#fanon creates this environment where people will say they like a dynamic but what they actually want | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

lnc2 · 3 years

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Hi, I’d like to say thank you for pointing out something about Marichat I never saw before. I feel awful for not seeing it and am currently reevaluating. I was just wondering, if I’m endorsing gender roles by liking it? It’s bugging me a lot and I’m not sure what I’m supposed to do at this point. Thank you for your time, even if you never read or respond to this. (I’m sorry for being a pest) Continue to love ladrien and don’t let any downers ruin it for you :)

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with liking marichat. People like what they like. I was only pointing out that I bet a lot of that ship’s popularity is wrapped up in the fact that it does uphold traditional gender roles and what we expect especially out of the superhero genre. While canon marichat doesn’t fall into quite so narrow a definition what fandom has taken and run with does.

Fanon is all about the knight rescuing his princess. It’s about Marinette creating a home and safe haven for Chat Noir. She is the caregiver (feeding, healing, creating a comfortable environment) and he is the protector. Even the idea that this would be the sin ship– for all people joke about leather kinks– most marichat smut sees through traditional gender dynamics as well.

Now obviously nothing is black and white in this show. And while some people will say that this isn’t true because people will put Chat Noir in a dress or at sleepovers or have him do traditionally “girly” things it still comes down to power dynamics:

Perceived damsel in distress and her protector.

It doesn’t matter that Marinette may not need rescuing (although many time she does). What’s important is that Chat Noir thinks she needs rescuing. And while there are times we try to “flip the script” and Marinette rescues him, the takeaway is still that we (as the audience) and he (as the protector) should be surprised that she manages to do it at all because we know exactly what the roles are supposed to be.

Marichat is the traditional superhero/civilian dynamic that we see played out across most comics. Marinette becomes the emotional caretaker and Chat Noir the physical protector. I’m not making a judgement call on this– I understand why it’s fandom catnip.

That being said,

It’s opposite counterpart in the square is ladrien which sees the traditional gender dynamics switched. It is also the least popular and also most actively hated on part of the square.

You’ll see a lot of arguments saying it’s boring or no one has to work for anything or there’s no development (all of these things which I personally think shows a lack of imagination but I digress).

What I find particularly interesting is the prevalence of reverse crush AUs in this fandom where everything is the same except this time it’s a requited marichat crush. Suddenly that dynamic is interesting.

Ladrien and marichat are inverses of each other but while one is rabidly adored the other is actively and I’d even argue compulsively shit on. And I think a lot of it is rooted in this discomfort, acknowledged or not, that we have with our ideas of what a person’s traditional role in a relationship should look like.

I’ll even go one step further and say that the same fandom obsession with adoring marichat while despising ladrien is mirrored almost exactly in the way fandom talks about lukanette and adrigami.

Where Marinette is the caregiver, Ladybug is the protector.

Where Marinette is soft, Kagami pushes.

And fandom doesn’t like it.

More to the point, fandom doesn’t like it so much that they will actively seek out ladrien or adrigami spaces and make sure to let everyone know that they don’t like it. Even people “defending” it will make a point of letting people know that they agree that they don’t like those ships but that we should go ahead and just let everyone be anyway.

It’s a compulsion. It’s funny. It’s fucking infuriating.

Anyways, I’m not saying people are wrong for preferring what they prefer. I’m just saying I think it’s deeper than “i just like friends to lovers” or “i don’t know that just seems too easy”.

And we should be able to talk about it.

#lnc2 writes #discourse #i reserve the right to scream if anyone comes onto this post and starts arguing about which ships are better #or why #bc that is not what i said and that's not the conversation

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kendall-coded · 3 years

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Peter Hale for the character thing. Or Chris Argent.

(i don’t feel as though i have enough to say about chris to give a fulfilling response, so i am just doing peter. i’m sorry !!)

how i feel about the character:

i know a lot of people despise him, and a lot of the points i have read regarding that are actually extremely founded. i will say, i didn’t like him at first. not one bit. but, over time, he has grown on me, and i can say he is now one of my favorite characters. moreso within fanon, though, i think. i just find him to be very fun (though extremely difficult) to write, and he certainly helped a lot with the comedic aspects of the show. some of my favorite scenes involve him (namely “how strong????” before he walks out with a syringe in his chest lolol). i think he is a great character to utilize in fic because he tells things like they are, never sugar-coats, so he is wonderful for revealing information or moving plot along or just generally creating conflict.

who i ship them with romantically:

well. chris argent. let me go ahead and get that one out of the way lolol. very good enemies to lovers opportunity, as well as slow burn. i think the chris/peter pairing also creates an ideal environment for peter-centric character studies. sometimes, i do like the idea of peter/melissa, but only when disregarding their interactions in the show. i think he would value how much she cares about who she deems to be family, and i think he would secretly admire her work ethic. also, i have some headcanons about one-sided peter/claudia that i will not go in depth about here because it’s a lot, but i did touch on it some in my big bang fic !! but, to be honest, peter strikes me mostly as a lone wolf, pun-intended. so, usually i just visualize him by himself. this is mostly due to how i personally interpret his character.

nonromantic otp:

i like a good stiles/peter brotp dynamic, mostly where peter has this odd admiration for stiles and his intelligence while stiles is like please die :/ fjlsdnskdmsk i think they’re both really smart and quick-witted, so their banter is really fun to read and write. they’re very alike in a lot of ways, which is always fun to play around with.

unpopular opinion:

i am not sure if this is unpopular, but i hate how the show vilified him. i think he would have been more impactful as the funny, Deranged Uncle who remained amoral but never technically bad. i think if they had allowed his character to just be the fun sort of scheme-y, rather than the insufferable and mean sort of scheme-y, a lot more people would like him. you know, where he just messes things up because he can, like peter is prone to do, but is never harmful. that would have been a lot more enjoyable, in my opinion.

one thing i wish would have happened with this character in canon:

i wish they would have touched more on his grief / feelings regarding the fire. or gave some more insight on how he felt about what he did to laura. i think they missed a lot of opportunities to create some really hard-hitting scenes between him and derek that could have helped humanize them both and produce more dimensions to their characters. a well-developed redemption arc could have been powerful as well, seeing as to how they made him this seemingly power-hungry grrrr sort of guy who had no tangible sense of humanity. but, i mean, this is mtv we’re talking about fjksdhskdjskidk. teen wolf missed the mark with everyone, so i cannot really complain too much.

#reece rambles #asks #peter hale #i love peter #i’ll say it #he’s my emotional support annoying dilf

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theplanetprince · 3 years

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Fanfiction Review

I can already tell this is gonna be super confusing bc I've been writing fic since I was 12 but have since gone through so many identity changes. But let's play anyway!

Thanks for the tag @redead-red

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

My current library is 8. I don't actually write fanfic too often unless a specific idea intrigues me-- or something in the fanon just doesn't line up with me. I do have at least 4ish more stories planned and maybe a revised version of an ancient story from when I was young. 2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

166,451! Pretty neato!

3. How many fandoms have you written for, and what are they?

Uh, in no specific order,

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (lost to purging)

Doctor Who (you ain't gonna find these)

Sonic

NiGHTs into Dreams

Dead by Daylight (<3)

Danny Phantom (my beloathed) Supernatural (my other beloathed)

and uhhhh, I think a bunch of various other video games I can't remember. For the sake of brevity I'm gonna put the rest under the cut.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

This is actually pretty funny bc I have so few fics released. I only get emails for certain ones all the time, so I wrote this part out by guessing, but I ended up not needing to change it. (also, don't read most of these; they're old and bad)

1. Schrodinger's Adolescent, 337 Kudos (Danny Phantom)

2. Teen Years and How to Survive Them, 97 Kudos (Secret Trio)

3. Two Fake Feds Come up the Laneway the other dayyyyyy, 56 Kudos (Letterkenny/Supernatural)

4. Brother's Keeper, 40 Kudos (Halloween, DBD)

5. Beginner's Guide to Destroying the Moon, 37 Kudos (Sonic)

5. Which of your fic do you want more attention for?

I'll be real here, I still enjoy most of the work I did for both Beach House Bummer, and Beginner's Guide to Destroying the Moon. I just wish I got more love for the latter bc I might be inspired to finish it lmao.

6. Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

I really try to! I love the long rambly comments I get on Schrodinger's because I can feel those people are giving me the same passion I put into my work-- Though most of the time I get the generic "post more" or "update plz" which I dunno I'm grateful for the interaction. Still, I don't really want to repeat like "I'm trying my best, dude." about 12 times a day.

7. What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

I'll be real I only have two completed fics rn-- but I can tell you I had this one fic that I wrote when I was fourteen where the ninja turtles had to burn down a lab full of half-born mutant embryos, and like I remember writing that and then going to middle school the next day like "They don't know I'm a literary genius."

8. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

Probably the Letterkenny/Supernatural crossover-- I feel very strongly about SPN and how people take it way too seriously, so when I found out it was filmed in Canada. It used famous Canadian actors from the show Letterkenny, it felt way too good to pass up. I do hope to write in that space again when I'm feeling less depresso-espresso.

9. Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Yeah. It's probably a big reason why you'll never see the tmnt fics for a while. I also used to write a lot of OC stories, and this was back in 2014 so like those were def hit the hardest. I'm glad to say it's like... subsided for the most part. I don't get hate as much as I just get really confusing and creepy comments, which don't hurt my rejection-sensitive-ass as much.

10. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Hahahaha, no.

I am kind of bad at writing it, and I don't really like writing it. Which yeah that makes sense. My friends sometimes when they find out I write fanfic as a joke they'll send me some of the worst examples smut they can find and to test my talent I'll try to rewrite it to make it some kind of titillating-- but alas it just isn't my forte. The cons of being an asexual I guess.

11. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Uh, yes and no? I think I had one of my older fics stolen, retranslated, and then retranslated again to English? That was so long ago tho.

12. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

No, but I'd love to give it a shot sometime.

13. What’s your all-time favorite ship?

Honestly, it's sonadow. I know it's cringe but I'm free, dammit. Outside of that I guess my favorite dynamic is jock/nerd, which you've probably gleaned from my resume here fhsdkjf.

14. What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

I've been working on Teen Years and How to Survive them since I was 16, I only started making headway on it when I was 19-- so I feel like that speaks for itself hskjhg.

15. What are your writing strengths?

It's been told to me that I'm very funny and I write convincing dialog that captures a character's voice. Which is extremely flattering despite the fact that I feel like I'm tricking you all.

16. What are your writing weaknesses?

probably scenery and landscape, if I'm honest. I also accidentally keep creating scenes just for the dialog instead of action or environment.

17. What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

I think as long as I can guess what they're saying from context clues, and the writer is courteous enough to include body language and the like, then it's mostly harmless. I love including a bunch of references in fic whether it's cultural, historical, or just like a quote from a movie or something so I have a bunch of tabs open regardless it wouldn't be too inconvenient for me to fire up google translate or something.

18. What was the first fandom you wrote for?

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!

19. What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

Probably Schrodinger's Adolescent, it really opened up a lot of doors for me in the DP fandom and I got to meet a lot of cool people because of it. It really cheered me up from a dark place. And despite me writing it initially out of anger and spite its grown into this soft thing that really means a lot to me.

20. What fic are you most proud of?

Honestly, I can't pick. I'm both embarrassed by them all and yet glad they bring people some form of comfort.

Uhhhh who to tag-- I don't really know

@ten0rreaper is the only one I can think of-- whoever else I guess can have at it. I'm not very good at these things lmao.

#tag game #txt

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magpiejay1234 · 3 years

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The Kenny discourse

I was thinking about character dynamics with Ursula, but since I have been watching a lot of Diregentleman, I decided to focus on Dawn’s other antagonistic rival, our Diamond boy Kenny. I already have a bunch of ideas on how to use him in the fic largely as a foil for Conway and Leona. But this will be more of a metafictional-speculative discussion of our boy, because I have lots of brainworms related to him. Most of these have been stuff we discussed back in Serebii and Bulbapedia forums, so you can sort of see this as the Kenny fanon bible.

*First and foremost, Kenny was screwed with a bad hand in his conception. He is meant to be amalgamation of Gary, game Barry, and Drew.

**His parallels with early Gary are obvious, he has a Water starter, he is always one step above Dawn, he actually evolves his Pokémon, he is an Alakazam (whic is one of Gary’s large number of Pokémon caught for sake of his grandad in Johto arc), and he is a boisterious idiot. The problem is of course he does not have an horde of adoring fans, nor any natural charisma that would be attractive to anyone besides Dawn.

However, most importantly he is not the main rival of Dawn’s contest arc. When Gary was Ash’s rival in the OS, he was the Big Chungus. Even though he loses early on the Kanto League, much like how Kenny loses in the Appeals Round of Sinnoh GF, you have no illusions of Gary missing after Orange Islands filler. With Kenny, you can’t be so sure, since Dawn’s hasn’t won against Zoey to our knowledge.

**His parallels are with Drew are more superficial, but they are there. Even though Zoey is clearly designed to be a lesbian from the start (as seen her settei/character sheet), Kenny is clearly meant to be a possible romantic interest for Dawn, and they actually work decently. The big problem is not Zoey’s homosexuality here, but Pearlshipping. As you know, after High Touch, the central relationship in Dawn’s life becomes his relationship with Ash (and to lesser extent Brock).

This means Kenny’s character arc cannot be fulfilled if his goal is indeed Dawn (even though that wasn’t initially his goal, but we’ll discuss that later), because Ash exists, and if Ash exists, Dawn will always choose him as long as show runs because marketing. And since we haven’t seen any reference for any of Dawn’s rivals in her future appearances except technically Ursula with Dawn’s battle poses in BW and her style, we are presumed to assume both Kenny and Zoey were ultimately unimportant.

**His parallels with game Barry are more superficial, but ultimately they are the ones that stick, especially after Barry is introduced properly in the middle of DP. Much like Barry, he is a childhood friend from Twinleaf. Much like Barry, he is jumpy, often scared idiot. And much like Barry, he is an unassuming genius and his Pokémon have a “heroic” theme of sorts (compare Rapidash, Roserade, Floatzel,Heracross, Snorlax with Breloom, Alakazam, Machoke, and Floatzel)

The problem is, of course, unlike Barry he does not have an important family, and since he doesn’t have an important background, we can’t have the generational parallel that exists between Player character and Barry, and Player character’s father and Palmer. And while Kenny’s character develops, he remains thoroughly childish, not in the innocent way but in the overbearing way. Unlike game Barry, who eventually grows up to being the character with highest Leveled Pokémon up until Platinum (since he will be overtaken by Red in HGSS, the Sephiroth of the main line Pokémon franchise).

*Secondly we should discuss his parallel with Gary. That makes me wonder, since Gary screwed up in Kanto and decided to grind more seriously in Johto, leading us the first major multi-part rival fight Ash had in Johto League, would Kenny be the same? What would be her and Dawn’s rank in that final confrontation? Would Dawn actually win such a fight or lose? Her win-loss ratio with Kenny is rather even, rather the one-sided loss ratio Ash with Gary.

If she wins again Kenny but loses against somebody else at Top 2, then she would be stuck at the same rank as Sinnoh. But if she wins against Kenny at top 2, she becomes a Top Coordinator (not a “Top” Coordinator, but you know, annual championship winner, similar to Tobias, not similar to actual permanent Champions). And if Kenny wins, he would become a “Top” Coordinator. Similar issue exists with Zoey, but I might discuss that in her post.

That would raise another question, since during this point in the animé, after losing against Ash, Gary gave up on his championship goals, so would Kenny give up on coordinating? Fanon says yes, but canon says a hard no.

*Thirdly is that Kenny is show in canon to be unapologetically be serious about contests. No really. I get that it is like a common trope to kick him to the Pokémon League, but no, Kenny is shown time and time again to be actually serious about contests.

I guess people got overboard with his more physical style of contesting, but Ursula has that as well, and I don’t see anyone trying to make her a Pokémon League contestant. The “you must die for our ship/character” thing is rather stupid, especially since Kenny actually has interesting rival dynamic with Dawn (besides shipping, I mean), but yes, Kenny not only started his contest tourney before Dawn, his first major battle was against Zoey (which he lost).

As for Kenny often runs away after his losses, I guess people took it wrong way, but that is because he is a energetic idiot who wants to grind as quickly as possible, as we often see him in a training position before he meets up with Dawn and co. We don’t if this is a Ralph Bakshi sitution, where he can only do contests and not Pokémon League tourneys, since his impatient nature and battle style isn’t really fit for League-ing. Speaking of which...

*Fourthly we should talk about Kenny’s contesting. His fighting style is rather similar to Dawn’s, since he uses the techniques of his opponent against them. This often works if he is more powerful or more skillful, but if there is a major skill/stat/Level gap, it becomes an utter failure (see Zoey flashback and DP061). However, his style more sumo than Megaman, since he wants to ensure his opponents fail due to their own techniques, rather than copying their tactics like Dawn does.

This creates an interesting dynamic. Kenny must defeat Dawn using her strength, while Dawn must emulate Kenny’s attempt to use his strength against him. This means Dawn is more likely to win is she is the weaker one, but less likely to win against Kenny if she is stronger. Dawn should still ideally defeat him physically to dominate him, but metaphorically knocking him out of the ring still works enough.

Kenny’s style is also interesting since he uses general stat buffs and status moves, like Light Screen (on Alakazam), Mist (on Prinplup), and Focus Energy (Machoke). With the exception of Breloom, we don’t see a focus on moves an opponent weaker (as seen with Ursula), or generally disorient the opponent (as seen with Zoey). This seems to suggest he is more focused on his Pokémon look good, rather than making his opponent weaker. Again, since his battling style involves using the strength of his opponent against themselves, this makes some sense.

But would this work in a Gym environment? Well the general answer should be no. Since the point of Gym Battles in the animé is fighting like the Gym Leaders, or thinking outside of the box. Kenny’s fighting style might work in some Rock and Fighting Gyms like Chuck’s, but I can’t see him having success elsewhere. It is however perfect for contests, since animé contest battles are about defeating your opponent in a stylish way.

I might add more addendums to this post, but these are all the Kenny brainworms I have.

#coordinator kenny #Kenny #kengo #pokeani dp #analysis #my analysis

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buckskinblues · 4 years

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There’s a certain type of echo chamber that’s particular to fandom that I’ve become increasingly aware of and that I think most people don’t even recognize as being a negative thing because it’s dressed up as all fun and games. At least they’re not self-aware about it but to outsiders spectating it’s usually quite obvious. Because it’s an echo chamber based around liking something or being attached to a particular idea and that’s not necessarily something that’s bad per say. After all it fosters a sense of community in many instances. And a lot of what I say on here boils down to “to each their own”. The poison in the well comes from people engaging solely with those ideas and taking them for granted (or fact, if it’s something like an AU or headcanon or meta theories they spent hours, weeks, and months coming up with). The problem I see is that people become increasingly hostile to these ideas or opinions being challenged because they’ve spent so much time propping it up and believing in it with other fans who have also spent much of their time propping it up and they spend all of their time with each other in this bubble. Even if the challenge comes from the source material they’ve based their identity around. It eventually becomes less of a fun exploration in the transformative aspect of fandom and less imagination play and more a law they think everyone should follow...even canon itself should. After all it’s self-evident, it’s obvious, anyone worth their salt knows and if you don’t adhere to such ideas, well, you must have ulterior motives.

It’s becoming less and less a group of people who just happen to like a certain idea and more and more a group of people who grow increasingly venomous towards anyone who doesn’t toe the line. They’ve grown so attached and dare I say dependent on these theories and headcanons and alternate universes that they feel deeply wounded when someone doesn’t want to play along.

It’s how you get people who insist that two characters who are simply friends (or rivals...or neither) in canon are totally in love, like in love love, and if you don’t see it you must just be conspiring against the ship for nefarious reasons. You’re a bigot of some shade or have a rival ship you’ll screw over any canon chemistry, evidence, and subtext to get to. After all if there wasn’t anything wrong with you then you’d be all for it! Or know that dynamic isn’t good, it’s this one that’s better! When the reality is that the characters are in fact just friends and they really are seeing what they want to see and projecting. And it’s fine to ship something that’s not canon and never will be. That’s normal. That’s the vast majority of most ships. What’s not normal is getting irrationally angry when someone else doesn’t like it or support it. The same goes for anything else, like a headcanon. And it’s how you get people that become unwelcoming to newer fans because they get mad at them for not knowing everything about the source material and for “just not seeing it”. Whatever it is there’s to see...or imagine up.

It’s ironic because these same people will go on about preference and subjectivity and interpretation but they really just want to create an environment where their ideas are accepted and spread but no one else’s are. And god forbid you think canon is actually better than any fanon’s hackneyed version of any given character.

TL;DR some people in fandom are downright delusional because they’ve gotten so attached to ships, headcanons and the like that anyone who doesn’t agree or play along is seen as a threat instead of just someone with an opinion.

#its like the imagination play stops when its time to put the dress up costumes away #but these people dont have a concept of what is for play and what isnt #and place too much importance on it all and become irrational over it #there is no world where reacting with intense emotion to someone not liking your headcanon or ship is a valid response

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tangled-cl0wn-core · 3 years

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Where, besides Tumblr, can people find you doing fannish things? (Obviously only mention sites and usernames you actually want to be found at. Don’t expose your secret identities on my account.)

What other names have you gone by on these platforms, including Tumblr, if any?

When did you join the IT fandom? And what got you into fandom, to begin with?

What are your favorite ships, or characters, if any, and why? What do they mean to you?

In what ways do you participate in fandom? (ex. Posting memes, reblogging/commenting on content, writing fanfic, making fanart, creating fanmixes, etc.)

Do you have any in-fandom inspirations? Other members of the community that drive you? (And if you have the time/energy, in what ways do they inspire you?)

Name and link some of your favorite works, please!

Do you have any works of your own that you feel particularly proud of, or wish more people would’ve consumed? Please provide links if possible.

Have you ever participated in a fannish event (ie. IT Week, a fic Big Bang) or applied to be a part of a fanzine? If so, which ones, and can you please link them?

Without any form of bashing or lashing out, what is something you feel this fandom is missing?

HI!! since you asked before sending it, I knew this was coming but my First Cool Guy Tumblr Ask is so neat,, anyway!!

This is my only IT-specific account, but I post almost everything I draw on my instagram, https://www.instagram.com/fabricsofteners/ (I don't know how people make links cool on tumblr aaa) I also have an AO3, https://archiveofourown.org/users/tangledheadphonecord , where I might post this one really long fic I’m working on (maybe not, as it’s super lame but God am I putting in work)? But mostly it’s just really old stuff atm, and no IT content right now - just some random drabbles from past hyperfixations tbh.

I used to be ‘fabricsofteners’ everywhere besides here - tangledheadphonecord is a username I used for my tumblr because I want a change from the fabricsofteners brand, as I've had it for quite a few years and have just grown kind of bored - just waiting a bit to change my instagram user. I also used to be ‘unbrandedmarkers’ like, three years ago on instagram? but, that era ended fast. I think I might have an old Tumblr under some variation of ‘fabric softener’ but honestly even if anything is up on it I’d probably be embarassed to look at it now.

I watched IT for the first time in 2019, I believe, but wasn’t really in the fandom until actually like, April of this year. I entered the fandom and developed a hyperfixation (sobs) by complete mistake - I read all the fics for michael mell/rich goranski on ao3, and was on a camping trip and wanted to read some Homosexual Fanfiction and literally remembered IT on a whim (rich-to-richie association) and read a bunch of Reddie fics, and it was all down (up?) hill from there.

Unshockingly, I’m sure, Reddie is my number one favourite IT ship. I’m also an enjoyer of Benverly, as well as Stanley/Patty - IT is like, the only fandom where I actually like the canon ships. I do also think Streddie/Stozier is really cute and Bill/Mike (unsure of the shipname?) is nice when I see it!! I think Reddis is cute because I am a total sucker for best-friends-to-lovers, as well asthe ‘I tease everyone but mostly you’ and the ‘I’m so tired of you bullying me but if you ever stop I’ll cry’ and... just, the entire dynamic that they have. Stanley/Patty - there is no reasoning, I just want Stanley to be happy. Benverly - the way they were each other’s first Meaningful Interactions in so like?? agony, they’re so cute. They both deserve to be happy, and I’m so happy they find that happiness in each other.

As for characters - Richie is absolutely my favourite. I (unfortunately /hj) kin and relate to him on so many levels it hurts. Having a character that feels that fear of their sexuality because of a horrible environment is painfully real. covering up struggles with humour and all that?? yeah, mood (also, crushing on your best friend-). What he means to me, in a sense, isn’t really canon - I read strictly fix-it fics, because I want to feel that hope that like fanon Richie, I don’t have to hide forever. I can be myself and be happy. Obviously I can’t much look to the movies or anything for that but hey - what’re Andy or Stephen gonna do, tell me to stop reading fics?

I also really like Stanley!! I don’t,, have a reason. I just think he’s adorable and I love his dynamic with the other Losers a lot. Stanley breathed like, once, and instantly became a comfort character and not even I know why at this point, he just is. Eddie & Bev are up there, too - honestly, Bill is the only Loser I don’t have a strong attachment too. And honestly, he’s growing on me rapidly.

I mostly draw whatever my goblin hyperfixated brain can think of, as well as rebloging just about every post that I see and like (art, jokes, edits, fics, etc.) - I start and stop a lot of fics, maybe one day I’ll finish one but as of yet I have not... Sigh.

I honestly don’t think I do have anyone to tag for inspiration? I follow IT blogs but none I would go to for inspiration (no offense to any mutuals-) inspiration for me is mostly just seeing a pose and going ‘okay’ and suddenly I have a drawing - I have no clue what happens in between.

So, my current all-time favourite IT fic atm is https://archiveofourown.org/works/18213215/chapters/43087232, though I will say it’s a really heavy fic and to read with caution. Going away from Angst, any ‘famous Reddie’ AUs are amazing, but I constantly reread the entire https://archiveofourown.org/series/1560019 series. It’s cute and funny and I THRIVE for domestic Reddie content.

Actually not Reddie, I throughly enjoyed https://archiveofourown.org/works/23201011 for giving me the Mike content the movies have robbed me of for too long, as well as https://archiveofourown.org/works/25262698 which is pure stanlon greatness and made my heart flutter for the boys more than once.

I don’t really have any IT fics up of my own creation, and honestly my reception in way of Tumblr notes is far better than I expected so honestly, I have none to link lol. As long as I get minimun interaction I will thrive.

I wish I could say I’ve been in anything like a zine or anything, but I have not! I’m relatively new to the fandom (and having a social media dedicated to one thing) so I wouldn’t even know where to begin to join or be qualified for one, y’know? I’ve done art weeks in the past and found them incredibly fun but haven’t seen any for IT - but if anyone does happen to know of any... Feel free to send them my way-

As for the last question - other than like, hyping up Chosen and Jeremy just as much as we do the other IT kids (which, honestly I’m not even sure if is still a problem - I’ve just seen posts about it and it’s made me wary), I’m not sure? I’ve honestly not encountered anything in the fandom I find awful and honestly, for a fandom about a movie that is... Well, IT, I’ve really just kind of enjoyed my time in the fandom thus far?

(I will say we need 200% more attention being drawn to 1990s adult Eddie Kaspbrak, who is one of the most beautiful men I have ever seen - but I also feel that way about James Ransone, so I’m not mad.)

(Also, we should be calling out the 1990s IT more, I watched it recently and it’s so bad /lh)

Anyway!! I feel like this answer was incredibly long and I am so sorry!! But like, thank you so much for asking me anything at all fihabsfhbafb I thrive at any chance to talk about the dumb clown movie. (Also, i’m sorry I say ‘honestly’ so much-)

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myinterestsvary-writes · 3 years

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Finally someone said it- it’s absolutely true what you were saying that fandom bashed Katara for no reason while putting Toph up on a pedestal in many cases just because Toph is more masculine coded. Katara deserves better

What I think of this is that Katara slander is casual because the deterioration of her character that I find the narrative in almost all her appearances suggest in opposition to fanon (that’s consistently supported in canon and not just on a few instances that could be interpreted another way when isolated and not when looking at the bigger picture and message that is actually being presented in regards to her character arc) is essential to maintain her role in the fandom’s most celebrated and praised dynamic for unadmittedly shallow and misguided reasons. Yet, who am I to insist that my interpretation of Katara is universally true...? I’m not trying to say ZKs inherently don’t respect Katara, just not the Katara that I, myself actually like.

Sounds bad, I know, but this is how I see it.

Edit: ^^ I’m explaining why the fandom seems so divided, and the fact that there is a division is a bad thing due to the toxic environment that’s been created most prominently in certain areas that often times leak into other less prone ones quite easily.

Honestly though, I’m just feeling really harsh due to over-exposure and sensitivity to the deeper realms of the ATLA fandom’s happenings. I’m definitely not an expert in literature and the overall history of entertainment media, specifically writing even if I personally enjoy doing that the most, but I have watched many shows and have noticed all sorts of narrative patterns not only in the critically acclaimed ones’ text, but in its fanbases. Death of the Author is the worst thing I’ve ever discovered. Why wouldn’t you want to painstakingly understand where a creator is coming from instead of dismissing it as poor writing or irrelevant due to biases - which is completely subjective when you’re not being technical.

Oh yeah, because people aren’t as logical as they claim to be which would be fine if I was either.

#asks #icegoddessrukia #katara #atla

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relishredshoes · 5 years

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Interview given to The Severus Snape and Hermione Granger Shipping Fan Group. (sharing here Admin approved)

https://www.facebook.com/groups/199718373383293/

Hello Aurette and welcome to Behind the Quill, thank-you for letting us get to know you a little better.

I'm deeply honoured to be asked.

A true titan in the world of SS/HG fic, many of our readers will have broken their hearts over your story The Tattered Man.

Okay, let’s jump right in.

What's the story behind your pen name?

Honestly, it was a whim. Long before I thought of writing, I needed a login name to read fanfic. It was a play on Auror. I had no idea it was an actual name.

Which Harry Potter character do you identify with the most?

Hands down, Snape. I know that might sound strange, but he was the one that clicked. My niece introduced me to the books. Being in my 30s at the time, I already had kids of my own, so I didn't identify as one of the students. I loved Harry from the start but he had this uncanny ability to keep being wrong about nearly everything. The character who best expressed adult annoyance with that was Snape. And I do love a good jerk. Snape was a jerk.

Do you have a favourite genre to read?

I'm a sucker for fantasy and science fiction. I hated reading as a child. All there was available when I was a kid was Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys and it was insipid. I glommed on to mythology early but once I'd read all the books in my library on the subject, I gave up reading at all. That was about 4th grade. Children's books in the 70s were total garbage and YA books only had one author: Judy Bloom.

Ironically, my first job was working in a bookstore. It was a college bookstore, so it was all textbooks. I wasn't even a student, so I had no interest in any of them. One semester. A Lit prof assigned Fahrenheit 451. The cover art caught my eye and I read the blurb. Then started reading the book. I finished it in about 5hrs. It blew my mind. I had no idea writing like that existed. And the book was about someone discovering the value of books. It was intellectual Inception waaaaay before that was a thing.

After that, it was like a switch flipped in my head. I sucked up books air. I was never without a book or two. Or three...

Do you have a favourite "classic" novel?

Obviously Fahrenheit 451. I'm going to go ahead and say Les Miserables as well. I was in my 30s when I finally read it and sobbed like a baby at the ending. The care and tenderness Hugo showed when portraying these disposable lives were so unique for that age. Sadly, even today. A lot of our culture is wrapped around the belief that only the wealthy have value and beauty is a pathway to wealth. The poor and ugly are a constant plague to be shunned or dealt with, not humans with crushed dreams that deserve to be valued in their own right. Look at how often fanfic recreatesSnape as handsome or Hermione as gorgeous. Those are always the least interesting stories. (hops off soapbox)

At what age did you start writing?

Whatever age I was when I wrote Safe House. Probably 40ish? That terrible little fanfic is literally the first thing I ever wrote beyond shopping lists and emails. It's an ugly child, but my first, so I love its pointy head. I intentionally leave it up so new writers can see my learning curve. No one starts out good. Read my stories in reverse chronological order and you'll see they get a little worse each time. That's how much I grew as I learned the craft.

How did you get into writing fanfiction?

Reading tons of it. I was at a total loss after the book Deathly Hallows came out and it was all over. Reading it had become an event in my house. My husband and I would snatch the book out of each other's hands "You've had it long enough. My turn." And then there were no more...

I couldn't even tell you how I found fanfic, but it kept me sane. I keyed in on SS/HG because at the time there was a noticeable difference in the talent level in that ship. I must have read SS/HG fanfic for a solid 2 yrs before I took a leap and wrote my own. I was inspired by the amazing stories, but also by the crappy ones. "Heck, I could do better" became its own form of allowance. So I had a small 'what if' and just went for it. Of course, it was crap, everyone's first is. But taking the leap and writing it was a huge thing for me to have done.

What's the best theme you've ever come across in a fic? Is it a theme represented in your own works?

I'm a sucker for a story where characters overcome emotional adversity, both external and internal. If you squint. You'll see that theme repeated throughout my fics.

What fandoms are you involved in other than Harry Potter?

None. Nothing else ever grabbed me as a sandbox I wanted to play in before or after HP.

If you could make one change to canon, what would it be? Do you have a favourite piece of fanon?

Gosh, I don't think I would change a thing about JK Rowling's work. Things I would change would only be me forcing her story to fit my preferred ideal. However, if you think about it, her world, the good and the bad, challenged all of us to churn out 100,000+ what ifs. Some out of anger. Heh.

As for fav piece of fanon, probably that Malfoy jr was Snape's godson. He's totally not, but whoever started that created a great layering of the dynamic between them that you can share in so many tones.

Do you listen to music when you write or do you prefer quiet?

I was a stay-at-home mom when I was writing most of my fanfics, so I wrote in a chaotic and very noisy environment. I didn't listen to music when I wrote, but music was often the inspiration. When I would get stuck in writing, I would leave it and go listen to music that was emotionally similar to where I wanted the story to be while I thrashed out plot points. Colossus by Afro Celt Sound System is amazing for plotting a prelude to a battle.

What are your favourite fanfictions of all time?

Gosh, there are so many. Sadly, many of the authors who first inspired me are gone and pulled their fics off the web, like my fanfic bestie Dressagegrrrl. I would have to call out Pet Project by Caeria as the one I found most inspiring. Anything by ApolloniaV is pretty high up there in my book. There are dozens I'm forgetting. There was one called Resurrection Man about Snape accidentally creating a hilarious Zombie apocalypse. Best. Fic. Ever. It disappeared from the web when the author moved on. An incredible loss.

Are you a plotter or a pantser? How does that affect your writing process?

Total pantser. The obvious effect is to drive the story right off a cliff and be unable to salvage it. It's why I vowed to never start posting until I had a rough draft ending. Too many dead stories waiting for an ending that never came. But an outline for me is a killer in disguise. I lose interest in telling the tale because I already did in the outline. The fun part is over. Sitting at a keyboard typing your fingers off, while muttering, "What the hell are these people doing? Who's writing this stuff?!" is an amazing experience.

What is your writing genre of choice?

In fanfic, I ran with every genre there was. Mostly I wanted to see if there was one I couldn't tackle. Most of my o-fic is a hard-to-define mishmash of fantasy and sci-fi. I want to write romance, but it always turns into something complicated and angsty that no longer fits the box.

Which of your stories are you most proud of? Why?

The Tattered Man.

Did it unfold as you imagined it or did you find the unexpected cropped up as you wrote?

It came off exactly as I'd planned in my head. A rare occurrence for me.

What did you learn from writing it?

I could make people cry with my words. Up to that point, I'd made readers laugh and yell and blush, but to get a reader to the point of actually weeping? That's not easy. JK Rowling did it with ease. It was a challenge.

How personal is the story to you, and do you think that made it harder or easier to write?

It's very personal. My father had just died. He'd had cancer, and it might have got him in the end, but what actually killed him was being sent home with a feeding tube and the wrong instructions. None of the homecare nurses realized the mistake until his kidneys shut down. It was devastating. When I next took up writing, I was still hurting so I tried to make others feel what I felt at a death that didn't have to be. It was crazy easy to write. I wrote it all in one day. Based on the reviews, I achieved my goal. It helped me work through my loss. Pretty sure I gave a few readers PTSD. My bad.

What books or authors have influenced you?

My all-time favourite book is Iain M. Banks' Use of Weapons. Definitely a classic among the eighteen people in the United States that read it. The man was a shockingly gifted author and I was devastated when he passed away. His ability to just drop you into the action from the first page and not bother to explain what's going on is sadistic genius.

How do you think that shows in your writing?

It led to my belief that a writer is always better when they assume their readers are smart. Grab their interest and just run. They'll catch on and even pass you with their theories of what's going to happen next. I've no patience with stories that spell out everything in minute detail. They're tedious and insulting. Less really is more. On the other hand, writing over your reader's head is just as annoying. Intentionally using obscure SAT words in your story just makes you a pretentious twat. Unless your character is a pretentious twat and it's part of the dialogue. In that case, twat away. *gigglesnort*

Do people in your everyday life know you write fanfiction?

My family all knew. They were tremendously supportive. Especially Mr. Aurette, my personal Snape. Outside of my family, I was less forthcoming. Mostly because it was so crazy hard to explain. I think it's a lot less weird now, but back then? It was far more stigmatized.

How true for you is the notion of "writing for yourself"?

That's a hard one. For someone who'd never tried to write a story before, it was an amazing journey to realise what I could do. That changed me forever. Having the instant feedback of reviews was intrinsic to that experience. The downside is you can get sucked into writing for reviewers, and they will tell you clearly what they want and expect. That can stifle. I knew no one wanted The Tattered Man to end the way it did. I was pretty terrified of the reaction. But it's what I wanted. It was the entire point. I wrote that ending for myself, but I cowered after posting.

How important is it for you to interact with your audience? How do you engage with them? Just at the point of publishing? Through social media?

I absolutely loved interacting with my readers. I made some real-life friends and some really great fic buddies all over the world. I watched them become friends in reviews too. It was a really great experience. Spam-posting a fic would often take on a festival atmosphere. Unfortunately, when my review count started to really take off, I couldn't cope with the sheer numbers the same way. There weren't enough hours on the day to reply to everyone. Trying to personalize my response to a review grew overwhelming. I actually grew quite depressed over it. Connecting on a more removed, professional level seemed cold. I connected the most on Livejournal when that was a thing. But I had to back off. "Aurette" became far more witty and wonderful than I was in real life. Everyone wanted a piece of her. I couldn't keep up with the bitch. Lol. I faded away from most interactions on social media out of self-preservation. Even tiny fame can make you whacko.

What is the best advice you've received about writing?

There's a few that come to mind.

1-If you want to be a better writer, kill every adverb you come across.

2-Read your words out loud to yourself. If you run out of breath, your reader will run out of patience at that exact point.

3-Dressagegrrrl was the one that finally made me see how playing POV ping pong within a scene was something that marked my writing as an amateur.

4-Stop trying to be clever. Be clever, if you are clever, but don't try. It comes off hamfisted every time. Readers hate that.

5-Never, ever, ever post something you wrote that day. You've left half of it in your head and you can't tell. It's awful.

6-If you're not even a little embarrassed by something you wrote 6 months ago, you're no longer growing as a writer.

What do you do when you hit writer's block?

That's a bit of a sticking point. Stress is a muse-killer. Anything you can do to rid yourself of stress will help. Writer's block is usually the result of something going on elsewhere in your life. Fix that and the creativity will come back.

That said, my life has turned into constant stress with the result being I no longer write at all.

Has anything in real life trickled down into your writing?

Everything has. 'Write what you know' is true for fantasy too. Whether it's heartbreak, or a drunken hookup that turned into love (Hello, Mr. Aurette) or a moment when you were a child and ignored or teased, or maybe the bully, all of it makes it's way into the emotional truth of a scene or character, no matter how outlandish the setting.

Do you have any stories in the works? Can you give us a teaser?

I have a Dropbox full of stories I've run into the wall or had to leave half finished, both fanfic and o-fic. No teasers, because at this point I don't think they will ever see the light of day. Never say never, but the light of hope is dim.

Any words of encouragement to other writers?

Anyone can write and everyone has something to say. Be open to the process. Part of that process involves having a stranger tell you that your shiny new love is really shit. Being defensive only prolongs your shittiness. Embrace criticism. Sometimes, the process of justifying something can actually buttress your choice, so you double down with better results. Other times, you'll see your idea wasn't working after all. Be ruthless in your editing, but don't delete. That scene you cut because it caused everything to go off the rails could be a different story trying to get out. Take that leap, you fail at everything you don't try, so why not try something you really want?

Thanks so much for giving us your time.

It's been my pleasure. Thank you for the opportunity. *waves to my readers*

#fanfiction #fanfic #writing #severus snape #snape #pro snape #pro snape community #snamione #hermione granger

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teacher-lavin · 5 years

Text

Waking from History’s Nightmare: Baldwin & Joyce (Part Two)

The Threat

Two weeks after school ended for summer, I had told a group of much younger teachers, “The students I teach have saved me much more than I ever saved any of them.” The next evening, the phone rang late. Muffled crying, then: “Lavin, I don’t know what to do. My mom is threatening to kill me and then to commit suicide. What should I do?” It was Candela (name changed here, another short story with a moral....). Overwhelmed, I told her to call her older sister and ask her to meet us at Burger King.

James Baldwin’s views of teaching and James Joyce’s deep encounter with language play both pertain to the tale.

First Baldwin:

“The purpose of education, finally, is to create in a person the ability to look at the world for himself, to make his own decisions,”

Baldwin delivered this claim in his Talk given in a New York City library to a group of majority white educators (October 1963). He roots his discourse within the mind and heart of the student, particularly the African American student, wishing teachers to know the student’s psyche as: her or their or his or The child’s internal struggle. Therefore, Baldwin poses the questions as if within an imaginary stream of consciousness resonating within in the student’s mind. He postulates further,

“. . . [the student will] say to himself this is black or this is white, to decide for himself whether there is a God in heaven or not. To ask questions of the universe, and then to live with those questions, is the way he achieves his identity” -- James Baldwin, Talk To Teachers (1963).

Baldwin assumed, I decided, that the child’s coming to terms with big questions is a process whose uncertainties demand companions, and that accompanying a child or a young adult who is asking these big existential questions is the teacher’s role.

Rewind Three Months Earlier: The Library Excursion

“Candela” told me about three months earlier that she was taking the bus to the Jesuit university on the other side of town after school. She was seventeen that year. Her mother signed a permission slip. Our high school had no library. Candela had complex questions about our readings: James Joyce’s fiction, James Baldwin’s essays, Gloria Anzaldua and Frantz Fanon’s writings and Adrienne Rich’s A Wild Patience Has Taken Me This Far. I wanted her to experience a library as she restlessly interrogated how and what she would write.

For that purpose, I had met Candela’s mom just the week before Candela’s library escapade at the end of her shift from midnight to 7:30 a.m. cleaning the elementary school two blocks away. Mrs. Cartagena (name changed), a small fiercely determined Cuban woman told me that she “was losing touch with her daughter” (my translation). She cried. She was exhausted. I stayed until her tears allayed, and she said she hoped the library would broaden her daughter’s horizons.

Because I’d taught for decades at night as an adjunct professor in the Jesuit English department, I knew lots of librarians there and phoned ahead to set up Candela’s visit. The University’s library is a weird mix: extensive collection of James Joyce criticism and Irish history, and a wonderful offering of contemporary poets from across the panoply of world cultures and languages. It goes deep.

The morning after her visit to “Hawk Hill” (local term for the Jesuit tower looming almost ivory over West Philadelphia), Candela had more questions than before her trip across town. “So, what is Poverty Awareness Week?” There were signs around campus advertising a week of awareness devoted to homelessness and world hunger. “I was in heaven with the books, taking them off the shelves, reading, then finding more and more and more?” She added excitedly, “Your friend, the librarian, showed me a book by Edwidge Danticat, signed by the author. Imagine that: Danticat actually must have held it in her hands. I felt like I went around the world, no lie, Mister.”

Then, Candela paused and said, “Hey, if they really want Poverty Awareness, why don’t we just invite them over here?” She laughed an ironic laugh.

The Threat,

--Fast Forward Three Months, Burger King

We met about thirty minutes after Candela’s tearful, frightened call, the three of us, Candela, her older sister (fictional name, Marisela) who had left her home twenty blocks away and her own three children with a neighbor (her husband was working nights) and me. We replayed through tears their mother’s threats and her delirium. Marisela said that we must call 911, report the incident and the troubling words kill and suicide and that their mom would be detained, by the police and placed on meds. After about ten days she would be released. This had happened before. Marisela would sign the papers.

Candela said that would be brutal, heartless and inhumane. Marisela countered that there was no alternative. Then, Candela said that she couldn’t bear thinking of her mom confined in that cold, clinical environment where no one would understand her. Marisela said that there would be Spanish-speaking nurses and assistants. Candela dissented, “But translation has to have nuance. It has to have sensitivity to the words and their meanings. It has to be dialogic.” Marisela looked perplexed. Candela explained, “I learned this all from James Joyce. Nobody gets mom’s meanings the way that I do.” Candela’s point came literally from our class. And, then, she cried and quoted her favorite line from Joyce’s Finnegans Wake, “Can't hear with the waters of. The chittering waters of. Flittering bats, fieldmice bawk talk. Ho! Are you not gone ahome?” And she added in her own words, “That’s so much more than Good Bye.” Candela said that she needed to make sure her mom understood everything that had happened before she brokedown and everything that would follow from that point. Anything less, would be “a violation of the sadness of her story and of the sadness of her life.” Again, Marisela looked perplexed. A very shaky pause ensued, “Spontaneously, Marisela hugged Candela and repeated over and over, “Candy, I’m so proud of you, baby.” Together, they decided to call 911 and to be there with their mom and to accompany her and to do the translation whenever and wherever possible, in person, the two of them.

If Baldwin’s distillation of the point of education brings teachers into a dynamic relation with the profoundly personal context within which students take risks and grow intellectually, his statement of the “paradox” of education, later in his essay, poses another problem of which we need to be aware. His terms inform the occasion,

“The Paradox of education is precisely this -- that as one begins to become conscious one begins to examine the society in which he is being educated .... The obligation of anyone who thinks of himself as responsible is to examine society and try to change it and to fight it -- at no matter what risk. This is the only hope society has. This is the only way societies change” - James Baldwin, Talk To Teachers (1963).

So much of what we do as students and teachers and family members and neighbors and co-workers is caught within the paradox that James Baldwin articulates as an admonition to “examine and try to change” society’s forms wherever our perceptions pose poignant questions and uncertainties. Candela and her sister, Marisela, revealed Baldwin’s wisdom to me as well as an assurance that bringing students literature in all of its complexity is crucial to acquainting them with complexity so that they can distinguish what they want to believe and how they want to live.

Candela came away with deep convictions about nuance and dialogic sensitivity to meaning. That’s where she felt and honored profound responsibilities to her mother. Isn’t that when words are most crucial, when we discern how they create meanings and, thus, relationships? It’s no surprise that Candela continued growing and became an extraordinary leader in her community. That will be another story.

Our work, however, as students and teachers, is to keep that conversation alive with the integrity we learn from Baldwin responding that “Joyce is right about history being a nightmare-but it may be the nightmare from which no one can awaken. People are trapped in history and history is trapped in them” James Baldwin, A Stranger in the Village, 1955.

#James Baldwin #James Joyce #Curriculum #education #Latinx

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