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xecutivecucumber · 3 months

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Executive Cucumber's thoughts on the Bad Batch: Season 3x06 and 3x07 (I'm pretty sure I'm formatting this differently every time. Oh well)

Okay, there's a subject I'm going to have to postpone until the end of the post because I want all my thoughts on that to be together: the main operative clone. And the rest might be slightly out of order. I'm also doing this before I see anyone else's thoughts, just so we get the pure version.

Let's go!

I honestly thought that Senator Singh and Riyo were dead meat. But no, they're fine because REX IS COOLER THAN ANYONE. Ugh that man. Freaking throwing the grenade back at him.

Clones are beautiful. That is all.

THAT'S THAT ONE PLACE FROM THE OG CLONE WARS MOVIE!!! TETH!!!

Howzer I love you but if you touch Crosshair we will be having words.

I am actually really proud of Crosshair and his restraint this episode. He could have been really cutting to Howzer.

OMEGA WITH THE TOOTHPIIIIICKS and Hunter is jealouuuus

EDIT: ECHO AND THE CROSSBOW HE'S SO SWEET

WHAT DID THEY DO TO YOU CROSSHAIR

It's really nice to see normal clones being normal again. (Too bad it doesn't last)

There's something up with Omega. I'm not going to lie, I think that she and Rex are going to plan to get her captured in order to track her back to Tantiss.

HOWZER STOP DISTRUSTING CROSSHAIR THIS MOMENT

I appreciate that Hunter doesn't seem to distrust Crosshair during this point.

...they really shouldn't have brought that operative back.

Rex is considering stealing Omega, I swear. I love that he gets down to her level.

WOOOOOOOOOOOLFFE (Plo would be so disappointed in you)

It's...odd to see these normal troopers with him.

It's also strange that he cannot comprehend that the clones could be traitors at first.

STOP DYING YOU BEAUTIFUL REGS

'She only bites half the time' I'm pretty sure Omega is lying here but I don't care.

CROSSHAIR IS SUCH A WORRIED DAD HOLY CRAP. 'Oh, I'm much worse' I LOVE YOU

And this just gives such a little insight into how the Batch was when they were together. I have a feeling that Crosshair was a fusser and a nagger.

And I love how Howzer's natural and correct conclusion is: 'no one evil could love that child.' (Unless you're Nala Se)

Hey, actual candor from Crosshair. I keep saying this is who he always was under it all, but I do think he's healed somewhat, at least towards regs. The healing power of Omega.

'Too bad' I LOVE THIS MAN

STOP DYING REGS

Rex talking down Wolffe reminded me so much of him trying to talk Jesse down. So ow.

Okay, what ROCK have they shoved Wolffe under for the last YEAR??? YES THE EMPIRE WOULD GET RID OF THE CLONES YOU DOG BRAINED IDIOT

(Plo would be proud that you let them go)

...they just killed all of Rex's clones, except Howzer and Gregor. And I have a bad feeling about Howzer. STOP TAKING THINGS FROM REX HASN'T HE LOST ENOUGH???

Okay here we are, at the big topic. Hold onto your pants.

That operative clone. Is. Tech. Because if he is not, they are purposefully using the narrative to deceive us.

I might miss a few things, but that's because I'm up past my bedtime and I've been up too late the last few days.

1. The falling and water parallels. This clone falls a LOT during this episode and dives into a lot of water. He even falls into mist. This time it's to kill and capture his siblings instead of save them.

2. The injury. This clone is hobbling around a lot after his injury, which was immediately reminiscent of Tech's broken leg at the beginning of season 2. Both of them are forcing themselves past their limit to achieve a mission. Specifically with injured legs.

3. General attitude and demeanor. In combination with the stealth and injury, this clone has a more hunched posture. His speech patterns are more formal, though we haven't really heard a lot of other clone operatives talk with their helmets on. But he's also apparently allergic to orders. I first thought that he'd be out of the chain of command, but they would have told Wolffe that he wasn't in charge of the operative if that were the case. Or the operative would have straight up told him 'I don't take orders from you' instead of staring awkwardly at him. Instead he runs off and does his own thing. While injured. Not to mention the buttons on his gauntlet. The other clone operatives don't have those.

4. The cybernetic legs. Now we don't know for sure if Tech would have cybernetic legs, but it seems likely for a severely injured trooper. And when Crosshair is looking at the heat signature, you can see that his legs are blue instead of yellow or red. No heat. Not organic.

5. What he says to Crosshair. 'You could have been one of us.' 'You chose the wrong side.' Yes, he's talking about Crosshair resisting the re-education. But flip it on its head real quick. 'You could have been one of us. One of the Bad Batch.' 'You chose the wrong side. The Empire.' Those lines very easily have double meanings.

6. An interesting one is when he starts moving rocks after the explosion. Why would he do that? Why not immediately go find another way in? He's moving only the smaller rocks. There's a large one in the way that he couldn't move himself. And he doesn't get the rest of the troopers to come move it when they arrive. He almost seems confused.

Like he's somewhere else after an explosion, having to move rocks. Like in the Crossing.

I know that this hardly seem like iron clad evidence. But in the language of story telling, it's practically screaming in our faces.

And I'm so glad he's back. I missed him. He won't be himself for a while, but I legitimately believe we'll get one last fight with the Batch all together. Because brain washing is a heck of a lot easier to fix than being dead.

My sister is doing the good work and creating a tik token about it, and I'll probably share it here when she's finished.

(We're getting the episode 'Identity Crisis ON MY BIRTHDAY and so help me if that's about Tech)

Honestly I thought I'd be more excited, but I spent the entire two episodes forcing myself into not having expectations and also I might be in shock.

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weministertomonsters · 1 year

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Taming Siberius

"Ahahaha!" Your best friend Elan is nearly falling on the ground as he laughs, clutching his stomach.

"Will you stop?" You huff. "This isn't funny."

"Are you seriously thinking about buying that?" He wheezes. "He looks like he wants to kill you."

"If you were stuck in a cage, I'm sure you'd be pissed off too," you reason, and peer at the demon.

He looks like a model fixed up for a fantasy photo shoot. But no cameras are flashing in this display window. The horns, the silvery skin, and the platinum hair are very real. The part of the eyes that would typically be white is gold instead, and he has no irises, only pupils that are huge and cat-like as he stares, unblinkingly at you.

And you look back at him long enough to realize he's not looking at you. He's staring at nothing. It's the sort of faraway gaze you can expect from someone who is in a place they don't belong. Your heart sinks a little but you're brought back to the present when Elan says,

"Resting bitch face," and tosses a handful of popcorn at the window.

You catch the exact moment the demon snaps out of it because you see his pupils shrink and sharpen as he looks at your friend. Damn, you'd hate to be on the receiving end of that look.

"How much did you drink?" You scowl. "I knew having a night out today was a bad idea."

"So what, my boyfriend ditched me. Big deal," Elan says, wobbling. "Who gives a shit about him?"

"Can you move?" An irritated voice calls out. "The last thing I want is a drunk teenager throwing up all over my display window."

"I will have you know I'm twenty-two!" Elan calls out. "I'm a responsible adult now."

"Uh-huh, sure," the shop owner says, entirely unconvinced of the latter. "Go and be responsible somewhere else."

"Actually, I was looking to make a purchase," you pipe up.

The shop owner brightens up. "Why didn't you say so earlier? Come on in. Leave your friend outside, they should get some fresh air."

"I'll be fine!" Elan says in a sing-song voice. "Go and get yourself a little pet."

You roll your eyes and step into the shop. You wince as the heavy scent of incense hits you.

"It's for the smell," the shop owner says. "Demons have a smell you know."

"Did I need to know that?" You muse.

"You want one, don't you? It's best to be aware of all the small details. Demons aren't like dogs, you can't just send them to the pound when you get tired of 'em."

The shop owner thunks a heavy catalog onto the table and says, "Before you ask, you can order them for a fee and get them delivered as well."

"I already know which one I want to get. The demon in the display window is on sale?"

"Lord yes, please take him!" The shopkeeper says quickly.

Of course, that immediately makes you suspicious. "Why?"

The shopkeeper clears their throat and says sheepishly, "He bites."

Your confused expression probably tells them all they need to know because they sigh.

"Hold on a minute, I'll fetch him so you can have a look."

You watch as they approach the brooding demon. You can tell the shopkeeper is afraid by the way they snatch the trailing leash off the floor. You're beginning to doubt your choice as he stands up, towering head and shoulders above the shopkeeper. This demon might be the figurative mastiff of the demon world. He follows the shopkeeper, but only because he wants to.

It looks like he's a little curious about you as well.

"Open your mouth," the shopkeeper orders.

The only two things keeping the shopkeeper alive at this point are the muzzle the demon is wearing and the taser the shopkeeper holds. You know for a fact that there's enough electricity in there to kill a horse. The demon glances down at the shopkeeper, seeming to bask in the way it makes them squirm. And then those golden eyes fall on you and the demon leans down until his face is level with yours. You have a pretty good view through the bars of the muzzle as he parts his lips in a sarcastic smile. The sheer amount of needle teeth bracketed by large canines weakens your knees.

"He's bitten people with those?" You gawk. "Are those people dead or missing limbs?"

"Not that I know," the shopkeeper says. "He only bites when you're rough with him."

"Promise I'll be nice," the demon says in a cavernous rasp that startles the shopkeeper as well as you.

"Since when could you speak English?" The shopkeeper says scathingly.

The demon clamps his teeth together and says nothing else, looking vaguely amused.

"Um, he might be a little too much for me," you tell the shopkeeper. "I want a bodyguard of sorts, not a murder machine."

"This is his last chance," the shopkeeper says. "Sure you don't want him? If not, he's going to the pits."

You wince at that. As scary as he looks, this demon is almost too beautiful to get messed up in the fighting pits. You hesitate and then ask,

"Can I have a trial run with him?"

"Up to a week," the shopkeeper says.

"Okay," you say. "I'll try him out."

─────────────── · · · · ✦

I keep trying to nail down this idea I have that monsters are treated as pets, toys, or "guard dogs" at best and slaves and gladiators and scum of the earth at worst. I can't get it exactly how I want and it's making me mad.

#exophilia #terato #monster x reader #monster x human #monster lover #monsterimagine

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snowyh2o · 4 months

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Thoughts on the final battle on Hazbin Hotel, spoilers below!

So I’ve seen a few people wondering A) why was Alastor the one who was in charge of taking care of Adam, and B) why didn’t he go full kaiju during his fight?

For the first question, if you’re like me and you were aware of the power levels between the denizens of Hell, then picking Alastor for the guy to fight against Adam who is probably stronger than everyone else in Hell aside from Charlie and Lucifer, will appear to be a weird choice or bad matchup. Obviously the dude’s powerful, strong enough that he alone took down dozens of angels in the few minutes he had his shield up. Strong enough that his shield lasted against the assault of those angels, and only went down when Adam himself stepped in.

But Adam is a being that should theoretically be on the same power level as Lilith, the first woman. And who’s boss is Sera, a seraphim or the literal top dog of Heaven’s hierarchy. Adam himself alludes to this, and mentions how a mortal soul could never beat him.

So why choose Alastor as the one to fight or occupy Adam? Why not Charlie who’s raw power should be on par with Adam?

Because they didn’t have any other choice. Charlie is not a fighter (she’s a lover lol). She grew up relatively sheltered and probably never had to or experience any real life at risk fights. She even has bodyguard goat dragons Razzle and Dazzle who are with her specifically to keep her safe. Yes, she has a lot of raw power, but none of the experience. There’s potential, but she doesn’t know how to use it. Charlie doesn’t really know how to fight, and it shows during the battle, where she’s primarily using a shield to fend off attacks (apologizing about it) and using fireworks as her own form of attack.

So their next best bet is Alastor, who is the second strongest in pure power of the people at the hotel, but also someone who’s actually experienced in fights.

Now, why didn’t Alastor go big kaiju demon form during his fight with Adam?

Because Alastor knows he probably can’t take too many hits from Adam, and turning into a big monster means making himself a bigger easier to hit target.

If you watch him fight during this scene, Alastor only manages to stay ahead by not getting hit. Adam is free to block everything Alastor sends his way, but Alastor spends the majority of the battle dodging all of Adam’s attacks. And Alastor taunts Adam the entire time, getting him riled up, which should in theory make Adam’s attacks easier to dodge as he gets more emotional. It’s only when he gets cocky and enters his demon form does he end up getting hit (and also when Adam throws a holy beam at him). And the moment he gets hit he’s out of the game.

I’ve also seen a lot of people say that Alastor would’ve won with an angelic weapon, but something about the actual fight makes me think that Alastor was only meant to keep Adam preoccupied, and that they weren’t expecting him to actually be able to beat Adam in a fight. Most of Alastor’s attacks are designed to annoy Adam and keep his attention on Alastor. The cheeky shadow punch, the piles of demon minions crawling over Adam’s body, the way Alastor keeps mocking and taunting Adam during the fight. If Alastor had an actual weapon that Adam knew could hurt/kill him, I don’t think the angel would’ve let the fight drag out so much. Adam does in fact instantly vaporize Sir Pentious’s ship when he sees it firing up the death beam, and comments on how that could’ve been ugly right afterwards. So he’s not above vaporizing things he finds actually threatening. A single mortal soul who thinks he can take on the first man? That’s just entertainment.

I think the original plan was to have Alastor deploy the shield and limit the number of angels they needed to fight, and if Adam got involved, have Alastor keep him occupied until the number of angels thinned out enough that Adam would be forced to call a retreat, or otherwise until they can come and back Alastor up in the fight. And I think it could’ve worked, if Alastor didn’t get cocky and let his guard down :P

#hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel spoilers #episode 8 spoilers #alastor hazbin hotel #alastor #alastor vs adam fight #also Alastor’s little yell #when he gets hit by Adam’s guitar #is very silly #because the moment after he drops the filter and accent #he gets hit #and lets out the most accented filtered ahhhhhhhh! there is

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sugaldean · 2 months

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Is miss Muffet going to appear? Where is she?

I thought she came with them in the Lands In Between

YES ZAC YES ZAC

His nat20s are INSANE.

Oh we went hard Christian indeed

Oh no Lou. You broke my heart. "why other could? Why consequences not only never seemed to apply to other kids but were the ultimate for me. Why did I have to suffer every step of the way. Why must I suffer all the time whatever i do."

"For a moment you are all marionettes together". Stop it. Stop. It's too strong to hard.

Oh no not the turquoise hair fairy

Oh what was this second map with the sea?? Ariel? And I think they were other border of countries

Oh no Gepetto wth. Poor Pinocchio

I SHOULD NEVER HAVE MADE YOU??? What the what the what. Whaaaaat?

I'm crying so hard. I know he doesn't believe it but I hate it. I hate it. I hate it so much

Or there she is

Brennan showing absolutely perfect the danger kids are in when the people in their life don't show them love and affection enough. They get easily manipulated and are ready to give everything to the first glimpse of affection. Real or not. I don't blame Pinocchio, I will never blame him. But I HATE what the Turquoise hair fairy and Gepetto did. Oh you regret what you said? Apologize. Apologize NOW. You can't afford your kid being so neglected and deprived of your affection that the will run first thing to anyone. That's how grooming happen.

Oh the way they all jumped to tell him his dad loved him but it doesn't excuse that what he did and say was wrong

"Even though the moral is wrong Pinocchio still has to escape the moral of his story" oh this episode is breaking me

Oh so the fairies are not a united bunch, interesting

Still absolutely don't trust her tho

Okay so basically the Bad Things are happening because it doesn't match what the Authors want? But if the Authors would. Well. Disappear. What would happen?

Oh we're finally getting some insight on the relationships between groups

I fucking love the big bad wolf. Well I love wolf. I'm just sad he doesn't have a pack, he must me lonely

OH YES RED STORY YES YES FINALLY

Dramatic backstory: starting

Emily: Cinnamon Toast Rolls and Lollypopcorn

Bye broth! A caterpillar chasing their friend the butterfly

"Your ears are honking big" picturing the Wolf listening to the caterpillar and butterfly story while waiting to eat her. Story he already know ofc

They are just loosing it at "Honkin" and honestly same

I love the wolf so hard he is a tragedy that's incredible "why? I am a wolf"

Oh she waited so long. So so long. No wonder she killed the Woodsman.

She was so hungry. I love her. I hate The Wolf. I love the Wolf. I wonder what happened to him to end up there.

YES RED YES. She met death and death convinced her to live!

Gerard's story is so funny, tragic and very reflective but so. Funny.

The absolute chaos if Gerard just. Dies.

"do you go where the dogs are or to your frog pound" "pretty loaded question"

It's adorable that Murph just stated that years after it's still only Fred 2 and 3. Not like. 364.

Oh no they are dead

Oh their meet cute is so adorable

The plot thickens as we met the Gander

OH CINDERELLA

Oh no it's the Stepmother story

Yes it is

That's so much wider she loved her daughters

BABA YAGA OH YES OH FHKGFXHJ

Yeah same Emily EXACTLY SAME

Oh i'm so happy. She's so strong and old

She's going to be a pain in the ass

"your daughters won't be injured if you eat them, and then you will be able to save them" i'm not sure but that's something she could say for sure

There goes the witch way

To be the vilain in every story. To be cursed with never having a story. I would be mad too

How cruel that in a way she has the same goal as Cinderella

She big mad

But when does she eat her daughters?

No no no not her present. You are level 4 guys

Oh that's where she eats her daughters

Rosamund is so smart

The brick little pig being called a boar and a Baron (love the alliteration btw)

I understand from Brennan that while they were running for their life the book of mother Goose downloaded a shit load of information

Have they slept since they arrive in this new life? I feel like they didn't which is HORRIFYING

Any situation: involve a living being

Pib: I kill them

I really would like to understand the nature of that damn book fr

That Gérard&Pib interaction was gold:

Pib: idk how we're going to know someone who knows...

Gerard (vigorously) : yeah we just need to break him out

Pib (confused) : wait... We... No no I think we..

Love them to bits

"so you guys go camping?" well yeah Brennan THEY HAVEN'T REST IT'S A LONG DAY FOR THEM

They are children. "Can we sleap on the roof please?"

LONG REST

The dice sometimes tel' the story of a Frog who got a level of exhaustion from being outside, wet and dirty. Basic living conditions for frogs. While the wooden boy who can rot easily is sooo fine.

Mother Goose bless 🙌🙌

That envoy is absolutely spectacular. A Princess (slept for 100y)with her envoy, basically and old man, a puppet, a cat, a manfrog and a cloak

Rosamund: I AM NOT going to propose myself to be married. No. Not interested and I don't think that's something you do

30sec later: I'm here to offer myself in marriage

Zac and Emily's reactions>>>

Can't believe the Baron isn't call Beter

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cerastes · 11 months

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would you consider irene the krillin of the abyssal hunters for: -human-scale power next to super soldiers -helps ground the hunters by portraying somebody who like knows Enough about what's going on to not feel like a fish out of water while still playing a key role -sees a fucked up and powerful girl and decides to risk it all against: -has not gotten a robot pregnant yet

The essence is there, but not it's not a 1:1, really. Krillin is immensely powerful for a human, but ultimately lags behind the Saiyans and Piccolo when it comes to actually handling enemies of import. Basically, Krillin's entire role after the power levels balloon out of his ballpark is being a good influence and sparring partner for Gohan (I think Krillin's role as Gohan's cool uncle is severely underrated, while I'm at it) until he's matured enough and to stall the villains by getting the shit beat out of him, buying precious time so a Saiyan or Piccolo can arrive on the scene, pop him a Senzu, and then take it from there.

Irene is a very strong fighter, and one quite easy to underestimate because, fundamentally, she's surrounded absolute beasts. In this way, yeah, she's very much a Krillin. I would also say that her style of fighting, involving accurate and crippling lunges with her rapier that incapacitate the enemy to set them up for her actual deathblow, her handcannon, can be seen as A Kienzan That Actually Lands.

Now, let's look at her RI assessment:

This is consistent with what we saw in Stultifera Navis, though I'd say that her Combat Skill should be above Excellent. I base this on the fact that Irene was fighting things that made Abyssal Hunters have to put effort into engaging, and she wasn't just surviving, she was killing a good number of them and hanging in there in what was a VERY prolonged combat situation. Now, think back on the PV for Stultifera Navis: Skadi had to two hand her greatsword in order to defend and hold against Seaborn dogs' lunges, visibly having to push back at them. Skadi is also the person that, while holding back, was sending armed combatants flying Team Rocket style in Grani and the Knights' Treasure, and who was punching tunnels through mountains RE2 Mr. X style because she couldn't be bothered actually finding her way around the caves. If Skadi has to put in some elbow grease block the attacks of these basic Seaborn enemies, they would evaporate Irene just with one clean hit on her. In Stultifera Navis, Irene did the equivalent of running a 1 credit clear of a CAVE shmup, she REALLY went in and cleared Mushihimesama, secret boss and all, while not getting hit cleanly, because if she did, that's it, she was positively out.

That's a pretty big departure from Krillin if we're going to be very particular about this. Ace detectives will notice that Irene spent a long time fighting opponents she was woefully outclassed by physically by simply being that good and nimble of a fighter, which is in stark contrast to Krillin's signature move: Absorbing every single punch, kick and ki blast with his face while buying time for Goku to arrive. If Krillin isn't beat up, gored, exploded, or ragdolled, it wasn't a Krillin a fight. Krillin is like a Gmod dummy that people like to subject to creative torture via the gravity gun and the bonkers physics of Half-Life 2. Krillin was more likely to kill Nappa or Frieza via heart palpitations from them beating his ass TOO hard rather than landing the Kienzan. Krillin's most successful technique is the Taiyoken (Solar Flare), which he used to blind countless opponents temporarily so he could take a break from getting his face pummeled into 4-dimensional shapes for a couple minutes.

They share some essence, but in the nitty gritty of it all, they are different beasts in the same family tree, if you will. Also, the powerful girl very much did take the initiative in the case of Irene. I get what you mean and I respect it but it was very much the powerful girl that picked her up and called her a fruit.

#arknights #irene

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cosmerelists · 1 year

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Ranking Vin’s Kills by Level of Awesome

[Major Spoilers for Mistborn Era 1--all books!]

Previously, I ranked Kaladin’s Dramatic Entrances, for he is a boy who loves himself a dramatic entrance. Let’s now turn to a different series and a different character: Vin. Vin may not love killing--despite Zane’s best efforts to the contrary--but she sure does kill a lot, and often quite dramatically. So let’s rank those moments of death by how awesome I found them!

#10: The Wolf Dog :(

TenSoon may be awesome, and Soonie Pups may be adorable, but everyone’s favorite big fluffy wolfdog kandra had a dark beginning. Vin buys a big wolf dog at market, and then kills it so that TenSoon can have the body. It’s just a little bit sad, you know? Definitely not my favorite Vin murder.

#9: All of Keep Hasting

On the one hand, there is something darkly impressive about Zane and Vin simply mowing down the entirety of Keep Hasting while trying to get to Cett--all 300 people. But in the end, it turns out that Cett isn’t an allomancer at all and Zane was just trying to get Vin to love killing more. So in the end, it was just a lot of death to no good purpose (although I suppose Cett does withdraw...).

#8: Inquisitors with Koloss Armies

At the end of Book 1, Kelsier has an epic fight against an Inquisitor, whom he barely manages to defeat. The Inquisitors are presented as basically unkillable, and it is shocking that Kelsier is able to defeat even one. But by Book 3, Elend and Vin are able to go toe to toe with inquisitors, killing them and then taking control of the Koloss armies they commanded on a pretty regular basis. It definitely shows how extremely powerful they’ve become.

#7: A Koloss Army

In the climax of Book 2, Luthadel is under attack by some twenty-thousand koloss. At this point, Vin’s power has not yet reached the “almost casually kill inquisitors with my husband” levels, and there is a definite sense of horrible inevitability as the koloss gradually kill, well, everyone. But then Vin arrives--just in time to save Sazed’s life. She then uses the entire city gate as a club and just smashes the entire courtyard clear of koloss. I mean, there is some fridge horror here as we later learn that the koloss are just people, but still. It’s quite an epic moment.

#6: Twelve Inquisitors, All At Once

In the climax of Book 3, Vin is attacked by twelve inquisitors and also by Marsh. There’s a gut-wrenching scene of Marsh torturing her by systematically breaking her bones until he is able to wrest back just enough control to rip out her earring, finally freeing her from Ruin’s control. And then Vin is infused by the mists and manages to just...demolish all of inquisitors (other than Marsh) with ease.

#5: Shan Elariel

All of those fights are pretty impressive, but they tend to be against unnamed groups of people (and one wolf puppy 😞). For me, the one-on-one fights aginst named characters are the most awesome. So let’s move into those memorable fights! First up is Shan, Elend’s first fiancee. This is, I believe, one of Vin’s first fights against another Mistborn, and one who also possesses Atium. Vin manages to win by tricking Shan into thinking that her own Atium ran out by extinguishing it early, giving her an edge.

#4: Zane

Speaking of Vin doing interesting things when her opponent has Atium...there’s the Zane fight. Zane has Atium and Vin doesn’t. Vin manages to get a little bit thanks to TenSoon’s help...but it isn’t enough. In the end, Zane is the only one burning Atium, which usually means the other person is toast. But Vin manages to, like, fake out the Atium so that Zane’s own foresight works against him. I don’t 100% understand how she does this, but it is undeniably awesome.

#3: Straff Venture

Listen, Straff is the worst. This fight isn’t epic in turns of being an exciting, blow-by-blow, who-will-win sort of affair. It’s awesome because by this point, I really, REALLY wanted Straff Venture to die already. And then Vin cuts him in half with a giant koloss blade. I mean.

(A shame about the horse, though. 😞 When will Vin stop killing innocent animals?)

#2: The Lord Ruler

It doesn’t get much more impressive than killing the immortal god-king who has been ruling untouched for centuries. But Vin does it. In Book One. After the Lord Ruler rips out her earring, she is able to call upon the mists. She rips out all of his feruchemical bracelets and then just...kills him with a wooden spear.

#1: Ati

But there is one thing more impressive than killing the immortal god-king who has been ruling untouched for centuries. And that’s killing a god--or at least his vessel. Vin becomes god herself when she takes up the shard of Preservation, and then attacks Ruin in a self-sacrificing attack that cancels out their powers, killing them both. I suppose that, ala Kaladin, the only person who could kill Vin was, well, Vin.

#cosmerelists #cosmere #mistborn #Vin

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fanficshiddles · 7 months

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The Redbridge Hunts, Chapter 6

‘Have you seen this?’ Loki snarled as he slammed a newspaper down on the table in the teacher’s lounge.

It was Friday morning, before the human teachers and Claire had arrived.

‘What’s happened?’ Hannibal frowned as Severus leaned forward and grabbed the paper to read aloud.

‘Two young women found dead last night down Oak Alley, police say they aren’t sure of the cause of death yet, but they were found with large chunks of flesh torn out of their necks. It’s unsure if this is part of the cause of death or if wild dogs got to the bodies before they were found.’ Severus trailed off and looked at everyone.

‘I wonder who that could have been.’ Matt sighed and ran a hand down his face.

‘Why does he keep doing this? There’s no need to be killing them, we don’t need to do that!’ Loki almost shouted as he paced back and fore.

‘I know it’s difficult for some vampires to let go of the old traditional ways, but even for that the humans don’t need to be killed. Especially if they were drunk anyway, there’s so many options to get our fill without resorting to that manner.’ Jessica said.

‘Exactly, but we know he enjoys the torture aspect of it all, it’s just one big power trip to him.’ Loki snarled.

‘Are we sure it’s him?’ David asked.

‘Of course, it is. Who else would be so sadistic to tear their flesh off? That’s one of his signature marks.’ Loki snapped.

‘Calm down, Loki. You know none of us here condone that level of torture, we’re not disagreeing with you.’ Severus said calmly.

Loki, far from calm, wasn’t sure if he would be able to control himself if he saw Chris today. He hoped he would keep himself scarce, as he often did.

‘Just try and focus on keeping Claire safe, he showed far too much interest in her last night.’ David chimed in with.

‘In her defence though, I could tell she felt a little uncomfortable with him. She seems to be most comfortable around you, Loki. Plus, the way her eyes lit up a little every time you went near her, I think you’re not the only one that’s smitten.’ Jessica said with a smile.

Loki abruptly stopped pacing and stared at Jessica with his eyebrows up. ‘Really?’

Jessica nodded.

‘Well… she has spent the most time with me, so it would make sense she’s more comfortable around me.’ He shrugged, looking a little bit bashful.

‘Speak of the devil, Claire and Jeremy are coming.’ David said as his nostrils flared a little.

Loki quickly grabbed the newspaper and tossed it in the bin. He wasn’t sure if he’d be able to contain his rage even talking about it with humans. He managed to take a few deep breaths before Claire and Jeremy entered, he forced on a smile but it turned into a genuine one when Claire entered and her eyes instantly landed on him, smiling widely.

For the first time, he felt his heart swell with happiness and adoration instead of just the cravings of lust and thirst he usually felt…

That night, Claire made her way through the trees once again, she had her flashlight on already so she could see better. The light bounced off the bright white snow, making her have to squint a little, but still better than nothing.

She could hear some fluttering up above her, but she knew it would just be the bats so remained calm. She had peppermint spray in her pocket, she’d read that bats weren’t fond of the smell, so if one tried getting all up in her business again, she’d give it a spray.

When she got a little further than the previous night she’d tried, she came across a gap in the fence that looked to have been cut with wire cutters, though large enough of a gap to get through.

‘Bingo!’

She had to get down on her hands and knees to crawl through the hole, which wasn’t the best thing to be doing in the snow, but as she began crawling forward the back of her jacket got caught in the fence.

‘Shit.’ Claire struggled to get herself free, the wet and cold started to seep through her trousers around her knees. What made things worse though, she could hear faint crunching in the snow, slowly getting louder and louder.

Her heart started drumming so hard in her chest, she thought it would burst at any moment. She felt so foolish for coming here alone again, certain she was going to die, she should have listened to Loki.

The footsteps were even louder now, coming so close… She’d never been so frightened in her entire life.

‘What are you doing crawling around in the snow?’ Came a sultry voice from behind her.

‘LOKI?’ She screeched, craning her neck to look round at the handsome man towering over her from behind, his hands buried deep in the pockets of his long coat. If her legs and hands weren’t so cold, she would’ve found being stuck in this position before her boss to be rather… interesting.

‘Do you need a hand?’ Loki couldn’t withhold a smirk at her predicament.

Don’t think dirty thoughts, don’t think dirty thoughts.

‘Ya think?’ Claire huffed.

Loki chuckled as he bent over and unhooked the bit of wire that clung to her jacket, as soon as he freed her, she crawled forward and clambered quickly up to her feet and wiped down her trousers.

‘Not my finest hour.’ She sighed.

‘No, I’d say not.’ Loki folded his arms over his chest.

Claire found herself staring at him for a little bit too long. He looked so handsomely cosy, she just wanted to be wrapped up in his big coat with him… She shook her head and snapped out of her thoughts, she had to work with this guy, she couldn’t be thinking that way about him.

‘What are you doing here?’ Claire asked.

‘Rescuing you, and by the looks of it I got here at the right time. Or you’d be frozen solid by morning.’ He said, slightly amused.

Claire rolled her eyes. ‘Ok, ok. Yeah, I've been pretty stupid coming here again on my own. But hey, I’m through the fence, so I’m going to go check it out.’

‘Not on your own you’re not.’

‘I’d like to see you get through that hole.’ Claire laughed and turned around, she began walking towards the river. She heard a brief snapping sound that made her spin around, her eyes widened as Loki had made the hole bigger and simply crouched down a little to squeeze through.

‘Jesus. How strong are you to break the fence like that?’ She squeaked.

Loki smirked as he walked up to her, then continued on past her. ‘I work out a lot.’ He commented.

Claire shook her head and jogged to catch up with him.

‘Hey, how did you know I’d be here at this time?’ She asked as she fell into step beside him.

‘I figured you’d be waiting till dark, but also not coming out too late as you said earlier you were tired after the late-night last night.’ Loki said proudly.

‘I guess being a teacher makes you super observant of everyone around you.’ Claire laughed.

‘Indeed.’ Loki chuckled. ‘I also figured after the murder of those two young women last night, it wasn’t a good idea that you were out here on your own.’ He said seriously.

‘Yeah.’ Claire said sadly. ‘That sounded pretty rough, those poor girls.’

‘It did. I certainly don’t want anything like that to happen to you, and since you seem rather reckless about your own safety, I figured I better do the job.’ He said as he raised an eyebrow at her.

‘Alright, alright, Sir. Treating me like a student.’ Claire said teasingly.

‘You think that is my naughty student voice? I could go much scarier if that’s what you’d prefer, darling.’ He grinned widely at her.

‘Maybe another time, I’m frozen. Let’s get this figured out so we can go home.’ Claire giggled as she pulled her jacket in tighter around herself.

Loki frowned and took off his leather gloves. ‘Here, put these on. Yours must be soaked through.’

‘No, then you’ll get cold.’ She argued.

‘I’ve not been crawling around in the snow, my hands will be fine. Put them on.’ He said firmly and shoved his gloves at her.

‘Ok, thanks.’ She pulled off her own wool gloves and tucked them into her pocket, then slipped on Loki’s leather gloves. They were too big, but they certainly did the trick compared to her own damp ones.

‘I draw the line at giving you my trousers though.’

Claire burst out laughing and nudged him with her elbow. ‘Yeah, I’d rather my eyes didn’t burn at the sight of you in your undies.’

Loki mocked a gasp and nudged her back. ‘Who said I wear undies?’

They both laughed as they reached the river and began walking alongside. Loki wasn’t sure what his dad had planned, but he certainly hoped there would be something there that would put an end to her risky intrigue.

After walking for around half a mile, they came across a pile of old tubs lying at the side of the water, no lids and some of the tubs were broken. When they got closer, Claire aimed her torch at the tubs and her eyes widened. They were large chemical containers that farmers would use, lots of them littered the immediate area, right at the water’s edge.

‘So… it has just been chemicals getting into the water. There are so many.’ Claire gasped.

Loki felt relief flood through him. ‘Seems so. There’s a lot here, I suspect a farmer uses this area as his dumping ground every so often. Would explain why it just happens once a year or so.’ Loki hummed.

‘Doesn’t explain the red colour though, surely this would just make the water look oily or off... but, red?’

‘Look.’ Loki pointed towards a large bottle. Claire shone the torch onto it. ‘It’s red dye. Farmers often use a dye, usually blue but they can get other colours too, so they can see where they’ve already sprayed. It saves over spraying, it’s a harmless product, but you only need a tiny amount for it to be effective when mixed with a liquid. It’s a perfect explanation as to why the water would turn red for a while.’

Claire just stared at it all in disbelief.

‘Are you ok?’ Loki asked.

‘Yeah… I just... I don’t know. I kind of feel a little disappointed, not going to lie.’ Claire admitted sheepishly.

‘Disappointed?’

‘Yeah. I mean, I don’t really know what I had hoped to find. I guess it's just the confirmation that there is a reasonable explanation for it all has kind of sucked the fun out of it.’ She shrugged.

Loki smiled softly. ‘You were the one adamant to come and investigate, maybe some things are better left unknown and to the imagination.’

‘Yeah, I know… Oh well, at least we now know there’s no vampires running around.’ She laughed.

‘True…’ Loki nodded. ‘Come on, let’s get going. You’re shivering.’ Loki said worriedly as he gently took hold of her elbow and began to guide her back.

Claire didn’t even realise she had been shivering until he pointed it out. By the time they got back to the park, her whole body shook as she just couldn’t get warm because of her wet trousers.

‘My place is just across the road over there, why don’t you come in and get warmed up by the fire, I’ll fish out some dry trousers to get you home in.’ Loki offered as he pointed to a street just across the road from the park.

‘I’m only a ten-minute walk from here, I don’t want to ruin your night any further.’ Claire said while her teeth chattered.

‘Ten more minutes like this might make you ill. You’re not ruining my night, at all. I chose to come with you, remember?’

‘True… ok, I’ll come and warm up. A nice fire does sound so good right now.’ Claire smiled.

Loki felt relieved that she agreed, because of course he wouldn’t force her to come in. Though he genuinely was concerned about how cold she was and he definitely didn’t want her getting ill.

Taking her to his place would be difficult for him, as her smell would be in his home, and it would likely linger for a day or so, which would drive him nuts over the weekend.

They were across at Loki’s house in less than a minute, the thought of a warm fire was a strong pull for Claire. She was surprised to see the size of his house, a Georgian style home, identical to the rest of the street, it had two floors and looked to have multiple bedrooms.

‘Luckily I started the fire before I left and put plenty of logs on, so it should be cosy enough.’ Loki said as he unlocked the front door and stepped just inside before turning sideways and motioning for her to come in with an outstretched arm.

#tom hiddleston #loki #loki x ofc #david tennant #loki fic #fluffy loki #severus snape #jessica chastain #matt murdock #vampire loki #the redbridge hunts

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pacifymebby · 2 years

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how about headcanons of them comforting you after your family dog/horse/pet dies

Love this idea so much because im a sucker for hurt/comfort <3

Tommy

🌿Makes sure he is the one that breaks the news to you. Does it when youre alone, just the two of you so that no one sees you crying.

🌿Cant say he fully understands your pain when your favourite horse breaks his leg in a race and has to be shot but he finds it touching that you care so innocently for all creatures. And he knows how much you adored that horse.

🌿The only person more upset is Curly so that tells him something about the level of care you have for that horse.

🌿Lets you cry on him, holds you and shushes you and reassures you that it was for the best, the poor boy needed to be put out of his misery, and Tommy did it personally so you can be certain it was done right and properly.

🌿Hes sad too of course, hates it when a good strong animal like that gets hurt. Doesnt like killing horses, feels wrong in his blood but he is strong for your sake and puts on a brave face.

🌿Anticipates the way your temper turns and lets you take all your anger out on him.

🌿"You bastard Tommy you bastard, you should never have let him race, its your fault hes gone now, your fucking fault..."

🌿"Horses need to race angel, its in their blood... Youd be cruel to keep him locked up just because you loved him... He was a good horse and he lived a good life..." "A fucking short life thanks to you," "Aye love, it was short,"

🌿 Allows you to cremate the horse and won't let anyone else tell you you're being silly. Takes you somewhere to build bricks around the ashes, somewhere in the wild so that your horse can run free through the wildlands like he should have been allowed to do in life.

🌿Definitely thinks twice about letting you get so attatched to any other horses he biys for racing.

Alfie

🐻Wonders why the fuck he ever bought you the damn dog. If he'd known your heart would break like this when he died he'd never.

🐻Hes a big softie himself so of course he understands why you're so upset. He's upset!!

🐻 Makes a tear in his shirt sleeve, its a mark of respect not only for the dog but for you because he can see that youre grieving the death of a best friend not just a pet.

🐻 In the same vein he recites the Kaddish for you. The house is dark and he lights a candle. Holds your hand in his whilst he speaks softly and you mark the death together.

🐻 "See my dear ziskeit this is a very sad day and you and me are both heartbroken right but its important we remember... Its important we remember what a lovely little bastard our y/p/n was right... And he was, a lovely little bastard..."

🐻 Sits down in his arm chair and pats his lap for you to come sit in. Rocks you gently whilst you cry, doesn't stop talking to you, even when he realises that maybe you need some quiet just to cry, "Right now probably what we need just now is some quiet, a nice quiet period of reflection probably... Yeah that feels right... Quiet"

🐻 But youre glad he doesnt stop talking, the sound of his voice is soothing and youre grateful to him for staying with you all the whole youre grieving.

🐻 After a little while he shifts you out of his lap and tells you to be a good girl and follow him. He takes you to the bath and fills it with hot water for you then tells you to get in. He hums to you whilst he washes you inbetween telling you all these little stories about your deceased wee pup. He talks to you about all your fond memories and recites them like a little stories until he has you smiling and sometimes even giggling through your tears.

🐻 Makes sure you still eat something that day, makes you tea and sits with you until he's sure you've drunk enough.

🐻 "Its important see little ziskeit that i look after you right now while you're under the weather... Its important you stay looked after so, I'm gonna stay here with you i think... Until i think you're feeling better alright..."

🐻 And he really does, he stays by your side until hes sure youre alright and he can trust you to remember to eat and drink and look after yourself without him. He doesnt go into the office for a week and when Ollie tries to call about business he sends him away.

🐻 "have some respect treacle, don't you know there are more important things in life than peaky fuckin blinders and bread..."

Arthur

🍂 Again, the big sook is almost as upset as you are... But he won't show it. He puts on a front to the family and his friends, tells em he doesn't see whats so bad about it, was just a fuckin animal.

🍂 But he loved that dog just as much as you did so deep down he understands your pain.

🍂And although hes no good with emotions and he doesnt know how to deal with girls crying and all that, even though that sorta shite makes him awkward he really tries for you.

🍂 It doesnt exactly come naturally but it does come easier than he was expecting it to. When you come to him so clearly trying to hold back your tears and be brave he opens his arms for you immediately.

🍂 "come 'ere darlin, come to arthur there we are sweetheart there we go,"

🍂 Hugs you to him and holds you close, swaying with you softly as he strokes your hair and presses a firm lingering kiss to your temple.

🍂 Doesnt bother giving you the speech about death being natural and if anyone tries to dismiss you with a "crying over a dead dog when half the countries still mourning sons..." arthurs going to struggle to hold in his over protective temper.

🍂 "Know its sad sweetheart but you'll feel better eventually, just give it time and you'll be right as rain, promise..." gives you gentle encouragement between kisses.

🍂He loved that little creature too so he is full of fond memories which he reminds you of, gets you sharing stories about the little mut with him until youre much calmer than you were.

🍂 Dries your eyes with his shirt sleeves, holds your face in his palms and gives you reassurance and encouragement.

🍂 "There she is, theres my sweet girl, let me see that brave little smile eh," "good fuckin girl,"

🍂 Waits a little while until your grief has subsided before he brings a new little puppy home... This time he brings home more than one...

John

🌼 John boy loves animals right especially dogs and horses because you can train them and play with them. He can't quite understand how you became so attatched to the house cat you brought for catching rats and mice.

🌼 Hes actually a little surprised by how upset you are when it passes. He should have seen it coming though. He had been off form for a few weeks, letting mice take the piss out of him and run riot around the house. John had even mentioned getting rid of him but you'd told him to do no such bloody thing.

🌼 "You get rid of that cat John Shelby and I swear to god I'll get rid of you!"

🌼 So he hadn't gotten rid of him and it turned out he didn't need to wait very long for the poor thing to pass.

🌼 When he comes home from work to find you sitting at the kitchen table with a tea towel scrunched in your hand, your eyes shut and tear stains on your cheeks, he almost thinks somethings happened to one of the kids.

🌼 But then he realises whats the matter and sighs.

🌼 "He's died has he?" its not exactly a very tactful way of broaching the subject but then this is John isnt it... When you let out a sob he sighs again, walks up behind you and bends to wrap his arms around your shoulders from the back. "Spose you're feeling a bit heartbroken are you petal?" he kisses your head and lets you turn to bury your face in his chest.

🌼 When you really start crying he picks you up and carries you off to the living room to sit with you cuddled up to him on the sofa.

🌼 Can't believe the cheek on you when you tell him to get his shoes off the furniture but hes secretly pleased to hear your sharp panicked tone because it draws you out of your sorrow for a moment.

🌼 "We can get another cat love..." "They wont be the same!" "Aye a know flower i know, but we'll get another anyway..."

🌼 Asks you if the kids know yet and you tell him no, you were hoping their dad could tell them, he smirks and shakes his head, "Shoulda known I'd have to be the one to break their hearts... "

🌼 Sheds a tear of his own and can't believe it... "Bloody hell whatre you like woman, youve got me crying over it now as well!"

🌼 He keeps smiling for you and tries to make little jokes until youre smiling too. He isn't going to let you dwell in your sorrows, hes going to actively try and cheer you up.

🌼 Does his best to distract you from the death, talks to you about other things. Also gets the kids to be involved in cheering you up. "Why don't you make a little play up for mummy, reckon she'd love that eh?"

🌼 Doesnt mind making a fool of himself acting in the kids play with them. Anything to make his flower laugh.

Bonnie

🍀 He knew it was a bad idea letting you tame that little fox but it had kept you distracted when he was making deals with Tommy Shelby and so it had been convenient for him to let you nurture the little thing.

🍀And he had to admit it was sweet to watch it eat out of your hand and brush up to you like a cat. It was a cheeky little thing and Bonnie had taken to it himself too.

🍀 Some of the other lads at the settlement had teased him about it, "your girls gone soft lad.." "Aye soft in the head like..." "It ain't natural... Its a wild animal..." these digs had been pissing Bonnie off, but he hadn't paid them any real bother, "so let her be soft, whsshht the lot of ye... 's good for a woman to be soft sometimes..." he just laughed them off until one of the lads started talking "stupid"

🍀 "You ought to put a bullet in it, before she gets too attatched..." "I'll do nothin of the sort you cruel bastard... And neither will you!" it was a real threat, and it should have struck the fear of god into the lad but boys will be boys and so, one day when Bonnie comes back from the city to find you unconsolable and in tears he knew exactly what had gone down whilst he was away.

🍀 "Hush my little dove, hush now an come here" he sighs wrapping his arms around you, nestling you into the crook of his neck. He burries his nose into your hair, cant hold onto you close enough. "Shhh dove," hes so gentle and sweet to you that youve no idea the anger burning inside him.

🍀 He holds you and hushes you until youre exhausted from crying, it hurts him to see you this way and not be able to do anything to take the pain away. Youre completely devestated and all he can do is sit back with you, shut up safe inside the vardo, leaning back in your bed holding you close to him.

🍀 He plays with your hair and draws little patterns over your back whilst you cry. Doesnt tell you everythings alright because he doesnt see the point in lying to you, youre not alright.

🍀 Sings to you quietly to sooth you. He knows you wont let him go until youre asleep but when youve finally drifted into sleep he rests your head down on the pillow, tucks you beneath your blanket and leaves you quietly with a kiss to the head and a promise to be back soon.

🍀 Now youre safe and soothed hes time to do what he'd been desperate to since he'd realised what had happened. He finds the lad whos stupid actions have caused you so much hurt. When he finds him laughing with his pals about what he'd done, re-eneacting taking aim and shooting, a switch flips in Bonnies head.

🍀 "Fuckin proud of yourself are ye? Like making girls cry eh?" he grabs him by the shirt collar and shunts him up against the trunk of a tree. "reckon its your turn to cry now eh lad?"

🍀 When he gets back to your side he has a bruise or two but the other lads looking much worse. You're crying in your sleep and he slips in beside you wraps his arms around your body and tangles his legs with yous.

🍀 Kisses your shoulders and the back of your neck, hushing you back to sleep as gently as he can.

🍀When the lad had shot the little fox he'd presented it to you like some sort of prize, so you have its body wrapped in an old shirt of yours. The next morning Bonnie wakes you before the sun is up, he wants to take you somewhere to bury it before anyone else can wake up and follow you, or say anything to upset you.

🍀Helps you build it a little marker out of stones and waits with you whilst you say your goodbyes.

🍀 "Sorry Bon, i know its fuckin silly of me crying over a wee fox..." "Hush Dove, I don't think youre silly... Its good to care about these things, I love that you care about these things..."

🍀Is very gentle and kind to you all the time but over the next few days he is extra cautious to be soft and tender with you.

Isaiah

🐀Pretends he isn't bothered by the passing of your pet parot but in truth he is. Hes going to miss that "cheeky fucker" which used to insult him every time he came through the door.

🐀Lets you cry but does tease you about your crying, hes teasing you because he's never had to comfort someone about something like this before and he doesn't really know what to do.

🐀Does daft little impressions of it, telling you in a parot voice "Don't cry little mouse," "Chin up,"

🐀Kisses you, holds your hand, tells you he'll help you bury it if you like.

🐀Secretly takes some feathers from her when youre not looking, gets them framed in a beautiful gold photo frame for you and surprises you with it one day.

🐀Tries to do the same as John and distract you from your sorrow rather than encouraging you to be sad.

🐀Takes you to a man down at the docks who says he's got a fair few pretty birds if you'd like to take a look. Lets you spend all the time in the world looking at them all until you settle on the one you want to keep.

🐀Lets you get a pair of them, regrets it when they both learn insults.

🐀But in the end he doesn't mind if every time he walks through the door they call him "silly fucker" "little bastard" because it makes you laugh and after so long of seeing you sad, he's glad to see you smiling.

🐀Asks Bonnie for some advice on how to talk to girls when theyre crying because he needs to be prepared for next time something upsets you that much.

Michael

☘️Tries to offer you another, doesnt understand why you slap him for that.

☘️ Really lacking in empathy on this one. Actually asks you what youre so upset about.

☘️ So you slap him again and that seems to knock some sense into him.

☘️ He grumbles to Finn and Bonnie about it saying he thinks you've gone bloody nuts, Finn laughs at him in disbelief and Bonnie just shakes his head. "Shes gonna leave you if youre not careful," he warns with a smirk, "Bloody stupid you aren't ye,"

☘️ So after hes had several people call him a fucking idiot he realises hes been a bit of a fool and that he needs to change his ways pretty sharpish.

☘️ Buys you flowers and some pastries and takes them to your house.

☘️ "Know i owe you an apology love," he says as he offers you his open arms for a hug, "seems I've been quite the fool eh,"

☘️ Now he comforts you, he makes you tea and sits and listens to you reminicing about the dog you loved so much. He listens to you intently and actually learns something about love and caring for innocent creatures.

☘️When you cry he kisses your forehead and wipes your tears with his thumbs. Does his best to comfort you but is still quite formal about it. Seems he can't quite shake off his stifd upper lip middle class up bringing.

☘️ Realises how innocent you are and feels guilty, he also feels an urge to protect you from future harm so at first when you express your desire for a new puppy he is hesitant to go along with it. He doesnt want you to get hurt again.

☘️ After yet another conversation with Finn and Bonnie he realises he doesn't have a choice but to "let her have the bloody dog,"

☘️ So he surprises you with a new puppy one day when Bonnie tells him it's definitely been long enough waiting and this time round he tries to care for it and love it it just as much as you do...

☘️ That is impossible though.

#peaky blinders headcanon #arthur shelby x reader #bonnie gold x reader #john shelby x reader #peaky blinders #peaky blinders imagines #tommy shelby x reader #Michael gray x reader

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polysyndetonaddictsupportgroup · 1 year

Note

you might have been asked this question before but ive been curious for a while about what would have happened when gertrude was there when jon originally gave his statement? would anything change ?

Honestly she probably would have killed him.

Like, it feels mean to say? It would have been more out of mercy than anything.

If Jon had come to her with only a Leitner, she would have taken care of the Leitner and sent him home. She doesn't normally intervene on behalf of the Statement givers, but they also aren't usually eight, and it isn't unheard of for Gertrude to intervene for the random unlucky souls who cross her path. She intervened on behalf of Jack Barnabas, and she told the monster pig dude how to handle his problem. It's selective when she intervenes, but I think if it's just a little boy scared by a book, she would help.

The thing about Gertrude is that I don’t I think she is or ever has been heartless; I just think she’s brutally practical.

One of the most interesting tidbits about her is that she looked for Eric Delano for months after he went missing, but wasn’t close enough to know that he had quit ages before he actually died. She avenged Sarah’s death by seeking out someone she had never, ever let herself meet before that moment, but she did this right after sacrificing Michael without hesitation. She seemed genuinely fond of Gerry, but she still bound him to a book.

I think that, at the end of the day, it wouldn’t be that she wouldn’t want to save Jon. It would just be that she would realize that she couldn’t.

If he had just arrived with a Guest for Mr. Spider, I think Jon would have walked away remembering her fondly as the brusk but ultimately nice old lady who had her assistant make him a cup of tea and taught him how to burn a Leitner. But he didn’t just come because of A Guest for Mr. Spider. He came because of Tommy Bradstaff.

Gertrude’s shown to be more wary of the Web than pretty much any other entity. She got tricked by them way back when she defeated her first ritual, and I don’t think she forgets. I also don’t think she would have thought it was ever a good idea to voluntarily set herself in a competition with the Mother of Puppets. Jon's eight and scared and she'd want to help him, but she also would have immediately recognized that saving him comes with a very high price tag and a very low chance of success.

I do think Gertrude would have at least tried to think of a way to save him. I just think she would have ultimately come to the conclusion that there wasn’t one.

And it’s just practicality, right? That’s the big difference between her and Jon in nhthcth. It doesn’t matter how badly she wishes she could help; she’ll accept when she can’t. But when she can, she usually racks up a very big win. Jon will wildly intervene without even considering his chances. Like, there's a reason why the Eye led him to Danny Stoker that night--it's not conscious the way humans are or the spiders are, but even pavlov's dogs learned association, and the Eye seems to be capable of that kind of low-level consciousness. When Jon finds Eric Delano's statement in canon, it's because he listened to the tapes the Eye didn't want him to hear. That implies the Eye is at least partially able to make connections based on its own impulses and desires.

Jon's its special little boy who has been resolutely fucking starving himself for almost two decades. He went and joined the eldritch version of AA with Daisy in an attempt not to feed the Eye other than when absolutely strictly necessary, and the Eye's never been happy with his starvation diet. But the one sure-fire way to get Jon to forget his sense and start ripping statements out of avatars is to shove some poor schmuck being eaten in his line of sight.

It’s pretty directly stated in nhthcth that danny isn’t the first victim of another entity he’s tried to snatch, even if he’s never gotten as involved with a pair of victims as the stoker brothers. And honestly—he almost didn’t get super involved with them either. Like, when he was trying to duck out after the initial fight at the theatre, long term involvement would have only made it worse for them. Most of the time, the absolute best chances come from "hope that they've forgotten you existed and won't come back for round two. if that fails maybe just hop continents and it will be too inconvenient for them to track you down again. buy guns." There's a pretty high mortality rate with people who hang around him, and he's not exactly expecting these random male model brothers to manage this world long-term.

If Jon’s hadn’t straight up passed out, he would have called Daisy to come pick him up and bitched to her about fucked up clowns being a problem now. He’d feel vaguely mad at himself when nikola skinned both Danny and Tim, because it’d be just another case of him trying to help and just increasing the body count, which is what happens most of the time.

I think Mike described him like someone who kept putting half dead birds in boxes and feeling disappointed when he opened the lid and saw they’d croaked. It's not unheard of for the people he helps to make it, but it's also not exactly often either. And that’s not even really to say he’s any less powerful or capable than gertrude was—honestly, between him and Daisy? They’re sort of a powerhouse duo. Like, people are afraid of hunters. At one point Dekker says that he was going up against something that would require a hunter to kill, and that while he knew a few, he would never actually risk consulting one. Amateur lobotomy it is. And Daisy is the sort of hunter that can kill other hunters. Jon’s this absolute muppet of a human being rolling up to soul-rending horror like “this is Daisy :) she is my best friend :)” and then they turn around and the Avatar of Fucking Them Up is standing there breathing too heavy and blatantly fucking insane. It’s like if kermit the frog kept bringing the fucking terminator to social events.

And Jon isn’t exactly a slouch either. Like, he’s keeping himself as weak as he can, and he’s still strolling into other entities' domains, feeding on them, and just... walking away again. These are people who are extremely used to being the human equivalent of a great white shark, more powerful and deadly than anyone else in any room they're in, but they've got this extremely distressed looking twink curb stomping them when he has reached the absolute breaking point of his Victorian Fatigue. this man keeps coming into their homes and one-shotting them after weakening himself to the point of being on death's door. jon on his own makes other avatars twitchy, but the Jon and Daisy Buddy Cop is honestly kind of one that the other avatars are somewhat actively afraid of.

Like, they'll dunk on Jon (where daisy can't see), because he's jon and he's ridiculous and pathetic at all times, but people are secretly pretty careful to toe the line of shit jon will put up with. Mike will be smarmy with Jon because he knows Jon will let him get away with it, but he also knows that if he fucks around too hard jon will put him through a psychic paper shredder and daisy will bury his corpse in the woods. It's not a secret that Daisy and Jon are strolling around feeding on and blatantly fucking murdering things like them, but none of these self-serving assholes have managed to handle a pretty active threat to their longevity. that's more because they can't than because they won't.

And still, Gertrude is pretty universally regarded as a force of nature, but Jon's still getting told that a seven percent success rate is a bit generous.

Gertrude is Gertrude Robinson, and she's the baddest bitch around, and that has a huge bit to do with her success rate. But it would be a mistake to say that the number of battles she picked didn't have something to do with why she's more successful. Like--Gertrude's going for quantity over sentiment. She'll save the world, but the individual people in it? Those aren't the fights she has ever prioritized, at the end of the day.

Almost all of the statements Jon in canon recorded were from her tenure, and Jon's follow ups usually concluded with "and then they horribly died." Gertrude was casually eating a fucking sandwich in her office and watching while Jane Prentiss decided that she couldn't be saved and went off to cram her forearm in a spooky wasp nest. She didn't help Jane. She didn't explain what was happening. She didn't try to intervene. She ate her sandwich, and she let Jane leave, and I think that at least in part she would have agreed with Jane's assessment. There wasn't any saving her, and that's a judgment that always precludes Gertrude's help.

Gertrude wins as often as she does because she picks her battles carefully. She delivers maximum damage to maximum effect, and she doesn't spin her wheels on things she knows are a waste of resources. She came right on the heels of an archivist who died because he burned through his resources and his luck, and her tenure has been marked by her being smart enough to be cautious.

I think Jon would have given her his statement. I think she would have been nice to him. I think she would have allowed herself to feel sorry for him, and sorry that he was so young, and sorry that it was too late.

I think that she would have considered what the web could have planned for him, and she would have considered how painful a fate was waiting for him if he met the End the Spider probably had planned for him. And I think she would have decided it would be crueler to let him meet it.

Gertrude in nhthcth specifically has always had a weird, twisted mercy when it came to Jon. She never manipulated him, is the thing. Elias made sure that what he did to Jon had long past the point of no return by the time Gertrude ever caught wind of his existence. As far as she was ever concerned, Jon was beyond saving from the day they met, which meant there was no point in trying. She was never going to offer him the mercy of trying to help him.

But she could have played him and she didn't. And I think that's about the most merciful action that Gertrude Robinson would have been capable of.

She knows about Agnes, okay? better than anyone. she's been bodily hauling the world as they know it through a decade of apocalypse attempts. She took one look at Jon and realized that elias had made him to wear the watcher's crown, but also that she couldn't kill him without completely alienating her resources to stop much sooner apocalypses.

But she sort of knew from the day they met that she may have to one day kill him, if only to stop him from wearing the crown. It wasn't set in stone, but it was a very significant possibility.

In chapter 24, Jon reached out to gertrude for absolutely any comfort possible, and she actually could have given it to him. She could have strung him along with false hope, or just given him a shoulder to cry on. Someone other than elias to love.

And she would have done that knowing that she was actively planning how to kill him when the time came. And she's definitely not above that kind of manipulation. Jon's extremely vulnerable when he comes to her, and he already thinks of her as a source of hope. Stringing him along and being his only source of comfort and support would give her an enormous advantage over him that she normally wouldn't ignore. But if he did die by her hands one day, as she knows he probably will, he'd finally go to his end after a very painful life being murdered by the only person that he thought loved him after he lost Gerry. Gertrude sort of uncharacteristically gave up that advantage to spare him from that final betrayal. She'd never sacrifice the world for him, she could have loved him like her own son and she would still kill him without hesitation, and she won't lie to herself about that fact either. It's a weird, twisted act of mercy to have it be turning the cold shoulder to a little boy begging for help, but in her mind, it was the most merciful option open to her.

And I kind of like the idea of Jonathan Sims in nhthcth always demanding the most painful acts of mercy of Gertrude that she's ever contemplated. Because the thing is, if she had been the one to take his Statement that day, she's almost definitely would have decided that Jon couldn't be saved. Not when the thing after him was the Web. And once she decides that, she has two options: let him meet the End waiting outside of those doors, or handle it herself.

And the thing is, her MO is to go for the former. It's not like she's mercy killing everyone who shows up and tells her of the fate worse than death that's most likely to befall them--hell, to take the risk of mercy killing is borderline out of character to her. If it were anyone else, she wouldn't have done it.

But Jon was eight. He was begging her for help that she couldn't give. And the Web has never been merciful. Either it was lying about wanting him for itself and he was going to be killed in the most slow, horrifying way possible, or it wasn't and he wasn't even going to get the mercy of death. Like, if a horrible, tragic fate is inevitable for him, Gertrude has to at least contemplate if there's an option that's more merciful than the rest.

Even giving him a less painful death is dangerous for Gertrude, but I think that's more of a price she'd be willing to contemplate. Like, killing another entity's victim is another way of snatching a meal from them. She had to at least entertain the risk that the Web would have some kind of retribution for it. But she would also entertain the fact that Jon's only sitting in the Archives because the Web let him get that far, that it wanted him to give its Statement to her, and ultimately decide that the risk is one she's willing to shoulder.

I think she would have made sure it didn't hurt. I think she would have made it quick, and made sure he didn't know it was happening. but I don't think she would have ever saved Jon the way he wanted to be saved.

If I’m being extremely generous (and self indulgent) and trying to come up with a world where she would go on a crusade to save him, and probably assuming some kind of off screen character arc that’s completely made her change her entire approach to life, I think she’d bring him to Agnes Montague.

If Jon could ever have a chance way back when he was eight, I think it would have been Agnes. Agnes is the direct opposite of the Web. She's the demigod messiah of the entity of Fucking Up All Your Life Plans. In canon, she's the one that Gertrude went to when she did need to go after the Web. If she had decided to try for him and needed to come up with an option to save him, she'd go to Agnes.

That being said, getting to that decision is just still really unlikely. For all of the above reasons and because of the difficulties Agnes poses. Even if they're in like, lesbian soul love, they've never met in person, and she doesn't really know if Agnes will help. It may attract the Lightless Flame's attention, and Jon may just end up burnt to death instead of filled with spiders. A lot of ways it could go wrong and give Jon a worse fate. It's the sort of Hail Mary play Gertrude never really did.

That line is in the summary because I thought it said everything about what the reader needed to know for Jon in nhthcth. (Also, I just thought it sounded nice.)

Jon in nhthcth is sort of defined by the fact that he has never gotten past who he was in the moment that James Wright locked him in Gertrude's office. It's one of the two cornerstones of everything he became.

The other cornerstone, of course, is Gerry.

Jon has spent his entire life trying to figure out a way that he could have been anything but what he is. It's been a decade and change, but he's never, ever been able to let go of what happened to him. And that feels at least a little off.

Maybe it's the idea that time heals all wounds, maybe it's the idea that Stockholm Syndrome should have kicked in eventually, maybe it's the evil god eating parts of his personality, maybe it's the idea that it's probably exhausting to eternally be struggling against a fate that you met when you were fucking eight. Even if he never becomes okay with what happened to him, he probably should have at least accepted it and moved on to some measure. Like, this has been his reality for almost his entire life. No matter how terrible it was, people usually adapt and acclimate to what happens to him.

One of the core traits of Jon in nhthcth was always supposed to be that Jon just didn't for some reason.

Like, Jon has not even passed the threshold of accepting what happened to him. It's all these years later, and he's desperately replaying what happened and trying to come up with the version that has him going home at the end. Even if you don't accept your current situation, you probably should have stopped trying to figure out what you could have done differently when you were eight, no matter how terrible what happened is.

At the end of the day, even with all he knows, Jon just has never understood why he couldn't have been saved.

He knows there's no Light Side at the end of the day. This isn't some big battle of Good Against Evil--it's just a series of Bad inconveniencing Other Bad because what Other Bad wants is not in the interest of what Bad wants. There's no ancient secret order battling the dark--there's just a lot of people stopping each other from ending the world because they want to be the ones to do it, and also like, Gertrude Robinson and her good-time buddy That One Random Priest. If you're looking for someone to save you in the TMA world, there just isn't really anyone.

And that's part of why Jon goes in after Danny Stoker. It's part of why he keeps undertaking the world's most half-assed rescue attempts. Trying to save Danny when his entire life has indicated that's impossible and probably going to make things worse is a deeply irrational thing to do. He probably should have learned when to walk away by now.

But a part of him is still eight, and a part of him has spent his entire life going over the worst thing that ever happened to him and trying to figure out the way to make it different.

It takes a specific sort of person to keep undertaking herculean efforts in a desperate, wild attempt to save people that he knows are as good as dead. And I think that sort of person once was someone who was as good as dead. He saves Danny Stoker because a part of him is still desperately trying to find the person who could have done the same for him.

In the end, he became the thing he once needed most in the world, which was a chance. I don't think he's realized that fact. And I don't know if he'd find it comforting if he did.

The other thing about that sentence is that it's completely and utterly pointless.

Like. It's been eighteen fucking years. At a certain point, you have to decide it doesn't matter anymore, and clinging to the question of whether someone could have saved you just doesn't help anything. But one of the other core traits of Jon in nhthcth was that he was someone who just simply did not care if what he was doing was practical or had any chances of succeeding.

He's designed to be so stubborn in it that it's almost ridiculous, and more than a little comical but it's honestly borderline sad to me. Here Jon is, making it his life's fucking mission to hold the title of World's Shittiest Employee. He is going to make his hostage situation inconvenient for everyone. He's not doing fucking paperwork; he's only here because elias kidnapped him. He can't get away, but he's going to be the absolute most unmanageable nightmare alive.

It does absolutely nothing to help him.

He doesn't think anyone in the Institute is ever going to help him. He doesn't think he's going to force Elias's hand into letting him go by racking up the most HR complaints in Institute history. It doesn't actually help him in any way to do the vast majority of what he does--it actively hurts him, actually. There's no one in the Institute who wants to help him, because they see him as a nuisance. When he causes Elias too much trouble, Elias punishes him for it. It'd be better from a consequentialist perspective to have settled into some kind of facade of normalcy, but he hasn't. Because playing along, going along with the facade as an Institute employee--he'd have to at least implicitly admit that what happened to him isn't relevant anymore. Sure, Elias kidnapped him and fed him to an ancient, primordial hunger from the dawn of civilization, but by god, he has his monthly staff meeting to get to, and that's too important to make a fuss about the first thing.

It's kind of sad, because while the Institute didn't know the entire picture, nineteen-year old Martin almost immediately said "wow, that blatantly unstable child sure does act like he's being severely abused." Elias had to feed him a story about an entirely different abuser to dodge the world's most needed CPS visit, and Martin still almost turned around and reported Elias literally the same afternoon. Yeah, Elias had a story for the institute to explain jon's Everything, but they really didn't have to buy it.

Like, willful ignorance absolutely played a role in it. Part of it was Elias was their boss and nobody wanted to be the one to accuse him of child abuse. It was easier to accept his lies at face value and not stick their neck out for him. Part of it was just that Jon's never been a very likable victim for them. He wasn't some tearful damsel they could swoop in and save--he smoked too much and was angry and loud about it. And once they made that initial decision to ignore their misgivings, the chances of anyone breaking that pattern got extremely low. No one wants to admit to themselves that they ignored a little kid in an extremely abusive household just because his abuser was their boss and they didn't like the kid all that much. Martin kind of hit Jon like a grenade when he first joined up and actually gave a shit if he was okay.

Of course, this all means that Jon's spent the past decade or so being told by everyone who could see him hurting that his upset at the soul-crushing pain he was in was inconvenient to them and it's rude of him to be so loud about it, could he do that somewhere else, because it really doesn't matter. and he's still there saying "it does matter. it matters to me."

Just--doing pointless things because if he doesn't then they stop mattering and they have to matter somehow defines so much of what he does.

When he was a little boy, Gerry told him that the clothes you wore were meant to be things that make you feel like you, that were who you were or wanted to be, and Jon decided that the parts of him that he loved were made up of other people. It's been fourteen years since he told him that, and out of all the people he's tried to make himself with, Daisy is the only one he still has in his life. He wears the secondhand clothes of people who he lost without anyone else caring to preserve a self that people are actively trying to kill. The fact that he feels more like him when he wears Gerry's coat only matters to the extent that he lets it. He makes pointless interventions on behalf of people he knows he probably can't save, because if he doesn't, then he fact that they needed help to begin with didn't matter. It only mattered whether they could have been saved; needing to be saved doesn't factor in.

I basically wanted him to be the opposite of Basira. Basira was the world's most polite hostage in Season 3. Martin had to actually ask her if she was aware she was in a hostage situation. Her entire thing was that there was no point in getting upset at something you couldn't change--you either got on as best you could or you found a way to change it anyway. That's the exact opposite to nhthcth Jon's approach to life--the Web even pokes fun at him for it in chapter 9. A spider's prey thrashes itself to death trying to get out of its web. Jon's just--flailing like a fly struggling against a web. Gertrude always conserved her resources and energy for where it would matter most, but he exhausts himself on things he knows wouldn't succeed. It doesn't make any practical sense, but there's something viscerally human about it still.

And the last thing that sentence tells you about Jon is that he is someone who has to believe in the lightning strike.

The thing is? Jon knows about pretty much everything this post discussed. No one really knew Gertrude, but if there was someone who did, it was him. He's been hanging around her since he was a little kid. It's been stated that she personally tried to teach him to some degree, though, and we've seen that she's stated to his face that she would not have tried to save him if she had been the one to take his statement. She never really represented a chance at things having gone differently to begin with.

But he still thinks of her specifically when he tries to find the version of himself that isn't this. Because even if she was never really a chance, she was still the biggest chance he had.

Jon was eight. He knew jack all when this started, and he was going up against the most dangerous entity there was. He was never going to come up with a place to go to that wasn't the Magnus Institute, and he was never going to outsmart the Web on his own. Gertrude Robinson was the only one who he ever had a snowball's chance of crossing paths with who wasn't like, actively evil.

There's basically nil chance of her having had some kind of midlife crisis right before he showed up and deciding that this is the one she must save and damn the consequences. There's an even smaller chance of her actually pulling it off and saving him from the Web. But that was the biggest chance he had, and he can't help but cling to it.

Sometimes, you have to beat the odds. Sometimes, lightning strikes.

If you believe in the idea of the multiverse, and that everything that can happen will happen, there is a Jon out there in some far-off universe who walked into the Magnus Institute and met Gertrude Robinson instead of James Wright. There is a Gertrude Robinson who, against all odds, decided that Jon was worth the costs of saving him, who fought tooth and nail to save him and won. It's a fairytale he tells himself, but the idea of someone kind enough to put him in a car so they could drive all about, go on adventures, and find places with rain was also a fairytale he once heard, and it still happened. Gerry was his lightning strike.

And that's really the crux of it. In order for Jon to have loved Gerry the way he did, he had to be someone who would bank everything on odds that were a lot smaller than being struck by lightning. Jon needs to be the type of person who will believe in chances that barely exist, because if he doesn't, he could have never made he decisions he had to make to stay by Gerry's side.

Gerry Keay was not Gertrude Robinson, and he definitely was not anywhere near her caliber when he was the little boy who tried to take Jon and run. They live in a world that tears into your soul, that Marks you in a way that cannot be removed and that never, ever lets you go. It's monsters eating other monsters, and they were both very small and very damned from the get-out. The chances of Jon Sims and Gerry Keay saving each other were always so much smaller than the chances of Gertrude Robinson saving him, and he knew it. If he couldn't believe that there was at least a chance that Gertrude would have saved him, then he couldn't believe that he and Gerry ever had a chance of finding their way home.

We still don't know where Gerry is in 2013, why he isn't there, but we know that Daisy saw him with Jon in 2011, kicking each other under the table for making ill-timed jokes to a monster who wanted to kill them. They first ran in 1999. That's twelve years of betting everything on odds south of a lightning strike. It takes specific kinds of people to do that. It takes people who will take the worst odds possible because they're the only ones they have.

There's no power of love or friendship or hope in that universe, but I think Jon and Gerry wanted to believe that they could love each other to the point of survival. They were looking at a world where, in the whole span of human history, love had not made a lick of difference to the things they faced, and they were asking to be the exception. Wondering if Gertrude Robinson would have saved him... it's hardly the most improbable thing Jon's ever let himself believe.

#nhthcth #tma #the magnus archives #jon sims #gertrude robinson #gerry keay #the continuing adventures of me answering asks after my adhd meds have worn off #babygirl i will answer questions no one even asked #me answering asks when unmedicated is just me reaching the end and realizing i went off on every tangent known to man #i will forge bold new paths into terrains no one ever fucking asked about #i already typed it it's too late now here have my info dump #i want you all to know that there's a half answered ask in my drafts and i found a way to have tangents about death note the iconic anime #and plato's republic the classic of greek philosophical thought #did the ask have absolutely anything to do with either of those things #no #i'm like this in real life too you could not plot a conversation with me on a map

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