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who: finn and OPEN
what: tdm prompts (dreamshare, big robits)! canon updates! and a general february catchall.
when: backdated late january through all of february. various.
where: idk, dreams. big robits. generally around.
warnings: violence towards Big Beetles, nightmare content (which includes death, more violence, and maybe vague body horror idk). spoilers for the last jedi. will add as things crop up.

[ splitting starters off into the comments below to save on wall-of-text properties! can be reached by PM or at

comatoseroses for plotting! ]

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They'll take something. [ Not quite a question, not quite a statement. He takes a moment to orient himself to this setup. Spin the wheel, lose something (inevitably), get out.

It's hard to say that's not possible. He just watched Taako incinerate a full-length corridor on a star destroyer. Magic. Wizards. ]

First or second really doesn't matter when you don't have a choice, Taako. [ Which is an easy enough mentality to slip into, still. Thanks for contributing to the black smoke problem, Finn.

What's the point of it? How does this happen? If he spins, does whatever it stops at get crossed off of Taako's options list?

(If he asked, would there be any actual answer he was satisfied with or would it only make things worse?) ]

You're still okay if I go up, right? The only thing to worry about in here is-- that?

[ Finn gestures towards the wheel and tries not to think about how there's an actual picture of an eye on one of the sections. (Unsuccessfully.) Leaving people behind isn't his favorite pastime. Least of all someone who may or may not have seriously put a dent in Phasma's helmet. ]

[Giving more power to the liches is low on Taako's list of concerns at the moment. This isn't like going through with Magnus and Merle, where they had a goal and each other and just had to survive long enough to get through it, because Finn is great, sure, but Taako doesn't know how well he's going to handle a monster fight.

So they need to get out ASAP, and he just seems to know that a spin of the wheel is what they need to do.]

We're not gonna get fucked up by a dragon or whatever. They're fucking evil liches bent on making you suffer but they follow their own rules, you know? [And then he needs to sort of address the peanut gallery:] Shit rules, bee-tee-dubs, fuck both of you, I hope Kravitz locks you in ghost prison for-fucking-ever.

[There's so much smoke coming out of his mouth oh boy.]

Thanks.

[The word is murmured, grateful that Finn was at least letting her take things at her own pace. He wasn't trying to force her and Poe to make up. She had hurt Poe pretty badly--the look on his face when she brought up her plan really stuck with her. Whatever reasons she had, they weren't enough. In the end, Poe didn't want her to get killed...

Or was he more afraid of her falling and being turned into a monster?

Maybe it was something Poe nor Finn would understand. They didn't have a connection to the Force. They didn't know how unsettled she was with this new power. How she could control it and not hurt anyone. Nor would they understand what it was like to be connected to someone so intimately...or know the pain of turning that person away.

It was eating away at her; the things she wanted to share with Finn about Ben, but it would upset him, or he might tell her that he and Poe were right. She was used to sharing with her best friend that, it pained her to have to hide away those experiences, something that changed her greatly.]

No, no she wouldn't. [A shake of her head.] I'm told Leia that she could blame me for it. That she could go and let both of you know that I...forced her into it, but she didn't want. She wasn't going to place all of the blame on me, but she should. I'm the one who came up with the plan and wanted support for it.

[And in the end, she made a mess of things. Those good intentions had horrible consequences.]

She doesn't need to speak to someone who's disappointed her.

[ Poe's been just about vibrating out of his own skin for the whole trip to community housing, which makes for very poor conversation. Not that he and Finn need to talk all the time--as chatty as Poe can be, it's nice to have someone to be silent with, where it doesn't feel like the air around them needs to be filled.

He's apparently all about the hugs right now, because he steps across the threshold and pulls Paige into a full-body embrace. ]

Hi.

[ It's so hard not to just see her bomber exploding, when he looks at her. It's so hard to ignore the goosebumps that come with knowing, definitively, concretely, that the person he's holding is dead. He wants to bring her home. He wants to take her back to her sister. But it's like John said--this is Paige's second chance to have a life beyond the Resistance. A life of her own, without war.

He can't risk taking her back when she might end up dead again on the other side. ]

[ Poe sprawls out on the couch behind Finn, looking out the nearest window at the paradise of stars beyond it.

He feels strangely calm. Maybe it's this place. Maybe it's the sense that they're safe here, that everyone else is safe, too. (In the distance outside, the Raddus passes slowly, followed by a transports like tiny ducklings.)

Maybe it's the comfortably domestic sight of Finn trying to read directions and put together what looks like a piece of furniture that takes entirely too much effort.

Poe rolls over and picks up one of the pieces, turning it over in his hands. ]

What's this even supposed to be?

[ At least they're all about on the same chill level. Which is to say, none or almost none. Finn feels oddly settled about this, for his part. The canisters raked in some good things, plenty of bad, often so muddled up with each other that it hardly makes a difference-- this is, at least, one undeniably good thing that they can do with it. ]

Hey.

[ He follows Poe across the threshold, not into the hug. He hovers in close to it, unthinking, reaches out to give each of them an idle squeeze on the shoulder in turn while he clocks the room. There's not much to clock in terms of layout, honestly. They're all built kind of the same way in this building. He's more than familiar with that. ]

Glad you could have us.

[ The effort it takes not to barrel forward with this is no small matter. Finn may not have much point of comparison for this, how it might feel for the both of them, but what he has is enough to keep the impulse in check.

There's plenty of time. ]

[ A hug! Paige loves hugs, hot damn. And she returns it easily even if it makes her stomach flutter uneasily. Something's wrong and she doesn't need any sort of powers to sense it. Paige has always been good at reading people and the situation she is in.

The way Finn gives her and Poe a squeeze has panic coursing through her, even if she doesn't betray that fact as she pulls back from the embrace. She keeps herself looking calm and collected, tucking her hands into her jumpsuit, something she'd found and wore that felt a little like home.]

Of course, I wish I had... anything to offer but as you can see, my quarters aren't exactly built for entertaining guests. [ She lays out a joke to put them at ease but she can't help herself:]

So... what happened?

[ Safety is hard to come by. Let alone a sense of it that comes without the feeling that it won't be long before it's gone again.

More to the point, Finn looks over his shoulder at Poe with an eyebrow arched, like "okay excuse you, what if I had that specifically laid out for something before you grabbed it," which can't hold up under the reality that is... reality. He actually forgot it was there. His expression slides right into benign resignation. ]

If I knew, I'd have it set up already. It might be part of a drawer. As far as I can figure, at least. [ He holds his instructions up for a second, squints at them. ] All pictures, no labels. Wouldn't hurt them to try written instructions.

[ Trying to put this together is so dumb, but he's having a nice time with it still. It's the biggest problem he has right now. Something about that is nice.

Anyway, I can't believe Rey and Rose are the only two people in the entire Star Wars universe who will be able to assemble the Resistance's new furniture when they finally can afford it. ]

[ hmmm, how to say she has only done any piloting of a sentient brass dragon without sounding like she can't fly for shit... ]

Of course, partner. [ it sounds believable, it sounds like she is taking full offense to the idea that maybe he doesn't believe in her somehow obvious prowess, it sounds like she has been piloting jaegers since she could stand on her two feet. she is incidentally named after a plane! she can do anything!

leo would be proud.

also she is going to drive this partner thing into the ground. leo would still be proud. ]

Do you do a lot of beetle punching, partner? Should I warn Ringo that you're coming?

She had time to think. She made her own choice. We all did. I haven't known her long, but I'm pretty sure there's no forcing Leia into anything.

[ That's what it comes back to, every time. Choices. He doesn't care about Kylo Ren's family, where he came from. He doesn't understand the Force, he doesn't care about the struggle Ren told Han was tearing him apart.

He cares about Rey. He cares about Poe. He cares about Rose, and the Resistance, cares about Leia.

He cares that Kylo Ren hurt the two people he cares about most. Dug into Poe's head like he had a right. Took Rey, tried to do the same thing to her. Would have killed the both of them, given the choice. Killed Han Solo, given the choice. Nearly killed him. He cares that Kylo Ren ordered the execution of a village of civilians, including their children, for no justifiable reason. He cares that Kylo Ren came here, where the First Order has no hold, and tried to kill Poe all over again.

He cares that Kylo Ren has had chances, had them delivered all but on a silver platter, had a family waiting, willing to do anything to help him get out-- every day is a day Kylo Ren could have made another choice.

And maybe, deep deep down, some tiny part of Finn occasionally resents that, how easy it could have been for Kylo Ren to walk away. He can't change the past, and the hand he was dealt is what's given him what he has-- and what he has is so, so much more than he'd ever thought he would get. Friends and purpose. A reason to fight. The sense of knowing where he's meant to be and what he's meant to be doing. A name, an identity, he's- he's a person. Nothing can ever take that from him again, because he knows. He wouldn't change it if he had the chance.

But sometimes he thinks about Kylo Ren and tries to fathom what it would have felt like, to have someone hold out their hand and offer an open door away from the First Order. A family, a place to belong. To not have to somehow get out alive through a combination of quick thinking and sheer luck: luck that Poe looked him in the eye and was willing to trust him, that he didn't die on Jakku, that Rey ran with him, flew with him.

What it would have felt like, in the middle of his fear and the sharp understanding that he'd been taken and raised as part of something fundamentally wrong all his life, for someone to offer him a home and a safe path there: only for him to turn away from it in one of the most visceral, violent possible ways.

Finn can't understand that. He can't make himself understand that. On every level, to him, even somehow discounting the damage he's seen Kylo Ren do with his own two eyes not only back home but right here in the Quarantine, it registers as so fundamentally wrong that he's almost unsure what to do with the feeling. He can't understand Kylo Ren. He can't understand wanting guidance from him, no matter how hard he tries to put himself in that place. He doesn't have the Force, it's true. He can't understand that, either.

All he knows is all he knows. That he was raised the same as any other stormtrooper, but if one tries to kill him or someone he cares about, he'll still shoot back. That Rey wields hope like a banner, scrubs away at things until she finds softness and life and humanity there, just by existing. Finds potential, maybe seeks to bring that potential into reality.

And that if Leia was willing to argue so strongly in favor of the idea of Rey training with Ren, of somehow being able to pull him back over to the Light with that connection-- well, quite frankly, he fails to see how Rey having an idea that she supported could be more disappointing to Leia than a son who's willingly tortured and killed for years. ]

And I think if disappointing someone was as easy as thinking they should be disappointed, you and Poe would've dropped me before we were on this moon for a week. [ He swallows. ] Sometimes people just think what they think.

[ There's so little he understands about most of that. Genuinely. Just... a complete lack of context. But he gets enough to muddle through. Enough to understand what the immediate next step is, anyway.

Finn's made do with less.

And Taako does sound positive that leaving him won't be leaving him to the metaphorical rancor pit. ]

Okay. Let's get this over with.

[ Off he marches to the wheel of general misfortune. They can do this. He can do this. Spin the big wheel, get back to-- home? The Quarantine? Just about anywhere that's not here, he'll take it.

Finn wishes he had a blaster and could just shoot these liches though. If only technology were up to that level yet. ]

[No, there was no forcing Leia into anything. The woman was made of stronger stuff, having been part of the original rebellion, becoming a Senator and trying to raise a family. She had a son who had so much potential, and people who would've used him for their own games. She sent Ben to Luke in the hopes of doing good, but things tumbled down a dark spiral and here they were.

Ben, the man who had the potential to do so much good, who had been at war with the darkness in him, was pushed into Snoke's grasp because of a misunderstanding. Because his Uncle was afraid and thought killing Ben would be for the greater good. That moment had haunted Luke, he admitted to his failure and Rey...she didn't want to face hers. She failed Leia and maybe deep down, she felt like she failed herself in thinking Ben would turn away from the Dark. Not to join the Resistance, but to simply let go of the darkness he clung to and seek something else.]

I'm not disappointed in you. [The words quickly leave Rey's lips,her expression turning to one of concern and confusion. Was Finn referring to him leaving with Poe? Or did he mean the Resistance?] Why would I be disappointed in you, Finn? You made mistakes, you wanted to walk away from the Resistance but you came back. You wanted to stay and fight.

[Granted, he tried to walk away from the Resistance not once, but twice, would make anyone skeptical of him, but not Rey. He acted out of fear, but he over came it. He saw something worth fighting for, something that he could protect and build something with--maybe with that girl he was taking care of on the Falcon.

Whatever his reasons were, he found them. He wasn't going to wait for things to go away or to die down. No, he was willing to do what was right. He was willing to help. He has the potential to do more, and that's what Rey saw in Ben. The potential to become something other than the expectations set on his shoulders by the world.]

I know, and I know you can't make them change their minds. [No matter how badly she wanted them to. It's what got her into this mess to begin with their strained friendship.]

Either way, we're all safe...and we're here. [They're together, so at least there's one tiny speck of a silver lining in this whole mess.]

[The wheel spins, colors and symbols blurring together until it finally slows to show the number at the top: twelve o'clock, followed by the sound of a bell striking the hour.

Taako only has a second to realize that isn't right, before the ground cracks beneath them with the scream of an angry purple worm and he closes his eyes instead, preparing for the breaking-burning-dying feeling that usually accompanies this particular situation.

Except it doesn't come. When he opens his eyes there are two things he sees, the first is Finn falling beside him, the second is that rather than the earth below Refuge, they're falling through a very familiar black ink, shot through with blues, greens, and reds.]

Finn! Fuck-- this is-- [Can he cast levitate in here? He's not sure, but he wants to try, he just has to get to Finn first.] Try to fall towards me?

[This is bad.]

[ ??? ]

I do a lot of weapons training. [ He wants to be witty and cool and have a comeback, but Finn is now just a little off-track. ] Should I ask what a Ringo is?

[ That can't possibly be relevant to this, can it. ]

Don't worry about it. We're not here for you to entertain us.

[ What happened, she asked, and Poe takes a deep breath. ]

We remembered. We remembered the evacuation, what happened after. [ An awkward pause. ] We wanted to tell you that Rose is alive. For starters.

[ It doesn't take long at all to figure out who's on the other end of this connection. Whatever it is, whatever's causing it. The emotions that don't quite sit right, the flashes of daily life.

Finn's mostly content to try to let it lie without prodding too much. It's something he plans on telling Taako about, as soon as he can-- things sort of roll in one after the other in his own schedule, though, keep him busy, and those things take a little longer than usual to sort out with his distraction.

(Why does Taako change how he looks, he wonders, adds to the list of questions of why Taako does almost anything.)

He gets back to his apartment and it's relatively late, and he doesn't know all that much about elves, but his broad assumption is that most things sleep, so he thinks alright, tomorrow, first thing in the morning. And he knows he'll probably be awake before sunrise, so it's not as far off as it could be.

The thing is, Finn almost doesn't realize that the mood shift isn't coming from him at first. He can't sleep. It's pretty late. That's when things usually roll in, or when he dozes into a nightmare, same as Poe does sometimes. It's when things start to drift up to the surface before a person can stop them.

And then he sees.

And then he knows. And then he's rolling to his feet and getting his boots on, because he's got a problem with being impulsive and a standing habit of not being able to let it lie when there's something (more or less) right in front of him that he might be able to help.

Message for you, buddo: ]

I realize this is probably a weird time to say I'm outside. But if it helps, it's not about trying to kill you.

[ He thinks he's starting to get the hang of this latest unfortunate turn in Quarantine events. Not in the hang of controlling it, strictly, but of recognizing when it happens, sort of... tuning into it. Separating out what's his and what isn't, at least.

Finn feels something that isn't his, and he figures either he'll get some of those same flashes and figure out who it is, or he won't, and he'll just have to wonder about. They're sad. They're alone. He doesn't know who they are, though. How he can help what he doesn't have information on. All he can do is all he can do. He just tries to push it back and work the way he normally does.

Then he starts to feel whoever is on the other end-- almost responding. Probably not on purpose. Almost like an automatic reaction. Getting a little more tense, a little more volatile as time marches on. He feels frustrated about something for a few moments, and then has the singular sensation of that frustration rippling out and echoing back, for lack of a better description. Feels guilt when he realizes what's happening, feels confused about feeling guilt, and it all sort of circles around like that, hard to untangle.

Eventually, somewhere, wherever she is, Rey will get a sudden look at what her mystery connection is doing: namely, taking care of Cassian and Jyn's newest housemate. There isn't terribly much going on in the moment. She's been fed already, he's just making sure she has a little bit of company before he has to go again. He reaches out a (familiar) hand to run down her back, which she responds to by betraying him in the spur of the moment like cats do, rolling over to get one paw's worth of claws stuck to his jacket sleeve and biting his thumb.

He doesn't shake her off. But he does suck in a breath through his teeth loudly enough to startle her into pulling back. At which point he says, with all due grave offense: "what the hell was that for?"

Ah.... dignified. There's actually a little touch of fondness floating in there. This is a hundred percent the animal he would expect from Jyn and Cassian.

Anyway surprise guess who's been inadvertently putting you on edge all day, Rey. It's ya boi. ]

[ Well, the first mood of the day once Finn gets up is a combination of frustration and resignation as potent as it is humanly possible to feel. Which is generally the mood on waking up and realizing you're feeling someone else's business, again, and have come to view it as a huge inconvenience.

Nature of the Quarantine, he guesses. If we're all on honest ground here, it doesn't add or take away too much from Finn's usual operating standards. What's a drop in the emotional bucket, realistically speaking? For the time being, he just does what he can to shake it off, put it aside to deal with later, if at all. There's no guarantee it'll let on about who he's been hitched up to this time around-- best thing for it is to go about his business like usual and hope it doesn't last too long. At the very least, they don't seem to be in some kind of "actively running from a murderer, help me" emotional state. So that's. Good.

So he goes about his business. He gets dressed. He puts on coffee so that they can have a cup ready to go before they sit down. He plugs in the egg roller thing, aka maybe their best joint purchase decision to date, because it has to preheat and he knows Poe likes getting to use it. It's worth that 8 minute cooking time commitment literally as long as the novelty hasn't worn off. Life's not always easy or kind, and that's a lesson that gets passed on to them in spades whenever the universe finds a chance.

Let someone have something nice first thing in the morning. At least then it was a nice morning.

Of course, Finn also immediately probably does something abhorrent like shotgunning an actual spoon of coffee grounds and chasing it with half a glass of water??? Sometimes you just have to embrace the level of disaster you're at, personally. He feels like it's gonna be one of those days, and he's gonna fortify against it. ]

[At first, the message almost goes ignored because it's too late (or early, depending on a person's perspective) and it's probably just Cisco or Hana up at this ungdoly hour sending him a meme, something he's not particularly in the mood for. But on the off chance that something important has happened, Taako checks his phone.

And he's... not sure what to do with what he reads.

There is a definite temptation to pretend he didn't read it, since he doesn't know what the hell Finn wants and he's not exactly in the mood to entertain company, but if he's learned anything about the dude in the past couple months, Finn doesn't seem the type to show up at this hour for just a social call.

With a deep sigh, Taako rolls off his bed, pulls on a sweatshirt, pops his glamour back on, then finally heads out to open the door.]

What the fuck, Finn?

[ Best news in front. It's a bold strategy.

When he woke up after Starkiller, both here and there, the first and highest point of concern he'd had was Rey. If she was safe, if she was alive. It's not the same situation, but the closest feeling he has to draw on. They get to tell Paige her sister is alive. Numerically speaking-- well, numerically speaking it's a miracle anybody back home got left alive at all, really. And there's so much bad news still coming, and well-earned heaviness in the air already.

At least they have this much on their side. ]

She's also either crazy or too brave for her own good. Maybe both.

[ Finn, who is definitely not a pot calling the kettle black, loves her. The shades of resigned fondness in his tone are already absolute. ]

But that's just my opinion. Not really part of the official record.

[ Paige feels foolish when her knees start to buckle with relief upon hearing the words. Rose is alive. Tears immediately well up in her eyes but she doesn't let them fall, she pushes them back even if she has no qualms with letting herself smile.

Her hand lifts to touch her necklace, clutching it for a moment as she smiles: ] Thank the Force.

[ However, there's still tension in them both. She can see it in their shoulders and even as she laughs at what Finn says, she finds she's nervous about what's coming next.]

I would have ever called her crazy but she is brave, even if she doesn't think she is.

[Rey was trying to do something that didn't involve working, or meditating. She was in fact cleaning her small studio apartment. It gave her something else to focus on rather than everything that's happened. The tension between her and Ben, that was still fresh in her mind. Why should I open the door? They were connected again. Not bound by Snoke, but by the Force itself.

She needed to tell someone. She needed to tell Cisco and figure out what the hell to do. Rey said she would let Cisco know if something happened. She promised, and she wasn't about to break her word on it. She doesn't want to push him away again. She didn't want to be alone again, which could explain why she isn't too...upset by the connection coming to life again.

Nothing felt off to Rey. Earlier in the day she had gone to a shop to look for a small vase to put some flowers in. Flowers that she decided would look good in her room and offer a pleasant distraction. She was arranged them, placing them in the small white vase and setting it down by the window. Thoughts of Finn and Poe drift through her mind, creating a pang of loneliness...

And then feeling it be pushed back to her. It causes alarm within her, making her freeze and look around her room with an intense gaze. There's no one else here, at least none that she could sense. It's....upsetting, frustrating, and with those feelings comes a sense of agitation that won't go away. Like she was ready to run at any moment, but those feelings weren't her own.

Maybe all the stress of Ben and the aftermath of what happened on Crait were finally getting to her. Maybe she needed time away. Maybe she needed to meditate? Grinding her teeth, Rey set out to sit in the middle of her apartment, crossing her legs and tried to clear her mind.

She takes in a deep breath and feels like something slammed into her hard. Her eyes open, expecting to see her studio apartment but what she sees is a ...cat? A hand that reaches out to pet her--and the damn thing had the nerve to bite it?! Wait a moment...that hand looked familiar.]

Finn?!

[What. The. HELL!? Did the Force connect her to him too?!]

[ Finn plans on doing basically anything but acknowledging or interacting with Kylo Ren when he sees him. It's a course of action that takes no small amount of effort-- that takes, in fact, just about every ounce of self-control that he has in his possession.

He's done a lot of impulse-chasing since he defected. A lot of reflexive acting and poorly-thought-out decision making. He sees Kylo Ren in some little shop that he happened to need to swing into on his way back to the apartment, sees him standing there, hobbling along on crutches, and the desire to march up and. And he doesn't even know what yet, is the thing, just feels anger creep over him, sharp and cold.

But enough of his life was dedicated to restraint to tamp this impulse down. He's not looking to land in the hospital or hot water, or to have to tell Poe that he did something he's all but begged Poe not to do on a couple of notable occasions. There's enough chaos in their lives already, not even counting the flood of new people and whatever comes rolling in with them. Hologram glitches. Pretty solid for holograms.

Finn plans to keep his own tense, tight-jawed distance. Get in, get what he needs, get out. Maybe give Poe a heads up about seeing Ren around here.

The plan didn't factor in an actual building just fucking appearing right against the front of this particular building. Goodbye natural light. Hello, store lit purely by the overhead fluorescents. At least it isn't too crowded. There's the owner, who half-jogs towards the office in the back to... presumably make some phone calls about the literal building blocking everyone in. Maybe a straggling customer or two. And Finn. And Kylo Ren.

So uhhh that's, that's cool. Suddenly he has a headache coming on. ]

You've gotta be kidding me.

[ okay day
stuck in place with kylo ren
shitty day

You know what, maybe later he'll consider how lucky he is that they're not stuck in an elevator. ]

She is. She saved Finn's life.

[ Which earns Finn a light punch to the shoulder, because he hasn't forgiven that suicide run yet, sir. ]

She ran an op with Finn for me.

[ Which almost got Finn and Rose killed, almost got even more people killed, but that doesn't make the efforts of either participant less brave. ]

The two of them came up with the plan, even.

[ It's probably not the done thing to go "believe me she is absolutely a little nuts". Not necessarily bad as a trait, but rude to insist on having out there. He's got different standards anyway. Finn reaches out to smack Poe on the arm in retaliation without even looking, which means he sort of misses and has to give it another half try. ]

Mostly her. I wouldn't have thought about it on my own; I just had good intel once she started talking it out. [ He can admit that much. The scope on his priorities was narrower for a while. ] Didn't pan out too well, long-term. And there might be a standing order on Canto Bight to shoot us if we set foot there again.

[ M... might. The First Order would do the same thing anyway and they're gonna see a lot more of them. It's hardly a drop in the bucket. ]

That was just other variables getting out of hand, though. Nothing wrong with the strategy. Rose probably saved my life more than once.

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TAAKO

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CLOSED | kylo ren

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