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Post by lass on Apr 12, 2011 18:46:38 GMT -8
Well I work retail & it's kinda hard to pull a sheet of paper out of your pocket & get down that dialogue that's been runing around in your head "screaming" to get out. . . . . while your directing customers to aisle #10 . . . . . . Not that I don't try For some reason work isn't enough distraction to keep me from writing.
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Post by California gal on Apr 12, 2011 19:04:28 GMT -8
How about getting one of those tiny recorders of some type that you can hide in the palm of your hand? You could dictate your ideas into it when it looks like you are scratching your nose or something. ;D
I do know if I don't get my ideas written down right away, I forget them or they don't turn out right. The worst thing is I often have good ideas after I go to bed and I'm not about to sit up and write them down. I've tried that with dreams and I can't read what I write anyway!
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Post by snish on Apr 14, 2011 3:56:41 GMT -8
I write... very slowly. It's why I never finish anything. If you want to do it, you just have to get time without distractions. Having a job that isn't too demanding on your brain can be good for writing, though. That's why you're coming up with dialogue while you're at work. I remember being in a yoga class once, and I was so busy imagining a Jim & Artie scene that I could hardly hear what the instructor was saying.
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Post by Artiespet on Apr 14, 2011 9:33:44 GMT -8
I write... very slowly. It's why I never finish anything. If you want to do it, you just have to get time without distractions. Having a job that isn't too demanding on your brain can be good for writing, though. That's why you're coming up with dialogue while you're at work. I remember being in a yoga class once, and I was so busy imagining a Jim & Artie scene that I could hardly hear what the instructor was saying. snish snish snish tsk tsk tsk Ma'am you should be writing us story to read ;D I know you could produce some awesome stuff.
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Post by Double Take on Jun 5, 2011 15:43:44 GMT -8
I'm just curious...do you have a name for all your primary characters from the outset when writing a story or not? I am 3/4 of the way through and have not settled on a name for my villian and I find I do that on a regular basis when I am writing. My current villian's name is *** for now. I have some ideas, but I need to do more research. Some of the other characters will have to undergo a name change since I borrowed from WWW because the name popped into my head, but doesn't fit with the character.
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Post by California gal on Jun 5, 2011 15:54:17 GMT -8
I usually name the characters as I go along, but occasionally when halfway through or more, I decide to change it. I changed the name of the villain in Extravaganza of Death 3 or 4 times before settling on P.T. Ordway.
I have a couple of "baby name" books that help me find names (and there are sites online), and one for the origin and meanings of surnames. I have been known to look through the phone book too!
I have more trouble with the location I'm going to put a story in, and naming the towns. I usually look at maps, but most of the time I make up the name of the main town.
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Post by Double Take on Jun 5, 2011 16:12:45 GMT -8
I know what you mean. Currently *** lives outside of **** which is separated from *** by an unnamed mountain range. I usually look at the old railroad maps and then go from there. I have used Google Earth as well. I have the general region pinned down, but I have had to move around by a few hundred miles to make things fit. Somehow I doubt the writers of the series worried about that too much. They did come up with some interesting first names especially of their villains.
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Paradox Eyes
Cadet
"Hmmmm......Which guns and gadgets today??
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Post by Paradox Eyes on Jun 5, 2011 16:50:28 GMT -8
I usually use names that just pop into my head as I write or I also keep a list of names I find interesting when I come across them at work.
The geography really gets to me though. If I'm using real locations, I will spend hours hunting through the old railroads maps as well. Then of course I start figuring time and distance for travel by whatever means. It's not something I would ever pick at in someone else's story but I myself can't write it till I know it's reasonably close to correct. But on the other hand, I read for enjoyment first and foremost so imaginary names and places work just fine for me too!
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Post by Double Take on Jun 5, 2011 17:05:18 GMT -8
I have a couple of "baby name" books that help me find names (and there are sites online), and one for the origin and meanings of surnames. I have been known to look through the phone book too! I never thought of looking up surnames by meaning on the Internet. I found one I think will work. Thanks for the suggestion.
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Post by California gal on Jun 5, 2011 17:52:30 GMT -8
Sometimes a story needs a particular geography, or climate, and that's when I might use "literary license." I try never to let facts get in the way of a good story!
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conansf
Wannabe
Steampunk never goes out of fashion
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Post by conansf on Jun 10, 2011 23:24:36 GMT -8
I think you can get too obsessed with how the characters eventually um "end" up. I know, I know, I just wrote a "golden years" story but I left it so our heroes could be called back for more adventures, after all, despite their protestations, if their country needs them, they'll be there! I am currently messing with a story of their grandchildren, who call on their grandfathers' experience via old journals, to combat 5th column activity in 1942 America. But I don't think it is necessary to go into detail about how characters die, it simply is TMI. Rather like any love scene I have written, no details, just end it where the readers imagination can fill in the gaps. Ohh lala!
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conansf
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Steampunk never goes out of fashion
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Post by conansf on Jun 10, 2011 23:28:44 GMT -8
[Quote: The geography really gets to me though. If I'm using real locations, I will spend hours hunting through the old railroads maps as well. ]
I have been doing a bit of research on just where in Mexico Jim West would have his ranch, I decided on Nogales, as being on the railroad, not far from Tucson and handy for travel in those days. Thoughts?
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Paradox Eyes
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"Hmmmm......Which guns and gadgets today??
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Post by Paradox Eyes on Jun 11, 2011 2:29:59 GMT -8
[Quote: The geography really gets to me though. If I'm using real locations, I will spend hours hunting through the old railroads maps as well. ] I have been doing a bit of research on just where in Mexico Jim West would have his ranch, I decided on Nogales, as being on the railroad, not far from Tucson and handy for travel in those days. Thoughts? I always thought it curious that the movie writers put him in Mexico. After all, California was still a wide open land of opportunity and yet had a lot of cultural activity along the coast. The only reason I can see is that they wanted to portray him with a house full of women at his disposal. (Not exactly an American mom and apple pie portrait.) Can't say I cared much for that! (Or their portrayal of Artie's life either.) But if he were to retire in Mexico I think the location you picked out makes a lot of sense conansf.
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Post by California gal on Jun 11, 2011 9:02:12 GMT -8
I think you can get too obsessed with how the characters eventually um "end" up. I know, I know, I just wrote a "golden years" story but I left it so our heroes could be called back for more adventures, after all, despite their protestations, if their country needs them, they'll be there! I am currently messing with a story of their grandchildren, who call on their grandfathers' experience via old journals, to combat 5th column activity in 1942 America. But I don't think it is necessary to go into detail about how characters die, it simply is TMI. Rather like any love scene I have written, no details, just end it where the readers imagination can fill in the gaps. Ohh lala! I do like to think about what happened to the characters in the future (as well as their present and pasts). I want to know that they survived all the perils and eventually were able to lead "normal" happy lives--even if Dr. Loveless still shows up to hector them. I want to write another "future" story, but so far the right plot hasn't hit me. I'm not sure I'm terribly interested in what their descendants, 2-3 generations down the road, do or did. Not unless there's some kind of time travel so Jim and Artie are there too!
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Silver
Book Worm
I love the smell of canon fire in the morning!
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Post by Silver on Jun 13, 2011 7:18:38 GMT -8
I do like to think about what happened to the characters in the future (as well as their present and pasts). I want to know that they survived all the perils and eventually were able to lead "normal" happy lives--even if Dr. Loveless still shows up to hector them. I want to write another "future" story, but so far the right plot hasn't hit me. I'm not sure I'm terribly interested in what their descendants, 2-3 generations down the road, do or did. Not unless there's some kind of time travel so Jim and Artie are there too! Yes, I would normally agree with you about descendants - except in the case of The Night of the Descendants. The idea originated from my reading a book in my youth about Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe in which the author posited the fictional idea that, based on the facts as they were at the beginning of the series, Wolfe was the illegitimate son of Sherlock Holmes and Irene Addler, conceived during the 3 years Holmes was presumed dead. That combined with my enthusiasm for both Wild Wild West and Mission: Impossible, and my special love of Artemus Gordon from the one and Rollin Hand from the other - both, you note, secret agents/actors - and I decided that Rollin Hand was clearly the descendant of Artemus Gordon. Those were the days before this board had been created, so over on the other board I mentioned this and we started positing who from the same era of fiction might be the descendant of James West. Once someone suggest Mrs. Peel, it was pretty much agreed to be the obvious and best choice. Then I started planning on writing a story about the Descendants being brought back in time to meet and work with their ancestors. (Oh, and Mrs. Peel hearing one of Jim's 'woman's place' comments and beating the **** out of him.) I tried to write this for my 2009 NaNovel, but didn't get nearly as much of it done (yet) as I'd hoped to do. (The good news is, I was rereading it recently and I actually think I'm going to have to dump a lot less of the rough draft than I thought I would.) The villain of the story, by the way, is Count Manzeppi trying to work black magic and accidentally causing the whole time travel thing. He has a set of Eccentrics I created myself (with a little help from a very good NaNoing buddy), except I bring back Vilar and Julio (Richard Pryor's ventriloquist character and dummy). Which actually also brings us to the matter of naming original characters. I normally have names pop into my head pretty easily. (Sometimes not, though, and then I suffer.) I also see names that I really like in my work, and save them for use later. In TNoTD, I very specifically named one of the Eccentrics with a name that had been associated with a major SPAM endless loop we got hit with at work. Since the character dies in a particularly horrible way, I really enjoyed doing that. Forgive me for going on so. I guess I just needed to enthuse for a few minutes.
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Post by lilyfortune on Jun 13, 2011 9:07:00 GMT -8
Paradox, I'm glad to know I'm not the only one unhappy about how the guys were portrayed post retirement. They were made to look rather low rent IMO and that definitely spoiled my enjoyment of the movie some. It wasn't necessary for the writers to take noble characters like Artie & Jim and make them seem sleazy, I wonder why they felt the need to go there and I also wondered if either Ross or Bob had an issue with it. Don't get me wrong, I was so tickled to see them reunited and back in action again, I just didn't like the living situations they were put in, I was thinking Jim should have been doing something associated with law enforcement since he was such a man of action (private detective maybe?) and Artie with a prestigious acting company (not like the one they stuck him with!) with Lily or teaching somewhere (the man knew something about everything). One of Piper's great stories had Artie teaching other Secret Service agents about explosives and disguises and he was with Lily----IMO that was very fitting; I could see him helping to establish the precursor to the FBI or CIA, something along those lines. I just didn't think their later lives were shown in as good a light as they deserved.
The people on this board who write stories for the guys have a much better concept of the personalities of Jim and Artie IMO, thank god.
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Post by California gal on Jun 13, 2011 13:28:15 GMT -8
Yes, I would normally agree with you about descendants - except in the case of The Night of the Descendants. The idea originated from my reading a book in my youth about Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe in which the author posited the fictional idea that, based on the facts as they were at the beginning of the series, Wolfe was the illegitimate son of Sherlock Holmes and Irene Addler, conceived during the 3 years Holmes was presumed dead.. Silver, I am looking forward to reading TNOT Descendants, so please don't think my "bias" will stop me from doing that! ;D Have you ever investigated the Wold Newton Universe? It is a fascinating and imaginative "family tree" connecting fiction heroes and heroes from way back when to modern times. I love scanning through it. www.pjfarmer.com/secret/content/Contents.htm
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Paradox Eyes
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"Hmmmm......Which guns and gadgets today??
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Post by Paradox Eyes on Jun 14, 2011 1:49:02 GMT -8
Paradox, I'm glad to know I'm not the only one unhappy about how the guys were portrayed post retirement. They were made to look rather low rent IMO and that definitely spoiled my enjoyment of the movie some. It wasn't necessary for the writers to take noble characters like Artie & Jim and make them seem sleazy, I wonder why they felt the need to go there and I also wondered if either Ross or Bob had an issue with it. Don't get me wrong, I was so tickled to see them reunited and back in action again, I just didn't like the living situations they were put in, I was thinking Jim should have been doing something associated with law enforcement since he was such a man of action (private detective maybe?) and Artie with a prestigious acting company (not like the one they stuck him with!) with Lily or teaching somewhere (the man knew something about everything). One of Piper's great stories had Artie teaching other Secret Service agents about explosives and disguises and he was with Lily----IMO that was very fitting; I could see him helping to establish the precursor to the FBI or CIA, something along those lines. I just didn't think their later lives were shown in as good a light as they deserved. The people on this board who write stories for the guys have a much better concept of the personalities of Jim and Artie IMO, thank god. I so agree lilyfortune. I know they had fun making those movies but they are not fun to watch now and see our heroes so degraded. I've only ever watched the first one again on DVD and can't bring myself to watch the other. Way back when they first showed them, I too, was just so excited to see them brought back that I paid little attention to the presentation. And I'm delighted as well, every time a writer presents a new story for us, it keeps them coming back just like a new episode.
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conansf
Wannabe
Steampunk never goes out of fashion
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Post by conansf on Jun 14, 2011 2:15:06 GMT -8
Not that I think the writers of the TV movies gave much thought to continuity or backstory, (in fact I am pretty sure they did not) but I think they just wanted to give our heroes a good reason to once again risk life and limb. Being bored and fed up with your life is one good reason to say yes to a proposition by Skinny. I gave the boys a much more cheerful and fulfiling retirement, but you just know that even being happy isn't going to stop them getting involved with anything they feel may be a threat to their home or adopted countries!
Please note: I don't intend my "future" story to be more than a one-off, it's just a little plot bunny bite, but it is fun: “Oh, please,” Misty sighed “Our grandfathers were partners in the Secret Service, famous ones and my grandmother was assistant to their boss. My father never talks about his service record but the Battle of Ambros Nogales happened on our doorstep. If he was regular cavalry then I’m Alfred Hitchcock. I think we have the right pedigree. My grandfather’s memoirs were required reading in our household.” “Mine too." Jai spoke up, "Other children grew up with Zorro and The Shadow, we had the real thing.”
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Silver
Book Worm
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Post by Silver on Jun 14, 2011 7:08:19 GMT -8
Paradox, I'm glad to know I'm not the only one unhappy about how the guys were portrayed post retirement. They were made to look rather low rent IMO and that definitely spoiled my enjoyment of the movie some. It wasn't necessary for the writers to take noble characters like Artie & Jim and make them seem sleazy, I wonder why they felt the need to go there and I also wondered if either Ross or Bob had an issue with it. Don't get me wrong, I was so tickled to see them reunited and back in action again, I just didn't like the living situations they were put in, I was thinking Jim should have been doing something associated with law enforcement since he was such a man of action (private detective maybe?) and Artie with a prestigious acting company (not like the one they stuck him with!) with Lily or teaching somewhere (the man knew something about everything). One of Piper's great stories had Artie teaching other Secret Service agents about explosives and disguises and he was with Lily----IMO that was very fitting; I could see him helping to establish the precursor to the FBI or CIA, something along those lines. I just didn't think their later lives were shown in as good a light as they deserved. The people on this board who write stories for the guys have a much better concept of the personalities of Jim and Artie IMO, thank god. I so agree lilyfortune. I know they had fun making those movies but they are not fun to watch now and see our heroes so degraded. I've only ever watched the first one again on DVD and can't bring myself to watch the other. Way back when they first showed them, I too, was just so excited to see them brought back that I paid little attention to the presentation. Me too!
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conansf
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Steampunk never goes out of fashion
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Post by conansf on Jun 23, 2011 20:33:42 GMT -8
Quote: I am currently messing with a story of their grandchildren, who call on their grandfathers' experience via old journals, to combat 5th column activity in 1942 America.
Quote: I do like to think about what happened to the characters in the future (as well as their present and pasts). I'm not sure I'm terribly interested in what their descendants, 2-3 generations down the road, do or did. Not unless there's some kind of time travel so Jim and Artie are there too! [/quote][/i] A Good Point that got me scheming! Artie and James do make an appearance, courtesy of a rather rumpled angel, who is sure he'll understand humans one day, if associating with them doesn't killl him first! He is a piece of in-joke casting from the show Supernatural. The angel Castiel is played by that excellent actor Misha Collins, who would be my pick to play Artemus in the reboot that Ron Moore is thinking of doing. Add Justin Hartley as Jim and short of going back in time, rigging a few "anti-violence polls" and shooting more episodes with our iconic favourite wild west agents.....hmmmm, prehaps I'll have Jim's grandson "deck" a snooty senator who is against "violence" in film.....
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Post by California gal on Jun 26, 2011 11:34:43 GMT -8
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conansf
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Steampunk never goes out of fashion
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Post by conansf on Jun 26, 2011 14:58:40 GMT -8
Speaking of time...I'll be in Florida in a week. Means I'll have 15 hours NZ to US, then another 6 hours LA to Orlando -plenty of time to write, yes? And that's not counting layovers! Mustn't complain though, back in the boy's time it would have been 6 months to England then another 3? months to NY before taking a train south!
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Post by Artiespet on Jun 26, 2011 15:38:50 GMT -8
Speaking of time...I'll be in Florida in a week. Means I'll have 15 hours NZ to US, then another 6 hours LA to Orlando -plenty of time to write, yes? And that's not counting layovers! Mustn't complain though, back in the boy's time it would have been 6 months to England then another 3? months to NY before taking a train south! so then we should see a story from you VERY soon right
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conansf
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Steampunk never goes out of fashion
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Post by conansf on Jun 26, 2011 15:53:13 GMT -8
Yes, Ma'am
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Paradox Eyes
Cadet
"Hmmmm......Which guns and gadgets today??
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Post by Paradox Eyes on Jun 27, 2011 1:45:54 GMT -8
What a great little site. I like the tips, use some of them myself and I added the featured book, Finger Lickin' Dead to my wish list. It looks like a fun one. Thanks CG!
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Paradox Eyes
Cadet
"Hmmmm......Which guns and gadgets today??
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Post by Paradox Eyes on Jun 27, 2011 1:54:48 GMT -8
"so then we should see a story from you VERY soon right"Yes, Ma'am Yayyyy! Another new writer, another story! Good luck with the writing during the trip and layovers conansf! Can't wait ;D
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Post by California gal on Jun 27, 2011 6:07:54 GMT -8
Here's yet another site with advice for writers. I know this is something I can use: editing to help move a story along, or perhaps shorten it. wordplay-kmweiland.blogspot.com/2009/01/killing-your-darlings.html#BTW if you go to the home page of this article there are a lot more interesting looking articles with hints. I'm going to read them when I have time!
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Silver
Book Worm
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Post by Silver on Jun 27, 2011 9:12:26 GMT -8
Speaking of time...I'll be in Florida in a week. Means I'll have 15 hours NZ to US, then another 6 hours LA to Orlando -plenty of time to write, yes? And that's not counting layovers! Mustn't complain though, back in the boy's time it would have been 6 months to England then another 3? months to NY before taking a train south! So, conansf Whenever we at work discuss what country we want to move to when Rick Perry, our delightful Texas Boob - I mean Governor - (shades of his predecessor, Dub the Shrub) becomes U.S. President. I always say New Zealand. Any suggestions?
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conansf
Wannabe
Steampunk never goes out of fashion
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Post by conansf on Jun 27, 2011 12:54:11 GMT -8
Depends on how exciting a life you want. We have a handful of cities, small by your standards and lots of rural area. Auckland , our largest city, (where I live) is built on the remains of 100-some caldera's - supposedly extinct but they did get a "burp" out of one a couple years back. And the south and east of both main islands rock...um..literally, we just had a couple of major earthquakes and now the residents of Christchurch, our largest city in the south, don't bother getting out of bed if it's below a 5 on the scale. ;D Just messing with you. The beautiful West coast of the South Island is stunning (see Lord of the Rings cinamatography) and we have almost any activity to suit any lifestyle. From ski-fields - ever tried ski-ing on an active volvcano? To lots of boating activities - well, it is 3 islands, to back-packing and lots more. The politics are liberal, if a bit leftish and we're pretty easy going as a culture. No poisonous snakes, actually, no snakes. What else - we're a nation of immigrants, we have great fishing; we do have weta's, and I don't mean the special effects studio - google them sometime! And , yes, it is a rule that everyone has to bungy jump at least once - would I lie to you?
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