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dosthoeyevsky · 23 days ago

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You Cant Free Palestine if You're In Jail or Dead.

(An open letter to every American on the internet, from a random Australian who has studied US politics basically against her will and is so, so tired.)

I don't like talking about US politics. I'm not American, so in theory, I shouldn't have to talk about it if I don't want to. But life isn't fair, no matter how little I want to care about USAmerican politics, it's going to affect the policies my country makes, and that every other country in the world makes. In a perfect world, this wouldn't happen. But this is not a perfect world, and we must be pragmatic.

At the end of the day, the one thing I cannot afford to ignore at any cost is the fact that I simply give a shit about my fellow human beings. We are a social species. We must help each other to survive, no matter where in the world we are. I care about people in my native Australia being able to access affordable housing and food, and climate change-proofing our infrastructure. I care about people in Bangladesh fighting for workers rights. I care about people in China who advocate for freedom of information. I care about Americans whose public infrastructure is crumbling under climate change events like hurricanes Helene and Milton as we speak, and I care about civilians in Palestine and Ukraine currently trying to survive the ultimate horror that is militarized violence.

(For any other non-Americans reading, I apologise for how US-centric most of the following spiel is about to get. But the election's in like two weeks, and I feel like I can't express this any other way right now.)

Many of us care about these things. Since October 7th of last year, millions of people around the world, many of them American, have been protesting, donating, advocating, for ceasefire and an end to the systemic termination of human civilian lives in Gaza. And as the 2024 US Election draws near, both major political party candidates are being scrutinized (rightly) for their support of the Israeli Defense Forces, who are conducting this bombardment and deliberately targeting and killing civilians.

I have heard many fellow progressives denounce democratic candidate Kamala Harris for not openly calling for a ceasefire, and I understand why.

However.

Her opponent is Donald Fucking Trump.

It's been eight years since the 2016 election. A lot of people who were young then are now eligible to vote (by the way, if you haven't already, check your voter registration and make sure you also have the option to vote by mail at the ready in case you can't access a polling station on election day.) And if that's you, and you've only become eligible to vote in the last eight years or so, you need to be very keenly aware of something.

You don't get a third option. It's Harris or Trump.*

Because of how the US electoral system works, third party candidates basically cannot win because of how ingrained the two party system has become over the past couple hundred years and change. No third party candidate is going to gather the numbers behind them to beat out Donald Trump and his army of worshipers, and definitely not in the next two weeks.

This means if Harris does not win, Trump will.

This might not make an immediate difference in Palestine for the first few days of either administration, but it's going to make a massive difference for the actual millions of Americans currently undertaking activism once he's elected.

To sum up, the fight for Palestine (or at least the fight to stop funding the military) has much greater odds of winning with Kamala Harris in the white house than trump, and if you care about that fight at all, you have to vote for her.

To be clear, I know she's not a christian** leftist, and she won't immediately stop funding the war, but under her administration, you will be able to fight for the ceasefire and your own rights much more effectively and in greater numbers than you ever will be able to with Trump in the white house.

Project 2025 is very fucking real and you should know that if you care about Palestine, him taking office will not only speed up the rate at which the genocide happens, but will also utterly tank your ability as a collective to fight against it and for any other progressive cause, for that matter, ever again.

Many of the activists fighting for Palestine on US soil right now are BIPoC, women, queer, trans, disabled, or any combination of the above. Roe vs Wade has already been overturned on a federal level by judges appointed during the Trump administration, and most of the anti-trans legislation currently metastasizing is doing so under republican-led state governments aligned with Trump.

If you're in jail (or dead) for trying to access abortion or birth control, you can't help free Palestine.

If you're in jail (or dead) for trying to access trans-related healthcare, you can't help free Palestine.

If you're overworked, over-indebted, or slowly dying because of a lack of healthcare coverage that could support you if you become (or are) permanently or temporarily disabled, you can't help free Palestine.

If you're over-indebted, unhoused, or dead because where you live hasn't funded the infrastructure it needs to survive climate change events like hurricanes, deep freezes, wildfires, droughts, and heatwaves, you can't help free Palestine.

As the above linked video states, if you are a US citizen, you are one degree of separation from someone who is going to get their quality of life drastically negatively impacted by a second Trump administration. And every person affected by those policies is one less person able to fight to stop the US government from aiding and abetting actual, literal war crimes.

I understand that Harris won't immediately end all suffering upon election. But unlike Trump, she actually values the lives of human beings who aren't cishet white men ready to fork over their livelihoods and lick boots. She has a vested interest in improving the immediate quality of life for American citizens, and if your immediate quality of life is improved, you will be much better able to fight to stop the US government from funding the systemic slaughter of civilians in Gaza.

So if you give a shit about Gaza, or worker's rights, or healthcare, or equality, or climate change, you need to vote for Harris. Even though she doesn't adhere to all progressive ideals. Hell, even though it already looks like everything is about to go to hell in a proverbial handbasket.

Think of it like this, right. Everyone in the world is on a plane right now, and the plane is crashing. The USA and Palestine are sitting right next to each other. The oxygen masks drop from the ceiling and dangle overhead.

When you get on a plane, the instructions say to put your own oxygen mask on and then assist others. This will increase your odds of surviving the crash. What the USA should do, is put on its own oxygen mask, because it will enable them to assist Palestine with theirs. By petulantly refusing to vote for Harris because "everything's already fucked", not only are you not going to be able to meaningfully help Palestine, you're drastically lowering your own odds of survival.

To add insult to injury, and to extend the metaphor for plane crashes as unfolding world issues, in the case of the extremely pressing issue of climate change, the US is not just seated next to Palestine, it is, in fact, flying the fucking plane.

If you Americans don't get your shit together and put on your oxygen mask by voting Harris, not only does your quality of life get flushed down the toilet, so does ours. Maybe not by patriarchal religious oligarchy, but by the rising tides, heavier droughts, encroaching famines, harsher storms, that will inevitably get worse under Trump because unlike Harris, Trump has a vested interest in funding the industries that keep the world's greatest polluters in business.

And let me be clear, to every American with progressive leanings who doesn't want to vote- if Trump wins, and your rights are stripped away, and the war goes on, and everyone else in the world drowns, it's your fucking fault, and I will haunt you. I hope my words certainly haunt you.

This isn't about making the most ideologically pure choice. This is about making the practical choice that gives you the greatest odds of survival, because survival means you can keep being activists.

So be practical, for fuck's sake.

*I hate to burst the bubble of every progressive idealist out there, but you are not organising a glorious leftist revolution that somehow steamrolls the entire US political institution in the next two weeks. That takes money and frankly firepower that most of you are unwilling and unable to organise. Even if it does, it will just be January 6th again but with a leftist coat of paint on it. And violent revolutions don't result in better quality of life long term for civilians if you don't have a plan in place for an ethical government to replace the previous one. I've known enough young leftists both online and off to know that that's not happening anytime soon either.

** This is a reference to this person on the reality TV show Trading Spouses, who, frankly, a lot of people on this website resemble when engaging in discourse. A lot of you ascribe to a set of leftist ideals driven by unreachable standards of moral conformity, personal disgust, and pride in personal moral purity that is functionally just oppressive evangelical christianity but with progressive gay window dressing. Before you open my askbox to scream incoherently into it, know now that no matter what, I'm going to delete it. You are wasting your time. Stop your portland polycule commune cult-tier bullshit where all activism begins and ends with hurling verbal abuse at anyone you disagree with. That's not activism. Stop threatening people with doxxing and death threats over fandom headcanons you deem "non-progressive" and do something useful. Join a mutual aid group. Better yet, vote for the person who isn't going to put you in jail for taking birth control or being trans.

#free palestine #US politics #palestine #israel #2024 election #kamala harris #donald trump #im going to immediately shut down my ask box and mute my notifications and go to bed #its 2 am and i just want to get this off my chest #for fuck's sake i just want to not live in fear for the next ten years. twenty years. whatever. is that too much to ask

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911buddieweek · 1 year ago

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Hi everyone! I saw that there hasn't been a Buddie Week in a few years and that the account hosting this hasn't been active. I tried to get in contact but they never responded. Weeks dedicated to ships were always my favorites in different fandoms, so I decided, why not try to host it myself?

I am aware this can me stressful to do on my own, but I am giving it a chance! Besides, it'll be in 2024 so I'll have time to prepare.

That said, I want to ask YOU for some help figure out when this week should take place. This will happen in different polls.

First: today (November 3rd) this post will contain the first poll which season this week should be held:

Based on which season has the most votes, I will do another poll which month would be your favorite choice (unless December wins). Then when a month is chosen, there will be a poll which week should be used.

I might also do a poll which form of the week. Personally I use Monday-Sunday, but I know there are also people who use Sunday as the first day of the week.

Once we have chosen a week, we can start doing prompts! A form will be up for several weeks where you can suggest prompts. Then the most sent + my own favorites get put in a new form where you can vote.

There will be a poll to see if you want alternate prompts, multiple prompts a day to choose from, like @whumptober does for their events, or only 7 promps - 1 for each day. Then based on the amount of prompts needed, the ones with the most votes will be put in Buddie Week 2024.

Buddie week is for everyone!

You can do anything: Fics, gifsets, collages, video editing, picture editing, podcasts, playlists, podfics, art, poems. Whatever you want to create, you can do it!

EXCEPT THE USE OF AI IS FORBIDDEN!

AI technology steals from fellow artists and therefore it is against the rules to use AI to create something for Buddie Week.

I hope this is all the information you need to get excited! And I really hope to see people join to celebrate Buddie for a week!

Please share! You have my permission to share this post on other media like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Discord, anything. I hope to reach as many people as I can!

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snickerzanddoodlez · 10 months ago

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I just don’t like Violet from Wordgirl. To be honest, I think she’s a bad friend.

I’d like to say: Violet is not a bad character. Some people may find her annoying, but I really don’t! Violet is fudging hilarious, her delivery is perfect and the show wouldn’t be the same without her.

But I don’t think she’s a good friend.

To clarify, this is an opinion! It’s not fact! I think early season Violet is a sweetheart and deteriorated later on. If you disagree? Great! Opinions are awesome!

Also, I know they’re ten haha, so don’t take this too seriously. I hold Violet to much different standards than I would an actual 10-year-old.

Also: I know Becky isn’t perfect! She has her off moments, but I think we see consistent effort from her to be as good a friend as she can.

I think there’s more to this story than just the events of “Rhyme and Reason”, but I think they’re worth acknowledging.

She reacts poorly, getting upset, offended, etc….but she isn’t the only one to go through this.

Scoops finds out about her secret identity as well, and expresses that he’s offended by it- but he does not go through the same guilt-tripping theatrics that Violet does. Yes, Violet and Becky are closer friends than Scoops and Becky, but it’s worth acknowledging.

I’ll elaborate more on Rhyme and Reason later. There’s another episode that I think displays some issues with Violet as a friend.

In “Too Loud Crew”, Becky- after avoiding being truthful- admits that she doesn’t feel comfortable at Violet’s house. Violet immediately takes offense to this- “Well, maybe I don’t feel comfortable at YOUR house!”- storming off, etc.. We see why Becky is uncomfortable at her house (the singing stone and things of the sort), and even while she’s trying to apologize Violet insists that she has to follow the house rules.

In the end, Violet says “just tell me how you feel next time”….and she did! This line wouod be more understandable if she overheard Becky complaining about Violet’s house to someone else, but Becky did tell her how she felt. Yes, this is nitpicky, I realize that…..for me, another example of something that I wouldn’t get mad at if there weren’t so many other things I was made at.

It’s sad, because I don’t think Violet was always a bad friend. Especially in the early Birthday Girl episodes (I.e. The Birthday Girl and Slumber Party Pooper) she seems much more genuine and does much more for Becky’s sake.

Upon watching “Slumper Party Pooper”, (an episode where Violet accidentally tells Eileen about Wordgirl’s slumber party, and she comes to disrupt it) @skwangly-fingers and I joked that if this were a later episode, Violet would be mad that Becky was ruining Eileen’s birthday. Though we were joking, we do think there’s a sharp decline in Violet’s overall “good-friend-ness”.

Something else that rubs me the wrong way is that Violet wins who matter what. I don’t think this in itself makes her a bad person and would be funny to me if it didn’t feel like she always gets whatever she wants.

For example, in “A Vote for Becky” she wins the class election without even running. This is played as a joke, and isn’t really Violet’s fault- but I think how often she gets things she didn’t even ask for has not helped my resentment towards this child.

Art’s Parts is an episode I think is worth mentioning. It displays negative traits from both Becky and Violet….and I think my main issue with it is that the argument of “which is more powerful, art or words?” only ends with Becky realizing art is powerful, not both sides learning to understand each other…..which (this could be incorrect) feels like a theme in the show. Becky always seems to bend to fit Violet’s wants, but barely vice versa.

I think Violet gets much more upset during their argument than necessary, but so does Becky. The argument is here at 2:15 https://youtu.be/clKDbs6XqrQ?si=De4XZwaObUuHJIN8. This scene I felt was important to include.

I just think as the series goes on, she becomes more ignorant to Becky’s feelings.

Now, onto everyone’s talking point: Rhyme and Reason.

I would like to point out that evidence finding out Wordgirl is Becky, Violet seemed to really look up to Wordgirl, at least early on. She makes some less than flattering remarks, but we have to remind ourselves that Violet did not realize she was talking to Wordgirl herself when she said them.

I think Violet’s theatrics when she discovers Becky’s identity don’t paint her in a very flattering light. Yes, I understand that it’s there to build suspense, and I think it’s very good writing! But keeping some of her other behavior in mind, it can really come across like Violet is playing mind games with her.

“All you’ve ever done is lie to me.” I understand that she is emotional, and that could be causing her to say some things she doesn’t truly mean, but this line especially rubs me the wrong way, especially because Violet never apologizes, nor is she ever implied to be in the wrong, when I’d argue that she is for at least some of what she says.

I think it’s the difference between “Have you ever meant anything you’ve said?” and “All you’ve ever done is lie to me.” One is a genuine question born out of emotion, one feels more as though it comes from a place of bitterness.

Again, I think the moment is masterfully written, but I don’t think it’s very flattering to Violet. And again, I don’t think this scene would bother me so much if Violet herself didn’t do so much outside of it to provoke me.

I think Athena P puts her opinions very well. I don’t agree with everything she says, but I think it’s important to include (also, Athena P is one of my favorite YouTubers. Very based. Pog, if you will. Go watch her, she has some spicy takes but is very entertaining and is the person who got me into the show.)

ATHENA P: “So at first I thought Violet infuriated me because she gets everything she wants. She’s dating Scoops- the guy Becky likes-, she was the lead in the school play, she even won class president despite her not even running. But what really threw me over the edge was the Halloween episode where she’s just eating up that everyone thinks she’s Wordgirl……

But what really gets me, the real reason I am beefing with this ten year old, is her entitlement.

In Too Loud Crew, Becky tries expressing to Violet that she just feels uncomfortable in Violet’s house. So instead of Violet hearing out her friend, she immediately jumps to defensiveness. Why don’t you want to come over to my house? Oh, you’re uncomfortable? I always hang out at your house! So Becky, as always, tries to compromise, she goes over to Violet’s house and tries to make herself comfortable until Violet points out that Becky is holding the SINGING stone which means that Becky has to sing her feelings- actually, it was even stupider…”

“I really think that they wrote her to be annoying. So if anyone feels otherwise I’m sorry but this is my video. This leads me to the two-part series finale where Violet realizes that Becky is Wordgirl. This earth-shattering realization leads Violet to say that they can’t be friends anymore and she doubts they were ever friends to begin with- Violet, you are not the first person to realize that Becky is Wordgirl and no one has reacted this mellow-dramatically.

I understand the use of the “I feel lied and deceived” trope, I understand that it builds tension and makes people feel like they weren’t let in on an important part of their important friend’s life. That being said, it’s also just stupid. I’m sorry. I think they dropped the ball in the finale. I don’t think they’re realized it was gonna be a series finale, ‘cause it was a fine season finale.

I also don’t blame Becky for not telling Violet when Violet couldn’t even keep her mouth shut about Becky’s first sleepover to the only person Becky didn’t want to invite! …. My theory is that Violet isn’t used to her friend being the exceptional one.

She’s used to her friend being a word nerd but not THE word nerd. She even says something along the lines of, “but you’re not just Becky! You’re Wordgirl, you’re so much more” which if I were Becky I’d be very insulted by.”

If you have any disagreements or anything you think I should add to this post, please let me know! All I ask is that you’re respectful….I wouldn’t hold real ten-year-olds to the standard I hold Violet to, haha!

Again, this is my opinion, if you like Violet, great! Again, I think she’s charming and funny, I just think she’s not the greatest friend.

#wordgirl #wordgirl pbs #Wordgirl Violet #Violet heaslip #Violet bad friend #rhyme and reason #athena p #Wordgirl finale #too loud crew #Becky Botsford #Wordgirl identity

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ultimateshixiongfuckertournament · 10 months ago

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Canonicals Tournament Round 2, Match 1

Match 1 is between Xia Yao from Advance Bravely (shizun/mentor: Yuan Zong) and Wu Xi from Qi Ye / Lord Seventh (shizun/mentor: Jing Beiyuan)

Propaganda under the cut! (Warning: Propaganda may include spoilers about the characters and their media)

Xia Yao:

I mean, have you SEEN them? Ok, so in the event that you haven't... Xia Yao is a young but accomplished police officer, well-trained in martial arts. He meets his match in Yuan Zong, who runs a bodyguard training facility. Yuan Zong's sister is smitten with Xia Yao, and begs her brother to "help her get him", but her plans backfire when Xia Yao and Yuan Zong develop an interest in each other. Xia Yao joins in with the bodyguards-in-training, ostensibly so he can beat Yuan Zong at his own game. In actuality, it's an excuse for a lot of eye-banging and sweaty shirtless training montages. Which evolve into sweaty shirtless "in bed" montages. Though they have their differences, the relationship that develops between them is intense and undeniable.

Wu Xi:

While JBY doesn't have a shizun status officially, he did act as Wu Xi's tutor for a while, and there are quite a few scenes in the novel of him teaching Wu Xi. Anyway imagine you are Wu Xi. You are 11 years old and your country was invaded and you've been taken as a diplomatic hostage. And they want you to assimilate but you've been chasing out all of the teachers with your venomous pets. And then your prettyboy neighbor is like hiiii :] and YOUR SNAKE (that your carry in your sleeve) LIKES HIM. what are you supposed to do then huh. NOT let him teach you? NOT fall in love with him? NOT steal him away from the future Emperor after using things he taught you to win back your country's independence?

#vote wuxi <3#he is down sooo bad for his POETRY tutor#where he learns ROMANTIC POETRY#that he later references#and has his tutor recites to him <3#obsessed with wuxi's propaganda here by the way

#wuxi is down so bad for his poety tutor#asks his tutor about a romantic poem and later his tutor recites it to him<3#wuxi betrothes his tutor to himself before telling him what it means#and later does fuck his tutor#and takes his tutor back to his hometown where they are gay married basically

#xia yao #wu xi #advance bravely #qi ye #lord seventh #yuan zong #jing beiyuan

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shygirl4991 · 10 months ago

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Tumblr Sexyman Tornament

Summary: The crew receive a letter from SMG3 to join a tournament that can change the boys into men, the great tumblr sexyman tournament. The crew must go through multiple challenges to win tumblrs votes. Who will be victorious in this grand tournament?

A gift for @alianarepasa

Tags: humor,silly, adventure, tumblr sexyman,

Everyone at the castle was running around excited, a mail toad arrived giving everyone letters to some event. SMG4 opens the letter and scoffs “Tumblr sexyman? This is 2024 who even cares about this stuff!” Bob rolls his eyes hearing SMG4 “THAT’S WHAT SOMEONE WHO ISN'T SEXY SAY!”

Four put the letter away and was ready to toss it till he heard Boopkins speak up “Oh but SMG4 Don't you know the host for the event is last year's winner!” hearing this SMG4 looks at the host name and goes pale “What...SMG3 WON SEXYMAN!” jealousy started to build up at the thought the internet found SMG3 of all people sexy. He snaps his fingers and turns to his crew “What are waiting for we have a competition to get to!” Everyone cheered as they ran through the portal. SMG4 eyes go wide seeing so many familiar faces in the crowd, then his eyes settle on the host himself. Ignoring his friends calling out to him he stomps up to the host “So you manage to win tumblr sexyman huh? Must have been because true sexyness wasnt around!” he smirks at Three making the man roll his eyes. The man turned to face four “Oh i didn't expect tumblr’s pathetic man to be showing up!”

The tension rises as the others watch the pair bicker on the stage, Boopkins frowns “Why can't we just get along and have fun with this?” SMG3 and four get close their bodies almost pressed against each other as they smirk “Just you wait and see im taking your title, no one can beat my level of sexy,” SMG3 chuckles leaning forward at this rate any wrong step and the pair would end up kissing “Then show me how sexy you can be, cause a loser like you don't know how to rizz anyone up.” Mario, seeing the tension between them steps forward, everyone gave him a confused look “HEY YOU TWO SHOULD KISS!!”

Both mens faces go red at that moment realizing how gay they must have looked as they step away from each other, then in sync yell “SHUT IT YOU ASS!” SMG3 takes a deep breath “Alright everyone! Let the games begin and SMG4 get off my stage!” he shoves Four off the stage making the man glare at him. SMG3 takes out a whiteboard and starts drawing on it, everyone watches excited for their first challenge. He points to the board and smiles “Okay everyone now that we have all invited accounted for let's begin! Your first challenge will be confidence, to be sexy you must be confident in all you do!

Everyone was taken by Ugandan knuckles to a personalized booth, each contestant had different prompts that will help them show their confidantes. SMG4 walked into the booth ready to show his stuff, looking around he noticed a computer with his youtube channel pulled up. He gets closer to the computer “My channel?” he hears a chuckle as the lights turn off, SMG4 jumps in fear “Uh hello? What's the challenge?” with a blink the lights turn back on. He looks down to notice he was now wearing a dress, then a camera comes out of the wall with a note “Well four, I'm sure your fans are excited for your new video!”

Hearing this, four panics “What i'm not making a video in a dress!” Another note appears catching his attention giving him a warning if he doesn't he will be kicked out. He sighs looking at the camera “Hey everyone it's me…Princess SMG4…” he could feel himself cringing, he needed something to spark a fire. Remembering that his rival did these challenges with no issue he smiles at the camera placing his hands on his hips “And i'm about to show you some royal class memes!” After passing the challenge he was ready to get out of the dress “No no SMG4, real sexyman will finish the whole thing in a dress!” Hearing the smug tone in SMG3's voice angered four as he stepped out of the booth. To his surprise half of the people that started are gone, he walks up to the crew that gives him different looks “Don't ask.”

Mario gives him a thumbs up “You make pretty bride!” he glares at Mario for his comment. Meggy giggles and pats his back “Hey it's not bad you have to wear a dress, i was in a battle with no splatgun!” Everyone talks about their first challenge, they all sounded intense so why was he making a youtube video in a dress. A bell rings catching the crews attention “The votes are coming in hot guys time for challenge two! The internet is a sucker for bad boys, so your next challenge is to show how bad you all can be!”

Everyone nods getting ready, SMG4 glares at Three “How am i supposed to do that in a dress?!” Three laughs at the man “Not my problem! Alright viewers at home get ready to vote!” SMG4 walks up to the stage confusing three, suddenly four jumps three and they start fighting, knocking over the camera and ruining the set. Three gets up rubbing his head to notice he was now wearing the white dress they put on four “OI! GIVE ME BACK MY CLOTHES!” SMG4 running off in threes outfit sticks his tongue out as he attempts to catch up with the others. He was already falling behind as he watched the others rob banks and pirate movies, he looked around thinking how he can be a bad boy. An idea comes to mind as he sneaks up to Mario, he just robbed a restaurant of all its spaghetti. He was laughing and not paying attention to the bag, SMG4 grabs the bag and starts running “IM SORRY!”

Mario turns looking at his best friend in shock before getting angry and starts charging after the meme guardian. Four started screaming as he was being chased, he did his best to avoid the fat Italian as the votes started coming in. Three fixes his dress annoyed that it was dirty and smiles at the camera “Times almost up everyone you have five more minutes to commit your crime!” SMG4 slides in a small gap knowing that Mario wouldn't fit, he lets out a sigh of relief until he starts hearing singing. He starts to shake as he turns looking through the hole. That's when he saw Mario’s arm stretch towards arm. Panicked, he grabs a chair and starts to smack Mario’s arm away till the timer rings letting everyone know the challenge is done.

SMG4 fixes threes hat to make sure it doesn’t fall off his head, he drops the bag of food which Mario jumped the moment he saw it. SMG3 walks up to the final contestants “DUDE WHAT IS WITH THAT GAY AS DRESS?” SMG3 glares at him “Shut it bob, and I know lots of people love seeing someone as sexy as me rock a dress!” Three glares at his partner before pointing the letter in his hands “Everyone has placed their votes, we know the winner!”

SMG4 eyes go wide surprised “what two challenges and that's it?!” Three scoffs at the comment “Sexyman isnt about skill its about being sexy to the viewers, we can have all the challenges wont change the mind of fans you of all people should know that idiot.” Four sighs looking down, SMG3 would know better than anyone about how fans can be given the creepy fan mail the man gets. The drum rolls and as three opens the letter “In fifth place Mario…which is surprising he ranked so high when he mostly ate paste,” he sighs as he changes the card to see the next person.

“Fourth place is Toad! Many people watching loved how you hacked into SMG4 channel and posted that video of him in a dress!” SMG4 eyes go wide as he turns to Toad who was laughing, flipping him off, in a panic he takes out his phone and curses to himself. The internet graveyard has no internet beside the starbucks, he was going run to the cafe close by only to get grabbed by Three. “Third place, Meggy for her display of confidence in the badass showdown against the infestation of rat memes that i didn't want to deal with!” SMG4 struggles against Threes hold “Let go bitch i need to delete the video!!” ignoring his partner he flips to the next card his eyes going wide. Looking up he stares at Bob “Uh Bob..for his sick raps…and dad body? The fuck?” SMG4 stopped struggling to look at the card alongside Three. The card showed they recounted the votes multiple times to make sure it was correct.

Now it was the time everyone was waiting for, SMG4 seeing how he was the only one, got excited. He expected to hear his name only to be surprised “It’s me again! Wow I'm shocked you guys find me so sexy you voted for me when i wasn't even a part of this!” Four grabs the note reading it “That's bullshit then what about me!?” SMG3 smirks “I did say your tumblr’s pathetic man congrats!” Four stares at three “What…WHAT DO YOU MEAN PATHETIC WHAT ABOUT ME IS!” The two start fighting as the crew congratulates each other for their placement. Then they turn to watch the pair fight, Bob decides to make it fun by starting bets as the men argue through the night.

#smg4 #shygirl4991 #smg3 #humor #tumblr sexyman #adventure #silly

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the-s1lly-corner · 10 months ago

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ATTENTION CREEPYPASTA FANS/REGARDING THE 1K CELEBRATION ONE SHOT!

The votes are in, and creepypasta has won the vote for what I will write to celebrate hitting 1k followers on this blog! As well as this, Eyeless Jack won the majority vote! Originally, when I made the first poll to determine the fandom, I was going to come up with my own plot... However I fell in love with the idea of you guys helping me build a fic together.. And to keep up with that theme, I'm going to allow you guys to send in prompts; I will likely either host a raffle or a final vote, then finally! I will start writing! Below will be the rules and requirements in order to submit anything, and I urge you all to read this carefully so your idea can be added into the mix! More info will be under the cut!

As said, Eyeless Jack has been selected for the one shot, a win for Eyeless Jack fans! While prompts don't need to be centered around things that are unique to Jack, you're more than welcome to follow along his traits!

So How Do We Submit A Prompt?

I feel that it will be easier for me to keep track of prompts through the inbox, just as my other requests. However this has the opportunity to get messy and confusing fast. So if you're sending in a suggestion for the one shot, I ask that you very clearly specify so! Otherwise I won't be able to know and I will treat it as I would any normal request. So I ask that you please put somewhere in your suggestion that this it is for the fic!

What Is Allowed To Be Sent In?

The same general rules of this blog still apply! I will accept anything that isn't NSFW, Abvse, or kink adjacent! You CAN send in something romantic, platonic, fluff, angst, ect! Really if you want a deeper look into what is and isn't allowed I recommend looking into my pinned post!

What Can We Expect From The Fic?

The plot obviously, is still undecided. However, the fic is most likely going to be an Eyeless Jack x Reader one shot! As per usual for this blog, the reader will be GN, so you can easily put yourself or your oc in your shoe! I don't have a set length in mind for the fic, as my writing tends to vary, but I do intend on it being decent length! I don't want to put a goal word count in fear of intimidating myself, but I do intend to aim for over 1.5k! The fic will be posted here, and will get it's own unique tag so it can more easily found!

Why The Long Wait?

I am hosting each segment of this process for a week before moving onto the next step. This is because Tumblr only has two options for poll lengths and the one week time frame just stuck. One week to determine fandom, one week to pick a character, and this time is going to be no different! As well as the final piece of this; taking into account it's going to take me a few days to write the fic and (hopefully) revise it... writing is hard, but I also want everyone to have more than enough time to put their votes/ideas into this, as it's a celebration of this blog and your guys' support!

Will there be future fics?

I'm unsure, I would hope so! This fic is of course for a milestone but I do hope to one day write at least one fic per creepypasta character that I do write for

The poll below is irrelevant to the post, and serves more so as a in post timer to remind me to take the next step of this little event, time blindness is very real and very..... blugh

tagging this with my usual characters/as if it were a group post to help get this out there so those who want to participate can

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crossovershipstournament · 1 year ago

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SIDE 1B: ROUND 2: Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III (How To Train Your Dragon)/Jack Frost (Rise of the Guardians) VS Dib Membrane (Invader Zim)/Dipper Pines (Gravity Falls)

Propaganda for Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III/Jack Frost:

i dont personally ship them but i know there are people who still do (and i found out abt rise of the brave tangled dragons stuff when i was young but i never got into it) so i'm just submitting this for fun and bc it's kinda cute lol

Worried and uptight x Laidback prankster. They compliment each other so well!!! Jack helps Hiccup relax and not die of a heart attack from worring too much, and Hiccup makes Jack take things seriously when needed. Prep x Jock!!!! Sun x moon!!!! Blessed be the ships from Rise of the Brave Tangled Dragons (Rotbtd)

They're silly!! Hiccup's sarcasm and compassion pairs well with Jack's fun. That and Hiccup often tries to befriend everyone and Jack is incredibly lonely, they would be friends pretty quickly. Jack's whole origin involves the fact that nobody perceived or believed in him for a good 300 years before the events of the movie take place, but Hiccup if I remember correctly is pretty involved with folklore and legends and the like. He'd probably believe in Jack's existence which could lead to them meeting While Jack is kind of bitter in the beginning, we mostly just see him snarking the other spirits, since they're able to see him and just don't like him. The way he treats people and kids, however, is very different; he's all smiles and games even if they have no idea he's there! So I think Jack would be pretty friendly towards Hiccup, who had been previously bullied by literally everyone his age, which would be a VERY nice change of pace for him Idk. I think they would get along and maybe fall in love a little!!! They're just neat

#HIJACK SWEEP #HIJACK SWEEP

A VOTE FOR HIJACK IS A VOTE FOR THE PEOPLE

#hijack #HIJACKSWEEP #We have to make those two win

#vote hijack if you care about me at all

#i call upon the power of hijackians

#HIJACKSWEEP #HIJACKTHEWORLD #OURSHININGHIJACK

Propaganda for Dib Membrane/Dipper Pines:

They're weird. They're on that transgender grind. They've been emotionally scarred by aliens. They both have sisters and two male guardians who has eerily similar names (Stanley and Stanford/Membrane and Clembrane). They both need therapy. They can both get a little silly with it. I just think they both feel gaslit by everyone around them except those they're closest to (although Dipper finds himself vindicated by the end) and they could bond over those experiences.

#yo guys pLEASE vote for dib and dipper :3 they're my besties they NEED your help

#MY PSIONIC WARRIORS!!!!!!! VOTE FOR DIB/DIPPER NOW!!!!!!!!

Art Credit: Both pics by @/kannra-orhara

#Crossover Ships Tournament #Poll Tournament #Dib Membrane #Invader Zim #Dipper Pines #Gravity Falls #Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III #How To Train Your Dragon #Jack Frost #Rise of the Guardians

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fryingpan1234567 · 2 years ago

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you get malconnor you get them you understand them the way we (squints like the five people who like malconnor) get them

esp with the whole entire betrayl dramatics like yeah theyd do anything to win against eachother in capture the flag i just know it i do

THEY WOULD. I SO APPRECIATE THE SIX OF US SITTING IN OUR LITTLE MALCONNOR BOX IN THE BACK CORNER OF CHB

~ Game Night at Camp Half-Blood is probably the most organized thing anyone in said camp had ever accomplished— especially when you think about the fact that a bunch of ADHD teenagers of varying ages organized a monthly event without the help of a single adult. Relatively successfully, too.

There’s like. Three hundred kids at CHB during the summertime. With that many people, it’s hard for anything to be organized at all. The Athena kids had a fix, though: cabins are their own teams, and someone is nominated to be the player for the different games.

No matter who’s playing, no one has ever beaten a Hermes kid at Blackjack, and no one has ever beaten an Athena kid at Monopoly.

Connor Stoll and Malcolm Pace are firm believers that there’s a first time for everything.

The entire Athena cabin was gathered behind Malcolm, likewise with the Hermes campers and Connor. They sat on opposite ends of the game board. Percy and Nico, poor souls, occupied the other two spots, which was good. The Poseidon cabin’s porch was getting crowded.

Obviously Malcolm had hotels on Boardwalk and Park Place… but Connor had his hands on pretty much everything else, Nico and Percy only having a couple houses each and both on the verge of bankrupt. Since the beginning, the game had pretty much always been between Connor and Malcolm.

Only once had the two of them won the camp’s vote for Cutest Couple of the Summer (otherwise Percabeth and Valgrace had that thing on lock), and yeah, it was because they’re disgustingly domestic. It’s rare to find them apart during the summer months. Mal helping Connor out with pranks of varying levels of ‘likeliness to get beat up by an angry camper’, Con taking a nap in the strawberry field while Malcolm reread the same book about Patroclus and Achilles, just sweet little things that makes all the newbies think they’re already married.

The exception, is, of course, capture the flag.

Hope to the gods they’re never on the same team. With Malcolm’s battle strategy and Connor’s masterful ability to colossally fuck you up, the opposing team doesn’t typically win.

A lot of the times, though, they’re put on separate teams (thankfully for everyone else). It’s Malcolm’s favorite time to play front line patrol, mostly because Connor typically is on the offensive stealth team. Which he always spots a mile away, to Connor’s dismay. He still doesn’t know how he does it.

At some point, the game changed.

Malcolm was patrolling through the forest, everything around him almost dead silent. There were no footsteps besides his own, no battle sounds. He was close enough to hear the creek, but not see it. Honestly, he was a bit bored, but he’s never one to abandon post. Annabeth put him there, so he’d do it. He just hoped Connor showed up soon.

As if summoned by Malcolm’s thoughts, footsteps approached from the other team’s direction. Connor appeared, alone, from the treeline.

Malcolm, careful not to impale himself with his own sword, managed to cross his arms over his chest plate. “You were slow today. All by yourself?”

Connor grinned, spreading his arms. He wasn’t holding a weapon; his own sword was sheathed at his side. “Is that not enough for you?”

“Hmm…” Malcolm pretended to think as Connor stepped closer, backing him into a tree. His helmet hit the wood with a thunk. The plume was tilting his head at an awkward angle, so he just took it off and dropped it into the grass. He wrapped his arms around the back of Connor’s neck. “I guess you’re all right. Maybe.”

Connor tipped his own helmet off with a huff of annoyance. “Dick.”

“Later.”

And then Connor’s lips were on his, and Malcolm melted into the familiarity of his boyfriend, ignoring the discomfort of the fact that they were both wearing very heavy and very metal armor. Malcolm was pressed completely into the trunk’s wood, a branch poking uncomfortably at his ribs. He didn’t particularly care about that, but he did feel bad about whatever dryad they were borderline violating at the moment. Connor tasted like the chocolate ice cream he’d had for dinner— a decision Malcolm had berated him for earlier, but didn’t mind as much anymore— and his hands were gently gripping at his waist, and neither of them particularly had places to be, and nothing else mattered.

Until cheers abruptly rang up from the red team’s side, and Connor broke away.

The offense team had run right past them. They were there, less than five feet past the banks of the creek, hoisting a blue banner and three campers up onto their shoulders.

Malcolm turned to Connor in disbelief. “You-“

“Won. Aren’t you proud?” Connor gave him a shit-eating grin, patting Malcolm’s cheek condescendingly. “Thanks for your help, sweetheart! Couldn’t have done it without you!”

“That was cheating,” Malcolm said, gripping the collar of his chest plate and pulling him back when he tried to back away. “I don’t think so, sweetheart. That’s not allowed.”

“Technically, it is.” That voice was Percy Jackson’s. He was on the red team that round, and he’d come up to them along with a few other reds and most of the blues. Percy grinned. “I’ve done it before. Works really well, actually. Try it next time.”

Annabeth ripped her helmet off and threw it at him. He barely caught it, shooting her an amused look.

“Mal!” she snapped, sticking her finger in Malcolm’s chest. Using the distraction, Connor backed away, trying to contain his laughter. “What in the name of ALL HADES was that?! They ran right past you!”

“I-“ Malcolm glared at Connor, who smiled innocently and waved. “He, um. Distracted me.”

Annabeth sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. “Fine, whatever. I know the feeling.” She gave her own boyfriend a fairly vicious glare, which he responded to by sticking his tongue out.

Malcolm wasn’t actually mad. Mostly he was shocked he fell for it. Connor was actually apologetic later that night at the campfire, but Malcolm told him not to worry about it, as long as he knew what kind of opportunities that opened up in the future.

Connor did look a bit nervous about that one.

Anyways. Back to Monopoly.

“Malcolm, hermano.” For some reason, the way Leo Valdez had decided to entertain himself for the day was watch the Athena vs Hermes board game match, and now he leaned over Malcolm’s shoulder to get his attention. Connor was whispering strategies with his siblings, and Percy and Nico were both out. It was between Connor and Malcolm.

“Wazzup, Leo?” Malcolm said absently, running numbers through his head. He was mostly trying to figure out his next ten steps, but what Leo said next got his attention.

“I’ll go bug Connor for the rest of the game if you help me out with a project I’m working on. It involves big numbers. Bad Boy Supreme doesn’t do big numbers.”

That got Connor’s attention, too. He snapped back to the game, staring at Leo and Malcolm in disbelief.

Malcolm grinned maliciously, shooting Connor a wink. “Oh, I love big numbers. Just how distracting can you be?”

Leo matched his smile. “Ask Jason. The answer is very.”

“No!” Connor yelped as Leo scooted over to his side of the board, ‘accidentally’ knocking over the stack of little plastic houses Connor had made on the way. Malcolm hid his laugh with an aggressive cough. “Cheating! This is cheating! And interference!”

“Outside interference,” Leo agreed. “It’s totally allowed. Suck it up. Unless you want to forfeit, of course.” He pulled what looked like a broken music box out of his tool belt, and when he started cranking it, horribly flat notes drifted out in a terrible melody. Most of Connor’s siblings stepped back in horror, but Leo seemed perfectly fine with the situation.

Connor and Malcolm had a very intense staring contest for a moment, Malcolm’s confident smirk never wavering for a second. And then Leo’s terrible music got to him when the music box hitched and let out a sound like a dying goose right next to his ear, and he broke away.

“Fuck, fine!” Connor threw his hands up, earning groans of disappointment from some of his siblings. “You’re such a dick!”

Malcolm grinned, reaching over the game board to pull Connor forward by his shirt. “We’ve been over it before.”

Connor pouted. “It’s true. You’re mean to me.”

“How mean?” Malcolm asked, feigning sympathy.

“Very mean.” Connor flicked him in the forehead, but that was where they met halfway over the board. Malcolm let go of Connor’s shirt to run his fingers through his curly brown hair, hearing lots of retching and “EW!”’s from both of their groups siblings, but neither of them particularly cared.

Someone’s foot nudged Malcolm sharply in the ribs. He broke away from Connor, turning to glare at Nico.

“No PDA during Monopoly,” he said flatly.

“I think it’s cute,” Percy volunteered from the other end, earning a high five from Connor as Malcolm shook his head.

“It’s technically after Monopoly. I won,” he said proudly, turning back to Connor. “Aren’t you proud of me?”

Connor wrinkled his nose, pressing their foreheads together. “Literally fuck right off.”

“Actually? Want me to leave? Because-“

“Obviously not, dumbass. C’mere.”

And everyone else decided to leave them alone. If they wanted to miss the bonfire to make out, fine. And that’s exactly what they did.

#Malconnor #Riordanverse #percabeth #valgrace #malcolm pace #connor stoll #nico di Angelo #Percy Jackson #Annabeth chase #leo valdez

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elskamo · 6 months ago

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Join Team Total Drama Island in the Yuri Shipping Olympics 2024!

General registration for @yuriolympics is now open, you can sign up for Team Total Drama on the form here: https://tally.so/r/3qb1vY

The Discord server to discuss the different prompts and works we're creating is here: https://discord.gg/ANZ3ef2v

What is the point of the Yuri Shipping Olympics?

For the past couple of decades m/m content has dominated spaces such as Archive of Our Own while w/w content makes up only a small percentage of fandom content. The Yuri Shipping Olympics was started in 2023 to encourage people to write for the w/w ships they love, with the first ever event leading to an influx of not just written works but also art, animations, websites and more!

Due to the success of the first event it's now running again in 2024, starting officially on 2nd June but with additional prompts available now. Please help us to increase the amount of w/w shipping content that's available for Total Drama compared to m/w and m/m works!

How the Yuri Shipping Olympics works:

Everyone signs up for a team for a specific ship or for a subset of ships (in this case Total Drama franchise ships). In each round of the Olympics there will be a specific prompt that all the teams need to create content for, although it was started with the intention of being for writing teams can also submit any form of media so long as it's related to the prompt.

Teams can choose to create a collaborative piece together or members can create separate pieces for the prompt and choose one to submit on behalf of the team for voting. Any pieces not submitted for voting can still be submitted for participation points, these won't be voted on. Once all the main team pieces are submitted, everyone can individually vote for the pieces they like the best.

In addition to the main rounds there are bonus rounds where people can create or fill prompts written by other participants as well as a final collab round. As with the main rounds, everyone votes on their favourite pieces.

The team that gains the most points from voting and participation wins the Yuri Shipping Olympics!

#total drama #total drama island #total drama island 2023 #total drama reboot #total drama revival #yuri #yuri olympics #lesbian #w/w #w|w #still don't know how to tag this

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table-turf · 2 years ago

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THE LEGENDARY SOUP CUP DECKBUILDING GUIDE

Now with updated comments!

(This is a GIF: it changes slide every 10 seconds)

PDF version can be found at the link below

Bonus Tableturf Tips

In-game stuff

You can get a character card sleeve by defeating them at level 3 30 times!

The card bit exchange!!! It lets you swap the bits you get for card dupes for other cards or holofoil upgrades for your cards!

OCTOBER 2023 EDIT Every 5 levels after level 50 you get 20 card bits and every multiple of 100 you get a fresh pack!

You can press + after starting a match to give up. Useful if you picked the wrong deck or map, or forgot to set a timer.

Gameplay stuff

Based on a community poll, Lil Judd and Mr Coco were voted hardest AI and Sheldon the easiest. (thank you Octanoic once again)

You probably want a separate deck for Double Gemini and Box Seats due to the nature of the maps being unique from the rest. The rest can viably share a generalist deck, or you could build one for each map!

OCTOBER 2023 EDIT virtually nobody uses generalist decks in top level competitive tableturf, so once you get more confident with deckbuilding it is recommended to try and build around the shape of each map!!

Generally good deck sizes range from 130 to 160. Either end of that often ends up being too small to win or so big you have to keep passing. For my personal playstyle I like playing decks in the mid 140s. Decks in the 150-160 range are generally considered ultra large and is more of a niche.

OCTOBER 2023 EDIT the meta now favours bigger decks! 150-160 range is not niche but rather the expected norm in comp tableturf! Anything lesser may lead to a significant turf disadvantage. But for casual play or against the bots the previous advice still works!

I *may* also make a card playing basics tutorial at *some point*. But in general it's a good strategy to try and reach and/or block in early turns and focus on special later on when you have established dominance on the map and/or have safe zones to play in.

Finding other players

The pool "tableturf" is reasonably active to find random matches and is quite friendly to newer players!

The Japanese tableturf pool code is "ナワバトラー"! They seem to favour larger decks over there and have different popular/"meta" cards to the western community.

Join the Tableturf Battle Server (TBS) for casual play with higher skilled players, events, deck advice and more! I'm not affiliated with them at all*, they've just helped me a lot. There we use the pool code "tbs"!

Squidbagging, spinning around, jumping up and down in swim form are considered handshakes in the tableturf lobby

* Since writing the post, I'm now working in partnership with the TBS team to help plan some events, although I'm still not an official member of their staff. Statement was true at time of writing though!

**Since the last edit, I am now officially part of the TBS TO team

lol

Whopper whopper whopper whopper double triple whopper*

Dynamo Roller is considered such a good opener card on X Marks the Garden that it has become a meme within the community. When Gold Dynamo drops it'll be a True Dynamoment

OCTOBER 2023 EDIT Gold Dynamo dropped and it was not as funny as we thought it would be. If you don't pull them both at the start have fun with a bricked hand :(

*This is also a meme in TBS. None of us are entirely sure why

#tableturf #splatoon tableturf #tableturf battle #splatoon 3 #splatoon #tableturf resources #gif warning #moving images

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ghostypetrainer · 2 years ago

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Thinking about the "captured!Ingo vs. Emmet plus literally all of his and Ingo's pokemon" fight in the Modern Zoroark Possession AU. And. Uh.

First of all if we include all of the pokemon Ingo and Emmet use in B&W and B2&W2 plus the four pokemon you've mentioned black fox!Ingo having. That's. That would be like 17 pokemon. Which is a lot more than six. (I can absolutely see Emmet being willing to break regulations on how many pokemon can be carried at a time here tho. Especially given the circumstances. Also. He will need all the help he can get, so I vote to let him use all 17.)

Secondly. Out of all 17 of those pokemon. None have a type advantage against Ingo. Only two would have supereffective moves against him (Durant and Chandelure). And of those two, Durant is the only one Ingo wouldn't have any supereffective moves against.

If the events of the Modern Zoroark Possession AU take place after Black and White (which would make sense), then I'd guess most of the pokemon Emmet are using could arguably be in the upper 60s in terms of level. However. Ingo is level 100. So uh. Depending on his effort levels and nature he could have over 400 in special attack. Idk how natures or effort levels would work with like... an actual person though.

Steel and Dark types would work best defensively against the moves you've listed Ingo as having, but he'd have at least one effective move for each of the pokemon Emmet could possibly send out. (5/17 of Ingo and Emmet's pokemon are steel types. None are dark type.) Granted, every single one of those seventeen pokemon would have at least one effective move against Ingo. So. That's Something, at least.

So! In conclusion, that battle was definitely absolutely insane even if you completely ignore all of the closely associated angst. Ingo can probably one shot a significant chunk of his and Emmet's pokemon. Also Durant probably played a significant role in Emmet winning. Either that or Emmet carries a lot of dark type tms around and had at least some time to prepare.

Well starting off, if we're going off of Chandelure and Durant's game movesets... they would not have any super-effective moves to use against Ingo. Hisuian Zoroark are normal/ghost, which means they're completely immune to ghost type moves! (As well as fighting and normal type moves.) In fact, the only moves that deal super-effective damage against one are dark type moves... which none of Ingo and Emmet's combined group of Pokemon have on their game movesets. Oops!

But yeah- suffice to say, it's one rough battle! On one hand, at least he's not getting the frenzy power boost that he would in the mainline zoroark possession AU... but on the other hand, that battle has three different trainers engaging with it (Emmet, Elesa, and Akari). Here there's just Emmet!

It's one hell of a battle. Emmet likes to joke afterwards that the real reason Ingo is no longer a Subway Boss after things have settled isn't because he was removed from his position by a court of law... but because Emmet banned his broken ass from the Subway. Legandaries and Ingos banned. Those are the rules, yup!

#asks #zoroark possession au #but make it modern #submas #emmet voice: But I won anyways. That means I am the stronger trainer #ingo: I don't think that's how it works #emmet: it verrry much is how it works.

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lowlevelkoboldadventures · 1 year ago

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Given how close knit kobolds tend to be I do have a question. In your experience how are disagreements between members of a Warren usually handled? I can't imagine it turns violent that often, but I'm wondering if there's a more standard procedure or something along those lines.

Well, it really depends! Kobolds have incredibly varied and unique behaviors when it comes to just about anything, but I'll list off as much as I can!

Summary:

Majority Vote

Yap Off

Contests

Test of Luck

Dragon Judgement

Voting by majority does happen, but an alternative many kobolds use is to start a Yap Off where each side yaps at the other as hard and as frequently as they can. Even the most brave kobolds will typically lower their ears and tuck their tail once they realize they're beat, so cheaters or 'bolds who deny the outcome are pretty rare

Contests often are used when testing the ruling authority on who's advice to follow, orders to take, plans to use, and so on! Sometimes these contests will become full blown events that the entire warren attends, with contests where the contesting kobolds have to navigate traps and obstacles being especially popular. I believe humans have a similar concept called "Wipeout"? 🔴🔴🔴🤔

When it's hard to tell who wins, or if both sides agree to just skip the hassle, many kobolds will result to a test of luck to see who comes out on top. Fair is fair when you flip a clink off your claw, though it's not uncommon for these to be rigged to get a desired outcome. Rigging doesn't happen too much amongst kobolds themselves since each side is typically already on the lookout, but few can resist trying to pull a fast one on visitors that don't know any better (I have a whole collection of rigged dice just in case! You're welcome to check them out if you need them 🎲😉🎲)

They have such a negative connotation for it in common tongue, but amongst kobolds, bribing is just another form of trade! The idea of paying someone to do what you want really isn't that foreign is it? Kobolds in warrens also don't suffer from billionaires or anything similar, so while a kobold might come across a stash that lets them live like royalty for a day or two, there really isn't any class difference between the richest and the poorest amongst them that would make this unfair.

The last major one I'll cover is one you might have already guessed! Sometimes the best way of coming to agreement is to get your dragon involved. Dragons are generally much wiser, older, and certainly more powerful than your average kobold, on top of being absolutely revered and worshiped, so really whatever they say goes, and their judgement on a disagreement goes a long way to restore peace to the warren

Those are the major ones that you're most likely to encounter I'd say with lots of subgroups and variations you'll find between them, but that's by no means a comprehensive list!!! Like always, the best information about the kobolds around you comes from the kobolds around you, so don't be too quick to hold my accounts as perfect if you're in with a different crowd!

As always, thank you so much for the ask, and I'm so sorry it took so long to make this!!! 🙏🥺 I hope this was helpful, thank you for stopping by!!! ✨👋😋✨

#ask tally #kobold facts #kobold

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crimsonfluidessence · 1 year ago

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Prompt 30: Amity

"Do you think anyone's going to show up?"

Esredes crossed his arms and leaned against the banquet table, looking around the large, rented out ballroom. In its current, mostly empty state, it felt as if he were in a very bright labyrinth. "Because if they don't, this is going to be. A lot of food to give away. Did we send out enough invitations?"

“Of course I do." Elouan replied. "I think everyone will. We sent all the invitations we could, nay? Besides, people care. If there’s something you’re in or—or involved with, they’ll come. You mean so much to people; why celebrate alone when we can celebrate with friends, nay?”

Elouan was the only member of the planning team who wasn't actually a harrier. Otherwise, behind him, Dione, Vette, and Heilyn were busy cooking with Vette, Mythirel, and Maylis doing a lot of the setup, Rae, Marcelloix, Marchand, and Artorias were put to work having to move things in, Rae using the help of his Titan egi and reminding Esredes those things can actually pick up matter. And that was it, his entire planning team for the feast, versus around thirty to forty invitations sent out.

"But we're essentially faking a holiday, for all they know." Esredes said, putting his hands on his hips. "Friends' Day Feast, ugh, it sounds more stupid the more I say it out loud. I should've come up with a better name. Why did my name win the vote."

“I guess any holiday can be fake if you think like that,” he mused, head cocking aside. Elou flashed a gentle smile. “A holiday’s a holiday if people believe in it. So why can’t this one be just as real as the others? It doesn’t have to be Starlight, it can be—smaller. Celebrated by people close to you. And Friends’ Day Feast isn’t dumb! It is very, um…on-the-mark? Is that the saying? Because it is about friendship and faith and trust, right? Like back—back when the dragons and people were friends, kind of like how we’re trusting each other again.”

"We're not exactly trusting each other again, man and dragon." He remarked. "But I see your logic. If you stretch it enough, I guess maybe it is a decent coverup for the Saint Day Feast. I just hope the rest of the team can keep quiet about what this actually is. There's no guarantee a loyalist won't show up."

They couldn't celebrate the holiday at the camp, not really. They couldn't afford to overindulge on food out in the wilderness. When it came around each year past the war's end, it was usually a private movement celebration. And Esredes would still help do that, but this year he was trying something different. What if they put on the feast for a public audience, pretending it was for something else? The loyalist friends Esredes wasn't out to would get to be exposed to their world without knowing it, and Esredes could use it to make them let down their guard later and accept they weren't the monsters. How could they be, if they put on fun events with food? Sometimes it was that easy to get someone in.

“But we’re getting there, aye? It will take a while, sure—and maybe can’t be like it was. It could get close to it, though,” he hummed, head nodding. Elouan smiled loosely towards his friend. “I think they’ll be quiet. To be trusted and—and help here, they’d know by now to not share what they shouldn’t share. People like being trusted and don’t want to break that trust, most of all with you. If there is one, maybe they’d not know. Maybe seeing so many people will—will get to them, too. Start thinking about how, how this new era of ours isn’t that bad.”

Esredes opted not to correct Elouan on just how many people were perfectly happy to break trust with him. Instead he turned his head towards the empty ballroom and sighed softly. "I sure hope so," he offered. "That'd really make this entire ordeal worth it."

It was half an hour to the time sent on the invitations. Thanks to the strict coordination of himself, Vette, Heilyn, and Mythirel, it looked as if the team had managed to get everything in place, even if Mythirel was being extremely blunt and sparing not a single drop of honey, even worse than Heilyn usually was. It certainly made the others shrink away and stay on task, especially Marchand, who he was pretty sure was terrified of Mythirel. Now the blue banners were hanging down by the entrance and above the banquet buffet tables, the blue tablerunner was straightened into place, and the orchestrion was playing the censored Ishgardian version of what they'd adopted as a traditional song of the feast. Could something be a tradition in three years? Debatable, but Esredes would say yes.

"Okay, everyone." He said. "Act natural and normal. Pretend Friends' Day Feast is important to you. People are due to start arriving any moment now."

And arrive they did. In the next few minutes, Marie, Xavierre, Nostrada and Kotaide, Fuyu, Kainen and Azarah, and Trosta all made up the first wave of early arrivals. Esredes took on the task of greeting each one of them, smiling to each. "Hi, hi, thank you for coming to the Friends' Day Feast. I'm glad to see you here. Help yourself to the food, socialize, and dance around the room if you'd like. We'll be having games as the afternoon goes on." He'd been memorizing this spiel all day. Xavierre already knew from his sister, but he was pretty sure Trosta and Nostrada caught on immediately to the true purpose of the event from the looks in their eyes, to which he just smiled and nodded. For Nostrada, he gestured back at the table and told him to help himself. That boy ate so much Esredes was still convinced it was a medical condition. Hopefully there'd be any leftover for all those arriving on time.

Esredes didn't know how many to expect right as the event started, but sure enough, a small crowd of people ended up making their way through the doors. Of all people, he hadn't expected Jude to be the first person on time, the young man walking right through the doors and then stopping to regard Esredes. "Esredes." He said.

"Jude." He responded.

These two greeted each other like this a lot, nowadays. It was still awkward for Esredes to talk to him, truth be told. They'd spent quite a while apart and Esredes was still getting used to the idea he wanted to be friends again and wouldn't leave with another outburst. "Thank you for coming," he offered to him. "Uh- help yourself to the food, socialize, and dance around the room if you'd like. We'll be having games as the afternoon goes on."

By the time he'd finished this brief interaction with Jude, Flavien, Victor, Judie, and A'leigh had all come in behind him. Esredes smiled and waved to the first three, his beloved typical components of nights out with his lowborn circle of friends, but put on an extra coat of paint to his smile at A'leigh. In truth, he didn't know if him and A'leigh were friends or not. He would personally say no- a relationship that formed entirely on an atonement complex was hardly one at all. Even if Leigh had, against all expectations, wanted to keep him around after the truth came out as the last connection to his deceased brother and put the past behind, he figured it was the only reason he tolerated his presence. "...Thank you for coming." He repeated to A'leigh. "Help yourself." And he left it at that.

Following him was Adel, who Esredes could spot before they even came through the door, emerging with their usual enthusiasm as they greeted Esredes wholeheartedly. Adel was certainly a character, an unlikely one but a character nonetheless. He'd befriended the Inquisitor despite all odds of such a thing when the Elezen was content to protect him against other Inquisitors and not put on a pity party about their actions. Perhaps the two of them were ignoring things by having a relationship at all, but so was Esredes by knowing loyalists at all, really. So he smiled at them and made some light jabs before they took their place at the banquet table besides Nostrada. Esredes prayed to Shiva now they made enough food after all.

Cammie said hello next, a young Temple Knight and Hospitalier Esredes mentored in an unofficial sense. She was accepting of his true nature now, that wasn't a problem- instead Esredes worried more about her ability to socialize at an event. So he greeted her and encouraged her to go talk to people, and watched as she went to join Azarah and Kainen. Well, Azarah could do the heavy lifting in that group, maybe.

Two people he hadn't expected to show up followed- Crescens, the wandering Triple Triad champion of the Gold Saucer who'd been showing him he actually had potential in the card game, and her boyfriend Rossignol, who Esredes... had certainly met. He greeted them both and ushered them onward, turning to greet the next trio of guests who brought a bright smile to his face. It was Clover, her daughter N'theya, and their former ward Teagan, who he'd been friends and associates with for a long time now. He shared a brief hug with Clover as N'theya immediately wandered over to the dessert table, and asked both her and Teagan how things were going. Once they joined the party, the door space was quiet for a few minutes...

And then more people showed up. Quincy apologized profusely for being a few minutes late, citing an appointment at the clinic, and Esredes had to reassure the young man it was fine and no one cared if you weren't at a big event on time. Evianne and Astraea arrived at about the same time without any fanfare, and he said his hellos to both. Alastor came next, and that prompted Evianne to move on quickly. Esredes could only guess he was late because he found a rock on the side of the road and tried to shove it in his mouth, but there were half a dozen other possible reasons the airheaded Miqo'te came late, and he could only speculate.

Mizzie was next, and as he often did, he came with a new tale of what unusual and wild occurrence had happened to him last week that rest assured, the conjurer had recovered from. Esredes greeted him and thanked him for coming, and in turn got questions about what Ishgardian holiday this was.

"Ah, it's... not. This is just a special event being put on." Mizzie knew about his true nature, but he was not about to explain the truth in front of earshot of people. But the explanation was enough for him, and he moved on.

But someone he hadn't expected to show up followed him- the man whose first name was not Mercer but for some reason insisted everyone called him by his surname. Esredes liked Mercer- he was a lowborn who was well-reasoned without taking peoples' shit. Him and Esredes found a lot in common with each others' thought process. He just hadn't expected him to show up, not that it was unwelcomed. Mercer chatted to him about how he was doing for a minute before Esredes had to move on to the next guest, Magdelaine. The older, motherly Inquisitor apologized and cited her knee as the reason she was late, but from the way she smiled at him Esredes could tell she suspected what was truly going on immediately, and that it made her all the happier to be here. The bigger question was who she'd end up talking to.

Perhaps she should've been an omen for the next person who made Esredes blink in surprise. Alvere came through the doors in his usual heavy fur coats, his hair as much of a disaster as always. "Alvere." Esredes said. In truth, he hadn't sent him an invitation. The cover was a Friends' Day Feast, and they were coworkers, acquaintances, but not friends. And yet somehow he'd found his way here anyhow. Was it a problem? Eh, he decided not really. He said hello and motioned him onward. Alvere had regained more than enough of his conscience to not make a problem of Esredes' activities by this point, and the man needed to get out more.

Speaking of Inquisitor who needed to get out more who Esredes forgot to invite, Mikhail showed up next, causing Esredes to blink up at him as well. Mikhail outdid Alvere for being an awkward associate. They used to know each other, as Temple Knights, they were in the same chapters together, until the man left for the Inquisition. And though he quit before Esredes' network came into existence and was left a pathetic and sad mess, Esredes would not want to relive their post-war reunion for anything.

Still, he had a right to be here, despite everything. Esredes smiled at him, said his hellos, and directed him to Marie and Judie. From there he'd manage somehow, he hoped.

After that, the doorway laid silent. Had everyone besides those to trickle in found their way? Well, then maybe Esredes could turn around and see how the mingling was going. Perhaps now it was time for-

The doors flew open, and Rusty came in, bellowing out a hello to all and causing a lot of heads to turn his way. And Esredes was reminded once again the large Roegadyn had adopted this need to outdo every dramatic entrance of his at each event. He sighed to himself.

The doors were silent after that, but the orchestrion was playing a sanitized, censored version of one of the songs they'd invented together in camp with full force. Esredes turned his head now to observe how the event was going. A quick headcount lead him to quickly realize there were about forty people in the room. He'd expected twenty at absolute most, good gods. And thankfully for his fears, people had managed to mingle. Maylis, Vette, Magdelaine, and Evianne were all caught in a conversation he could only imagine was gossip. Flavien was teasing Marchand as he was the usual nervous and awkward wreck he'd become since casting off his fake persona and joining their ranks. Mikhail stood near them awkwardly, about as he expected, but soon enough Judie was annoying both of them. Typical Judie. Kainen, Mizzie, Trosta, and Alvere were all managing even with their socially stunted awkwardness to hold conversation with Cammie, Astraea, Fuyu, and Marie. How interesting for that to happen.

Esredes watched and observed the conversation taking form. Oh, he was a military leader, not so much an event host... but as he checked his list, it did seem like it was going well so far. He smiled.

As the spirit of the party swelled within him, he went between mingling and playing host, trying to address everyone in the party at least once the best he could, but something lingered in the back of his mind. The most prominent rule of Ishgardian parties was that a fight would happen if allowed. Of all the parties he’d been to, he’d seen maybe a quarter have some kind of fight or injury. Why, the man supporting his counseling business by funneling money through his arrogant partner had thrown a book at him once at a birthday party, and that hadn’t even been in Coerthas.

Marcelloix put a hand on his shoulder and remarked that he looked tense. Esredes surveyed the landscape- Adel, Mikhail, Alvere, Trosta, Maggie, and even Jude were here, each existing as themselves despite all odds.

“…I just worry about the possibility of conflict.” Esredes said. “We’re treading dangerously close with this idea.” The idea which was his. Right.

Marcelloix patted his shoulder. “I’ll keep an eye out, boss. Nothing happens under my watch.”

Esredes managed a smile back. “…Thank you.” He offered.

As the party continued, no conflict brewed. The noblewomen had all taken to dancing together or with a man they dragged along. Vette even pulled Esredes into a dance, as she always did, and a small crowd cheered them on, threatening to turn his face red. He was never good about handling this much positive attention, and this had never happened to him before the fall. There were balls, he danced with noblewomen he forgot by the end of the week- but never had he been the center of attention.

Oh Shiva, this was what his life had turned into, hadn’t it? Despite the hopelessness of the end of the war, here he was, dancing to the swelling music with one of his most trusted friends, who gave him that happy look in her eyes she always did, the look of someone who made you their world and you never quite knew how to feel about it. And between the cheering and the aether bond between them swelling with positive emotion, the anxiety melted away.

The party games went by well- last time he’d seen pin the tail at a party, the blindfolded had somehow managed to walk entirely across the way and pin it on him just standing there instead of the target. Hoarhounds were hounds of Halone- the loyalists wouldn’t suspect the theming. Esredes stood by and watched Alastor completely fail to even hit the paper, reminiscing about Fenrir as he eyed the drawing.

Nostrada, Jude, Mikhail, Mizzie, Azarah, Dione, and Verdant all failed miserably. Cammie and Kainen did all right. Maylis, Vette, and Trosta got close, Alvere managed the foot, and Adel somehow managed to pin the head instead. Incredible. But it looked like everyone was having fun, so the experiment was a success thus far.

Maybe it was all going to be fine, and he worried for nothing. Esredes should have known better by now those were famous last words.

“Esredes,” Heilyn began with his big loud mouth, “now that we’re all here, why don’t you give a speech about Ysayle?”

Esredes blinked, and his blood turned to ice. All the eyes on the room turned onto him. “I- ah- who, now?” He tried. Shit. Gods-damn it, Heilyn, why did he always have to do this?

Laughter erupted in the room. Esredes felt his face heat up. “Oh, he really didn’t know, did he? Don’t tease him too hard,” Magdelaine said to the crowd.

Esredes looked around at everyone’s attention on him. “You… you all knew?”

And indeed, everyone seemed to be aware of what had been left intentionally unsaid until now. Well… almost everyone. A certain duskwight looked about with nearly as much confusion as Esredes, meeting his eye with a shrug. “What’s so funny?” Marchand asked, clearly not nearly as aware of the joke as the others.

“Oh, Esredes…aye, of course!" Elouan said. "Why wouldn’t we, nay? I love and care about you so much, just like you must have about her, aye? And, and I want to care about her just as much as you do. She’s important to you. Can we hear about the Ysayle you knew? I’m right here—I’ll be right here for you, always!”

"She deserves at least a few words I think! If not more!" Alastor says with a few little flicks of his ears. "I had a lot of respect for her, and I think she'd want to be remembered well and nicely."

"Never got to meet her. I'll always regret that." Heilyn said. "Would have done some good to talk to someone who actually cared and wasn't some insane bastard hell bent on fire and vengeance. She did good. Good for us all. That should be acknowledged I think."

"It.. would be nice to hear.. only if you are feeling up to it, Esredes.." Fuyu nervously smiled, voice quiet among the others.

Rae simply nodded and gave a gesture with his hand indicating that Esredes should go on. He held up the Carbuncle sitting in his lap as well and nodded its head. "Carby agrees as well."

Alvere said nothing, but he was smiling. When Esredes looked over at him, he gave a very slight nod.

Seraphiaux fidgited slightly as he speaks. Unsure if he's even allowed to on this topic given... everything in the past. "She... she was there for you when I wasn't. The sibling I couldn't be. You deserved her being like a sister and she deserved you being like a brother and caring about her, and... and I... I don't think I have the right to say it but she'd like a kind word. I think."

Nostrada clapped. "Speech!" He said. He kept clapping and repeating this, until most of the others joined in with him.

In the background, Mythirel loaded an entire new set of orchestrion tracks into the device. The uncensored version of the music began to play, each lyric being sung softly about the hope which kept Her people going towards a better tomorrow. As the crowd kept chanting for him to do a speech, Esredes felt himself tearing up.

He turned towards the stage at the back of the hall, and ascended the steps, standing stiffly and firmly at the edge. He drew in a deep breath.

“…I want to thank each and every one of you for coming.” He began. “From the bottom of my icy heart, it means everything to me that you came. That I can look out upon this gathering of people from all walks of life, and see them all getting along in coexistence… well. I think she would have liked to see this.”

He put a hand on his heart, the audience silent. “What to say about her… I’ve said a lot about her in speeches like this in the past. Above all else, she was but one of us once. She lead a simple existence with the people of Falcon’s Nest, unaware that one day, her heart would change Coerthas and Dravania forever.”

Despite the tears that threatened to well up, he smiled. “And despite the moniker she took up, that was what allowed her to succeed. Her heart and her strength of character. Ysayle was a dreamer who believed the best in people even when she had no reason to. Hopeless and disparate as my people were, we were drawn in by her light. By her optimism and hope beyond what anyone dared to dream. And because of her dream,” he looked over the crowd, and smiled warmly. “I got to meet all of you.”

“If not for her dream, none of us would be gathered here today. Her dream gave me the strength to reach out to everyone like me and offer a hand in a new form of unity. Whether that was by asking you to join us years ago, or by daring to talk to you when I knew you might think the worst of me and being pleasantly surprised, I don’t regret any of it.” He paused to inhale a breath. “A lot of you in this room never got to meet her. You haven’t seen the light in her eyes that kept her pressing forward even when the risk of the movement’s oblivion and the demise of everyone in Coerthas weighed down heavy on her. You haven’t seen it, but you can feel it in the air around you. This, what we’re experiencing right now, is her hope. The love of a simple girl for the world around her and the people in it, regardless of origin or alliance. She once believed everything she did was Saint Shiva speaking through her, but the truth of it is that Shiva inspired her to be her best self in the same way she did all of us.” He looked around. “I know not all of you follow her, but we’ve chosen to make a life philosophy from her courage for good reason. Ysayle was the first to recognize that embodying her bravery- to rise above fear and hate, and instead see the humanity in something that looked monstrous- was the only way to truly end a war. I’ve taken this lesson she showed me to all of you I’ve met since the war ended, even to those of you I may have seen as an enemy if things were different, and further still to Garlemald and back, and in it all,” he shut his eyes. “I know I’ve continued something important.”

He opened his eyes again. “Regardless of your personal beliefs and what you think of Shiva’s people, you all came here. And I think that is what Ysayle would have wanted. She dreamed of a world like this, where people came together and accepted none of us are perfect, but we are all trying to do good in this world. The idea of this feast is to imitate the sort man and dragon had when they first forged a nation together. So too are we here today trying to forge a new Ishgard, a true Ishgard, one that will look out and care for all of her people. And at the end of the day, Shiva is a saint under Halone’s gaze. I believe- no matter what any of you personally do- that both of them smile upon this. And I can’t thank all of you enough for making it possible to make someone I love dearly happy all the way from the aetherial sea.”

The tears spilled over, and he curled his hand into a fist on his chest. “The name I came up with to hide this was stupid.” He continued. “But I still think it applies to what is going on. Ysayle would have wanted all of us to be friends, if not by bond, in spirit. A-and… And I just…”

He shut his eyes, the best way to end the speech eluding him as tears kept flowing. Yet when he dared to open his eyes a few moments later, everyone’s expression seemed to be that of a silent understanding. And so despite the tears, he smiled.

“I love all of you.” He said. “And I’m so glad you came.”

With that, he bowed and went off the stage. Applause filled the room and within moments he was swarmed by people asking if he was okay, some offering hugs, comforting touches, or words of encouragement. It was overwhelming, but in this moment, he was all right with being overwhelmed, because a warm feeling burned in his chest like an inferno.

Friendship. True and steady, trusted friendship. That was what he had all around him, despite the odds, despite being a lesser being and one of the most hated people in all of Ishgard. That was what Ysayle meant, wasn’t it? That everyone could find a way forward?

Esredes shut his eyes and embraced the people around him in a hug. A soft laughter escaped him, and before he knew it he couldn’t stop. Joy, pure and unfiltered joy, seized his every muscle and forced him to keep laughing as it cascaded him like a waterfall.

Here in this very room, he’d found the way to walk past the end. Together with the people who made each and every day worth it. And that was worthy of celebration.

#writing #in action #ffxivwrite2023 #screenshots #princely military attire

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