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oidheadh-con-culainn · 6 years ago

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In your opinion, who does Cu Chulainn like more between Laeg and Ferdiad? And do you think Cu Chulainn is capable of choosing between them if forced to? Or does he just like them equally?

i don’t think you can really directly compare them, to be honest… he has such a different relationship with the both of them that it’s not an either/or situation. there are some texts, particularly later/early modern ones, that seem to be casting láeg slightly in the role of ‘fer diad replacement’, but that’s not how he comes across to me in the bulk of the material

if we have a look at them both individually… [this is super long so i’m putting it below a cut to save people’s dashboards. also yes i just did like 45 mins’ worth of literary analysis for a tumblr ask. why am i like this]

fer diad was cú chulainn’s companion / close friend / lover when he was very young, while training in alba with scáthach. they were extremely close, having trained and fought together over a substantial period of time, often in seemingly isolated situations. the text indicates that they shared a bed (which, obviously, doesn’t necessarily indicate that anything homoerotic is going on, but does lend itself to that interpretation).

they haven’t seen each other in several years.

they meet again now for what seems like the first time since their youth, and everything has changed. they’re on opposite sides of a war, both torn by their loyalties to their ruler and to their family (both have a familial connection to the person they’re fighting for). it’s a conflict between childhood (foster brother) and adult (family, land) loyalties, and the adult ones win out. despite this, they briefly recapture their childhood intimacy in between fighting each other, but only for the first two days, before even that proves too difficult to maintain in the face of the violence they’re forced to do one another.

(for the record, the way i personally elect to read their relationship is that when they were young they were extremely intimate and had a vaguely romantic relationship, but i don’t tend to read that as sexual because they are literal children. now, granted, this is somewhat anachronistic and inaccurate because, you know, this is cú chulainn we’re talking about, he supposedly sleeps with scáthach at that age even though he’s like six, but the texts which emphasise his closeness to fer diad – and his youth – don’t mention that aspect, so it has the feeling of a divergent tradition in which he’s a bit older. anyway point is i read them as romantic while they’re in training but then they meet again in the táin and cú chulainn is seventeen and fer diad is a bit older and it’s like. oh damn. oh. oh this is not a feeling i should be having about the guy i’m about to fight but. damn. and then they make out. that part’s sort of canon.)

so that’s his relationship with fer diad. it’s… messy and devastating and that’s where its power lies; it’s got this long period of separation in the middle during which they both grow up considerably which really shifts how they interact with each other, and then this catastrophic reunion under the worst of circumstances.

(bearing in mind a lot of this is extrapolated from how they talk to each other in flashbacks, because we don’t ever properly see their youth together)

láeg is cú chulainn’s closest friend throughout his life. it’s unclear where or when they met. one version of compert con culainn has them raised together, both nursed by láeg’s mother, which would mean láeg is probably not more than a year or so older than cú chulainn (since he’s still nursing when cú chulainn is born). other versions don’t mention this, and it’s not clear at what point they become close friends, but it happened at some point. it’s not even entirely clear what province láeg is from, although i think based on that one version of compert con culainn an argument could be made for leinster, which would explain why he’s not hit by the ulaid’s curse (unless charioteers don’t count).

láeg is at cú chulainn’s side throughout the táin. they’re alone there together for literally months. he’s cú chulainn’s servant, technically, but their relationship has some bizarre power dynamics going on (in the book of leinster MS, cú chulainn repeatedly calls him ‘a mo phopa’, which is a very… respectful/deferential way to refer to an older guy, not really what you’d expect. eDIL claims the term is occasionally used as a familiar way to address a social inferior, but honestly? i’m pretty sure they just put that in to explain cú chulainn using it for láeg. i’ve talked about this a few times on this blog, discussing other ways to interpret it, like ‘bro’, which would lean into the interpretation of láeg as cú chulainn’s surrogate older brother figure. alternatively he calls him ‘daddy’ which. you know. is cursed but also uncomfortably valid.)

they play fidchell together, which is like the medieval irish version of chess, and we learn that láeg wins about 50% of the time. given cú chulainn’s association with lug, who supposedly invented fidchell, this suggests that láeg is not only his equal, but also knows him very, very well – well enough to predict his moves.

láeg is with cú chulainn until he dies; he dies because he’s hit by a spear that was aimed at cú chulainn, who dies later in the same story. he’s in the majority of texts that cú chulainn is in (with a few notable exceptions that i’m working on identifying). he goes to the otherworld on cú chulainn’s behalf, at one point, which is pretty brave of him. cú chulainn trusts him and is closer to him than virtually anybody else. i don’t think we ever see him put that much faith in another person.

can you compare them? i don’t know. based on what he says in the táin, láeg was there when cú chulainn and fer diad were training together. he knows them both, and he knows how close they were. he tries to convince cú chulainn not to fight fer diad, because he knows it’ll destroy him. he’s the one who picks the grieving cú chulainn up and convinces him to stay alive afterwards. (at one point he has to literally tie cú chulainn to a bed to make sure he stays still long enough to heal from his wounds. láeg is the long-suffering mumfriend.)

it’s also worth mentioning here that in the stowe manuscript (and only the stowe MS), fer diad’s charioteer is named as idh mac riangabra, láeg’s brother. this name comes up elsewhere as being conall cernach’s charioteer, and since this is only in stowe i tend not to pay much attention to it, but it seems relevant here, because láeg and idh act as interesting foils for cú chulainn and fer diad. they end up fighting each other in their attempts to protect their masters – more specifically, they fight over the gae bolga, which láeg is attempting to pass to cú chulainn; idh is trying to stop him, in order to protect fer diad. in other words, we have two brothers whose loyalty to their masters is greater than their loyalty to each other, causing them to fight… which is more or less the exact position cú chulainn and fer diad have ended up in.

(it’s not just loyalty that sets them against each other; it’s also shame, and honour, and the fact that medb has straight-up threatened to kill fer diad if he doesn’t, or at least, make him fight a whole group of other warriors, which amounts to the same thing. personally i think if he can hold cú chulainn off for three days and cú chulainn can fight like 30 people at once, fer diad is definitely in with a chance of surviving whatever medb throws at him, but maybe he’s better in one-on-one situations. certainly he doesn’t seem to think he can live through it, and in the stowe manuscript he explicitly laments that “medb will kill me with a host” if he doesn’t fight for her, so…)

that interpretation of the charioteers would place láeg’s bond with cú chulainn as the strongest of this mess of interpersonal relationships, i guess, but i think there are a lot of factors going on and none of them are really free to act on what they want – they’re doing what’s required of them (by society, by their rulers, whatever), no matter the personal cost. i don’t think you can really look at the táin and be like “ah yes, i know what cú chulainn wants, personally” because… do we? do we really? i think he wants a nap. láeg almost certainly does.

so, in the end, i’m not sure it comes down to a question of ‘liking’. if forced to choose, i think cú chulainn’s loyalty is to láeg. láeg’s loyalty is certainly to cú chulainn, despite knowing fer diad and understanding what he means to cú chulainn. they are… incredibly close, in a way that seems unusual for a warrior-charioteer pairing given what we see with others, but makes perfect sense if you read it that they grew up together from infancy, and i don’t think we ever see that bond being broken between them.

also, like, he never brutally murdered láeg, which is for sure a point in his favour, given that he… very much did eviscerate fer diad. that cannot be overlooked. that’s kind of an important point.

having said that, as a general rule, i don’t think he wants to make out with láeg. i can occasionally be persuaded to think otherwise, but i generally don’t read their relationship that way, whereas he canonically kisses fer diad.

(kissing in medieval irish lit is actually pretty rare? at some point i really want to do more research into any other scenarios in which there is kissing of any kind, because it doesn’t come up that much, and i feel like exploring those would allow for a more solid interpretation of comrac fir diad as either ‘nothing to see here, just regular homosocial intimacy in a warrior society’ or ‘huh, this is unusual. guess it must be gay’. reading it in conjunction with, say, medieval french lit would suggest the former, but in the context of medieval irish lit specifically… idk, i’m leaning towards the latter, but i need to do more research before i can state that categorically.)

tl;dr i think he has a very different relationship with them both that can’t directly be compared, but if forced to choose, would probably pick láeg.

did i need 1800 words to say that? probably not but here they are anyway

#laeg mac riangabra #cu chulainn #cu chulainn/laeg #fer diad #tain bo cuailnge #medieval irish #tc does academia #answered #rionaofblue #cu chulainn/fer diad #irish mythology

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hyacinth-fairfield-blog · 6 years ago

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running competition

who: @forcstfire when: 01 AUG 2018 where: tara

Dawn. The cool, crisp air in Tara welcomed Hyacinth, and his heart jumped happily at the sight of bright orange pumpkin patches sprawled along fields of green. He reached out a hand to touch one of the pumpkins, and it instantly grew from the size of an apple, to the size of a child’s cradle. The Unseelie Court were all iron and snow, and though he was used to that, he must admit all this color truly makes his heart sing. He had arrived early to join in on the mourning song, thinking of his father, and of Caora, and all the other fey he considered heroes. After the song, he simply loitered around, listing in his head which competitions he’d like to try next this year. Lugnasad is a day of true happiness for Hyacinth, a day where he had willed himself to forget every single worry of the past few days and months, a day of true neutrality between the two Courts - a special day, Hyacinth’s favorite holiday. The rest of the time until noon was spent with him mingling among all the different fey, stopping here and now for a chat, a simple greeting, and talking to his own mother. They stood together as the Queen Tailte was announced, and Hyacinth couldn’t help but let out a small chuckle when Aster was chosen. He’s certain Aster would relish being a royal for this day. His mother, inquiringly, looked up at him to ask what was so funny, and he answered, with a small smile, “Oh, nothing. I work with him, he is going to have a lot of fun today, I am sure. I’m happy he got chosen.” Satisfied with that answer, his mother smiled. It his turn to ask, and he wanted to know if she was going to participate in the games. “Not this year, sweetheart. I’d leave all the fun games to all you young ones. Which ones are you joining in?” Hyacinth bit his lip, deep in thought. He’d tried almost all of the games in the previous years. He’s just doing a rotation of them at this point. “I haven’t gone for running in a while, I’ll go with that. And swimming, though I’m almost certain Frost would just beat me again.” Hyacinth wasn’t very fond of competitions that required him to physically fight someone, such as boxing and wrestling, and during the years he had tried (just for the novelty of it) he had predictably lost. “Archery seems safe enough, Father thought me before when I was young, do you remember?” They talked more about the memory of his father, and with another pang he realized he forgot what he looks like. But he promised he wouldn’t worry for today, so looked up at the sky clearing his mind, and stood there among his kind, Seelie and Unseelie alike. He couldn’t wait for the games to begin. A little past noon and the lanes were, one-by-one, being filled. Runners were taking their position. Hyacinth already anticipated how much this chilly air would nip at his nostrils and burn his lungs after he has completed the track. It would hurt, and he couldn’t wait. He wanted to feel the rush, the wind against his face, his long limbs working their way almost on their own to get him to the finish line. “Hey, good luck,” he told the person next to him, offering a small polite smile, even when his heart constricted a little at the sight of the Seelie overseer ( his presence reminded him of An Fidchell ). While usually he didn’t care too much if he won or not, he wanted to win this particular one. Every year, Hyacinth chose a “special” competition for that particular year, and this 2018, it happened to be running. He doesn’t really know what his chances are, knowing a little about Forest’s past as a firefighter. If Hyacinth wasn’t mistaken, they would have had training that also included running, perhaps climbing. Forest would be formidable competition.

#feywildstart #event 008 #lugnasad #this got a bit long lol no need to match #also his mother's fc is viola davis bc i LOVE HER

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feywildrp · 6 years ago

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THE TRAPPER // Zircon. Earth fey: Chihuahua. Seelie Court. Born in 1919. Living at the Atlas, Apt. 09B.

Personal Power: Dimensionality; Zircon can turn his 2D paper drawings into 3D inanimate objects, though more difficult if the paper is wet or the sketch is poor.

KNOWN TRAITS // Hedonistic, naive, careless, sadistic, redeemable.

A little party never hurt no one. Bright young thing. Movie palaces with silver screens, night clubs with art deco dreams. Smooth criminal with a surrealist sketchbook. The pop of a sparkling wine bottle. Elixirs on your tongue. Winner winner chicken dinner. Here, it’s always the end of the rainbow. Fool’s gold coins and penny slots. Looks like a diamond but heavier. What you see isn’t always what you get. Hurting is in the eye of the beholder.

History

⇢ Trigger warnings: death mentions.

Zircon wasn’t quite a newborn when his family moved from Ireland to the great promises of Manhattan in the 1920s. World War I was over and with that relief came all the shining possibilities of prosperous modern life and emerging technologies. Zircon grew up a native of this new world while other fey were still adjusting. He admired the gunmetal glamour; it shaped his childhood and his person. His parents were not upper class fey, but that didn’t stop him from having his eye on the prize of life: after all, the American dream was for him, too, now. Though he was old enough to vaguely remember the Sacrifice of Princess Fianait, he was too young to understand the motion nor its crash and consequence. Indeed, Zircon, so far, has trouble understanding consequences and moves through the world with a certain ease and carelessness, as if trusting all will always fall into place for him. That’s because—for most of his life—it has. His personal power held a similar magical thread to the King’s Lure, Tiger, and the older fey took him under her wing to train with her. As Oakenfold Casino grew, so, too, did Zircon. He was welcomed among the throng of revellers in King Adare’s Court and took to that life; over time, he even became a confidante of the King. He developed a sense of style akin to the nouveau riche who liked things extravagant and boisterous.

Zircon worked hard earning his place and partied hard to make up for it, but he still had the youthful naivety of his age. When the Courts came into their alliance in 1939, Zircon was just 20 years old. The Court camaraderie was palpable and he spent some time downtown at the Rookery acquiring quite a taste for elixirs and for a particular Runner, too. Zircon knew that inter-Court romance was punishable by death—and so did the Runner, who evaded his advances at every turn in order to protect them both and to not lead him on. But hasn’t there always been an allure in the forbidden? When the Courts’ alliance splintered in 1946 and the cold war between them settled in, so, too, did Zircon’s heartbreak; the sensation was as deep as it was new. When his mentor, Tiger, experienced the death of a human friend in 1951, the two bonded over their grief... until Tiger had the wild idea in 1952 to beg aicsus of an Unseelie—Rowan, of all people—to remove the memories of their losses. After this, the pair were back to their usual schemes, with slight alteration: they were unable to form any new emotional attachments. While this made Tiger more of a free spirit, it made Zircon more of a sadist. With Tiger no longer at the helm after her retirement, there’s no one to reign him in or cover for his games at Oakenfold—and while Zircon is quite the party boy who loves a good time with the fey, Zircon has never held Tiger’s affection for humans.

Occupation

Lure.

As the new official Seelie Court Lure as of August 2018, it’s Zircon’s job to catch people on the street and entice them to enter Oakenfold. He learned the art of sleight of hand from his mentor but puts his own twist on it with being able to create objects out of paper sketches. Zircon understands the importance of the casino in Seelie orchestrations. Zircon has a rivalry with the Unseelie Lure, Larkspur, as they compete with one another to draw in humans.

Connections

Oleander: Being close friends with the King put Zircon in the same circles as the clever Archfey Oleander. Over the past few months, Oleander noticed that Zircon is more overt with his sadism and worries that will ruin his Luring for the Court, which cannot be jeopardized. She’s working on finding a “cure” for his apathy.

Rowan: The Unseelie who took his memory of the Runner. Zircon knows that Ro can call on him for a favour any time, but he prefers not to think about that, thinking that he may never need to repay his debt. In the meanwhile, Zircon just keeps his distance and likes to pretend it never happened to preserve his secret.

Tyler: Tyler doesn’t know this, but it was actually Zircon’s mentor who started it all. Tiger lured Jason Young into the fold back in 2016; around June 21st, 2017 he went permanently missing, as that’s when he died on the An Fidchell board in feyry. Zircon wants to lure Tyler in and pick up on Tiger’s legacy.

PLAYLIST 1. Art Deco // 2. The Hills // 3. All the Stars

Zircon is portrayed by Michael B. Jordan. The faceclaim is NEGOTIABLE. Zircon is currently OPEN and AVAILABLE for application.

#lsrpg #original rp #bio rp #michael b jordan #michael b jordan fc #bio #seelie #earth #fey #zirconbio #open

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feywildrecap · 6 years ago

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Feywild Recap 7/26/18

Time for our quasi weekly recap, reminding you of the things you may have missed while you were working, vacationing, sleeping, or just having a life. This week brought us another influx of new characters to love and I’m going to have to get better at doing these ACTUALLY weekly because y’all have been busy! Let’s get into it.

Aster decided to get a few rounds after his shift at the bar then proceeded to try and buy Hyacinth a drink. Only problem was Hyacinth was working and is apparently no fun. At all.

Maybe Hyacinth would be more fun if his girlfriend hadn’t just died in An Fidchell (the world may never know) but sadly Elise has shuffled off this mortal coil.

Willow and Garnet are having a girl’s night. Garnet, to everyone’s eternal relief, is finally realizing maybe she deserves better than the King (-GASP-) who doesn’t love her.

Nadia is engaging in retail therapy and getting the opinions of anyone who will stand still long enough to provide one.

Adare asked Forest to keep an eye out for Knox, since Onyx noticed him hanging around.

Larkspur and Benji are still chatting, though Lark is now giving specific elixir recommendations. I feel like this can only end in tears.

In case no one noticed, Patrick is tall.

Adare and Willow’s conversation is going beyond the typical surface chat and real questions are getting asked. It seems like Adare is really trying to make sure Willow knows he is trying to make things better for the court. Whether or not they believe him is another story.

Since Nadia struck out with Forest in terms of discovering what Slane meant when he referenced the fey, she’s turned to Sean. Perhaps because he’s tired of watching her flail uselessly, Sean is actually giving her some answers.

Ember and Kaitlin are spending the 4th drinking together at the Irish pub.

Memes. Text memes everywhere. And some people (you know who you are) took that whole heartbreaking text a bit too seriously. Ouch.

Rowan is apparently starting a mentorship program for young unseelie, taking time to offer assistance and instruction to both Camellia and Larkspur. I would love for both of them to start following her around and trying to be just a little more like Ro in how they dress and talk. Wishful thinking? Probably, but I can see an AU forming. (No one judge me, its 4 am)

Nickel got drunk at a wedding in Jersey and texted Hazel to see about getting some mac and cheese. Hazel, after a little confusion, agreed because who doesn’t love a stray?

If you’d like to know more about Adare and his former wife, Bethany wrote a literal novel. But it’s beautiful and worth reading. Also informational. Did you know lushy was a word in 1849? I didn’t. Gotta read to find out context….

Ember is treating Quinn to a night on the town. And by town, I mean water. On a yacht. To rub elbows with a certain unnamed hollywood actor.

Willow has given Hazel a bit more info on the rebellion and Hazel, like the dork she is, is making Star Wars comparisons in her mind. If they ever try to teach her to fight, expect her to make lightsaber noises.

Adare and Marigold are having a moment. Possibly because Adare is drunk. Regardless, a moment was had -- with a hug, no less. Adare told her that he loved her mother and loved (note the past tense, intentional or not) her and her sister.

Ember and Cobalt are hanging out at the bar, but not splitting nachos… because Cobalt is selfish about that kind of thing.

Marigold and Forest are also hanging out at a bar for drinks, sans nachos. They’re contemplating places they’d rather be. So far better options include beaches, mountains, and some place upstate.

Cobalt and Willow are being adorable and also pushing the boundaries of appropriate workplace conduct at Oakenfold.

Adare revealed to the Seelie Court that he was working on a fix to the fertility crisis but that the fix might actually be another problem. A problem named Knox Bakshi who may or may not be stalking and/or murdering fey. Good talk.

Peridot is picking up where Jasper left off (someone please recruit us a Jasper) and touching base with Nickel. Because the rebellion’s motto is “the more, the merrier.”

Sean has named his price to join the rebellion -- the name of the changeling who took his place. It could get uncomfortable if both Nickel and Sean are recruited.

Hazel and Cobalt got stuck working late and are debating the merits of Red Bull.

Kaitlin finally returned Davey’s cat to him. Pros: positive, chipper, rambly Davey. Cons: he can’t remember why he shouldn’t be those things.

Speaking of Davey, he decided after a month of hiding out with his fam (a well deserved break, I’m sure) he’d try to figure out why he had a poker chip from a casino. His presence brought about a few different reactions. Adare “recognizing” his neighbor, Quinn checking on a stranger, Tyler legit checking on a stranger, Hazel turning into a dog to try to keep him from returning to repeat his mistakes, etc.

Brielle totally stole Adare’s watch (by accident, of course) so Adare decided coffee wasn’t enough and has asked her to join him for dinner to return it. Patrick sees no problem with this arrangement, provided Adare continues to be generous. He’s hoping for a taco truck.

Kaitlin decided she’d moped long enough and took to dancing in the rain with friends and sort of strangers alike.

Marigold and Camellia are having lunch to discuss their daddy issues. I really hope their waiter is a therapist on the side.

#recap4 #recap 7/26/18 #there was a LOT this time so don't hesitate to tell me if I missed something that should be known

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andmarigolds-blog · 6 years ago

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✆✉☎⁇ø#@&%ツ$♀// xoxo

Send “✆” for a MORNING text.

{ → Father } I’m taking Sorrel’s early shift today{ → Father } He is not feeling well but will cover my evening

Send “✉” for a text that WASN’T SENT.

{ → Father } I have no idea how to explain to you how horrible this Freesia thing is for me

Send “��” for a RUSHED text.

{ → Father } broken window at Oakenfold{ → Father } drunk table tried to fight Forest

Send “⁇” for a DRUNK text.

{ → Father } why sorrel.?{ → Father } he didn’t deserve jt

Send “ø” for a LATE NIGHT text.

{ → Father } I dont care that willow hates me but can you ask them to stop glaring at me at work and start doing their job instead

Send “#” for a RANDOM text.

{ → Father } I have no idea what that means, so I think it was intended for someone else?

Send “@” for a SCARED text.

{ → Father } were the Nuadha behind the fire at Fidchell?

Send “&” for a LOVING text.

{ → Father } Happy Father’s Day.

Send “%” for a CURIOUS text.

{ → Father } what was Mom’s middle name?{ → Father } it’s a security question on my bank account

Send “ツ” for an EXCITED text.(you didn’t say it had to be a happy excited)

{ → Father } is Freesia safe from the fire?{ → Father } Ember said she got her out

Send “$” for an ACCIDENTAL text.

{ → Father } white or red for dinner tonight?

Send “♀” for a HEARTBREAKING text. (see: WASN’T SENT)

{ → Father } I’m so happy for what this means to the Court.

BONUS: Send “✘” for a HATEFUL text.

{ → Father } our grandmother killed herself the same night we met her? and you didn’t tell us?{ → Father } we deserved to know

#with : adare #goldmalice #answered

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hazyhazel · 6 years ago

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Aloe Mate | Hazel & Sorrel

When: Early June Where: The Atlas Who: @knight-in-shining-armani

She’d intended to check in on Sorrel more often after he’d let the arboretum, but her conversation with Davey had thrown her for a loop. She didn’t want to believe that Sorrel, who’d never been anything but nice and genuine with her, was capable of such deception. A bit of digging, however, had confirmed that Bette had been a Seelie player. Davey’s story checked out. Of course Hazel knew that the fey didn’t consider human lives something worth protecting, but this felt low... Sorrel wasn’t even a lure. And so she let the business of life keep her distracted. Work. Family. Finn was out of school for the summer so she was finally able to spend time with him. It was just easier not to think about the fact that Davey hated her, Sorrel had tricked him, and Kaitlin was distant.

Until she heard the whimper.

Hazel had left a small cutting of her aloe plant in Sorrel’s bedroom -- an intentional gift intended to let her check in on him since she’d heard him in the arboretum. Sleep was more and more difficult to come by as Fidchell drew nearer, so she was up and baking cookies. While she waited for the oven to pre-heat, she went through her routine of touching all her plants, just listening for a few seconds to each of their counterparts. She heard her father’s snore. Heath’s computer game. Finn...well, she didn’t listen long. It seemed he had a new boyfriend. She checked in on everyone, touching the aloe plant last and hearing the unmistakable sounds of someone having a nightmare.

It didn’t matter that she wasn’t thrilled with Sorrel’s behavior -- that had happened before they even met. She clicked off the oven and grabbed the bowl of cookie dough, dropping a pint of vanilla ice cream from the freezer on top. She tugged a fluffy purple blanket from the back of her couch and tossed it over her shoulder, then headed upstairs.

She knocked lightly on the door but didn’t want to wake the whole building, so she let herself in. “Sorrel? You awake?” she called, “I couldn’t sleep...I brought cookie dough.”

#sorrel #knight-in-shining-armani #{ Isn't there a white knight upon a fiery steed? | Gaston }#aloe mate #get it? like 'ello mate

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fidchellvore · 11 months ago

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At long last, we can now see all the members of Beatrix's Lollipop gang. We got Ashe, who we already know of (and has received some slight design changes), but there are two more ladies in the crew! We have Opal, an earth Dracha who wanders Dresden as a prostitute, and then we have Emery, a timid avian who lives her life behind an LCD at almost all times, specializing as a hacker.

It's a small gang, but they've all been brought together thanks to the Risers, who have wronged them all in some way. They act as vigilantes, disrupting the Risers' operations wherever they can.

These girls all carry the Lollipop symbol on their person, the colors representing their favorite flavors.

#fidchell works #anthro #Ashe #Opal #Emery

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iambecomcdeath · 7 years ago

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Peeping Tom

Date: February 20th Location: The Rookery Availability: @overseerivy

Tuesday was their slowest night of the week; not the same lamentation of Monday, and not yet worth a hump-day celebration for the mere mortals who had careers slinging time through a 9-to-5. Ro had a job all the same, but it—to her—was far more meaningful than any hamster wheel. She might be a cog in the great grind of the Unseelie machine, but at least she was a damn big cog, and didn’t feel she was going in circles. At least she made things work.

Mulling this over as she drank one of the house bourbon fizz cocktails, Ro realized that An Fidchell was less than six months away and she still didn’t know if her boy was headed to the Elite 5 this year. Decisions wouldn’t be made around that until May, anyway, but that never stopped Ro from trying to wheedle information on what the rankings looked like. She spotted Ivy across the bar, chatting with the hostess, looking as bored as Ro felt.

Maybe bored enough to talk trash about some Players. That would be luck.

With her typical languid saunter, Ro moved across the room toward Ivy. Granted, Ro wasn’t technically an employee there, but she was there enough between brawl clean-ups and bourbon bottoms to be mistaken for it. “Oi, Ivy,” Ro called to her as she approached. “You look as bored as I feel, and in New York, isn’t any reason for that,” Ro said, hitching up one corner of her mouth into her trademark smirk. “Tell me something interesting, darling, would you?”

#int: ivy #rep: ivy #scene: peeping tom #02.20.18

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overseerivy-blog · 7 years ago

Text

Audition

IC stuff:

Ivy

Pronouns for the character: She/her

Sean

Ivy does her best not get close to her Players. After all, there’s a 90% chance any of those who enter fidchell will die. Being close only leads to more heartache. But after thirty years…how could Sean not work his way into her heart a little? He’s as close as she’ll ever have to a child (even feyry magic won’t allow two women to have children as far as she’s aware). She cares about him deeply, loves him even, in her own, distant way. It was her idea even that when he come to live in the human realm that his apartment be on the same floor as her own. She never lets him see it—in fact she’s far harder on him in training than any of the other because she knows he can do better. And she knows if he doesn’t, he will end up dead. She doesn’t show it, not in the least, but she does care about him and she’s not ready for him to die. Not even ready for him to face fidchell, even though he probably should have already years ago. She knows the day is coming—and sooner rather than later now that he seems to want it—and her not wanting it to come doesn’t mean it won’t.

Players

Ivy is extraordinarily protective over her Players. She keeps them all at arms length, knowing that pure statistics says they’re more than likely going to die on her, but that’s not the same as not caring about them. She genuinely wants each of her Players to win, even if she knows they all can’t. She works with each one, training them their best, even if that means giving one tips on how to kill another. She spends too much time with them just to not give a fuck at all. So when anyone for any reason dares put one of her pupils at risk? There is hell to pay in the form of a very angry Ivy. And maybe feyry customs dictates she can’t kill you, but that doesn’t mean she won’t make it clear she’d like to. Ivy tends to be a bit of a mother bear with her Players. She’s kind to them, just enough to them to know she cares about them, wants the best for them (and truly, she does), and will fight anyone over one of her kids, but she just holds them at arm’s length. It’s not that she doesn’t care about the Players—she absolutely does—she just can’t let herself get attached to them. It would be emotionally crippling if she did and she knows it. But she still takes time to spend with them, sometimes even outside of training. After all, knowing why they’re fighting is the biggest thing and Overseer can bring to the table. God knows she never would have won her game if it weren’t for the love she thought was on the line. She just wants to make sure that whatever they’re fighting for is actually worth putting their lives on the line.

Sparrow

The first time Ivy felt her bones rearranging, shrinking smaller, shifting shape, she already knew she’d be an air affinity. There had always been something about escaping to heights (if you’re looking for her at the Rookery and can’t find her, she’s probably on the roof). She’d always liked staring out her tiny window and watching the birds fly overhead. She quite likes being a sparrow. It’s small and, sure, she could imagine a hundred other birds perhaps more fitting to her personality, but it’s nice. It’s also convenient. Tactical genius that she is, if she wants to avoid you (or just…everyone), she has a tendency to just turn into a bird and fly away and refuse to shift back until she’s damn well ready to.

Forest

It’s not Forest’s fault she hates him. Ivy has hated every Seelie Overseer since she took the position on the Unseelie side of things. She’s highly competitive as it is and with the other Overseer, it’s always at its worst, and she doesn’t tend to keep quiet about it. After all, they are quite literally trying to get her best and brightest killed. Forest however has it worst than most of the Overseers. She thinks it’s a fucking joke that the Seelies would hand over such an important position to someone who just won their game. And really, after all, won it for nothing (pot…meet kettle). He also took out one of her favorites for a fidchell win and the bitterness from that hasn’t even had time to pass just yet. Sure, she can’t physically act against him, but that doesn’t mean she won’t lash at him with her tongue and let everyone know she thinks the Seelie court made the wrong choice in Overseer.

Hyacinth

If there’s one person who rivals her dislike of Forest, it’s Hyacinth. She never had anything against him before. He was just another courtesan and, sure, and as a rule, she’s never trusted Knights because of what Pearl did to her. And then came Elise. The moment the words left the young (yes 25 is young) girl’s mouth that she was fighting for the love of a fey—much less a fey as old and well-connected as Hyacinth—Ivy’s blood boiled. All she can see is exactly what happened to her. It doesn’t matter to her if fey can’t lie because that doesn’t mean they tell the truth. She doesn’t trust him. Not at all. Especially not with one of her kids (as she so often refers to her Players). She’s made it more than clear that she doesn’t want him anywhere near her Players—especially not Elise. The odds of him being called for Tithe are high and honestly? Good. Maybe with him gone, she could talk sense into Elise and show her that some things just aren’t worth dying for.

Violence

There is a soft side to Ivy, locked deep underneath her iron bars. It’s just that the violent side has been nourished far more. For years she fought and trained to be able to do nothing better than to kill. She fought against her human instincts that said it was wrong and learned not to be repulsed by the feeling of blood coating her hands. Then, suddenly, at the drop of a hat, she became fey. And suddenly violence against peers wasn’t just frowned on, it flat out wasn’t allowed. It was a really rough transition—one that led her to all but live inside the fidchell training areas. For a long time (and to some extent, even now, all these years later), it was jarring, no longer being able to indulge in the exact violence that saved her life once. She’s not blood thirsty exactly, she doesn’t live to kill, but it’s been a part of her since she started training close more than half a century ago. It’s this, perhaps, that draws her to Rowan. She’s someone else who can understand that, who can understand that that darkness, even if you don’t always want it, is there, even when you have to smother it out.

Name

Born Gail Aurelia Carter, she probably could have simply used her human name when she became fey. But the simple fact was, she wasn’t that hopeful, shoeless girl any more. She’d been tossing around a few ideas for a while, even discussed them with Pearl. But when she looked up to the crowd, blood rolling down her face moments after her win and saw the woman she loved laughing and smiling and oh-so-obviously flirting with another, she knew which to choose. She knew it would be Ivy. Even in the most dead landscape, even when all else was broken and hopeless, ivy lives. In fact, it doesn’t just live, it thrives. No matter how dark and bleak, Ivy finds a way to keep growing just as strong as always. Her new name is the one thing she has never thought twice about in her new life. Even after all these years, she still adamantly feels the name describes her perfectly.

Fidchell

Fidchell is always a bitter sweet time for Ivy. On one hand it’s all excitement and anticipation and potential, it is never not steeped in loss. Ivy keeps her Players at arm’s length, does everything possible not to allow a connection to form. But that doesn’t mean watching no less than four of them die every year doesn’t come without its own sting. She knows it’s necessity (as far as feyry culture is concerned at least) and that none of the humans are doing anything they didn’t literally sign up for, but it still has a bit of a bitter taste, no matter how much she loves the adrenaline soaked tactical high. And all of that is without taking into consideration the memories of winning the game but losing the girl.

Rowan

Ivy’s heard the stories, the ones about a love as strong an powerful as the two women in it. Maybe that’s where it started. That Ivy knew Rowan knew what it was like to love a woman and to have it all pulled away from you. Being an Overseeer and tactical to the core, Ivy specializes in seeing all the strengths and weaknesses in everyone and Ivy sees the one thing that most people don’t about Rowan. She’s capable of love. But it’s not like that. She sees a bit of herself in Rowan, similar paths, though walked through extremely different terrain. Both sentenced to a life of harshness they never wanted yet comes all too naturally to them. Neither without caring or love or softness (or so Ivy tells herself of Rowan), yet known for their coldness and violence. And it would be lying to say that Rowan’s skill with knives isn’t something even Ivy marvels at. She can’t quiet explain why she’s drawn to Rowan, she just knows she is. And really…isn’t that what love’s about?

Human Realm

At first glance, Ivy left the human world to follow Pearl. And that’s not untrue, Pearl was the catalyst, the thing that made her want it more than anything, but it wasn’t the only thing. She was born in The Depression, raised during war and the darkest of humanity’s days, even by the time she was already caught up in the feyry realm, it was a time of civil unrest. Her future with the fey was on shaky ground at best, a pipe dream if harshly accurate. But it offered her a chance. What did she, a black lesbian, have waiting for her in the human realm? Her life would either be spent alone, forever, being downtrodden and having every right snatched out of her fingertips. Or, if she was lucky, she’d force herself to marry a man for her parents’ sakes, have children they likely couldn’t afford, and spend the rest of her life utterly miserable. Being a Player and having her go at Fidchell was a gamble. And sure, it could have left her with nothing. But really, she had nothing anyway. She wasn’t risking that much.

Quickie HCs:

Ivy is lesbian. She’s known it since her early teenage years, perhaps before. She can’t stand the idea of being with a male romantically or sexually and has only ever been attracted to females.

She has a tendency to accidentally use her power when training the Players. It really is an accident; it’s not her fault she won’t listen. Because of this there’s almost always some part of the training room that’s having to be patched or repaired.

She prefers hand-held short-range weapons, her favorites being chakrams and deerhorn knives

It was several years after her Fidchell win that she was appointed as Overseer. Someone realized she spent more time in the training area that she did anywhere else and after her impressive win, offered her the position. She had nothing else in the feyry realm, so she took it to protect those like her that would come after her.

Perhaps due to being raised in the heart of the Harlem Renaissance and a time when people had nothing but libraries, Ivy has a deep love of poetry. She has shelves full of poetic volumes—penned by humans and fey alike—and more evenings than not, after a long day of training and managing the Rookery, she can be found curled up with one of them.

Ivy refuses to use any Elixirs. She fully believes they do nothing but lower your abilities (sure 91 sounds good until you get used to being on it and have to function without it) and encourage addictions. Sure. Sell the to the patrons. But you won’t catch Ivy using them and there’s hell to pay for everyone when her Players are caught with them.

Even before becoming fey, Ivy didn’t much like lies. If she can’t tell you the truth, she won’t tell you anything at all. She also ha a very low tolerance for lying—even of the feyry variety that isn’t really lying but isn’t truth either. In fact, she finds that sort of manipulation worse.

Ivy can’t ever get over who beautiful An Sidean is. That initial awe has never left. As much as New York is and has always been home, she absolutely prefers An Sidean.

2 or more ambitions for the future:

Well for Ivy, her number one goal is to have an Unseelie play win Ad Fidchell every single year. Sure, statistically speaking, that’s not realistic, but that’s the goal. As the games approach, she will become more and more harsh with her Players, pushing them to and beyond their breaking points in order to make them stronger, to give them a better chance at being able to win. And then there’s the matter of actually having to see her Players called to the field. It’s exhilarating and the five chosen get damn near all her attention once chosen. Danica being called, sure, at least she’s fighting for the right thing. Elise? She’s too much like Ivy herself and she’d become even more insistent that the girl find another reason to fight. And Sean? Now that he’s trying to make the five, she knows he probably will, and she’ll fight like hell to give him his best chance at winning. But seeing the man she’s known going on thirty years will be easy. Just seeing how much more intense she gets with Fidchell chose and how it affects show she interacts with both her Players and everyone else around her.

A more tangible plot I thought of comes down to Ivy’s tactical mind. She wants to win, help her players win, and nothing is off limit to do so. If she finds out Nadia is Forest’s sister? The siblings better watch out. She’d try to start recruiting the girl. Not for any reason but to throw Forest off his game. I can picture the cat-that-caught-the-canary smile on her face as she tells Forest about getting this new Player, a beautiful human girl, she used to be a model, shame she couldn’t ever sign the Seelie docket because of her unfortunate scars from burns. It wouldn’t be anything but a power play, a move of tactical genius to not just throw Forest off his game, but fully off his pedestal. Though of course, if she can get Nadia on her team, she’d still train them with the best of them. She doesn’t let any of her Players slack off, even when their initial listing is nothing but a tactical choice.

One thing I noticed about Ivy as I read not only her bio but everyone else’s is that she doesn’t really have any friends or anyone she’s close to. Pearl didn’t just make love hard, she made any connections with fey difficult. Ivy’s one of them now, but even fifty years later, having been an Overseer for some time now, she’s still not actually fully melted into feyry realm. I’d like to see her finally make some connections. Maybe through her crush with Rowan—whether that ends up just as horribly as Pearl or finally a happily ever after. Maybe it’s building a friendship with someone—currently I favor Malachite as I’m sure they work heavily hand-in-hand with the Rookery and are both now training those raised in the human world (Ivy with her players, Malachite with Aster who was so deep in the human world). Maybe she finally comes around to Hyacinth seeing he really does love Elise. Maybe it’s someone totally not on my radar yet. I just want to see her start lowering her walls and letting someone in, moving closer back to center after having been closed off for a while. Her ice is melting and I want to see her letting people in along with that. Not change her entirely, but pull her a little closer to the person she once was.

Please describe how you interpret their personality:

To me, Ivy’s personality has two threads: her poet side and her warrior side. They’re two parts of her one whole and without either, she would not be herself. Since Pearl’s betrayal, it’s her warrior side that is most often seen, the one associated with her, with her own Fidchell win and those she’s trained. It’s cold and distant, never quite a friend even to those she’s closest. It’s tactical and calculating and intelligent. It’s what has allowed her to survive—both in her game and in giving up everything for the life she now has. She never lets anyone quite close enough to hurt her the way Pearl once did. She’s also fiercely intelligent. Her mind and tactical capabilities are most seen in training, but they serve her well elsewhere, whether it’s balancing the books and managing the workers at The Rookery or judging someone’s character. She’s good at reading people, good at reading the next move. She’s the kind of strong (physical and mental), confident, intelligent woman the human world told her she couldn’t be. She knows who she is and she knows what needs done and heaven help you if you stand in her way.

But just as important is her poet’s side. It’s not the public opinion of Ivy but it’s there, always bubbling under the surface. It’s a love of poetry and prose and art. It’s marveling at the beauty of the eyry realm even after fifty years. It’s her heart beating faster and a smile on her face every time she sees that beautiful scarred face of the woman they all call monster. It’s wanting the best for all her Players—genuinely wanting all of them to win, even if she knows that’s not possible. It’s getting to know their stories, why they fight and trying to keep others from repeating her mistakes. It’s being protective of these humans that so often feel like they don’t fully understand what they’ve signed up for. It’s valuing the truth even before it was a requirement of her existence. It’s climbing to roof tops and drifting on air currents with tiny wings when it’s all a bit too much. It’s raising a boy from birth even when she knows she’ll never be able to love him. It’s always wanting more. Always wishing things were just a little bit better. It’s easy smiles and conversations with every patron—human or fey—through The Rookery’s doors, the kind of casual conversation you expect from a bar owner. It’s the soft vulnerability that brought her here in the first place.

Ivy uses her warrior armor to protect her poet heart. You see the armor more, but without the beating heart, she’s just not herself. Her charm and charisma and outgoing ways draw people in, but the bitterness keeps everyone at arm’s length through believed necessity. Ivy’s the kind of girl who often inspires things to be said like “Ivy? Yeah, she’s great, I love her. I mean we’re not friends or anything, but she’s great.” She wants to hope for the best, for open opportunity, for love to be real, for the world to be anything but cruel. She wants that so badly. But her experiences tell her it’s all a lie. She’s starting to dethaw after the decades of pearlescent ice...but it only comes with time and the prayer that nothing goes wrong.

List 6 songs that could go on their profile.

I’d like to start by saying, personal songs/playlists are always a struggle for me in apps. Here’s a handful I’ve come up with but I’m more than happy to work with you to find new ones if you don’t feel these fit. I used “childhood” as her teen/young adult years where she’s coming face to face with her sexuality and meeting Pearl, because I think ultimately that’s more important in her story than her actual youth and doing without. Her turning point is when she wins Fidchell but realizes everything with Pearl was a lie since this felt like the most accurate way to segment her life. For full playlist, you can find the Spotify list here.

Childhood: Heaven’s Gate—Fall Out Boy

This song just perfectly encapsulates everything about she and Pearl’s relationships, through Ivy’s eyes, before the betrayal. Pearl has showed her this magical world that she so desperately wants to be a part of, and she knows she can’t get there without Pearl’s help (“give me a boost over heaven’s gates”—with heaven through the song being the feyry realm). Love with Pearl came easy (“one look from you”) and she gave everything for that relationship (“if there were any more left of me, I’d give it to you”). Pearl made the world happy and pretty and shiny and opened up this whole new “heaven” (ie the feyry realm) to Ivy and even if she hadn’t won in Fidchell as least she got a peak behind the curtain (“and in the end if I don’t make it on the list, would you sneak me a wrist band”). Pearl not only brought her love, but brought her possibility and magic and all these wonderful things—a world with opportunity, something she’d never seen. She just needed Pearl around to be the boost into it.

Childhood: Read All About It—Emeli Sande

I could be way off base here, but I’ve always read a little into this song that this is (at least a little) about being in a homophobic society but being so happy to have found love with someone who loves you back that you just “wanna sing…wanna shout…wanna scream ‘til the words dry out.” It’s about, in the middle of this hopeless, dark world that’s making horror out of beauty, finding a love that makes you stronger. That makes you so happy you just don’t care anymore. And that’s what she had with Pearl. After years of fighting it, she finally let her become who she really is and it made her stronger (“you’ve got a heart as loud as lions, so why let your voice be tamed”). Pearl ultimately unlocked all these things in Ivy that had been there all along but human society just wouldn’t allow for. In the 40s and 50s a strong, leaderly, confident, sensual lesbian black woman… It just wouldn’t have been allowed to exist. But the feyry realm allowed her to unlock all that and brought new meaning to her.

Turning Point: The Mighty Fall—Fall Out Boy

This is by far the most direct song on the list. “The might fall in love” when “your crooked love is just a pyramid scheme and I’m dizzy on dreams.” She was strong and she thought if only she won Fidchell she’d have everything and then she fell. She lost it all. But at the end of the day, she walked away from it because “if you ask me, two’s a whole lot lonelier than one, baby we should have left our love in the gutter where we found it, cause you think your only crime is that you got caught.” When it all fell apart, she saw it for what it was (“it’s getting clear, you’re never coming clean”) so she cut Pearl off and shut herself down (“so I’ll lock you up inside and swallow the key”). Pretty much all of this is straight Ivy/Pearl drama—even the rap verse that’s about how great the sex was and they’d give anything to be with her even when it’s not returned. It’s that moment of being mighty and victorious and it doesn’t fucking matter because the love was a lie.

Turning Point: Rescued—Jack’s Mannequin

This song is about going from a relationship to so painfully alone (“two to one, static to the sound of you and I undone for the last time”) even when perhaps you should have seen there wasn’t anything these any way (“and there this was, hiding at the bottom of your swimming pool”). It’s thinking someone’s there for you (“when it’s quite, does she hear me”) but then changing so much when you realize they’re not and kind of just…shutting off (“I’m finally numb”). But more than the underlying relationship issues that it hits on, it hits on something bigger for Ivy. The main theme of this song is “Please don’t get me rescued/I’d prefer not to be rescued.” For all the heartbreak, for all the shit, for as goddamned awful as every thing she’s been through is… She wouldn’t trade her. It won her this wonderful, magical life. And while maybe the turning point for her was realizing she lost Pearl… She kept going, a phoenix from the ashes, still pushing forward despite it all.

Turning Point: Shimmer—Fuel

This song was a happy accident. I found this song while making my Pinterest board and it just gives me so many Ivy feelings. This is kind of a transitional song between her turning point and who she is now. The first half is about being so caught up in this love that you’ll give anything for it, but realizing finally that…it’s not working (we’re here and now/will we ever be again). The second stanza is really painfully Ivy right after losing Pearl—that she went from “champagne dreams, strawberry surprise” to saying “that love is for fools who fall behind.” The end of the song is really just walking away from the love that’s been too distant and too far away to even try to pretend it’s real any more. This is really a song that highlights that Ivy was hopeful. At her core she is hopeful. She’s a romantic. It’s just all been to tainted for her to be that person any more because she’s “found all that shimmers in this world is sure to fade away again.”

Because this song hits on the transition from the warmer human and her more cynical self, it would also fit well as a Current song.

Current: Cold—Maroon 5

First of all, for our purposes, Future’s verse doesn’t exist because it wrecks it. But the rest of it is pretty heavily who Ivy is. She puts on this cold, distant demeanor, particularly with her Players (who ultimately are those she’s most invested in). At face value, she’s cold and mean and violent. But underneath, when you get to know her… She’s a romantic. She wants to be hopeful. She could have been an optimist if the world hadn’t been so nihilistic. The song is about a lover who’s all fire when they’re being sexual or when he’s spoiling her but is suddenly pulling away and cold and angry. And there’s a little of that in Ivy. One time you get the sweet smile and the eyes that says she cares about what you’re saying. The next, her walls are back up and she’s cold and sassy and bitter. It kind of hits on this dichotomy of who she was/really is and the mask that’s melded to her skin to protect her.

Current: Jungle—X Ambassadors

Look. I’ll be honest. Nothing about this song lyrically is Ivy. Not one bit. But there’s something just about the vibe of the song, that strong, percussive badassery that just feels Ivy even if it’s not when you start listening to it. Basically, if Feywild were a movie, this is the song that would be playing when we first meet Ivy as she comes into the Fidchell training room, carrying a slew of weaponry.

Anything else:

An inspo pinterest board can be found here

Below are some quotes I’ve seen/hear recently that feel like things you’d hear from Ivy. (Incidentally they’re both from the book or show The Magicians)

“You know what the difference is between a brave hero and a dead moron? One dumb decision. So when It’s be brave or be smart? You know which one to choose.”

“The trick was just not wanting anything. That was power. That was courage. The courage not to love anyone or hope for anything.”

#if you're sean forest hyacinth or rowan click on that link to see ivy's feels for you #audition #headcanon

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