Beanbag NPC Contest Winner

August 21, 2017, 8:18 pm by

Oh yes. Sand, one of my old archenemies. Even motorized chairs don't go in that stuff. The matted areas actually work great! Can't get right up to the water, but at least up in a good beach area. Maybe Delphi will need some renovations :D

August 21, 2017, 8:03 pm by

Oh I completely missed the voting phase, is there a way to see the other entries now?

August 21, 2017, 7:59 pm by

I'm not disabled myself but comfort might be a reason why I do see many more motorized ones around my university campus. I don't think I see anybody using a manual one.

The only concern I'd have about Shanti and her wheelchair would be where sand is concerned (I remember reading an article in a newspaper where they put a mat on a beach so people with mobility problems could get closer to the water), but if she's sticking Centropolis for a shop, then she should fine.

August 21, 2017, 7:43 pm by

For everyone claiming this is forced diversity and a token character i will create 5 new lgbt/mentally ill/non white/disabled ocs. Funny how apparently my existence is such a wild concept for people to understand.

For real though according to all of you my existence is unrealistic and unnatural. I'll just take my gay mentally ill disabled ass elsewhere I guess, have fun in your boring little bubble ;)

August 21, 2017, 7:37 pm by

yes! the one I voted for!

August 21, 2017, 7:10 pm by

lmao totally agree ! and congrats to all the finalists and the winner of this contest. walks away eating cake

August 21, 2017, 7:08 pm by

All I have to say.....

Sheet caking...I swear its the only way to handle things these days.

August 21, 2017, 7:04 pm by

What o.o The sketch won? Woah! I voted for her so I'm especially happy. I really thought she had a poor chance of winning because of not being a colored art piece. I think her design is going to make for a great shopkeeper. The Subeta staff are wonderful at putting ideas into execution.

Random question, for anyone that deals with chronic pain or knows of someone that does. I use a motorized wheelchair (for a form of muscular dystophy), and am wondering if it would be more realistic for Shanti to have a motorized one as well? I know from past experience that those manual push ones are not the comfiest things to sit in, especially if they don't have some kind of nice seat cushion. Plus the fact that it takes a lot of effort to maneuver around. Would both those things complicate the pain?

And yes, some of my own personal bias is in there as well. I hardly ever see any representations of a good modern electric wheelchair, rather than a fancy futuristic one :D

August 21, 2017, 6:53 pm by

Look at all these HATERS!

Congratulations , my dearest apologies for such rude hatred.

August 21, 2017, 6:42 pm by

People saying that her only personality aspect is basically being cheerful while using a wheelchair...sorry, did we read the same entry?? I thought she had the MOST personality of the entrants; that's the main reason I voted for her. There's only so much you can do with a brief character description.

August 21, 2017, 6:38 pm by

congratulatons Ursa, well done!!

August 21, 2017, 6:34 pm by

/s

August 21, 2017, 6:27 pm by

Yay! Shanti was my favorite and I'm glad she won.

August 21, 2017, 6:24 pm by

Also on a side note I love how people are saying "wow the token character won"... about a competition that specifically asked for under-represented minorities. l.m.a.o

August 21, 2017, 6:19 pm by

Oh my god I cannot get over all the stupid comments here. I absolutely adored this character and she totally got my vote! But... seriously? You guys are really whining because she "ticks too many minority boxes" and because the art was just a sketch?? Y'all are pathetic, honestly. Shut the fuck up, it's an NPC on a pet site. Big congrats to on getting your character picked! <3 she's adorable

August 21, 2017, 6:12 pm by

Congratulations! I love Shanti.

August 21, 2017, 6:12 pm by

Don't know what is going on but the picture seems ok to me shrugs wish I had the talent to draw and make my minds stories come to life on paper.

August 21, 2017, 6:06 pm by

I can see why people are annoyed at the checkbox-esque features of both this winner and some of the other entries.

You can say that "I, as a person, also meet a lot of minority checkboxes, so I'm just a ~~Mary Sue~~" but that'd be deliberately misunderstanding the point. I doubt you describe yourself in a series of "how much of a minority am I?" boxes. People are more than just a list of "how pathetically sad is my life?" and honestly, reading some of these stories people are providing below of their "woe is me" friend... I can't help but wonder how much your friend would like you to describe them as the Debbie Downer, whose life sucks, and everything about it sucks, but golly gee, you somehow are their friend anyway!

IDK, I tend to think of my friends in terms of their qualities and what makes them unique and likable... I wouldn't describe a friend first by their disability and second by the stuff that makes them a cool person.

August 21, 2017, 5:59 pm by

Way to go, ! :D Congrats! Nice job, everyone ^^

August 21, 2017, 5:57 pm by

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Contests like Camp Veta : THERE ARE TOO MANY ENTRIES, THERE SHOULD HAVE BEEN PRE-SELECTION OR PAGINATION EVEN THOUGHT I WOULDN&;T HAVE LOOKED BEYOND PAGE 2 I CAN&;T SPEND ALL DAY LOOKING AT ENTRIES LOL
This content : WTH, WHY WERE THINGS PRE-SELECTED?
Subeta, can you make up your mind?

Surely there's a balance between "no pre-sorting whatsoever, so inappropriate/inapplicable entries get through, and dumped in a user-unfriendly format for you to sort through" and "here are six options for your consideration."

August 21, 2017, 5:50 pm by

also yeah, to echo everyone else: just because a character marks more than 1 check off the "minority" checklist doesnt make them unrealistic. if your worldview is so narrow you cant fathom someone being ____ AND ____ then i think you should take a step back to realize how much larger the world is! we arent created with as check list in mind thats like "oh this person is white so they can be in a wheelchair, but this person is latino so it would be too much for them to also be gay!" like this isnt dungeons and dragons, we arent given 5 skill points to use sparingly. maybe the character seemed flat but its not like every npc on subeta has a 10 page backstory. half of the shopkeeps dont have any info but their name :/

August 21, 2017, 5:48 pm by

Sweet! I'm glad Shanti won!

August 21, 2017, 5:48 pm by

Apparently my best friend is a Mary Sue as well. I better make sure they actually exist. I haven't met them offline yet, so maybe they're just some kind of sentient fanfic character? :-o

August 21, 2017, 5:40 pm by

thered be so less drama is she were white and in a wheelchair lolz

my only wish was that we could have voted on all the entries from the get go because i prefer that way D: plus i think it speeds up the voting process since the veta lake contest didnt have such a gap between submission and selection (iirc???). i do think this entry still would have made it to the top 5 tho bc she cute

August 21, 2017, 5:33 pm by

I'm not upset that she won but she was the most bland to me. She just came off as a 'GoodPersonTM' and not a real person (for a given value of real). Still, like, its the beanbag shop. Y'all need some chill.

August 21, 2017, 5:33 pm by

Well done, ! I had such a hard time deciding on the vote, but mine did go to March. March was just so adorable to me.

August 21, 2017, 5:32 pm by

(ok but my god take a deep breath and maybe try to think of the fact that it's just going to be an image... on a virtual pet site.... that doesn't really affect you personally?)

congrats to the winner!

August 21, 2017, 5:31 pm by

Grats Ursa and Yay for Shanti win

August 21, 2017, 5:26 pm by

I love the fact that your name is intermission and you took the time to put a break in all the shenanigans to be like "So about that eclipse".

10/10. Best comment here.

August 21, 2017, 5:22 pm by

I have to chuckle a bit at the 'Mary Sue' comments. Like i said before, Shanti's description is basically my daughter, minus the fact that my kid is nearly albino pale. Never realised she was Mary-Sue-ish. :-p

August 21, 2017, 5:21 pm by

haha it's so true. Someone could make a character that's literally me (femme trans man, pansexual, fat, autistic, various mental illnesses, partially-invisible physical disabilities, possibly converting to Judaism) and people would go "that's so unrealistic and pandering!" Although I am white, so there's that.

But uh... nope, I do actually exist last I checked. Maybe G-d was just pandering when They created me? lol.

And I have several friends with chronic pain, including my one friend who specifically loves Subeta beanbags. So.

August 21, 2017, 5:15 pm by

Too bad little Kanyin didn't make it. He was by far the most fitting for the beanbag shop.

August 21, 2017, 5:14 pm by

Your criticism is totally valid and important, and I hope that staff takes it into account. <3 It would be great if staff decided to get some input from wheelchair users while making Shanti, similar to how they've asked for input from the trans/nb community in the past. I get the idea that they'll flesh her character out a more, similar to what they need to do with the drawing.

Personally, I didn't see Shanti as inspiration porn, but it might be because I was thinking so much about my best friend who has chronic pain and loves Subeta beanbags when they're on Subeta. And maybe kind of - projecting my friend onto her? (My friend doesn't usually need a wheelchair, it's just the chronic pain + beanbags thing.) I can't go back and see what the description was like so I'm not sure how much of a personality she had and how much of it I might have been filling in. Also for some reason I thought of Fluttershy from MLP:FiM, something about the pets around her.

But I don't want to talk over someone who actually uses a wheelchair. The opinion of wheelchair users is the only opinion that really matters here, IMO. Not that everyone who uses a wheelchair would have the same opinion, like you're some kind of hivemind, lol.

I'm just annoyed at the people who think any kind of representation is "token" and "pandering."

August 21, 2017, 4:52 pm by

Oh my

August 21, 2017, 4:50 pm by

,

Quote

the person who created her has actually had cause to deal with. Her personality is a bit flat but that&;s because there&;s limited space to develop a personality in just a few paragraphs. I&;m really looking forward to seeing her Subetan art and learning more about her!

That's what I actually mean. You say the things better than I. ^_^ Thank's I'll remember this point. :D

August 21, 2017, 4:49 pm by

I'm confused as to why people keep griping about Shanti's "token"ness. At least three of the five human NPC finalists were POC, two of them were autistic, and one was nonbinary. I also read both Shanti and the bean-farmer (Fahima??) as from low income backgrounds (though I admit to not having memorized the details of each submission). And, as people keep pointing out, Subeta asked for NPCs from less-represented demographics. So really, if we're talking about checking token diversity boxes, almost all of the submissions did that. I agree that human trafficking is a little dark, but it wasn't included in the submission, so I rather imagine that as "inspiration" rather than "rock solid required character backstory". Human trafficking is a very real, very close-to-home problem in some parts of the world, and I don't think it's offensive for to have used that as inspiration for creating a character that means something to her.

I'm not saying Shanti is my favorite character ever and that she's a perfect creation, but I am saying that there seems to be a whole lot of overreacting going on here.

August 21, 2017, 4:41 pm by

I see what you mean but I respectfully disagree. Putting aside the limited space for personality description, I can list several other traits Shanti has, either inferred from her art or from her background. Aside from being in a wheelchair (which isn't a personality trait) and being compassionate, Shanti is a skilled seamstress and designer, organized enough to both run her own business and run an informal school on the side, and extremely creative, given how many beanbags there are on Subeta. She's community-oriented and a successful businesswoman. I can no longer reference her design entry for other stuff.

Anyway, I'm sure we'll find out more about her once she's added to the Subetapedia, as well! I'm sorry this is so hurtful for you. It sucks to be defined only by your disability, which is where there was another entry I didn't like even though they were a perfectly plausible person with the disability I have.

August 21, 2017, 4:41 pm by

Holllly heck I should not have read the comments. That really is a bad habit I'm developing.

Kay well...I...am utterly shocked at the amount of people upset about wheelchairs, representation, yelling "pandering", especially becasue I had thought this community was really inclusive and making a new minority character was kind of the big point here but...

Lemmie address a different complaint: Mary Sue. Many of us are writers, as am I, but I've spent a lot of time disecting Mary Sues so lemmie caution you not to judge her on that right now. Literally all you have is a bullet list of attributes, and there are SO MANY beloved characters who would totally be Mary Sue if you just made a bulleted list of traits and backstory points. I mean, take Harry Potter: -Orphan -Lives with abusive aunt, uncle, cousin -They force him to live under the stairs with nothing and never celebrate his birthday -Is a pretty good kid anyway with strong sense of justice -HAS MAGIC!!! :D Who knew? -Not only has magic but is the most famous person in the magic community for killing The Most Evil Wizard when he was a BABY! (kind of). Who knew!?

I mean seriously. It's the execution of the character that matters. And either we won't see much of her as just a cheerful shopkeeper (which would make me pretty sad) or we will see plenty of her and she'll get time to flesh out.

That said, I also feel it important to remember that "bad things happen but the victim chooses to be cheerful as possible anyway" is a red flag for ground for a Mary Sue to grow but also literally toooonssss of characters have that really basic premise and even more real people do as well. You probably know at least one yourself, if not a handful. So I don't feel like it's fair to say, "bad stuff happens but nice anyway" = Mary Sue. From what I've observed, what tends to be the most painful Mary Sue aspect of a Mary Sue is everything falling into place for them, especially in the way people interact with them - Neutrals and Protagoists love them and only Bad Guys do not. That makes a lot more for a Sue than just a person overcame a trial and kept their smile. Subeta Staff have shown that they know how to make varied and interesting characters that we love, so I have faith in them to take this skeleton and do it again.

I also hope that maybe we might still see some of the other characters. It was really hard to pick and I mentioned earlier I wound up choosing based on what I thought would get the most potetential storytelling (like a crush on Quazim). I really wanted a non-human shopkeeper, and I sooo adored the autistic ideas and hope that we get some autistic representation anyway, soon, too. The Shengui-Guo/er, horned person race character (Calliope?) was also just super adorable...just, overall, it was really hard to pick. Frankly, even though I'm pretty typical in many respects (my one big minority atypical thing includes four common mental illnesses and OCD), I love seeing how these minority characters get fleshed out. Because in the end, they're all just people too. So I'm not getting the "pandering!" hate.

I'm also not getting the "oh it turns out Ursa also got inspiration for Shanti by child trafficking and her off-this-site-not-part-of-the-official-entry cannon is that she WAS a trafficking victim!" panic. I get that that's a super uncomfotable issue (I really, really do) but...since she didn't include it in the official entry and Subeta staff has the full ability to not include it at all and probably won't straight up do so, it's a non-issue.

August 21, 2017, 4:40 pm by

Congrats to the winner! I personally voted for the Dillema because I thought it was more fitting for a beanbag shop, but Shanti is pretty cute too and I can't wait to see her finalized artwork.

August 21, 2017, 4:34 pm by

This is a lot of drama for what will essentially be a picture in a shop.

August 21, 2017, 4:32 pm by

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Personally, I&;m deeply disappointed. I don&;t think this design should have been a finalist in the first place.
No, not for the reasons others have stated. I&;m actually an autistic nonbinary wheelchair user, (not "wheelchair bound," PLEASE stop using that phrase, friends.) I&;m happy to see some aspects of myself being recognized and represented! I&;m all for diversity! It&;s just that out of all those wonderful inked and colored entries, this one was just a quick sketch. I&;m sad on behalf of everyone who put a lot of effort into this, only to have this be the winner. I know it wasn&;t an art contest necessarily, but the personality was lacking, and I&;m disturbed knowing that the backstory is rooted in human trafficking. (<a href="http://subetaspeaks.tumblr.com/post/164373791705/hi-im-shantis-artist-i-guess-its-pretty-obvious">http://subetaspeaks.tumblr.com/post/164373791705/hi-im-shantis-artist-i-guess-its-pretty-obvious</a>) I&;m glad to see myself as a wheelchair user represented, but the whole thing makes me uncomfy with the backstory, lack of personality apart from &;a good person,&; and the art being uncolored and sketchy, with no discernible facial features. I mean, she&;s got a dot for a nose, and two dots for a mouth. I&;m curious as to how staff will redraw this, and what color palette they will choose, considering they&;re working with almost nothing. It&;s a good enough entry, I don&;t blame anyone for voting for it, but I don&;t believe it should have been chosen as a finalist in the first place. I had to say something. I feel so torn because I am so so happy to see an NPC that uses a wheelchair like me, but I feel weird about this entry still. The artist still deserves a congratulations, and I trust that everyone made a good decision and that staff will turn her into something great. This can still be a good thing, but I&;m iffy on it for now. I hope I don&;t offend anyone with my comment. I don&;t mean to upset anyone, least of all the artist. I do think Shanti is cute, and I hope to see her developed in the future! Congrats to everyone who entered, by the way. They were all lovely.

I'd like to clarify what I said earlier.

I talked about the art aspect more than I intended to, but when I said 'it's not an art contest,' I only meant that the entries shouldn't be judged on skill level or style. It is still a design contest, and the character should be unique and have recognizable features. Based on the drawing and the text, I don't know what color her eyes are, or if she has a wide nose or a thin one, etc. It's strange to me that this design is so basic, with almost no substance, and still won. Staff is going to have to make things up as they go, picking a color palette and determining her features. I can't tell if she's wearing a dress, baggy pants and top, or a tunic with a skirt. It's hard to discern anything in the image. When I say it's not an art contest, I meant we shouldn't be picking the best artist or voting for your favorite style. It is a design contest though, and there isn't any character design to speak of. The art is super cute, and I don't mean to suggest otherwise! I just can't begin to imagine what she will look like on-site. I trust staff will do a fantastic job, but they shouldn't have to do much of anything and they're going to need to start from scratch.

I feel really really uncomfortable with this entry, and last night I was having a hard time putting words to it. It's not just the background rooted in human trafficking. It was something else, something personal to me as a wheelchair user. I think it's that she has no personality apart from being a wheelchair user and a good person. I have no idea what she likes to do besides make beanbags, or who she really is as a person. She has no flaws, or quirks, or anything. Her entire identity is being disabled and helping the poor and homeless. I think part of what makes me uncomfortable is that it's essentially inspiration porn. Give that a Google if you haven't heard the term before. It's sfw, it just means using disabled people as props to make abled people feel good. Usually depicted as angels without flaws, and it's dehumanizing and gives disabled people like me unrealistic standards to meet. We are told we are worthless and a burden on society unless we are exceptionally talented or give back to charity, and then people write articles to fawn over us. That's exactly what Shanti is. It's hard because I've wanted an NPC that uses a wheelchair for so so long, but to have bad representation like this hurts more than having none at all. I get that staff meant well by running this contest, and that all the artists, Shanti's included meant well by trying to represent groups they don't necessarily belong to. But I think in the future, it might be best for staff to talk to people in the minority groups and/or do research for future NPC's because I'd love to see Subeta full of diverse characters, but I hope for them to be done right.

When I leave the house, people only see me as "wheelchair bound" or as a "wheelchair person" as many users have called wheelchair users like me in the comments below. People don't see me as a person, they see the chair. There are two kinds. People who scowl at me, or push my chair around, or call me names, treating me as less than human, and muttering in earshot about how I'm using their tax dollars. Then there are the other people. People who tell me I'm brave just for existing, people who hug me without consent, people who take my picture again without consent and post it online for likes. They'll give me two free samples instead of one, and as I'm rolling off say they were "trying to be nice to the cripple kid because they're suffering." They tell my wife that she's brave, for loving someone like me. People call me an inspiration or an angel, but as soon as they see I have any flaws or a personality outside of being disabled, I'm not cute anymore. They treat me like garbage again.

I think why I was so upset is that Shanti doesn't feel like a real person. Not like the other entries did. Her description reads like an inspiration porn article about a "wheelchair user defies the odds by running a business and helping the poor and homeless." I really want to like her and I want her to be more than just a person in a wheelchair. I know I am. But I see her and I feel bad, because I've been treated that way, seen as nothing but disabled and inspirational, and it makes me feel sick. I'm conflicted because, again, I know everyone involved meant well and I should be grateful to have any representation at all. I don't mean any disrespect to the artist, or the staff, or anyone who voted. It's just, I can't connect to her. She's like a two-dimensional cardboard cutout. I want to know her better. I want to relate to her. I desperately want to see someone like myself as an NPC and I'm grateful to everyone who made it happen, but it's bittersweet all the same.

I'm not sure how to feel, but I hope that my input as a wheelchair user was helpful and didn't hurt anyone's feelings. She won, and I trust that staff will translate what's there into a great design and give her a personality. I'm sure this can still be a good thing and I don't mean to rain on anyone's parade. The art is cute, and I appreciate the effort to include people like me. I'm cautiously optimistic, both for Shanti and other NPC's to be added: trans, autistic, muslim, etc. I just hope they are all done justice. I don't mean to be negative. I know there aren't any other sites that would even bother to try and I am grateful for the opportunity. I cried when I found the Medicontra shop because seeing things aimed at my demographic is so so rare, and so please know that I am grateful and appreciative, I just want Shanti to be the best she can be.

August 21, 2017, 4:28 pm by

Human trafficking is a real issue in basically every country but I think most of the Subeta userbase lives in places where it's not focused on as much or where trafficking victims tend to get sent, not taken from. I can see in that context why Shanti's intended backstory was jarring but I think it's really rude to dismiss her backstory as 'mary sue' when it relates to stuff that , the person who created her has actually had cause to deal with. Her personality is a bit flat but that's because there's limited space to develop a personality in just a few paragraphs. I'm really looking forward to seeing her Subetan art and learning more about her!

BTW I think it's pretty messed up to complain about token minorities in an NPC contest where minorities were specifically asked for. As a chronically disabled woman it hurt me to see people say that chronically disabled characters shouldn't be on Subeta because it's too 'sad'. Please think about the fact that your experiences are not universal before dismissing something as being too tragic to even think about or deal with.

August 21, 2017, 4:23 pm by

First off, this wasn't a fucking art contest. It was a create-an-NPC contest. That means that while a rough draft is offered to the community to go with either a rough description or a full description.. it's NOT final. Things about Shanti will possibly change visually and lore-wise. I'm okay with that as long as her spirit is still there. Regardless of if someone sketches or colors an entry.. it's still as viable an entry.

People complain time and time again that there are too many entries to go through and this time Subeta did it for us. People still complain. Nothing will ever please this site when it comes to how contests are ran. Bless staff who deal with his indecisiveness..

On-topic: I voted for Shanti. Not because of the "mary sue" persona that people keep saying she has (eyerollplz) but because of what she represented. Shanti overcame a lot of obstacles and is helping others in the way that she feels comfortable with. How that is a "typical token" is beyond me. I identified with her on a personal level too. To know that human trafficking was a part of her origin story makes me appreciate her efforts even more. I didn't feel like was speaking from an expert's standpoint, I felt like she was speaking from a personal one that incorporated details that her friend has shared with her while protecting them.

All of these NPCs were incredible and I hope to see more of them in our lands. I really think all of them have some real potential. But Shanti is my NPC and I'm so happy and blessed to know that there are other users who appreciate the time and effort that Ursa put in to creating Shanti. Wheelchair users deserve recognition too. Those who have fought their way out of abuse deserve love and appreciation.

Everyone has a story. Take time to get to know people before you pass judgement. That includes NPCs. :| If you don't like the inclusive nature of Subeta, maybe this isn't the site for you.

August 21, 2017, 4:13 pm by

yes! this is the one i voted for :3

August 21, 2017, 3:57 pm by

People don't have to "leave" the site just because they want to complain about something. People have just as much right to voice complaints as other people have to voice praises. Complaints and praises are both valid forms of feedback and both are necessary for improving oneself/a site/a business/etc.

This character isn't great. Inclusivity for the sake of having "representation" doesn't automatically make a good character. She's literally a fucking token and people are valid in being irked by that.

August 21, 2017, 3:49 pm by

Please don't actually leave subeta because of this. Realize that it's not a big deal if you're unhappy with it for whatever reason and move on, but stay and continue to support subeta.

August 21, 2017, 3:48 pm by

You know shits gone down when there are over 100 comments on a news story. xD

August 21, 2017, 3:48 pm by

I don't get all the chaos. Subeta wants to be a place for everyone. And having NPC's that reflect everyone is society is good. Shanti was a clear winner for me. I would love to see all shades and images of society on this site. Subeta is the most amazing place on the internet. It never stops surprising me at how simple OUTSTANDING it is. A safe place to be yourself and hide from all the bullshit real life is at times. <3 Gratz to the artist.

August 21, 2017, 3:46 pm by

If you don't like the entry so much [b]leave Subeta[b]. We don't care if you do, bye hate! Hello new character:)

August 21, 2017, 3:42 pm by

Thank goodness one of the token characters won! Representation is SOOOOOO important, and Shanti fits so well into the clearly-established Saherin child trafficking (oh, uh, I mean "homelessness") subplot staff has had brewing for a while now.

Since Subeta is so big on inclusion, here is a list of aspects of myself I currently don't see represented on-site: -major depressive disorder -ADHD -PTSD -childhood abuse survivor -drug addict sibling/parent -sexual assault survivor -atheist with buddhist leanings -liberal disgusted by the constant barrage of identity politicking

Y'all on notice. Chop chop.

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Beanbag NPC Contest Winner

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