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skylerchasesbooks · 2 years

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What Is the Difference Between Motifs and Themes?

The concepts of motif and theme have some overlaps, and occasionally you will hear people use the two literary terms interchangeably. Recognizing the distinction between the two literary devices, however, can enhance your appreciation of the craft of storytelling.

❥︎ Themes are the main ideas of a work of literature. They represent the meaning or question behind the series of events that make up the narrative.

❥︎ Motifs are recurring elements that point to these themes. In other words, motif is a tool used to craft theme. While themes are abstract and conceptual, motifs are tangible and concrete.

If a story features repeated images of handwashing, mopping floors, and refreshing rain, then these images of cleansing water are a recurring literary motif. A theme of the story might be “the desire for purification.” The theme is a matter of interpretation, open to debate, but the motif is an indisputable pattern in the text.

A motif is an element or idea that recurs throughout a work of literature. Motifs, which are often collections of related symbols, help develop the central themes of a book or play. For example, one of the central themes in Romeo and Juliet is that love is a paradox containing many contradictions.

Hope this helps! Like, reblog and follow for more!

#writing tips #useful writing tips #writing advice #motifs #themes #using motifs #difference between themes and motifs #writing #literature #books #writers #daily life #readers of tumblr #bookaddict #writers on tumblr #reader problems #dank memes #book blog #booklover

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candyrushsweetest · 1 year

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Writing (Tips & My Journey)

I enjoy being a writer. It allows me to dig deep into my creativity somehow. I enjoy drawing, but sometimes the imagination that comes with writing helps inspire me to draw as well. They kind of intertwine in a way, even if you can’t see it much.

Honestly, I feel a lot of people are good readers and writers—they just don’t want to actively take the steps to become that. In the mean time, someone could just be doing it for fun, and that’s completely okay. Whatever gets your creative brain flowing.

If you’re going to do it professionally, however, I would recommend on improving and not just writing the same words on every single sentence. I would recommend:

expanding your vocabulary (no matter the language you write in)

develop your characters more — No one wants a bland protagonist or character that leads them through a story, and no one truly feels for side characters with zero personality or only only one trait that makes them USEFUL… (such as a character only being happy and looking on the bright side. I could recommend giving them a trait of toxic positivity and work on why they’re like this and develop that in your story, along with giving them background.)

Look at your past writing and see what you like and don’t like. Change what you don’t like and keep what you do (while also actively asking for critique, of course).

Maybe have someone you trust enough with your story to read your writing—it could help you develop as a writer to hear others opinions!

Don’t avoid criticism, embrace it. Don’t take critique as an insult but rather as a way to move forward and change your writing to be even better.

That’s all I’ve got for now, but I would also recommend plotting and actively taking notes on how you want your story to go. I take them in a little diary I have in real life instead of on my computer so that I’m not messing with the project that I have written on my PC or laptop. (or any form of device).

When you first begin writting, just write down whatever and then add those elements in a more organized way and choose and toss the things that either won’t work or are too much for the story. You can also organize it better since it’ll only be the rough draft. Then you can begin your chapter if you so wish!

Thanks for reading!! I really appreciate it and hope this helps you with your own projects :>

#writing tips #writing #author #novelist #novel tips #story writing tips #story writing #fanfiction #organization #tips #help #help with writing #helping #useful #useful writing tips #hope this was helpful

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liaswritingworld · 2 years

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[♡] tips and prompts masterlist

here you’ll find any and all tips / prompts that i post

masterlist updated: 5.9.22

list of writing tips:

coming soon !!

list of story / dialogue prompts:

20 angsty relationship dialogue prompts

#writing tips #helpful writing tips #useful writing tips #writing prompt #writing prompts #story prompt #story prompts #masterlist

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love-me-a-good-prompt · 2 years

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50 WORDS TO USE INSTEAD OF “SAID”

Do you ever find yourself over-using the word “said” in your writing? Try using these words/phrases instead:

stated

commented

declared

spoke

responded

voiced

noted

uttered

iterated

explained

remarked

acknowledged

mentioned

announced

shouted

expressed

articulated

exclaimed

proclaimed

whispered

babbled

observed

deadpanned

joked

hinted

informed

coaxed

offered

cried

affirmed

vocalized

laughed

ordered

suggested

admitted

verbalized

indicated

confirmed

apologized

muttered

proposed

chatted

lied

rambled

talked

pointed out

blurted out

chimed in

brought up

wondered aloud

(NOTE: Keep in mind that all of these words have slightly different meanings and are associated with different emotions/scenarios.)

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oflights · 8 months

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helpful sites for writers

i have a little collection of websites i tend to use for coming up with ideas, naming people or places, keeping clear visuals or logistics, writing basics about places i've never been to, and so on. i tend to do a lot of research, but sometimes you just need quick references, right? so i thought i'd share some of them!

Behind the Name; good for name meanings but also just random name ideas, regardless of meanings.

Fantasy Name Generator; this link goes to the town name generator, which i use most, but there are lots of silly/fun/good inspo generators on there!

Age Calculator; for remembering how old characters are in Y month in Z year. i use this constantly.

Height Comparison; i love this for the height visuals; does character A come up to character B's shoulder? are they a head taller? what does that look like, height-wise? the chart feature is great!

Child Development Guide; what can a (neurotypical, average) 5-year-old do at that age? this is a super handy quickguide for that, with the obviously huge caveat that children develop at different paces and this is not comprehensive or accurate for every child ever. i like it as a starting point, though!

Weather Spark; good for average temperatures and weather checking!

Green's Dictionary of Slang; good for looking up "would x say this?" or "what does this phrase mean in this context?" i love the timeline because it shows when the phrase was historically in use. this is english only, though; i dig a little harder for resources like this in other languages.

#writing #writing tips #writer resources #writing advice #helpful links #etc.#handy #also the magical careers generator #literally used that earlier tonight #also feel free to add to this list @ anyone

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queruloustea · 3 months

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i have returned with some baby (?) quirrel shenanigans because he makes me happy and i enjoy drawing him all speckly

#hollow knight #quirrel #baby quirrel #tiktik #quirrel: ma look what i found (it is a wild animal)#i used to pretend to collect samples and write scientific texts myself when i was little #queruloustea #i gave him little black tips on his limbs because i wasn't sure how he'd transition from babey and so decided “sock time” :]

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she-who-fights-and-writes · 1 year

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Contrary to the 10,000 posts going around about “words you should use instead of said!!!”, I see more fics that suffer from people not using “said” enough than people using “said” too much lmao

#this post was inspired by the 101038736352th post ive seen that says you should use these words instead of said #writing #writing memes #writers #writeblr #writing tips #writing advice #writing help

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moonhibs · 7 months

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Au where Julian is a child of divorce

#disabled artist gnaws on disabled charcaters like a dog with a bone #ive been thinking about this all day guys how has nobody drawn this yet #hes a full time ambulatory wheelchair user around the station and uses crutches when on away missions that arent like just on the defiant #star trek ds9 #myart #deep space nine #julian bashir #disabled julian bashir #yes hes in the exact same doctor possition btw #i should draw julian and jadzia with their t swag btw #and tgirl jadzia and quark #im a tgirl quark truther #and tgirl odo but shes tgirl in a different way #sorry off topic disabled julian swag #BTW if any wheelchair users have tips for drawing or writing (writing for drawing) charcaters using wheelchairs pls lmk!!!!!#or if you have critique or sugestions cause im only familier w canes an crutches feom the most part

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em-dash-press · 2 years

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Game-Changing Sites for Writers

A recent search for a specific type of site to help me build new characters led me down a rabbit hole. Normally, that would make me much less productive, but I have found a treasure trove of websites for writers.

Bring Characters/Places to Life

There are a few different places you can use to create a picture of something entirely new. I love this site for making character pictures as references, instead of stock photos or whatever pops up on Google Images.

thispersondoesnotexist: every time you reload the page, this site generates a headshot of someone who doesn't exist. This is great if you're thinking about a character's personality or age and don't have specifics for their facial features yet.

Night Cafe: this is an AI art generator that takes your text prompt and generates an image for it. I tried it for various scenery, like "forest" or "cottage." It takes a minute for your requested photo to load, but no more than maybe five for the program to finish the picture.

Art Breeder: this website has endless images of people, places, and general things. Users can blend photos to create something new and curious visitors can browse/download those images without creating an account. (But if you do want to make an account to create your own, it's free!)

Find Random Places on Earth

You might prefer to set a story in a real-life environment so you can reference that place's weather, seasons, small-town vibe, or whatever you like. If that's the case, try:

MapCrunch: the homepage generates a new location each day and gives the location/GPS info in the top left of the screen. To see more images from previous days, hit "Gallery" in the top left.

Atlas Obscura: hover over or tap the "Places" tab, then hit "Random Place." A new page will load with a randomly generated location on the planet, provide a Google Maps link, and tell you a little bit about the place.

Random World Cities: this site makes randomly selected lists of global cities. Six appear for each search, although you'll have to look them up to find more information about each place. You can also use the site to have it select countries, US cities or US states too.

Vary Your Wording

Thesauruses are great, but these websites have some pretty cool perspectives on finding just the right words for stories.

Describing Words: tell this website which word you want to stop repeating and it will give you tons of alternative words that mean the same thing. It typically has way more options than other sites I use.

Reverse Dictionary: type what you need a word for in Reverse Dictionary's search box and it will give you tons of words that closely match what you want. It also lists the words in order of relevancy, starting with a word that most accurately describes what you typed. (There's also an option to get definitions for search results!)

Tip of My Tongue: this website is phenomenal. It lets you search for that word you can't quite place by a letter in it, the definition, what it sounds like, or even its scrambled letters. A long list of potential options will appear on the right side of the screen for every search.

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Hope this helps when you need a hand during your next writing session 💛

#writing resources #writeblr #writers of tumblr #writing websites #websites for writers #writing advice #writing #writing tips #creative writing #writing help #writing community #writers #writing inspiration #resources #for future reference #useful stuff

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scratchandplaster · 8 months

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smartdraw.com - A cool website I found!

I wanted to do a blueprint of a scene and searched for a free online tool. This website has more than just house plans and mind maps, and I think it could really come in handy if you want to make some settings more approachable.

You can choose to start from scratch or use one of the many templates. The latter is probably easier in the beginning, to try out the different ways to arrange and color the objects. After getting used to the interface (it is similar to PowerPoint) you can use the result as a way to plan your scenes or give your readers a visual aid to follow the plot.

The symbols (or rather objects) for the floor plans, timelines, family trees, crime scenes etc. are sorted in many subcategories, e.g. Floor Plans -> Furniture -> Kitchen. No matter which type of diagram you pick, you can also use the objects from the others, so if you want an endoplasmic reticulum in your bathroom blueprint, go for it.

I think that for whump purposes you should especially check out the Crime Scene category for blood, drugs, weapons and so on.

I do have to say that I experienced some bugs and long loading time, but that could just be my ancient computer going wild. Also, the graphics are certainly not the prettiest. As someone who would have had to draw everything themself instead, it's still a great option.

TLDR: It's like Picrew but for locations.

#smartdraw #writing tips #writing advice #whump #whumpblr #creative writing #look at me doing free ads on here smh #i dont know why this makes me so exited lol #writing tool #design tool #free #online #i cant draw at all #this could be very useful for schoolwork too

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skylerchasesbooks · 2 years

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How To Avoid Repeating Information When Writing

Okay, here's the thing: Repeating information is easy, makes the book lengthy and often times loses impact.

There are a few tips to avoid this when you're writing:

➪ REVISING: Obviously, writing and then revising your content, be it first draft or fiftieth, would help. This is the easiest strategy most adopt and to be honest, Revising your drafts is something you're bound to do so if you put in conscious effort you'll realize wherever you're repeating information and can tweak it.

➪ DIALOGUE: Instead of giving the info dump, if you have any characters in the book discuss it, it'll be much more effective and engrossing. For eg:

Instead of having Character A think of how his grandfather passed away, have two of his employees gossip about It to the new intern who's Character B. Get it?

I've emphasized this method for other things as well because personally I find it useful. This is not to say that you shouldn't have the characters think of anything but you should slowly understand which information would be more impactful if delivered as dialogues.

➪ MAKE A SCENE: If instead of in chapter 2 getting to know why Character A lives alone in a mansion by their thoughts, we get this information in chapter 15 wherein Character B asks A about it, do you think it'd make for a good scene?

That's precisely what I mean. Make a Scene of the information you might repeat and deliver it with a stronger 'oomph!' while making relationship between your characters stronger.

If Character B were going to ask them about it anyways, then you can avoid having A think about it and give up the information. However it doesn't mean letting the readers know something before the characters themselves do is a bad thing.

Unless and until you don't want particular information divulged to the other characters and/or your readers, you can turn it into a meaningful scene or use dialogues whenever. This will help you avoid repeating information like pieces of a backstory.

➪PLOTTING: A surefire way to avoid repetition of information In your writing is plotting. To already have a good enough outline with the scenes charted out so you can place information accordingly. However, more often than not it's not possible to remember if you're repeating some information or not. When we get into the flow of writing, we automatically create the scenes.

Plus, being a panster or planster would have you at a disadvantage because unlike the planners you don't go so far as to literally organize every detail.

So now what to do?

Nothing really, just Plot. Create a number line for every chapter but instead of the numbers, add in scenes and what tit bits of info you'll give. And most importantly, avoided info dumps especially at the beginning of the story. Or just wait until you revise the draft and realize wherever you're repeating the information.

The information may seem more fitting in chapter 28 but if you already use it in chapter 1 and then repeat it, it's just more work for the writer and reader.

#writing tips #writing advice #writerblr #writers #tips to write #books #readers of tumblr #daily life #bookaddict #writers on tumblr #dank memes #reader problems #book blog #booklover #useful #useful writing tips

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crymeariveronceagain · 1 year

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hey i don't know what writer needs to hear this today but you can have characters in your work who exist only to move the plot forward. you can create an oc for a fanfic who exists to ask a question at the right time and is never seen again. you can create a novel and have random characters that exist to move the story. characters are elements of narrative. not every single one has to have a whole backstory and a life fleshed out. sometimes they can just be there for a scene and then never be involved again. isn't that how life works? don't we meet people and then they vanish? aren't our lives simply moments spent to drive forward the plots of others? your character can be pointless. you character can exist in a moment. your character can take up space. your character can exist, even if you don't know their birthday and their mother's favorite song.

characters are not people. you do not have to make them into people unless you want to. you owe them nothing. use characters however you want in your story. develop them as is relevant. otherwise, it literally does not matter.

#writing tips #writing #creative writing #i've seen too many posts like 'EVERY CHARACTER SHOULD BE FLESHED OUT IF YOURE NOT CONSTANTLY USING THEM WHAT'S THE POINT'#this is your sign to kill off that random soldier.#if it makes your main character change that's good enough #this is your sign to create a girl who exists for the bit #if it's enough to move the plot that's good enough #your writing is good enough #your characters are good enough #and stars above. they don't all need middle names and trauma.#river's advice column

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blumineck · 1 year

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"Go for the eyes," they said.

"It'll be fun," they said.

#archery #fantasy #writing tips #(also general weapon use I guess)

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genericpuff · 7 months

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idk who needs to hear this but if you're a writer looking for a webcomic artist and the best offer you can come up with is a 50/50 split "after gaining revenue", then that's literally asking for free work just with extra steps.

like first of all (and i'm sure people are gonna fight me on this) writing a webcomic and drawing a webcomic is not a 50/50 split, a scene that took you a half hour to write will take them hours to draw so it's literally more like 30/70

but also even IF your comic gains revenue, it's still not gonna pay for that labor, there are comic projects out there that have been going on for upwards of 10 years and beyond who are still maybe only making like $30/month on their patreon... and you only wanna pay them $15 of that?

please just consider writing a novel or short stories, or doing tabletop campaigns, or pitching scripts to comic publishers, or learning to draw yourself (even if you're bad at it! webcomics are allowed to grow and evolve in their art!), or doing RP, or doing anything that will get your ideas and stories out there without being at the expense of a whole ass other human being doing the brunt of the labor for free

no matter how dedicated you are to an idea or how convinced you are that it's truly a unique one that's worth working on, none of that will pay for the labor and time and efforts of people who you're asking to work for free to make your dream a reality. They have their own dreams that they're working on too.

#sorry i know this is very curt but i see this all the time #pls just be aware of what you're asking for if you're looking for a webcomic artist #i know you prolly really like reading webcomics but there's so much that goes into them that a lot of ppl don't realize #you're asking a LOT for someone to just love your own idea enough to work on it for free #sorry but most of us already have our own babies that we love and care for #self post #rant post #artist tips #writer tips #writing tips #hot take

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minty364 · 2 months

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DPXDC Prompt #142 Part 2

His parents had spent years working on their portal, to the point where they were neglecting their own children. Danny didn’t know any better, neither did Jazz. To them it was just how their family ran and for the most part it worked for them. It allowed Danny to really study space and the Stars. His room was covered with different ship models on the shelves, glow in the dark stars on the ceiling and posters on the walls.

Jazz had similarly explored her own thoughts and topics as she studied Psychology. Her room was more feminine but still had a certain scientific decorum to it.

He never thought that he’d suddenly be ripped from all the things he loved. But here he was with the trench coat man, instead of taking some biology class or something.

“What happened with the portal?” Danny asked.

The man took a long sigh, “listen… quite a lot of shit went down after your accident.”

“That tells me nothing,” Danny glared at the man.

“I get your upset kid, but let me at least know your name. Mine's John Constantine,”

“…Danny,” Danny muttered after a moment. He wasn’t sure he trusted the man but he guessed he had no choice. He was also noticing he felt a bit off, it was the weirdest gut feeling and Danny was having trouble telling exactly what the feeling was. It was like the feeling was telling him to trust John, although at the same time John had this weird feeling about him that had Danny feeling weary. He decided to trust John just a little, hopefully it got him back home, after a moment Danny spoke again, “…Can you at least tell me if the portal worked?”

The room was silent for a moment and then John spoke “Alright, fine, I’ll tell you what happened but some background first, do you know who the ancients are?”

The name didn’t sound familiar, “Ancients? Like Ancient Aliens or something?”

“No, no…” John took a swig from a flask in his pocket and then started fiddled with an unlit cigarette he pulled from a different pocket. He then looked Danny up and down, “You don’t know the first thing about the infinite realms do you?”

“The what?” None of this was making any sense and the more Danny talked to this guy the more he was getting a feeling of dread in the pit of his stomach. Something about this conversation felt wrong, like Danny should know all of this already but he just didn’t.

“Right well… I guess the easiest way to explain this is the portal your parents made was to the infinite realms.” John said, putting the cigarette in his mouth.

“My parents called it the Ghost Zone.” Danny muttered.

John seemed to chuckle at that, “I mean it is mainly inhabited by ghosts, however they aren’t the only ones, far from it in fact. I’m sorry but… I couldn’t allow your parents unlimited access to the realms. I had to disable it and prevent it from being reactivated.”

Danny felt a little disheartened after hearing that, he guessed John was probably right though. He remembered hearing his parents talk about how they’d dissect every ghost they found to study them. The bully’s at his school often bullied Danny over it especially after his dad and mom would continually embarrass him on parent teacher nights and on field trips.

Danny let out a small sigh, “so when can I go home?”

John looked a little surprised, his eyebrow quirked up, “so you're unaware of your situation right now?”

“Situation?” Danny trailed off, he remembered getting shocked and then he remembered waking up here, “where are we?”

John let out another sigh, “shit, well from my research you're supposed to know everything about your powers when you wake up.”

This made no sense to Danny, powers? Danny didn’t have powers, he didn't have the meta-gene.

“Powers? I don’t have the meta-gene. I think you have the wrong person.” Danny stated as he folded his arms in front of himself.

“Then how are you floating?” John asked with a smirk.

Danny looked down and he indeed was floating just an inch off the bed, he wondered when that started but the feeling threw him off a little as he stumbled a little trying to keep himself upright. It didn’t work and he fell back down on the bed with a little thud. He turned to see John watching him with a small hint of amusement in his eyes.

“What am I?” Danny asked, his voice small and a little panicked.

“You, Danny Fenton, are an Ancient. I know the term makes it seem like you're old but the term is more because your people are ancient in age.” The explanation made no sense to Danny but he could somehow float now. He thought the term ‘Ancient’ was a little much for some floating powers.

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impyssadobsessions · 2 months

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Characterization Post

There is so much discourse about characters being ooc. So Here's my guide IF it BOTHERS you. 1. Write. Write about the character. Reasoning why they wanna do what they wanna do. Write the stories you wanna see. 2. Actually look up how their respective fandoms see them. Ask someone to gush about them to you. That's how I learned more about Tim Drake. (Tumblr was actually my source for all of the bats, i recommend tumblr and social media a lot for this) 3. Find the piece of media that appeals to you. Whether that's the source material for the character, or some youtube video of someone analyzing the character. Whether its a video game or a comic book. Just find one that interests you. ITS okay not know every obscure lore, but knowing a basic backstory and personality traits can help a lot.

4. Enjoy the character. Whether its one you're suppose to hate or not. Enjoy writing them. Have fun with their character. 5. Understand fandom. There will always be someone that will disagree how you portray a character or there will be a story that portrays them in a way it makes you cringe. And that's okay. Its up to you whether you agree with the commenter or not. And its up to you as a reader whether to continue or not. Its okay not to like something. And its okay to like something the majority doesn't. But Also know when we try to stamp out things we don't like- it stamps out the potential for things we do like. 6. Experiment. uwub

#dp x dc #dpxdc #writing tips #characterization #fanfiction #ao3 #writing #ignore this or don't #but don't let writing/creating anything intimidate you #art/media is subjective #and at the end of the day none of us are getting paid #so just enjoy what you do because that's what hobbies are for #danny phantom #dc

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