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anevolutionarynecessity · 3 years

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This excerpt from Luke Jennings’ second book in the Codename Villanelle Series, No Tomorrow, illustrates a key difference between the source material and the Killing Eve television series.

In the books, Villanelle doesn’t walk away from The Twelve. She’s well aware that it’s unrealistic. More importantly, this conversation with Lara (read: Nadia) makes it clear that Villanelle doesn’t actually want to leave. She is a killer. She’s fine with it. Revels in it, actually. Villanelle has peak self confidence and self acceptance; she’s equally captivating and terrifying.

This is significant given how much more intense, depraved, violent, and filled with “icy dispassion” Villanelle is in Jennings’ books. They’re a fine read. He has stylish prose, but it’s inconsistent. There are some truly bad parts. Occasionally there’s a perfect, breathtaking turn of phrase. Overall he brings Eve and Villanelle vividly to life.

My point is, the more I (re)read these novels, the more I questioned to what extent Killing Eve actually censored Villanelle in order to make her more palatable for mass media (and allow Killing Eve to air at all). Further, I wonder whether changes like this particular excerpt might be taken as a betrayal of Villanelle’s fundamental character.

And this is really the core issue we’re grappling with while we wait for Season 4 to be released.

After all in Killing Eve, Villanelle makes the momentous decision to stop killing altogether–especially for The Twelve. Anyone who’s familiar with my blog’s analyses knows it’s a decision I wholeheartedly support, particularly because it makes an inspiring impact within the show’s context.

But it also goes against Villanelle’s character. Even against logic, especially as it’s laid out in the books.

It’s a very fine line to try and determine which changes Killing Eve made for the sake of creative liberty (most of them truly brilliant) versus which were made to simply make Villanelle more...acceptable. There’s actually a long list of differences. But I want to focus on the example of her attitude regarding killing because I feel that it best encapsulates my point of Villanelle being censored.

The heart of the issue is that in comparison to the books, Killing Eve continuously underestimates its audience, strays from core characterizations, and to put it bluntly, is shockingly tame.

I’m not saying it needs to be a gory murder and sex fest in order to be profound or to stay true to its essence. Quite the opposite in fact, because the books actually employ restrained menace, and a tasteful, if sometimes inaccurate, exploration of just how dark the female psyche can get (except no, Jennings, psychopaths are not unfeeling and emotionless voids 🙄)

And this isn’t even a matter of whether the books or show prevail over each other; “better” can come down to a matter of personal preference. I love the books and the show for similar as well as wildly different reasons, but I certainly do love them both.

I take issue with the fact that Killing Eve thinks we can’t handle Eve and Villanelle at their darkest. I mean, how many times has it shied away from exploring Eve’s potential as a killer? It’s barely scratched the black depths of Villaneve, and this happens only (finally!) three seasons in–with just one final season left for the show to do justice to their relationship.

It bothers me that instead of presenting Villanelle as she truly is, Killing Eve thinks we can’t handle her viciously killing and enjoying it and preferring the assassin’s lifestyle. Instead of showing us that she’s the perfect ruthless counterpart to Eve, exactly the way she is, the show underestimates our ability to confront Villanelle’s darkness and then accept it, much like Eve manages to do in the Season 3 finale. Rather than letting us make up or own minds, trusting that we’re capable enough to have our own outlooks on life and moral leanings, Killing Eve already makes the decision for us by removing parts of Villanelle that “the real world” would find unacceptable.

Sure, if most people watching Killing Eve actually knew the extent of Villanelle’s darkness they would be appalled. Morally outraged, as it were.

Villanelle is not nice. She’s not particularly softened or preoccupied with emotion and compassion. She’s not exactly vulnerable, even with Eve. She’s focused on facing the world as it is and making the most of it for herself. She’s termed both a psychopath and a sociopath, but these labels are merely glossed over, deliberately failing to capture her, because they aren’t as important as who Villanelle considers herself to be. She’s not concerned about being liked. She’s fiercely proud. She’s been through hell and come out wielding her absolute agency without a sliver of hesitation. So in every decision Villanelle makes, it’s her. All of her. And she’s utterly unrepentant.

And this is exactly why Villaneve is a dark ship, why it’s controversial and generally disturbing. Because it takes a woman of equal measure to accept Villanelle, and that woman is Eve. They’re both comfortable with who they are, as dark as they are. And they are “unpunished”, they get their happy ending. The way Jennings writes them is without any moral colouring; he lets us choose how we take Villanelle, then her partnership with Eve.

Killing Eve thinks that’s too hard for general audiences. Killing Eve thinks Eve and Villanelle are a bit too dark. Killing Eve thinks it’s too bleak a message to be sending, so Killing Eve tames the big, bad monster for us.

But that’s not what the books are for. That’s not why the show should exist. I don’t look to this kind of art as my moral prescription or a guidance on how to live my life (which is a burden the show seems determined to carry). I enjoy this art because it resonates with me, it’s entertaining, and it gives me insight into perspectives I otherwise would never have or think to explore.

The point is, Villanelle doesn’t need to be altered, to be be censored, in any way–in order for us to accept and like her.

There’s a section in Jennings’ first novel where Konstantin and Villanelle are discussing a plan for how she will sneakily meet Eve for the first time in Shanghai. Villanelle’s contempt shines through here because she accuses Konstantin of only using her as a killer, disregarding her capacity for emotion, and shutting her away like a tool in a box as soon as she’s executed orders. She wants to see Eve with her own eyes, on her own terms.

When Konstantin protests, Villanelle very pointedly reminds him that she is a human being. Full stop.

Villanelle is one of the most fascinating and compelling characters in contemporary media. And if we follow her own thought process, she’s fully a human being–which means being intimately familiar with her whole self. Darkness included. It’s so easy to understand.

I wish Killing Eve let us experience Villanelle in all her human glory, instead of mistakenly presuming that darkness is not part of the shared human experience.

#I really do wonder 👀#Villaneve #Killing Eve #Villanelle #Jodie Comer #Sandra Oh #Luke Jennings #bbc armerica #bbc

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witlessficcer · 3 years

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Intruder Alert

A/N: This fic is based on an ask by@multi-muse-transect. The ask was for a Peggy/Nat AU in which Natasha is taken in by Wong after he defeats Drykov. While she is studying as his apprentice, Nat sees Peggy working out. I have not seen The Black Widow. I hope this somewhat meets the request. Enjoy.

Natasha Romanoff still burned with the imprint of her former training. Her Master, Drykov was a viscous taskmaster and one whom distributed brutal punishment on those who did not meet his impossible standards. Nat did not fail, but she saw plenty who did, plenty who disappeared and were never seen or spoken of again. When Wong came to Red Room, many of the girls scattered, taking the opportunity to escape, if they had the nerve. Natasha watched. She watched as the General threw everything he had at Wong. But, the peaceful looking Asian was not an ordinary man. By some power that Natasha did not understand, Wong defeated Drykov.

When the battle was over, such as it was, the man looked at her intently. She returned his scrutiny with curiosity of her own. He approached her with open hands and smile with which the young assassin could find no fault. She was looking. Hard.

“Do you want to leave this place?” he asked, like he was order lunch. “I do not think there is anything left here for you.”

“I'm supposed to follow a strange man though a glowing golden portal and hope it all turns out well for me?” Natasha answered, coldly.

“Better than a Russian Gulag or being hunted like a dog for the sake of deniability,” the Asian answered, softly, but directly.

“If we get along,” the redhead offered. “And, I'm not saying we will. I want you to teach me what you were doing. The golden patterns were...beautiful. The power in them is obviously strong.”

“It is possible that this could be done. If we get along. As you know, students get the grunt work. Are you prepared to keep working? I promise that learning form me will be nothing like this place.”

“Let's go,” Natasha said, ready to leave with the clothes on her back. “There is nothing here for me.

She watched as the portly man seemed to spin a web of light, which opened into a larger circle and showed an empty alley on the other side. Without a glance toward her, he walked through.

She stood still; considering he empty alley, the oddly content man, and potential to learning a power beyond her understanding.

“Are you coming?” he asked from the other side of the portal. His hands clasped behind his back. “The window will close momentarily.”

“Who are you?” Natasha asked, her heart rate rising.

“My name is Wong.”

“Who are you, really?” she pressed. “You will find out soon enough. JUMP! NOW!

Natasha jumped as the portal closed around her.

*****

The house in New York was old, but comfortable. Stylish, in a museum kind of way. Nat found its timeless, multicultural decorations relaxing. It was inviting in a way the Red Room complex was spartan and lifeless. Nat was also pleased that she and Wong had worked out a teacher-student relationship that was both challenging and rewarding. His positive reinforcement was a refreshing change from Drykov, but also an initial hurdle as Nat knew she was exhibiting the behavior of an abused child. It took some time for each of them to learn to trust each other. It was coming, slowly, but surely.

After three months of introductory lessons, Wong decided to give her something a little more complex. He handed her a small leather bound book with ornate decoration on the front and back cover. It could not have been more than 20 pages long. Opening the volume, she found child like illustrations and words in a language she could not read. “Study this for this afternoon. Talk to me about what you have discovered at dinner.

Nat was not one to retreat from a challenge. Sitting at table on in the library, she started to 'read'. The words meant nothing, but the pictures...

Two hours later, Nat was knocked from her reverie by the faint sound of grunting an exertion. It wasn't Wong, or anyone else she had met at the House. She could hear the unmistakable sound of fists pounding leather. Kicking too. Rising from her chair she was was surprised to see golden sparks dissipate about her. What the hell? Even the sparks couldn't keep her from following the sounds of someone beating the shit of a hanging bag. Following the exhilarating sounds lead her to a wide, carpeted stairwell leading down. Of course its coming from the gym, dummy.

Making her way down the stairs and through a longer than normal corridor, Nat pulled up short before entering Wong's work out room. Peering into the room, but remaining out of sight, Nat was amazed at what she saw. The person beating on the bag was a woman. A giant woman. She must have been...over six feet tall. Her shoulders, glistening with sweat, were broad and muscled. Her entire body was broad and muscled. In her boxing stance, Nat could see the definition in her calves, thighs, and abs. The skin tight exercise pants left little to the imagination. The woman had a magnificently tight set of glutes. It was a nice ass. Who was she fooling? Despite herself, Nat found her eyes glued to the mystery woman. For the time being she felt that observing would be the best course of action. She wished the woman would turn around so she could get a look at the rest of her, but the Amazon was positioned to only show her back.

“How long are you going to stand there and watch?” the brown haired woman asked.

For the second time in a few short minutes, Nat had been caught off guard. Lost in thought. It was unforgivable. Drykov would have beaten her and thrown her naked into a cell the size of broom closet. That was then, though. This was now. Now, was a beautiful, muscle bound woman calling her out for staring. Natasha turned on the ice.

“I was waiting to get a good look at our intruder,” she said, flatly.

“Well,” the other woman said, turning to face Natasha. “Am I good looking?"

The former Red Room assassin, trained in all manner of self control and deadly precision, blinked. Dark brown eyes, strong jaw, aquiline nose, full, luscious lips, and large breasts, that seemed to strain against her loose grey tank top.

“Passable,” Nat said, without emotion. You thought luscious lips and big boobs, you big liar!Natasha felt like she needed to leave. She wasn't thinking clearly. This woman was affecting her in a way that she couldn't control. At first sight, her training was gone and she was succumbing to baser instincts. She's a hot athlete who started flirting with you immediately.

“Better than I get from the guys on the construction crew,” the larger woman said. “I think they're scared and don't know what to do with someone who could take them in a fight.”

“Sorry to hear that,” Natasha said. “Can't be easy taking shit from guys like that.”

“They are harmless. Literally. None of the them could hurt me.”

“Nasty names can't be easy every day,” Natasha said, moving not so stealthily toward the chair where the woman's bag lay open and white towel hung over the edge. “Plus, I'm not sure sure such names are entirely accurate.”

“Changing your tune that soon?” the other woman challenged. “I didn't come here to to be hit on by little girls. I came to work out.”

“I am not a little girl and I am hardly hitting on you,” piqued by the boxer's audacity.

“That drool at the edge of your mouth says otherwise?” the intruder continued, brazenly.

“I don't drool,” Nat responded, harshly, her self control eroding further. “Who are you? I need a name to give the police.”

“I'm Peggy, and there's no need to call the police. They would come, find you unconscious, and I would be in the wind.”

This woman, Peggy, was instigating her. Why? Perhaps she thinks your cute too. Did she already know who Natasha was? Was she an associate of Wong's? Or, did she simply like pushing buttons?

“If that was a threat, it was lost on me,” Nat said, with confident cool. “I can take care of myself. I'm sure you've heard the phrase: the bigger they are, the harder they fall?”

The larger woman's brown eyes gleamed with mirth. Placing on gloved hand on her hip, she brought the other to her mouth in failed attempt to stifle a laugh.

“Did you really just say that?” Peggy said, rounding out her chuckle. “Trained assassins should be able to make better threats than that. Seriously.”

Another figurative right hook to Natasha's ego sent her reeling. “Do you need a towel? You're sweating?” That's right. Offer to wipe down her sweaty muscles while you try to recover from her owning you from the moment you saw her.

“Sure, Natasha,” Peggy said, taking the offered towel and beginning to wipe herself off. “Since you mentioned it, if I fell, which is unlikely, I would make every effort to fall on top of you so there would be no clear victor.”

Nat was sure she was hypnotized. She was a Red Room assassin and a Sorcerer's apprentice. Who did this Amazonian street thug think she was? This is getting old. You are not hypnotized. You are hot for her at first sight and just won't admit it.

“Who's Victor?” Nat said, emerging form her inner argument. “And, how do you know who I am?”

“Are you okay?” Peggy said, coming toward her. The taller woman, pulled her boxing gloves off and tossed them to the floor. She turned her hand knuckles out and reached toward the assassin's forehead. Nat blocked the strong forearm aside before the hand could touch her.

Raising her hands in surrender, Peggy said. “I'm not going to hurt you. I was trying to check your temperature. You seem out of sorts.”

“How would you know what sort I am?” Nat said, too harshly.

“You're sweating,” Peggy said. “Your face is flush. You offered me a towel. I didn't see that coming.”

“You're sweating!” Nat exclaimed, causing a small burst of golden sparks to shoot from her temples.

“Whoa,” Peggy said, shocked, as the sorcerer's assassin collapsed toward her.

Peggy caught the younger read head and scooped her up into her large arms.

“What has Wong gone and done this time,” Peggy said, as she walked Natasha up the stairs in search of her teacher.

#peggy/nat #peggy x natasha #Peggy Carter #Captain Carter #Natasha Romanoff #wong #marvel fanfiction #marvel mcu #fanfic #What If...?#what if...? fan fiction

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shirophantomvox · 3 years

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Illumi Analysis | Hisoka Analysis | Killua Analysis

What’s up, everybody! I am back yet again with another Hunter x Hunter post. You all really like my Hisoka and Illumi character analysis and thoughts. I figured why not analyze Chrollo as well? Apparently, Chrollo, Hisoka, and Illumi are considered the Adult Trio on here so that is why I used the tag. I understand that this is a Voltron blog but I changed it into a multi because I have a love for other shows that deserve to be talked about. I post these character analyses because they will help me define and develop characters of my own and I love talking about them. Where are they from? What do they do in their spare time? And so on. Read the entire post for links and references!

Let’s get into the post!

I’ve stated in my "Hunter x Hunter Thoughts #2" post that Chrollo caught my attention immediately in the Yorknew City Arc. It was a combination of his large eyes, his calm, smooth voice, the tattoo on his forehead, and his hairstyle. I’ve noticed that my heart flutters a little when these characters speak (don't make it weird. You know what I mean) because their voices are smooth and calm. I think this tactic often used to get the viewers to “love” the villain regardless of any wrongdoings they do in the show. I noticed numerous things about him that made me wonder why he dresses the way he does, why is he so calm and dark, and why does he lurk in the shadows?

I have to be honest. One thing that often annoys me about several anime/manga(s) is they introduce SEVERAL characters at once, push some characters off to the very end, and do not give proper backstories for villains, especially. I don’t side with villains but a backstory should be a necessity. The only main antagonist that has a proper backstory is Illumi because we know that he was raised by crazy assassins. Hisoka doesn't have a backstory except for a one-shot that isn’t canon and neither does Chrollo.

I’ve only seen 2 flashbacks regarding Chrollo and his past. He was born in Meteor City which was a town full of trash; no houses, plants, or schools. It is implied that he only survived from stealing from others. His current members are people he met in his hometown. Chrollo often states that he is the head of the group and if he dies, he trusts that they’ll make a great decision on who the new leader will be. In the present, Gon asks him how he could kill people he didn’t know. The silence and rhythmic thunder-claps imply that he doesn’t know why.

Is it something he does...impulsively? Throughout this arc, it seems that Chrollo is having somewhat of an identity crisis. He has stated several times about trying to figure out “who he is”. By that, Chrollo must not like to steal and destroy but to him, that is what he needs to do to survive.

This raises the question of: “If he has stolen for all these years, why is he still living in a destroyed church?”

He’s been a bandit for years. I’m sure he’s on the radar somewhere. He can’t walk around with the troupe members in broad daylight because someone will recognize them. Maybe this is why they only travel in the dark. Machi was brave for walking from Heaven’s Arena in the dark.

He can’t buy a house. What name, card info, or co-leaders would sign the lease? He’s a bandit, remember. His face is somewhere waiting to be caught.

He has accepted this state of living. I thought that since he lived in a trash town that he would want to live in a luxurious place if he could, but no. He lives in a destroyed church, in darkness, and only speaks to his members.

When Chrollo stole the girl’s ability to tell the future, he took it for two reasons. A) because he needed it to see what would happen to Uvo in the new world and B) because the girl’s father used her ability for money and didn’t care for her.

The only reason why I feel an ounce of sympathy for him and not Illumi is it seems like Chrollo raised himself. He took it upon himself to steal and whatnot so he could eat. Chrollo came from nothing while Illumi had a mansion, butlers, protection, and anything he wanted. FYI, just because you have a luxurious lifestyle doesn’t mean you’re happy but in this case, Illumi had shelter while Chrollo didn’t.

Face

Chrollo’s face is what I aspire to create for my own OC’s but manage to fail every time. His face matches his body. If it weren’t for his tattoo and his main hairstyle, I wouldn’t have thought he was a threat to anyone. His face is well-rounded and reminds me of a young adult. His skin is pale and often covered in shadows because he is always in a room that is only lit by a candle. His ears are rather large for his head, but they match ok. Although, I wish his tattoo was removed. To me, that ruins his character design. He already has an inverted cross on his coat and is implied by the destroyed church he lives in. The tattoo just reminds me of a cult for some reason and that is why he gave me unsettling feelings at first.

Eyes

Chrollo’s large eyes are another feature that had me aghast. Some people love big eyes, but his grey pupils capture you almost like you're hypnotized to do anything he wants. They’re a pretty shade of grey, though.

Hair

I am going to say this loud and proud: CHROLLO LOOKS MUCH BETTER WITH HIS HAIR DOWN! Yes, to me he looks much respectable, mature, and serious with it down. His hair is jet black and is shiny like Illumi’s. I could only imagine if I had the chance to touch his hair, the dye would come off on my hands. The down look? The best way to go!

Clothes

His clothes are very stylish. The coat he wears would be PERFECT for the winter seasons! If I ever cosplay, I’m wearing that coat while it's snowing. In the first scene, he was seen wearing a black shirt with white lines going in numerous directions. After that, the creators decided to let his rippling chest show for the rest of the arc. Damn, rippling chests have been a popular decision and NO ONE is complaining! His black pants remind me of skinny jeans and even if they are, he’s lucky because I CANNOT wear skinny jeans. Once I wore them, bent over, and ripped them! I said to myself, “WTF? I paid $35 for these!”

Shoes

He wears black boots that reach up to his leg. He isn’t as stylish as Illumi and Hisoka, but that’ll do. His clothing is much simpler for anyone to cosplay.

Voice

As stated above, Chrollo has a soft, calm voice. He is the only villain I’ve seen that maintains composure during tough situations. I don't know if this was planned or not, but the main antagonists have calm soothing voices. When Chrollo went out with the fortune teller, I forgot he only did that for his selfish gain. I thought he generally enjoyed the date.

In conclusion, I wish Chrollo had a backstory like many characters in this manga. I think Hisoka and Chrollo’s backstory would be the most interesting to me. When these twisted characters appear before us, you want to know why they became this way. Having an empty villain isn’t good and is quite annoying.

Thank you for reading this post! If you’d like me to analyze any characters from Voltron or Hunter x Hunter, send me an ask!

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minijenn · 4 years

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Heyooooo here I am finally contributing to the 5th Year Anniversary Special again. You know I had to for villains week, I love the baddies of UF after all and I decided to do a little UF2 preview for this one in particular.

So here we have the crew behind Yellow Diamond’s Human Bioweapon Operation (HBO). Aside from the Diamond herself in the background, let’s take a look at who we’ve got here, from left to right:

Sphene: Yellow Diamond’s most trusted designer. Usually taking on an architectural role for designing grand monuments for her Diamond’s glory, she also dabbles in fashion, which is why she’s assigned to the role of creating a special suit of incredibly advanced (and quite stylish) battle armor for Yellow’s new assassin.

Lemon Quartz: Part of Yellow’s elite Quartz guards, Lemon is one of the two soldiers assigned as a guard and escort to Subject 618 prior to his assimilation. Along with Honey Quartz, she also assists in Agent Stonemason’s training.

Amber: The first Amber commissioned since the failure of the Earth Colony and the first one to be formed synthetically on Homeworld. She specializes in organic wellfare and possesses unique healing abilities that aid in keeping Subject 618 from failing as past human subjects in the HBO have.

Hessonite: One of the highest ranking commanders in Yellow’s court. Hessonite is an honored military leader with countless records of success throughout her existence. She was chosen by Yellow Diamond personally to act as the official leader of the HBO, making it her mission to ensure that the project runs smoothly to eventually success.

Agent Stonemason: Formerly Subject 618. The first successful subject of the HBO, Agent Stonemason is unquestionably loyal to his Diamond. He has been outfitted with a biomechanical arm composed of the same material as the Diamonds’ ships to make up for his biological shortcomings as a human. His mission is to capture or destroy the rebel Rose Quartz, no matter the cost.

Peridot (Squaridot): The leader of a team of Peridot engineers assigned to the project. Peridot and her team are responsible for designing and building Agent Stonemason’s biomechanical arm, as well as outfitting it onto his body.

Pearl (Yellow Pearl): Yellow Diamond’s personal Pearl. Her role in the HBO is to serve as a channel of communication between the rest of the team and her Diamond, updating her on the latest progress.

Honey Quartz: Part of Yellow’s elite Quartz guards, Honey is one of the two soldiers assigned as a guard and escort to Subject 618 prior to his assimilation. Along with Lemon Quartz, she also assists in Agent Stonemason’s training.

Sapphire (Yellow Sapphire): Yellow Diamond’s personal Sapphire, one of her most trusted advisors. With her unique abilities in future vision, she offers her Diamond intel on how best to proceed with the HBO and what adjustments need to be made in the event of potential problems with the process.

So that’s the squad. I’m pretty sure most if not all of these Gems are gonna show up in UF2 since I took the time to design them all (well, the new ones anyway). But this was fun to work on. Enjoy!

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jackdawyt · 3 years

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With no time to waste, we have a tremendous news update on Dragon Age 4’s current iteration known as “Morrison”, as many development secrets were revealed in BioWare’s brand-new hardcover book of “Stories and Secrets from 25 Years of Game Development.”

A lot of the questions that we’ve all been asking over the past few years, finally have an answer, all thanks to this book. I will be delving into all of the Dragon Age 4-related content in this book; however, I wholeheartedly advise you pick up the book for yourself because it is filled to the brim with insights, information and behind-the-scenes reveals on every BioWare game to this date.

It’s full of so many captivating, inspiring and amazing stories that showcase BioWare’s incredible journey over the past 25 years.

In any regard, we’ve got a lot to get into, so leaving no stone unturned, we’ve got some updates regarding Dragon Age: Morrison, the current-rebooted project code name of the next Dragon Age game.

Morrison:

Along with this amazing retro-styled font of Morrison’s code name - that I’m totally going to use in future videos and thumbnails - we actually have a small plot synopsis on this working title.

It reads as followed: “Tevinter Bound – a sneak peek at the follow-up to Inquisition.”

“As BioWare entered its twenty-fifth year, the Dragon Age team was hard at work on Morrison, the code name of the long-awaited follow-up to Dragon Age: Inquisition. The game, helmed by executive producer Mark Darrah, will take players to Tevinter as events of Inquisition and Trespasser threaten to forever change Thedas.”

We’re going to Tevinter! Of course, we already knew that based on Trespasser’s ending, Tevinter Nights, and the developers already hinting that, but it is still very nice to see hear that in a plot outline.

In addition, the most interesting factor about this synopsis, is that for the first time BioWare have confirmed that “Morrison” is indeed the code name for the current Dragon Age project, which outrightly confirms that Jason Scheirer’s Kotaku article on “The Past & Present of Dragon Age 4” carries merit and truth to it, meaning that we can indeed trust the entire contents of Jason’s article.

Regardless, sticking with the 80’s retro theme, BioWare staff have themed shirts for the project, and they look absolutely amazing. Please, BioWare Gear Store release these one day, if at all possible, these designs are so good!

The book then goes on to show very familiar concept art that was showcased within the Gamescom behind-the-scenes trailer, however, this time, we have actual descriptions on each of the art pieces, and what they’re portraying. So, we don’t need to spend another 40 minutes speculating about what the pieces could show.

The underwater shot which we assumed to be Isabela accompanied by what looks like Dorian with a sword, an undead and a female dwarf, appears to showcase the Lords of Fortune, a newly-introduced faction within Tevinter Nights.

The synopsis says:

“Where there’s treasure, there’s adventurers braving death to get it. The Lords of Fortune are always on the hunt for treasure-wherever it may be.”

The next shot, which I speculated it as Tevinter’s capital city Minrathous, has a synopsis that says:

“The glittering hubs of Thedas are beacons of civilization and bulwarks against the night.”

Following that, we have the mysterious Antivan Crow lady concept art with the synopsis:

“The Antivan Crows have perfected theatrical assassinations. The Antivan Crows are celebrated for their mastery of stylish slaying.”

And then we have a most recognisable mural, one that many of us have spent way too long staring at, tinfoiling over its endless possibilities. The synopsis of The Dread Wolf Rises concept piece says:

“One of Nick Thornborrow’s beautiful paintings showing an old friend with a shadowy threat!”

Following that, we have Nevarra’s undead operating on a dragon, with the synopsis saying:

“From their Necropolis, the Mourn Watch guard Thedas from occult threats”

And then we have – hold on, what’s this, a new piece of concept art? Roll on the tinfoil, I’ll read the synopsis first and then we can go from there, as it states:

“The Deep Roads teem with evils both new and old, known and unknowable.”

I won’t spend ages delving into a single piece of concept art, but we can see the Deep Roads with plenty of light coming from the surface. It’s a beautiful shot, that I’m sure is building a mood for potential locations in the next game.

The final concept art piece shown is one from the trailer, however, it’s not cut-off anymore. When it once looked like an evil Cetus, it now reveals something even more wicked than a sea dragon... A figure with multiple arms, red eyes, a curved headpiece, holding a spear. Is this an ancient God? Could it be Ghilan’nain? A Lovecraftian sea-hybrid-monster? Or is it just a crazy idea thrown together by a concept artist, because why not?

The synopsis is the most intriguing and provides a further context for the next Dragon Age game:

“The Evil Gods have Thedas in their sights and only heroes can stop them. The shadows of the past stir, and new heroes must rise to fight them.”

There are many “gods” in Dragon Age, the Old Gods, the Elven Gods, the Maker, the Titans, etc. You could certainly consider each of them to be evil too, but on a whim, with the whole “shadows of the past stir.” I’m sure this synopsis is referring to the Elven Gods, given Solas’s scheme that will return the Evanuris to Thedas once more.

Taking my tinfoil hat off for a moment, this book expertly describes concept art stages relating to BioWare, and I need to touch on what exactly these pieces could mean going forward, because they most certainly could just be conceptual drawings without much context for the next game.

The book quotes Dragon Age 2’s development regarding concept art, saying:

“In the early stages of any project, before the concept artists are aware of any writing, they like to just draw what they think cool story moments could be. It’s not unusual for the team to then be inspired by those drawings and fold them into the game as the project progresses.”

And, even further than that, Matt Rhodes, who is the Art Director of the next Dragon Age spoke a few words regarding Dragon Age: Inquisition’s conceptual art stages:

“As multiple teams worked on their corners of Inquisition, lead concept artist Matt Rhodes spent weeks creating images to help solidify and drive a vision of what the game could be.”

“It was partly to encourage and remind myself of what the potential of this project could be,” Matt says. “We all imagine the finished game. I wanted to get that on paper, to remind everyone we are making something that could be pretty cool.”

So, while we’re all so excited to see these amazing concept designs and imagery, and we love to correlate it all to the next game, remember that these designs are very early work building a vision for the next game, they’re just being used to represent what idealistically the developers would like the game to end up like, or what insane ideas the concept artists have for the game.

Many of these ideas won’t turn out in the final product, but it’s still so nice to see this work already.

Wolf Rook Book:

Moving on, we can put an end to a five-year mystery, we finally have answers on that enigmatic red “Wolf-Rook" book that Mark Darrah has teased for half a decade.

One of my first ever videos on this channel was delving into the early pages of this book, back then I had a hunch that this book was the next Dragon Age game’s early concepts and designs, like a shiny development doc for the team.

And I was on the right tracks, as followed:

“The book was an internal guide for developer and publisher eyes only that summarized the vision for Dragon Age: Inquisition’s follow-up, a project code-named Joplin. The Joplin project has since been revised to such an extent that its code name changed to Morrison, but the red book still contains plenty of ideas likely to appear in the next Dragon Age. While most pages remain highly classified, here are a few Mark said we can publish.”

There’s a small description of The Qunari with some other concept shots, the paragraph reads as followed:

“The Qunari are followers of a religious text of principles known as the Qun. Though Qunari may be of any race, most are part of a race of large humanoids with horns.”

“For ages the Qunari have proven a formidable opponent to the rest of Thedas, almost conquering the continent until a united force of every Chantry nation pushed them back into a tense stalemate. Recent events have reignited the Qunari offensive, however, and their forces are in open conflict with the Tevinter Imperium, while their spies and agents are active in every nation.”

And at the bottom we have a Creatures double-spread page with different concepts very similar to those seen in Inquisition, the paragraph reads as followed:

“Animals, monsters and misplaced magical experiments: creatures stir apart from the conflicts and machinations flowing across the continent. Creatures range from the lowly nug up to the ultimate apex predator, the dragon. The next Dragon Age will feature our widest and most varied set of creatures to date. While often quite simple in implementation, creatures provide variety through differentiated animation and appearance.”

So, “Wolf-Rook” is still relevant, somewhat confirming that the work that went into Joplin, may cross over into Morrison, which is very exciting because Joplin’s vision for a Dragon Age title sounded amazing, so to hear aspects of that work pouring into this new project is absolutely fabulous. I had a hunch that the red book was still valuable to the current project, because we’ve seen a lot of “Wolf-Rook” teased this year, Mark Darrah has not stopped showing off his stash of red books. So, I’m very glad it’s here to stay for the current iteration.

Dragon Age Week:

Next up, we have an update to a story I talked about in March of this year, Mark Darrah teased a picture of his laptop with the BioWare Slack server shown at the bottom of his screen.

One of the channel-titles within the server was one by the name of “DA Week”, and thanks to this book, we know what “Dragon Age Week” actually is:

“Dragon Age Week is a five-day period during which members of the Dragon Age team can pursue creative projects that in some way benefit Dragon Age. The work done during DA Week, and its erstwhile cousin DA Fridays, sometimes found its way into releases.”

“The giants in Inquisition came out of a Dragon Age Week,” executive producer Mark Darrah says. “We also had a board game made that we were going to put into Inquisition, but we just didn’t have time to. It’s referenced. It’s a dwarven chess.”

So, I do wonder what kind of ideas have come out of Dragon Age Week recently that has then ended up in the next Dragon Age. Hopefully, one day we’ll have a new book that tells us Dragon Age 4’s secrets and we can visit this topic.

New BioWare Vision:

Moving on to the final major update, thanks to this book, we have a greater understanding about the vision BioWare have going forward. According to General Manager, Casey Hudson and Dragon Age, Narrative Director, John Epler.

Casey Hudson spoke on the “old” BioWare and how their changing paths to a “newer” BioWare:

“We can’t go back to where we’ve been,” Casey Hudson says, now the studio’s general manager. “The way that we worked, all of those stories and the crunch and eating pizza for six weeks straight and all that kind of stuff, as fun and memorable as it was at the time, those things won’t work for where we’re going.”

As BioWare grows, Casey says it must learn better ways to work while still embodying the values laid out by Drs. Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk.

“It starts with the ones that were there at the very beginning with Greg and Ray of humility and integrity,” he says, “Those are super important.”

Other pillars include a passion for excellence and courageous creativity.

“We used to exemplify this not because we were courageous, but because we didn’t know better. We would try things and fail and try something else until we got it right, and it was very experimental. But what can happen is, once you do know the consequences of failure, you can very easily start retreating. And at that point, it actually does take courage to put yourself out there and try something new.”

Casey says. “We’re not super young and inexperienced anymore. We do know better, but we still have to try and do some crazy stuff anyway.”

John Epler shared on the change going on within BioWare:

“I am excited for what the future holds. I think BioWare is changing. I think we’re at a crossroads where we can either accept that and move into the new BioWare, or we can try to cling to the past. We have to be respectful of our origins without being constrained by them. It’s an exciting time and I’m really looking forward to what the next five years brings.”

“’I’m one of those people who is probably going to be here until they have to literally wheel my desiccated corpse out of the building, because I love working here and I love the people I work with and I love getting to come into work every day to have long, detailed conversations about how eluvians work.”

All in all, I’m incredibly excited and optimistic for BioWare’s future, they’re aware of their flaws, while knowing what makes them great. They seek to humble themselves, while changing direction, they want to avoid crunch while being experimental. I think we’re going to see the company bloom when they inevitably release the next Dragon Age, and I am totally here for that.

Dragon Age Day

Before I leave you, Dragon Age Day is quickly approaching, and it seems BioWare have plans this year. EA Community Manager, Jay Ingram tweeted about fans asking questions for the Dragon Age team, in prep for plans on Dragon Age Day. I’ll link the tweet down below, so you can ask as many questions as you’d like! It seems that BioWare may stream on Dragon Age Day, so do watch out for that, and give them a follow on their Twitch, also linked down below:

https://twitter.com/JayKingIngram/status/1325197450907275264

https://www.twitch.tv/bioware

Regardless, this is where we part ways. There was so much that this book uncovered, I highly recommended picking It up for yourself, it’s truly worth it to any BioWare fan. There was also some future Mass Effect stuff, but I’m saving that for a future video that I’ll do at the start of the new year. And I most likely will do future videos on other topics revealed in this book.

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elyvorg · 3 years

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What would you think of a talentswap au? I know we all love kaito in all his wonderful spacey self, but ive seen some really interesting concepts for ultimate assassin kaito, as well as ultimate astronaut maki, ultimate detective kaede and ultimate pianist shuichi. Some very interesting things could be done with their histories and how they affect their present, especially if the changes are minimised. (Say, Shuichi's uncle being a pianist rather than a detective.)

I dont think the original character arcs could be pulled off as well, what with how the character's pasts affect how they react to the situations they're thrown in during the killing game (for example i doubt maki would have gone directly to murdering kokichi when she's convinced he's the mastermind if she hadn't been raised as an assassin) but i think there is some interesting potential in what would and wouldnt change about them

I know talentswap AUs are a pretty popular thing in this fandom, and I do enjoy looking at people's ideas in terms of the creative aesthetic redesigns of characters they can come up with. As a narrative thing, though, the concept just doesn't really do it for me.

I agree with your point that it can be an interesting exercise to imagine how a character we know might have diverged from the same starting point through slightly different circumstances in their life, and what would and wouldn't change about them. But I'm just not especially interested in the end result, because ultimately, whether by a little or by a lot, they going to end up as a different characters.

Obviously, as you can tell from my blog, I like thinking about AU scenarios. But, for me, they need to be plot AUs, not character AUs. I enjoy plot AUs because I like imagining how the characters I already know and love would react in interesting ways to new and different situations not seen in canon. I'm much less into AUs where the characters have been changed such that they only superficially resemble the ones that I'm a fan of.

For the most obvious example of this, let’s take Maki. The reasons I love her, the things that really make her Maki to me, are the trauma she suffered in being forced to be an assassin, the issues and self-loathing she has today because of that, and how amazing it is that she still manages to be a good person at heart despite everything. A Maki who was literally anything other than the Ultimate Assassin wouldn't have any of that, and then she's just... not really Maki any more. It's not just that she obviously wouldn't try to kill Kokichi; none of her story would be the same at all.

The same also goes for anyone else who's talent-swapped into being an Ultimate Assassin, because that level of trauma is going to significantly change anyone. To take another example, because this is a hypothetical I have actually thought about a bit, let's try to imagine an Ultimate Assassin Kaito.

With the caveat that I don't actively seek out every talent-swap out there, I've happened across an assassin-Kaito concept or two that basically looks like the same Kaito: he incidentally murders people for a job, but then he also still has sidekicks and looks after kids and is his usual optimistic Kaito-y self when he's not doing a murder. That's a cute idea; I understand the desire to keep Kaito recognisable, but I just... I don't think that would be possible. I don't think anyone, no matter how resilient, could still be like that after going through what Maki went through and being forced to kill so many people. Maki didn't end up the way she did because she was weak; far from it.

(And it's obviously even less possible that Kaito wasn't forced and traumatised into this just like Maki was, because he'd never choose to kill people for a living. Perhaps we could imagine that Kaito was at one of the cult-run orphanages (for minimal changes, maybe his grandparents weren't there after his parents died? oh nooo) and got scouted, and/or volunteered in order to protect someone else because he's exactly as selfless as Maki.)

After going through all that, especially since he started from the same point of someone fundamentally very selfless and caring, an assassin-Kaito's issues would end up very similar to canon-Maki's. He'd still care about other people beneath it all, but it'd be hard to notice that when he'd also hate himself and feel like he doesn't deserve to be around anyone, let alone help them, because who'd want advice from a killer?

The only really different part would be his outward personality. Kaito's general personality is nothing like what Maki's was pre-trauma, so he'd have ended up with something quite different from Maki's cold aloofness. Specifically, if you'll bear with me on the out-of-left-field example here, I think he might have ended up looking something like Axel from Kingdom Hearts. (I once hyperfixated on Axel, okay, so I've thought about this a lot.)

In short, Axel used to be a good kid, a bit of a cocky attention seeker but with a heart of gold, until he was forced into doing horrible things for an evil organisation against his will. He pretty much coped with that by accepting that he's A Bad Guy now, and owning it, carrying out his evil missions in a stylish, badass sort of way, like a twisted version of the cocky kid he used to be. This also conveniently gives him something he can focus on to avoid thinking about all the things he hates and never wanted about this. Given that Kaito was a vaguely similar kind of kid to what Axel used to be, it seems possible that he might cope in a similar way if put through the child-slave-assassin wringer.

But, while the end result would definitely be a very fun and fascinating character, my point is that it still wouldn't be Kaito as we know him at all. It'd be an entirely new character. He'd have Kaito's name and face and pre-assassin-training childhood, but those details would be the least interesting things about him.

(I would recommend checking out Axel's storyline to see a character along these lines, but honestly the required untangling of the Kingdom Hearts lore-spaghetti is not necessarily worth your while. That and all this stuff about his issues is pretty subtle and I only really noticed it at all because I happened to like him enough to hyperfixate for a while.)

Even putting aside the extreme example of an assassin talent, a lot of Danganronpa characters are as great as they are specifically because their personality and their talent make such a good combination. Take Shuichi, whose issues and character arc and potential as an interesting protagonist revolve around the fact that he's an Ultimate Detective who starts out weak. A pianist Shuichi would just be a somewhat anxious and insecure pianist, which wouldn't be especially interesting or important to the progression of a killing game. Meanwhile, a detective Kaede would be way more confident about her detectiveness than Shuichi and would probably look something like a more optimistic and trusting Kyoko; again, less interesting. [Edit: or would she?] To bring in some other combinations of these four, a detective Maki would look very similar to Kyoko, because she'd have similar trust issues from her orphanage days.

As for a detective Kaito, sure, we can imagine a Kaito who's the same kind of person but with a passion for solving mysteries (which he’s also actually good at) instead of space. He'd still do his sidekick thing, of course, because the only thing that'd make him lose that central part of himself is loads of childhood trauma. But then this Kaito is just genuinely every bit the hero everyone needs, solving the cases and supporting the others in one package... and, whoops, there goes all of his issues and character arc. At best, he'd still struggle a little with the Gonta situation in trial 4, but that struggle wouldn't be actually about Shuichi and so it wouldn't be nearly as fun. (A detective Kaito still wouldn't struggle as much to accept Gonta did it, either, because he'd be someone who's used to trusting the facts and logic alongside his instincts about people to intuit the truth.) And he’d still struggle a bit with dying if we gave him the virus, but so much less so, because at least he’d be obviously managing to be the hero he wants to be before the end.

An astronaut Maki would pretty much just be a regular astronaut who happened to be an orphan. She'd need to have taught herself to be good with communication and teamwork because that's necessary to be an astronaut, so she'd mostly just be a little bit like Kaito but extremely toned down. (Again, Maki without her assassin trauma kind of just becomes a fairly ordinary competent person and not really Maki as we know her.) Even then, it's a huge stretch that someone pragmatic and cautious like her would have been willing to risk losing everything just to take the astronaut exam as a teenager. And an astronaut Shuichi doesn't even seem possible; he'd have been way too insecure to apply to astronaut training early like Kaito did, no matter how badly he'd hypothetically love to go to space. Really, Kaito's reckless personality is a necessary part of having an Ultimate - as in, teenage - Astronaut. Pretty much all of these kids' talents are intrinsically tied in some way into who they are as a person and as a character in this story.

The only talent-swap within these particular four characters we're talking about that I think would work in terms of keeping them basically themselves is between Kaito and Kaede. That's because they were both written with the talents they have to help enhance the kind of people they are, and they're such similar people in the first place. Both of them are selfless and optimistic and all about working together and helping others; Kaede plays music to make people smile, while Kaito's astronaut training requires him to be someone who values communication and co-operation. I can just about see a talent-swap between these two making sense while still retaining everything important about who they are as people and keeping their stories roughly the same. You'd have a space-flavoured Kaede and a music-flavoured Kaito, but their personalities would still be very recognisably them.

(Though, still, I dunno if I'd have loved a pianist Kaito quite as much. There's just something about that space theme that helps get across how bombastically over-the-top he is in a way that a more down-to-earth talent simply can't quite match. Also, that execution.)

...The problem with this, though, is that the new music-Kaito and space-Kaede wouldn't be all that meaningfully interesting to explore compared to their original versions. Which I guess is kind of the unavoidable catch-22 I have with character AUs. Making big changes to a character can be an interesting thought experiment, but it ultimately results in them no longer being the characters I've grown to love any more, while changes that keep them still recognisably the same people are inherently going to be pretty superficial changes that aren’t worth exploring very much.

#danganronpa v3 #danganronpa v3 spoilers #kaito momota #maki harukawa #shuichi saihara #kaede akamatsu #thanks for the ask!#me: i'm not interested in thinking about this concept much #also me: thinks about it a whole bunch for this ask anyway #Anonymous

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watching-pictures-move · 3 years

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Movie Review | Reservoir Dogs (Tarantino, 1992)

This review contains spoilers.

For the past few years, I didn’t spend a lot of time rewatching movies. Quite frankly, the thrill of discovering something new (and the risk that it might not be all that good) outweighed the pleasures of the familiar ninety-nine times out of a hundred. Yet this year, perhaps because it’s been so miserable on the whole, I’ve spent a bit more time revisiting films I’d already seen. In some cases, it was to relive the joy of seeing something I already liked or loved. But in other cases, perhaps because I’d been easier to please on average, I would go back to things I’d felt somewhat at a distance to in the hopes that I would finally be won over. Full Metal Jacket finally clicked with me (seeing it in a different aspect ratio did the trick) and I’ve warmed up to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 as much as I probably ever will. With that in mind, and prompted by a bizarre dream in which I watched it on Netflix in the wee hours of the morning, I ended up waking up stupid early and giving Reservoir Dogs another viewing. (The dream wasn’t terribly interesting, although it did involve me watching the new Scream, which had magically already been completed and was available on Netflix. There was a lot of yellowish, Fincher-esque lighting and Alison Brie got thrown over a railing at one point. As someone who enjoyed the fourth, I was upset by that turn of events, but dreams can be upsetting. In the words of the Shogun Assassin in Shogun Assassin, “bad dreams are only dreams.”)

I don’t think my opinion changed all that much with this viewing. I still feel that it’s one of Tarantino’s weaker films, lacking the confidence and depth of his next few films. I think Tarantino’s career is generally discussed as being split into his earlier, more story-oriented or reality-grounded films and his later, more indulgent genre pastiches, but I think this one lacks the focus that kind of discourse implies. The characters are barely fleshed out and the directorial touches aren’t as purposeful or effective as they would become in his later work. But at the same time, it’s still a stylish and highly entertaining affair, with a great cast giving some very good performances and delivering some punchy, very funny dialogue. It’s pleasures and limitations are obvious and have been better discussed by those more eloquent than me, so I don’t know how deeply I’ll delve into them. (On a side note, I felt a strange pang of nostalgia revisiting this despite it never having been a favourite of mine. It was very big among the internet crowd I first started discussing film with as I first got into the subject, so it’s hard for me to separate those feelings from the actual movie. I got the same feeling watching Boogie Nights a few weeks ago, despite never having seen that film until now.)

But what I did chew over a bit more this time around is how the movie positions the characters’ morality. We know that Tim Roth’s Mr. Orange is the “good guy”, the undercover cop who kills the psychopathic Mr. Blonde played by Michael Madsen. But at the same time he betrays the trust of Harvey Keitel’s Mr. White. Mr. White is sort of a “good guy” too, but foolishly risks his own fate and those of his associates as he bonds with someone who sets him up. Mr. Blonde is a sadistic psychopath but also extremely loyal, having refused to rat out his friends while serving a tough prison term. Steve Buscemi’s Mr. Pink is entirely business-minded and self-interested, but is that really any less honourable than the intentions of those around him? Chris Penn’s Nice Guy Eddie loves his father, Lawrence Tierney’s Joe Cabot, who is the closest thing to a paternal, authoritative presence in the movie, but both are also extremely ruthless, not to mention racist. Tarantino’s relationship with race is complicated (he’s been criticized for his use of the n-word, particularly in a certain scene in Pulp Fiction, and while I do enjoy his performance in that movie, I’m not sure I can defend a certain line of dialogue), but here the characters’ rampant use of racial slurs seems like a clear indicator of their (lack of) character. (These characters also freely use homophobic slurs, but such language was unfortunately a mainstay of macho dialogue at the time and doesn’t seem as pointed a comment on their natures.) Even when Mr. Orange praises the connection he used to get in with the criminals, another character is quick to point out that the connection is ratting out his friends. There’s some moral relativism in my argument here, but the movie invites that line of thought. Reservoir Dogs is about a bunch of lowlife crooks and despite the extent to which we may identify with them, it never lets us forget that.

In that sense, it’s in clear contrast to some of its influences. Ringo Lam’s City on Fire features the same plot but emphasizes the value of brotherhood between the criminals, so that the betrayal there stings extra hard. Tarantino highlights the meaninglessness of such appeals to solidarity. (Bizarrely, Tarantino has denied having seen that other film despite the hard to ignore story similarities. He even dedicated the screenplay to Chow Yun Fat and pulls the image of a dual wielding gunman in sunglasses from that actor’s oeuvre and has made a brand of pulling from his influences, so I’m baffled why he’d deny this one instance.) Jean-Pierre Melville’s work features gangsters in tailoring adhering to strict codes and conducting themselves with honour in dire situations. Tarantino points out the futility of such codes. His next film handles these dynamics even more elegantly. In Pulp Fiction, John Travolta’s character is a villain in one segment and a hero in another, while Samuel L. Jackson’s character reflects on the dishonourable nature of their work and decides to walk away at the end.

Where I think Pulp Fiction succeeds in handling that theme is that it gives us a sense of Jackson and Travolta contemplating (or failing to do so, respectively) their choices and having something resembling actual worldviews (however limited, as in the case of the latter). The characters in Reservoir Dogs in contrast are drawn in shorthand from gangster cliches so that our identification with them is limited. Mr. Orange should be our audience vantage point, but Tarantino fumbles a key scene in which he relates a made-up story to ingratiate himself with the other criminals. It should be about how Mr. Orange wins their trust, which would help make later speculation on his loyalty more dramatically potent, but in choosing to actually depict the proceedings in the story onscreen, Tarantino makes it about the cuts and shot choices he energetically deploys. It’s not a badly directed scene on its own, but the wrong one for the movie. Yet in other scenes, like the opening in the diner, he’s able to elegantly paint character detail while letting us enjoy the surface pleasure of the dialogue. Mr. Pink refuses to tip as an extension of his business-minded nature. Mr. Blonde volunteers to shoot Mr. White, jokingly revealing his bloodthirst. Mr. White takes things too personally (”You shoot me in a dream, you better wake up and apologize”). Joe Cabot struggles to remember a name, implying that his criminal instincts are slipping. The movie shuffles its timeline in the vein of The Killing to draw out these contrasts between the characters and to build to a tense and memorable climax, yet had more of the individual character moments been as deftly handled as this first scene, the film might have landed with me more strongly. That being said, there’s a nonzero chance I’ll come back to this in a few years, hoping it will finally click.

#film #movie review #reservoir dogs #Quentin Tarantino

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worryinglyinnocent · 4 years

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Fic: Dead Man Walking (4/?)

Summary: Prime Ministers don’t normally wake up in morgues after they’ve been murdered, but that’s exactly what Robert Sutherland has just done. Right in front of Lacey’s nose. With limited resources and not knowing who to trust, Sutherland and Lacey must work together to get to the bottom of the attempted assassination.

Based loosely on this dream I had.

Rated: T, eventually E.

Note: This is meant to be ‘darkly humorous and amusing mystery’ rather than ‘gripping political thriller’…

[One] [Two] [Three] [AO3]

—

Dead Man Walking

Four

Lacey’s night just kept getting stranger. Having delivered the Prime Minister safely into the hands of his Chief of Staff, who, although at least three sheets to the wind and probably closer to four, did at least seem capable, she should have just left them to it.

She should have just got them out of the hospital, waved them cheerily away with a cry of ‘good luck, don’t nearly get assassinated again’ and gone home. It was almost two o’clock in the morning, for heaven’s sake, she had better places to be than skulking down alleyways beside the ambulance station. Like bed, for instance.

But no. Here she was, skulking down an alleyway with the Prime Minister, the Prime Minister’s drunk Chief of Staff, and the Prime Minister’s drunk Chief of Staff’s equally drunk mother, for whose presence no one had a satisfactory explanation.

There was a taxi waiting in the shadows and Lacey nearly jumped out of her skin when the lights came on, half-convinced that the secret service had caught them, and they were all about to be thrown in jail for absconding with a supposedly dead body.

These fears were immediately allayed by the taxi driver sticking her head out of the window wearing an incredulous expression.

“Did you two just kidnap the Prime Minister?” she whispered, in as close to a shout of alarm as a whisper could ever get. “I told you I wasn’t getting involved in any illegal activity! You put him back where you found him right now or I’m turning this car around!”

“We’re not kidnapping him, we’re rescuing him,” Carrie said patiently. “And considering we found him in the morgue, we’d really rather not put him back there if it’s all the same to you.”

“Well, technically we found him in a linen closet,” Mrs de Ville pointed out. “Miss French found him in the morgue.”

“Can we please get out of here?” Sutherland asked. “I thought this was a rescue mission; you’re talking more than a fucking cabinet meeting and making about as little sense.”

The stunned taxi driver still did not move.

“Shouldn’t you have a limo and bodyguards and the works?” she asked.

“Well, if we’re going to get technical,” Carrie snapped. “As it is, he’s got us, and I suggest that we get out of here.”

Carrie bundled the Prime Minister into the back of the taxi, much to his protest at being manhandled on top of already having died that evening and been poked with needles by Lacey.

Lacey should have taken this as her cue to leave. He was in good hands; everything would be all right. All she had to do now was avoid the hospital for a couple of days until the furore died down and Sutherland was officially alive and back in Downing Street again.

Her phone buzzed with the arrival of a text message, and the weight of it in her hand reminded her of her earlier phone call to Dorothy and the test tubes of blood she’d dropped off in the pathology lab whilst she’d had Sutherland hiding in the closet. She couldn’t walk away now. Like it or not, she was in too deep. She’d been in too deep the moment she decided to help the poor man avoid the Suits rather than simply informing the necessary authorities that he was alive.

She looked at the message; it was from her father.

DID YOU STEAL THE PM???

She ignored it and shoved her phone back in her bag. She could answer later, once everything wasn’t quite so up in the air.

“Are you coming, darling?” Carrie was standing by the open taxi door. “All things considered I think we might need you. As amazingly put together as I look right now, I’m just a tad worse for wear and a sober brain might be helpful. And, of course, we can work out some kind of recompense for the marvellous help you’ve already given.”

It was not exactly the promise of recompense that swayed Lacey, but she couldn’t deny that when one of the most powerful people in the country – she’d seen Yes Minister, she knew how much power the Civil Service held – said that she might be needed, it did make her preen a little.

“My moped’s round the corner,” she said. “I’ll follow you.”

With that, she thought, she’d effectively thrown her lot in with Sutherland and sealed her fate, no matter what that might be once the Suits caught up to them. If the Suits caught up to them. Maybe now that they’d discovered the body was missing, they’d realise what had happened and give it up as a bad job.

Carrie gave a nod of understanding and got back into the taxi. Immediately a heated discussion started up between her and the taxi driver, and Lacey left them to it, hurrying round the corner to where she’d left her moped, praying that this was not the one night that her luck had run out and she’d been clamped. Mercifully, the tired little Yamaha was waiting for her exactly where she’d left it earlier in the evening, as free as a bird.

A couple of minutes later she was following the taxi down the winding lanes that led away from Stoke Mandeville and into the middle of the dark countryside. She had no idea where she was going, all the roads looked the same at this time of night, and a thought struck her that they might be headed for Chequers. She quickly squashed it; there was no way she’d be allowed in there and Carrie wouldn’t have invited her.

They did not end up outside Chequers. They ended up outside a well-appointed detached house set back from the road on a leafy avenue in a quaint village. It was so typically English and respectable that it made the perfect hideout for a supposedly-dead Prime Minister and his partners in crime, and Lacey had to laugh at the sheer absurdity of the situation as she pulled into the sweeping driveway and parked up next to the taxi.

“Right. Coffee, I think,” Carrie said as she helped Sutherland out of the back of the taxi. “Would you like to come in for some, Ursula?” she asked the taxi driver. “You can leave your meter running if you like, but after all tonight’s excitement, I think you deserve something.”

Ursula was very visibly in two minds before she switched the taxi engine off and got out.

“Whatever,” she muttered. “Tonight’s already so goddamn weird. Might as well have coffee with the Prime Minister who just got kidnapped from a hospital.”

Mrs de Ville let them into the house and set about making coffee as everyone else settled in the living room – as stylish as Carrie and her mother looked, Lacey had to admit that the décor was absolutely atrocious. Carrie was fussing over Sutherland, who was not at all appreciative.

“I’m not sure I like you like this,” he muttered. “Worrying like a mother hen isn’t a good look on you. Where’s the snarky wisecracker telling me to get a grip every ten minutes.?

“Oh, she’s still here. It’s not every day that your boss dies and rises from the grave. I was distraught, Robert, I’ll have you know. Ask Mother. She’ll have to get the front wall repaired. I can’t believe how dismissive of my affections you are. I’ll withhold them next time you find yourself waking up in a morgue. You’ll be on your own then.”

Sutherland smiled. “That’s the Carrie I know.”

Mrs de Ville came in bearing a tray laden with cups, cafetière, sugar bowl and milk jug, along with a plate of chocolate biscuits, and Lacey reached out to intercept the cup that was heading towards Sutherland.

“No! I told you, you’re on water until we know what killed you. Besides, you already told me you thought it was your coffee that had been poisoned, surely that should put you off the stuff.”

Carrie raised an eyebrow. “I don’t think anything could put Robert off his coffee.”

Sutherland just glowered at Lacey. “Can I at least have a cigarette?” he asked, looking over at Mrs de Ville slotting one into the end of her holder. “After everything I’ve been through tonight, I think I deserve that small comfort at least.”

As a semi medical professional, Lacey knew that the correct answer was no, but the poor man looked so incredibly done with absolutely everything that she relented.

“Fine.”

He looked to Carrie, who had just accepted the pack from her mother and who rolled her eyes before handing it to him.

“Do you ladies mind if we light up?” Mrs de Ville asked Lacey and Ursula. “I wholeheartedly agree with the Prime Minister concerning the stressful events of the night and I’m not even the one who got assassinated.”

Ursula shrugged. “It’s your house, I’m just here for the ride. Well, that’s not strictly true, I’m here because I am the ride.”

“The one good thing about coming home is that I can use a cigarette holder and not look pretentious,” Carrie said.

“No, you still look pretentious,” Sutherland muttered. “There’s just two of you looking pretentious together.”

“I’m sorry, did you say someone had been assassinated?” Ursula said. Everyone in the room pointed to Sutherland and Ursula’s eyebrows shot to her hairline. “I’ve been in a car all night, I don’t think I’m up to speed here, and if you’re going to invite me in and give me coffee then I think I need to know the whole story in case some government scientists try to do experiments on me.” She looked at Lacey with suspicion. “You’re not a government scientist, are you?”

“Hell no.” Lacey threw her hands up in defence. “I just happened to be in the wrong place at the right time when the assassinee woke up, because the assassin didn’t do a very good job.”

“Right.” Ursula stared into the depths of her coffee cup and the room fell silent for a while.

“We’ve got to get to the bottom of this before someone realises that you’re missing,” Carrie said suddenly, stubbing out her cigarette and jumping up before grimacing and rubbing her head. “Ugh, Mother, why did you decide that elderflower wine was a good idea?”

“Elderflower wine is always a good idea. I think the problem came when we decided to bring gin into the mix.”

Lacey wished that she wasn’t on her moped. She could really have used some gin.

“Anyway, Sir Albert’s up to his neck in it, I swear. He’s locked me out of everything. Why’s he even down here in the first place? If you’ve got me you shouldn’t need him. He should be running the show up in London.”

Sutherland shrugged. “I didn’t invite him. I didn’t even know he was down here. Bad news must have travelled fast when you found me.”

Carrie shook her head. “No, he was already here, there’s no way he could have got here from London that fast.”

“Well, we already know that he’s a fucking piece of work, so it’s not too much of a stretch of the imagination to think he’d stretch to murder. I mean, he’s always hated me ever since I made it clear I wasn’t going to be his lapdog and he couldn’t just shove his hand up my arse and run the country through me like he did to my predecessor.”

Lacey couldn’t help but give a snort of laughter at that summation.

“It’s settled then. Sir Albert was responsible!” Mrs de Ville clapped her hands together. “I told you I was made to be a sleuth.”

“Mother, you did precisely nothing. And besides, as much as we all hate Sir Albert, we need some kind of proof.” Carrie’s eyes lit up. “Ursula! How do you feel about earning another fare?”

“Is this one going to involve illegal activity?”

“Well, that depends on your definition of illegal.”

Lacey’s phone buzzed again; she hoped it wasn’t her dad persisting with questions about the stolen Prime Minister.

Luckily, it was Dorothy with the test results.

D: Who the hell did you take this blood from? Are they still alive? Have you been sneaking around with your dad’s corpses?

L: Classified, yes, and technically no.

D: Technically… You know what, I don’t want to know. Anyway, here we go.

“Ok, it looks like you were poisoned with something I can’t pronounce that was extracted from the rhododendron plant, and you’ll be pleased to know that you can now eat and drink whatever you’d like as long as it does not contain rhododendrons.”

“Thank God.” Sutherland attacked the plate of biscuits with relish.

The conversation with Dorothy brought Lacey’s mind back full circle to the hospital.

“This Sir Albert guy you keep talking about,” she said. “Tall, grey suit, not much hair and what’s there is white, grey eyes, looks like he could kill you at fifty paces with dour expression alone?”

Sutherland nodded. “Yes, that certainly sounds like him. Head of the Civil Service.”

“Yeah, he was at the hospital. He was the one who kept delaying your autopsy and the one who, according to Dad, went ballistic when he handed off your effects to forensics without his say-so.”

“Yes, that definitely sounds like him.”

Carrie and Sutherland looked at each other.

“Bastard,” Carrie said. “Right, that settles it. We’re going to Chequers for evidence.”

Sutherland grabbed the last biscuit. “Can you get me some clothes whilst you’re there?”

#rumbelle fic #sutheracey #Robert Sutherland #Lacey French #Cruella De Vil #Fic: Dead Man Walking

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thebraxiatelcollection · 5 years

Note

Fugitive AU with whichever galli characters spark your imagination :)

AU List A-Z- You know I’m going to have to do something with Braxiatel right? ;)

It’s not the first time Braxiatel has been on the run before. But it’s the first time on being on the run with somebody. Somebody he had to care for, somebody that was his responsibility other than himself.

He had assassinated Rassilon a couple weeks ago and they have been on the run since. Brax knew that if he showed his face at the Capitol again, he would be a dead man. He, Romana and a reluctant Narvin and Leela had been going over the plan in pain-staking details for almost a year now, to make sure, absolutely sure that nothing would go wrong.

They had all agreed that he should be the one to pull the trigger. After all, he had already killed one president before, how hard can it be to kill another? But he hadn’t anticipated on Narvin being with him in the equation.

He packs away his laser rifle, doing his best to avoid looking at the mirror opposite him, knowing he had now taken one step back to his Lord Burner days.

But to save Gallifrey from its own destruction, he knew it was a price he was willing to pay.

In truth, it’s easier to do so that he might have liked or expected from himself but to not to discuss it with Narvin would take a toll. This was putting Narvin in just as equal danger, being a wanted fugitive on the run. He remembers how the burning lingers in his heart beats and lungs, how it felt to pull the trigger at that very point in time.

Narvin was at the table, had been since they first arrived a few hours ago. A new hideout. A quiet backwater of a planet with no signs of Time War activity. Yet.

They couldn’t take a TARDIS because all the remaining TARDISes had a tracker device on them or were turned into battle TARDISes, meaning they couldn’t be trusted. Braxiatel own TARDIS had been parked somewhere safe and the plan was to try and get it back so at least they had somewhere stable.

He wants to tell Narvin to at least go and lie down, to get some rest whilst he could before they moved again the next day. He looks just as exhausted as when the Pandora nearly took control of him but knew it wasn’t Brax’s place to say.

Narvin finally lifts his head as though he could feel Braxiatel staring at him. “Do we have anything to eat?”

“No.” Braxiatel admits and wishes they did, wondering when they next will.

They’re down to two-thousand credits and a lot of random change that Brax held in one hand.

Braxiatel knew how to make ends meet. Lungbarrow may have been a Highborn House but it wasn’t exactly rich. He had learned how to negotiate with his elders, politicians and diplomats and art dealers all from experience. He knows the value of the cost.

But he what he doesn’t know is the social connections and how these experiences can apply when they change locations nearly every day.

He looks up to see Narvin, angry and tired clenching his fists. An angry and tired Narvin is never usually a good combination. He learnt that the hard way. “What’s wrong?” He asks, sitting down beside him, their knees touching. They were waiting for the bus to come, which would take them to a spaceport 20 miles away but it wouldn’t arrive until the next fifteen microspans.

“I’m so tired Irving,” Narvin croaks, gripping hold of his bigger on the inside rucksack.

“I know,”

“But you don’t, do you? Part of you enjoys this. Part of you enjoys being hunted by the predator, the Time War hot on our tails along with the High Council-” He looks at him straight in the eyes and Brax could see how haggard he looked. When was the last time Narvin had a decent night sleep? “Cardinal Ollistra already has your brother conscripted for the War. When will she catch up with us?”

“Narv-”

“Don’t,” He shakes his head. He stands up shakily. He looks so different out of his CIA uniform. He was wearing a suit, almost stylish with a fedora hat that covered most of his face and Brax couldn’t help but admire him. “Please…just don’t.”

They stood in silence until the bus arrived and Braxiatel paid for their tickets. They just had enough change for their ride out of here and he did a quick glance over at the other passengers. The only passengers were an elderly lady staring at the window. Brax tugs at Narvin’s hand and go towards the back of the bus but to the right, sliding their bags and himself, Narvin following.

They didn’t say anything for almost an hour because Narvin ended up taking a nap, on Brax’s shoulder and Brax was grateful Narvin was taking a moment of rest that he gently kissed his forehead.

The bus makes a bit of a bumpy turn, causing Narvin to open his eyes. “Sorry,”

“What?”

“Brax,” Narvin sighs through his nose. “I didn’t mean to snap at you earlier.”

“You had every right to snap at m-”

“Let me finish,” Narvin held up his hand, giving him a pointed look. “It’s not your fault with what happened. I had a part in the decision making also, I’m just as equal to blame. I’m almost glad to be away from the Capitol in these hard times.”

Brax reaches for his hand and gives him a squeeze. “I’m glad you became part of the equation, Narvin.”

“What equation?”

“Being a fugitive on the run with me,” He gives a smile, it almost reaches his eyes. “It would have been terribly dull otherwise.”

Narvin smiled back just as the bus pulls to a stop.

They sleep in a park that night on a bench together. Brax wraps his arms around Narvin, sharing his warmth, alert and awake and growling at anyone who dared to walk by too closely.

One day, all this would be over.

One day.

#asks #gallifrey audios #narvin #irving braxiatel #brax #otp: snarky boyfriends #yuup i did this xD #my writing #loombarrow

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arundolyn · 5 years

Text

monster of the week blazblue au nobody asked for!

these lists are what i used for reference even tho the only one i really used out of tome of mysteries is the hex

i got burned out and am stumped on amane bullet and azrael so suggestions are welcome

Ragna:

the chosen

moves: either invincible, devastating, or resilience

gear: handle, artifact, blade, heavy, steel

Look: man, controlled face, urban wear

charm -1, cool +2, sharp +1, tough +2, weird -1

found out through nightmares and visions

heroic tags: sacrifice and you can save the world

doom tags: host of monsters and loss of loved ones

history: waaaay too many choices. ie him and jin being siblings, jubei being destined to be his mentor, jin could have been the chosen one instead but wasn’t there for saya, etc

the wronged

moves: berserk and what does not kill me…

gear: huge sword, big knife, brass knuckles

look: man, angry eyes, nondescript clothes (?)

charm -1, cool -1, sharp =0, tough +2, weird +2

lost siblings and parent

prey: ghost?

couldn’t save them because he was weak

history: jubei showed him the ropes

Jin:

the professional

moves: unfazeable, battlefield awareness, tactical genius

gear: flak vest, only weapon that really fits him is big knife?

look: man, young face?, tailored suit

charm -1, cool +2, sharp +1, tough =0, weird +1

agency: works for a clandestine police team that studies the supernatural

resources: well armed and recognized authority

red tape: dubious motives and bureaucratic

history: ragna’s on the agency’s watchlist and he’s keeping an eye on him

Noel/Mu (cs era mu is dark side):

the spooky

moves: the sight, the big whammy, jinx

gear: 9mm, hunting rifle

look: girl, blank eyes, neat clothes

charm +2, cool =0, sharp -1, tough -1, weird +2

the dark side: violence, self destruction, paranoia

history: blood kin with ragna and jin, old friends with makoto and tsubaki

Rachel:

the spell-slinger

combat magic: blast, lightning/entropy, force/wind

moves: advanced arcane training, arcane reputation, enchanted clothing

gear: ritual knife

look: girl, goth clothes, weary eyes

charm -1, cool =0, sharp +2, tough -1, weird +2

history: valk acts are her conscience when her power goes to her head

Tao:

the mundane

moves: oops!, the power of heart, what could go wrong?

gear: hockey stick, pocket knife, skateboard cause why not

look: concealed, friendly face, sporty clothes(?)

charm +2, cool =0, sharp -1, tough +1, weird +1

history: good friends with ragna

Tager:

the monstrous

monster breed: demon

curse: anything holy I guess

natural attacks: claws, +1 harm

moves: immortal, unholy strength

gear: brass knuckles

look: man, powerful aura, stylish clothes

charm -1, cool -1, sharp =0, tough +2, weird +3

history: kokonoe is tied to his origin

Litchi:

the mundane

moves: let’s get out of here!, the power of heart, trust me

gear: hockey stick, nunchucks, fairly new car

look: woman, alluring face, casual clothes

charm +2, cool +1, sharp +1, tough =0, weird -1

history: romantically involved with roy

Arakune/Roy:

Literally The Monster but if i had to

the monstrous

monster breed: slime monster

curse: feed

natural attacks: magical force, ignore armor

moves: unnatural appeal, shapeshifter

look: mysterious, bestial aura

charm =0, cool -1, sharp +2, tough -1, weird +3

history: litchi and kokonoe are tied to his origin

the mundane

moves: panic button, trust me, don’t worry, i’ll check it out

gear: baseball bat, small handgun, bicycle

look: man, average face, nerdy clothes

charm +2, cool =0, sharp +1, tough +1, weird -1

history: romantically involved with litchi

Bang:

the chosen

moves: the big entrance or dutiful

gear: staff, artifact, spikes, long, steel

look: man, hopeful face, urban wear

charm +2, cool -1, sharp +1, tough +2, weird -1

heroic tags: secret training, a normal life

doom tags: you can’t save everyone, a nemesis

history: tenjo was destined to be his mentor i know she isnt here but fuck it i got nothin

Carl:

the wronged

moves: fervor, safety first

gear: enchanted dagger, 9mm, big knife

look: boy, angry eyes, nondescript clothes

charm =0, cool =0, sharp +1, tough +2, weird =0

lost sibling and parent

prey: shapeshifter (shapeshifter turned into relius and killed ada) or just relius

couldn’t save them because he was scared and weak

history: basically everyone has stood in carl’s way at some point

Hakumen:

the gumshoe

code: justice must be done

moves: asphalt jungle

gear: irrelevant

look: ambiguous, blank face, nondescript clothes

charm +1, cool =0, sharp +2, tough +1, weird -1

history: caught ragna committing a crime (being alive)

Nu:

the monstrous

monster breed: black beast

curse: pure drive (hate)

natural attack: magical force, ignore armor

moves: immortal, unquenchable vitality

gear: huge sword

look: girl, sinister aura, stylish clothes

charm -1, cool -1, sharp =0, tough +2, weird +3

history: ragna is tied to her curse

Lambda:

the initiate

moves: ancient fighting arts, mystic, sacred oath (to protect ragna)

gear: sword, big sword, sniper rifle

look: girl, agile body, archaic clothes

charm +1, cool -1, sharp +1, tough =0, weird +2

good traditions: fighting arts, flexible tactics

bad traditions: dubious motives

history: she noel and nu are sisters

Tsubaki/Izayoi:

the searcher

first encounter: higher power

moves: guardian, just another day

gear: irrelevant except for small knife

look: woman, thoughtful face, casual wear

charm +1, cool -1, sharp +1, tough =0, weird +2

history: found accounts of someone matching ragna’s description from before he was born

Hazama:

the crooked

background: grifter

moves: artifact (amulet,) friends on the force, notorious

gear: .38 revolver, big knife, baseball bat

heat: hibiki is a rival, took advantage of noel

underworld: worked with a demon

look: man, calculating eyes, tailored suit

charm +2, cool =0, sharp +1, tough -1, weird +1

history: terumi saved his life and now he owes him

the flake

moves: connect the dots, see, it all fits together, sneaky

gear: big knife, throwing knives, butterfly knife

look: man, suspicious eyes, neat clothes

charm +1, cool -1, sharp +2, tough =0, weird +1

history: ragna is tied to everything

Makoto:

the mundane

moves: the power of heart, what could go wrong?, don’t worry, i’ll check it out

gear: baseball bat, nunchucks, skateboard

look: woman, friendly face, sporty clothes(?)

charm +2, cool =0, sharp +1, tough +1, weird -1

history: initially mai’s rival

Valk:

the monstrous

monster breed: werewolf

curse: vulnerability (silver)

natural attacks: teeth, claws

moves: unholy strength, shapeshifter

look: man, powerful aura, archaic clothes

charm -1, cool -1, sharp =0, tough +2, weird +3

history: clavis tried to kill him and spared him

Plat:

the spooky

moves: premonitions, the big whammy, jinx

gear: no weapons we die with muchorin like men

look: girl, piercing eyes, ratty clothes

charm =0, cool -1, sharp +1, tough +1, weird +2

dark side: mood swings, rage, poor impulse control

history: jubei taught her to control her powers

Relius:

the expert

moves: i’ve read about this sort of thing, dark past

haven: lore library, mystical library, workshop

gear: silver sword, blessed knife, magical dagger

look: man, thoughtful face, tailored clothes

charm -1, cool =0, sharp +2, tough -1, weird +2

history: carl is his child

Kagura:

the professional

moves: battlefield awareness, tactical genius, mobility (stealthy, concealed weapons, obvious)

gear: flak vest, smg, hunting rifle, shotgun

look: man, chiseled face, tailored suit

charm +1, cool +2, sharp +1, tough -1, weird =0

agency: works for a clandestine police team that studies the supernatural

resources: well armed and recognized authority

red tape: dubious motives and bureaucratic

history: friends with other NOL soldiers in training im too lazy to list them all. except for makoto obviously

Kokonoe:

the hex

temptation: vengeance

moves: force of will, wise soul

look: woman, sharp eyes, trendy clothes

charm -1, cool =0, sharp +1, tough +1, weird +2

history: tager keeps her grounded

Terumi/Susan:

the divine

moves: boss from beyond, smite, cast out evil

gear: flaming sword

mission: exiled, but not the rest of that one just the exiled part, sowing evil instead of good

look: man for terumi/asexual for susan, blazing eyes, perfect suit

charm -1, cool =0, sharp +1, tough +2, weird +1

history: haz is the person he goes to for advice on mortal stuff lmao

Celica:

the mundane

Moves: always the victim, oops!, don’t worry, i’ll check it out

gear: baseball bat, pocket knife, fairly new car

look: girl, friendly face, normal clothes

charm +2, cool =0, sharp -1, tough +1, weird +1

history: related to nine, ragna is her hero

Hibiki:

the crooked

background: assassin

Moves: deal with the devil (skill, add to tough and sharp,) friends on the force, notorious

gear: .22 revolver, hunting rifle, big knife

heat: pissed off haz, who will do whatever it takes to kill him, and jin wants to put him in jail

underworld: target of a job was a vampire

look: man, watchful eyes, street wear

charm +1, cool +1, sharp +2, tough =0, weird -1

history: jin saw him kill someone

Nine:

the spell-slinger

combat magic: ball, fire, force/wind

moves: advanced arcane training, arcane reputation, forensic divination

gear: ritual knife

look: woman, stylish clothes, fierce eyes

charm -1, cool =0, sharp +2, tough -1, weird +2

history: she thought celica was dead And Yet, plus they’re related

the hex

temptation: power

moves: burn everything, luck of the damned

look: woman, angry eyes, trendy clothes

charm =0, cool =0, sharp +2, tough -1, weird +2

gear: athame

history: celica keeps her grounded

Naoto:

the chosen

moves: resilience

gear: handle, spikes, blade, throwable, blood

look: boy, young face, casual wear

charm +2, cool -1, sharp +1, tough +2, weird -1

found out via some weirdo (Raquel) telling him/by being attacked by monsters

heroic tags: magical powers, a normal life

doom tags: death, a nemesis

history: raquel is destined to be his mentor

Izanami:

the divine

moves: boss from beyond, what i need, when i need it, smite

gear: five demon bag

mission: the end of days approaches, your role is to guide these hunters and ensure it comes to pass

look: woman, placid eyes, casual clothes

charm -1, cool +1, sharp =0, tough +2, weird +1

history: noel should not be involved in this situation, prophecies didn’t mention her blah blah

Es:

the initiate

moves: mystic, sacred oath (to protect the azure), helping hand

gear: sword, big sword, crossbow

look: woman, strong body, formal clothes

charm -1, cool =0, sharp -1, tough +2, weird +2

good traditions: knowledgeable, magical lore

bad traditions: strict laws

history: ragna is described in prophecies, but his role is unstated

Mai:

the mundane

moves: the power of heart, trust me, what could go wrong?

gear: baseball bat, hockey stick, bike

look: woman, friendly face, sporty clothes(?)

charm +2, cool =0, sharp -1, tough +1, weird +1

history: she and makoto were rivals

Jubei:

the expert

moves: often right, it wasn’t as bad as it looked

haven: armory, infirmary, panic room

gear: silver sword, cold iron sword, blessed knife

look: indeterminate, experienced face, tailored clothes

charm +1, cool -1, sharp +2, tough +1, weird =0

history: ragna was his student/apprentice

bonus

Raquel:

the spell-slinger

combat magic: missile, lightning/entropy, force/wind

moves: advanced arcane training, forensic divination, third eye

gear: heirloom sword

look: girl, stylish clothes, fierce eyes

charm -1, cool =0, sharp +2, tough -1, weird +2

history: rescued naoto

#blazblue #wow this got long #ghost.txt #aus #? i guess

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wickedsingularity · 5 years

Text

Mittens [Part 1]

wickedsingularity’s Christmas Stories 2018 Masterlist

Fandom: MCU Pairings/characters: Steve Rogers x reader (but not really), all Avengers pre AOU Words: 4297 Warnings: Fluff, bad flirting, too much knitting, kissing

Prompt/summary: Thor wants to try Secret Santa for Christmas. Someone has something special in mind for Steve, and makes damn sure she picks his name.

Mittens Part 2 >>

"I have an idea." Thor came trampling into the kitchen, slamming Mjølnir down on the counter. He shook snow out of his blond hair, the soppy flakes landing on the counter.

"Honestly, Thor," I chastised, sweeping my arm across the surface and wiping the snow away with my pyjama arm.

"My apologies. But I have an idea. Where are the others?"

"Exercising," Clint answered with a yawn. "Too awake in the morning for their own good."

Clint, Tony and I were always the ones having a late breakfast. Natasha, Bruce and Steve were always up way before the crack of dawn, putting the rest of us to shame.

"What's your idea, Point Break?" Tony asked, filling the coffee pot with freshly brewed coffee.

"Jane and I watched a movie last night, and there was this concept called Secret Santa." Thor almost bounced on his feet as he spoke, clearly very excited about his idea. "I would like to try it."

"I'm game." Tony refilled the coffee cup Clint had been holding out ever since Tony starting brewing a fresh batch.

"Me too," I said. I had never been part of Secret Santa before and thought it could be a fun thing to boost the Christmas spirit around the compound.

Thor looked around, grinning. "Barton?"

"Sure. Could be fun."

And so it was that the Avengers were going to do Secret Santa. Clint and Thor took it upon themselves to arrange it, and three weeks before Christmas all of us were gathering in the common area to pick names. I was sitting in my favourite seat, taking in the decorated room while waiting for the stragglers Steve and Bruce. I had just gotten home from a week-long mission and had only seen Pepper getting the boys to bring out all the boxes of decorations before I left.

It was beautiful, to say the least.

There was a giant tree in front of the floor to ceiling windows, packed with stylish and colourful ornaments and warm white lights. Poinsettias scattered around the room. Garlands across the edge of the bar and along the bannisters. Wreaths that matched the tree on every other window pane. The decorative cushions on the couch and chairs were exchanged with large plush snowmen or stylized Christmas trees. A few strategically placed mistletoe.

"Enjoying the view?" Someone suddenly stood in front of me and I looked up.

"Steve! Hi! Yeah, Pepper's done a great job."

"How was the mission?" He sat down next to me on the couch.

"It's all in the report."

"That bad?"

I just grunted and he chuckled.

"Okay, now that we're all here," Clint began, "it's time to get this started."

Thor stepped up with a small glass bowl filled with slips of paper. "Barton has relayed the rules for me and we have adapted them for us. You will each pull a name from this bowl –"

"No using powers or assassin abilities or other sneaky skills to pick an easy name!" Clint interrupted.

"Certainly not! And you will have to find a gift you think they will enjoy and mark it with their name only. We'll open them together on Christmas morning and guess who they're from. Don't tell anyone who you picked!"

"Everyone understands the rules?" Clint asked.

"It's not rocket science, Hawkeye. Yes, we understand," Natasha said impatiently, blowing him a raspberry. She was first in line and Thor approached her, holding out the bowl. She looked at Clint as she reached inside and started rummaging around.

"No assassin abilities!" Clint reminded her.

She didn't reply but kept staring at him as she grabbed a piece of paper, pulled it out. She read the name quickly before crumpling the paper in her hand.

Steve was up next. "If we pick our own name?"

"Put it back in and try again," Thor explained.

Steve nodded and reached inside and was quick to pull out. He held his hand close to his face and unfolded the paper. "We're good."

Then it was my turn. No powers they said. I could feel Clint's gaze burning into me as Thor held out the bowl. But I'd gotten an idea during my mission, and pulled on a thread of the energy running through my veins as I raised my hand towards the bowl. I trusted my instincts completely and let my fingers slip around a certain piece of paper, ignoring all the others. Withdrawing my hand, I felt the paper was comfortably warm in my hand, letting me know it was the right one. Feigning ignorance, I opened it just enough to see the name, shielding it in my hands.

Steve

"No powers?" Thor enquired.

I looked up, straight into his stormy blue eyes. "No powers." Good thing I was a good liar. He nodded and moved on to Tony and then Bruce and Clint, until he grabbed the remaining name for himself.

The entire room got very quiet. Only the faint car honk or siren outside was heard. Everyone kept a firm hold on the piece of paper in their hands, and the tension could be cut with a knife. Something that was supposed to be fun and exciting, suddenly felt like it became deadly serious.

"I'm going to go... get started on this," Natasha said, rising slowly from her seat and walking backwards towards the exit. The rest of us got up to go our separate ways too, and Natasha almost ran from the room.

"Did you get a good name?" Steve asked as we were walking out.

"Yeah, pretty happy with it. Already know what I'm getting them," I replied, giving him a wink before hurrying off, accompanied by Tony's laughter.

Safe and alone in my room, I immediately went to pull out a box full of yarn and knitting supplies from under the bed. I pulled out a half-finished pair of socks that was in there and laid them on the bed, along with a couple balls of yarn to finish them up. Then I sat down on the floor and looked through the heaps of unused skeins. Holding a few up and judging the colour combinations and the softness of the yarn. Finally settling on a few shades of blue, I tossed them onto the bed too and pushed the box under the bed again.

Yeah, I used my powers and cheated to pick Steve's name from the bowl. Ever since I met him, I noticed that he never wore mittens or gloves during winter. I knew his body temperature was a lot warmer because of his increased metabolism and he probably didn't need to cover his hands other than those sinfully delicious fingerless gloves he used for practicality during missions. But having been brought up by parents who wrapped me up in scarves and hats and mittens and thermal underwear and all kinds of warm clothes during harsh winters, I felt he needed at least one pair of good mittens for everyday use. I wanted him to be comfortable.

And of course, I had a huge crush on the man and hadn't yet figured out if or how I should act on it. I had a feeling he wasn't completely uninterested in me and thought this would be a good opportunity to test the waters.

The next couple of days I worked on finishing the pair of socks first. I spent so much time in the common areas and in meetings and briefings and they were all used to me bringing my knitting with me, even on missions. If I wanted to finish Steve's present before Christmas, I had to knit whenever I could, and I didn't want anyone to suspect that I was making presents. Once the big and fluffy socks were finished, I pulled them on and they were now my new favourite pair of snuggly socks to wear at home.

Steve's mittens were up next. I got some questions about who they were for when I first started them, and I just said I was knitting for charity. No one questioned that, as I often did knit for the local shelters and various organisations every winter.

One rare and quiet evening, I was sitting in my usual seat in the living room. Tony and Bruce were up in the lab, the faint sound of Christmassy rock coming from up there. Steve and Thor were pouring over papers and tablets, trying to find out where we might look for the sceptre next. Natasha was flipping through the channels, her legs in my lap and I rested my arms on them while I worked away at the first blue shaded mitten. Clint was sitting on the floor in front of Nat and me, grilling marshmallows on a log candle on the table.

"Hey, boys," I said, getting their attention. "Hold up a hand please!"

"What for?" Clint asked, but held up his hand anyway.

"Just want to make sure it's a decent manly sized mitten before I bind off." I held the knitting up against all three hands. It could fit them all, so I was good to go. "Thanks! Such big strong hands you all got." I winked at them, and Natasha snickered.

As I got back to the knitting and started binding off, Clint set down his stick with a half-eaten marshmallow on and grabbed the skein I was currently using. "It's so soft," he said, rubbing it against his cheek. "Can I convince you to give them to me, rather than charity?"

"This pair, not on your life. It goes where it's intended. But I'd be happy to knit a pair especially for you. Purple?"

"Yes, please! You're the best!" He leaned his head back and made a kissy face.

There was a small cough from Steve. I turned to look at him with a raised eyebrow, but he just grabbed a tablet again and moved his finger in a hasty motion over the screen.

Having a finished mitten to use as a template, I quickly started on the second one during a meeting the next day, earning an amused shake of the head from Steve as he led the meeting. I finished it that same evening and hid the pair safely in my closet and in the morning, I headed out to find some purple yarn for Clint. His pair took a fair few days to finish, I had too many other things to do, and Steve sent me and Natasha on a recon mission, having possibly found the location of the sceptre.

It was just a couple of days left before Christmas when I decided to make Steve a second pair. I still witnessed him walking in and out of the tower in the chilly, biting winter wind, and it was just the incentive I needed to make a second pair that he could alternate with. I used red yarn this time.

I was sitting by the bar one evening knitting away and keeping Tony company as he stocked up on alcohol for the holidays. Steve wandered in with his hair all wet from clearly having just showered. He sat down next to me and glanced at the knitting several times as we talked. He'd seen me doing this many times before, and I'd even knitted a cover for his shield on a dare once, but he seemed very interested in it all of a sudden.

"How many pairs have you knitted for charity this month?" he asked suddenly.

"Just three," I replied. I had felt guilty for saying I was doing it for charity and not actually having anything to give away, I had squeezed in a few projects in between everything else I'd made. "And two hats and a scarf. Haven't had time for more than that. You've given me too much work, Captain." I winked and swear I saw him blush lightly.

"I've asked her to make me a pair of socks since I've worn out the pair she got me last year," Tony said. "But she just tells me she doesn't have time." He feigned deeply insulted.

"If you're nice, you'll get some for New Year's." I winked at him and he winked back.

That strange coughing sound came from Steve again, drawing my attention back to him. "It's nice that you're doing this for charity every year," he said, a small smile on his lips, the kind that made my heart skip a beat.

"Yes, well..." I shrugged, looking back down at my work. "I like knitting, it relaxes me. And there's only so much I can drown friends and family in, so why not do something useful with it."

"You should ask her to knit you something, Capsicle," Tony suggested before disappearing down behind the bar to tear open another box of some expensive wine. "Maybe a cock-warmer?" He stood up again, a bottle of wine in each hand. "That's a thing, right?"

I felt my face go hot for a moment and glanced at Steve, who was definitely blushing now. "That's a thing, yeah. I know how to make one. Don't ask me why, but I do."

"You can't say that and not expect me to ask!"

"I don't kiss and tell." Figuring that was my cue to leave before being interrogated, I winked at Steve, slid off the barstool and sauntered out, a red skein tucked safely under my arm.

Christmas morning finally arrived. It was all so perfectly fairy-tale like when I walked into the common area in my snowman pyjamas and those big fluffy socks I had made for myself. We'd gotten a light snowfall during the night, it was dark and the skies were clear for now, allowing us to see a small handful of stars through the light pollution from the city. Most of the Avengers were there already, but looking very tired after Pepper's gigantic Christmas dinner the night before.

I flopped down in my usual seat, pulling my feet up under me and greeting everyone with a "Merry Christmas". A few greeted tiredly in reply. It had really been a gigantic dinner, and it had gotten pretty late and there had been a tad too much alcohol for some.

The last stragglers finally came in, our honorary Avengers and guests for the holidays, Sam and Rhodey, followed by Steve. The latter sat down next to me and laid a hand on my knee briefly, wishing me Merry Christmas.

"Thank you for dinner last night, Pepper," Rhodey said, grabbing the last available seat on the couch.

"You're welcome, James," Pepper replied. She had just emerged from the bar with a pot of steaming hot chocolate and began pouring it into the mugs set out on the coffee table. "I'm glad everyone had a chance to attend this year."

"Shall we get started?" Thor asked, being almost the only one without a hangover and awake enough to feel eager. He had always been fascinated with Midgardian holiday traditions, so it was no surprise that he was already moving towards the Christmas tree to begin handing out presents.

We started with the Secret Santa presents first. We all went in turn, everyone curious about what everyone had gotten.

Bruce got a new lab coat with the muscles of the Hulk printed on them, he claimed to be insulted, but he did put it on and wore it the rest of the morning. He thought it might be from Tony, but turned out Clint had special ordered it for him. Natasha got two shiny, golden daggers with a very obvious Asgardian design, which she seemed to already cherish. Tony got a signed AC/DC box set that he handled as if it would break if anyone breathed on it. Bruce said he thought he'd never use his superhero status for "personal gain" but anyone could see that whatever bad karma Bruce thought he'd get, was cancelled out by how happy Tony was. Clint got a gift basket with a whole variety of coffee beans and chocolate bites to go with each type of bean, and after guessing correctly that Natasha had given it to him, she just said he hoped it meant he would be awake enough to be on time for training after this.

Then it was Steve's turn. He poked and prodded the badly wrapped gift for a bit, then unwrapped it so slowly and carefully I thought I would explode. When the two pairs of red and blue mittens were revealed, he just looked at them for what felt like an hour.

"Weren't the present supposed to be secret until unwrapped?" Bruce asked.

"It was," Thor said.

"No one knew who they were really for," I said, swallowing my nerves, afraid that Steve didn't like them.

But then his fingers moved over the top mitten as if caressing it, before looking up at me with slight confusion in his bright blue eyes.

I tried not to let him see how anxious I was. "I've noticed you never wear anything on your hands when you're out and about, and I know you probably don't need it. But... it's cold, and I just thought..." I shrugged.

"I love them," he said quietly. "Thank you."

I breathed out, stomach doing a somersault. "Oh good."

The room got very quiet and I was just staring at Steve's hand still testing the softness of the yarn.

"You turn," Thor said, nudging me from his seat on my other side.

"Right, right. Sorry." I felt a blush creep up my face, but I pretended like nothing and began untying the red ribbon on the really big black box decorated with silver snowflakes. There were now only two people left whose gifts hadn't been opened, Tony and Steve. My heart started hammering a violent tattoo in my chest as I came to the realisation that Steve might have picked me. I lifted the lid and found a huge cookie jar inside, filled to the brim with Rocky Road. "Oh my God, I love Rocky Road!" I exclaimed and looked first at Tony, whose face was blank, then Steve, who shrugged.

"They're homemade," Tony then said. "But I didn't make them, they're safe! Pepper knows a guy."

"How did you know these are my favourite at Christmas?"

Tony smirked as only he could. "I have my sources."

"Thanks, Tony." I opened the lid and grabbed a bite, it was delicious, and probably not good for me at all.

Thor was the last one, and Steve had gotten him a big heavy book about all kinds of Christmas traditions from all over the world, and Thor was over the moon.

"Now that your little game is over, can the rest of us open our presents?" Sam asked, fingers already digging into the wrapping paper on the soft looking present in his lap.

Chaos ensued and there were crumpled wrapping paper and curly ribbon and forgotten labels all over the place in a matter of minutes, all hangovers temporarily cured, everyone acting like children. I hadn't gotten a big haul, but I got a bunch more yarn, a new pair of combat gloves, a calendar book I had been drooling over, and a big snow globe with Santa and his sleigh inside.

Once things began calming down, I drank the rest of my hot chocolate, and then piled my presents in my arms and stood up. "I'm going to go put this away before breakfast," I said.

"Yeah, me too," Natasha said and quickly gathered her own pile and followed me out. Safely out of earshot, she caught up and nudged me with her shoulder. "Nicely done with Steve's present."

"What do you mean?" I asked quickly, not looking at her.

"Nothing. Just... Nicely done. Clever."

I didn't say anything until I reached my door. Then I turned to her and grinned. "Thanks."

I opened the door, carefully balancing the presents in my arms, Natasha was already down the hall. But then she called out. "You didn't use your powers, did you?"

"You're the spy, you tell me," I replied and slipped inside, closing the door quickly behind me. I wasn't sure, but she may have laughed.

Just a few minutes later, there was a knock on my door. I was on the floor in front of the bed, trying to make room in my box for all the new yarn, the jar of Rocky Road next to me. "Open the door for me, JARVIS?"

"Yes, ma'am."

The door swung open, but I didn't look up to see who it was.

"You're going to ruin your breakfast if you keep eating that." Steve was standing by the foot of the bed, arms crossed, but an amused look on his face. I had just stuffed my face with another bite of Rocky Road.

"Schteve!" I exclaimed, chewing quickly and swallowing.

He bent down and stole a piece from the jar, then sat down on the bed. "Mmm, they're delicious."

"Worth ruining breakfast for?"

"I don't know about that. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, you want to do it right."

"Oh, what do you know, Rogers." I blew him a raspberry and went back to stuffing skeins into the box and there was a slightly awkward silence for a bit.

But then Steve spoke. "Uhm, the mittens," he began.

My head snapped up, a skein clutched in each hand. "You didn't like them?"

"I love them, I really do. They're so soft and so beautiful and... Well." He grinned a bit. "But... I just got to ask... Because..." I dropped the yarn into the box. A light red tinge crept up his face and he seemed very interested in my desk chair. "I thought one was supposed to keep it a secret. And I... I don't know. Never mind." He suddenly stood up and strode towards the door.

But, without allowing myself to think, I pulled on the energy inside me and was up and slipped between him and the door before he could reach the handle. "Stop," I said, laying a hand on his chest, but dropping it quickly. "I cheated," I admitted.

"Cheated?" Steve frowned down at me.

"I used my powers to choose your name for Secret Santa."

"Why?"

Now it was my turn to blush and stumble over my words. I looked down at his shoes. "I wanted to. I wanted to... I don't know... I thought it'd be a way to show you... To see if..." I sighed. I was a badass avenger, I had strong powers, I could face aliens and monsters and unbelievable evil, but this goddamn man was tongue-tying me just by being alive. Just because he had those beautiful blue eyes I could stare at forever, because he had that soft blond hair I wanted to bury my hands in. Because he was so warm and kind and had that huge golden heart that made his smile look like the sun. Because he was so tall and strong and I always felt safe in his presence, but still couldn't get my words out right. "I kinda have feelings for you," I said finally, still looking at his shoes.

"So you cheated and chose my name and knitted me mittens?"

I still didn't look at him, sure I would see rejection in his eyes. But then his fingers were on my chin and made me move my head up. I still couldn't see what his expression was because I kept my gaze downward, but it didn't matter, because his lips captured mine and I couldn't open my eyes if I wanted to.

His lips were even softer than I had imagined, somewhere in the back of my mind I recognized the lingering taste of hot chocolate on him, but my stomach was doing all kinds of flips and jumps and I couldn't focus on much of anything except how his lips felt.

All too soon though, he broke the kiss but leaned his forehead against mine, warm breath wafting over me, hand falling to my shoulder. "I wish I could knit," he whispered.

It was so far from anything I had expected, that I pulled back and frowned at him, but he just grinned, slowly opening his eyes. "Okay. I could... teach you?"

Steve slid one arm around my waist to pull me flush against him and moved his hand up to cradle my face. "If we're going to communicate with knitted clothes, I should make you two pairs of mittens too."

It took a few seconds for the meaning of his words to sink in. But then my stomach began doing even more acrobatics. "We can use words," I said breathlessly.

Steve closed the gap between us again. My eyes fluttered closed, but he didn't kiss me. Instead, his lips were close enough so I could sense them. "I kinda have feelings for you too," he said and I felt the words against my lips. "And I told Tony you love Rocky Road."

"Oh," was all I could get out before he was on me, warm and sweet. I stumbled back half a step and was then trapped between Steve and the door. This kiss was so much more, tongues wrestling with each other, lips melding together, and I could definitely taste the hot chocolate on him now, the Rocky Road too. My hands went up around his neck, tugging lightly on the short hairs there. Steve pressed me against the door and the room was suddenly too hot, was the sun inside?

Loud shouting, the sound of running and then squealing out in the hall broke our moment and we pulled apart breathlessly. I couldn't help the giggle that left me.

"Breakfast?" Steve asked.

"Yes, please."

Mittens Part 2 >>

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