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centrumlumina · 4 years ago

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As part of the AO3 Ship Stats project, this list shows the 100 most-posted pairing tags on Archive Of Our Own in the period 24 July 2019 - 2 August 2020. This list was created by comparing the current number of fics with data gathered for the 2019 AO3 Ship Stats.

There are 71 M/M pairings on the list, 15 F/M, 3 F/F, 8 Gen and 3 Other. (Please note that on AO3, ‘Name & Name’ indicates platonic or familial ‘Gen’ relationships, while ‘Name/Name’ is used for romantic and sexual pairings.)

Of the 200 names on the list, 23 are women and 3 are characters of ambiguous gender, down from 28 and 3 in the 2019 list. 92 are POC, and 7 are racially ambiguous, compared with 64 and 11 two years ago.

For more information about the AO3 Ship Stats project, please check out the accompanying FAQs. You might also be interested in the All-Time Top 100 Pairings and the Femslash Top 100 list. These stats are also available on AO3.

ETA: Fixed the Change value for Merlin/Arthur Pendragon.

ETA 2: Fixed Race categorisation for Michael Guerin/Alex Manes.

A text-only version of this data is given below the cut.

Rank Change Pairing Fandom New Works Total Type Race 1 15 Aziraphale/Crowley (Good Omens) Good Omens (TV) 20298 28726 M/M White 2 72 Lán Zhàn | Lán Wàngjī/Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn 魔道祖师 - 墨香铜臭 | Módào Zǔshī - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù 10671 13130 M/M POC 3 8 Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren Star Wars Sequel Trilogy 9076 21306 F/M White 4 28 Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier IT (Movies – Muschietti) 8441 12227 M/M White 5 N Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia/Jaskier | Dandelion The Witcher (TV) 7573 7573 M/M White 6 1 Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling 7239 40312 M/M White 7 5 Bakugou Katsuki/Midoriya Izuku Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia 7070 16824 M/M POC 8 0 Peter Parker & Tony Stark Marvel Cinematic Universe 6807 17366 Gen White 9 -7 James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers Captain America (Movies) 6262 49659 M/M White 10 4 Bakugou Katsuki/Kirishima Eijirou Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia 6141 15375 M/M POC 11 -5 Steve Rogers/Tony Stark The Avengers (Marvel Movies) 5613 36264 M/M White 12 68 Aziraphale & Crowley (Good Omens) Good Omens (TV) 5503 7928 Gen White 13 -8 Jeon Jungkook/Kim Taehyung | V Bangtan Boys | BTS 5254 23339 M/M POC 14 5 Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug Miraculous Ladybug 5183 19631 F/M Whi/POC 15 5 Midoriya Izuku/Todoroki Shouto Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia 5001 14073 M/M POC 16 -13 Castiel/Dean Winchester Supernatural 4927 84563 M/M White 17 1 Jeon Jungkook/Park Jimin Bangtan Boys | BTS 4596 17867 M/M POC 18 N Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV) 9-1-1 (TV) 3716 3716 M/M Whi/POC 19 5 Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor Supergirl (TV 2015) 3614 13048 F/F White 20 -16 Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood Shadowhunters (TV) 3599 24787 M/M Whi/POC 21 2 Pepper Potts/Tony Stark Marvel Cinematic Universe 3569 17384 F/M White 22 14 Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead/Yamada Hizashi | Present Mic Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia 3565 7325 M/M POC 23 N Adora/Catra (She-Ra) She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018) 3538 4919 F/F Whi/POC 24 15 Dazai Osamu/Nakahara Chuuya (Bungou Stray Dogs) 文豪ストレイドッグス | Bungou Stray Dogs 3512 8768 M/M POC 25 N Wang Yi Bo/Xiao Zhan 陈情令 | The Untamed (TV) RPF 3446 3446 M/M POC 26 -12 Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski Teen Wolf (TV) 3249 59286 M/M White 27 10 Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin) Merlin (TV) 3157 18688 M/M White 28 -11 Kim Namjoon | RM/Kim Seokjin | Jin Bangtan Boys | BTS 3155 16682 M/M POC 29 66 Ayanga/Zhèng Yúnlóng 声入人心 | Super-Vocal (TV) 3111 5285 M/M POC 30 -21 Min Yoongi | Suga/Park Jimin Bangtan Boys | BTS 3026 19851 M/M POC 31 -3 Sirius Black/Remus Lupin Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling 2958 17686 M/M White 32 N Martin Blackwood/Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist The Magnus Archives (Podcast) 2917 3367 M/M Ambig 33 60 Bakugou Katsuki & Midoriya Izuku Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia 2672 5023 Gen POC 34 12 Peter Parker/Tony Stark Marvel Cinematic Universe 2623 6160 M/M White 35 N Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio Haikyuu!! 2601 10485 M/M POC 36 22 Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling 2583 10171 F/M Whi/Amb 37 -8 Kim Taehyung | V/Park Jimin Bangtan Boys | BTS 2507 9891 M/M POC 38 -37 Keith/Lance (Voltron) Voltron: Legendary Defender 2480 30317 M/M Amb/POC 39 20 Billy Hargrove/Steve Harrington Stranger Things (TV 2016) 2438 5338 M/M White 40 N Akaashi Keiji/Bokuto Koutarou Haikyuu!! 2387 7629 M/M POC 41 N Patrick Brewer/David Rose Schitt's Creek 2363 3150 M/M White 42 5 Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Mark Lee NCT (Band) 2331 5854 M/M POC 43 8 Rey & Ben Solo | Kylo Ren Star Wars Sequel Trilogy 2304 6506 Gen White 44 N Dabi/Takami Keigo | Hawks Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia 2294 2930 M/M POC 45 N Iwaizumi Hajime/Oikawa Tooru Haikyuu!! 2272 11155 M/M POC 46 -24 Jung Hoseok | J-Hope/Min Yoongi | Suga Bangtan Boys | BTS 2259 12668 M/M POC 47 N Felix Hugo Fraldarius/Sylvain Jose Gautier Fire Emblem: Three Houses 2218 2218 M/M White 48 28 Jaime Lannister/Brienne of Tarth Game of Thrones (TV) 2186 7063 F/M White 49 19 Bakugou Katsuki/Todoroki Shouto Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia 2169 4991 M/M POC 50 N Ben Hanscom/Beverly Marsh IT (Movies – Muschietti) 2163 3116 F/M White 51 3 Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling 2128 11699 F/M Whi/Amb 52 -31 Sherlock Holmes/John Watson Sherlock (TV) 2121 61544 M/M White 53 -5 James Potter/Lily Evans Potter Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling 2110 10125 F/M White 54 -28 Jeon Jungkook/Min Yoongi | Suga Bangtan Boys | BTS 2074 9498 M/M POC 55 N Jiāng Chéng | Jiāng Wǎnyín/Lán Huàn | Lán Xīchén 魔道祖师 - 墨香铜臭 | Módào Zǔshī - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù 2073 2494 M/M POC 56 -25 Will Graham/Hannibal Lecter Hannibal (TV) 2064 17257 M/M White 57 N Kakyoin Noriaki/Kujo Jotaro JoJo no Kimyou na Bouken | JoJo's Bizarre Adventure 1964 3580 M/M POC 58 N Midoriya Izuku/Uraraka Ochako Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia 1896 3983 F/M POC 59 -46 Katsuki Yuuri/Victor Nikiforov Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime) 1843 24332 M/M Whi/POC 60 15 Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling 1838 9269 F/M White 61 N Poe Dameron/Finn Star Wars Sequel Trilogy 1806 7238 M/M POC 62 N Kaminari Denki/Shinsou Hitoshi Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia 1791 2732 M/M POC 63 -38 Dan Howell/Phil Lester Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF) 1782 17316 M/M White 64 -54 Keith/Shiro (Voltron) Voltron: Legendary Defender 1764 13925 M/M Amb/POC 65 31 Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders Sanders Sides (Web Series) 1720 3917 M/M White 66 N Tyrannus Basilton "Baz" Pitch/Simon Snow Carry On Series - Rainbow Rowell 1707 4803 M/M Whi/POC 67= -33 Kim Taehyung | V/Min Yoongi | Suga Bangtan Boys | BTS 1651 7176 M/M POC 67= N Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd/My Unit | Byleth Fire Emblem: Three Houses 1651 1651 Other White 69 N Michelle Jones/Peter Parker Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies) 1639 3692 F/M Whi/POC 70 N Michael Guerin/Alex Manes Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019) 1635 2746 M/M Whi/POC 71 28 Uchiha Sasuke/Uzumaki Naruto Naruto 1625 7705 M/M POC 72 N Bakugou Katsuki/Uraraka Ochako Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia 1617 3776 F/M POC 73 -30 James "Bucky" Barnes/Tony Stark Marvel Cinematic Universe 1559 7456 M/M White 74 -39 James "Bucky" Barnes/Reader Marvel Cinematic Universe 1544 7724 Other Whi/Amb 75 9 Upgraded Connor | RK900/Gavin Reed Detroit: Become Human (Video Game) 1534 3921 M/M White 76 N Harry Potter/Tom Riddle | Voldemort Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling 1511 6308 M/M White 77 N Jeon Jungkook/Kim Namjoon | RM Bangtan Boys | BTS 1505 3911 M/M POC 78 N Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan 1501 6017 F/M White 79 N Edelgard von Hresvelg/My Unit | Byleth Fire Emblem: Three Houses 1495 1495 Other White 80 N Dean Winchester & Sam Winchester Supernatural 1493 8791 Gen White 81 N Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead & Midoriya Izuku Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia 1487 2200 Gen POC 82 -37 Tony Stark/Stephen Strange Marvel Cinematic Universe 1460 4912 M/M White 83 N Akechi Goro/Persona 5 Protagonist Persona 5 1447 3285 M/M POC 84 N Kozume Kenma/Kuroo Tetsurou Haikyuu!! 1444 4932 M/M POC 85 N Han Jisung | Han/Lee Minho | Lee Know Stray Kids (Band) 1440 3091 M/M POC 86 -33 Byun Baekhyun/Park Chanyeol EXO (Band) 1431 6629 M/M POC 87 -45 Dean Winchester/Sam Winchester Supernatural 1416 27696 M/M White 88 N Leone Abbacchio/Bruno Buccellati JoJo no Kimyou na Bouken | JoJo's Bizarre Adventure 1415 2237 M/M White 89 N Chloe Decker/Lucifer Morningstar Lucifer (TV) 1413 4165 F/M White 90 N Eddie Kaspbrak & Richie Tozier IT - Stephen King 1396 2268 Gen White 91 N Neil Josten/Andrew Minyard All For The Game - Nora Sakavic 1392 4681 M/M White 92 N Blake Belladonna/Yang Xiao Long RWBY 1390 4358 F/F POC 93 N Midoriya Izuku & Todoroki Shouto Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia 1378 2887 Gen POC 94 N Padmé Amidala/Anakin Skywalker | Darth Vader Star Wars - All Media Types 1369 4112 F/M White 95= -8 Kim Namjoon | RM/Park Jimin Bangtan Boys | BTS 1365 4728 M/M POC 95= N Sokka/Zuko (Avatar) Avatar: The Last Airbender 1365 1828 M/M POC 97 N Lee Jeno/Na Jaemin NCT (Band) 1360 3266 M/M POC 98 N Erik Lehnsherr/Charles Xavier X-Men (Alternate Timeline Movies) 1333 14736 M/M White 99 -72 Loki/Thor (Marvel) Thor (Movies) 1330 12863 M/M White 100 N Logic | Logan Sanders/Morality | Patton Sanders Sanders Sides (Web Series) 1327 3132 M/M White

#archive of our own #ao3 #fandom statistics #fandom research #racism in fandom #sexism in fandom #slash fandom #femslash fandom #fandom studies #ao3 ship stats #things i made

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stereogeekspodcast · 3 years ago

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[Transcript] Season 3, Episode 1. Eternals Review

Welcome back to Stereo Geeks! We’re starting off Season 3 with a review of Marvel’s Eternals. This sprawling epic of a superhero film is diverse, beautiful, and just a bit overburdened by its writing.

We talked about why we loved the characters, finally getting South-Asian representation in a superhero film, the queer rep (and whether it worked), and so much more. Confused about the Eternals timeline? Here's Mon's explainer at Collider. Eternals promo images courtesy of Disney.

Listen to the episode on Anchor.

Ron: Hello and welcome to season three of Stereo Geeks. Today we’re talking about Eternals.

Ron: I’m Ron.

Mon: And I'm Mon. [Music]

Ron: We have had so much MCU content this year. And Eternals is just the latest in a long line of diverse content that we have been waiting for for a very, very long time.

So let's start off with what Eternals is about. The Eternals from the planet Olympia are sent by Arishem to protect Earth from Deviants, evil beings set on destruction. The Eternals have been on Earth for millennia, and they've been protecting the planet ever since. But why have they been hidden this whole time? That is what this movie essentially answers because the Eternals are extremely powerful. They're eternal. They don't die. We could have really used their help when Thanos was killing half the universe; but they had their reasons. Not good reasons, maybe. But the point is, they're here now and they're happy to save the earth. And we kind of are gonna need their help, because things are looking bad.

As always, we're going to divide this episode into our non-spoiler section and then spoilers. We'll talk about what worked, what didn't work in both sections.

I think what worked for us was not knowing anything. We once again managed to avoid as many trailers as possible. There was a lot of discourse because this film technically premiered two weeks before it reached regular audiences. Some people did get spoiled, but fortunately we did not. So, we went in there without any knowledge of what to expect. And honestly, that's the best way to see it because there were a lot of surprises.

This movie is 2 hours, 27 minutes long; it is the second longest film in the MCU after Endgame. I did not feel like it was that long at all.

Not everything worked. But then, that kind of goes for every MCU film. We had our own issues with certain aspects of Shang-chi and with Black Widow, but we still loved those movies. With Eternals, we came out feeling exactly the same thing. There were things that could have been better. But at the end of the day, we really enjoyed the film, and more than anything else we really liked these characters.

Mon: I think Eternals took us by surprise even before we watched this film, mostly because the majority of MCU viewers, even casual comic fans, had never even heard of these characters. So when they announced that this film was happening, these characters were going to be introduced into this world, we were really confused. But one of the things that appealed to a lot of people, certain segments not included, was the diversity that was on display.

Not only did he have a woman of color behind the scenes, Chloe Zhao, recent Oscar winner, but the cast itself was representative of many parts of the world.

Ron: So in the cast, we have Gemma Chan playing Sersi—this is the first time we've had a woman of color in the lead in an MCU film. We have Richard Madden playing Ikaris, Angelina Jolie as Thena, Salma Hayek as Ajak, Kit Harrington, who plays Dane Whitman—who is not an Eternal—Kumail Nanjiani who plays Kingo, Lia McHugh as Sprite, Brian Tyree Henry as Phastos, Lauren Ridloff as Makkari, Barry Keoghan as Druig, and Don Lee as Gilgamesh. So that's already quite a diverse cast.

Salma Hayek and Lauren Ridloff are the first two Latin-American heroes. Lauren Ridloff is of Mexican-American and African-American heritage as well. Plus, Lauren Ridloff is the first deaf hero in the MCU. Kumail Nanjiani plays Kingo, he’s the first South Asian superhero. Brian Tyree Henry’s Phastos is the first queer hero. They had a queer character in the MCU but we don't talk about him. And we also have the first gay Muslim character in the MCU. This is Ben who is played by Haaz Sleiman. And Ben is Phastos’ husband. That's a lot of firsts. And I feel like some people thought that that was too many in one film. I think it works.

From what I read, Chloe Zhao specifically pitched this as an angle for Eternals. Because if you look at the original comics version by Jack Kirby, the Eternals are all white, mostly male. I tried reading one of them. The older comics are a bit verbose, so it wasn't really an enjoyable experience. And it wasn't for us. So coming into this, and seeing this cast was supremely exciting, and I feel like this is the right group of characters to do it with. Honestly, you can make diversity happen if you want to make diversity happen. But this is a really good start.

Mon: I completely agree. One of the things that you realize when you're watching this film is that the Eternals are a huge part of Earth's history in the MCU at least. In which case they need to look like they belong. And you can't do that with a group of 10 white folk. You need a little bit more variety.

Ron: You'll end up contrasting the Eternals with the Avengers. And the Avengers, for everything that they do, they also leave a big gap for people who don't look like the Avengers. The Eternals make you feel like you are part of this universe. It's taken a really long time for that to happen. But this is a huge plus for this film.

Mon: I agree. I don't think I would have been as interested in this film had ir not been for such a diverse cast. We would have watched it, of course, we’ve watched all the other MCU films. The interconnectedness of the MCU also means that you don't really have much of a choice. But the enthusiasm comes from the fact that there is a lot of inclusivity, and I think for us to be arguing about this much diversity in a film that is in a franchise, which is older than a decade is ridiculous.

Ron: Yeah, I don't think we need to care about the people who have a problem with the diversity in this film because as we said, that is a really positive thing. I feel like it actually lends a lot of gravitas to the characters’ relationship with the audience.

Mon: I agree, and also to the story. Because it's not just the diversity of the characters. It's the way they enmesh themselves in the cultures, which we won't go into too much right now. But it is a very valuable part of their story. And I don't think we would have cared much for them or even understood some of their motivations if they were always looking in from the outside.

Ron: And one of the main things that really sold this film for me was the characters and not just the diversity but the characters themselves. 10 characters is a lot and the Avengers films would often struggle just with the six that they had. Thor really got left behind, you guys. And I'm not saying that that doesn't happen in Eternals. But each character has such a distinct personality and very distinctive relationships with each other. Whatever you think about the film, the story, whatever, when you come out of it, you're still thinking about the people that you've been watching. And that's probably why I have a much more positive view of this film than a lot of people because I came away having fallen in love with 10 new characters. That's a great feeling.

Mon: I agree. When we went into watch this film there were a lot of snippets and trailers. And there were some BTS bits where Kumail Nanjiani was basically saying, ‘oh, each of these characters is very distinctive’ and when we watched watched the film, we were like, yes, you know, he's not talking out of his hat. He means it because they really are. They are so unique. You can't mix them up. They not only look unique, they act unique. Their personalities, their motivations, their reactions, all distinct, all different. And I guess you could say it really is a Chloe Zhao sort of thing, because she does make you want to be invested in these characters. And she's able to be make them very grounded even though, well, they’re immortals, they're super powered, they come from a planet called Olympia. Really, we should not be connecting with these people, but we do, because there's this earthiness to who they are. I really enjoyed that.

And I think the flaws of this film, as grave as they may be, they would be highlighted even further if the characters weren’t this strong.

Ron: Yeah. And they're all connected to each other in different ways. Which is quite a feat honestly, because 10 people, 10 different combinations, but it still works.

Mon: The dynamics are very interesting actually. Because you do learn different things about the dynamics between different characters. And you understand why people are behaving in the particular ways that they are. And it unfolds slowly in some aspects. I would say that they rushed some bits and they didn't in other bits.

But she put in these little snippets and these shots from time to time and you're like, ‘Oh, look at the way this person is watching his colleague;. And that leads into something essential in that character's story arc. I really love those bits.

Ron: There's a lot of information that is dumped on you. From the very opening moment right to the end. It's words and worlds and powers and abilities. It's so much.

Mon: That opening scroll went on for five or six paragraphs?

Ron: Yeah, it did.

Mon: And they mentioned all these names and titles which are completely unfamiliar to us. Okay, you know, you really need to take this very seriously because she's giving you information which is important to the actual film. I got that Star Wars-y feel.

Ron: Yes.

Mon: And it made me kind of nostalgic because I think we’ve gotten out of the habit of getting this information, which is very key because nowadays, films are just structured differently. So it's kind of nice.

Ron: But at no point did I feel like there was so much information that I couldn't understand what was going on. I was actually surprised by how much information I actually retained, which was interesting because this is all new. But what I liked about the way Zhao did it, she leaves it to the audience to figure things out. She's not signposting how a character feels. She gives you a moment to see how they're looking at something or how they looking at each other or how they're reacting to something. When something is said. You decide what that means. I thought it was really intelligent. And it's not something you expect from superhero films or superhero television because they're constantly reiterating things. With this film. Despite the new characters, new kind of world building, all these new concepts, you're just kind of left to understand things, which is good. I liked that.

But there's also like this richness to the tapestry of the film. They go to so many different locations. They speak so many languages. I remember when we first saw Iron Man, and the bad guys who had taken Tony, they were speaking in Urdu, and we were like, ‘Okay, so this is their plan’. Obviously the characters didn't know that. So we all knew what to expect, but Tony didn't. It just was like, what is going on.

But this film does not do that. These guys are Eternals and they've been around for a long time. They're able to absorb the cultures and the languages that they live amongst. And what I really liked is yes, they're speaking these languages, but they're also reacting in a way where you know that they understand it. And that's not just the past, but also in the present. It felt like these people belonged on Earth—

Mon: —or they wanted to belong.

Ron: That's a good point.

Mon: And I think it's really important. We want to reiterate the fact that the use of so many languages is quite unusual in the MCU, especially among main characters. It's getting there a little bit, but you really feel it in this film because they weave those different languages into their speech from time to time, and some of them are good at it. Some of them not so good. But they're all trying.

Ron: So for us, another thing that really captured our imagination was the fact that we have a South Asian superhero, and there were actually South Asian elements, which was unexpected.

Mon: A lot of times what happens is people talk about diversity, but diversity is just skin deep. What you really need is representation and you need inclusivity. It isn't perfect. I'm not saying that Marvel has now ticked every inclusive and representative box, but they really went far beyond what we expected. We thought South Asia hero, okay. He just looks like us. But it goes beyond that. And I really really enjoyed that aspect of it. I mean, especially it was fun for you and me. We’ve always loved superheroes and we've never really seen that kind of representation in the kinds of movies that like to see, so we are a step closer.

Ron: I never imagined hearing Hindi spoken properly in an MCU film. Bruce Banner spoke some Hindi in the first Avengers movie, but we can't count that because it was terrible.

Mon: Also, it was in Kolkata. Why wouldn’t he speak in Bengali? My brain hurts.

Ron: We also had the first queer family and queer kiss, which has got Eternals banned in some countries. It's not a huge thing.

Mon: It isn't. It's one of those quintessential Disney/Marvel moments where you can easily chop it out

Ron: Yes. And I think that's why they make it like that, so that they can actually cut that scene and send it to countries where, apparently, people will have a problem with it. But what I liked is that it's not just one kiss and that's it. Phastos and Ben, their relationship is extremely key to Phastos’ every motivation. So that's why I think some of the countries actually banned it, because they realized they can't cut all those bits, because Phastos is really important. I’m kind of glad that they leaned into it. It's a step in the right direction.

When you look at the DC CW shows, for those shows, representation has gone way, way beyond—queerness is just part of the fabric now. The MCU has a very long way to go. But Phastos and Ben is a good start.

Aside from all the other things that we really loved about it, this is such a gorgeous movie. Yes, there are bits set in space, obviously, so those are beautiful. But Earth itself—I feel like this movie really loves Earth. And in a way it does, because it's showing us a very different kind of perspective. Most of the Avengers are from Earth, they obviously they care about it. But the Eternals, they're not from here, so they have a very different perspective. It's a very loving perspective. And I guess that's why the movie looks as beautiful as it does, because that actually ends up being a motivation for some of the events.

Mon: Well, Chloe Zhao does have a habit of bringing out the beauty in the ugly. Even in some of the more desolate or barren areas of the planet that we visit in this film, she shoots it with such great grace and beauty. It showcases the grandeur of the planet. I really liked that.

The Eternals, they're part of this fabric, and again you see this sprawling landscape behind them. You feel why they're so connected. And there's so many locations.

Ron: Yeah.

Mon: It's amazing. You really see a lot of Earth over here.

Ron: So those are the reasons why we loved this film.

There were certain things that didn't work, chief among them being the exposition. There is a lot of exposition in this movie. I think it's basically that one scene where a lot of exposition is shared with us in a very short amount of time.

Mon: It's also exposition about three to four different plot points, which I still feel could have been scattered throughout the story or even pushed to a second film.

Ron: I was feeling same thing.

Mon: Because I feel like there were some twists in that exposition, which would have really led to a good cliff-hanger and prolonged the story of these characters. And I could just be saying that because I'm biased and I love these characters and I want to see more of them.

Ron: Yeah.

Mon: They have some really interesting chemistry between them, even though not a lot of them spent that much screen time together. But you feel that connection.

Anyway, back to the exposition. See, we keep going back to the characters.

It was very obviously the Marvel formula pushing its way through and because so much of the film is taken out by character building, character development, and understanding who these people are, so all the exposition sort of got squeezed into this one scene.

Ron: Having said that, maybe it’s because I’m biased, but to me, when I was watching that, I was like, ‘oh gosh, this is a lot of exposition’. But on the other hand, I was thinking for the character, it's a bombardment of information that shocks her. So, she goes from ‘being okay, this is what I have to do’ to ‘oh my gosh, this is what I have to do’. I felt like that may have been the point of that very, very long scene that she is just bombarded with all this awful stuff. And she really is reeling. So, we are also supposed to feel like that. But, instead we kind of came away feeling like ‘oh, this is exposition’.

Mon: I agree. We are reeling and we understand that she's reeling as well. But I still feel that at least one of those plot points would have been better served had it been saved for later.

Ron: And there's a scene later on when you get one of those plot points explained anyway. So maybe that could have been left out.

Mon: Yeah. I just wonder if there were a couple of twists in that exposition, whether it would have really made a much more powerful film had they actually learned it organically. But it would have been a very different story.

Ron: Yes.

Mon: That may not have been what Chloe Zhao wanted to write. That’s the reason they went the way they did. It's just that, honestly, everybody's talking about it now and just ignoring all the good parts.

Ron: But the thing is that the MCU fans have often struggled with exposition. Well look at Age of Ultron, there was just so much talking.

So, one of the other things that I really struggled with was Sersi is technically the lead, but I felt like there were times the film was favoring Ikaris. He was definitely a very interesting character. But I don’t want that.

Mon: I honestly didn't realize that Sersi was the lead till partway through.

Ron: Oh!

Mon: I really thought it was Ikaris. And then he disappears and you suddenly start getting Sersi’s point of view outside of Ikaris, which is when I realized ‘okay, so it’s Sersi’. It took me a while though. I really thought it was Ikaris. And Richard Madden has also been the most prominently featured and promoted actor for this film.

Ron: I'm glad that Sersi was the lead. It just felt like Ikaris was constantly stealing the limelight from her. There is a reason why—everything that happens has an explanation. It's just a little bit frustrating.

Mon: Yeah, I think there was a lot of focus on Sersi and Ikaris’ characters. When you have an ensemble cast and you have touted it as an ensemble—you have your posters very prominently featuring all 10 of them—you do expect there to be some equity in the screen time. And we didn't get that, and I think that was my biggest grouse of this film. I really wanted more of these other characters.

Ron: Salma Hayek is Salma Hayek, so whenever she's on screen, you can't miss Ajak. But I felt like she just wasn't there as much as we wanted her to be. I also wanted to get into her head a bit more. I think we managed to get an understanding of all the other characters but Ajak not so much.

Kingo, Phastos and Gilgamesh, they did not get enough screen time. I was upset.

Mon: Same. They are all the very interesting characters. Kingo, still, I have to say he got more screen time than I expected. But Phastos—especially when you have somebody who is such a known name like Brian Tyree Henry—you expect him to pretty much be in every scene. But I don't know; I can see that this is a pattern.

Ron: Yes.

Mon: Every time he's in a film, he's hardly in it. Whenever he's on screen, he steals the show.

Ron: Yeah.

Mon: What is everybody afraid of? Just let him steal the show, people.

Ron: I feel like Makkari was gone for like ages. But then once she returned to the screen, she managed to own it, which was a good thing because she was great. But it definitely felt like there were certain characters that were getting more of the screen time than others.

Mon: Not only screen time, but development to understand who they are and what they’re doing. We could intuit a lot about the other characters, but I feel like we really wanted to spend time with them.

I completely understand that juggling 10 characters is a lot. But when you do, have a think about where you want to take these characters; what do you want to do with them?

Ron: Less screen time for Ikaris.

Mon: He was an interesting character, though.

Ron: He was an interesting character but he was kinda like, you know, Broody Superman and I was just like, I'd really rather hang out with Phastos. Ron: I think our last point is probably the soundtrack by Ramin Djawadi. The MCU scores have been very up and down. Sometimes you get really good ones—like The Winter Soldier was really great, Black Panther was amazing. Shang-Chi has been great.

This one, the Eternals theme, I've quite enjoyed that. It's different. It feels very orchestral, very bold, yet also very space-y. But the rest of the music, not so much.

Mon: Yeah, the rest of the music I won't say it’s generic as much as it is just unmemorable. It's a bit same-y.

Ron: It also fades into the background way too easily. Like you don't even realize that there's music.

Mon: Yes, I don't like scores like that. Every piece of music should have some kind of movement to it.

Ron: And especially when you've got a bunch of characters like this.

Mon: Exactly. And a film that is full of action. And we don't mean necessarily action scenes, but action in the way that how the people have to react, and work and find out things. There's something happening in every scene. The score really doesn't reflect that.

Ron: You know what I would have loved? Themes for each of the characters.

Mon: Yes!

Ron: This film was ripe for it!

Mon: Double the runtime of the soundtrack with themes for every character.

Ron: Yes.

Mon: Wow.

Ron: They really missed the boat there.

Mon: They did.

Ron: Unfortunate.

Ron: So, I think we're ready to go into our spoilers section. If you haven't watched the film, stop the podcast now, go watch the film, and come back. So, spoilers. Those locations. Outstanding! But the one that really stole our hearts, Babylon.

Mon: Yeah, we see them fighting, kinda in close-up and you can see the blue gates behind them, but then it zooms out. And it really showcases the grandeur of these beautiful blue gates. Wow! It really made you want to go back into the past.

Ron: I know! That's what I really loved about the past scenes in this film. It has such a reverence for the history that we had. And you can understand why because the Eternals lived through all that and they wanted to preserve it. It was just so beautiful, and I honestly felt like I preferred the scenes in the past more than I liked the ones in the present. It also helped that in the past they were all together. So, that was a plus point.

There were so many twists and turns and I can understand why people who were spoiled before the movie came out would have been really upset. Because if I had known any of those points, I would have been really angry. Like Arishem lying throughout their entire time on Earth. Who expected that to happen? And the fact that Ajak knew the whole time, but obviously she kept it secret because then her people would not be finishing their mission. And Ikaris being the baddie. I totally called it!

Mon: I didn't…

Ron: You didn't believe me.

Mon: I did not believe you. I thought to myself, this is the main white guy on the team. There is no way he's the bad guy. He turned out to be the bad guy. I also have to say it's such great direction on Zhao’s part that Ikaris is so stoic when he returns to Earth in the present day. He’s stoic, he doesn't react much and throughout I kept thinking why is this guy not reacting like the others? You know, Ajak’s death, the Deviants having healing powers and sucking up Eternal’s powers. He just seemed to be unfazed, not even nonchalant, just unfazed. And it doesn't make sense till the big revelation that he's the villain. And honestly, that's great direction.

Ron: Yeah, because there’s no reason for you to think that somebody like Ikaris would be betraying his team. And then he actually gets help. Sprite, who’s a very interesting character, not like anything I would expect to see, definitely not in the MCU. But sprite who was like, you know, been with Sersi throughout, was so fond of Kingo, and the two of them used to hang out together for so long. And then she's just like, the moment Ikaris steps out, she wants to join him. And I was like, What? Why? But obviously, even those moments are foreshadowed but it is still a bit of a shock.

What did strike me as really surprising was Kingo sitting out that battle.

Mon: Uh-huh.

Ron: Because he actually was on Ikaris’ side, but he didn't want to fight. Obviously, he didn't want to fight the other Eternals. That was a really interesting thing to happen.

Mon: Yeah, I'm not a big fan of that.

Ron: I'm also not. I would’ve loved for Kingo to be there.

Mon: I think Kingo would have been a little too powerful. That is probably why he was written out of the final battle.

Ron: Yeah, but it was just such an unexpected thing to happen. Like, for one of the core members to just say, No, I'm not going to fight at all. Y'all deal with this.

Mon: Yeah, it's interesting because I felt like everybody else sort of worked and their motivations made sense. But Kingo specifically sitting out that battle and siding with Ikaris and the mission, that was the only time I felt that this is completely out of character. I just didn't see him as the kind of person who would not love Earth, not love what he's done or achieved, or that he’d let himself die. Which is what would happen in the case of an Emergence.

Ron: But I think with Kingo it wasn't that he didn't love Earth. He does. But he believed in their mission. And the fact that if they stopped the Emergence, they would actually prevent the births of other worlds and other people.

Mon: So, it was the big sacrifice play for him?

Ron: So, he was basically sacrificing his own ideals for his team. Whereas Ikaris was being very belligerent about it. He was ready to fight the people that were his family, because, well, it's a bit of an ego thing really. Kingo kept his ego out of it.

Mon: You know, you put a really good perspective on that.

Ron: Thank you. And everything about Kingo was just like, brilliant though. And him having the valet. so Karun, who is played by Harish Patel, who we have been watching in films since we were kids and it was just like so random to see him in Eternals. We were like, what?

What I really loved is he was there throughout. Every time that Kingo was around, Karun was not far behind. That man had an unending supply of cameras. They were really funny. And I really love that part. Because otherwise I think this movie could have got really, really heavy. Sprite had some funny moments. Dane had some funny moments. But Kingo and Karun were just like, they stole the show for me. The whole South Asian thing. We touched on it a little in the non-spoilers section, but it was just so surprising. And you know what this is what they talk about when they say representation. We’ve never seen people like us on a big-screen superhero film. Finally we’re getting that. I think that's also why I kind of felt a little bit bad that Kingo wasn’t there in the final battle. But also, you know what, he took the Black Panther way, so I'm not complaining. I like the fact that we got to see the Gupta period.

Mon: Yes, which is the Golden Age of India. And again, we see some really good writing because that's the one period in the past when the Eternals are in a celebratory mood, they are only enjoying themselves. There’s no war, there's no fighting. Whereas in most of the other periods, they are in the middle of some battle. If they're not battling the Deviants, they're witnessing horrifying invasions. But that was a celebratory period.

And again, clever writing, just knowing a little bit of history. It's actually the third line in Wikipedia. It's not that hard. But still, it was a smart move. So, it may you feel better. Because had they gone to the Gupta period, and then you see everybody fighting and warring. We’re not saying there weren’t any fights and wars, we’re just saying it was a very peaceful time.

And that wasn't it. Well, Kingo is a Bollywood star, so there's an item number. [laughs] And the fact that Karun speaks a lot of Hindi throughout.

Ron: And Kingo speaks Hindi, as well.

Mon: Yes, very briefly. And the Bollywood posters depicting just how different the eras are. That was very true to life, and a very good touch. And the most touching line in the entire film is something that Karun says in Hindi. It was just a genius move.

Ron: And you know what I really loved is that when he's saying that, and you know, we understand Hindi, so we understood exactly how much sentiment was going into that, but you get these reaction shots of the Eternals. And none of them would actually know Hindi, but the Eternals do, and they react just the way you would expect. I really loved that. Those are really, really nice moments.

Mon: Yeah, it's the reaction shots that really sold this movie for me. Like there's this time when Sprite is creating these illusions, telling the story of how Gilgamesh and the others fought this war and won and Kingo is mesmerized. And he later says, it's the way you used to tell stories that made me fall in love with storytelling, and that's how I went into Bollywood. And I just thought, it's those character moments that honestly, they’re the best part of this film.

Ron: I could watch a whole trilogy just on these 10 characters.

Mon: Same!

Ron: And that's kind of what hurts because a Ajak is gone. Gilgamesh is gone. Ikaris is gone.

Mon: Sprite lost her powers.

Ron: So, technically she's gone. I feel like sequels could possibly have flashbacks. They were on Earth for 7000 years. We can go back to the past, but it's not going to be the same.

Mon: Yeah, I agree. Part of me keeps thinking Arishem is still there, the worldforge is still there. He can just create new versions. I'm just looking for loopholes to bring these characters back. Because let’s be honest, Ajak in the comics is a male character, which, when you read the name, you think it's a male character. And it turns out to be Salma Hayek, who has these healing powers and is this benevolent leader who knows so much. And you can see the burden of knowing that you've been part of the destruction of planets for millions of years.

Again, that's foreshadowed with acting. And then you find out the truth later. So you meet this character who is so incredible and then she doesn't last long.

Ron: Yeah.

Mon: I hate that. And then there’s Gilgamesh who throughout has got these little sneaky glances and moments with Thena and you can just tell there's something going on between these two. They never put a label on it, which is fine, but you can obviously tell that there is something very special because when she is struggling with Mahd Wy'ry, which is a psychological disorder that some Eternals face, he immediately decides to put his entire life on hold so he can take care of her. And then later on, Thena says to Sersi’ that Gilgamesh always said that you'll do anything to protect the people you love. So, all this development, this relationship, this dynamic, it's sort of built through these little sentences here and there, little glances and things that they do, and then they killed him off.

Ron: I know!

Mon: And he was so funny! Ron: Gilgamesh was funny, and he was so sweet and he and Thena were just adorable. Obviously, the focus was on Ikaris and Sersi’s romance, but this unexpected little connection between Thena and Gilgamesh was just so sweet to watch. And it was kind of effortless. Like the characters obviously have a relationship but the actors just had this chemistry that was just there, like from the very first fight scene. And I was like, hang on, is there something happening? And yeah, it's there. They just haven't done anything with it. So, when Gilgamesh is gone, you feel that not just because we like Gilgamesh, but you feel that because Thena has lost Gilgamesh.

I was so surprised because you have a name like Angelina Jolie, and I was just like how is this movie going to not be Angelina Jolie's movie? I don't know how they did it, but she's just one of the Eternals. She has really cool powers, I really liked them. But she's also very kind, very lost. She gets vindicated for what she feels so that's a relief because I was like, why are they doing this? Why is she feeling the effects of Mahd Wy'ry so badly? But fortunately, there is a reason why. But she has these amazing action moments that are really fun to watch. And you kind of forget that you're watching Angelina Jolie.

Mon: I appreciated that. I was very concerned, just like you, because Marvel has a lot of big names. Not gonna say that they don't know.

Ron: Umm. Marvel has kind of made the big names, though.

Mon: Well, you also have people like Anthony Hopkins, so, I'm just saying.

Ron: That's true.

Mon: It would have been easy for them to just make it a Jolie-vehicle. Let everybody else just coast. She could have phoned it in. Thankfully, she didn't. She also didn’t chew the scenery or gobble up all the screen time and presence from everybody else. I really appreciated that.

Ron: Yeah. Apparently, Jolie was surprised by how large the role was.

Mon: Okay.

Ron: She was expecting something much smaller. So, she worked really hard on those action scenes because she wanted Thena to have her own movement. And that's definitely something that you see, that all the characters have a very different kind of physical presence. They all hold themselves very differently. And that's probably the workouts and everything that they had to do. Everybody knows Kumail Nanjiani transformed himself for this film. Richard Madden, as well, had to do the same thing. They apparently spent a lot of time in the gym together. But like Don Lee, he's an actual fighter.

Mon: Oh?

Ron: So, his way of holding himself, very different.

Mon: Yeah, and his movements come across as somebody who has that kind of skill.

Ron: Yes.

Mon: Oh, very interesting. I didn’t know that.

Ron: Yeah. So, I really liked the fact that they're distinctive in so many different kinds of ways. See how we come back to talking about the characters again?

Mon: So, let's talk about something that was signposted in all the pictures, all the trailers, which was the Sersi-Ikaris romance. So, let’s talk about that a little bit. We knew it was going to happen when we went in because the pictures were unavoidable. And they’re the first two Eternals to wake up, they look at each other, they’re making goo-goo eyes from the moment they see each other. And we’re all like, okay, we get it.

Ron: But their romance actually takes a long time to actually start.

Mon: Yes.

Ron: In film time, it's not that much but they both prioritize fighting the Deviants over actually being -together. But from the perspective of a 2 hour 37 minute-film, their romance was super-rushed. And you can understand why. Because the film kind of hinges on the fact that these two have already been together a very long time. They've already kind of tried to move on from each other because Ikaris decided to disappear. But they’ve come together under these extremely difficult circumstances. And then of course, you have Ikaris’ betrayal and everything. So, those are really important aspects of the film. So, the romance is sped up.

Mon: I found that really strange because they start making goo-goo eyes in 5000 BC, and it's only in 525 BC, when they're in Babylon. Yeah, when Ajak tells Ikaris, go get a life. Tell her how you feel. And then it's like boom-boom-boom. He is following Sersi see around like a little puppy dog. And then next thing you know, they're together and they're getting married. Did it have to be that fast? Couldn’t we have had some breaks in between?

Ron: This is why this movie should have been three movies.

Mon: True, true, I agree with you.

Ron: I'm very intrigued to see what they'll do with the sequels because so much happened in this film. I think one of the other things is that Sersi and Ikaris are very beautiful, but they have very little chemistry.

Mon: I thought so too.

Ron: And I can't understand why.

Mon: Yeah.

Ron: Sersi had more chemistry with Dane.

Mon: She did.

Ron: I feel so bad for saying that.

Mon: Even though, poor Dane had like two and a half scenes, but they did have a lot of chemistry. This is the problem with Marvel. They know that they need to have a romantic pairing, but they don't put in the work to make it a convincing pairing. You can like the characters, you can like the romance and you can still say, where’s the chemistry. It can be so dull.

Ron: Like Thena and Gilgamesh, they work. Makkari and Druig kind of have something going on.

Mon: I don't get those two.

Ron: I don't get it either. Their own family don't. But they also work.

Mon: Yeah, I felt like they had some kind of strange chemistry going on between them.

Ron: Yeah, they were constantly like flirting, from way back when.

Mon: Exactly.

Ron: But Sersi and Ikaris, I just could not get on board with it.

Mon: I agree.

Ron: So, shall we talk about the end of the film and those post-credit scenes?

Mon: Yes, absolutely.

Ron: So, the end of the film… Now, you think that it's going to be the climax where they stopped the Emergence. Ikaris dies. They have to see what to do next. So, Thena, Makkari and Druig take the Domo, their ship, and they leave Earth. Which is sad. But Sersi, Kingo, and Phastos, obviously, they stay back on Earth. They're just about to restart their lives and they get pinched by Arishem, who's like, let's see if Earth is really worthy of being saved like this. And I’m like, what, where did you come from?

Because, all this while, Arishem has only been contacted through the sphere that goes into the leader of the Eternals’ body. And it turns out he's just been hanging out here somewhere this whole time. So, that's a really unexpected cliffhanger ending.

But then you have the end-credits. So, there are two end-credits. In the first one, we’re on the Domo. The three Eternals are very concerned that they can't get in touch with the rest of the Eternals on Earth. Suddenly, there's this portal and Pip the Troll appears. And I'm just like, this is a terrible end-credits scene.

Mon: Exactly. I saw that and I was like, this is so underwhelming. Who is this guy?

Ron: It turns out that he’s the herald for Eros/ Starfox. The brother of Thanos. Interesting thing that we learned, Thanos was part-deviant. Who knew? It turns out that Starfox is played by Harry Styles. So, the three girls behind us were losing their mind. And you and I were looking at this guy on the screen like, who is this?

Mon: In our defense, the screen was a little bit dark. He looks very different.

Ron: He does. He looks extremely different as Starfox. He looks very nice, in case people get worried. He looks very nice, but he looks very different. And also we have not seen him in ages.

Mon: Yes, it was very confusing.

Ron: We were very confused. And we realized what was happening. The three girls behind us screaming definitely helped.

Mon: Exactly.

Ron: Apparently, they had mentioned that Starfox was going to play by Harry Styles. This information goes into my head and goes out; there's too much in there.

Mon: This is why you should have a busy life. Then spoilers come and go.

Ron: But it's interesting because Thanos was Thanos. Is Starfox going to be like that? I don't know what the point of him is. I don't know why he's on the Domo. Is he going to join the Eternals? Nobody knows. It's all going to be very interesting. But you know what, new characters. I love it!

Then we have the second end-credits scene. This one was very confusing for me. I didn't know anything that was going on. So, we have Dane. He kind of tells Sersi, just before Arishem abducts her, that he has an interesting family history that he hasn't told her about. In the second end-credits scene, he's got this blade, and he's very uncomfortable about actually opening the box and actually holding it. And then there's this voice that says, are you sure you want to do that? So, we had no idea what was happening.

Mon: Yeah. The box even had this very ominous saying: death is the only reward.

Ron: And I was like, is this from The Mummy.

Mon: Exactly! After reading that, I wouldn’t pick up that creepy looking sword either.

Ron: I know. It didn't look great. So, we kept wondering who the voice was. I was sure that it was Dr Strange. The girls behind me, who had stopped screaming finally, they thought it was Nick Fury.

Mon: Eventually, Chloé Zhao has revealed who the voice is. And it is Blade, played by Mahershala Ali.

Ron: I did not expect the vampire connection to come into Eternals but hey, I’ll take it. Again, new characters. I’m all for it.

Mon: I feel like this phase of the MCU is going to lead us to crossovers galore.

Ron: I would love that.

Mon: Exactly.

Ron: I've always loved crossovers. Marvel team-ups are the best. This is a great idea.

Mon: They should just do it.

Ron: I mean, we know that Dr Strange is going to have Wanda in it. We know that Dr Strange is going to be in the next Spidey movie. Team-ups. Let’s go with it!

Mon: Exactly. Vampires and Eternals. Hey, let's do it. Well, Dane in the comics is a character called Black Knight…

Ron: Oh… Mon: Who wields the Ebony Blade.

Ron: Wait, Black Knight is supposed to be a movie on the MCU roster, so I guess he's gonna be…

Mon: Oh! I didn't even know it was going to be a movie on the roster.

Ron: Somebody who is writing or producing this film is working on Black Knight. Mon: Okay, well, wow. He's gonna star in his own film.

Ron: I think that explains why there are so many writers on this film, because some of those writers are writing other films.

Mon: Okay. That makes sense.

Ron: So, they had to kind of come in here and just tie it in. I'm not sure how I feel about that. Mon: I'm not sure either. Do I really want an entire movie about Dane? Ron: Let's see what happens. It's the MCU. There are going to movies that work and others that don't quite work but you still enjoy them.

Mon: And some movies that will surprise us, like this one. I was really worried about it.

Ron: I was not sure what to think about it because I didn't know anything about these people. We had really enjoyed Chloé Zhao’s Nomadland. We were very excited by the fact that there was a woman of colour who was directing it and writing it.

You get aspects of that in this film, the diversity of the cast for one. You get so many different eras, so many different locations, so many different languages. You get cultures that are not just the same American culture all the time. I think that's huge win. We really needed this. It's not perfect. There is a lot of exposition. Some of the characters got shunted to the wayside. The romance in the middle was not so great. But it kind of dared to do a few bold things. And those bits really did work. And you got a South-Asian hero. I am really happy about that.

But, yeah, I really enjoyed it. If you've caught Eternals? What did you think about it? Let us know.

Ron: You can find us on Twitter @Stereo_Geeks. Or send us an email [email protected]. We hope you enjoyed this episode. And see you next week!

Mon: The Stereo Geeks logo was created using Canva. The music for our podcast comes courtesy Audionautix.

[Continuum by Audionautix plays]

Transcription by Otter.ai, Ron, and Mon.

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