Board 8 > SaveEstelle/LeonhartFour in Different Houses: Tales of X vs. Zero Edition [SELF]

(+) Yeah! (+)

The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya

I certainly share Kyon's hatred of waking up early in the morning and of cold weather.

I like how Haruhi nearly pulls a Metal Gear Solid with her "Kept you waiting, didn't I?" line.

I like the progression of the opening credits from Haruhi and Kyon fighting over the heater to eventually Kyon desperately trying to get heat from the discharge from the computer. Poor guy.

Haruhi writes so big that she can't even fit her SOS BRIGADE CHRISTMAS PARTY all in one line and has to put the last couple of characters on the next line. Kyon doesn't snark about that, for some reason, but he does snark about how Haruhi's "Merry X-Mas" writing on the window would look backward from the outside (fittingly enough, Nagato herself corrects this and writes it the other way when they have a Christmas party in the spinoff).

Once again, Kyon shuts down a conversation that he doesn't want to have when Koizumi talks about how Haruhi's mental state has become more stable since she met him.

The funny thing is that the girl Taniguchi has a date with in the movie ends up being an important character in the later books. Too bad anime viewers never get to meet her because she's...something else. It would certainly be interesting to see how they would animate her.

I like the subversion of it looking like Kyon's about to nail a powerful kick on the soccer ball, only for him to miss entirely. They did the same gag during the baseball game in Boredom.

Nagato's still wearing the Santa hat that Haruhi put on her head the day before. It's another instance of her enjoying to wear something different even though by default she wears her school uniform all the time, even when she's not at school. She keeps staring at that snowflake decoration, too.

Kyon lampshades how long the prologue to Disappearance is, but the prologue to Intrigues (Book 7) is longer than that, and the prologue to Dissociation (Book 9) is even longer than that.

In overwriting the timeline, Nagato gives an illness to everyone who went to middle school with Haruhi and would thus know who she is. Some people theorize that she tried to get everyone out of the way so that Kyon wouldn't be able to find Haruhi (out of love and jealousy and all that), but my theory is that Nagato didn't want Kyon to stumble into the solution by accident. If he really wanted the old world back (despite how much he complained about it), he was going to have to earn it.

It's interesting that Nagato allows Asakura to exist in this timeline despite their differences. Kyon believes it could be a malfunction or a mistake, but perhaps there was a part of Nagato that wished they could get along and be friends. Her Tanabata wishes were for reformation and harmony/unity, after all.

Man, Disappearance's OST is so good. The song when Kyon realizes Haruhi has disappeared is great.

I love how the "Something only they could know" trope totally backfires on Kyon when it usually works everywhere else in fiction. I mean, it's totally understandable why it did, but it's still pretty brilliant. It's also interesting that we see a brief flash of Asahina getting angry and punching him in the face (albeit not very hard). It's the only time we ever see her truly get angry, perhaps because she doesn't have to keep up her appearances as a time traveler.

"Actually, this is the first time I've ever spoken to you." She's totally correct here because she doesn't say they've never met. She simply says she hadn't spoken to him before now because he did all the talking in the library.

It's kind of amazing how human Nagato is better at being moe than the supposed epitome of moe.
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Here was my draft.

Jimmy Garoppolo
Todd Gurley
Mark Ingram
Mike Evans
Marvin Jones Jr.
Rob Gronkowski
Carlos Hyde
Kelvin Benjamin
Ravens D/ST
Harrison Butker
James White
Danny Amendola
Cameron Merideth
Javorious Allen
Tyrod Taylor
Rob Kelley
Austin Hooper

Not super excited about the team. I ended up being first pick, which I'm not a fan of. Feels bad to wait so long after that first pick, especially with 12 teams. We'll see, though.
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You took Ingram even though he's suspended for four games, huh? Well, as long as you have decent depth to hold out till he gets back, it's probably not a bad pick. I sure hope Jimmy G turns out to be good this year because you're kinda boned at QB otherwise!

I'm almost always in the middle of the first round whenever we pick. I've never been the first or the last. I've wanted to draft Antonio Brown for years (especially since we're in a PPR league) and I've never gotten him. The last two years, he's been picked by the person directly ahead of me.
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Yeah, Ingram was a gamble, but he was still hanging around after round 5, so I grabbed him knowing my RB situation was going to be bleak beyond Gurley.

Jimmy G was definitely a speculative pick. By the time I got around to bothering with QBs, all the top tier ones were gone and Id rather gamble than take someone middling.
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Yeah, one of the guys in my league was in the same situation as you and took Jimmy G, too. He expressed interest in getting Andrew Luck from me, so I might wait and see how Garoppolo looks the first couple games because I might be able to get something good from him..
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Andrew Luck still plays football???
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The Mana Sword posted...

Andrew Luck still plays football???

theoretically he can even throw regulation-sized footballs now
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The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya, part 2

Literally a Windows 95 computer in 2009

"Whaaaaat? I don't know." I love the way Kyon's little sister says that line, for some reason. I'll occasionally imitate it, even. "AH! Floor's cold!" has a great delivery, too.

I like Kyon's observation that now that the world has changed, he's no longer normal because he's the only one who remembers the way things were before. The world is normal, but he's not.

I like that Nagato informs Kyon that she borrowed the book she's currently reading from the city library, presumably to try to trigger his memory because she seems to think he doesn't remember meeting her there.

Kyon asks Nagato if she's ever tried writing something herself, and she says she only reads. There's actually a story in one of the later books where Nagato writes a story, and it's every bit as surreal as you'd expect.

Looks like Nagato only has the first three books of the Hyperion series on the bookshelf, unless the fourth one isn't group with the other three.

During this scene in the book, at one point, Kyon observes that it doesn't look like Nagato's made much progress in her book since he showed up. Presumably she's having a hard time focusing with him in the room.

"I have no idea if she's being shy, or timid, or aggressive." Great line because it doesn't seem like you should be able to be confused about whether someone's one or the other. Women, am I right?

I love the scene where Nagato explains when they met. It's one of my favorite parts of the movie. For one, I can totally relate to her shyness, and on another note, it seems like something the real Nagato would feel if she could express it adequately. She doesn't actually thank him in this scene in the book, so this is a nice improvement in the movie.

This movie is the first time I ever noticed the "sleeve grab" was a thing in anime.

There's Nagato's "dazzling" smile. At one point in the later books, Kyon says that literally the only thing he misses from this alternate world is that smile.

Kyon has a reputation for liking weird girls that started in middle school. The girl who gives him that reputation shows up in the last couple of books (and even in the Nagato spinoff at one point). From what I've heard (since I can't read Japanese), you can actually see her name listed in Kyon's contacts when he's scrolling through them on his phone at one point during the movie.

"I really, really missed Haruhi." It shows you how bad it's gotten for Kyon when he can just flatly admit that.

This scene between Kyon and Taniguchi is really good because it shows that they really are good friends despite how much they grumble about and talk smack about each other. You don't get to see much of Kyon's relationship with Taniguchi and Kunikida since they're not in the S.O.S. Brigade, but they really do seem close.

Another great song here is the one that plays when Kyon is dashing to Koyoen Academy to finally see Haruhi again.

This scene where the security guard confronts and tackles Kyon isn't in the book and really adds nothing to the movie. I think most of the changes the movie made were solid, but this isn't one of them.

Kyon telling Haruhi that his name is John Smith might be the only time we see her react with shock and bewilderment in the entire series. Of course, this is a world where she's not in control anymore, too, so it's understandable to an extent.

The fact that Haruhi here takes literally everything Kyon says at face value when the other version of her doesn't believe a word he says means the key to everything is the fact that he's John Smith. I figured there would eventually come a point in the story when he'd have to tell her that in the original world, too, but we may never know!
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The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya, part 3

Koizumi hits the nail on the head when he says that Haruhi is interested in Kyon for who he is, not for some latent power he has. I like that "Makes me jealous" he mutters under his breath afterward. It's a rare genuinely honest moment from him, but like Asahina, he has nothing to hide in this world.

When Kyon compliments Haruhi on her ponytail and she calls him an idiot for saying so, he comments in the book that she reacts that way because she doesn't know how to take a compliment. I kinda wish they had left that line in for the movie, too, because it explains a bit about who she is.

Man, Kyon having to give Nagato the club application form back and that look on her face is heartbreaking. It does show us that Nagato was right to entrust him with the task of changing the world back because he'll do the right thing, no matter what. Kyon knows he has to break Nagato's heart, and he's certainly not happy about it, but he does it anyway.

I love the sequence after Kyon activates the program where it plays a rapid-fire series of lines from the movie, culminating in Asakura's, "I WILL NEVER FORGIVE YOU" line (because, as he finds out soon enough, she meant it). It's just really well done.

It's kind of weird to realize, but at this point in the story, there are like three totally separate Kyons in existence at the same time (The original and the two separate versions of him that have traveled back in time). There are also three Asahinas (The original, the one who time traveled with Kyon, and Asahina Big).

Asahina Big's role in this movie proves that she has foreknowledge of the series' timeline based on various things she says (like telling Kyon she knew all along that she'd meet this version of him here at this point in time). She's really good in this movie in general. In the book, Kyon says it feels like her every gesture is full of sex appeal, almost like she's trying to seduce him. It almost seems to corroborate what Koizumi said about her in Sigh.

"Time Plane Destruction Device" sounds kinda dangerous. I do wish we had more details about how time travel worked in the series.

Asahina Big saying that Haruhi isn't responsible for what happened, but he knows who the person is who did it, got me wondering who it could've been, but I still somehow never guessed it was Nagato. Again, I'm bad at figuring out plot twists. I do like this scene where Kyon and Asahina Big talk on the bench. "One day, you're going to look back on the days you spent as a high school student with nostalgia." The song they play here is really good, too.

Apparently, the way Kyon says this, "John Smith wishes you the best of luck in making the world more exciting" line in Japanese is supposed to be worded in a way to give her the inspiration for the name of the S.O.S. Brigade, so I'd guess it was supposed to be that he wished her luck in spreading excitement all over the world or something like that.

The fact that Asahina Big still gets nervous around Nagato tells you just how powerful the latter is. The way she talks about, "I remember the last time you did this" before Nagato bites her seems to imply that there was another instance other than Sigh when she did it. Otherwise, she'd say "the first time." Of course, it could just be the translation doesn't communicate the meaning properly, so who knows.
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The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya, part 4

In one of the later books, Nagato explains why this version of her was not able to sync with her memories like she should've been able to, and it's a pretty interesting reason.

I like that they don't let you hear who was responsible when Nagato tells Kyon who it was, but you get to see how much it shakes him. I don't blame him though. Seeing Nagato walk out completely changed my perspective on her as a character.

It's weird that they almost treat this moment when Nagato bites Kyon to inject him with the protective screen or whatever like a kiss scene with how she lingers and slowly pulls away, along with the slow piano music in the background. I guess it's the closest she'll ever get to kissing Kyon in this world though.

Kyon subtly changes the wording of his question from "Will you wait for me?" to "Are you gonna wait for me?" presumably when he realizes what the first one implies, but Nagato promises to do so anyway.

In the movie, there's a powerful wind that accompanies Nagato changing everything. In the book, nothing like that happens, but Asahina Big still says she can feel the disruption in space-time, although Kyon says he doesn't notice anything.

Man, Kyon's lengthy monologue here (which is partially an argument with himself) is amazing. It might be the peak moment in the entire series, especially accompanied by the two songs, "The Things in the Heart of Yuki Nagato" and "READY." The presentation and atmosphere throughout this whole sequence of events are nothing short of incredible. In particular, I like the images of the alternate versions of the S.O.S. Brigade behind him, and all of them are lifeless ceramic statues except for Nagato. So what this really comes down to (even if Kyon won't readily admit it) is that he's choosing between Haruhi and Nagato. Pulling his sleeve away from her grip is a powerful moment, and then they show what he won't overtly say when he walks over to Haruhi and stands in front of her afterwards. Now he's willing to admit he loves being a part of the S.O.S. Brigade, but he's still not quite ready to admit that a big reason for that is because he loves Haruhi.

Perhaps one of the most brilliant things about Disappearance is that they sort of lull you into thinking Kyon's choice was the climax and there's nothing left, and then BAM! Knife to the back out of nowhere. It's a super great moment. I remember initially thinking that it was human Nagato who grabbed the knife out of desperation, but then I saw she wasn't wearing glasses.

One of the interesting things here in this scene that you might not pick up on because Kyon can barely hear it is Asahina Big saying, "I'm sorry. I knew this would happen." In other words, she knew Asakura was going to stab Kyon and just let it happen. One of the things the later books do confirm about time travel (at least from the perspective of Asahina's organization) is the concept of "Established events." There are major events that need to happen to keep the timeline flowing in the proper direction. There can be minor alterations that don't really change anything (as evidenced by the fact that all the time loops in Endless Eight didn't play out exactly the same way), but an established event is something that, from the future's perspective, absolutely needs to happen, so they work to make sure it does.
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The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya, part 5

If you're quick, you can see Haruhi's jacket hanging on the wall and a partial glimpse of her sleeping bag beside Kyon's bed before the reveal here.

Disappearance brings the S.O.S. Brigade together as a group once and for all. The direction of the story totally changes from here. Up to this point, the members were trying to protect the world from Haruhi, as well as protecting Haruhi from herself. In the stories after this, they have to protect her from actual outside threats.

"Were you expecting anyone in particular this whole time? Perhaps someone...special?" Great line.

But yeah, all the members of the S.O.S. Brigade are so happy to be back together again (even if it's for a different reason than Kyon) that they can't even contain themselves, and it expresses itself in different ways. Koizumi actually passes up the opportunity to go on a long-winded philosophical explanation. Haruhi is even more extreme than normal. Kyon actually accepts everything she tells him without snarking even once. Asahina breaks down crying, which is the most obvious display of emotion here.

And then there's Nagato. That scene on the rooftop is so well done. Nagato comes to see Kyon planning to say, "I'm sorry. Goodbye," while he tells her, "This is all my fault, and you're not going anywhere." To the DITE, Nagato's flaws make her expendable. To Kyon, they make her an invaluable member of the S.O.S. Brigade. From this point on, her absolute loyalty is to Kyon, even above the DITE. As a result, Nagato is so happy that even she can't completely restrain herself and is finally able to express herself with a "Thank you."

"The days when I thought it was cool to just sit and watch are over. And just like the other subordinate members of the S.O.S. Brigade, I am an active protector of this world." And to Kyon's credit, he faithfully sticks to that commitment.

The post-credit scene here is super adorable. Nagato puts the book over her mouth as a substitute for a smile because it's what makes her happy. Maybe one day, this version of Nagato will be able to smile for real. Get on that, Tanigawa!
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it's my half-birthday

opening noms would be a good half-present if you were trying to figure out what to get me SBAllen
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Spidey reviews are looking pretty good so far

I guess I need to finish MMX6 by Friday
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Good work, Allen!

now to figure out who to nominate
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oh god I just came back and the board turned into a sea of nomination trading/begging

is contest season over yet
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and not a single topic features a good nomination suggestion to boot

we've really run out of good ideas
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that was pretty obvious when the NRT gave us Estelle and Godot
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well yeah

but at least they're both good characters so I'll still nominate them even though they're going to get utterly destroyed (barring some miracle where they face each other in round 1)
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wait I thought 2B was one of the NRT winners
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she was THE winner

but I think she might actually be decent

I'm really skeptical about Guile but whatever he'll be better than Estelle and Godot
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I wish we knew how big the bracket was going to be so I could curate my nominations accordingly
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The Mana Sword posted...

I wish we knew how big the bracket was going to be so I could curate my nominations accordingly

Since he's giving us 20 noms, I imagine the bracket will be a pretty decent size.
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The Mana Sword posted...

oh god I just came back and the board turned into a sea of nomination trading/begging

is contest season over yet

this was my thought exactly

Edit: wow 2B on the dropdown but not 9S. way to fail board 8 cancel the contest
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SBAllen has been adding characters to the auto-fill that get enough nominations

get 9S enough noms and he'll get added
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that's why i attributed the failure to board 8

they had one job

Real talk though, I'm not sure who to nom and it kind of bums me out. In the past I'd just nom my favorites but they were 85% too obscure to make it. Don't really want to do that this time. I'm willing to commit noms to some really borderline/unlikely ones but =/
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I mean if you had to guess on one Automata character to actually be strong it's 2B so B8 did its one job well
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But yeah, I've still got 5 noms open (with 2 additional slots available for the Guru picks) and I'm not sure who to use them on. I nominated some of my faves I nominate every year (Squall, Tidus, Big Boss, Phoenix, Knuckles), but I'm not sure who else to go with.

I nommed Joker and Noctis because I think they're new characters with the potential to do well from games I like.
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they can both make it

Maybe it's because I'd rank 2B behind 9S, Emil, and A2 so it just makes me sad that she's the one who'd be strong/visible. >_>
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well I almost never nominate characters I like if I know they're going to get crushed

I always take a practical approach to this so I'd still probably favor 2B over any other Automata character even if she weren't my favorite. I mean, I'm nominating Joker even though I might prefer Narukami or Makoto because Joker can actually be good. Same with Noctis over Ignis.
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I'm the opposite. I get irrationally stubborn when there's someone I'd prefer as a game's rep. Makoto over Joker is a good example.

which is a tough position to be in because it rarely works out for me >_>
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Well, I also have the motive of trying to create an interesting bracket with good matches in it.

so while it'd be great if Makoto got in she'd probably get crushed round 1 (although she could maybe pull out a win if she got a lucky draw because I don't think she'd be ultra fodder) so I won't nominate her
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LeonhartFour posted...

Well, I also have the motive of trying to create an interesting bracket with good matches in it.

so while it'd be great if Makoto got in she'd probably get crushed round 1 (although she could maybe pull out a win if she got a lucky draw because I don't think she'd be ultra fodder) so I won't nominate her

Or maybe just maybe you'll have to nominate Makoto anyway. *srnk*
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I mean I think Makoto and Aqua would probably be around the same level and I like them about the same amount (as evidenced by the rankings) so I'd be down for that

it's better than having to nominate something I don't like AND will be bad (like Prinny)
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Huh. Aqua is actually in the autofill even though she's never been in.
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oh hey aqua is cool

4 noms down. 16 to go. >_>
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BK_Sheikah00 posted...

Huh. Aqua is actually in the autofill even though she's never been in.

Yeah, she was in there from the start, too. I thought SBAllen just added all the characters who have ever been in before, but there were several who haven't been, like Aqua.

Geralt from The Witcher is in there, too, which is good since I know there were questions about his eligibility.
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New topic:

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/76968105
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xp1337 posted...

The Mana Sword posted...

oh god I just came back and the board turned into a sea of nomination trading/begging

is contest season over yet

this was my thought exactly

Edit: wow 2B on the dropdown but not 9S. way to fail board 8 cancel the contest

the S stand for Sucks
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Why is Batman (Batman) not on the autofill
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because Allen is still afraid a website populated mostly with males in their 20s and 30s will get Jane Eyre into the contest
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well now we would
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So I decided to watch the first episode of Sherlock. It was pretty interesting. The chemistry between Holmes and Watson is pretty great and feels pretty in line with the books. Their individual characterizations are a bit different though. Most notably, Holmes is more cantankerous, and Watson is more aggressive. Lestrade is a bit less stubborn. Sherlock and Mycroft being rivals is a bit odd.

"A Study in Pink" is a parallel to "A Study in Scarlet," obviously. It's largely a different story with nods to the original that fans will pick up on (particularly the two pills and the writing of the word "Rache," although the relevance of the latter is totally different here). Like I said before, I'm not a purist when it comes to adaptations. I don't mind seeing people put a new twist on the formula.
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actually now that I think about it maybe I should do a best bromances poll for the SELF topic after the next once since I've been talking about Joey/Chandler and Holmes/Watson lately

I'd have to put some thought on what my top ten would be
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LeonhartFour posted...

I'd have to put some thought on what my top ten would be

1-9. Shepard/Garrus
10. Yu/Yosuke
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Shepard/Garrus would definitely make the cut

Narukami/Yosuke would be under consideration
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Loading up Dragon Quest XI
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I guess we should finish this off.

Whoo 2 days
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I still have one nom left.
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Nominate Shepard
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Or Wrex
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