History Fridge / TeamFortress2

* It's noted that Heavy has a PhD in Russian Literature; and as a result, his comment of "I have yet to meet someone that can outsmart bullet" takes on a whole new layer if one considers this quote from 1700s general Alexander Suvorov - "The bullet is a fool, the bayonet a fine chap." There is a good chance that he may have studied Suvorov in some manner beforehand; and thus when he says "I have yet to meet someone that can outsmart bullet," he's also calling his opponents ''stupid'' at the same time.

* The Spy is already the embodiment of ParanoiaFuel in-universe. If Mann Co. always goes with the lowest bidder for their mercenaries... [[AlwaysABiggerFish does that mean there are even more terrifying assassins out there?]]

* The Spy is already the embodiment of ParanoiaFuel in-universe. If Mann Co. always goes with the lowest bidder for their mercenaries... [[AlwaysABiggerFish just how terrifying are the other assassins out there?]]

** One of the first unlocks for the Pyro is a huge sledgehammer called the Homewrecker. A 'homewrecker' is the term applied to the person blamed for the break-up of a marriage, and the term is most often applied to a female. So one day Pyro came home to find his/her spouse having an affair, so he/she smashed up the house and burned it down, and now fire reminds him/her of how wonderful it was to do that.

** It gets better. Presumably, the devil would try to screw him over as much as possible in that regard, by following ExactWords and making him just ''barely'' the GREATEST DOCTOR IN THE UNIVERSE. If that's true, then there is at least one ''other'' doctor who can graft souls to him/herself using only tools like what Medic has at his disposal. (Granted, that one doctor could still be a StarfishAlien or something since the deal is "in the universe" and not "on the planet", but still...)
* Classic Heavy mentions killing off several Administrator run teams, including Echelon, Citadel, and Vanguard. Ms. Pauling calls her team of mercs Team Fortress. Just a TitleDrop, right? There's a bit more to it. Classic Heavy's team is introduced as Team Fortress Classic. With the revelation of the mercs being officially named Team Fortress as a group, the implication is that Classic Heavy's team was Team Fortress as well. Which mean the nine mercs we have been playing with all this time are quite literally [[TitleDrop Team Fortress 2!]]
* The Heavy, Medic and Pyro don't have unique domination lines for other classes, unlike the others. The Medic doesn't get many of his own domination kills (usually he gets them through assists), so out-of-universe any such lines would be rarely heard and thus unneeded, while in-universe he wouldn't be able to think of a good response other than just laughing at them. The Pyro is TheUnintelligible, so unique lines for them would be redundant. Meanwhile, the Heavy doesn't have personal beefs with any particular class; he sees them all as equally tiny baby men and so he doesn't need specific insults.

* Why is the Medic's pet dove named Archimedes[[note]]the ancient Greek scientist and inventor[[/note]] and not Hippocrates[[note]]the ancient Greek doctor and grandfather of medical science[[/note]]? Archimedes wasn't a medical doctor, and ''neither is the Medic.'' The Medic lost his medical licence after [[NoodleIncident a patient's skeleton went missing]], and he's generally more interested in [[MadDoctor experimenting with healing devices and immortality]] than [[CombatMedic actually healing his teammates]]. Of course the Medic would respect an inventor more than a doctor; he's an inventor too.

* In "Expiration Date", the Scout's little sketches, however obnoxious or weird, do show artistic talent, and that with an "exact time until death" scenario hanging over him. Of course a team's field scout would find quickly drawing a detailed and coherent picture to be an important skill.
* On the one hand, seeing Spy cloak and run away, abandoning Scout at the first sign of danger, in the Jungle Inferno short is [[CheeseEatingSurrenderMonkeys disappointing]]. But on the other hand, let's look at it from Spy's point of view. He's holding his revolver; we can assume he has his trusty knife with him; and he can use the invis-watch. So his options are: a) back away and shoot the revolver at whatever is advancing, or b) cloak, flank the enemy and use the knife for a OneHitKill - as is his modus operandi on the battlefield. Which one would he choose? (And he sure as heck wouldn't go for a backstab on his boss(?) - especially when said boss is Saxton bloody Hale.)

* The bad pipes taunt. The demoman is sloshed, of course he can't play bagpipes properly!
* Some would wonder why the Mann brothers would continually fight each other over a desolate patch of desert whose only resources are gravel and sand, which seem worthless when compared to more extraordinary resources such as Australium. However, what is almost every road in building in existence made of? Concrete. And what do you need to make concrete? ''Gravel and sand''. High quality gravel and sand suited for concrete contain certain amounts of minerals that limit them to certain geographic areas, and these same minerals can be extracted for use in the creation of rare metal alloys. The concrete industry is one of the biggest industries in the world today. The Mann brothers weren't idiots when they bought the Badlands in the 1800s, but were in fact genius businessmen who were ahead of their time and predicted the world's massive spike of demand for concrete in the 1900s! That's why they're both willing to sink so many resources and lives into seizing each other's halves of the land.

* The slowdown effect for the BONK! Atomic Punch is rather fitting. Considering the drink's radioactivity and sugar content, the Scout is probably experiencing heavy withdrawl after the effects wear off. The slowdown increasing upon absorbing damage could be a delayed partial response to the pain. Sure, he doesn't take damage while under the drink's effects, but the impact of those projectiles would heighten his post-BONK! wooziness.

** ''Expiration Date'': Spy has heard that Scout is genuinely interested in a girl and wants to make sure that's he ready for an actual date. Or rather, his version of giving his son dating advice.

* Why would the RED Spy even disguise himself as the Scout in the first place, considering his inability to replicate his speed makes it one of the ''worst'' disguises a Spy can use? Well of course he would, because [[spoiler:the Spy is Scout's father, and would know how to enact his mannerisms and personality perfectly.]] Plus, he's never seen in a scenario where his lack of speed would give him away, making it a good disguise for him to pick at the moment.

*** Actually, the third machine belongs to a certain [[spoiler:Gray Mann, older and much more intelligent brother of Redmond and Blutarch]].
*** [[spoiler:And a fourth one belongs to the Administrator, running on the last supply of Australium in the world...until she absorbs it all at once.]]

* [[spoiler: The reason that Scout and Spy are the first two to be put on death row when they are fired is that the authorities got hold of them first due to learning that they will be the hardest to catch (Scout's speed, Spy's invisibility) out of the team. They can hunt for the others afterward, but Scout and Spy are the slipperiest team members and therefore the highest priority for execution.]]
** Alternately, since the firing of the Mercs seems to have merged the counterparts from both teams ([[FridgeLogic somehow]]), it might be that [[spoiler: [[SmallNameBigEgo the Scout]] assumed that he could [[TooDumbToLive take on the Teufort police department]], and [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold the Spy]] tried to [[SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments save his girlfriend's son]], [[SenselessSacrifice but failed and got caught in the process.]] ]]

* [[spoiler: Why is Bill-Bel the most insane super-genius ever? He has a cache of Australium, which we know leads to not just physical alterations but also MENTAL ones into increasing the amount of crazy awesome the victim produces. He's also part of a scholarly society, which will naturally counteract some, but not all, of the mutagenic effects of Australium, thus providing only mental alterations and not physical ones.]]

* In "Old Wounds", why did Sniper's parents [[spoiler: suddenly accept his life choices]] when we finally see them? Two things. One, they're in [[spoiler: Heaven, or in this world, God's Secret Base.]] And a little-known part of the Bible states that in Heaven, people will put aside any prejudices they had towards anyone and pretty much be nicer to them, while still retaining their overall personality. And besides, the united mercenaries have been defending the world from robots for quite some time now, and are no longer participating in the ridiculous MobWar. It's possible that Sniper's parents felt incredibly proud that their son was no longer a crazed gunman, but a gunman who's repelling an invasion day after day.

* TheReveal in ''The Naked And The Dead'' that [[spoiler: [[LukeIAmYourFather Spy really is Scout's father]]]] puts a lot of things in a new light:
** Why Scout is so good at running away from everything? [[spoiler: He's Spy's son, and therefore part [[CheeseEatingSurrenderMonkeys French]]. Stereotypes aside, his father's job is to distract or disrupt enemy operations, then sneak away before he gets outgunned - just like the role of a scout]].
** One of the Scout's hats is a Whoopee Cap. According to the ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'' Wiki, "children would make one using their father's worn-out fedora." [[spoiler: Who was the first class to get a fedora? Spy.]]
** While Scout's rather childish Domination lines could be chalked up to his younger age, if you compare them to [[spoiler:some of Spy's Domination lines]] it becomes fairly obvious [[spoiler:where he gets it from. Like father, like son!]]
** Why does someone as high class and professional as The Spy decide that he wants to sign up to fight alongside a team filled with idiots and insane sociopaths instead of going for something more up to his standards? Because [[spoiler: [[MysteriousParent his son also decided to fight alongside that same team.]] Not to mention that fact is probably the only reason why Spy considered helping Scout. He wanted to make up for lost time.]]
** ''Expiration Date'': Spy has heard that Scout is genuinely interested in a girl and wants to make sure that's he ready for an actual date. [[spoiler: Or rather, his version of giving his son dating advice]].

* Engineer sounded more serious when explaining to the team that they will soon die in "Expiration Date," before [[spoiler:learning it's not tumors, but a wheat bread mutation.]] While they were thinking they were going to die in 3 days, they were at a lose/lose situation. If the respawn system doesn't revive them due to natural causes, then they will be dead permanently. If it does revive them, it could revive them into a constant state of dying through tumors killing them, in agonizing pain. So they were either going to [[KilledOffForReal die for good]] or [[FateWorseThanDeath die again and again from the tumors.]] Thankfully, [[spoiler:it turns out that the lesions only appear in wheat-based products.]]

** Judging by [[spoiler:Classic Heavy]]'s last words in "The Naked and the Dead," this is definitely the case.

* [[spoiler: So Gray Mann is now dead. What will happen to his daughter?]]
** [[spoiler: Olivia is still in ownership of the company, and it's possible that she could inherit her fathers plans, leaving her as the last hurdle to overcome if and when the final issue comes out.]]
* We've all known for a while that Miss Pauling and the Administrator have done a lot of...questionable things behind the scenes. But, as Issue #7 of the comics reveals, [[spoiler: Heaven is apparently lenient enough to readily accept Scout, Sniper and (possibly, given Satan mentioned a Faustian Pact) Medic but Pauling and the Administrator go to what is either an IronicHell or some kind of Purgatory. What all have those two done for at least three professional killers to get preferential treatment over them?]]
** [[spoiler:The repeatedly-dying Blutarch also claims to Engineer that in his own perception when he dies, there ''is'' no afterlife, he experiences only nothingness. What's going on there? Is there an aspect of them getting what they expect, perhaps? Maybe the Administrator's own guilt and Blutarch's possible lack of belief are affecting things. That's hardly fair, is it?]]
** Speaking of [[spoiler: Scout, we now know the day he's going to die: December 4th, 1987. The Catch-up Comic revealed that the year was currently 1972. Scout's only got 15 years left, and at the age of 27, he'll only make it to the age of 42.]]
*** At first, [[spoiler: Scout's low life expectancy is surprising, considering how spry and fit he is. But think about how many of his items are radioactive or contain radiation (including Bonk! and Crit-A-Cola, both of which he drinks on the regular). Scout's looking at some nasty radiation sickness in his future... Or, more likely, he's going to ''die of cancer.'']]

* In the comic, Scout [[spoiler:temporarily dies, meets God in Heaven, and learns that he will die for good on December 4th, 1987. While Medic is in Hell, readers learn that he grafted his teammates' souls onto his own so that he could avoid damnation, AND so that dead teammates can return to life as long as at least one of them is still alive. Thus, the only way Scout could permanently die is if all of his other teammates died as well. That means something horrible is going to happen to the entire team on December 4th, 1987.]]
** Alternatively, it could simply be a reference to the song released on that date, [[spoiler: ''Heaven is a place on Earth'' by Belinda Carlisle.]]

* As revealed by ''The Naked and the Dead'', [[spoiler: Medic somehow stole the souls of the other eight mercs and added them to his own. But we've seen two of them die and enter Heaven, one of them just pages before the reveal. How?]]
** Delusions from blood loss. Failing that, maybe it has something to do with the [[spoiler: souls]] not actually belonging to the Medic, and thus he essentially ''bluffed'' his way out of Hell.
*** We never know where he got those [[spoiler: souls]] from, for all we know he stole them from the TFC team.
** [[spoiler: Medic probably did surgically implant the souls of the other 8 mercs into himself, as he does have a FreudianSlip [[http://www.teamfortress.com/tf06_thenakedandthedead/#f=254 about it a few pages later.]] Maybe having a soul isn't a requirement to go to Heaven in the Team Fortress universe.]]
** [[spoiler: Given that the Devil himself legitimately did not know Medic had 8 more souls in him, it's likely that God and whoever's managing Heaven's Gate didn't realize that the people going up there didn't have souls either. Given the Devil's reaction, it sounds like the Medic was the first ever person to do something like that, so it wouldn't be surprising if God and the Heaven people didn't bother checking for a soul (they probably assume that if the person had sold their soul to the devil, the devil would be the one doing the legwork to actually verify it.)]]

*** Why the camera crews (obviously working for RED) are seemingly able to get into unusually dangerous situations without being attacked, like right in the centre of the crossfire (and even in the line of the BLU Pyro's [[IncrediblyLamePun fire]] in "Meet the Soldier") without getting attacked deliberately or accidentally.

** Making this a very literal case of [[IncrediblyLamePun Fridge Brilliance.]]

* It might seem odd how the Scout is only able to fire off baseballs with the Sandman when all the other bats are just as serviceable for hitting balls (with the possible exception of the Atomizer, believed to be an inflatable toy bat filled with helium, and the Boston Basher, which is covered in spikes that would likely tear up any ball thrown at it). However, given that the use of wooden bats in MLB is pretty much standard, and the Scout is a [[IncrediblyLamePun major league]] fan of baseball, it makes perfect sense that he'd consider using baseballs with his default aluminum bat to be unsportsmanlike.

** It might also be a comment on how ridiculous Spy thinks the disguise is. The idea that someone could pass as a local by donning silk accessories and a fake moustache would be laughable to Spy, a bona fide European.

*** And in the polycount pack, Saxton Hale put him through a rite of passage where after killing a big crocodile, the Sniper passed and Saxton gave him the weapons as his reward.

* The Medic's native German voice actor seemed soft and that the French voice actor seemed much harsher in comparison, contradictory to most portrayals. Since the characters are based off of national stereotypes, and that the time period of ''[=TF2=]'' (Cold War-esque), it made perfect sense that the French would perceive Germans as vicious compared to German's assumption of themselves. Nice job with the international outlooks, Valve.

* In ''Meet the Spy'', RED Spy is disguised as the BLU Scout. But how did the BLU Scout get killed? Simple — at one point, the RED spy disguises himself as a BLU Medic. As soon as he heard Scout shout for help, he ran over to him, killed him, and disguised as him. He didn't stay as the Medic because it would look weird if the Medic arrived first on the scene to protect the briefcase. For the Scout, it's much more natural — he's faster, and he has the shotgun.

* It might seem odd how the Scout is only able to fire off baseballs with the Sandman when all the other bats are just as serviceable for hitting balls (with the possible exception of the Atomizer, believed to be an inflatable toy bat filled with helium). However, given that the use of wooden bats in MLB is pretty much standard, and the Scout is a [[IncrediblyLamePun major league]] fan of baseball, it makes perfect sense that he'd consider using baseballs with his default aluminum bat to be unsportsmanlike.

* It is stated that the Pyro never takes his mask off and that no one actually knows how s/he looks without it. Now with the release of ''Meet the Pyro'' it's revealed that his/her concept of the world is a completely different world, one that is driven by something resembling LSD. And that other classes can visit it if they wear goggles made by the same company that made Pyro's mask. So the reason the Pyro does not take off his/her mask is s/he is addicted to it! A drug you can consume by simply WEARING IT!! And now everyone has it!!!

* Why is Pyro so crazy, and suffering from such hallucinations (assuming they are hallucinating)? They practically LIVE in their asbestos-laced suit, which doesn't breathe.... meaning they're likely suffering from heat-induced dementia!!

* Usually the Mercs taunt as a way of expressing their superiorty over the dead victim, so why does the Soldier do a 21-gun salute for the Shotgun taunt? Isn't that reserved for the death of honourable people? But you know how powerful the rocket launchers are, and the many non-damaging alternatives to the Shotgun make it relatively unused? This means that you would have to be pretty damn good for the Soldier to use the Shotgun, and are a {{worthy opponent}} and deserved to be honoured.

** Alternatively testing bias could account for some of the mercs low IQ scores. The non-native English speaking classes may have suffered from cultural and linguistic bias in testing which would have been especially pronounced in the 1950’s/1960’s. Furthermore, disabilities and mental illness may contribute to some of the other mercs' potentially low IQ scores. Demoman is an alcoholic and the effects of alcoholism can lower one's IQ score by a little over 15 points (15 points is a full standard deviation). Meanwhile the Pyro’s mental illness may have left them unable to adequately take the test, while Scout and Soldier are just book dumb. The Scout is barely literate and the Soldier... is Soldier. All that being said, most theories of intelligence believe in multiple forms of intelligence. So while Soldier and Scout may be “book dumb” they could very well be street smart. The Engineer and Medic are probably the individuals who scored the highest on their IQ tests.

** Given the name of one of the Steam achievements, the third layer of "crock" as in "what a crock of s#@$" which is what you will likely say when you get hit with one. Said achievement is also a reference to the term "cock block", which in turn has lead to the phrase "crock block" for someone who dodges a crocket. Or, in the case of a Pyro, [[HoistByHisOwnPetard airblasts it back]].

* When scoped in, what little we see of the screen is tinted yellow... because, of course, we see it through Sniper's trademark yellow glasses.

* There's something brilliant about giving [[RocketJump a tactic that defies all logic]] to the Soldier, the [[CloudCuckoolander class with the weakest grasp of reality.]] He gleefully rocket jumps places because it makes perfect sense ''to him'' to fire a rocket at his feet and go sailing three stories up.

** Also, "Expiration Date" has basically confirmed that the Soldier is extremely LiteralMinded, and thinks that if someone says you can, you must (as evidenced by him doing nothing but teleport bread after being told he could teleport all the bread he wanted). Note that the BLU spy only singles out one person specifically ("It could be you [three], it could be me!") before the Soldier caps him in the face.

* The RED Spy gives himself away in a delightfully subtle manner early in the video -- when "BLU Scout" claims to have killed a bunch of Spies and proceeds to refer to them as "dime-a-dozen backstabbing scumbags, like ''you!''" (referring to the BLU Spy). The fridge brilliance kicks in when you note what he says ''next'': [[PresentCompanyExcluded "No offense"]]. Now tell me, when has the Scout ''ever'' been [[OutOfCharacterAlert that cordial?]]

** The Two-finger salute comes from (allegedly) when archers were taken prisoners and had those two fingers removed to stop them from using their bows - the two fingers is basically showing off that they still have them. Considering the Sniper is competent with the bow&arrow, and that the soldier would probably confuse the two signs, you wind up with an incredibly circuitous fridge logic.

* Going along with the "Meet The Sandvich takes place from the point of view of Spy's severed head"- the BLU Soldier and Scout were only in the RED base to get Spy's head back, and the RED Heavy punched them to death!

* The are several hints (the update page, his hat's description) indicating that Merasmus is a pretty mediocre wizard. Anyone who has fought him [[ThatOneBoss would say otherwise]]. Which brings the question, just how powerful would an actually good wizard be?

** NightmareRetardant in some cases, though... such as the Demoman's [[MajorInjuryUnderreaction "Ooh, that smarts."]] and the fact that some classes ScreamsLikeALittleGirl.
* Engineer sounded more serious when explaining to the team that they will soon die in "Expiration Date," before [[spoiler:learning it's not tumors, but a wheat bread mutation.]] While they were thinking they were going to die in 3 days, they were at a lose/lose situation. If the respawn system doesn't revive them due to natural causes, then they will be dead permanently. If it does revive them, it could revive them into a constant state of dying through tumors killing them, in agonizing pain. So they were either going to [[KilledOffForReal die for good]] or [[FateWorseThanDeath die again and again from the tumors.]] Thankfully, [[spoiler:it turns out they don't have tumors, but it was a wheat bread mutation.]]

** Well, considering the way that he talks to Ms. Pauling, Hale probably just doesn't think the mercs have enough money. You could argue that Demo lives in a mansion; however, the other mercs would definitely notice, and I doubt that Hale would want to be annoyed all the time by 8 people asking for new weapons. Looking at the way that the classes fight in-game (especially in comp), there's pretty much no way for the [=TF2=] mercs to at least be considered dangerous.

*** Mixing with a fatty medium such as milk would make it much harder to wash piss stink off, which is probably the least disturbing possible explanation.

* While talking to Miss Pauling, Saxton Hale casually drops in a reference to at least some of the mercs being sex offenders. Indecent exposure falls under that heading, so ''probably'' this was in reference to Soldier's repeatedly fighting naked and possibly Sniper's public urination, but, well, see above reference to the Classics wanting "free kids"...

--> ''They always say that milk does a body good. What they don't know is that we've carefully infused our cows with some sweet wholesome thermonuclear radiation. Our milk tastes great and it will also give you the strength to kick ass!''\\

— '''Mad Milk publicity blurb'''
*** Either interpretation, however, begs one particular question. Why do you need jarate, a jar of piss, to craft it...? If it's actually milk, then that just makes the whole thing confusing. If it's, ahem, the other interpretation, then the squick just got worse...

* How does Spy know to taunt Demoman with "The black, Scottish cyclops, now extinct!" line? His job is to know everything about everyone, so he was most likely spying on the 'Meet the' filming (so he could better impersonate them, probably), and thus knows Demo's pissed off about being LastOfHisKind.

* Why is the Spy sound so nonchalant when set on fire? Because he's used to bringing on fire from all the Spy checking.

* As a final test in "Expiration Date", the Spy asks Scout a simple question about hypothetical date arrangements, to which Scout gives an answer the only someone like the Spy would've taught him...just so the Spy can shoot it down and flunk the Scout. He's leading somebody into thinking he's on their side, then stabbing the person in the back when they lower their guard. Which is how a Spy is played in the game.

** Don't worry about that, according to the official wiki it's milk. But from cows that are infused with "sweet, wholesome thermonuclear radiation".[[quoteblock]]''They always say that milk does a body good. What they don't know is that we've carefully infused our cows with some sweet wholesome thermonuclear radiation. Our milk tastes great and it will also give you the strength to kick ass!''— Mad Milk publicity blurb[[/quoteblock]]

** In "Blood Brothers", Redmond assumes steam engines run on gravel or a variation of it ("Graveline, eh?"). He insists on this notion even after Gray corrects him. While the brothers understand gravel’s value in infrastructure and road-building, they may also think it’s a more versatile resource than it really is. They could be wasting their gravel by trying to apply it where they ''really'' shouldn’t -- namely, by trying to use it as a combustible fuel. This would explain why everyone outwardly calls the gravel pits useless--with how the Manns intend to use their resources, they might as well be. And until Gray shows up, the brothers' conflict discourages outside parties--who might know better about gravel's uses--from benefiting from the pits for themselves.

** In "Blood Brothers", Redmond assumes steam engines run on gravel or a variation of it ("Graveline, eh?"). He insists on this notion even after Gray corrects him. While the brothers understand gravel’s value in infrastructure and road-building, they may also think it’s a more versatile resource than it really is. They could be wasting their gravel by trying to apply it where they ''really'' shouldn’t -- namely, by trying to use it as a combustible fuel. This would explain why everyone outwardly calls the gravel pits useless--with how the Manns intend to use their resources, they might as well be. And until Gray shows up, the brothers' conflict discourages outside parties from benefiting from the pits themselves.

** In "Blood Brothers", Redmond assumes steam engines run on gravel or a variation of it ("Graveline, eh?"). He insists on this notion even after Gray corrects him. While the brothers understand gravel’s value in infrastructure and road-building, they may also think it’s a more versatile resource than it really is. They could be wasting their gravel by trying to apply it where they ''really'' shouldn’t -- namely, by trying to use it as a combustible fuel. This would explain why everyone outwardly calls the gravel pits useless--with how the Manns intend to use their resources, they might as well be, especially since their conflict discourages outside parties from benefiting from the pits themselves.

** In "Blood Brothers", Redmond assumes steam engines run on gravel or a variation of it ("Graveline, eh?"). He insists on this notion even after Gray corrects him. While the brothers understand gravel’s value in infrastructure and road-building, they may also think it’s a more versatile resource than it really is. They could be wasting their gravel by trying to apply it where they ''really'' shouldn’t -- namely, by trying to use it as a combustible fuel. This would explain why everyone outwardly calls the gravel pits useless--with how the Manns intend to use their resources, along with their chokehold over the areas they come from, they might as well be.