Revelations from NA Fan Fest (July 2023)

Watching the keynote currently, no time to process.

We're off to the New World Tural -- with Erenville! And we get to visit a Mamool Ja city!

Obviously we don't have further information, but the fact that there are Hrothgar (and supposedly Viera due to Erenville coming along after mentioning a homecoming in 6.4) is neat.

The New World seems to be split in two parts, with the north remaining hidden. I wonder if it will be further explored in this expansion or if we're staying in the south.

It's also interesting that the Giants were brought up again, they also ruled Abalathia's Spine in the past as well. I wonder if there's a sort of connection.

There's not super much to go off here, but the things I noticed from the keynote:

• I was literally joking about 'Beach Filler Episode', hot damn am I into it happening.
• Krile's the only Scion absent from the teaser (and Zero, but that's less suspicious for several reasons), so she is ABSOLUTELY gonna turn up with a new job.
• As one of the several people who named their chocobo 'Tritoch', I'm a pretty big fan of Valigarmanda turning up.
• A schism between the Scions over a war of succession does actually sound pretty good, but I'll tell you all right now, I know exactly which Scion I don't want on the side I pick.
• The first new zone is basically Fantasy Machu Picchu, and you know what, I'm happy: that is exactly number one on my list of places I'd want to go in a South America fantasy setting. The second zone is clearly the Amazon, which is also cool.
• Overall, big FFX vibes and even bigger FFIX vibes, what's not to love? (Well, the lack of blitzball, but we'll live)

I'm pretty happy about this one, all-up, which is a welcome chance from when I basically spent every single 'Endwalker hype' leadup event feeling bummed out that it wasn't doing stuff I wanted. I feel like that might be because Endwalker was the first expansion I was really around for the pre-release hype for (I was cognizant of Shadowbringers' leadup, but didn't really care outside of the Nier raids), so I unconsciously set my hopes wrong; not too high, per se, but more too specific. If you go in wanting Gelmorra and Chemist, and then get neither, you're not gonna like anything you do get.

Overall very excited with the trailer, it really does seem like this expansion will be the New World only and nowhere else, which I know a lot of people wanted so that's neat

Also, do you think there'll be divergent paths in the story with picking sides with the scions? I'm sure the ending will be the same regardless, but I don't know if we actually get to pick a side in the literal sense, or if it's more of a "our character is neutral in this scenario but we as the players get to pick sides on who we think is right". What do you think?

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Originally Posted by Cleretic

[*]Krile's the only Scion absent from the teaser (and Zero, but that's less suspicious for several reasons), so she is ABSOLUTELY gonna turn up with a new job.

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I might be blind, but I can't find Alphinaud in the trailer, either. Otherwise, hype is maxed. G'raha has discovered tacos.

The trailer is boring as hell. It seems, it was made for Final Fantasy fan service.




Cheers

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Originally Posted by Larirawiel

The trailer is boring as hell. It seems, it was made for Final Fantasy fan service.

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It's the teaser, not the full trailer. EW did the same thing IIRC and we're also missing Krile from it as well, who is supposedly the most important NPC with us in 7.0.

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Originally Posted by MikkoAkure

The New World seems to be split in two parts, with the north remaining hidden. I wonder if it will be further explored in this expansion or if we're staying in the south.

It's also interesting that the Giants were brought up again, they also ruled Abalathia's Spine in the past as well. I wonder if there's a sort of connection.

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You think the giants/gigas might be brought in as a proper race? That would be interesting.

My mind went to Roegadyn since they're known to be seafaring, but there's no reason to be so coy about those.

As for seeing the northern continent... why? It's clearly South America, we don't need to go to North America as well. Not in the one expansion anyway.

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Originally Posted by Cleretic

As one of the several people who named their chocobo 'Tritoch', I'm a pretty big fan of Valigarmanda turning up.

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What's the significance of it? The picture looked sort of like Azdaja.

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Originally Posted by Fenral

I might be blind, but I can't find Alphinaud in the trailer, either. Otherwise, hype is maxed. G'raha has discovered tacos.

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Big fat tacos, even.

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Originally Posted by Iscah

What's the significance of it? The picture looked sort of like Azdaja.

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Valigarmanda/Tritoch is the first Esper that you encounter in FFVI. It was frozen in Narshe during the War of the Magi.

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Originally Posted by Iscah

What's the significance of it? The picture looked sort of like Azdaja.

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You need to drop everything and play FF6, right now.

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Originally Posted by Iscah

Big fat tacos, even.

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So big!

The things they reveal about the story usually happen very early on, so I'm wondering if that split in the scions is just a way to distribute players into two starting zones like in previous expansions.
One half of the scions explores zone 1, the other zone 2 and we do both, then the paths converge and our disagreement comes to a conclusion with the first trial after which a big baddy appears that we unite against.

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Originally Posted by Lyth

Valigarmanda/Tritoch is the first Esper that you encounter in FFVI. It was frozen in Narshe during the War of the Magi.

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^This. So I'm expecting Vicks and 'Wedge' to show up.. and promptly get slaughtered by it lol

Also seems Derplander is still PLD as he's wielding Lightbringer (PLD AF5 sword from EW), unless the full trailer to come later in the year features a Job change.

Also, is that Gogo I see brushing past Thancred in the trailer? (Fitting, given his appearence in the Masked Carnivale).

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Originally Posted by Fenral

You need to drop everything and play FF6, right now.

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I did start on FF6, at least.

I got to the opera house and couldn't find my way out. Need to get back to that.

I remember seeing the esper now that's been clarified, though I don't know if I got to learning its name.

Another thing I just noticed from blowing up the map image super big and staring way too close at my screen is that the cloud cover over Ilsabard and Northern New World is much thicker than that covering Meradydia, and the southern-most reaches of the New World below the newly revealed spots.

There's even terrain and actual features shown on Meracydia beneath the clouds and the Southern Isles got their name dropped on the map.

Southern Tural:
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...3030/image.png

Meracydia/Southern Isles:
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...2786/image.png

Strange feature east of Tuliyollal:
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...0022/image.png

I wanted a more centrally focused expansion, but this could mean further reveals at future fan fests.

I was leaning more towards Meracydia than New World not because the option excited me more (except I disliked the Mamool Ja designs and had better hopes for the Beast Tribe options with Meracydia), but as Meracydia seemed the shoe-in it ironically made the New World more likely. And now we get it, Tural! And it's so much of what I would want - an adventure that at least is going to start with lover stakes. That we're going on invite of the native political situation and not to mediate Limsa Lomisan colonial efforts (though I bet that will be a plot point in the succession debate and a key difference in platforms). That the main hub city is very SEA, and while I'm unfamiliar with that region, seems to have an Indonesian bent without being full pastiche. I was betting on Tenochtilan, but I still might get my canals and floating gardens. Still, overall it is very Mesomaerican. Which, I was already over the moon at Ronka. So that outfit that the girl is wearing next to the miq'ote in the trailer? Happiness scream. If they use Nahuatl names even a third as much as the obnoxious overdose of Greek has been in EW, I will be thrilled.

The Andean inspired zone is EVERYTHING. Alpaca mounts. The lightning-aether-wracked holes in the mountain are tied to a dungeon. And the more I think about it, the more I get vibes of the Churning Mist and the Aery. I love that it has a sizable Hrothgar population (could that be the giant race, or are they gigas or something new? Also, here's our fallen dark empire and I'm calling mummy mobs now).

That the equivalent of North America is still cloud-covered gives me hope that the western continents won't be shoved into a single expansion, or at least that it isn't sharing it with other world locations, which was my biggest fear.

The tone and vibe are perfect, and the (friendly?) rivalry between two scion teams sounds like a really good concept, as long as they sprinkle in some actual tension between the scions (that is not petty squabbling). I think the team you have will consist of G'raha, Estinien, Krile and one of the twins. I think they are going to separate the twins for sure. I predict that by the end of Dawntrail, the scions will be more fractured, and we'll continue our adventure with few of the old scions from our team and some newcomers. Whether we will still be scions though remains to be seen.

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Originally Posted by Vflower

The things they reveal about the story usually happen very early on, so I'm wondering if that split in the scions is just a way to distribute players into two starting zones like in previous expansions.
One half of the scions explores zone 1, the other zone 2 and we do both, then the paths converge and our disagreement comes to a conclusion with the first trial after which a big baddy appears that we unite against.

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That's what I immediately thought too. We're invited by Faction A alongside Krile, G'raha, and Erenville, whereas Thancred, Urianger, and other Scions were invited by Faction B, twins probably joining us, two zone starting split is helping both investigating to see which truly is best for Tural- then we get our early MSQ twist to derail everything.

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Originally Posted by Iscah

I did start on FF6, at least.

I got to the opera house and couldn't find my way out. Need to get back to that.

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Pixel Remaster, I hope? Regardless, the Opera House gets you past the worst stretch of the game, in my opinion. If you ever get stuck, Gau is my favorite crutch character. (Adding "Gau counterpart" to the expansion wishlist.)

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Originally Posted by Iscah

I remember seeing the esper now that's been clarified, though I don't know if I got to learning its name.

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It's not given until you get the Magicite, which is near endgame. But the game is like 30 years old now, which is why everyone throws it around like you should know it.

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Originally Posted by MikkoAkure

I wanted a more centrally focused expansion, but this could mean further reveals at future fan fests.

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Well, Yok Tural looks like it's South Tural so we may get zones in the North Tural as well. What's currently visible of Yok Tural doesn't look like it could be more than 4 zones. But yeah, the different clouds over the Southern island look suspicious, I just don't think there's any way we're also getting Meracydia in the expansion.

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Originally Posted by MikkoAkure

Strange feature east of Tuliyollal:

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...0022/image.png

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It puts me in mind of the description of the Ridorana Cataract, which we never actually got to see. Something about a bottomless hole in the middle of the ocean? (However that physically works.)

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Originally Posted by Vflower

Well, Yok Tural looks like it's South Tural so we may get zones in the North Tural as well. What's currently visible of Yok Tural doesn't look like it could be more than 4 zones. But yeah, the different clouds over the Southern island look suspicious, I just don't think there's any way we're also getting Meracydia in the expansion.

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I don't want us to get Meracydia in this expansion since I want 1 cohesive story that stays in the same place, but the clouds over it being the same style as southern-most Tural, features being seen below the clouds, and the Southern Isles having their name placed on the map makes me suspicious.

But we have a lot of time to throw around wild conjecture until October.

Actually, I just noticed something strange in the new world map. The main continent labels all have a different color and a different ornament. Aldenard, Ilsabard, Othard. And Yok Tural. So Yok Tural is the actual continent? Then what's Tural? Tural uses the same font as Eorzea, Garlemald, etc. so it should be a sub-region of Yok Tural. I thought Yok Tural was Southern Tural, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

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Originally Posted by Vflower

Actually, I just noticed something strange in the new world map. The main continent labels all have a different color and a different ornament. Aldenard, Ilsabard, Othard. And Yok Tural. So Yok Tural is the actual continent? Then what's Tural? Tural uses the same font as Eorzea, Garlemald, etc. so it should be a sub-region of Yok Tural. I thought Yok Tural was Southern Tural, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

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My current guess is that "Tural" is a region like Eorzea is. They both have the same script on the world map. Eorzea is a region consisting of Aldenard and the Isle of Vylbrand. The Near East, the Far East, and Garlemald get the same treatment.

"Tural" could be the continent of Yok Tural PLUS the other, cloudy Tural to the north, just like North and South America are their own continents and together are The Americas.


Also, going to America to seemingly solve a political dispute between opposing factions feels a bit too on the nose.

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Originally Posted by Cleretic

[*]A schism between the Scions over a war of succession does actually sound pretty good, but I'll tell you all right now, I know exactly which Scion I don't want on the side I pick.

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I would argue that we all know how it will end, that they all will join against the real enemy. I would be pleasantly surprised if they actually build a real rift with consequences between the characters, but with the lack of risk they've been displaying, I don't really expect that.

The whole new world setting seems nice.
I kinda sad the promise that we would take a break from the scions, and wouldn't have adventure with all of them for a while ended being an empty promise. Sure there is this division thing, but I was totally sold on the idea of having new characters of different origins as main characters, not the gang of Sharlayan scholars, that all have more or less the same background. I hoped we could have some different characters, like Ysayle, Gosetsu, Yugiri, Hien were, or even Ryne and Gaia were to some point. Other perspective than people build from the same mold. But no, the teaser had two point, showing the place we go, and showing the scions would all be there.

I wish they just said "we stop being an official institution, but keep adventuring together", it wouldn't have sent the expect something slightly different. I like most of the scion, but they basically made a promise that I dug for, just to send it flying with the teaser.

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Originally Posted by Vflower

Well, Yok Tural looks like it's South Tural so we may get zones in the North Tural as well. What's currently visible of Yok Tural doesn't look like it could be more than 4 zones. But yeah, the different clouds over the Southern island look suspicious, I just don't think there's any way we're also getting Meracydia in the expansion.

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Yok does have linguistic similarities to a Yucatan Maya word grouping that means land/earth/soil, so it could be as simple as meaning "land of tural"

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Originally Posted by Iscah

It puts me in mind of the description of the Ridorana Cataract, which we never actually got to see. Something about a bottomless hole in the middle of the ocean? (However that physically works.)

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You can see it in FF12. Obviously not the same location but the location it's referencing.

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Originally Posted by Seraphor

You can see it in FF12. Obviously not the same location but the location it's referencing.

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Isn't the FFXIV version of the Ridorana Lighthouse already sitting on our own version of the Ridorana Cataract?

I thought I remember something about Goug exploding and making a giant hole in the ocean. It would be strange if there were two but there's only so much we can glean from this map.

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Originally Posted by Parua

Yok does have linguistic similarities to a Yucatan Maya word grouping that means land/earth/soil, so it could be as simple as meaning "land of tural"

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I still think "Yok" must refer to "South" since Tuliyollal is capital of all of Tural but is physically located in "Yok Tural". And Yok Tural has the same script as the other continents on that map while Tural looks like how the regions are labeled. There seems to be a bottleneck/isthmus right at Tuliyollal and I feel like above that will be a whole separate continent, both referred together as "Tural". The Whalaqee seemed to be based more on North American Native Tribes than anything we've seen so far in Yok Tural, but as masters of Tural, the Mamool Ja should have a presence there too and are indeed present in the BLU quests.

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Originally Posted by Enkidoh

^This. So I'm expecting Vicks and 'Wedge' to show up.. and promptly get slaughtered by it lol

Also seems Derplander is still PLD as he's wielding Lightbringer (PLD AF5 sword from EW), unless the full trailer to come later in the year features a Job change.

Also, is that Gogo I see brushing past Thancred in the trailer? (Fitting, given his appearence in the Masked Carnivale).

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Denmo noticed the WoL's arm was/is resting on air. If he is PLD then he's not using his shield during the fight. It'd be strange to have a 2nd expansion with the same poster job. He is also wearing very light armor if he's supposed to be a tank job. It also doesn't look like the PLD gear we saw in the lv100 slide. The guy that walks behind G'raha does definitely look like Gogo does in VI.

The New World is pretty but the lack of knowledge we have about it compared to Ilsabard or Meracydia makes it a bit difficult to speculate about anything.

I love that Estinien seems to have a fanclub of (what I think is) Mamool Ja kids swarming him. XD

I'm hoping we get a Cosmo Canyon facsimile in there somehow, but I expect that would require us to visit the northern Yok Tural continent. Which leads me to one possibility:
We know this isn't everything, the first fanfest of previous expansions only gave us half or less of what the expansion would cover. So what if we do get the rest of Yok Tural?
Maybe the contest for the Golden Throne is only the first half of the story, and upon reuniting the scions we journey north to discover a greater threat, a threat to all of Yok Tural.

Its all supposed to end in a "city of gold" apparently. I heard Yoshi say something about that.(EDIT: I'm rewatching the presentation and its right there in the slides. lol) So we get a search for El Dorado at some point, it seems.

It wasn't Ilsabard/Othard like I wanted but it was a welcome surprise, I didn't think they could pull it off but it looks really nice.

Now the big question is if this will come into play

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Haragin
The legends of this coastal tribe tell of a group of their ancestors who crafted a giant ship and sailed out across the endless eastern ocean. The explorers are said to have returned with tales of a terrible island covered in massive grey monoliths and inhabited by fire-breathing steel demons.

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Originally Posted by Alleluia

I love that Estinien seems to have a fanclub of (what I think is) Mamool Ja kids swarming him. XD

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He looks more of a oh crap why am I being swarmed again.

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Originally Posted by Alleluia

I love that Estinien seems to have a fanclub of (what I think is) Mamool Ja kids swarming him. XD

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Yes! It was one of the things that stood out to me in the trailer! Cute Mamool Ja kids!

It will be nice to see them as a society and not just the few mercenaries that come over to Eorzea.

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Originally Posted by Narnio

Now the big question is if [the Haragin's "island of monoliths"] will come into play

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I really dislike that quote. It feels like "making up silly things for tribes to believe in" and if it is indeed meant to describe a modern city then it locks them into some weird worldbuilding later.

If they ever do anything with it, I hope they subvert the description – make it an island dotted with standing stones and populated by a scary-looking race wearing armour.

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Originally Posted by KageTokage

The New World is pretty but the lack of knowledge we have about it compared to Ilsabard or Meracydia makes it a bit difficult to speculate about anything.

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Yeah, we've already seen basically everything we know about the region and then some. Which I think is pretty positive: we can't extrapolate any further than we already have. In comparison consider something like Thavnair in Endwalker, where nothing mentioned the whole 'alchemist' thing, which at least left us a lot of room to speculate on how they'd incorporate (or ignore) that part.

The trailer attempt to hide the obvious new Job that the WoL is using for the expansion atleast gives off some hints.

1) It will be using a sword

2) the design from what we seen under that robe is corsair like.

3) I believe they mentioned it is a Scouting Armor Job

My best guess for now is that it is maybe Corsair Job using a Sword and Gun. The Gun part is much easier to hide in the Teaser version of the Expansion trailer since they can cut out any of the gun use part for the Full Trailer once they reveal the WoL's new Job for the Expansion in the Full Trailer.

However, some people are guessing Fencer and Dual Swords Job as well.

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Originally Posted by EdwinLi

However, some people are guessing Fencer and Dual Swords Job as well.

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If it's a scouting melee job, dual swords seems too close to dual daggers.

It's really more the ninjutsu that defines NIN's identity as a job over its weapons (Which are used only in its basic combo abilities and Dream with a Dream) so I don't think other flavors of dual-wielding would be redundant, especially if it focuses more on the actual sword play.

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Originally Posted by KageTokage

It's really more the ninjutsu that defines NIN's identity as a job over its weapons (Which are used only in its basic combo abilities and Dream with a Dream) so I don't think other flavors of dual-wielding would be redundant, especially if it focuses more on the actual sword play.

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ya more focus on actually using the weapon is something I am guessing if it does end up dual sword.

However, the Robe is not perfect in hiding another sword so it is on a lower chance for me. The sword is a bit smaller than other job's swords as we see in the trailer so it looks like the sword type this new job maybe using is a shortsword type.

https://i.imgur.com/yoCGAWw.png

https://i.imgur.com/Nw2hhxE.png

https://i.imgur.com/59twmWc.png