Amy Fox, Quidditch Coach Extraordinaire
October 10, 2007 11:48 AM
Quidditch Match One: Aladren vs. Pecari by Amy Fox, Quidditch Coach Extraordinaire
The first match of the season dawned bright and early on the second Saturday of October. The day's forecast predicted that the temperature would be typical for Arizona at that time of year: mid-80s, sunny, with a light breeze. The perfect weather for a day of Quidditch. As the day was still rather early, however, Amy had placed a heating charm upon herself to ward off the morning chill. Although temperatures in the high-60s might seem rather warm to someone from up North, Amy, a true Floridian, found the temperatures to be a bit nippy.Reaching into her pocket, Amy extracted the rosters of each team, examining the players. The Aladren roster seemed to be quite the same as the years before. Anne and Ben had been obvious as the Captain and Assistant Captain. Zoey finished off their trio. Each had been on the team for quite some time so each was practically a given. Zack and Paul had also been on the team for a few years and Hyana had had her first year on the team the year previous. Chris Dupree was the only addition to the roster, replacing Geoffrey.
Flipping to the next sheet of parchment, Amy glanced over the Pecari roster. The most obvious change was that the blonde Bludger-chaser had been benched. Not that Amy could have hardly blamed the Cravens. While the girl had some obvious spunk, she had been injured by a Bludger in almost every game that she had been a part of. The chances of her getting injured in yet another game were astronomically high. Amy herself would probably have benched her. The replacement had come in the form of a girl named Meredith Lail. Amy knew very little of the girl, so she wondered if she would work well with Saul, the new Assistant Captain, and Lizzie. With Stephen as Keeper and Elly as Seeker, the seven was complete.
The teams seemed rather evenly matched. Amy found herself, for the first time, quite interested in how the game would pan out. Of course, while the students were either snot-nosed brats or hormone-raging teenagers, it was hard to ignore the fact that the fifth and sixth years on the teams had gotten better, some even good at the sport. Amy wondered who would win. It didn't matter that Aladren hadn't made it to the championships. And it certainly didn't matter that Pecari always did.
Walking out onto the pitch, Amy's aqua robes swished around her as she magically led the trunk of Quidditch balls to their preferred location. Dropping them to the ground, Amy replaced the rosters in her pocket and then chanced a moment to look around the pitch. The most noticeable addition from the night before was the medic's tent. Shaking her head, Amy removed her gaze, not wanting to catch sight of the medic. She and Wolfe never agreed, especially when it came to the dangers of Quidditch. It was too early in the morning for her to get into an argument with the likes of him.
Within a few minutes, students and professors began to trickle into the stands. It was almost time for the match to begin. Walking back to the shed, Amy entered her rooms, dropping the rosters off on one of the closest tables and proceeded to grab her bag of equipment. In the mere minutes it had taken Amy to retrieve her gear, the stands had seemed to fill. Marching back to the trunk of Quidditch balls, Amy dropped her bag to the ground and began rummaging around inside. The first item she removed was her broom. The specially-made, one of a kind item was one of her most prized possessions. She then removed her goggles and protective gloves before closing the bag once again.
The teams would soon be entering the pitch. Pulling on her gloves, Amy made one last sweep of the pitch. Everything was in order. She had forgotten nothing.
Soon the Als and the Pecs had made their way onto the pitch and gathered 'round. She waited a moment for silence before covering the rules, "You know the rules, but I'm just going to take a moment to remind you. No dirty plays. Wear your uniforms at all times. Don't leave the pitch or you'll be disqualified. If you get sick or injured, the medic is over there." At this she pointed in an off-handed manner to the rather large tent that was located on the pitch. "Captains, shake hands and then return to your teams."
Moving off to the side, she opened the trunk of balls. "Instead of being on the count of three, as in previous years, I'm just going to sound a whistle," she mentioned at the last moment. The first to be released was the Snitch, which paused in the air above her head for a moment, before flying away. The next to be released were the Bludgers. The large, metal balls zoomed off in the air. After placing her goggles on her face, Amy grabbed the Quaffle.
Retrieving her broom, Amy straddled it, ready to push off the ground and join the players in the air once the ball had been thrown. Raising her wand into the air, Amy looked out at the teams, before sounding off a loud whistle that reverberated throughout the field. The ball was immediately tossed into the air. The game had begun.
OOC: Alright, I need your name, your team and your position in the name heading. Be sure that you read all of the previous posts before posting so you won't miss something important. I expect these posts to be detailed, with special attention being paid to spelling and grammar. That being said, good luck and have fun!\r\n\r\n
Subthreads: Pre-Game Team Meetings (nm) by Amy Fox
Spectators Post Here! (nm) by Amy Fox
Starting off by Saul Pierce, Pecari Chaser with Meredith Lail, Pecari Chaser, Lucas Smythe, Aladren Keeper, Anne Wright, Aladren Chaser, Paul, Aladren Beater
Beating is quite fun by Paul Tarwater, Aladren Beater with Chris Dupree, Aladren Beater, Elly Eriksson, Pecari Seeker, Zack Dill, Fox
Up, up and away by Elly Eriksson, Pecari Seeker with Zack Dill, Alderaanian Seeker
On the bench *hums 'Centerfield'* by Caedence Redoak, Pecari Benchwarmer with Irene Liddowe, Pecari Alternate
[Post match] Beginning the celebrations by Lexi Stafford with Chris Dupree, Lexi
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Amy Fox, Quidditch Coach Extraordinaire
Quidditch Match One: Aladren vs. Pecari
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Amy Fox, Quidditch Coach Extraordinaire
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Paul, Aladren Beater
October 17, 2007 5:49 PM
Dang mouse by Paul, Aladren Beater
OOC: Ignore below pleaseBIC: Paul grimaced as the Bludger was lead off by Saul to, of course, the Cravens. He had hoped after smashing the Chaser off his broom, Paul could fly back and get that Bludger before anyone else could. And, of course, Chris's Bludger had missed Elly (though he had to supress a giggle at her nearly falling off from being tipped). And, hoping, Paul made his way up to where that Bludger was headed, bat being clutched so hard he may get a sliver. Not that something as trivial as that mattered now. Paul just had the urge to hit someone.
And it was quite the well known fact that Pecari Chasers were hard to stay on their brooms. Giving Paul a better chance, at least mock-statictically, to knock someone down and far below. It was quite the stress reliever, and Paul knew why many people who had anger in them went straight for Beater when they tried out. It was the most relaxing, plus protection against a giant metal ball wasn't bad. As they were the only ones allowed to hold bats (the point of a Beater).
Noticing Meredith Lail, a girl he'd spoken to last year, also try for Anne, Paul wanted to get to the Bludger quick. Despite disliking her best friend for reasons that he needn't say, Paul had nothing personal against the girl. This didn't mean that if he got to the Bludger in time, he wouldn't send it her way. Quite the opposite really. She was the best bet too, with Chris on Elly, Saul by the Pecari Beaters, and Lizzie Lavine off somewhere not too close to Anne, Paul had to get Meredith aiming for her.
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Paul, Aladren Beater
Dang mouse
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Paul, Aladren Beater
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Lizzie Lavine, Pecari Chaser
October 17, 2007 7:54 PM
Well, here's a pretty mess! by Lizzie Lavine, Pecari Chaser
There was nothing more exhilarating to Lizzie Lavine than the opening quidditch game of the year. Pecari was up against Aladren, a foe which, in her opinion, wasn't going to be that difficult to face. However, the opening match meant the beginning of a season and yet another chance for the Pecari team to win the championship. The past few seasons had been most upsetting for Lizzie and the team, coming so close yet ultimately tripping at the proverbial finish line. Anyway, the morning of the first game sped by in a rush- before Lizzie knew it, she was kicking off at Coach Fox's whistle.The game had started off well for Pecari; Saul had gotten the quaffle right off the block, and moments later, the new chaser, Meredith, had scored. After a moment of celebration, the game was back on, and Lizzie was marking the quaffle from afar. The next moment, Saul was waltzing with a bludger and the quaffle had passed from Anne Wright to some other Aladren chaser, who Meredith proceeded to tail. Lizzie sighed and picked up Anne as a mark, coming in close to the opposing captain.
She kept on the side closest to the Aladren chaser in possession in hopes of blocking any potential passes or opening up a pass from Meredith. Now all Lizzie could really do was watch, wait, and make sure to keep a tight tab on Anne.
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Lizzie Lavine, Pecari Chaser
Well, here's a pretty mess!
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Lizzie Lavine, Pecari Chaser
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Anne Wright, Aladren Chaser
October 17, 2007 10:41 PM
No kidding. by Anne Wright, Aladren Chaser
The first inkling Anne had that things were going awry was the sudden lurch of her broom. Wavering, half-off balance, she grabbed the handle with both hands to resteady herself and turned her head to see what was wrong with the tail of it. Saul again. What she wouldn't give for one of the bats the Beaters carried...She was starting to speed up when he abruptly wasn't on her tail anymore.Swinging around, she caught one glimpse of him outrunning a Bludger. Praying Paul and Chris were keeping a close eye on Zack, she started scanning the Pitch for some sign of where the Quaffle had gone. She'd been a bit busy after the pass, with the result that she'd lost track of what was going on. Saul obviously didn't have the Quaffle, and the younger one didn't appear to, but Elizabeth wasn't within eyeshot.
After a few seconds, Anne spotted the Quaffle in the hands of one of her teammates. She felt, for at least five whole seconds, almost optimistic because at least one thing was, for the moment, going right. The feeling vanished like fog in the sunlight when she found Lizzie between her and what she wanted to do. Dives were not her specialty, but they were the only legal ways out of the situation, as the only other way, period, she could think of was to fly with intent to collide and hand the Pecaris a nice penalty shot to get past her Keeper. As that wasn't a desirable outcome of her actions, she dove under the action.
There was still a long way between her and the ground when she leveled out her broom, only having one moment of panic where she thought it wasn't going to do as she wanted, and began flying fast in an attempt to shake off anyone on her tail. She didn't look back to see if there was. As she got another blue uniform in sight and aimed for it, Anne tried her best to fight down the screaming anxiety attempting to claw its way out of the back chambers of her brain. Ninety matches out of several hundred said things were out of her hands now.
Hurry up, Zack, she silently willed her Seeker. Hurry up and win this thing for us.
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Anne Wright, Aladren Chaser
No kidding.
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Anne Wright, Aladren Chaser
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Ash Craven (with implied Sorrel), Pecari Beater(s)
October 18, 2007 3:29 AM
Getting in on the action by Ash Craven (with implied Sorrel), Pecari Beater(s)
OOC - apologies people, I've had an absolutely crazy week!IC
There was nothing the feeling of an impending game. The air absolute buzzing with the weight of potential... for clobbering people. Beating, as far as much of the school could probably be concerned (Quidditch fans or not) was a Godsend. It nicely ate up much of the spare aggression of the Craven twins, reducing their desire to bully down to teasing, light jossling and the occasional over-heavy "pat" on the back. They resisted the urge to completely crush Anne Wright's hand when shaking it, although they certainly applied more pressure than necessary. They made sure to grin in an oh-so-friendly way at the Aladren Beaters. The fact they were Aladrens made them laughable enough, but one of them was only a third year! They flexed their muscles, less noticeable under their Quidditch robes, but still prominent enough for the act to be considered a threat display.
On the whistle, the Cravens kicked off, being sure to use all their leg muscles to their full advantage to give them momentum. Once in the air, their weight could come in useful, when thrown into a turn, or used to propel their brooms hard forward (the same way a heavier person's tobogan would arrive at the bottom of the hill first) but it could be a real slow down, and the worst one was ascents. With Sorrel headed for the Seekers, Ash tried to work himself into the main throng of the game. His Chasers were nipping along nicely, and the Bludgers seemed to be sufficiently far away that, even if the Aladren Beaters got to them first, it didn't look like they could use one to prevent a shot at goal.
Ash dropped back. Whichever way the goal went, the chances were the action would be heading back in his direction. He'd let the weaker Aladren Beaters exhaust themselves by trying to stake the first hit on the Bludgers, if that was what they so truly desired. Glancing back, he cheered as Pecari (as his newest Chaser, flattened the nervous looking Aladren like she was a steamroller and) scored the opening goal. Although it could be put down to the Aladren's nerves, Meredith was still certainly showing that she could pull her weight. He followed the Chasers as the sped by, dropping a little in altitude, so as not to get in the way of the Pecaris' interception attemps.
He heard the familiar 'crack' before he could see where the Bludger was heading. He pushed himself higher, but Saul - sensible to the usual magnetism of Pecari Chasers, perhaps - was already diving out of the way. The Bludger did seem particularly fond of the boy's company, as he was able to bring it alongside Ash with a quick 'Happy Birthday'. Grinning, half at Saul, half wolfishly at the Bludger, Ash trained it off his teammate, by - rather than bringing the bat against it in a swing - allowing it to run into the bat, and push the object backwards, absorbing as much of the shock up his arms as he could, meaning that - for a few, precious seconds, the Bludger just lazily rolled off at the angle of the impact. It would gather back its desire to attack soon enough, and bomb off when it sensed its next quarry, but the two seconds it had afforded him were all Ash needed to sweep the game for the best target. He saw Anne, heading back upwards after an apparent dive. If the Aladren with the Quaffle needed to pass, and only had one option, rather than two, it would make it significantly easy for his already monumental Chasing team. Heaving his bat back as far as he could, Ash used all his daily-weight-trained muscles to hammer the metal ball at the Aladren captain. He'd had to account for the fact she was moving and maths and angles weren't his strongest point (although he'd picked up the most useful aspects of Quidditch timing by virtue of playing so long). It was aimed to land just in front of her, and block her off from the rest of the team. Although if it broke her ribs in the process, that was more than welcome. Ash threw himself flat against his broom handle, chasing after the Bludger, in case in needed any extra encouragement towards the Aladrens, or away from his team, once it got into the crowded game zone. He also wanted to plant himself firmly between it and the third year, in case his hit on it had given him ideas of grandeur.
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Ash Craven (with implied Sorrel), Pecari Beater(s)
Getting in on the action
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Ash Craven (with implied Sorrel), Pecari Beater(s)
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Anne Wright, Aladren Chaser
October 21, 2007 7:33 PM
Which seems to have come to a halt. by Anne Wright, Aladren Chaser
There was one sound every Chaser knew well and had a deep-rooted dislike for. It seemed logical to think the Seekers and Keepers were also familiar with and prejudiced against it, too, if they had any sense. The aftermath of the sound made by speeding Bludgers could be as detrimental to their persons as to the Chasers', and worse for their teams. The cold fact of the matter was that the Chasers were easily a team's most expendable players, as they seldom did much to help determine the outcome of a game and had the most-held position on the Pitch.Anne was feeling rather more aware of that fact than usual as she picked up on the distinctive whistling sound moving in her direction. She would sooner be hit herself than see her team lose again, but that didn't mean she wanted to be removed from the game. She felt helpless enough as it was. Watching the action from the ground would be torture, pure and simple. Lacking the time to think of a better plan for avoiding serious injury, she threw herself sideways and to the left.
The move, designed primarily to protect her vital bits from a full-on assault by the Bludger, was far from graceful. It also lead to another half-panicked moment of certainty that she was going to fall off her broom, keep falling until she hit the ground, and die. Making it lead to winding up even farther from the action than she had been at first, too. It did what she meant for it to do, though, and kept all seven Aladren players in the air, so she could deal with an extra clause or two in the contract. Anne was careful not to make any straight lines or pauses immediately afterward, just in case she had been marked for destruction or some such.
She also decided, right then and there, to keep as far away from her Seeker as she could, even if it meant going out of the main action zone again. Even if she wasn't being marked for destruction - she never knew how seriously to take what occurred to her under stress anymore - it was a bad idea to put the captain and the Seeker too close to each other when they weren't the same person at the best of times. Maybe it was the Pecari legend and Aladren's disappointing Quidditch record skewing her judgment, but now did not feel much like the best of times.
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Anne Wright, Aladren Chaser
Which seems to have come to a halt.
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Anne Wright, Aladren Chaser
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Zoey Welsh, Aladren Chaser
October 22, 2007 6:48 PM
Trying to keep up is not easy... by Zoey Welsh, Aladren Chaser
OOC: Sorry if some of this is off, it's hard figuring out what's going on. BIC:Zoey pulled her hair into a ponytail and then quickly braided her curls so that her hair was completely out of the way for the game. She had been on the team for four years now and despite her knowledge and experience, she was still rather nervous when it came to playing. Not to the point where her hands were shaking or she couldn't focus, just to where her heart was beating a bit faster than normal and Zoey felt as though her face were hot from nerves.
Walking to the pitch, Zoey pulled on her chaser gloves and adjusted her gear before pausing with the rest of the team. As usual, Zoey felt as though she stood out. Thankfully, the boys seemed to be hitting their growth spurts as most were either her height, slightly taller, or only a few inches shorter. Not only was she constantly dealing with her height, but Zoey now felt as though her legs were lopsided. Ever since she was in that cast, she felt as though one calf was larger than the other. It was all rather annoying and embarrassing.
Focusing her attention on the coach, Zoey listened while her gaze wondered around the pitch. It was nice out, but she might have to worry about the sun hitting her eyes in the wrong spot. This was perfect weather for Seekers. Absentmindedly, her gaze landed on Zack as she thought about Seekers. She hoped he wasn't too concerned about the game, but it was hard to determine with him. Slowly, her eyes moved to Anne, who was off shaking hands.
Soon the game started and Zoey found herself in the air. It didn't take long for the drama to begin. It never did when it came to the Pecaris. The blonde scored relatively easily against... Lucas. Zoey frowned, but continued on with the game. Lucas was still new, and this being his first game would give him a taste with just how quickly everything went.
Somehow, during the time after the goal happened and Anne getting the quaffle, Zoey ended up with the quaffle in her hands. Tucking it close to her body, Zoey quickly flew off and away from the Aladren area and off into Pecari land. Looking back, Zoey saw Anne flying off due to a bludger. While looking back, she noticed the blonde tailing her. Zoey's frown deepened. The girl reminded Zoey of Hyana. Or rather, all the bad traits Hyana tended to show off while playing. Turning back around, Zoey continued through the line of players towards the Pecari goals. She would have been more than happy to pass the quaffle, but Anne was busy and without any knowledge of where Ben was currently, Zoey had no choice but to keep going.
She only hoped that the Pecari Beaters stayed preoccupied with Anne. Closing in on Stephen, Zoey lowered herself down close to her broom, muck like she had done in practice. When she knew she was close enough, she angled her broom perfect to the goals and gave herself a twist and she shot the quaffle at the goals. Zoey knew Stephen had just as much experience in Quidditch as she had, but she hoped that her shots had enough twists in them to rough him up enough to allow the goal.
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Zoey Welsh, Aladren Chaser
Trying to keep up is not easy...
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Zoey Welsh, Aladren Chaser
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Anne Wright, Aladren Chaser
October 24, 2007 5:33 PM
Well, at least it's almost over now. by Anne Wright, Aladren Chaser
Anne was just congratulating herself on being quick enough to evade the Bludger when she picked up on the sound of an iron ball cutting through the air again. She had no way of knowing if it was the first one or the other one, the twin she had assumed was off trying to kill the Seekers, but it didn't really matter either way. What mattered was keeping all of her bones in top condition. The quick, awkward sort of half-spin she executed to escape damage almost failed - she could have sworn she felt it stir her robes as it went past - but, in the end, it didn't.Bludgers attacked whoever was nearest - it was something to do with the design of the charms on them, she thought. They were, when not being hit by a Beater both strong enough and close enough to make their velocity too great, as impartial as it got. Being alone was, therefore, a pretty good way to get hit, as there were no other potential targets for it to assault. Instead of trying to cover Zoey, who was currently leading the pack of Chasers back towards Baxter, she made a line for the nearest Pecari Chaser and tried to get as much in that set of brown robes' way as Lizzie had been in hers a few minutes earlier.
Undesirable as it had been, the Bludger-ducking had, after a fashion, done Anne some good. There hadn't been time for desperate preoccupation with the game while she was trying to keep on her own broom. It had given her a specific aim-of-the-moment, which was to manage to save herself without giving Pecari an advantage of any kind. Now, she had a new aim: give any additional Bludgers some brown-robed options if they came her way, and to block any attempt by a Pecari Chaser to steal the Quaffle from Zoey before she attempted to score.
As the action closed in on the Pecari goals, however, she dropped below again, in case either Zoey or Stephen had a moment of bad luck, inattention, or both and accidentally dropped the Quaffle. It also kept her away from where she thought the Seekers were, which was above the goal posts, and in a decent position to try to take the Quaffle if it made it through the hoops. Anne realized she was grinning as Zoey went in for a complicated shot, though she had no idea why. She was almost sure she wasn't finding anything amusing.
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Anne Wright, Aladren Chaser
Well, at least it's almost over now.
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Anne Wright, Aladren Chaser
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Paul, Aladren Beater
October 24, 2007 6:36 PM
Almost, not quite all by Paul, Aladren Beater
Paul turned at the crack and dull sound of something falling. Did Chris hit someone? Or the female Craven? The quaffle was with Zoey, who was already on her way off to Stephen's side, meaning the falling had to be a body. Turning rapidly Paul noticed, with a hint of glee, that Elly had fallen. Chris had hit her! Oh Paul could have jumped up. There was a tad of upset in his stomach that he wasn't able to hit Elly, let alone anybody, yet, but mainly he was giddy.Elly was Seeker. If she fell, Zack was the only Seeker left on the Pitch. And that meant they would win! Also, Paul liked entertaining the thought that a Bludger hitting you was just as painful as an angry Sierra Tarwater. And he felt they were even on that bit, though Elly hadn't known what happened to him... still. It was amusing. Pecaris had stayed true to their Quidditch ritual, one fell off nearly every time they played.
Paul turned to his new task, the Bludger that just missed Anne. He would have to hit it at one of the Pecari Chasers, and hopefully hit one of them as well. And Zoey could score them a point, against Stephen while Paul took out another player. They'd be two down, and Aladren would have a better chance at winning. Dropping low Paul sped towards the Bludger, and allowed his bat to make contact with the Bludger and he directed it to the nearest bat-free Pecari.
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Paul, Aladren Beater
Almost, not quite all
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Paul, Aladren Beater
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Fox
October 24, 2007 11:27 PM
<font color="pink">NO MORE POSTING</font> (nm) by Fox
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Fox
<font color="pink">NO MORE POSTING</font> (nm)
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Fox
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