Entry tags:
Application
MANTOROK SLOTS: 1.
Player Name: Your name. Easy enough!
Player Age: Because of the way the comm is, we only allow people 18 or older to be here.
Player Contact: How can we get ahold of you? Your DW journal, AIM, Skype, plurk, list whatever you want!
Character Name: Please note which ordering they use, whether English or Japanese/Chinese.
Character Series: The series your character was from. Please note if it was manga, anime, book, whatever.
Brief History: Feel free to just post a link to elsewhere. We don't need an essay if you don't want to type one, just an idea of your character's past. If you are importing CR/history from another game, however, we do require at least a brief type-up by you here on that CR and history.
Brief Personality: The same as above, we just need an idea of your character's self and motivations. This one must be written by you, though you can feel free to link to other posts in your journal.
Powers & Abilities: A full list of your characters abilities and powers. Keep in mind those of supernatural strength or origin will be taken away, though they can be regained later.
Alignment: Which Ancient they serve. Keep in mind that only 1 in 5 can be with Mantorok and must have been able to spot the symbol through Manny's trick somehow, so make sure that there's a Mantorok-aligned spot and that your character has some way to pick the "hidden fourth option" during Manny's presentation. If you aren't sure if your character could, feel free to contact a mod to ask. Note that, as Manny himself is a mod/plot character, he doesn't count against the "1 in 5" rule.
Grell Sutcliff | Kuroshitsuji | Not brief at all...
Player Age: 28
Player Contact: A PM to this journal will work fine!
Character Name: Grell Sutcliff
Character Series: Kuroshitsuji [Manga]
Brief History: Manga history for Grell
Witches Reign History: She has lived in this worked for over three years, and she has grown much. She's learned to trust only those she has managed to get close to, which is a large step. Becoming close to anyone isn't what she does back in her own world, mostly because she doesn't trust anyone but herself. Her temper is not as short as it used to be, but it would not be a good idea to tick her off. She's a trained mercenary and very adept at computer science. Although most of her values regarding humans hasn't changed much, her family does tend to keep her in line. Something that she wouldn't let anyone do before; hinder her fun for sentiments for humanity.
Brief Personality:
In her disguise as a butler, Grell is meek, clumsy, and has a a tendency to try to dramatically kill herself over mishaps that she creates. But as a death god, Grell is flamboyantly expressive when it comes to things she is passionate about. She holds nothing back, which makes her seem over-the-top. She tends to have a theatrical way of speaking, sometimes using allusions or metaphors, for example, to describe people and situations. Right off the bat we can already see that Grell truly lives up to her vivid red hair, and that she dislikes anything mundane. She'll make it a personal mission to spice things up.
She has the ability to be compassionate, but this trait would only surface when something can hold a particular interest for her, such as Madame Red's murderous rampage. She could relate to her as Grell yearns for a child of her own but cannot bear children because she is born male. Because of this, Grell does have a soft spot for children. If she didn't, then she couldn't possibly want children. Depending on which mood one catches her in, Grell can be somewhat pleasant to deal with, and even silly (like standing at the helm of a ship a la 'Titanic') or cute but her mood can change at any given moment.
Grell believes a true lady must always care about her appearance, and because of that she is overtly vain and protective of her looks. She takes great offense to anyone who says otherwise, and with an already slightly unstable mind, she will become easily angered, perhaps even violent over a mere insult or slight. The color red is her favorite of all hues, and will go to great lengths to see the beautiful shade splashed all over. The thrill of a good fight only heightens her anticipation and sends shivers all over her skin at seeing warm crimson rivers flowing along the battlefield and gushing like a wondrous fountain from her enemies. That thrill is intensified if she is the cause. Red represents the emotions she invokes during any point of the day, as no other color can even come close: passion, romantic or not, and violence, again, romantic or not. Most times they all tend to mean the same to her, or take on misconstrued meanings.
As a death god, Grell is desensitized to human life, seeing it as not holding much meaning. Perhaps that is why she doesn't mind having a craving for bloodshed. Viewing so many cinematic records leads her to assume that no one life is different from the next. Sure, there are exceptions, but on the whole this is her primary belief. The affairs of humans are merely for amusement. Deep down, she doesn't really care what happens to a human, unless that person has gained some importance in her life. Also, while Grell is a sucker for suave, handsome men, she also loves men who play hard to get. She loves a challenge. As long as things remain captivating, she will go along with whatever plan.
Life is nothing but a play, with humans taking on various roles, and in turn Grell doesn't take life too seriously. It is why she does everything with zest (besides paperwork). Grell's been a reaper for centuries, so why live life only halfway? She may get in over her head, but worrying about the consequences later than in the heat of the moment is her strong point. She does have her moments of seriousness, but they tend to be only when necessary. Her suspension due to her rule breaking actions has made her sober up a bit, but she truly has no regrets about what she had done. Why should she? It would change nothing.
Powers & Abilities:
Grell has excellent agility, allowing her to leap far distances. She is able to appear and reappear in different places in the blink of an eye with her instantaneous movement. Her evasive skills are impeccable, useful for protecting her face. She has the ability to call forth and hide her DEATHSCYTHE at will, but is utterly useless without a weapon. She is adept with bladed weapons of all sorts, if only for the purpose of causing bleeding, which she strives for as the goal of her fight. This makes her dangerous, because she doesn't care for her own safety when in the heat of battle, which can be a weakness as she is more likely to injure herself. She can disguise herself very well, and considers herself a superb actress
All reapers possess the following abilities: soul collecting, playing a person's cinematic record of their life when cut with their weapon scythe, enhanced speed, power, and endurance compared to a normal human. They possess very poor eyesight without their glasses. Everything is a blur in the daylight, and just forget about seeing in the dark without them. It's impossible.
The weapons they use for soul reaping have the ability to cut through anything, except another deathscythe.
All reapers have the ability to instantaneously move from one place to another, no matter the distance. I'm limiting this to only:
-People whom Grell knows beyond the level of 'acquaintance'. So if she met someone face-to-face once, but never got their name at the least, she cannot appear to them instantly at will. If she knows their name and face (since people can have the same name) then she can appear to them anytime she wishes. If she knows their face, but didn't catch their name, but someone else provides the name, she can appear to that person pending the name is actually said properly or is actually correct.
-Places Grell has been to before. She cannot travel to an unknown place instantly. If a person she knows is in an unknown place, she won't be able to get to them, but she'll know which direction to go. Kind of a 'you're getting warmer/colder' way of getting there.
-She can only take up to two people with her when she travels. Any more than that, and it begins to drain her. If she uses this ability too much, such as within quick succession of each use, she becomes drained and could even pass out. It's really meant to be used after a certain amount of time has passed. At least five minutes between each use would be best. If she were to take along someone or something larger than the average human, it also drains her.
-If she is in possession of the book that keeps records of deaths, then all the above is nullified, and her movement is limited to those within its pages who are listed to die, no matter if she knows them or not. The book must be in her hands and open for the effect to work.
-She does have her DEATHSCYTHE, but it really does seem to be hidden in a pocket of space. It can't be explained any other way, as the manga (nor anime) doesn't explain where it comes from. Most reapers just carry it around, but Grell pulled hers from nowhere.
Alignment: Xel'lotath
no subject
Please drop on over to the Taken List and Player Contact and make a comment there, as well as join the three communities:
You can feel free to assume the rough details of her arrival, if you prefer, or you can post Grell to here and play out her interactions with the Guide, Manny.
A note on Grell's abilities:
Ran 'Aya' Fujimiya | Weiss Kreuz | 1 of 2
Player Age: 28
Player Contact: A PM to this journal will work fine!
Character Name: Ran 'Aya' Fujimiya. He only answers to 'Aya' unless otherwise specified.
Character Series: Weiss Kreuz [Anime and Manga after Gluhen.]
Brief History:
Ran is the eldest of two children and lived a normal, happy childhood with his sister, Aya, and their parents. Upon returning from a festival one night, which was Aya's 16th birthday, he and his sister found their parents murdered in an act to cover up a banking scandal. In escaping their home moments after a bomb goes off, Aya stumbled from being knocked down from the blast only to be hit by a car driven by the chauffeur of Reiji Takatori, the person responsible for placing the embezzlement scandal on his father. Aya was left in a coma for at least two years, and Ran took on her name to remember his vengeance.
With the help of his uncle, Ran then found his way to Kritiker, an underground organization that fights crime. The Sendai Branch of Kritiker ran as a flower arrangement school as its cover, while secretly housing and training assassins. Ran became insistent that Shion, another agent for Kritiker whom Ran saw as a sort of mentor, train him in the art of sword fighting.
During a mission to break up an S&M ring, things went awry and Ran barely managed to escape with his life. His other teammates were not so lucky, or so he was lead to believe. With the Kritiker branch in Sendai wiped out, Ran is sent to their Tsushima Branch to continue training after he recovered enough. Under the guise of a gardener, Ran's newest mission was to stop the yakuza from putting pressure upon a director of a clinic so they could use the land for their own agenda. He met a rogue assassin for hire named Saitou, who ended up helping him out and completing his mission.
Ran then found himself with Crashers, a group of assassins working for Kritiker. Ran was simply filling in for an injured member, and eventually joined the group on a regular basis. He does learn that one member of Crashers has a sister named Taiyou, whom he met during his stunt as a gardener not too long ago. She was in the clinic because of her lack of eyesight. Aya eventually joined Weiß under the code name Abyssinian. Weiß consisted of three other males who had tragic pasts, and their own reasons for becoming assassins. They never asked what his motives were, and neither did he ask them. All was eventually revealed throughout their missions.
Their main enemies were Schwartz, four male assassins hired by Reiji Takatori to do his bidding, and Schreient, four female assassins hired by Masafumi Takatori, Reiji's brother. The members of Schwartz each possessed a type of supernatural ability that often threw a wrench into Weiß' path, making them the more notable enemies to Weiß. They were an obstacle when it came to taking down Takatori, proving just how valuable their services were. Schwartz made a deal with Schreient, despite disliking the women, and kidnapped his sister due to the fact that she never aged during her coma. Masafumi was after whatever chemical in her body that kept her youthful. Little did they know that Schwartz was using them all for their own true purpose: to be their own masters. Schwartz more or less used Weiß as pawns in their own scheme against Eszett, who controlled similar beings as themselves, by leaving the fights between Schreient and the Takatori family to Weiß. Not only did Masafumi wanted what was in Aya-chan, but so did the elders that ran Eszett. The battle between Schwartz and Weiß ended in a stalemate as the building they fought in collapsed into the sea. Two out of three elders of Eszett were defeated by Weiß earlier.
Even after his sister awoke from her long term coma, Aya continued on with Weiß with their mission of cleaning up the streets of the 'beasts of the night'. He never went to reunite with her, always afraid that his past would only taint her. While their flower shop traveled in a mobile home, Weiß took a mission to eliminate an American Colonel named Nichol, who was smuggling military arms out of Japan and killing civilians to cover up the scheme. Their mission takes a turn for the worse as their newest enemies become each other, due to Manx being kidnapped. The mission they were given through Manx was fake, which Aya picked up on, so the group faked their dangerous duel in order to rescue Manx and Kaori, the lone survivor of Nichol's scheme. Koari's brother, Akira, did all he could in order to avenge their parents, but died. Their fake duel against each other was enough to trick the mastermind behind the smuggling, a man named Powell, into thinking he took down Weiss. His jubilation was short lived as Weiß infiltrated the base and eliminated Powell.
Aya's past did come back to haunt him, as an assassin group calling themselves Weiß popped up. They were imposters, brutally killing those not even on the list to be killed. The mysterious leader of the group was none other than Shion, Aya's former mentor. Aya killed Kikyou, whom he first encountered in Sendai and was so much alike to Aya. Since then he was haunted in his dreams of Kikyou on a constant basis. Shion also appeared there, taunting him about being just a murderer like himself. Aya, who believed in all Shion had taught him, could not stop seeing him as his mentor although everything he was taught from that man was basically a lie. Aya still cannot deny how similar both he and Kikyou are in terms of vengeance for their fallen families. Kikyou joined Kritiker for the exact same reasons Aya did.
Shion, along with Azami and Ayame, who owned a restaurant in Kyoto where Youji stopped into during their mobile flower shop days, and Rindou, a flower arranger whom Aya encountered in Kyoto, continued their murders and try to take over Kritiker by kidnapping Birman and demanding that Persia hand over Kritiker to them. Manx was fatally wounded after her mission to retrieve Birman fails, and her agents were killed. She urged Weiß to kill Birman before she leaked information. Although they decide to rescue Birman, and succeeded, she used Aya's gun on herself.
In the end, Ayame and Azami, who were murdering women for fun, were killed by Ken and Youji, and Aya had a final battle with Shion one on one. They both seemed equally matched, but Shion's experience won out. However, Aya pulled a gun on him and shot him, saying that he was just a murderer, so why should he fight fair, and that Shion was so obsessed with the sword that he didn't think of other factors like guns. Shion committed harakiri, leaving the victory to Aya, or so it seemed.
Some time late on another mission was delivered for Weiß. Aya was undercover as a history teacher at a high school. There had been a series of terrorist attacks via suicide bombers, and there was a connection to a high school in Japan. Further research showed that there have been many suicides within the school itself. Two new members, Sena and Kyo, were also undercover, though as students, to help with this mission. As they delved deeper into the school, they found that they were trying to prune students with massive potential into killing machines, while discarding all others through subliminal messaging and mental torture. Youji and Ken were called in from their own missions overseas to assist with their new revelation. At the heart of it all, Epitaph, a super computer that could control human minds used by Mayumi Tsuji in her conquest to control Eszett, was the mastermind behind this plot. They did take down Epitaph, losing a few members of Weiß through death, or in the case of Youji, through amnesia.
After a final and daunting mission at a high school where unusual suicides were taking place, Aya found himself alone in New York City, taken down by a kid with a knife on the street.
He accepted his fate. He accepted his karma.
Luckily, Aya was rescued by the friend of the boy that stabbed him. That boy's name was Yuki, who would become his newest associate later on. He ended up at a sort of makeshift orphanage, caught in the crossfire of a turf war with another rival gang called Blue Eyes. Aya voluntarily got himself involved after the owners of the orphanage, Alison and Akagawa, told him what has been happening. After discovering the truth behind the events, Aya went with Yuki to rescue Alison from the demented plan Akagawa had for them. Unfortunately neither Alison or Akagawa survived the altercation. After escaping, Aya and Yuki run into two new faces: a woman named Nana and a man who can match Aya's skills, named Chloe. They clashed for a few moments before Nana called off their duel, declaring that they were not part of their mission. The use of such a word, 'mission', caused suspicion in Aya, believing that they were no different than he and Weiß were.
The bodies of those that have fallen were collected, even Akagawa's, despite his betrayal. Aya was asked to take Yuki with him, away from the danger. They encountered the police, who were allied with Blue Eyes, and cornered both Aya and Yuki. Although they took down two of officers, reinforcements arrived. Aya got Yuki to safety, but wasn't so lucky himself. Chloe and Nana came to their rescue, where their new path under Krypton Brand began, in the United Kingdom where they were based.
Side B opened with a girl being chased down an alley, and KB coming to her rescue. We are then introduced to other members: Michel, Free, Chloe, and Ken, the only other one from Weiß besides Aya. They eventually learn that her parents were scientists, whom she believed to be dead from a car accident. They insisted that she stay until her passport was reissued, although 'they' really meant Ken being insistent. Kurumi helped them out in their flower shop, until one day she overheard their mission meeting, in which she misinterpreted them as the killers of her parents. She ran away, only to end up being caught. Of course KB went to where Kurumi was taken, but their mission was to eliminate anyone associated with the Human Interleukin-3 virus, inhabiting Kurumi's body. It meant killing the scientists, Kurumi's parents, who were not actually dead, and giving Kurumi a choice to live or go with her parents. She chose to live under the protection of KB.
Two months prior, Aya and Ken, who had followed him all the way to the United Kingdom, proved their worth to KB and went on their first mission as a team. Before that mission began, Aya returned to New York City to get Yuki and fulfill his promise to take him away from that dangerous environment. Their task upon returning was to rescue a former teammate,Free, from Side A. This mission was grueling for all members, but eventually they incapacitate Free and escape with him, which wasn't an easy task as Free was a successful test subject to a super performance enhancing drug called Orphan. Somehow through this mission, Aya became the leader of Side B, a privilege he was unsure if he could handle.
A few days after gaining Kurumi into their fold, it seemed that someone recognized her and tried to abduct her, under the pretense of knowing her parents and wanting to protect her. They learn it was all a ruse and Otaki, her abductor, wanted the Human Interleukin-III (Orphan Drug) for his own purposes. Further missions took Side B deeper into the background of KB, as former members reappeared during a wedding ceremony where the groom is said to be involved with the Orphan drug distribution. They infiltrate the wedding to investigate, crossing paths with Side A members and having members of Aya's team injured.
Nothing else is known of the rest of the events, unfortunately, as the rest of the manga wasn't published or translations are not available.
Vatheon memories: He has spent a little over a year in a bubble under the sea, but not much has occurred for Aya. The most significant events being opening a flower shop and dating Selphie. He's experienced very few curses during his time there.
Ran 'Aya' Fujimiya | Weiss Kreuz | 2 of 2
Since the tragedy involving his parent's death, his sister's coma, and years of espionage and betrayal, Aya has become a very closed off person. He tends to distance himself by not having a big social life, preferring to remain focused on the reason he joined Kritiker: to get revenge, and protect his comatose sister while earning money to pay her medical expenses. He would like to one day see his sister again, but knows that interfering in her life would only bring trouble. He does think of her often, like any loving brother would.
Aya keeps few friends, and ironically, lots of enemies. But as they say: keep your friends close and your enemies closer. By closing himself off to others, he prevents them from knowing his true self, but in turn he burns the bridge to any possible friendship that comes his way. His focus on revenge prevented him from living the life he had before the tragedy that befell his family. Over the years, Aya seems to attract those who wish to befriend him. During his Weiss days, Aya would hastily shut down such offers. Yet during his Side B days, these gestures are not immediately turned away, but nor are they acted upon quickly. With Side B being different from Weiss, Aya will take time to ease into the group as their leader, despite being thrust into it. Such a role means that he needs to interact with them more, and open himself to them as well. A task that sounds easy, but is not for Aya. He's still uncertain if he should consider teammates anything more than allies, as being an assassin does not always guarantee someone will be alive the next day. Emotions and missions never went hand in hand all that well.
He is a person of few words, and when he does speak he tends to get right to the point. Because of this, Aya often comes off as being blunt, rude, or uncaring. He cares little of what most think of him, since it doesn't matter in the end. Over the years he has developed a bit more when it comes to being social, at least around his teammates, and for the sake of undercover missions. Aya had anger issues, along with slightly annoying sarcasm, although this trait has not surfaced much since his earlier days with Crashers.
Aya's outward anger has dissipated over the years, and it seems that Aya is less bitter at the world than he initially was since his parent's death and sister's coma. Internally, he acknowledges that he deserves no less than what he dishes out to the 'beasts of the night'. Luckily, such thinking does not make him reckless as it would have years ago. He even goes as far as retelling his own past to guide a young Yuki along the path to gaining the power needed to become stronger. Not by becoming a monster as those that have slighted him, but by not letting his anger cloud reasoning. A bit contradictory to his own experience, but not all of his former self died that tragic night almost six years ago.
Not many can see that Aya has a good heart like any other person, something that Aya would not acknowledge outloud, or even to himself. Mostly because he knows could never go back to how things were, and would rather not pretend that he could.
Powers & Abilities:
Aya he is adept with bladed weapons, firearms, and hand-to-hand combat (listed in order of strongest to weakest). He is also skilled at infiltration, espionage, and covert tactics. He speaks fluent Japanese and very near fluent English.
While Aya may be a skilled assassin, he lacks some of the skills to interact with others outside of missions in comparison to the other members of Weiß. He may have grown up living a normal life, but living as an assassin has hardened him greatly over the years. He has mellowed out significantly, but he still has ways to go. He's still distant from others, and he keeps very few close friends due to trust issues. It took him a long time to trust his own teammates, so it wouldn't be farfetched to say that it would take him some time to make close allies with people. Fortunately, he does learn to have a sense of humor if going along with the antics of his teammates of Side B is anything to go by. He's still uptight during off time, however.
More mentally speaking, Aya has the notion that he is just a murderer for hire and his life isn't worth more than any other. This sort of thinking can make him place other lives in front of his own when coming to the aid of others in a life or death situation.
Alignment: Chattur'gha
no subject
Welcome to Sanity's Requiem, Aya! Chattur'gha's power is now yours to borrow; he's not exactly the smartest crayon in the toy box, so you'll have to explain a few things to him. Slowly. In small words.
Please drop on over to the Taken List and Player Contact and make a comment there, as well as join the three communities:
You can feel free to assume the rough details of his arrival, if you prefer, or you can post Aya to here and play out his interactions with the Guide, Manny.
A note on Aya's abilities:
Selphie Tilmitt - Final Fantasy VIII -
Player Age: 26
Player Contact: Here, or also AIM: dystopiadreams
Character Name: Selphie Tilmitt
Character Series: Final Fantasy VIII
Brief History: Selphie's in-game history can be found here:
http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Selphie_Tilmitt
Importing Selphie from Vatheon. Vatheon history here:
Vatheon has proved an interesting time for Selphie. For a girl with abandonment issues, and with a fear of being alone, the very fact that she was flung into a universe where she knew no one was unsettling for her. However, Selphie's always one to try and make the most of things so, while she missed her home friends deeply, she set out to make as many friends as possible in Vatheon. And that, she did.
But Vatheon isn't always a peaceful place, and during her time there Selphie saw many battles, and even her own death. In Vatheon, the people there can come back from death, but with this came the knowledge that she had failed to avenge her friends. For quite some time, Selphie felt guilty, and a failure. Those are two emotions that were new to Selphie, and she struggled to get through them, only managing it with the support of her friends. Selphie's cause of death was, essentially, drowning, and her attitude towards being in the water hasn't been the same since.
Throughout her nearly three years (the point at which I'm taking her from) in Vatheon, Selphie made many friends, but she also witnessed many of them leaving. She matured as a young woman, developing strong emotional connections, only to have them completely broken. Even if people coming and going was the norm at Vatheon, that never made Selphie feel any better when a good friend left.
In her time at Vatheon Selphie organised many parties for the town, parties for her friends. She fought battles against pirates and giant sea creatures, tried to fight a murderous monster and got killed herself, and began to fall in love. A lot to happen in a short space of time.
Brief Personality: Selphie is a bubbly, sweet, happy go lucky young woman. She's ever optimistic, always ready to cheer up those around her. However, for as much as Selphie is excitable and happy, she can be equally as stubborn. Selphie has a hard head, and a whole load of determination. This can be great, especially on a mission with the other SeeDs, but it can also be a nuisance or maybe even annoying to some people. But Selphie always means well, and always puts the needs of others before her own. She's a hyperactive ball of energy to be around.
That said, sometimes the happy exterior can be hiding something deeper. Selphie might be a hard girl to upset, but that doesn't mean that there's so much more going on with her personality. Even if she is upset, she's not likely to show it. If she does show her true feelings to someone, that'd signify a significance of relationship. Mostly, Selphie is prone to loneliness. An orphan, Selphie is used to being moved around from one place to the other, and she's learned to be quick about making friends. All the same, the concept of not knowing anyone frightens her, and the idea of being abandoned by her friends horrifies her. Selphie survives by her relationships with others.
Due to the side effects of being equipped with a GF when she was too young, Selphie lost her memories. They were built upon when meeting Irvine, and throughout the four discs of the game. However, her memory can still be a little fuzzy. However, when it is, it frightens her. Selphie hates the idea that she might forget things and, even worse and tied with loneliness, she fears that people might even forget her.
Selphie's a fighter too. As a kid, she liked to play war, and had an unhealthy obsession with fireworks and fires. That persisted throughout her childhood, and exists still in her late teenage years. Fighting is her job, but it's also her reaction to the bad things in her life. Because she doesn't like to show upset, she'll tend to react to fear and sadness with violence, or hard bursts of energy.
Powers & Abilities:
Selphie's a SeeD, and skilled with nunchaku, Guardian Forces, and magic. She has the ability to draw magic from opponents. Also, when particularly frustrated, she tends to use magic unawares, almost by accident, as a reaction to how she's feeling. Selphie has the ability to use all kinds of elemental magic. Selphie can also play guitar, and she's a really good singer!
Alignment: Ulyaoth
no subject
being lazysaving the world from an evil kittenWelcome to Sanity's Requiem, Selphie! Ulyaoth's power is now yours to borrow; we're so very sorry you got bonded to the stuck-up jerk.
Please drop on over to the Taken List and Player Contact and make a comment there, as well as join the three communities:
You can feel free to assume the rough details of her arrival, if you prefer, or you can post Selphie to here and play out her interactions with the Guide, Manny.
A note on Selphie's abilities: