On "issue" stories

[mark_asphodel]

 I have been really... disconnected lately.  There's just a lot going on (job/family/overall mundane matters) and I'm not on top of my game right now.  So, sorry if I've not been responding to things in a timely manner.

Anyway, I was planning to write an essay-thing on plot to complement the ones on structure, but then Things Happened as usual and I decided to write about this instead.

Issue du jour stories are one thing Fire Emblem fandom seems immune to, or perhaps just wary of.  Back in the day, the fandoms I followed were very tuned-in to current events.  The royal wedding in the UK would have inspired a slew of wedding 'fic, the death of a terrorist leader would have lead to some "Fuck Yeah, Fictional Nation!" shoot-em-ups, and so on.  Something on the scale of the tsunami earlier this year might have given writers pause, but only for a day or two.  I'm not talking about hundreds of topical stories here, but there'd be a dozen or so at least.

But, given that's pretty much a non-issue 'round these parts, I'll concentrate on a different sort of "issue" story.  On a subset of it, actually-- portrayal of specific illnesses and disorders in fanfic.  Sometimes it's clearly a cause dear to the author's heart and they want to give that cause a "voice" through fanfic, sometimes it reads more like chain-yanking... and sometimes the author's interpretation of canon is just really, really whacked.

Ranma 1/2 was a big fandom for imposing psychological disorders on characters.  It was one of those "mostly comic source, mostly dark fandom" kind of places, and so you ended up with things where Akane had a rage disorder and ended up abusing Ranma to death, or Ranma's machismo was a gender-identity issue cured by acceptance of his female body as his true self, or Kodachi had a variant of bipolar disorder and turned into a nice enough girl once she was diagnosed and put on meds.  All of these were well-written and deadly serious stories, but they left some fans enraged (especially that Akane one) and left me scratching my head a lot of the time (the Kodachi one in particular).  Still, they were sincere attempts at explaining the wackiness on the page in a real-world sense; the transition just didn't always go over well.

Harry Potter did some of that mucking around as well; I recall especially vividly a Snape/adult!Hermione story shut up where Snape's yellow complexion was merely the result of liver issues and he had perfectly lovely skin after Hermione invented a cure for him.  I guess you'd call that a more standard case of wish fulfillment than whatever the hell was going on in Ranma fandom.  I also read a lot of Snape/adult!Hermione shut up! stories where she fixed up all the problems going on in his dear little head, and those didn't go over nearly as well.  Taking the myth-infused Potterverse and inflicting modern psychodynamic theory onto it just wasn't a very good fit, IMO.  In any event, the canon explanation for Snape's "issues" turned out to be a hell of a lot more plausible than a bunch of fannish hand-waving to explain how dear Severus wasn't really a bitter vengeful geek and his own worst enemy. YMMV, of course.

 
Now, I'm not saying people shouldn't write any of these things.  These were all "good" stories, well-written and well-developed.  They just went places I didn't find entirely convincing.  I think part of the problem is when the author ignores the tone of the canonverse she's writing for and puts too much of modernity into her "issue"-- an example here in FE fandom is one where Ike has PTSD, which is described as such in the narrative and dialogue.  Using terminology from the DSM-IV in a sword-and-sorcery world is more than a little jarring-- seriously, is there canon evidence that the various Fire Emblem worlds even accept germ theory?  It's not our world.  Do they understand the difference between bacteria and viruses?  Do they believe "consumption" is contagious, or is it thought to be hereditary?  Here on earth we didn't know for certain until 1880.  We have canonical cases of "demonic" possession in more than one continent-- how is mental illness actually viewed?   Especially when you consider that the role of healer and the role of holy person is usually combined.  

[Note to L.M. Montgomery fans-- the treatment of TB in her works as it became understood is truly fascinating; there's a write-up on it somewhere on Google Books that is a very good read.]

A good example?  Well, I thought "Woman King" was a damned good treatment of a "modern" concern (gender identity as we currently understand it) set in a world that does NOT understand or permit such things.  That line about Zephiel and the coming-of-age ceremony was perfect.

Context is everything.  If you're writing for a world without CT scanners, DNA tests, protein assays, and such, diagnosing an illness isn't going to work like it does on House.  On the other hand, since Fire Emblem isn't on our planet, they might not be hobbled by things that held medicine back in pre-Renaissance Europe.  Maybe student healers are actually allowed to examine cadavers.  Maybe light magic can do some kind of imaging.  Who knows?  If you're itching to write a medical drama, you can invent your own terminology, procedures, traditions, cures... go hog wild.  Little details in a story can add so much.  One thing I appreciated about Gunlord's "Wayward Son" was the use of bubonic plague as the dread disease "Bramimond's Warts"-- little things count.  Same thing goes for psychological concerns-- nobody in a Fire Emblem 'fic outside of a self-insert should know Asperger's Syndrome by its name, but someone with an interest in doing so might plausibly make an Aspie out of one of the more brilliant and socially maladroit characters.  Subtly, of course, so that people who know what they're looking at will get it, and everyone else will just assume it's Character X being their odd self.    

And that's part of it, too.  People have debated for decades about what's really killing Dimmesdale in The Scarlet Letter-- a little mystery is a good thing.  "Issue" stories often suffer from a major lack of show-not-tell, something that can be corrected for easily enough.  You don't have to express your deep conviction that Ilyana is a Type I diabetic by pulling out a bunch of symptoms from WebMD and including them all in the story... or by mining Steel Magnolias and old editions of the Baby-Sitters Club for information.  Though Steel Magnolias might arguably be more help than WebMD in terms of dramatic effect...

[Yes, I got this from WMG on TvTropes.  I don't think about Ilyana enough to come up with my own theories about her.]


Anyway, this is of course all my opinion, offered as free advice, etc.  Happy writing, and if someone writes that Ilyana story I might even read it.

Comments

[r-amythest.livejournal.com]

That Ike-PTSD fic is some special kind of jarring (and incited enough rage in me to give me a this is how you write a second-person issues story!11 (http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6652226/1/Imagine) moment).

I'm very happy that you found Woman King to be a good Issues Story. Issue Stories have always fascinated me, though I think it's only recently that mine have gone anywhere convincing.

Speaking of a lick of mystery and inconclusiveness, I cannot agree more. Mental disorders, even more than physical ones, tend to be deeply involved, subjective, and overall different experiences. Leaving traits out can often come off better than a textbook recitation.

Although personally I've always valued first-hand accounts over academic research, anyway. Every couple of decades our psychological theories are proven wrong, but experience is forever.

[hooves.livejournal.com]

I will always encourage people to read autobiographies or memories from people who have lived through something firsthand. Versus them just (only) looking up textbook definitions.

Even some fictional books (Kissing Doorknobs is one I recall offhand about OCD) are good enough and present something in real enough a light that it's believable and in that sense, much better than a list of symptoms right out of a medical dictionary/encyclopedia.

[mark-asphodel.livejournal.com]

Although personally I've always valued first-hand accounts over academic research, anyway.

Oh, yes. Much more useful to fiction, IMO.

[samuraiter.livejournal.com]

Ranma ½ fandom is ... a subject that can fill a whole book. 'Fics like the ones you describe are posted to the FFML to this very day. My favorite is a tongue-in-cheek that gives a realistic spin on the abnormal strength that Ryoga possesses. He gives Akane a hug and inadvertently crushes her to death.

And my good friend ladydeathfaerie has a reputation for her Snape / Hermione 'fics. :-)

[mark-asphodel.livejournal.com]

Fics like the ones you describe are posted to the FFML to this very day

Seriously?

I remember reading one super-serious dramatic death-filled thingy and praising it to my husband as being "deep" (this was nearly ten years ago) and he just said in a withering way, "Do you think any of those characters would really learn anything from an experience like that?"

After that I didn't enjoy those kind of dark-Ranma stories so much.

Thanks for the rec!

[sailorvfan10.livejournal.com]

Do not feel bad, I read Snape/adult!Hermione fics too.

I feel pretty much the same way. Seeing how Fire Emblem is set in a fictional world, in some aspects they might be technologically behind (in comparison to the 'modern world'), but in other aspects they might have similar knowledge, just different applications (since FE has magic and everything), or they don't have the same names (such as a different name for the bubonic plague, as mentioned in "Wayward Son").

Exploring various issues in a fic can be interesting, but it all depends on how it's applied in the fic. It should be done in a way that fits the character(s) and the world while still being recognisable to the readers. (Also a lot of issues are highly subjective. For example, my mother and I both suffer from depression, but the way it manifests is different with me than it is with her. I get rather short-tempered, she just gets really lethargic, among other things.) I mean okay you know all the symptoms of something, but not everyone is going to show them.

(I read a fic today that could really use the advice in this meta. A lot. It was an issues fic that was borderline offensive, if not offensive period.)

In short, I agree.

[mark-asphodel.livejournal.com]

I mean okay you know all the symptoms of something, but not everyone is going to show them.

Bingo. There isn't really a "textbook case" to crib from.

[sailorvfan10.livejournal.com]

If anything, a textbook just lists all of the possible symptoms, but it doesn't say everyone has to experience all of them, or even most of them. Fanfiction in general just doesn't seem to get that just because it says you can get all of these symptoms for something, doesn't mean you will get all of them.

1/?

[hooves.livejournal.com]

1.) MARK I LOVE YOU

2.) where Akane had a rage disorder and ended up abusing Ranma to death

I actually laughed aloud at this. Until I stopped for about a quarter of a second and realized that my mind, which can't help but be realistic about everything, even when I don't want it to, has pondered on the possibility of that actually happening within the Ranma 1/2 canon. I own both the entire manga and the entire anime, and though the series (especially the manga) made me lol many a time...

You can't take half of what occurs in the series seriously or your mind will explode. Possibly literally. I would rather not attempt an experiment. (Or maybe I will. I'll probably die after the first episode.)

I do think the series-- and some of the characters-- have room for exploration, even in a series as whacky as Ranma 1/2 is. I do occasionally like to see well-crafted theories (via actual fic or discussions) about X and Y and why/how they got there. It's INTERESTING. It's FUN. I mean, to see what people come up with.

3.) In any event, the canon explanation for Snape's "issues" turned out to be a hell of a lot more plausible than a bunch of fannish hand-waving to explain how dear Severus wasn't really a bitter vengeful geek and his own worst enemy. YMMV, of course.

I really need to watch/read HP so I can understand this. :(

Re: 1/?

[hooves.livejournal.com]

4.) They just went places I didn't find entirely convincing.

Therein lies the real problem. If you choose to write about issues they still have to make sense within the canon world you're writing about. I should bold that last bit. Okay fixed.

Your examples of germ theory, consumption, mental illnesses, and so on...just hit the nail on the head REALLY HARD. People in a medieval sword-and-sorcery world (or hell, even FE8 with its almost out of medieval feel) would NOT UNDERSTAND a lot of things. For example, treatment and understanding/etc of women? Diseases? And so on.

I mean, it wasn't ALL that long ago that women were burned and people were killed for stupid things. THEY WERE A WITCH MAN. And people actually believed it. People BELIEVED also that "medicine" worked because of simple tricks done by businessmen of the times. Kissing a frog would kill you in their minds. Not any specific frog, but frogs/toads in general.

They really had no concept of things like modern medicine or views on the sexes. (Or views on sex/relationships for that matter.)

This sort of brings me back to the story you were talking about last week or whenever, that was reviewed by people upset by the use of a term someone of those times might easily have used to describe a women wearing less than ideal clothes.

Sure, okay, characters like Lyn run around in a skirt with a slit clean up the side, and you can't really say THAT is why people are racist against her, because look at Priscilla's skirt!!11one

There are two sides to this:

A. I can easily see that the characters are wearing these clothes in their official artwork and I should be allowed to paint the world in a more detailed light concerning it. If I choose to have the characters react in a medieval-normal way to the clothing of the characters, I should be allowed to do so without fandom jumping down my throat.

B. Who's to say that Florina doesn't always wear leggings or pants under her skirt? Who's to say Priscilla's dress isn't a lot longer than depicted in the official artwork? I should also be allowed to choose to change "canon" (e.g., official artwork if I want) to make things more realistic.

Either way makes sense and is fine in my honest opinion. I feel that I should be allowed to take either course to make things make sense if that's what I want to do-- and not worry about being jumped on or glared at or discredited for doing it.

Clothing for me is a good thing to talk about because it's easier and used to be talked about quite frequently. Literally, Florina cannot fly in the clothes in her official artwork, least of all in Ilia. It's a physical impossibility unless you intend to write about her death due to frostbite, or about her completely ruined, windburned skin.

So if someone wants to write a novelization of the games where Florina either wears pants or leggings under her skirt (which would allow her to still dress like a woman-- as seemingly all FE women wear skirts of some kind) while being protected from wind and et cetera, or where she wears exactly what she wears in-game, mentions some magic hooplah to explain how she can fly up high and not die of the cold/etc, and a random male character calls her a tramp or something?

EITHER option is just as plausible IMO. The novelization shouldn't be discredited as "not canon" because Florina wears leggings despite her artwork having none. Nor should it be discredited because a character-- main or otherwise-- thinks she dresses like a tramp. Or hell, even mistakes her for one.

Re: 1/?

[hooves.livejournal.com]

5.) LM Montgomery?! AAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN with an E.

6.) Woman King WAS a great example. Why? It showed, not told. And made complete sense within the canon world.

7.) I love Steel Magnolias. I have to say, though... Back to not taking things as they're given to us. If Ilyana really ate what she describes as having eaten? It's...actually pretty impossible. She's a funny gag character to be sure, but if one tried to write what she eats into a serious story exactly as it's shown to us in game dialogue? Impossible. Not if you want to keep it all entirely canon-canon, to the letter and keeping things like official artwork.

I do like some ambiguity about things in a story. If someone's dying (say, Eliwood), there's not always a need to say what's killing him, or map it out to the last damn symptom so that it's beyond obvious to the reader. Let's not forget, either, that just because WebMD (which can't even tell you correctly what is poison for your pet to eat) says that diabetics or people with thyroid problems/etc have X, Y, and Z as symptoms...doesn't mean everyone with that disease actually has or shows ALL of the symptoms listed!

Either way, to plausibly write Ilyana as someone with diabetes, or any illness, one would have to still change something "canon" about her to make it realistic (and believable). Her physical size/weight, the amount of food she eats, something. If there were nitty gritty details (diarrhea), or it was a different problem altogether (bulimia, she eats all the time because she just keeps throwing it up), I can see people getting pretty upset over it. (Or maybe she's OCD in that she can't help but overeat every time. And maybe she throws it up not because she's bulimic but because she can't stop eating until it makes her sick.) Blah blah the list can go on, obviously.

But I think the problem people face when they do try to bring up a serious issue (and let's use Ilyana for an example since there are so many options with her) is:

-shrugged off or ignored or even flamed by the fandom
-HOW DARE YOU HAVE AN IDEA ABOUT THIS CHARACTER THAT DOESN'T JIVE 100% WITH EVERY CANON DETAIL
-A LOT of criticism

Crit is to be expected if, say, you wrote a story about how Ilyana spent a long time without food before she got the opportunity to stuff her face. Or maybe as a child she OFTEN went long periods of time without food and would stuff her face whenever she could because it might be a long time before she saw more food! There'd be a lot of frowns and perhaps speculation and criticism from the fandom.

I do believe there's usually a reason for things. If you watch enough criminal investigations, serial killers (etc) HAD SHITTY CHILDHOODS. Like, almost every single one. Something horrible happened, they witnessed something horrible, they were treated like shit, something. That isn't the only backing I have, but let's just say I feel in most cases it applies to a lot of other things.

Anyway, I personally see nothing wrong in writing an Ilyana story that explores the possibilities so long as it's done realistically. She's eating an entire cake? Sure. Three cakes, a turkey, six slices of pie? I will headdesk over and over and possibly hit the back button.

But right up with show-don't-tell? If diabetes or bulimia or anorexia or Asperger's is MENTIONED BY NAME? I'm also fairly likely to hit the back button.

last one seriously

[hooves.livejournal.com]

IMO you don't have to play Name That Disease/Mental Illness/Whatever. If you're writing that Soren has OCD tendencies, fine. But if Ike walks in and goes, "Wow Soren, you're awfully OBSESSIVE-COMPULSIVE ABOUT THIS." I will go :U ("Aren't you being a little obsessive?" would sound better imo anyway.)

I do understand that people oftentimes use terms like PTSD and don't realize or think at the time and remember that it's a fairly modern term. There was no name for it. A lot of people probably thought you were insane.

PTSD as we know it is not what people knew it as back then. Someone comes back from war and wakes up in the middle of the night screaming or swinging at their wife, or crying uncontrollably? You didn't TELL people about that. They'd think the person was insane and they'd probably be shunned from society. This would happen anyway if in public they showed displays that were similar if a memory was triggered or whatever.

NOT to say those problems can't be written about believably in even a Fire Emblem world. Because they can be. But mentioning PTSD by name is a mistake. SHOW us they have it, don't tell us. (And also don't be so busy showing that you're actually telling.)

Also as a side note: Something I explored elsewhere but not in FE? Gangrene.

ALSO: healers/doctors are not always right. I do get disappointed that a healer-type or doctor/like/nurse/like character predicts something and it's ALWAYS 100% true. It's totally okay if they're wrong. They can screw up, too. Especially when I'd imagine they'd have some seriously whacked theories and ideas of what "worked" and "didn't work".

Healing aside-- I tend to think of healing as more of an emergency type thing...not something used on a sprained elbow or something.

Shuuuuutting up now because I could go on all night. :U

[xirysa.livejournal.com]

I'm fairly braindead at this point, so I'll keep this short and sweet.

I've always enjoyed stories about societal issues (it's something that comes up quite often in my own original projects) and the like, but at the same time I've yet to come across larger pieces in fanfiction that address them both emotionally and realistically. There are people who do their research, but you can only use it so far in the premise of the story/your worldbuilding before it begins to have a distinctly non-FE (or whatever fandom it may be) feel to it.

And therein lies part of the issue, I think; because we're so used to seeing how these problems play out in the real world, when we see them in fic, something usually seems to feel off. People get offended by the subject material, the author in question is called out on it and then "dogpiled", and in the end it's Just Not Fun.

Um. I forgot what else I wanted to say. I'll stop, now.

[r-amythest.livejournal.com]

larger pieces in fanfiction that address them both emotionally and realistically.

To be fair, the list of well-written longer works in the Fire Emblem fandom is extremely short and features much author redundancy.

[raphiael]

I think the biggest problems with "issue" stories in general are, as you said, not matching up with the tone of the original, shoving the canon into weird places just to make it work, and sensationalism. It's that last part that really throws me off. If you don't do enough research on, say, PTSD, you're probably going to portray it in the overdramatic, explosive light that a lot of entertainment does. That might work for someone who doesn't know what's going on. But for someone like, say, myself, who actually has it, or someone who knows someone who has it? It's going to fall flat, or worse, offend.

Overall, I have no problem with coming up with explanations for problems in canon - I do it all the time. It's when the story itself gets shoved into an obvious after-school-special feeling that you get into really iffy territory, I think.

Of course there's also the issue of namedropping disorders. Even if it is plausible that medical studies in FE-land are more advanced, it doesn't change the fact that throwing in modern diagnoses almost always feels off.

[mark-asphodel.livejournal.com]

It's when the story itself gets shoved into an obvious after-school-special feeling that you get into really iffy territory, I think.

No argument there. Still, I wonder if people shy away from dealing with certain topics at all, even embedded in a story that isn't overtly an issue story, because it's deemed too risky to write about.

[raphiael]

I'm not sure about that. I think there are enough stories out there dealing with Serious Issues that most people probably don't have an issue writing about them. The question is, does the little subset of people who's super worried about "being good" have an issue with writing them?

Thinking back, I've ditched a couple ideas dealing with suicidality not because I didn't feel like I could write them, but because I was afraid it wouldn't translate well for other people and possibly offend. That's why I think if you're leaving a review for a story that touches on Serious Issues, but doesn't do it well, you have to really think about how you phrase things and avoid the THIS IS OFFENSIVE dogpile. It remains entirely possible that someone's writing as a way to deal with their own experience, or something that's going on with someone they know, and just handled it clumsily, so waving the whole I WENT THROUGH THIS, YOU'RE DOIN' IT WRONG card is pretty risky.

Overall, though, I think it's definitely a tendency for at least our little LJ circle (which seems to follow different conventions from say, FFn) to shy away from potential treatment of possibly heavy issues - which is a shame, because to be frank, I'd rather see something from someone I know is going to really try to make it work than from someone who's just gonna shove it in for the sake of making things darker or more "socially relevant" or something.

[mark-asphodel.livejournal.com]

It remains entirely possible that someone's writing as a way to deal with their own experience, or something that's going on with someone they know, and just handled it clumsily, so waving the whole I WENT THROUGH THIS, YOU'RE DOIN' IT WRONG card is pretty risky.

Boy, have I ever seen that happen. Author and review-flamer, both waving their "issue" credentials around in a tail-chasing round of awfulness. Just... ugly.

At the base of it, I just don't feel that anyone should ever be told they can't write something, or can't joke about something. There aren't good or bad ideas, just well-written or poorly-written or mediocre works, you know? Anything can be potentially great or terrible. And sometimes humor about something horrible is a person's own way of coping with things.

[writerawakened.livejournal.com]

Before I would have considered not dropping the contemporary names of mental disorders in fic to go without saying, but unfortunately it isn't. Seeing modern terminology dropped in a non-AU is as jarring to me as someone talking on a cell phone in fic. XD

For a while I was thinking of writing a fic about Marisa, but I don't think I could write it in a way that would make it any more than glorified "Marisa has AS!" meta.

[mark-asphodel.livejournal.com]

For a while I was thinking of writing a fic about Marisa, but I don't think I could write it in a way that would make it any more than glorified "Marisa has AS!" meta.

Hah!

I have been sorely tempted to write a 'fic examining the use of ritual suicide in FE cultures (it happens in canon). I expect a deeply negative reception if I ever do write it, but oh well.

[rethira.livejournal.com]

I think that one of the main problems is that sometimes an issues story can become incredibly offensive. The author might not even realise what they're doing, but others will. It's very hard to strike the right balance and when trying to do that in a world like Fire Emblem just makes it even harder. They probably do have older beliefs about illness, both physical and mental. Even now society is still prejudiced against people with mental disorders, and in the sort of time period of Fire Emblem that would only have been worse.

I think that part of the lack of issue stories in FE these days is because it's very hard to translate real world issues into Fire Emblem. There are too few reference points between our modern world and their far more medieval and magical world.

[mark-asphodel.livejournal.com]

I think that one of the main problems is that sometimes an issues story can become incredibly offensive

This is true, but that goes for any topic to be treated in fiction. And some of the issue stories that were absolutely appalling as fiction came from people with real-life "cred" on the subject matter, as opposed to someone whose research was confined to, say, other works of fanfic. And that goes into a topic I don't even want to touch (who is "allowed" or has the "right" to write certain kinds of stories).

At the base of it, I don't care if a topic hits on someone's personal kink or squick or trigger. Professional fiction doesn't come with a rating system or warnings. I have my own personal list of Do Not Want and things that make me click the "back" button immediately, but my idea of "offensive as hell" can be someone else's fantasy, as the kink meme attests. Something as innocuous as a happy-pregnancy story can, after all, offend a reader. My concern is, "does this work as fiction?"

I think that part of the lack of issue stories in FE these days is because it's very hard to translate real world issues into Fire Emblem

That's also true, though it certainly never stopped people in any other fandom I've encountered. Fire Emblem fandom is, to me, a very odd though highly likable place.

[sarajayechan.livejournal.com]

OH GOD THE BABYSITTER'S CLUB. I blame them for years of thinking diabetes = zomg you'll die if you eat sugar!!!11111one XD I'm type 1, I eat sweets, and I'm still perfectly alive.

Issue fics in general are hard to write without things going preachy or soapboxy, and writing them in FE fandom would have to be an exercise in EXTREME caution. Realism of the era aside, it'd be pretty jarring to read something like "Young Alvis is clearly suffering post-dramatic stress disorder after the suicide of his father, said the healer". (Shell-shock I could buy a little more easily, since it sounds more natural)

[mark-asphodel.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't even use "shell-shock," given it's a term that came out of WWI. The FE analogue to artillery shells would be ballista shot, but still...

[sarajayechan.livejournal.com]

Hmm, I thought "shell shock" sounded like a generic phrase? Like "shocked to the core"...actually that second one would be better. XD Not the best, but more believable.

[shining-valor.livejournal.com]

Deranged? Depressed? Melancholy? Okay, deranged probably wouldn't work real well there, but the other's might be plausible definitions for reaction to sudden unexpected death... Though even they might be fuzzled a bit by more FE-ish terms to fit in better.

A dark cloud hangs about him, etc.

[sarajayechan.livejournal.com]

Melancholy, that's perfect.