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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Beyond - Legends Lest Ye Be Judged--Vader war crimes trial--Voted Best All-Around, thanks!

Discussion in 'Fan Fiction- Before, Saga, and Beyond' started by DarthIshtar, Jun 18, 2005.

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  1. dm1

    dm1 Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jun 9, 2004
    Wow, you finished this! I really have to sit and think on it some more. Right now I'm too emotional... :_| You really should have broken out the kleenex on this.

    The scene between Han and Anakin was very powerful. I can see how Han would be very angry, he's had to pick up the pieces every time Leia comes into contact with Vader/Anakin, and he's really protective of his wife.

    It was also very special how they incorporated Corellian, Tatooin and Jedi traditions for after death ceremonies. The life-telling actually is somewhat like the Jewish custom of shiva. Properly observed, along with the comfort (and food) people bring, it is a time to focus on the life stories of the deceased and what that person meant to everyone. This provides another measure of comfort, that the life meant something and had an impact on others.

    Well done, and congratulations on finishing this up.
     
  2. DarthIshtar

    DarthIshtar Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Mar 26, 2001
    dm1--Thanks for responding! Yeah, it took nearly three years, but I finished it. I like it when people have to sit and think on it. It was very emotional for me as well. Glad you liked the Han/Anakin scene. That was one that I debated leaving out, but I couldn't leave it without closure between them. Han's definitely not one to forgive what Anakin's done to Leia. It reminds me of Leia's conversation with Anakin during Truce at Bakura. Where she says that she can forgive the interrogation and such, but not hurting Han. Yes, I know of the shiva. Several years ago, I read a wonderful book called Kaddish, which was a memoir of a man's coming to terms with his father's death through the process of traditional Jewish mourning. It was definitely meant to reflect both that and the practice of a 'wake.' Thanks again!

    Edit: Thanks for the qualifying noms:

    Best Alternate Universe
    Best All-Around
    Best Epic
    Best OC Male (Jarom Aikia)
    Best Ensemble Cast
     
  3. DarthIshtar

    DarthIshtar Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Mar 26, 2001
    And one final shoutout for now (until someone else unearths this like a bad archeology project):

    Thanks for voting this Best All-Around! I am truly honored!
     
  4. DaenaBenjen42

    DaenaBenjen42 Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    May 15, 2005
    I'll go ahead and be the bad archieologist... (I wanna review! But... why'd I have to read Red Storm Rising first? Oh well... Review it is. :) )


    That first glimpse of Anakin, ruminating on the stars and all that has happened from here to there is powerful. Wow.

    It was one of the few explanations he could offer for the fact that the Force had been cruel enough to let him live.

    I'm guessing he doesn't much care for irony about now...

    The triumph was undeniable, but the victory was inexpressable because the word peace was spoken tonight for the first time as a reality rather than a delusion of grandeur.

    It had been something unheard of for so long, who would believe it on the first day? And yet... when the shock wears off, it'll be "Oh... now what do we do?" (Or something to that effect...)

    Leia holding a vigil and her talk with Han... loved that.

    "It's nothing," he insisted. "Rough night..."

    Understatement, probably of the year.


    Am doing this in pieces... more will come. :)
     
  5. DaenaBenjen42

    DaenaBenjen42 Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    May 15, 2005
    Back again... :)

    You're referring to The Penitent, right?

    What's The Penitent? *goes and looks...* Oh... good fic, that...

    He approached, his gait about as threatening as an Ewok?s waddle, but the gloved hand that he wrapped around hers was its own silent accusation.

    ?I have my own Imperial reality,? he reminded, ?but I?m not the one who wanted to commit patricide in there.?


    That right there? That made me pause a moment. They both have their reasons for thinking the way they do, and the reasons are equal... equal in the scale of the loss.

    ?I?m not talking about that,? he shot back. ?If you?re demanding justice, you are demanding a trial.?

    ?It?s the least he deserves,? she pronounced, forcing her voice to return to a normal timbre. ?It?s only what his victims deserve.?


    To be able to look their punisher in the eye and see for real who that person is... sometimes that's everything, right there.

    ?If Carlist can handle the official arrest,? Leia suggested, ?the rest of you will be there for the purposes of keeping him in line. He?s pretty weak, so hopefully Force-choking is not an option.?

    Right... somehow, I don't think his first thought was "I want to choke the leaders of the Rebellion today", Leia... (Liked that.)

    Either Vader had learned to aim more effectively or the weapons he used against Luke were much more powerful.

    Much, much more powerful... and he shocked the heck out of theater audiences, too...

    I liked the whole capture/arrest. Well done. (Ettiquet lessons with Palpy? Love Han, right there...)

    ?I did not know you existed, since she went to great lengths to keep you safe, but that same care somehow extended to me when I was critically injured on a mission. A medic saved my life several times and I recognized the signature on my heart that your mother always left. It was no surprise, then, to find that when I requested the medic to continue in my service, I found myself facing Padme again.?

    Woah... was not expecting that... I should have been, since you said she was a medic further on, but... wow...

    It was the first time that two enemies by principle and family by birth allowed themselves to grieve for the same things.

    Wow... the whole scene there was powerful, but this... really... wow...

    A very confused Ewok child running for New Republic President... scary thought, but funny and wonderful addition. Liked that.


    Now, there was a contingent of six bodyguards and the leader of the Galaxy looked ready to strangle the personnel director in charge of that mistake.

    Reekian being overprotective and Mon Mothma hating it... yep, could so see that...

    'tis a tangled web we weave here, isn't it? And Leia's more POed about it than Luke, I think... Wow moment for me was Mon Mothma seeing Padme in Leia and knowing what Anakin became.


    "I'm surprised you even remembered the world," she said quietly, "much less our names."

    "In the early days," he responded, "I could name each one."

    Her jaw clenched, but she at least returned her gaze to him. "That's not much comfort," she admitted, "but I'll take it anyway."


    That he still remembers it... that means something, you know?

    I gave you that scar when I tried to shoot past you to kill your mother, then sent you into the night to die. Why in the name of the Force are you not finding ways to kill me?

    She's another Luke. It's surprising to feel relieved by that.


    No... she's a medic. Does that count for more or less the same thing as a Jedi? Probably... but he's kinda right, there.


    Yes... I'm reading it a little at a time... :) I missed bunches and am correcting that.
     
  6. amidalachick

    amidalachick FFoF Hostess Extraordinaire star 5 VIP - Game Host

    Registered:
    Aug 3, 2003
    I remember starting to read this a long time ago, and now I've finally finished reading it all.

    And...just wow. What an amazing journey you take us on with this story. The last two or three chapters left me in tears, and I don't cry easily.

    Thank you for writing and sharing this, Ish. @};-
     
  7. DarthIshtar

    DarthIshtar Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Mar 26, 2001
    DaenaBenjen42--LOL, go review no matter what the time of year. LOL, Tom Clancy is admittedly more fun than me.. Glad you liked the first glimpse of Anakin. I liked starting with him this time. LOL, irony? Who needs stinkin' irony? Yes, there is a lot of "oh...now what do we do?" There's a great scene just like that in Isard's Revenge. Ilove her talk with Han as well. And yeah, Luke finally pulling off an understatement! Yay for more will come! Thanks!

    DaenaBenjen42--Hurrah. The Penitent is why I cam here. Glad that made you pause. It was a conversation I wrote several years ago as an exercise and I liked the thoughts behind it. Yes, that scale is equal. Yes, you definitely pegged the "that's everything." Well, Leia's not really rational right now. :) Yes, he had me slack-jawed in shock at the end of the duel. Glad you liked the capture/arrest and ettiquette lessons with Palpy. *Teehee!* Yeah, that's one of my more audacious stories ever. I loved writing it. *Sniff* I'm happy you liked the line about enemies by principle and family by birth. Wes Janson was probably the only person who wanted him to go on as the Dark Ewok candidate. Rieekan/Mon Mothma is a friendship I've seen done well so many times and yes, I think that would have been in-character for her to hate the staff. Very tangled web. Thanks for that wow moment. Yes, it means a lot. Mmhmm, interesting point. Maybe linked purposes/philosophies and that counts? Please come back for more!

    amidalachick--Welcome back. I'm amazed you finished it. It's hard to stomach in long bits. Thanks for the just wow. I'm grateful for the tears and you thinking it an amazing journey. It means a lot. Thanks for reading.
     
  8. DaenaBenjen42

    DaenaBenjen42 Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    May 15, 2005
    I'm pretty much over my cold now, so... review!

    LOL, go review no matter what the time of year. LOL, Tom Clancy is admittedly more fun than me..

    Will do... though, really, reading Red Storm Rising had more to do with gaining an understanding of politics and less to do with fun...

    Mmhmm, interesting point. Maybe linked purposes/philosophies and that counts?

    That was my thought about medics and Jedi, too... One treats the physical, the other ideological, and yet their purpose is pretty much the same from a moral stand point...

    *clicks on "backstroke of the west" link, commences laughing for 20 straight minutes...* (How'd they get the captions THAT wrong? Wow...)

    "A love letter from Captain Solo?"

    "Not this morning," she retorted quietly. "He's trying to sweet-talk his way out of reassignment and Rieekan's threatening to leave him here only on the condition that we make him a father-in-law."


    Rieeken wants them married! (Also... yeah, I guess he's been 'father' to this family, hasn't he?)

    "Yes," she sighed, "but that's up to the both of us not the both of us, Rieekan and the Senate Matchmaking Oversight Committee."

    Like how Leia can joke with him a little even though she's thought of this man as the enemy for so long... (The Senate had a what?)

    "We have not disclosed your identity to anyone and will not until we have arranged the guard force. It is both imprudent and dangerous to let something like this out."

    That it is...

    She had been especially attentive to the memory of him beating her for vague impressions of a woman and a necklace that her father had given her. He had thought it all a taunt, instead of a sign that she was Padme's child.

    His child.

    The one that he could call his by birth, but not by right.

    He had thought her headstrong, not Force-strong at the time.

    He did not remind her of this, however, had the paradoxical urge to avoid provoking her.

    "Thank you," he said instead.


    So much that they are both not saying here, and yet he sees what he missed before when it was right in front of him all the while. Wow...

    364 days until I can kill a character again!

    Though I was lurking a lot, I remember the countdown and the 100 days of vigs quite vividly... loved those vigs, Ish.

    Leia in her quarters holding memorial... can't help but want to hug her or hold her hand as she goes about it, remembering the old hurt as if it were yesterday.

    "I don't trust myself, either, which is why I allow a dozen guards, my future son-in-law included."

    So... Leia doesn't trust that he totally turned himself over with no intention of escaping, and Anakin doesn't trust himself in any form and wanted gaurds around as a sort of sense of security? Makes sense...


    Will be back. :) (Note to self... was on page 9...)
     
  9. DaenaBenjen42

    DaenaBenjen42 Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    May 15, 2005
    Happy New Year... review...


    "It might be best coming from someone he knows," Mon Mothma explained mildly. "He has hard days ahead..."

    "He doesn't know me," Leia snapped, fists clenched beneath the table. "He knows me as a punching bag, a bargaining chip, or an enemy, not as a daughter."


    Ouch... He doesn't know her YET, but... oh the journey those two will have in building a relationship?

    "You can thank Mon Mothma for that," she said flatly, eyes transfixed upon her fists. "I'm here on business."

    A short laugh, natural but uneasy nonetheless. "I expected as much," he admitted. "You were about as nervous as a tauntaun on ball bearings as you approached."


    He gives as good as he gets and he's giving her a way to communicate. Liked that.

    The matter of defending him when he doesn't even think he deserves it... sort of an "everyone deserves justice, even the person who is a utter criminal" thing, isn't it?

    "Because my father deserves justice and I don't trust anyone else to see that accomplished."

    Or this...

    For a long time, there was only silence and Leia's hands unclenched, though she couldn't remember clenching them again.

    "Do you?"

    He turned, frowning. "Do I what?"

    "Curse me for being her."

    He looked away once more to the viewport, finding, perhaps, solace in the constancy of the stars as she did.

    "No."


    Little steps to building a familial bond, but important ones...

    Han checking on Leia and finding her knee-deep in research at oh-dark-thirty... awwww...

    "We're trying our own father for the war crimes of the last two and a half decades," he pronounced. "What isn't complicated about it?"

    Finally, her smile returned tentatively, but her eyes were far too tired for either of them to believe it completely. "Nothing," she summarized.


    Too true, that...

    The whole base finding out, the charges... going to Imperial Center... eek. (Have resolved to not sympathize with that mob that wants him dead... but only because it was Palpy that lured him in the first place...)


    Note for me, because getting lost is bad: page 11.
     
  10. DaenaBenjen42

    DaenaBenjen42 Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    May 15, 2005
    The LYBJ reread dost continue... :)

    At 0800, she attended the base's command briefing and worked off some of the tension by chewing out the Security people who didn't seem to have thought that sixty armed soldiers converging on one door was cause for concern. When someone suggested with a smirk that it would have been better to get reinforcements to back them up, she had shot back, "I don't care what you think justice is. My father's safety is not something you should ignore just because you feel like it."

    Five weeks, two days, eight hours and thirty-nine minutes after the formation of the New Republic, she was able to speak of him as her father in public for the first time.


    I'm not certain if it's good or bad that she knew right down to the minute how long it took for her to actively call him Father in public, but... yay for little steps?

    "There are locks on doors for a reason, flyboy."

    "I know," Han sighed, "and there are scoundrels in your life for a reason."

    "That reason being?"

    "To make sure you don't hide behind those locks the whole day."


    Liked this exchange and Han is right about that...

    the 7/25/05 post... Han and Leia and Luke. Awesome scene there with the three of them. (I wanted to quote all of it, but... can we settle for a well-deserved wow? Wow. Seriously.)

    Leia's public statement... very well said. She wants everyone watching to understand the gravity of the situation as well as the reasons for silence on the matter.

    On the contrary, Han seemed to have rediscovered the word ?overprotective? and was milking the situation for all it was worth in order to make sure they had everything from a fire-back policy to a verbal code.

    Can't hardly blame him on that account... it's Coruscant! Presently or formerly the seat of the EMPIRE Coruscant! (And now that that's out of my system, let us continue...)

    Isard and Khatarn (whom I only have a vague knowledge of... must read the X-Wing novels) as the not-so-friendly welcoming commitee? I can see why Rieekan's snorting in disgust.

    Han often said that it felt like a lifetime ago that he'd signed on two passengers to the Alderaan system at Mos Eisley, but she couldn't agree with his assessment. It felt like that lifetime had ended and they were expected to start from scratch beginning in a cell block on the first Death Star.

    Interesting assesment there... I like to think it's both. Both that it was a lifetime ago, and that a lifetime had ended.

    ?No, there weren?t many,? he confirmed, ?eight when I left out of the five hundred in the main camp. As it was, we often had nicknames for them, since reciting their number got tiring. The Mindbender was one of the more memorable ones because she had been there since the first days of the Empire. She also had the distinctive habit of trying to escape. We never knew how she came close to succeeding because she was blinded and couldn?t know where the guard posts were, but she always had a sense about things. She would prevent disasters when she noticed something wrong in the mines and would warn us.?

    Finding someone based on a story like that? Wow... But who is the MindBender?

    ?A survivor,? she said shortly. ?My name, once upon a lifetime, was Liara Khe. Master Khe, if you want to be fussy and formal, but most called me Li.?

    Ah, so THAT'S who it is...

    ?Did you know him??

    Memories of a fair-haired child with an attitude to rival a Corellian?s and a smile that took up most of his face came to mind, but were replaced quickly by a memory of a hooded figure trailed by thousands of clonetroopers and blue fire illuminating all the hiding places of the terrified children.

    ?We all thought we did,? she countered. ?I just thought I knew him pretty well.?


    Interesting how she's seen both the best and the worst sides of Anakin. And it's probably THAT knowlege, both the good and the bad, that makes her a good character witness. War and circumstances change a person, and so do opportunistic Sith lords.

    Luke finding Padme because the MindBender person knew she w
     
  11. DaenaBenjen42

    DaenaBenjen42 Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    May 15, 2005
    First: [:D] [:D]

    Second... review...

    Leia, Padme, and the dresses and dealing with Leia's guilt. (At least it seemed that way...) Liked that.

    The inauguration... not certain what to say about it, but I liked it. Speach was good.

    "I'd have thought you'd be at the inaugural ball," Anakin observed wryly.

    Padme passed over a plate, but did not yet meet his gaze. "I didn't have a suitable dance partner," she mused. "Besides, with Leia having confiscated your future son-in-law for the occasion, I thought you might enjoy someone to bicker with."

    "Bicker?" he queried. "I didn't think you knew the meaning of the word."


    All the little touches with them slowly coming back to one another a little at a time... good to see those.

    The confused Ewok applied for a govermental office? Oh, man! Loved that! (No word for Genocide in Ewokese? Good!)

    Aikia and Leia there... awesome and both of them having the same response was a wonderful touch. Taia's children to defend and prosecute, to see both sides of the issue.

    "He loves me as strongly as my family does."

    A pain pierced Anakin, but it was more from joy than anything else. He leaned down to kiss her cheek. "Then, I give you to his care."


    Awwwww...

    Somewhere, in the midst of the cheers mental and physical of her family, she could also feel the cheers of those long gone who had never left.

    *happy sigh...*


    *cough*page 17*cough*
     
  12. DaenaBenjen42

    DaenaBenjen42 Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    May 15, 2005
    Re-read dost continue now... apologies for the down time. [:D]

    "Besides, I've seen you after six hours of ditch-digging in the swamps of Hukaren V. After that, nothing could frighten me."

    Pretty dirty, huh?

    It was a strange wedding gift, but the morning after, the Skywalkers found that Rieekan had at last arranged for Anakin's transfer to more comfortable accomodations.

    Good! (I didn't think it strange, but I guess they would...)

    Seeing their own home for the first time in umpteen years... wow...

    He had never found twenty-nine impersonal, typewritten words to have such power over his heartbeat, but they seemed to stop his cardiac functions entirely and he certainly found himself sinking onto the edge of the bed without any idea of how he would lift himself up once more to see to the other matter at hand.

    Too soon, too personally, it was beginning.


    The bottom fell out, right there for Luke. Liked that touch.

    Mother took a long drag on her tea as if it were something much stronger. "What's there to tell?"

    Leia's smile stretched slightly. "That's a promising start," she observed. "Every person who uses that as a stalling technique has a long tale to tell."

    "That's an overgeneralization," Mother complained.

    "Oh, yes?" Leia countered, one eyebrow arched. "Ask me about Bespin."

    "All right," Mother conceded indulgently, "tell me about Bespin."

    Leia took a long, imitative drag on her tea and shook her head. "What's there to tell?"


    She knows her well enough to know when someone needs to talk about something. Good, good touch.

    "Ah," Leia grunted. "That rules out intelligence of all sorts in that case."

    Standing, she extended a hand. "Leia Organa-Solo," she introduced herself.

    "Mara Jade," the woman snapped. "I believe you made an oversight in the subpoenas."


    So that's where Mara joined the story. Missed that before... love her entrance here.

    Mara's got family? That's awesome!

    She glanced over, eyes anxious and mouth tight. "I don't suppose," she said drily, "that you want to know what your name was?"

    Mara's arms folded tightly across her chest so hard that she could barely breathe. "Not today," she requested. "Start with my parents' names. It's one thing I won't have to relearn."


    Good way of putting it. :)

    I don't know how I missed Mara meeting her mom the first time around, but I did... like her mom! Liked the shock at seeing a daughter long thought dead!

    Her hands clasped in front of her tightly as if she were trying to keep herself from reaching out to her daughter. "What do they call you?" she repeated.

    "Mara," her daughter supplied. "Mara Jade."

    It was as if that admission were an unspoken permission and at last, the woman who hesitated to call herself Mara's mother came forward to enfold her in an embrace that was finally familiar.

    "Welcome home," was all she managed to say.


    So that's what warm fuzzies feels like... loved this moment. And that's all she needed to say... barriers fall a little at a time.

    Leia awoke on the morning of the arraignment two weeks later, unsurprised to find herself nauseated. She made it to the 'fresher before emptying the contents of her stomach, but was unable to move from that spot for several minutes.

    hmmm... [face_thinking]

    "Knowing our daughter, she'd file a motion to hold it in our living room if we decided to abstain from the proceedings."

    His mouth curved upward, more out of response to the fact that she was calling Leia "our daughter" than anything else. "It's tempting," he admitted. "That way, only a few hundred people could gawk at me at any given time."

    "I'll mention it to her this morning," she offered wryly.


    *giggle*


    And... i'm on page 21. So far... :)
     
  13. DaenaBenjen42

    DaenaBenjen42 Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    May 15, 2005
    Out of the costume sock, ready to review... and if I go off into 8-} land... ignore it. Hi and [:D]

    "You're well?" she queried without preamble.

    "I wouldn't say that," he retorted lightly, "but my personal physician assures me that I'm perfectly healthy enough to stand trial."


    Oh... good.

    ?She?s kinda touchy right now,? he confided, ?so if you still like her sane, I?d let her make the first move.?

    ?Fair enough,? Luke conceded.


    *grin* liked this, Han warning Luke not to approach her until she's at least gotten her bearings for the day.

    Two things about the start of the 1/12/06 post: one of those is that Luke got to be right there, and it was a family moment needed right there in the thick of things. The second thing: Anakin objecting to Jedi and/or military dress. One, he's a prisoner, and two... he wasn't ever actually in the military itself (and if I'm wrong, I don't wanna know), and at this moment, at this trial arraignment thing he doesn't deserve to wear Jedi Robes because he betrayed them to Palpy.

    "No sign of trouble?" Leia murmured tensely.

    "I wouldn't say that," Luke responded in kind, "but no one has intent to do him harm right now. That's the best we can hope for."

    She managed a slight smile. "Indeed," she lamented.


    Liked this exchange.

    After all, the most prevalent reason for wanting to prosecute Anakin Skywalker had lived only five months before the Death Star came to Alderaan.

    Oh... *wince*

    "This is not an arena," he said with an intensity in the quiet tones of his voice. "This is not a place to cheer on the combatants that will land the killing blow. This room, no matter what the reasons for our being here, is the only place where all grievances are equal."

    *finally, at long last, climbs aboard the Riekien train...* (He had to win me over eventually, right?)

    "As such," he continued in the ensuing silence, "we have already begun the selection for the jury."

    I do not envy that selection panel...

    "I did it out of fairness," he began calmly.

    "Fairness?" Leia snorted. "It's a procedural nightmare to go about this trial when this level of 'fairness' is exercized."

    "The entire thing is a procedural nightmare," Rieekan reminded, "and I'm not just talking about having to find twelve people willing to actually listen to both sides of the story."


    Word.

    "Simple doesn't have to mean deception," Leia shot back. "What exactly about my heritage is it that bothers Khatarn?"

    "The fact that, if the daughter of Vader chooses to, she can override the entire trial by granting a presidential pardon."


    Khatarn doesn't know Leia very well, but point taken (or given) there... and until this moment, I'd forgotten that she, and no other, is Cheif of State. Sure, she has the power to do so, but would she, knowing who and what Anakin Skywalker was? It's... an interesting moral question, that...

    "If you knocked," he said idly, "I would have let you in."

    Mara stood gracefully with a mirthless smile. "That would take the fun out of life."

    "True enough," Luke mused, "but if you're going to make a habit of visiting me, I'd rather we stick to the basics."

    She regarded him in mild disgust. "Farmboys," she sneered.

    He shrugged as he removed his jacket. "Did you come here for a reason or were you given a secret mission to insult me every day that I don't know about?"

    "Cute," she snorted.


    *basks in the L/Mness...*

    "Thanks," she said quietly. "I love you."

    "Tell me that again when you get home," he growled, though there was no threat in his words. "I'll give you an answer then."

    "It's a deal," she replied with a slight smile. "I'll see you soon."


    It had better be better than "I know"!

    Immediately, her stomach twisted the say it did every time someone asked her about her family or mentioned her accent. ?Once or twice,? she said dryly. ?I?m Alderaanian.?

    ?Perfect,? the man grunted. ?You?ll balance out the others who want clemency.?

    She wasn?t so sure that was what would give her the peace that had evaded her for fiv
     
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