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I know what you mean; given the choice between a complete set of KJA EU novels on one hand and the Troy Denning oeuvre on the other, I'd be going with Anderson. I mean, a lot of his stuff was monumentally stupid, but at least it was fun to read when I was a kid.
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Mar 25, 2015 16:45
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I would prefer neither of them, and indeed I do, by not reading those two terrible authors. I do this every day.
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Mar 25, 2015 18:42
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This is something that seems to be inevitable when you release a big property out into the wild. There are some terrible Doctor Who books from the Wilderness Era about Ace becoming a dark and gritty avenger while sleeping around constantly. You can find Trek novels that go similarly far afield. Some authors, when presented with an existing universe, just can't help themselves. They've got to throw in sex and violence and grit because that's what they think makes something "adult". The results are almost always abysmal, but it seems that those who do not learn from literature are doomed to repeat it. 
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Mar 25, 2015 18:54
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Van Dis posted:I would prefer neither of them, and indeed I do, by not reading those two terrible authors. I do this every day. Because you didn't have the internet and barely anything Star Wars existed outside what little you could get your hands on as a kid? That is my excuse anyway, when all you got is the local library and the VHS casettes.
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Mar 25, 2015 18:56
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I'd prefer neither as well, but have to side with the "it's what was there" defense because I read the hell out of the Jedi academy series when I was a kid. Still had to force myself to ignore the really dumb poo poo though. I think I skipped the Solo kids chapters and skimmed the Sun Crushed guys chapters.
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Mar 25, 2015 19:17
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PlisskensEyePatch posted:I'd prefer neither as well, but have to side with the "it's what was there" defense because I read the hell out of the Jedi academy series when I was a kid. Still had to force myself to ignore the really dumb poo poo though. I think I skipped the Solo kids chapters and skimmed the Sun Crushed guys chapters. Isn't that like 2/3rds of the story though, or is that 
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Mar 25, 2015 20:00
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That is indeed the joke. I never really liked or got into Zahn. Something about his writing is off to me I've even tried that novel that should have been called Solo's 11 and it's just not as exciting or interesting as that concept should be. E: autocorrect PlisskensEyePatch fucked around with this message at 23:55 on Mar 25, 2015 |
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Mar 25, 2015 20:34
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Van Dis posted:I would prefer neither of them, and indeed I do, by not reading those two terrible authors. I do this every day. Well, yes, that goes without saying, but if I found myself compelled to make the decision and didn't have any other recourse, I'd go with Anderson over Denning.
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Mar 25, 2015 21:12
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SeanBeansShako posted:Because you didn't have the internet and barely anything Star Wars existed outside what little you could get your hands on as a kid? I certainly read Anderson as a young teen, but even at 13 years old I knew Darksaber was the worst book I was ever going to read in my entire dumb life.
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Mar 26, 2015 06:33
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Late late late to the Thrawn talk, but he wasn't as overpowered as some people make him out to be. There are a couple of leaps that he takes which are kind of a stretch, but he also makes plenty of miscalculations and mistakes. And some of his good fortune is derived from dumb luck and/or his reputation for being a genius And as for the art thing, you could probably argue that he wasn't just studying one piece of art and calling it a day but drawing on a vast collection of art as well as a history of behavior Wheat Loaf posted:I know what you mean; given the choice between a complete set of KJA EU novels on one hand and the Troy Denning oeuvre on the other, I'd be going with Anderson. I mean, a lot of his stuff was monumentally stupid, but at least it was fun to read when I was a kid. Yeah, KJA's stuff is cringe worthy now but I'll take really stupid, dumb fun over pretentious, plodding, and dark any day of the week.
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Mar 26, 2015 19:49
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A laser slingshot. Really
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Mar 27, 2015 20:37
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He uses it maybe 4 times and it's gone by the second half of the season. Show's good, yo.
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Mar 28, 2015 00:33
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Can someone post the "villainous races of Star Wars" image? I think it was made by someone in the Let's Read thread; it had Killiks, Ssi-Ruuk, Yuuzhan Vong, and maybe the Yevetha? It was a picture of each of those with a description like "evil psychic dinosaurs" and so on.
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Mar 28, 2015 18:54
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WhyteRyce posted:And as for the art thing, you could probably argue that he wasn't just studying one piece of art and calling it a day but drawing on a vast collection of art as well as a history of behavior The art thing is because Thrawn is Sherlock Holmes. Holmes could look at someone, tell everything about them, and make predictions about what they had done and would do, and react. When you are in a space ship you aren't seeing the other commander like that since the bridge hails is a Star Trek thing, now Star Wars thing), and you can't have every Alliance leader be some warrior-poet with an art collection to study. So the solution is to have him study art, therefore understand everything about the species, therefore understand what they will do. It is no more hokey than it was when Arthur Conan Doyle did it. It is a character device.
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Mar 28, 2015 23:26
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Fried Chicken posted:The art thing is because Thrawn is Sherlock Holmes. Holmes could look at someone, tell everything about them, and make predictions about what they had done and would do, and react. When you are in a space ship you aren't seeing the other commander like that since the bridge hails is a Star Trek thing, now Star Wars thing), and you can't have every Alliance leader be some warrior-poet with an art collection to study. So the solution is to have him study art, therefore understand everything about the species, therefore understand what they will do. It is no more hokey than it was when Arthur Conan Doyle did it. It is a character device. I am not anti-Thrawn but he shouldn't figure out my exact tactics based listening to a Nickelback song or watching a Michael Bay movie just because they are from Earth [or possibly Hell].
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Mar 29, 2015 09:48
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KurdtLives posted:I am not anti-Thrawn but he shouldn't figure out my exact tactics based listening to a Nickelback song or watching a Michael Bay movie just because they are from Earth [or possibly Hell]. Hmmm they love Nickelback they are therefore highly repetitive and will continually fall into a predictable pattern
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Mar 29, 2015 15:59
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Given the choice between Thrawn and the other cartoony badly written idiots of all but a handful of the antagonists of the former EU, I'd roll with Thrawn. Some elements might be cheesy but holy poo poo the other guys are comical to embarassing. Darth Vader rip offs, Captain Planet villians and painfully inept generic Imperial dudes/lady with a fetish for THE NEXT DEATH STAR! I'll just plug a certain goons EU Book Blog thingy here. So you can relive the pain once more.
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Mar 29, 2015 16:06
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Zsinj is the superior EU Imperial, let's all be honest. No fancy tricks, just a Super Star Destroyer.
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Mar 29, 2015 19:02
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Jazerus posted:Zsinj is the superior EU Imperial, let's all be honest. No fancy tricks, just a Super Star Destroyer. You could probably replace Pellaeon with Zsinj for a movie. Double act of two brilliant Imperial admirals, one who enjoys acting like a buffoon to throw people off-guard and one who analyzes people at a glance. Hell, for the EU reboot you could do a lot worse than having the Empire ruled by a triumvirate of Zsinj, Thrawn, and Isard after the Emperor's death.
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Mar 29, 2015 19:06
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Cythereal posted:You could probably replace Pellaeon with Zsinj for a movie. Double act of two brilliant Imperial admirals, one who enjoys acting like a buffoon to throw people off-guard and one who analyzes people at a glance. Space Sherlock and Space Watson once more.
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Mar 29, 2015 19:42
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Cythereal posted:You could probably replace Pellaeon with Zsinj for a movie. Double act of two brilliant Imperial admirals, one who enjoys acting like a buffoon to throw people off-guard and one who analyzes people at a glance. I wish Arthur Lowe could have played Zsinj, because ever since I saw art of Zsinj, I've been unable to shake my impression of him as an evil, competent version of Captain Mainwaring (...IN SPAAAAAACE!).
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Mar 29, 2015 20:12
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KurdtLives posted:I am not anti-Thrawn but he shouldn't figure out my exact tactics based listening to a Nickelback song or watching a Michael Bay movie just because they are from Earth [or possibly Hell]. Pellaeon gawped as the holovid faded into blue static. He slowly turned his gaze to Thrawn, seated in his command chair. The Grand Admiral's brow furrowed, as he slowly rapped his fingers on the grip of his chair. 'What...did we just watch, Admiral?' Thrawn said nothing. An awful, dreadful silence occupied the vast, empty command room, broken only by the soft rapping of Thrawn's fingers. He stopped, reached over and pressed a sequence of concealed buttons from his chair-grip. The blue static of the holovid exploded into floating 2-d images, illuminating the room in their vulgar glory. Pellaeon turned to look at the floating images, each infinitely more amateurish and grotesque than the last, each bearing an horrifying title inscription. Foreverially Deliatized Vader, Healing Crystal Fingers Leia, My Little Pellaeon, Anthro Star Destroyer... The words meant nothing to Pellaeon, just the unending horror show before him. What was worse, however, was what he saw when he looked at Thrawn's expression. Thrawn was staring intently at the image of a blue-skinned, white uniformed figure, with glowing red eyes, his lips about to connect with those of a mustachioed human, who was dressed in the garb of an Imperial captain... Pellaeon repressed a shudder. The blazing red eyes became thin slits, as Thrawn sat back in his chair, his fingers steepled in concentration. An eternity passed. In a sudden, swift movement, Thrawn hurriedly pressed the switch on his communicator. 'Bridge, this is Grand Admiral Thrawn. Charge forward turbolaser batteries. Melt the planet into slag.' Pesky Splinter fucked around with this message at 20:27 on Mar 29, 2015 |
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Mar 29, 2015 20:20
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Jazerus posted:Zsinj is the superior EU Imperial, let's all be honest. No fancy tricks, just a Super Star Destroyer. His mustache was a very fancy trick.
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Mar 30, 2015 00:52
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Wasn't it Zsinj's entire bag that he and all his men used to be in Imperial intelligence and relied on nothing but fancy tricks? (I'm aware his backstory was adjusted pretty significantly in one of Daniel Wallace's blog articles shortly before the EU canon reset.)
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Mar 30, 2015 01:25
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I like Zsinj because he's a jolly fat man with a handlebar mustache. He's pretty memorable as far as EU baddies go, which are generally just a pissed off Sith Lord or an Imperial Officer with some kind of disfigurement or cyborg parts.
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Mar 30, 2015 04:35
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Gammatron 64 posted:I like Zsinj because he's a jolly fat man with a handlebar mustache. He's pretty memorable as far as EU baddies go, which are generally just a pissed off Sith Lord or an Imperial Officer with some kind of disfigurement or cyborg parts.  Hmmn, now where have I seen him before...  Edit: Google tells me there are indeed Zsinj cosplayers 
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Mar 30, 2015 05:39
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First 50 pages of Lords of the Sith are available for preview. Edit: aaaand read it. Not bad. I was going to pick up the book regardless, but now I'm excited about it. Carteret fucked around with this message at 07:47 on Mar 30, 2015 |
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Mar 30, 2015 07:00
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Oh wow, I never put together the Warlord Zsinj \ Harry Mudd connection. I'm cool with this, though. Hey Star Wars, I would be okay if you stole Khan and General Chang as well. I mean, the Breen look just like Leia in her Boushh disguise so we can be even.
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Mar 30, 2015 14:19
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Carteret posted:First 50 pages of Lords of the Sith are available for preview. In case anyone didn't check this out, this is one thing of note.  I hadn't seen any real timeline for the new books, so it's interesting. For example, I didn't know Tarkin took place before A New Dawn, and that Lords of the Sith even earlier than that. Also of note is Battlefront, which I guess means the video game they've been talking about? I read A New Dawn and Tarkin on my Kindle, and in ebook format at the very least they didn't have anything like this.
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Mar 30, 2015 16:04
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I briefly wondered if that meant Battlefront would have more single-player content than previous BF games and then remembered how garbage the recent Battlefield campaigns have been.
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Mar 30, 2015 16:12
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thrawn527 posted:I hadn't seen any real timeline for the new books, so it's interesting. For example, I didn't know Tarkin took place before A New Dawn, and that Lords of the Sith even earlier than that. Also of note is Battlefront, which I guess means the video game they've been talking about? There's some weird timeline fuckery going on possibly, as according to the narrative of those books in particular, Tarkin takes place 5 years after the end of the Clone Wars, while Lords of the Sith is situated eight years "after the Clone Wars ravaged the galaxy". At first glance, it appears that Lords of the Sith actually takes place after Tarkin, but something to think about is that in the canon, the Clone Wars lasted 3 years; it's possible that the "8 years" bit is taking the Wars themselves into account, thus having it take place at least around the same time as Tarkin. In any case, A New Dawn appears to take place 3 years after either of those novels. (obligatory  )Pretty sure Battlefront is indeed the video game (a novel adaptation would have been at least announced by now), though it's strange that they're still including it in the book timeline, additionally so given the apparent (read: leaked) fact that the single player campaign encompasses the end of ROTS through ROTJ. Odd that they would arbitrarily assign it that specific place in the timeline, through I'd imagine it's a strategy by the Story Group to make a show of the new, interconnected universe that they've created. VvVvVvV edit: As somebody who liked the surrounding lore of the Dawn of the Jedi comics, this sounds really cool to me. Cross-Section fucked around with this message at 21:01 on Mar 30, 2015 |
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Mar 30, 2015 17:40
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Someone on TFN pointed out that Lucasfilm is working on a reference/art book that will cover the ancient history of the "Legends" setting, including the Rakatan Empire, creation of the Jedi, and the birth of the Republic: http://neechart.blogspot.ca/2015/02/history-of-old-republic.html
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Mar 30, 2015 20:38
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Chairman Capone posted:Someone on TFN pointed out that Lucasfilm is working on a reference/art book that will cover the ancient history of the "Legends" setting, including the Rakatan Empire, creation of the Jedi, and the birth of the Republic: I hope that they keep at least some of the KotOR era EU canon, most of that is pretty good or at least less poo poo, particularly the comics. All the vidya games are pretty Star Warsy, too. I wonder how or if they'll incorporate SWTOR, considering it's still running and published by EA.
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Apr 2, 2015 23:37
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Nah all that poo poo is awful. Video games are the least Star Warsy of the lot.
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Apr 3, 2015 05:08
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FishFood posted:I hope that they keep at least some of the KotOR era EU canon, most of that is pretty good or at least less poo poo, particularly the comics. All the vidya games are pretty Star Warsy, too.
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Apr 3, 2015 06:43
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So I finished Tarkin. It was...alright. The first half was a series of flash backs set in between mundane activities in his like. (The first chapter is entirely about him designing his new uniform. I don't care if that's a spoiler, nothing happens.) It picked up a bit at the end, but I'm honestly not sure why they bothered with the story they did. So with A New Dawn and Tarkin, the new EU is getting a resounding, "Meh" from me. It's not bad, and the
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Apr 6, 2015 15:36
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It's written in first person which can be kind of annoying. On the other hand it get's you inside Luke's head when he's young, vulnerable, and filled with self-doubt. In the end it was pretty decent.
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Apr 6, 2015 18:23
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I think part of the reason Tarkin was kind of disjointed was that I'm positive it at least began as a Legends/EU/whatever story, and partway through, Luceno was told to change some of it into a new canon story. A lot of it is clearly taken from the old EU (specifically a lot of the details seem like he started writing it as an adaptation of the Imperial-era chapters from the Guide to Warfare, which also had a section focusing on Ranulph) plus the obvious Dark Lord and Plageuis tie-ins. And I'd bet anything that the Mon Calamari guy was originally going to be Ackbar and it was going to show how he became Tarkin's slave. Then Luceno had to change a lot, which also explains awkward stuff like why there's some of the old EU Imperial Intel characters in the Coruscant scenes, but they're completely sidelined by ISB, which seems to be the new-canon Imperial go-to intel agency. And a lot of stuff from Rebels and the new Marvel comics are drawing off of stuff that Tarkin set up. Or why the Ranulph Tarkin in the novel is basically nothing at all like the old-EU Ranulph. The other part is that I think Luceno was aiming for the story being a space equivalent to The Hunt for Red October/Run Silent, Run Deep, but he just wasn't quite strong enough to pull off the submarine analogy in an interesting way.
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Apr 6, 2015 19:11
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Chairman Capone posted:I think part of the reason Tarkin was kind of disjointed was that I'm positive it at least began as a Legends/EU/whatever story, and partway through, Luceno was told to change some of it into a new canon story. A lot of it is clearly taken from the old EU (specifically a lot of the details seem like he started writing it as an adaptation of the Imperial-era chapters from the Guide to Warfare, which also had a section focusing on Ranulph) plus the obvious Dark Lord and Plageuis tie-ins. And I'd bet anything that the Mon Calamari guy was originally going to be Ackbar and it was going to show how he became Tarkin's slave. The flashbacks in the first half got distracting. It reached Family Guy levels of, "This reminds of that one time when...". They basically dropped it for the second half, until the big Spike flashback, which was terrible in it's own way for his basically saying, "Well Darth Vader, let me tell you a story,", but they all felt really clumsily shoved in, as if they needed the book to be longer or something.
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Apr 6, 2015 19:19
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Found this mildly interesting. Kevin J Anderson on having his works brushed aside in favor of a new continuity.quote:I would love it if they made a movie of my books but I never expected that was going to happen, the part that I like the most is the fact that they like the books enough that they are actually keeping them in print, put them into their own separate universe, called the Legends Universe, they’re all still out there, readers like your son who understand what the real story is, can read those, so.. I don’t have as much heartburn as some other people have for it.
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Apr 8, 2015 06:03
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