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Moby Dick has the Pequod meet a ship under quarantine that's been taken over by a cult. Not too far away to have a "plague" of anemia and everyone serving the lunatic in the hold who proclaims that he's God's Wrath on all sinners. Though in general, "weird poo poo happens at sea" might as well be a subtitle for the book; you can definitely mine some WoD type stuff from it. Throw in Poe's Arthur Gordon Pym if you want some oWoD-esque racism as well.
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Jul 8, 2017 00:42
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Night10194 posted:Basically a Golden Age of Piracy game could be full of all kinds of crazy supernaturals out on the high seas to escape the stultifying grime of the World of Darkness, having a brief, romantic, and incredibly violent escape. Hell, the Pirates movies, while they might not have been very good past the first one, pretty quickly step from a fairly 'normal' setting where everything is as it should be to save for the situation created by a pile of cursed gold doubloons to an outright fantasy setting where everyone knows witchcraft is real, the pirates have bound the goddess of the ocean and the East India Tea Company is compelling the psychopomp captain of the Flying Dutchman into service by capturing his still-beating heart. If you can't find a cool way to fit every element of the WoD in with pirates then you're just not trying hard enough.
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Jul 8, 2017 00:42
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NGDBSS posted:You jest, but I believe the errata for Armory (a nWoD 1E product, so less "Potence" and more "Vigor") actually mentioned this sort of thing in the discussion of "can I carry a minigun as a personal weapon?". The idea is that you'd "need" under this ad-hoc system your Strength + Stamina + Size to be at least equal to 13 + gun's Size, at least for sufficiently large guns as opposed to standard stuff like pistols or rifles. Given the weight of cannons in the Age of Sail (at 3 tons for long guns, or 1 for shorter guns like the carronade), I'd estimate that the cannon would have a Size of 8 to 12, so the resultant target would be between 21 and 25. Assuming a personal Size of 5, and reaching the caps of Strength/Stamina at 5 before hitting high Blood Potency, you'd need between 6 and 10 total points of Resilience + Vigor to carry that cannon as a personal weapon. I assure you that I was, in no way, jesting. My Scion of Huitzilopotchli in a pirate game basically came about because I had that exact same thought cross my head. Well, both that and "how much Epic Strength do I need to use a Man O' War as a club?". If anyone's looking to bring that sort of mindset to one of their games let me know!
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Jul 8, 2017 02:20
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Loomer's interesting write-up on pirate logistics is making me crave a game where vampires have taken that a step further and shacked up on a cruise ship. They're visiting exotic locales, have plenty of food to nibble on and have all sorts of excuses to be up at night and sleep all day. And after a few months to a year of this life are bored senseless. The shows on the TVs are limited. The WiFi is crap. Gambling is boring. The scheduled entertainment and events keep repeating. The stays in foreign ports are too short. Everything is cloaked in this artifical air of fun and customer service that wears on their nerves like a cheese grater. It's enough to make them wish that the politics of undead life came with them. Eventually they meet up with Hunters who are after something else entirely (they've done that good of a job of laying low) and they're like "can we please hang out with you and help you bust this mystery, it's the most exciting thing to happen in like forever".
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Jul 8, 2017 02:34
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Well, bear in mind pirate ships tended to be packed with guys (at least compared to trading vessels of the time) because of the same reasons you'd have on land - you want numbers to terrify and overwhelm merchant crews, and it also helps to have enough guys to crew whatever you take, which means you need extra bodies. I mean, sure, a small flat-bottom boat with thirty guys isn't going to take on the larger warships of their time, but most of those ships were busy with the wars out east. (Until they weren't, and that spelled part the end of piracy out west.) But that means if you're doing "realistic" piracy, there's not much privacy. Hell, on a lot of those boats, there wasn't a cargo hold or anything below deck. It was only the really successful pirates that actually got boats like we popularly see - because the big issue with big boats is speed, and a lot of pirates sacrificed a cool boat to just be fast enough on a lighter vessel to catch up and fire upon or board merchant ships. It's really interesting and you can get around that by just romanticizing stuff a bit. Of course, there are other pirate situations you can look into - the Barbary pirates would be suitable for a really grim campaign for a proper bunch of monsters, for example.
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Jul 8, 2017 03:22
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Hostile V posted:Loomer's interesting write-up on pirate logistics is making me crave a game where vampires have taken that a step further and shacked up on a cruise ship. They're visiting exotic locales, have plenty of food to nibble on and have all sorts of excuses to be up at night and sleep all day. Would be particularly nasty with the Malocusians, an Invictus bloodline that claims an area and eventually becomes one with it, including a nice Discipline that allows them to passively feed on everyone within.
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Jul 8, 2017 03:34
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Pope Guilty posted:IIRC Mark Rein-Hagen once talked about an early idea for Revenants where vampires who lost their humanity would be drawn to the deepest reaches of the ocean, where'd they'd form bizarre, inhuman societies. So Reindothagen read Shadow over Innsmouth once, got it.
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Jul 8, 2017 08:16
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Or Alan Moore's Swamp Thing.
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Jul 8, 2017 08:22
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nofather posted:Would be particularly nasty with the Malocusians, an Invictus bloodline that claims an area and eventually becomes one with it, including a nice Discipline that allows them to passively feed on everyone within. The Rötgrafen (viking pirate Ventrue) also have a Devotion that allows them to fuse with a ship and automatically Dominate anyone who sets foot on it. Speaking of which, Pirate Demon would also be incredibly rad solely because applying Demon Car to a ship would kick all kinds of rear end.
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Jul 8, 2017 10:23
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Night10194 posted:Having a gimmick in piracy is good, it gets people to give up and let you take their poo poo faster! Pirates had such a ferocious reputation most merchant ships would just surrender immediately when they saw one. Cargo wasn't worth losing your life over, especially because most of it was insured anyways.
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Jul 8, 2017 11:35
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So, I gave away my nWoD books when my gaming group broke up but I'm trying to track something down. I think it was in one of the Vampire books. Basically, it was this huge spirit that was all about urban decay. To most people it just seemed like a haze of smog over the city but, when someone looked at it with Auspex or something, they'd see this huge winged thing that seemed infinite in size. Pretty sure it had a bat face/head and huge wings. What was it called? edit: Found it. Urbiphage. Milkfred E. Moore fucked around with this message at 13:56 on Jul 8, 2017 |
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Jul 8, 2017 13:29
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Milky Moor posted:So, I gave away my nWoD books when my gaming group broke up but I'm trying to track something down. I think it was in one of the Vampire books. I just looked it up and holy poo poo that sounds radical.
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Jul 8, 2017 14:22
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Here's an article about how InfoWars and Gwyneth's Paltrow's absurd wellness blog store thing Goop sell essentially the same poo poo for the same purported benefits, just with different branding: https://qz.com/1010684/all-the-wellness-products-american-love-to-buy-are-sold-on-both-infowars-and-goop/ Here's my absolute favorite part: Qartz posted:Goop sells cordyceps [a fungus that famously mind-controls insects before killing them] as a dietary supplement; Infowars infuses them into its “Wake Up America” coffee.
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Jul 8, 2017 20:47
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This thread always has the best ideas.
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Jul 8, 2017 20:50
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The Unlife Aquatic posted:This thread always has the best ideas. For real, I don't ever expect to run a WoD game or even to really play in one, but I follow this thread because y'all have the best conspiracy ideas.
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Jul 8, 2017 20:59
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Wake up, America. Wake up and see the infinite splendour of He Who Crawls Between Worlds, the Speaker of Madness and Father of Treason, whose sacred child you have taken into your body. Wake up and smell the fire.
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Jul 8, 2017 23:23
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Terrorforge posted:Here's an article about how InfoWars and Gwyneth's Paltrow's absurd wellness blog store thing Goop sell essentially the same poo poo for the same purported benefits, just with different branding: https://qz.com/1010684/all-the-wellness-products-american-love-to-buy-are-sold-on-both-infowars-and-goop/ No loving way that company didn't do that with a huge giggle when contracted to make that coffee. This is amazing.
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Jul 8, 2017 23:40
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Some quality technobabble from the article:Survival Shield X-2 posted:Experience the benefits of next level proprietary nascent iodine, developed using our Thermodynamic Pressure Sensitive High Energy Sound Pulse Nano-Emulsion Technology [sic] that allows for a highly unique nascent iodine that is both concentrated and free of unwanted additives and genetically modified ingredients. e: some of the supplements apparently also contain Shilajit, a dark, tar-like substance found in indo-european mountains and used in ayurvedic medicine. Nobody knows what it is or where it comes from, but into the supplements it goes. This stuff practically writes itself. e2: new candidate for most disturbing collection of words in the whole thing: InfoWars posted:Child Ease™ by Infowars Life™ Terrorforge fucked around with this message at 00:07 on Jul 9, 2017 |
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Jul 8, 2017 23:54
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It's one of the weirdest parts of the conspiracy world. "Don't trust anyone! Medicine is a hoax! Vaccines cause autism! Fluoride is communist mind control! Doctors are in on it! They control the media! NOW, a word from our sponsors - an unregulated quasi-pharmaceutical company that has zero transparency or oversight, which you're going to blindly trust is Good For You because I, a well known conspiracy radio host who would almost certainly have been disappeared if I was actually on to something and thus am either a non-entity or an outright disinformation agent, told you it is!' I suppose the lack of critical thinking that underscores most conspiracy theorists - the ones who fervently believe despite all evidence, and usually more in things like 'fluoride is communist mind control by the NWO' and 'JFK's alive in Cuba' than 'fluoride may have health risks' or 'The CIA may have been involved in the JFK assassination in a secondary or tertiary capacity' - is to blame.
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Jul 9, 2017 01:05
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I've found it's generally the tendency of human beings to first figure out what we believe (fluoride is bad, gays are yucky) and then construct post-hoc rationalizations (forbidden science proves it, the bible says so) rather than decide on a set of core axioms and deduce the rest of our philosophy from first principles. The ideologies we claim to follow are often more about putting a convenient label on pre-existing biases than finding a solid philosophical grounding from which to approach life, hence why you get things like self-proclaimed "skeptics" who "question everything" but throw the shittest of fits when you turn a critical eye to their theories.
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Jul 9, 2017 01:37
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I read a book once that said conspiracy theories - like, when you're REALLY into them - are basically a gnostic wisdom thing. You know a Truth, and that Truth gives you Specialness, even if you are otherwise mean and despicable.
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Jul 9, 2017 06:47
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Nessus posted:I read a book once that said conspiracy theories - like, when you're REALLY into them - are basically a gnostic wisdom thing. You know a Truth, and that Truth gives you Specialness, even if you are otherwise mean and despicable. Unknown Armies?
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Jul 9, 2017 07:30
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Xinder posted:I just looked it up and holy poo poo that sounds radical. It's one of the cooler things from Requiem IMO. Problem is, I'm not sure how you could ever really work it into a Chronicle.
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Jul 9, 2017 08:20
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The answer to that question, like all other questions, is Mage.
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Jul 9, 2017 09:46
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Milky Moor posted:It's one of the cooler things from Requiem IMO. Problem is, I'm not sure how you could ever really work it into a Chronicle. http://whitewolf.wikia.com/wiki/Urbiphage Most text here. One idea is that it's some kind of interdimensional parasite that feeds off the energy of a coming disaster/vampires, or is spawned by it and extends backwards in time until dissipation. The book suggests escalating the True Prince thing until you're staking Dracula on the Space Needle to stop the looming earthquake that's going to assfuck the Northwest.
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Jul 9, 2017 09:50
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Kavak posted:Unknown Armies?
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Jul 9, 2017 10:16
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It's a common explanation for them. Personally, I favour the interpretation that many conspiracy theories largely arise as a result of the inability of a subclass of human beings to comprehend two essential facts of life. First, the world is full of terrifying chance and coincidence that is so utterly beyond our control - whether we believe it to be sheer random chance, biological/physics mechanicisticively determined, or the divine will of god - that it is very easy to feel deprived of all agency and hope. Second, the idea that many horrible things happen not because of any particular malice but just down to incompetence, chance, mental illness, stupidity, complacency, and ignorance. The combination is, I think, one of the best explanations for some of the ugliest theories - the sandy hook truthers, for instance - because it's comforting to believe that no, those children didn't die randomly and without a purpose, but were killed by evil people with a definite, understandable goal that can be combated. It simultaneously disarms the frightening truth - sometimes children die horribly for no reason at all, whether because of a lunatic gunman or a bus crash - and restores a (fundamentally false) sense of agency.
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Jul 9, 2017 11:12
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It's true, I'm always amazed at the belief of conspiracy theories, because they're fully willing to believe the competence of people in power more than I am... but only in regards to their capacity to do evil. Of course, they're never quite competent enough to actually cover it up, leaving breadcrumbs all over the place. But if the Illuminati exists, take a look at my resume, okay? You guys seem to know what you're doing, and I can give some tips about why you might not want to not leave a trail of symbology all over popular media. (In fact, looking at the state of things, I have to wonder if you really need to hide anymore...)
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Jul 9, 2017 14:43
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Terrorforge, if you want terrifying quack medicine, it's hard to beat Black Salve which I must advise you not image search unless you want to see parts of human anatomy that were not meant to be exposed to daylight. Colloidal silver may turn you into a smurf but this stuff is next level horrifying.
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Jul 9, 2017 18:33
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Wikipedia posted:"A 37-year-old housewife had a skin condition that later (at Duke) proved not to be a cancer. Convinced that it was, she had gone to a backwoods healer, who applied a salve. [...] Duke's plastic surgeons had to build her a new nose." I'm pretty sure that's a witch non-too-subtly telling you to gently caress off and take care your own problems. Thank you for sharing this horror with me.
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Jul 9, 2017 18:43
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Have they mentioned the Imbued at all in the SwedWoD yet? Because humans suddenly empowered to fight vampires and other critters doesn't quite work with the vibe they seem to be going for, I think.
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Jul 10, 2017 00:44
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MonsieurChoc posted:Have they mentioned the Imbued at all in the SwedWoD yet? Because humans suddenly empowered to fight vampires and other critters doesn't quite work with the vibe they seem to be going for, I think. Knowing nuWolf, The messengers would probably be facists trying to use the Hunters to enact their ethnic cleansing.
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Jul 10, 2017 01:41
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Kurieg posted:Knowing nuWolf, The messengers would probably be facists trying to use the Hunters to enact their ethnic cleansing. Well I mean they were originally meant to be returning Solar Exalted.
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Jul 10, 2017 01:46
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MonsieurChoc posted:Have they mentioned the Imbued at all in the SwedWoD yet? Because humans suddenly empowered to fight vampires and other critters doesn't quite work with the vibe they seem to be going for, I think. Big Gay Spartans.
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Jul 10, 2017 02:00
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Hostile V posted:Loomer's interesting write-up on pirate logistics is making me crave a game where vampires have taken that a step further and shacked up on a cruise ship. They're visiting exotic locales, have plenty of food to nibble on and have all sorts of excuses to be up at night and sleep all day. Alternately, they take over the ship, ghoul all the workers, and turn it into a Kindred-only cruise. 
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Jul 10, 2017 02:09
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Night10194 posted:Well I mean they were originally meant to be returning Solar Exalted. Nah, they were returning Wang Xian, which I guess are prototype Solars from before Exalted was published but are different from Solars in key ways. 
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Jul 10, 2017 02:32
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LORD OF BOOTY posted:Alternately, they take over the ship, ghoul all the workers, and turn it into a Kindred-only cruise. This is not a knock against your idea, I like your idea, but I'd also like to see it implemented and then go horribly wrong gradually. A cruise ship is hilariously hard to maintain, especially if it's owned by a company that only cares about profit, and it's also reasonably big enough that direct vampire intervention would make it hard to cover up (socially and physically). The vampires now have a giant herd they have to take care of and an environment that's not conducive for their herd's survival and they stole something from a company who's not about to give it up without a fight. This leads to a cutter full of TFV agents ending up in international waters in the middle of the day, boarding and being completely overwhelmed by the sheer amount of humans who are fraternizing with the undead enemies, unable to tell a noncom from a possible enemy. The boat has been listing lazily and is in fact at a slight 10 degree angle portside. One quarter of the decks no longer have power. Everything smells like it's been rotting and if it doesn't smell rotten it's just got salt corrosion. There is so much waste strewn on deck, the boat is leaving a small trail of trash that's been blown off by the wind. And the main reason you're standing on top of this anthill of immeasurable enemies who severely outnumber you is because some CEO called some senator who owes them a favor who nudged the CIA who nudged the Department because they want to know where the boat (that they were going to decommission in five months anyway) went.
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Jul 10, 2017 02:41
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Also, disease. Any time that a cruise ship gets stuck somewhere, epidemiologists get really excited. If you were gonna make an ideal situation for a epidemic, it'd largely resemble a cruise ship stuck at sea with a broken sewage system. Anyone who isn't immune to disease is gonna catch something, and the dudes that are immune might end up being carriers for it.
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Jul 10, 2017 03:10
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MonsieurChoc posted:Nah, they were returning Wang Xian, which I guess are prototype Solars from before Exalted was published but are different from Solars in key ways. I would honestly boil down the "crossover" to them reusing terms from Kindred of the East, since no one played it, and when people brought it up they just shrugged and nodded.
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Jul 10, 2017 04:23
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RocknRollaAyatollah posted:I would honestly boil down the "crossover" to them reusing terms from Kindred of the East, since no one played it, and when people brought it up they just shrugged and nodded. It's confirmed in the Storyteller Handbook, but isn't actually important to the game yeah.
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Jul 10, 2017 11:52
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