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rhys alexander greyback
HOGWARTS ALUM WEREWOLF CURSEBREAKER ECHO
1,174 posts
played by vanessa
the air around me still feels like a cage
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last online May 5, 2024 2:45:13 GMT -7
WIZARDING ADULT
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Jan 14, 2021 22:40:39 GMT -7
Post by rhys alexander greyback on Jan 14, 2021 22:40:39 GMT -7
Change my attempt, good intentions Should I? Could I? She didn't seem phased by his response or what she had told him. Was this a common reaction? The disbelief and the extreme anxiety he just felt. It was a lot of information to take in if it was true. And even if it wasn't just the thought of not just a child but children--multiple. No, that wasn't something he had actually envisioned for himself despite what lurked as an idea in his deepest desires. The idea of children wasn't inherently horrible. It was more his intense and deep-seated fear that he wouldn't be any better than his own father was. Why put a child through what he had been through himself? Rhys accepted the glass of water she handed him, and he drank enough to help with his dry mouth and throat. He almost wished he had fainted. It would feel better than the heavyweight currently sitting on his chest. After a few moments of intense and rapid thought, he opened his mouth to speak again. "I--What does--Is it going to....happen?" There was no way this was the only future for him, was it? She'd mentioned blue eyes, and he thought she had been talking about him, but it could have been that the children he had seen all had blue eyes-- his eyes.
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xiulan zhou
OTHER SCHOOLING ALUM FORTUNE TELLER DIVINATION MASTERY CLAIRVOYANT PROPHET
176 posts
played by Audrey
That fancy wine won't put this fire out.
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last online Apr 29, 2024 18:36:37 GMT -7
WIZARDING ADULT
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Jan 14, 2021 23:32:35 GMT -7
Post by xiulan zhou on Jan 14, 2021 23:32:35 GMT -7
November 2025 Rhys took the glass of water from her and drank some of it, giving him a moment or two to calm himself down after what she had seen. He didn't seem to have relaxed much when he spoke again, though. "I—What does—Is it going to… happen?" His exact question wasn't completely clear, but Xiulan understood well enough what he had meant by what he'd said. He was still confused, clearly, by the thought of having children because of the fact that he didn't have any yet.
But that was precisely her job: to divine the future. It would happen; she had seen that much. The question, of course, was when. How far into the future she had seen was something that Xiulan herself couldn't pinpoint, though she could narrow down a period of about two decades. That, however, was based upon what she assumed to be Rhys's age and the presumption that they were his children rather than his grandchildren in the Orb. "It could be years in the future," she assured him, hoping that that would make the idea more palatable. If children hadn't been something he had considered until that moment, he didn't have to start the second he left her flat.
rhys alexander greyback
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rhys alexander greyback
HOGWARTS ALUM WEREWOLF CURSEBREAKER ECHO
1,174 posts
played by vanessa
the air around me still feels like a cage
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last online May 5, 2024 2:45:13 GMT -7
WIZARDING ADULT
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Jan 19, 2021 21:44:21 GMT -7
Post by rhys alexander greyback on Jan 19, 2021 21:44:21 GMT -7
Change my attempt, good intentions Should I? Could I? His thoughts were in many places simultaneously, and the natural seed of doubt that had been planted in his mind so long ago naturally appeared. He doubted this field and its ability, though the things he had seen in his work over the years had forced him to keep an open mind. But mainly, his doubt appeared because he wanted to deny the possibility of it being true. Children? Rhys had wanted a family more than anything in his life, but he'd settled to find siblings, which made him happy. What in the world told anyone that he was fit to be a father? He'd always been careful, he was aware of his current lifestyle and what some may have thought about it, but he'd always been careful. The last thing he'd ever wanted was to repeat what his own father had done in any way, though the control he exerted on his inner desires was only so strong at times. Maria had proven that to him, and it had infuriated and intrigued him at the same time. She didn't seem to be bothered by his outburst or disbelief though he figured that many of her clients heard things they hadn't expected to hear often. There were so many questions, and he wanted to ask them all at once, but then he couldn't figure out how to speak the words because his mind didn't want to know. "Years...." He muttered, but he wasn't sure what to do with that information at the moment. Rhys drank more water and let himself get lost in his thoughts for a moment. Even if he wanted to disregard this information, the seed was now planted. "What were you talking about when you said 'blue eyes'?"
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xiulan zhou
OTHER SCHOOLING ALUM FORTUNE TELLER DIVINATION MASTERY CLAIRVOYANT PROPHET
176 posts
played by Audrey
That fancy wine won't put this fire out.
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last online Apr 29, 2024 18:36:37 GMT -7
WIZARDING ADULT
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Jan 23, 2021 3:07:54 GMT -7
Post by xiulan zhou on Jan 23, 2021 3:07:54 GMT -7
November 2025 What might show up in an Orb was hardly as particular as any old lay individual might think. That was not only faithful to what Rhys had had to confront—via Xiulan's ability—but was a fact of divination as an art form. Many sought, in vain, to gain control of similar things… It was, possibly, a fact of humanity, too. Xiulan couldn't claim to know all about humankind and its flaws from any standpoint apart from that of an individual, a mortal. No hourglass sat around, waiting for Xiulan Zhou to toy with it. What would or might occur… Xiulan could say that. Additional information, not so much—although that was possibly frustrating for Rhys to soak in so rapidly. Though Rhys obviously thought through what Xiulan had told him about what was to occur for him, that didn't do anything to modify what Xiulan would say back to him. Divination didn't work that way, sadly. His doubting wasn't to do with how soon things would occur, though, but about a particular point. It wasn't about how many (although not an ungodly amount, by Xiulan's count); it was about what Xiulan had said about a color. That was all, though Xiulan found his fixation upon it puzzling in a way. It wasn't symbolism at all, if that was what Rhys thought it was. Xiulan had to think through for what it was that Rhys was actually asking. That visual was horribly straightforward, wasn't it? What could Rhys want in addition to what was known to him about it? It was nothing particularly alarming. Again, it was just a color. Pausing, Xiulan sat back, focusing on that vision until thinking about it practically burnt. "Hmm…"What had shown up prior to that instant was in focus for Xiulan again, minus looking through a glass orb. Again, it was obvious. Not dissimilar to two pools of liquid… and not as vivid as cyan, not naturally, but still… Did Rhys want clarity apart from having a mirror thrust into his hands? Xiulan probably could find a mirror for him… A scrying mirror would do. Did Rhys want a thorough discussion of an iris and a pupil? No, Xiulan thought almost humorously, probably not, and making up parts of it all for fun wasn't right… It wasn't about making up an intriguing story in a flash, as a con artist might try. That wasn't what Rhys was sitting in wait of. "Yours, almost…" Xiulan told him at first, moving back to sit with a focus on him again. What Xiulan said was truthful, but it also didn't aid him in any way. Anticipating that Rhys would think that it was him swirling around a crystal ball, which it wasn't, Xiulan thought again. It wasn't that Xiulan didn't know what to say, it was that it wasn't all that captivating. "It's… sort of odd, isn't it?" Xiulan said aloud, still thoughtful. "If you look at a child, and you look at his mum or dad, and you think, 'Wow,' as it's just so… uncanny?" Biology had its ways, obviously, but it wasn't just that—not for Xiulan, anyway. "Consanguinity" was probably too strong a word. In short, Xiulan had no doubts about it at all nor any similar misgivings. "I… I don't doubt that it is your child, Rhys, looking across at you right now. It's not a look into your past or into your childhood." That wasn't a bad thing, and Xiulan was fully cognizant of that, but an additional thought still stuck around: It wasn't an impossibility that Rhys was fixating on that color within his subconscious mind. With that in mind, Xiulan sat, waiting, to know what had run through Rhys's mind. rhys alexander greyback
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rhys alexander greyback
HOGWARTS ALUM WEREWOLF CURSEBREAKER ECHO
1,174 posts
played by vanessa
the air around me still feels like a cage
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last online May 5, 2024 2:45:13 GMT -7
WIZARDING ADULT
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Jan 23, 2021 13:23:02 GMT -7
Post by rhys alexander greyback on Jan 23, 2021 13:23:02 GMT -7
Change my attempt, good intentions Should I? Could I? She pondered his question, and Rhys wondered what that meant about the whole event and what she saw. Somehow his eyes were important in this vision. The thought hit a nerve. It was something that he was sensitive about. It was his father's eyes, after all. When he had met Dahlia, she had immediately seen his eyes, and when Rhys had looked in return, he saw those eyes. It was eerie, like peering into a mirror and that one part was shining in your field of vision. If Dahlia had just blurted out that they were siblings and she didn't have the unmistakable trait of Fenrir, Rhys would have responded with a lot of doubt. Still, to say willingly that Fenrir was your father was a big step. It was not something that Rhys would have said out loud and published openly as a reality if he did not have to. He hated it, despite his emphasis that he use the last name. Names were so important in this world that he felt he had a mission to rehabilitate his name's value and turn it into something that people didn't quail at when it was spoken aloud. He would be a father at some point, his future offspring would have his eyes or at least one of them? If he understood what she had said. There was a sinking feeling in his abdomen. It twisted with anxiety at the thought. That thought and dream he had pushed into the far openings of his mind into a hole of things he knew would never happen. A pipe dream. Suddenly all the words that Deva had ever spoken to him about the future and a family popped up in his head. This had been her dream. He wasn't willing to step forward on a family. He feared himself. What if he was a monster like his father? What if he unwittingly turned them and passed on this god-forsaken punishment he dealt with every month. Rhys felt nauseous, and not even a glass of water would help, and he thought about how the only women he'd really been seeing had been Deva and Maria, and it was just unsettling. This was not the ideal thing to be told for a man who liked to know what would happen next all the time, never not knowing what would happen 3 steps from now. She settled the matter on his eyes, his eyes. She had seen them in the orb. He tensed his jaw. The message was obvious but still didn't make sense to him. Rhys had looked down as he failed to fight how he was retreating into his mind but looked up when she began to speak again. He swallowed hard, fighting the lump in this throat from the anxiety he felt was seeping out. "My....kids. They have my eyes?" He wondered if he was just asking stupid questions now, but it was a lot to take in for him. A man who never thought he would be a father or would be emotionally able to do so, maybe he had time to fix it, but he would probably just push it away for a while like he did everything else. More questions popped into his head, and he paused as they were on the tip of his tongue, and he was torn between did he really want to know or not. It might help to have more information, the natural state of his mind was to want all the information before moving forward, so wasn't this the same thing? But the thought of it all was heavy. "Did you....see how many?"
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xiulan zhou
OTHER SCHOOLING ALUM FORTUNE TELLER DIVINATION MASTERY CLAIRVOYANT PROPHET
176 posts
played by Audrey
That fancy wine won't put this fire out.
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last online Apr 29, 2024 18:36:37 GMT -7
WIZARDING ADULT
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Feb 6, 2021 22:59:43 GMT -7
Post by xiulan zhou on Feb 6, 2021 22:59:43 GMT -7
November 2025 "My… kids. They have my eyes?" Xiulan nodded. They did. The similarity had been what had really clued her in, and Rhys did have very obviously blue eyes. He asked her another question then, about how many children she had seen, though he still sounded very unsure about everything that she had explained to him since the start of his session with her. At his question, though, Xiulan shook her head. "No," she answered him. "I didn't see how many." She hadn't seen how many children there were, nor how many of them were definitely Rhys's children, to be perfectly honest. There was always a chance that her interpretation of what she had seen had been incorrect in some way, even with her level of skill. She paused, though, after giving Rhys that response and made her tone warmer and more direct. "I can tell that this is difficult for you…" Xiulan, though she was providing him with a service, didn't want him to be uncomfortable. If she had wanted to make a living out of using her Inner Eye to trick people or to mess with their minds somehow, she supposed that she could have done it, but that wasn't who she was. She might have been careful to present herself in a certain way, too, but that didn't mean that she had to neglect any suggestion that she had a soul or a conscience. "If you need a moment, Rhys," she encouraged him, "please, don't feel embarrassed."rhys alexander greyback
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rhys alexander greyback
HOGWARTS ALUM WEREWOLF CURSEBREAKER ECHO
1,174 posts
played by vanessa
the air around me still feels like a cage
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last online May 5, 2024 2:45:13 GMT -7
WIZARDING ADULT
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Feb 7, 2021 19:02:58 GMT -7
Post by rhys alexander greyback on Feb 7, 2021 19:02:58 GMT -7
change my attempt, good intentions should i? could i? Multiple children. Not just one, multiple. Aside from the natural anxieties one might have with being told they would be a father, there was this other feeling. The last thing he wanted was to have a legacy like his own. He thought of the note he had received from Deva that he had not been able to look into yet. More siblings. Is that what he was fated to create in his future? The thought made him feel a little ill as he had a goal not to be like that monster of a man despite what his habits said otherwise. She could not tell him how many she had seen. It could have been two for all he knew—but with his eyes.
Rhys looked up when she spoke again. Her expression and the look in her eyes were kind and warm—he supposed the last thing she ever wanted to do was give him what ended up being apparently bad news. He shook his head, appreciating that gesture. ”No, I’m just…..surprised, that’s all.” He admitted, which was the truth. He felt as though an enchanted brick wall had hit him full force from the side, and he’d been caught completely unaware. Rhys took a deep breath and ran his hands over his face. All he had to do was remind himself that this didn’t mean it would happen tomorrow or this month, or even this year. This could have been a decade down the line, and he certainly didn’t have his life planned that far ahead.
He was feeling a bit overwhelmed. The fact was that he’d walked in here already in a particular headspace as a result of all the happenings from the last few weeks and his confusion over what he was doing in general. Questions roamed freely in his mind, however. ”I’m….sorry for all the questions.” Even he had to know that she wasn’t exactly being given a detailed description of what she’d seen in the orb. ”Did you—um….did you see anyone else there?” his words had caught in his throat a moment if there had been even one child that naturally meant they had a mother. However, he hadn’t been able to get the word out. Suddenly, he felt his heart hammering in his chest. Nervous. He didn’t know if he wanted to know.
template by vee
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xiulan zhou
OTHER SCHOOLING ALUM FORTUNE TELLER DIVINATION MASTERY CLAIRVOYANT PROPHET
176 posts
played by Audrey
That fancy wine won't put this fire out.
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last online Apr 29, 2024 18:36:37 GMT -7
WIZARDING ADULT
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Feb 16, 2021 22:28:40 GMT -7
Post by xiulan zhou on Feb 16, 2021 22:28:40 GMT -7
November 2025 Rhys shook his head when she offered him time to collect himself. Xiulan really wouldn't have been bothered by it if he did need to take a step back from the session—proverbially or literally—so that he could get a better understanding of what she had Seen and what she hadn't. "No, I’m just… surprised, that’s all," he replied, though his exhaustion was evident as he ran his hands over his face. He apologized to her, though Xiulan certainly didn't feel that she was being interrogated by him. "I'm… sorry for all the questions," he said to her, to which Xiulan shook her head. Rhys asked her another question still, "Did you—um… did you see anyone else there?" "Not to my knowledge," Xiulan responded. Assuming that they were just his children she had seen, at least, she hadn't seen anyone else. "You weren't there," she explained and added, "but that isn't an omen." It wasn't any indication, in itself, that something bad would befall him. That he might jump to that conclusion had crossed her mind, though, which was why she had mentioned it at all. Not everything was a sure sign of something terrible, yet Xiulan knew that Rhys's anxieties would probably push him in that direction. As much as Xiulan hoped that he wouldn't fixate upon what she had just said and try to draw more out of it than there actually was, she prepared herself for it. "Please," she began, "try not to overthink these things."rhys alexander greyback
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rhys alexander greyback
HOGWARTS ALUM WEREWOLF CURSEBREAKER ECHO
1,174 posts
played by vanessa
the air around me still feels like a cage
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last online May 5, 2024 2:45:13 GMT -7
WIZARDING ADULT
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Mar 1, 2021 0:24:59 GMT -7
Post by rhys alexander greyback on Mar 1, 2021 0:24:59 GMT -7
change my attempt, good intentions should i? could i? There was a bit of an internal struggle to fight off his growing curiosity and growing anxiety about what he had just learned in this very short amount of time. Children. The word still rang in his mind like an echo that failed to stop. A bell that could not be unrung, and the idea stuck in Rhys’ mind forever. She had been kind to him so far, obviously seeing how this information affected him. Despite how pale and tired he had been walking in here, Rhys was sure whatever remaining color had drained from his face already. The only color might have been from slight embarrassment at how unbalanced he felt and that he couldn’t hide it at all. In a way, he felt weak, exposed, and vulnerable that his complete guard had been taken down at such a simple thought and simple visual. But most people were not Rhys and had not been through what he had. The things he had lost and gained, he was grateful for what he had gained in terms of a family but extending it had not been on the horizon for him.
She responded that she hadn’t seen him or anyone else in the visual of the children. Still, despite her reassurance, he wondered what that could mean. And naturally, his mind wandered to his career and the high risk he accepted when he took a new job. Walking into a new tomb and not ever being sure he would walk back out in one piece or even at all. If he was to have a family, what did that mean? Rhys nodded if only to acknowledge he had heard her words despite not understanding what they meant precisely in this context. ”I was just wondering if you saw…a mother.” That was his real curiosity. Despite it being always pointed out to him by his friends, Rhys was aware of his preference to not be in any sort of committed relationship. Also, his work made it difficult, and he found that partners asked a lot that he just couldn’t give. But, if he was to be a father at some point, that meant these children had a mother.
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xiulan zhou
OTHER SCHOOLING ALUM FORTUNE TELLER DIVINATION MASTERY CLAIRVOYANT PROPHET
176 posts
played by Audrey
That fancy wine won't put this fire out.
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last online Apr 29, 2024 18:36:37 GMT -7
WIZARDING ADULT
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Mar 19, 2021 20:27:43 GMT -7
Post by xiulan zhou on Mar 19, 2021 20:27:43 GMT -7
November 2025 Xiulan was used to having her clients react to what she relayed to them in all different kinds of ways. She wasn't one of those supposed "mediums" in the non-magical world, the variety who simply preyed upon what they thought people would (or wouldn't) want to hear, and sometimes she did have to remind her clients of that, too. Rhys's reaction about having children in the future was awfully strong, though, and he obviously must not have been in a place where he expected to hear that from her. For Xiulan, though, it brought back how she had felt upon being told that she couldn't have children. It was completely the opposite situation, and yet a part of her understood it—or at least the sense of shock that had come with it. Hearing that one's life was going to be drastically different from how one had envisioned it took some adjustment, and she didn't mind answering Rhys's continued questions for her about what she had Seen in the Orb.
"I was just wondering if you saw… a mother," he commented.
She hadn't seen one, and she knew that genetics were more complicated than one's appearance than to be able to work backwards from how his children had looked. "No, I'm sorry," she answered him, shaking her head. "I… didn't see who the mother is, either." She knew that he probably didn't want to hear that, but what could she do?
rhys alexander greyback
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rhys alexander greyback
HOGWARTS ALUM WEREWOLF CURSEBREAKER ECHO
1,174 posts
played by vanessa
the air around me still feels like a cage
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last online May 5, 2024 2:45:13 GMT -7
WIZARDING ADULT
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Mar 20, 2021 1:52:36 GMT -7
Post by rhys alexander greyback on Mar 20, 2021 1:52:36 GMT -7
change my attempt, good intentions should i? could i? Rhys realized he’d almost felt hopeful that she had seen someone else in that crystal ball. It was now a missing link for him, an unknown variable that only added to his fear. Though part of that anxiety was when he failed to not think about the women he had been with even this year alone, let alone before that. Suddenly the possibility that the faces he had seen could already exist and not just be a possible future state. He felt pale again but pushed through, though he needed to figure out how to feel less lost with all this new information. So, for now, he simply nodded to acknowledge her response.
He took a deep breath and exhaled. It didn’t seem much more that she could tell him, but her demeanor and approach had been very patient and kind, and she didn’t seem in a hurry to make him leave. But, he felt as though he had taken up enough of her time now. ”Ok.” He paused. ”I um—I should probably get going.” He stood up. He figured he might walk a bit before going home since the fresh air might do him some good, or he’d get even luckier and find a pub during his walk. But before he left, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small bag that held the payment that had been previous discussed. It was good he had it like this ahead of time. He wasn’t sure if he would have been able to count properly in this state. ”Thank you, again.”
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xiulan zhou
OTHER SCHOOLING ALUM FORTUNE TELLER DIVINATION MASTERY CLAIRVOYANT PROPHET
176 posts
played by Audrey
That fancy wine won't put this fire out.
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last online Apr 29, 2024 18:36:37 GMT -7
WIZARDING ADULT
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Mar 27, 2021 16:53:51 GMT -7
Post by xiulan zhou on Mar 27, 2021 16:53:51 GMT -7
November 2025 Xiulan waited, but Rhys didn't say anything more at first. When he spoke, however, it was to say that he probably needed to get going, and he stood up from the table before Xiulan could say anything more to reassure him that it was alright. She wasn't a mental health professional of any sort, but she had had plenty of difficulties in her own life to know that he likely needed more time than she could provide him to process everything. He still paid her as they had previously agreed upon, and he thanked her.
Standing up, too, Xiulan nodded in acknowledgment of the payment he'd given her. She was more concerned that he was alright than about how much he'd included as payment, though she didn't have any reason to believe that he had stiffed her. "Thank you," she told him in return, prepared to walk him to the door if he needed it. "Take care, Rhys," she added, meaning it sincerely, "and please keep in touch."
rhys alexander greyback OOC: Fin?
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