exodus; or that when Joshua is said to have “stopped the sun” this was a literary description of the subjective phenomenon of ‘time slowing down’ in the heat of something like an intense battle. And you can see how ben Gershon’s ideas and questioning of tradition translated to other fields such as how he developed the first refutation of heliocentrism based on empirical observations (basically observing apparent brightness of Mars against the epicyclical model and realizing Ptolemaic predictions did not match his observed data) and this was roughly 300 years before Galileo did it and ben Gershon didn’t even have a telescope

And then you have people like the poet and philosopher Abu al-Maari from 11th century Syria. Unlike ben Gershon, al-Maari was absolutely hostile to religion and unambiguously made it clear he was speaking about all religions and faiths. Whereas ben Gershon provided a theory of prophethood that true prophets are actually people of extreme wisdom basically “super philosophers” rather than people who are injected with unique “god knowledge” (a view that wasn’t atypical in that time), for al-Maari a prophet is a different word for charlatan. Religion was something invented not by people in general, but as a tool to be wielded by tyrants to trick and swindle people into following them and handing over their wealth. I think it was al-Maari who said something along the lines of religion is what happens when a lie needs to be spread by blood. Al-Maari’s focus on how religion is a tool used by an oppressive ruling class against the oppressed masses gives some echoes of European critiques of religion such as from Karl Marx but that’s over 900 years later. And if ben Gershon’s skepticism towards supernatural explanations goes against stereotypes of what was “possible to think” in Southern France in the 1300s then al-Maari’s vitriol and fierce condemnations of religion would be even more impossible to imagine as they came from someone from Syria in the 1000s as his writings go against even more entrenched stereotypes.

Almost like if you unquestionably accept traditional narratives and buy into stereotypes you get a much stupider picture of the world or something.

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jjellysoo · 2 months

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what are your headcanons for xs? im starving for content too sksld so i wanna know your thoughts/headcanons on them!

Hi, thank you for the ask!! >:)

Not many general headcanons make it into my work because I tend to write about specific concepts, so this was fun!

I love all interpretations of the XS timeline, but I don't think they were together during the story's canon. Post-canon and I can see an argument for the TYL arc. Extremely dubious on anything pre-cradle affair.

Xanxus is absolutely the jealous type, but he won't address it in a practical way. He's known to cling to his possessions, right?

On that note - Dino, count your days.

Xanxus is very much into Squalo's hair. If he can touch it, he will, whether that's a pleasant touch or not.

Besta likes Squalo the most after Xanxus himself, and will try to smother him and kiss him, which Xanxus ignores like he's getting paid for it.

It's a private relationship, for several reasons. Not many people know about it, and if they do, they're not going to comment on it lest they want to part ways with their face.

Except for Luss, of course, who bombards Squalo with dumb questions when they have downtime, none of which are answered. That 101 battles was ROUGH.

No pet names other than the usual insults that probablyyy count as pet names. But don't tell them I said that.

Xanxus runs warm because of his flame (why he can run around half shirtless), and Squalo runs cold (why he wears fur and coats and earmuffs all the time!) The ideal temperature equilibrium for cuddling.

This is canon, but Xanxus is overall calmer when Squalo is around HQ.

Squalo finds Xanxus' scars attractive as they relate to his rage, but he wouldn't mention it because of the sore topic. If Xanxus ever lost control over his scars in a sexual context, well....

Squalo has had feelings for Xanxus since the beginning. He must've been pretty convinced things were going to work out, huh? When you know you know etc. etc.

Xanxus has some Avengers level threat internalized homophobia. His whole complex is over being heir to the Vongola, and part of that role is having a family and children, so being with a man would be really hard for him to comes to terms with. Also, the stereotypes of gay men that he'd be acquainted with go against the persona he's made for himself.

In effect, it's really hard for him to be openly affectionate. Queue glass throwing and hair pulling.

SAME TANGENT because I see this way too much but these two could not be a casual FWB situation given Xanxus' complex.

Okay so this is based on the inheritance ceremony where Timoteo is a little bitch to Squalo for no reason. THOSE TWO BEEF LIKE CRAZY IN THE MOST PASSIVE AGGRESSIVE "IN LAWS" WAY POSSIBLE. Squalo obviously dislikes him because he ruined Xanxus' life and is dismissive of the Varia as a whole, Timoteo dislikes him because he thinks he's trying to get with his son and go against what a right hand man is supposed to be.

If there's one thing that's going to fluster (fluster!?) Varia Captain and Sword Emperor Superbia Squalo, it's going to be Xanxus. Squalo never expected to get this far, so when he spends his life in respectful admiration and is suddenly getting bombarded with what would otherwise be normal couple behavior, he doesn't know what to do.

Xanxus pretends to be unaware of the effect he has, but definitely knows and extorts it because it's cute

I'm not kidding when I say I have more than this, but that's where I'm cutting it off for today. Hope this feeds you well enough, for now, anon! :D

#katekyo hitman reborn #khr #xanxus #squalo superbi #headcanons #ship headcanons #ask #hcs #xanxus x squalo #khr xs #khr headcanons

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vaguely-concerned · 1 year

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I binged through all of Dragon Age: Absolution today and honestly I really really liked it! I was allowing myself only some very cautious optimism after watching the twitch premiere of the first episode, but freed from the need for infodumps and setting up the characters the rest of the show actually rapidly gets better from there (some pacing issues here and there excepted but hey they were given 6 episodes, I think they did pretty well considering those constraints)! If like me you HUNGER for, you YEARN for, you CRAVE more Dragon Age right the fuck now, this is not at all a bad thing to help keep some of that hunger down while we wait for the next game, and has a few loveable new characters to get into and some great action animation to boot.

More idle thoughts/reactions under the cut!

first and foremost I love Roland and Lacklon so much haha, a surprisingly well paced romance considering it mainly happens in quick background-ish moments! I'm especially interested in Roland's backstory, since he's very chill and openminded for what seems to be a decently well-trained/educated Orlesian? Lacklon being like 'I want to hold his hand and suck his dick 😔 fml' every time Roland did something cool in battle was just *chef's kiss* too, it was kind of smart to have their fight scenes double as foreplay as well on a writing level since they're arguably the least plot-important characters overall (though they and Qwydion are definitely the heart of the story as far as I'm concerned)

I understand why Miriam clung to Hira so much since she just lost literally everything in her life, good or bad, moments before and that relationship was the only time she had tasted anything like real love since her brother died, but girl... girl when people show you who they are, believe them. marry Qwydion instead you deserve so much better (Hira gave me the Bad Vibes right away from how she didn't respect anything Miriam said or expressed and kept pushing in ways that made me really uncomfortable, so I won't say I was shocked or anything lol.) There is the (??deliberate??) mirror of Hira hugging Miriam from behind in the blood magic dream and Qwydion coming up behind her in very much the same way to rest her hand on her shoulder in the real world afterwards, so I have hope maybe?

can you imagine Dorian watching shitshows like this go down every other week all around Tevinter and tearing at his perfectly sculpted hair because Andraste's tits if you motherfuckers would stop acting stereotypically for FIVE MINUTES! could any of you go take a PISS without resorting to blood magic! Dorian's job is a shit job and he's probably been doing it for a while by the time of Dreadwolf so y'know. get my son a drink

speaking of Qwydion, I am so glad for further support for my theory that vashoth born away from the Qun are actually some of the most well-adjusted people in all of Thedas. they've dodged the Qun from birth by definition, they don't seem terribly interested in the Chantry or grand politics of any kind, they don't have a caste system hanging over them, they can step on anyone who tries to mess with them even if they don't have magic... truly the only sane people running around out here

so you're telling me the Inquisition screws Fairbanks over no matter what you do, b/c either he dies or he's forced into Orlesian politics. Oh buddy I'm sorry we should've just let you frolic around in the Emerald Graves on your own you didn't deserve this

Poor Tessa. she is probably better off without him in the long run but that's a rough week

I was so excited to see Kirkwall again, I saw the horrific chain statues and went 'OH HELLHOLE MORE LIKE HELLHOME'. it's so grim and awful I miss it so much lol

meredith, huh. so uh. hawke really has failed at everything, pretty much, then. even the few people they did manage to kill to protect everyone didn't stay dead. I'm just waiting for the dragon they killed in the Bone Pit to come back and ravage the city as well now, just to top it off. celestial punching bag of thedas hawke. babyyyyyyyyy if it helps I still love you the most and so does your collection of bi weirdos found family

rezaren wasn't even that good a mage, as far as we can tell, so you have to wonder what the FUCK dorian's ancestor was pulling to have created this thing that he could barely control with half a dragon's worth of blood (and what someone like Dorian, who helped crack time like an egg in his student days sort of just to see if he could, it seems, could do with it if they didn't have like scruples or other pesky things like that. everything we see about tevinter magisters makes me more impressed with how comparatively not fundamentally shitty Dorian has managed to turn out (no wonder Bull is kind of impressed with him for having actual integrity, if this is the competition he's up against). can you tell I miss him lol)

I found it genuniely interesting how much rezaren and hira are thematic mirrors to each other and mutually cannot see it, right down to treating miriam ultimately as an object. same self-centered idiot, different hairstyles. what a scathing indictment of Tevinter high society that even Hira, who's family was notoriously progressive and trying to enact change, still treats people exactly the same way as the other magisters when push comes to shove.

thank u to Lacklon for pessimistic cynical bastard representation, he is right that that dragon is going to ravage the countryside and someone on the crew has to keep clear eyes for that sort of thing even when it's a downer

#dragon age #dragon age absolution #dragon age absolution spoilers #dragon age: absolution spoilers #dragon age: absolution

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msallurea · 8 months

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Men are literally half of a woman, Accept it

Hello darlings, today I will be talking about my male audiences today so women either leave or shut up and pay attention. Now Kings I'm aware my title may seem a but misleading so let me explain...

Men, you all at some point in your life have been de-masculinilized, criticized, bullied, your masculinity has been butchered and beaten to a pulp. Girls this is partly yall fault (don't be mad with me be mad with yourself a hit dog will holla). Now it isnt every man but many of you had been raised with absolutely TERRIBLE male role models. Many of you, though it wasn't said verbally, you physically have been taught to mistreat women, emotionally have been taught to mistreat women, and even spiritually have been taught to mistreat women. But this isn't just toward the mistreatment of women but towards yourselves as well. Men, you have been taught that toxic masculinity IS masculinity. Whether it be you being the strongest, fastest, most aggressive, etc. Now girls yall are partly to blame for this as well, especially in the dating world. You girls would rather choose a man who is more aggressive, more vulgar, disrespectful, non-stable, living the "hustle" life, etc and then get mad when a man is doing exactly that. In other words these stereotypical types of men have basically been unbearably pushed in the market so much so that now when it actually comes to finding a "good man" well it seems like there isn't any. Which leads me to my next point...

Men, I'm sure in your household somewhere down the line you were told that "xyz is for girls, don't do that" or "toughen up" or "man up and stop being a b*tch"..sound familiar doesn't it? Well all these things come together and create toxic masculinity itself. Not only is it disrespectful to you but it's even worse when you don't even have the proper example of what any if these terms mean. Now obviously, as you can see I'm no man 😂, so I doubt my words can genuinely have a major impact but I will re-word some of the many terms I've heard Men being told over the years and give you Kings a much better definition.

Men's Vocabulary 101🤓

"Toughen up" - men I know this term can often feel intimidating especially if you're young. It can make you feel weak and inferior to the next man but that's not what you need to feel at all.

"My love, to Toughen up is to have courage. It is to be brave in those precious times you aren't. It is alright to be scared and afraid, you are human it is normal. But just because you are scared does not mean you are weak. Just because you are afraid, does not mean you are not a man. It is to stand up for yourself in times where it is needed and to leave certain battles alone when you know its a war that isn't worth winning, it's knowing not every fight is a fight itself but rather someone else's hurt trying to rub off on you..don't take the bait. It's being able to learn from your mistakes and take accountability when needed, it is being a leader to those who are lost, and need to be lead; sometimes the strongest thing a King can do, is learn to walk away and think before he acts, your greatest gift is how you act on things but..it is also your greatest weakness. To be tougher is to learn self control, because if you can control yourself you can control everything else around."

"Be a man" - the same as my statement above. What exactly does it mean to be a man though? Well some of you might've said to be a fighter or some of you may have even went blank. But in fact, that's not the case at all

"You see kings, to be a man it is not in the flaunty attire you wear (though there's nothing wrong with looking sharp), it is not in how tall you are, how well you speak or even in how strong you look. Instead to be a man in the wise words of God himself "Man is a person and is therefore capable of making moral choices" man is made in the image of God. To be a man is to be immovable and steadfast. To be a man is to be filled with righteousness, faith, love, gentleness, godliness, and steadfastness. To be a man is to bear the ripe fruits of joy, charity, peace, patience, generosity and goodness. It is to be a provider for the people. To both love and be love. Be an example, a beacon of light that even you would follow and look up to. To be a man is to not just think of just yourself but see yourself as an entire generation representing the most high. It is to be a reflection of your morals and values. To be a man is to not hate on the next man, don't be bitter, don't be arrogant nor cocky but rather humble and posses unwavering confidence and security within yourself, it's being able to turn a pile of crumble to a kingdom and surrounding yourself with all things that keep this kingdom stable. You see to be a King, be one worthy of respecting; not out of fear but to be so intube with who you are, through your heart mind ans spirit, the world will naturally fear you anyway because they know you are a King equally blesses and destroys."

"That's for girls, men shouldn't do this" - are you really not a man for taking care of yourself? Are you really not a man for wanting to look and feel good on all aspects? Are you not a man if you want to educate yourself and your mind? Are you not a man if you are a believer in something much higher than yourself? Are you not a man if you have dreams and passions?

"My Kings..stand the hell up and get your head out of the garbage. If you were a peasant you would have been a peasant how on earth are you letting a simple mustard seed have more value then yourself. If you don't go and clean your ass up right this second. Go do that skincare. Go shave if wanted. Go wash your hair and clean your house. Go learn how to cook some good meals instead of eating that nasty take out all day. Go brush your teeth and learn how to handle your money right. Pick up a new skill like sewing or study a new genre of music. Make yourself useful and read a book; knowledge is powerful use it wisely. Go pray or even start Journaling a Wise king is a peace of mind king. Regardless of what you do, let it be something great. Pick up that passion that you dropped years ago. Go play outside or even meditate. There is absolutely nothing wrong with you. It is ok to want to communicate your feelings. You want to cry Go cry, let it all out don't let the world make you feel like you aren't worth shit just because you cried. Crying and being emotional does not make u weak or any less of a man, but you have to be willing to pick yourself back up start from square one if needed and get back on your feet and try again. Don't let this world make you give up. If someone hurts you, especially if it's a woman it's OK to communicate that and if she can't respect your feelings just as you have respected hers then LEAVE. Surround yourself with people who have a mind of abundance and prosperity, who are willing to see beyond what's in front of them and take in the bigger picture. Don't be a yes man, be honest; if you know something isn't right walk away from it if it cannot be rerouted. Dotn worry about what someone else can bring to the table YOU BE THE TABLE AND THE CHAIRS and if those people arent qualified or ready to sit there then they are not meant to be there."

I'll close out with this..

"You don't have to be loud to be heard, you don't have to be flashy to be seen. You don't have to be the strongest in the room to be the strongest man there is. Be calculated, be intentional. Educate yourself, a King with knowledge is a King with power..use it wisely. Be wise in your actions and smart in your words. Be patient and gentle but don't ever let anyone walk all over you. Listen to your heart and take action with your mind. Let your heart guide you and let your soul speak through you. Everything you touch shall turn to gold, may every seed you plant be fruitful. Don't control the world for the world is only looking to be controlled to. Instead control yourself, everything else will fall in its place. Be a loving King, for a king who loves will conquer all the weapons formed against him. May no weapon formed against you shall prosper. Speak no evil, hear no evil, see no evil. Treat your queen as if she is more precious than rubies and silky white pearls. A queen will always follow her king, only if her king is worthy of being followed. See beyond the materialism young king, some of the riches things in life and in yourself, are simply treasures no money can buy. You my king are divine. Be worthy, so much so not even the richest can compare to you and the only one worth buying you is God himself."

#men #men its time for you to be loved #msallurea #my blog

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lazypanartist · 2 years

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Ack— lemme think…..

How about Psimon x reader headcanons where reader gets severely hurt during a mission?

Feel free to reject/wait on this if you need to

..this is my 2nd time writing this because Tumblr likes to Not Save my things sometimes 🙃

But yeah! Physical harm/comfort is one of the things I like, both for consumption or creation!!

Warnings: Depiction of injury! No beta reader

-----

The world is falling apart around you

You can vaguely register the cries of the rest of your team, both of battle and pain

Chunks of rubble hit the ground, raining down from the collapsing ceiling

That's probably how you got into this mess, actually

Sprawled across the floor, bleeding from multiple areas

Your leg's probably broken.. not that you can register much pain, the way your head is pounding

You probably took a pretty nasty hit that you can't remember right now

"Psi..mon?"

You feel yourself say his name more than you hear it

The edges of your vision were creeping in, darkening with every passing second

Blood rushes your ears as you wait for a response

A sign

Anything at all..

"(Y/n)?"

You could feel his response, a gentle smile tugging at your lips

The mind link

Of course

"(Y/n)!"

You wince as you're picked up

You register Devastation looking down at you with.. was that pity in her eyes?

It didn't matter

The darkness caught up with you before your thoughts could

...

You come to in a hospital room

(Everyone say thank you to Uncle Lexie)

The smell of cleaning agents hit your nose first thing

Sterilization in good hospitals? Smells like the stereotypes

Unfortunately

Trying to turn your head, you winced

Still hurts like a mofo

"(Y/n)"

"Hm?"

You tried to turn towards his voice

Still hirts

Now that you're conscious, you can feel other wounds

Cuts, bruises.. your leg was almost definitely broken

"Psimon..?"

"I'm here."

His hand covers yours, fingers lacing gently to avoid the Band-Aids that litter your fingers

You can feel him move around you, sitting on the edge of the hospital bed to be in your line of sight

He has a few wounds himself, a bandage just barely visible beneath his sleeve

Hopefully nothing too serious..

He offers a small smile; the same one he gives when you two can be domestic, gleaning your brain just to feel your thoughts

"Still so worrying when you're the one with head trauma.."

You offered an indignant mumble, squeezing his hand

"..it's not too bad, is it?"

"You should be cleared for missions again as soon as your leg is healed."

"Good.."

You two sat in silence for quite some time; a somewhat common occurrence for your relationship with the telepath

You both knew it wouldn't do any good to panic about the situation; sometimes, things Happen during missions; the consequences can be unavoidable

Instead, you two relished one another's company

You never can tell how much longer you'll have, especially with your line of work

-----

Didn't mean to get Real™ on main today; sorry about that 🙃 Reqs open, ofc

#psimon onslaught #yj psimon x reader #yj psimon #psimon x reader #psimon #onslaught #young justice onslaught x reader #young justice onslaught #x reader #xreader #x reader headcanons

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nagirambles · 2 years

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Rambling about Fairies - Manga Chapter 170

Comparing these two outfits is actually quite interesting. I wouldn’t say Edo-Lucy is boyish, but she’s definitely got more masculine notes wit the armor, the immodesty, and the personality. She’s bolder, more practical, almost like a biker stereotype with the leather leotard.

As for Earth Lucy, she’s a bit more effeminate than usual (she’s usually slightly tomboy and comfy,) today she actually has cute flower motifs, sexy off shoulders, and before she fell into Edolas, she had elegant flowery sleeves. She’s got a slightly impractical tight miniskirt (impractical for battle), and fashionable boots.

Everything they have, down to the colour of their hair ties, are direct opposites. While Earth Lucy wears her insignia proud, Edo Lucy specifically has a sleeve that hides that part of the same hand.

#rambling about fairies #fairy tail #ch170 #detail mania #i'm reching #edolas arc #it's a parallel

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guster-animations · 2 years

Text

gonna write a video review soon but here are the notes i wrote as i read stellarlune for the first time. not sure if im gonna put all my opinions in the video so here it is. warning: there’s a Lot

(bolded points are unanswered questions)

who tf is elysian

WHY IS AMYS MOM MAKING HER TRY ON DRESSES. WHY DID AMY SAY SHE WAS WITH HER MOM. DID THE HUMAN PARENTS GET DIVORCED SO EMMA COULD REMARRY???

(later in reading) or theyre having a baby .-. or both??

WHY WASNT THIS ANSWERED IN THE CONVERSATION ARE THEY SAVING IT FOR AN EMOTIONAL MOMENT HUH

fuck no are they actually reintroducing foxfire into the main plot

ok theyre doing glimmer now shes elysian im calling it

SHES GOT BEEF WITH THE HEKSES??? HUH

shes a poc!! fan freaking tastic it would be annoying if she wasnt

WAIT I WAS WONDERING ABOUT THAT TRIBUNAL A FEW SAYS AGO WHEN I REREAD BOOK 1! I NOTICED THAT!

HHAAAAAA trix theyre really doing all the reveals… wait this is the only reveal. rayni has only been here since book 8

wow they really did not need another addition to the main cast (rayni)

where is the gay. give me lesbiana already

rayni calling out fitz’s low involvement in the narrative… and him getting anger issues at that

how long is this dialogue going to be… pg 120 to 168?!

dislike how stirullinh is just regarded as a single entity. at least make them gayer

oh so rayni’s just going to be in jail for the rest of the book ok that makes sense

love how sophie butts into the conversation reminding us that she, the main character, hasnt spoken for like half the chapter

“are we seriously going to let sophie tell us what to do” says stina, who is on a secret government team led by sophie

sophie being unnecessarily mean to fitz WHYYYYY why are we twisting fitz into someone who is a bad person?? i hate this so much

keeper gang breaking up my beloathed…

is this a 9/11 reference???

(screenshot of text saying “Besides, anyone who’s studied basic battle strategy knows you have to take down the greatest symbols of power—preferably in a big, dramatic way if you want the public to submit to your rule.”)

oh this cache opening thingg is going to be SUPER long

is shannon’s self insert oralie??? shannon does think of sophie as her child

alright last call for nb elysian here we go

wow incredible hetero love story just what i read this book for

wait hold on wheres elysian

THIS IS MEMORY 2/7??? IM GONNA BE HERE ALL NIGHT

halfway thru and so far it’s been all fluff and no action or huge revelations. if youre gonna reveal trix do it earlier for gods sake this is unbearable

ro is DEFINITELY gonna be a big discussion point in the video. she is present for the entire first half of the book (minus the cache section) and clearly only there to keep the mood lighter and she directly acknowledges an awful lot of the series’ glaring problems. almost like shannon KNOWS they’re there and is trying to deflect the blame and place it on the characters instead through ro

ro is not subtle at all. including her saying that sophie’s probably gonna have to kill lady gisela herself. gee okay awesome can’t wait for the final battle next book. i bet its gonna be just as awfully drawn out as what you’ve put me through today. thanks stellarlune

are they saving ALL the emotional revelations for the climax? elysian, trix’s identity, amy’s dresses all at once? at least give me SOME drama this is agony

sokeefe-biana thing mentioned please at least follow up on that by the end [of the series] ik it’ll probably be disappointing but i need some sort of closure

grady edaline fitz etc being simplified to stereotypes/one note

fitz only being used to add flavor to sokeefe… at least sokeefe is a good ship. i dont hate sokeefe for what it is i hate it for what it stands for and i will die before i ship it

(screenshot of text saying “And almost as if her Mentor knew—even though he couldn’t possibly—he leaned in and murmured, ‘In my experience, you can never trust a Guster.’”)

lolllll i wish ^

even though i hated foxfire in book 1 its actually pretty nice to have it back again? we havent had foxfire since books 2 or 3 so its kind of nostalgic and a nice break from the drama. and obviously exposition of some sort

ojhhhhh so redhead marella IS intentional and not an artistic choice on the cover. both disappointing and not at the same time

NO GLAM NO NO NO HES GAY NO STFU WRONG

(a screenshot of text that reads “‘At least Sophie has updates,’ Dex snapped. ‘What have you been doing? Following Linh, Marella and Maruca while they do important stuff?’”)

how did you know [i was doing exactly that], dex dizznee ^

FITZ BEING A GOOD PERSON AND SOPHIE BLOCKING HIM USING HER PTSD AS AN EXCUSE! THERE IT IS

ok so fitz is trying to be the voice of reason and sophie’s moral caution but it conflicts with his actions in flashback so sophie doesnt trust him? ok yeah that makes sense

JENSI NO MY BOY

“thanks for not looking at me like im defective” special abilities [vs talentless ppl] metaphor for ableism real???

the cognate inquisition is gonna end in another sad breakup isnt it

tiergan queercoding [has gone to hypothetical] level 13

FITZ IS INSECURE!!! he thinks sophie isnt fully honest with him because he doesnt deserve her trust!!! we did it!

and sophie’s aversion to honesty comes from the trauma she experienced from 7 years of exposure to the thoughts of everyone around her! oh my god its almost like theyre BELIEVABLE CHARACTERS

im glad we didnt have to sit through the actual cognate inquisition because that would be boring as hell but why doesnt that happen more often? skipping through the boring parts?? why do i only see this in telepathy class

for a split secobd i let myself believe that this is leading up to a sokeefitz threesome. stupid brain

i am being SO VIGILANT about not hearing any spoilers or opinions. i havent even skipped to the last page of the book! im doing awesome im so proud of myself

absolutely in LOVE with how good of an analogy for racism and ableism this whole series provides

NOT THESE FUCKERS AGAIN NOOO [the trolls]

oh so linh and tam are suddenly unbreakable again yeah sure

does white-purple-yellow-pink mean anything?

the books close to being over, is this gonna lead into a long climax [at meeting with trix]

also very glad they just cut straight to the meeting with trix after saying it would happen

“such dramatics” says vespera

here it comes…… the big trix reveal………..

NO GOD DAMNIT THE FRENCHMEN LIED

ah here comes the climax

there is a much more singular and alternating focus on characters than legacy/flashback’s widespread all-at-once thing

oh boy its him again. the awful familiarity of this dialogue. i hate it

we still havent gotten to the climax…

what about amy…

peeked ahead. the frenchmen did not lie. the entire country of france has regained my trust

WHY DO THE BABY ALICORNS LIKE THE WORD “JERK”

wrote “hold on has he gone numb holy shit” and deleted it too soon HOLY CRAP

numbness manifests as depression for keefe!!!!!!

ope yep training with grady. that was sudden. it’s every 12 year olds dream

fully expecting the climax to be a big showdown/ambush on the elysian island with gisela

WOW WHO WOULDVE GUESSED

wait hold on was this the only fight scene in the entire book.

(a day later) oh right vespera died. does that count as a lame minor character death or a major character death. i have to cross something out on my bingo card

i wouldnt call the death “lame” so major character death it is

WAIT there’s still hope for elysian to be nb. if im proven right and there’s a plethora of explicit queer characters as soon as book 10 opens that would be both amazing and horrible

ok in conclusion this was DEFINITELY better than legacy and probably better than flashback and nightfall. lemme rate eqch book to see how it compares

7/10

4/10

idfk

8.5/10

6/10

6.5/10

5/10

2/10

8.5. 7.5/10

9. 7/10

plot: 7/10

characters: 9/10

pacing: 4/10

writing: 6/10

cool

#terrorism tw #death tw #stellarlune spoilers #keeper of the lost cities #kotlc video essay #op #kotlc stellarlune

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erigold13261 · 1 year

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Just thinking about mermaids today to try and figure out what/who I am going to draw and I realized something I should have seen earlier.

The Mermaid Club represents a bunch of different aspects of the ocean, especially in their fourth phases. I didn't intend for all of these, as you will see some are a stretch, but I find it neat I subconsciously did this!

-Sayu is obviously the deep sea in what ze represents.

-Renho, when I was making them I was trying to go for a swamp monster feel, but I if I am going off of the ocean, or at least standard water stuff, they are waterfalls, rivers, and more inland/fresh water stuff.

-Yua, the only one I did intend when designing the final phases, is sunsets. She's supposed to be basically the beautiful sunset you see at a beach (or at least the stereotype of one)

-Haru is definitely unintentional. I was going for a lightning/energy vibe when I was making sear fourth phase, but looking back on it, I think sea represents the weather and storms found in oceans, especially ones that all fishermen and sailors fear.

-Finally is Aoi, and his representation is actually the only one not really there. I was definitely just playing around with his design when I came up with the lace, but it doesn't really fit into any ocean theme. Well, I guess you could say they can represent fishing with the lace being like fishing nets, but I don't think that's good since fishing nets represent a high portion of pollution in the ocean.

I mean, I could say that Aoi represents the balance between ocean life and pollution. Because their lace is like coral reefs that are delicate but also represent fishing nets just because of how similar they are. Also Aoi having a kinda toxic personality and was most likely the villain in the Doki Doki Mermaid Club game would make this a bit more realistic/plausible.

So yeah! Aoi represents the battle between ocean life trying to survive and humanity over harvesting the ocean. Which also plays into Aoi's pearl theme since pearls are farmed a lot.

#rambling #eritalks #noart #just had to write this out #so i will hopefully remember it #i want to redesign their final phases #since i have a better understanding of the characters now #one day i will

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foap-enjoyer · 7 months

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Hiding an injury | Betrayal | Lying

Hiding an injury.

'There's soldiers worse off.'

Triggers for this prompt: Implied broken bones, disassociation, scalding of hot liquid. Mentions of amputation and surgery. Ships for this prompt: Pre-Ghoap implied. Also fatherly Price moment/s.

Word count: ~3000

Read here, on AO3: Ouch. - Chapter 4 - Tsukuyomi_Ravioli - Call of Duty (Video Games) [Archive of Our Own]

“Well, that went to shit.”

“Nicely put, Sergeant.”

He would’ve also been the idiot to have to drag Ghost out of the fray, but luckily, Gaz was there. He had been quick to charge forward, hooking his hands through Ghost’s shoulder-straps and yanking, hard. They’d tumbled off out of view and into the brush surrounding the battle field. An embarrassing feat, and yet Soap never called him out for it.

That was because he found out later Gaz had been shot too, reaching for their lieutenant. Shoulder, right besides his neck- way too close for comfort. Way too close.

Like he said. The mission went to shit.

He felt bad for the doctors, too- and the nurses, and field medics, and anyone during those gruelling four hours out on the field who had any single drop of medical training. They’d been strained, and if he was honest, were still strained now. Injuries don’t heal magically once you step off of the helo and onto base, after all. Four of the fifteen had collapsed upon arriving, seven had needed surgery, and yet another had died along the way. It had been pure chaos.

So why would he bring up that he was hurt?

So, he did the next best thing; shut the fuck up.

This was no different.

Sit like a good, quiet dog.

Price sighed from beside him. A heavy, achingly tired sound.

Soap blinked away the fog building in his eyes, glancing over at him. “You alright, Cap?”

Price sighed again, “They’re gonna wait, see if he survives the night. Don’t want to put all that stress on them for nothing.”

He nodded. It made sense, after all. “You speak to the receptionist, then?”

“Ghost is doing fine. Bullet didn’t pierce anything major. He’s awake and moving, last I heard.”

“And… Gaz?”

Price inhaled sharply. “Gaz is in surgery. Bullet…” He exhaled, softer, this time. “Something about it is upsetting the doctors.”

“Fuck.”

“Fuck indeed, son. Fuck indeed.”

His captain blinked, opening his mouth to speak. Nothing came out. Soap chuckled, prodding the older man’s shoulder with his good arm. “Go get checked out.”

“I’m fine.” Price found his voice, furrowing his brows. “Just a few scrapes.”

“Always better to get checked out, aye?”

Price’s eyes fell on him. “Have you?”

He sported the beige, sad, half-sticky plaster as a token of his truth.

“Go on.” He encouraged with a wave of his hand when Price jostled slightly, uncertain. “Get lost, go get looked at.”

“Alright.” That one word was filled with doubt. Soap smiled harder, a grin that bared his teeth. A defensive smile. “Stay here, will you?”

“Wouldn’t dream of leaving you, Cap.”

“Soap?”

Soap groaned, blindly warding the person off with his leg, bumping against what he assumed was their knee. “Go ‘way.”

“Son.” A soft chuckle. Then, a hand on his shoulder, squeezing gently. “You can’t just sit here forever.”

“Can too.” He huffed, twisting in his seat, suddenly very, very aware of how uncomfortable he felt. How his back ached, and how his arm throbbed warmly under his sleeve. His neck hurt too. He must’ve fallen asleep at an awkward angle. Sighing, he cracked open an eye to regard the man in front of him. Price looked downright exhausted himself, and Soap didn’t doubt for a second that he wasn’t. “What’s up?”

Price sighed, mirroring him. “Nothing, nothing. Which, if I’m honest, is more annoying than something. I haven’t got any news on Gaz yet. Still in surgery.”

Soap exhaled sharply. “Still? How long was I out?”

“About six hours or so.” His eyes were gentle as he took a seat opposite Soap, leaning his elbows on his knees, then resting his head atop his hands. “It’s been a long fucking night, Sergeant.”

He hummed in understanding. His arm felt heavier than ever, still throbbing achingly under his skin, twisting and turning with each breath. It hurt, but Price was right. It had been a long night, not only for them, but for the doctors, too. He couldn’t walk in now, couldn’t ask for help. Couldn’t bring himself to. He could go tomorrow, maybe, if they weren’t so booked up. “How many others?”

“Are still in their care?”

“Aye.”

Price leaned back, head hitting the wall behind him, his eyes half closed tiredly. “Around ten.”

Yeah. No way he was walking in there.

So, he stood himself up, brushed himself off, as best as he could, and offered his good hand to Price, who blinked up at him, exhausted. “Why don’t we go grab a drink or something?” He offered with a smile, “C’mon.”

They ended up in the staff room.

Their staff room, to be specific. A little common room just for squadron 141. Apparently being an ‘elite’ force meant they got their own set of tea and coffee. Go figure.

The sofas weren’t of the best quality, but they were enough to quell the agony in his back, even if just by a smidge. So, in his eyes, good enough.

It’s not like the aches and pains of a post-mission body would fade quickly, after all. Not at his age. He wasn’t a little kid any more, and his body needed time. He’d feel better soon enough. He hoped.

Across from him, Price was nursing his drink of choice; Earl grey tea. The old bastard. His eyes were half-closed, mouth parting occasionally to either sip or yawn as he stared into nothingness, locked in his own thoughts.

Soap could relate. Of course he could relate. His mind was on Gaz. On his surgery, as well as the countless others they had dragged back from the fight only a few hours ago. He wondered how Ellias was doing, the young soldier whose legs were most likely removed, by now. Wondered if the man had even survived the traumatic surgery. God knows he wouldn’t have.

He blinked as something warm touched his hands. Something hot. Boiling, even.

Peering down at his own mug, he watched in fascination as his hands trembled around the ceramic glass, jolting the liquid inside. Morsels of coffee spilled out over the sides, burning holes into his pale skin.

“You alright, son?” That was Price speaking. Who else would it be, dumbass? Concern dripped in his voice, and he could hear shuffling ahead of him. Yet his eyes remained enrapt by the scalding marks growing on his skin. Like a moth to light. “Son…?”

He felt… numb.

He couldn’t feel his body anymore. Like he was high, floating above his body like a ghost. Spectating himself, he supposed. He knew he was in pain, and yet, he couldn’t feel any of it. He could see the red marks trailing across the skin of his hands. He could feel the aches in his neck and back, the throbbing in his arm, and yet he couldn’t feel it.

It was like he was high, floating above his body, spectating himself. Like he wasn’t him. He felt panicked at such a feeling and yet he couldn’t even feel that fucking panic. Like the emotion just bubbled out of him like an overfull glass. Like the coffee in his mug, hitting his skin.

There was a hand, on his own, squeezing. The mug, just like that, was steadied. His emotions no longer overflowing. He breathed wetly.

When had he been crying?

“-ap? Soap.”

His eyes flickered upwards. Price was kneeled in front of him, eyes wide with worry. Worry that practically tenfolded as soon as Soap simply glanced in his direction. “What’s wrong?”

Nothing. Nothing was wrong. He was fine, why did Price care? There were others who needed help more. Gaz. Ellias. All their soldiers. Why did Price care?

He shook his head, biting his lip before tugging his hands away from Price’s own, ignoring the wave of agony that shot up his spine at the simple movement. Coffee splattered onto his knees. “I’m fine.”

“You’re not-” Price’s hands reached up, wrapping onto his forearms. Both his forearms.

Tight fingers pressed into his bruised arm, and he gasped, yelping, fingers loosening on the mug in his hands, dropping the entire cup onto his lap as he writhed in pain. His whole body was in agony holy shit-

“Sorry- sorry!” He could hear Price apologising. Could feel hands moving away.

He hoped the coffee hadn’t burnt Price too.

A wad of fabric was shoved onto his legs, where the coffee had seeped through. A hand grappled once more for his bruised arm, holding tight. He hissed like a feral animal, vision blurry with pain, trying to yank himself back, but fingers held on firmly.

“Let me see, son.” Price was murmuring as he fought him. “Let me see. You’re alright.”

“Don’t touch it.” He sounded like a child. Like a whiny little kid. God, what was wrong with him? “Price, please-”

“I have to, kid. I’m sorry.” His sleeve was yanked up, and he felt Price flinch. “Jesus Christ, Soap… Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I was fine.” He snarled through tears, finally able to successfully yank his arm backwards, tucking it into his chest as he shuffled away in his seat. “I was handling it.”

“This isn’t handling it.” Price stared at him sadly. “C’mon. We’re going back to med.”

“No.” He shook his head, “They’re busy enough. They don’t need to fix… this.”

“Son. Look at me.” Price snapped his fingers, and Soap instinctually met his brown eyes. Ever the true soldier. “This.” He gestured to his bruised, swollen arm. “This isn’t normal. This isn’t bruising, son. I think you’ve broken your arm.”

Well it definitely explained why he was acting like a blubbering child right now.

“Let me take you to med.” Price pleaded softly, like a mother to a terrified child. “Soap. Come on.”

“I’m fine.” He stressed again, “I can handle it, sir.”

“It doesn’t matter if you can handle it or not.” The man shook his head, reaching forward to grasp Soap’s good hand. He wasn’t taking no for an answer. “Come on.”

Sitting on a gurney wasn’t Soap’s idea of a fun time.

Sitting on a gurney with a cast on his entire left arm wasn’t much better.

Sitting on a gurney hooked up to meds for his injuries was definitely not much better at all.

He felt alone.

Price had left him alone, needing to attend something to do with Gaz. The doctors had left him alone, needing to attend to other injured men. He had been right. The medbay was busy, they didn’t need him taking up a bed that could be used for someone more injured. Someone more important.

“Hey.”

His eyes flicked upwards to the door. There, stood in the frame, was none other than Simon Riley. He was on crutches, and his injured leg was high off of the floor, a bright, white bandage wrapped snug against the cut fabric of his jeans, on his thigh.

Soap sighed. “Hi.”

“I thought you weren’t injured?” Ghost moved himself inwards slowly, nudging the door closed with his plastic aids before beginning a trek that seemed far too long for someone so injured to his bedside.

Guilt churned in his gut. “I thought I wasn’t.”

“Bullshit.” Simon paused in his journey to look up at him through his mask. The black smudges around his eyes were semi-washed away. He must have had a cut on his face that needed tending to. “You don’t think I’m stupid enough to believe that, right?”

He huffed. “No.”

“Well it sounds like you do.” Ghost finally made it to his side, collapsing into the hard, plastic chair beside his gurney. “So spill it, Johnny.”

“Excuse me?”

“Why didn’t you tell anyone?” The end of a crutch poked him in the leg. Ghost’s eyes were narrowed with anger. “Not even the on-field medics?”

He shrugged. His shoulders ached with the movement. “Didn’t think I needed to.”

Another poke from the crutch. “Sergeant.”

“Why can’t you just fuck off?” He snarled, quickly regretting his choice of words as Ghost’s eyes shot up to him in semi-shock. “Sorry.”

The older man barked a laugh, which surprised him slightly. He had expected rage, anger. Not laughter. “I don’t take orders from Sergeants, Mactavish. Talk.”

“Look, I just-” He pinched the bridge of his nose, sighing. “I just didn’t want to take up space. Alright?”

“Elaborate?”

“Gaz was in surgery, we had soldiers dying, you were injured, why the fuck would I speak up?” God, now he was rambling. Like an idiot. “It didn’t matter what I was feeling, unlike the rest of you I wasn’t going to bleed out overnight. I could’ve come back tomorrow-”

Ghost held a hand up, and Soap fell into silence obediently. “No.”

Now it was his turn to laugh. “No?”

“That’s not how the military works, Soap. I thought you of all people would know this.”

“We don’t live in a first come first served world, Simon. I did what I thought was right.”

“But was it right?” Simon’s brown eyes bore holes into his soul, so he looked away, into his lap, fidgeting with the blankets. “Because the way I see it, Johnny, you don’t think of yourself as high as the podium you put the rest of us on.”

“How would you know?” He muttered.

“Trust me.” Simon’s voice was terrifyingly soft. A hand touched his leg, squeezing. “I know.”

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saanphoenix · 2 years

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QUITE the upbringing, huh? (In response to the tags of the sibling post)

Tl;dr: Custody battle when I was 6 months old. Taken in by great-grandparents who were in their late 60s and retired, living off Social Security and disability. Great-grandfather was an ex-Marine and the sole reason I cuss like a sailor and give fuck all about it. Great-grandmother had a 6th grade education from the 30s-40s era, having dropped out of school because babies that she gave up for adoption but stayed in contact with until she died. I was to be her Crowning Achievement.

I was as spoiled as a poor kid could be. Gender stereotypes didn't exist for me because they wanted me to be the happiest child ever. Chores didn't exist for me because, being retired, doing shit around the house is all they had to live for. Of course, living on fixed income and food stamps, allowances didn't exist for me, either. In fact, when a schoolmate explained the concept to me, I thought it was dumb.

I also thought most of my schoolmates were dumb, once I was sent to Kindergarten, because I had been raised by old people. All of that life experience? All of that, "What am I willing to put up with today? Not this," attitude? The simple way an older person treats a child in their speech and logic, as opposed to a 20-year-old who don't even know how to change a diaper? It culminated in a 5-year-old who didn't know how to 5-year-old.

Which, on its own, isn't a bad thing. My schoolwork was flawless. I was one of the best behaved kids. Teachers loved me. ...The other students were like, "What's the matter with you?" And I, being an "only child" and treated like the sun shone out of my ass, was like, "Nothing. What's the matter with you? ...Stupid."

Turns out you can be immune to bullying if you think the people calling you names are beneath you. 5-year-old life hack.

Life happened. I monkey-see-monkey-do'd the other kids so that I could at least have two whole friends to my name. And then, come the tail end of middle school, the side of the family that I'd been cut off from because Courts came back around. And with it came Siblings. All younger. All ecstatic to meet me. All...clearly raised by a 20-year-old who didn't know how to change diapers. Looking at you, Father. *finger guns*

Now, over the course of years--many, many years--of dealing with my siblings, and having lived with one for about a year or so near the end of high school, I can confidently say... Goddamn, I'm glad I grew up the way I did.

There was a period of time, early on, where I was like, "Man, I missed out on what media tells me is a wonderful thing. Sibling relationships. Such a shame." ...Until that period of time where I had to live with one. My boundaries? Didn't exist. My space? His space. My body? His punching bag. Because playful roughhousing was his idea of fun and my bones were not a fan. My shit? Now his shit. Without asking. Which was a behavior he stopped real quick when I finally threatened him in a cool, calm, and collected manner, a trait I apparently inherited from my father, which is why it worked.

And before anyone goes, "Well, my siblings--" This is about me and mine. I know mileage varies. Some sibling relationships are the Garden of Eden and some are the deepest depths of Hell. Mine is walking through a field of Legos while watching them lemming themself off every cliff they come across and then, when I peer over the edge at them, their mangled credit score and personal relationships asks me for more money. "I'll pay you back!" They intone. And I go, "No, you won't," and walk away, back across the Legos.

Anyway, point is: Yes, it is quite the upbringing. Definitely makes you see the family dynamic different than a typical nuclear one. And I wouldn't have it any other way. ...Because I have seen the other way in my family.

#spersonal #long post

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quocanhh55 · 2 months

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WEEK 9: GAMING COMMUNITIES, SOCIAL GAMING AND LIVE STREAMING

1. History of video games

Video games are interactive digital games that are played on many platforms, such as smartphones, computers, or consoles. They mainly feature one or more players participating in a virtual environment, controlling characters to accomplish objectives, overcome challenges, and meet goals in the game.

The history of video games began in the 1950s - 1960s when programmers started creating basic games and simulations on early-aged minicomputers. A remarkable example of them is Spacewar!, which was designed by the students of MIT in 1962. The game depicts a simple space combat scenario, where two players control spaceships and engage the battle in a 2D space environment.

Thanks to SpaceWar! and other early-aged video games, the foundation for the industry of gaming had been laid. In 2005 and 2006, Microsoft’s Xbox 360, Sony’s PlayStation 3, and Nintendo’s Wii kicked off the modern age of high-definition gaming (Editors 2017). These days, video games are being more and more developed with modern technologies, 3D dimension environments, stunning graphics… Newer control systems and family-oriented games have made it common for many families to engage in video game play as a group. Online games have continued to develop, gaining unprecedented numbers of players (University of Minnesota Libraries Publishing 2016). The most remarkable of them are League of Legends, FC Online, Fortnite… With a huge number of players, high-resolution graphics, and competitive gameplay, they dominated most game markets in many countries and opened a new environment for gamers to show off their abilities.

2. The culture of gaming

Since the gaming industry began to develop, it also formed the culture of playing video games. It consists of the popular attitudes, behaviors, and practices that surround gamers and their communities. One of the most popular stereotypes about gamers is that they are considered to be mainly young people, white or East-Asian, and predominantly males. According to the Entertainment Software Association’s 2018 recent report, 45% of gamers in the U.S. are female. However, among core gamers, males dominate, making the female statistic somewhat misleading (Fu n.d.). Sexism and inappropriate behavior towards females are commonplace. Players appear to conform to stereotypical masculine norms and tend to maintain a male-dominant hierarchy.

Besides the dominance of males in old stereotypes about video games, the culture of nerd and geek is also another remarkable stereotype. Gamers are mainly seen as nerdy, lazy, and unattractive. They are also considered not to have stable study or job occupations, most of the time focusing on video games. The view from the society to them is mainly negative as they are seen to have no beneficial contribution to the community. However, on the other hand, those people are highly welcomed in gaming communities, who share with them many similar interests and behaviors.

3. Gaming communities

Since the birth of video games, players have always been looking to find like-minded people. From the first pixel adventures to today’s multiplayer online worlds, gaming communities have played a huge role in transforming games from mere entertainment to true cultural phenomena (Games 2023). These communities mainly take place in online games environments or social media such as Steam Community, Discord, Reddit… A number of them can also bond together by performing real-life activities. There have been gaming events which are hosted to showcase technologies and connect gamers such as Gamescom, Taipei Game Show, DreamHack… In Vietnam, these occursions are becoming more popular as they can be hosted locally with a small number of gamers in local gaming centers or huge tournaments in arenas. Communities of reputable games such as Gunny, League of Legends, and FC Online are the main contributors to the shared environment. A number of them also take part in community movements such as MixiGaming. In 2020, the group donated about 200 million VND to build bridges for a remote mountainous village in Cao Bang province and used the residue funds to give bicycles to children with difficulties traveling to their schools. These activities improved the image of gaming communities in many people, influencing them to change their thoughts about gaming culture.

4. Live-streaming in gaming culture

The donations of MixiGaming mainly come from live streaming sessions of Do Mixi, a reputable gamer in Vietnam. He conducted live videos and publicized all the received money to maintain transparency of the fund. Live-streaming is also an attractive point not only for him but also for many gamers. Video game live streaming is a kind of real-time video social media that integrates traditional broadcasting and online gaming (Li, Wang & Liu 2020). In recent years, the online broadcast industry has developed rapidly with the emergence of various live-streaming platforms, such as Twitch, YouTube, Douyu, Huya, and so on. In 2016, Twitch and YouTube Gaming had more than 470 million regular visitor members in 2016 (more than 50% of gamers in the US, Europe, and Asia Pacific). In recent years, the market for this type of gaming media has even increased more sharply, making it an ideal market for many streamers. From these live-streaming sessions, communities are formed around them as the streamer attracts several viewers. They can make a great contribution to other content of the live streaming channels, whether to give suggestions for the next video or be on stage with the streamer. The phenomenon gave birth to many communities and improved the influence of gamers, making live streaming a lucrative market and developing the gaming industry as well.

References:

1. Editors, H com 2017, Video Game History, HISTORY, viewed 21 March 2024, https://www.history.com/topics/inventions/history-of-video-games#modern-age-of-gaming. 2. Fu, D n.d., A Look at Gaming Culture and Gaming Related Problems: From a Gamer’s Perspective, viewed 21 March 2024, https://smhp.psych.ucla.edu/pdfdocs/gaming.pdf. 3. Games, BG 2023, Gaming Communities: The Rise and Impact of Gaming Communities on the World of Video Games, Medium, viewed 21 March 2024, https://bggames.medium.com/gaming-communities-the-rise-and-impact-of-gaming-communities-on-the-world-of-video-games-1fec152f649f. 4. Li, Y, Wang, C & Liu, J 2020, ‘A Systematic Review of Literature on User Behavior in Video Game Live Streaming’, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, vol. 17, no. 9, p. 3328. 5. University of Minnesota Libraries Publishing 2016, 10.2 The Evolution of Electronic Games, open.lib.umn.edu, University of Minnesota Libraries Publishing edition, 2016. This edition is adapted from a work originally produced in 2010 by a publisher who has requested that it not receive attribution.

#mda20009 #digital communities #swinburne #week9 #gamer #gaming community #livestream #gaming culture

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practically-an-x-man · 9 months

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Random character asks. Give me one canon and one oc

2, 17, 18, 31

thank you so much bestie!!!

answers under the cut as usual. I ended up kinda bouncing around characters because that was easier.

Random Character Asks

2. A canon or headcanon hill I will die on

Okay, I know you said one canon and one OC, but I'm feeling opinionated today and I don't really know how to answer this was an OC anyway.

Alex Summers is not dumb. Lack of education does not mean dumb. A criminal record does not mean dumb. He's quick-witted and can react quickly in a fight - not to mention, in the comics he's actually very intelligent and studies geophysical sciences. I'm tired of people turning him into a stereotypical "bad boy" and completely erasing those other sides of his character.

Billy from 6 Underground is not dumb. ADHD does not mean dumb. He talks fast and bounces from topic to topic, goes off on random side tangents, but he's not stupid. Parkour as a whole requires a lot of snap judgements, and intrinsic knowledge of physics and kinesthetics. Then add that to the fact that he was a thief and had to plan how to steal his target items (and not just himself, a whole crew of people), and there's actually a lot of intellect that goes into his character.

Just in general, I feel like intelligence gets missed when the character isn't "book smart" or formally educated. Just because a character doesn't spout facts and calculations doesn't mean they're dumb. There are so many other characters I could talk about here because it happens a LOT, but that's a separate post.

17. Quotes, songs, poems, etc. that I associate with them

Obviously I work a lot of music into my fics, but I think Prometheus is the only one where I've made a truly defined playlist (and I don't really collect quotes or read a lot of poems). The song I most associate with them is The Calling by The Amazing Devil, for so many reasons. Here, look at the lyrics:

Back then, I was dauntless And dawn could never know And my weakness made me weep less Than I would ever show you I'd burn so bright it blinded Now I know that light guided me here I walked into the river To wring those embers from my broken heart and broken liver You'll never get your dinner if you don't learn how to get along And a fox somewhere is hiding That light I thought was blinding brought me here I look into the waters and see a face I don't understand We're both unwanted daughters But there's more than water in these autumn hands I look into the waters and see a face I don't recognize Who's this? (Who are you?) "What changed?" I ask "So strange, " she replies Shoulder the sky (I can't wait to show you how much) Open those eyes (I know you can be, just let the rain come) There's a kind (let the rain come down, darling) (Can't you hear it howling?) Of calling, calling

Look at it! The "burning" and "embers", all the fire symbolism! And then followed by a reference to the mythological Prometheus, with the "broken liver" bit! And the "looking into the waters" to me represented Prometheus partway through their transformation into a dream, when they look at themself and no longer see Nyx, but don't quite know what they've become yet. It fits them just so perfectly.

And I really like Wolf by First Aid Kit for the Corinthian too (thanks for sharing the song with me bestie, it's become one of my favorites).

18. What they’d go to see a therapist about

Bestie everyone needs so much therapy I don't even know who to talk about here.

Indie definitely needs to work through some PTSD. Even before the war, I think she struggles with it just from her experiences on Corellia, but it definitely gets worse after the final battle and everything that happened there.

I also feel like she and Hux might seek out couple's therapy at some point - not because anything's wrong, but just because they're both used to being alone and might need help learning to adjust to being able to rely on someone else.

31. If they had a tumblr what would it look like?

Out of my OCs, Jasper's the most likely to have a tumblr account. They probably made an account when they were 14-15 and spent way too long designing their blog, but hasn't changed it since then because they got too busy with college and didn't have the time. I don't think they'd have any blog theme, they'd just kinda reblog whatever they felt like.

For canon characters, this is a bit of a shitpost but I think it would be really funny if the Corinthian had a tumblr that was just him posting really vague rants about his boss, where they're juuust enough bizarre detail that you can't tell if it's a real rant or a tumblr-ism. Sort of like the @dreamofthemaidenless blog, I think

#my friends!!!#answered asks #ask game #my writing #my ocs #fanfic #fanfic author

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