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#i mean pat doing things in general for pran is a theme it is the boys love language for sure but like specifically in this context
lurkingshan · 11 months
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On Jae Won and Pran
Last night I read a couple excellent posts - this one from @emotionallychargedtowel breaking down the evolution of Jae Won’s mindset in the final two episodes of The Eighth Sense, and this one from @waitmyturtles about themes of generational trauma explored in Bad Buddy, and how his mother’s trauma, his role as the only child of the family, the expectations heaped on him by his parents to carry all their hopes and dreams, and his fear of family rejection manifested in Pran’s inability to see a future for himself with Pat and his subsequent (initial) hesitance to risk it all on a relationship with him. And this really got my wheels turning, because I’ve been thinking a lot about the similarities between Pran and Jae Won.
Like Pran, Jae Won has inherited generational trauma. We don’t know most of the details, but we do know Jae Won’s father is “aggressive” towards him and appears to lash out at him in anger. We can only assume that those family issues got even worse after his brother’s death, which he feels responsible for (and given what we know of his family, it’s a fair bet that his parents have placed blame on him, too). It is usually the case that perpetrators of family violence were themselves victims of the previous generation’s family violence, so it seems fair to assume there is multigenerational trauma in Jae Won’s family.
Also like Pran, Jae Won is now his family’s only (living) child, and feels enormous pressure to be successful (as his family defines the term) and avoid disappointing his parents. This is a big source of the paralysis he feels following his return from military enlistment, when what he wants to do is completely at odds with what he knows is expected of him. Turtles talked about how for Pran, risking alienating his parents means risking giving up the only family he has - that fear must be even more pronounced for Jae Won, who has already lost his precious brother and feels utterly alone in the world.
Pran and Jae Won are both people pleasers. Pran is the problem solver in his group of friends, the one who smooths things over and mediates conflicts. Even when he is the wronged party (coughcurtaindropcough), he goes out of his way to forgive and disregards his own needs in order to make everyone happy again. And of course, his ultimate act of people pleasing is to carry on a charade of ending things with Pat in order to assuage his guilty feelings toward his mother and keep his family intact. Jae Won simply never acknowledges conflict in the first place, choosing instead to bend to the will of those around him rather than putting up any kind of fight, and the end result is the same. He disregards his own needs and wellbeing to avoid rocking the boat.
Pran and Jae Won are also both extremely skilled at masking their true emotions and keeping people at a distance. Pran was in love and pining away for years, and absolutely no one - even his best friend - knew about it. Pran was so skilled at hiding his relationship with Pat that he probably could have kept the secret going indefinitely. It was Pat who couldn’t stand it, and ultimately they were forced to return to Pran’s tactic of pretending (and honestly, my heart breaks a little when I imagine Pran having to teach Pat how to hide himself). Similarly, Jae Won’s friends don’t actually know him. They don’t know about his brother, his mental health struggles, or his fraught relationship with his parents. They look at him and see only what he wants them to see - an unbothered chaebol sailing through life. At the core of this tendency for both Jae Won and Pran is a need to protect themselves, because they’ve already learned that they will never be fully accepted for who they are and they live constantly under threat of losing the only security they know if they reveal too much of themselves.
And finally, in matters of romance, Pran and Jae Won are similarly hesitant to allow themselves to go after what they want. Pran always believed his love for Pat would have to stay a secret tucked into a corner of his heart, and even when his feelings were finally reciprocated, he struggled to believe there was any chance he could really be allowed to be with him. After his brother’s death, Jae Won never felt he was deserving of happiness, and he surrounded himself with toxic users to ensure he wouldn’t get it. Even as he was inexorably drawn to Ji Hyun, his hesitation and doubt was clear in every moment. He was always waiting for the other shoe to drop, and as soon as it did he fell right back into resigned acceptance of the shitty relationships he felt he deserved. Both Jae Won and Pran likely would have stayed in that purgatory forever, except that they each found someone with the confidence and persistence to help them see a different way.
Which brings me to where Pran and Jae Won ultimately find release from their family trauma, guilt, and self-doubt - in Pat and Ji Hyun. For both of them, they find courage in creating a new bond that is strong enough to weather the coming storm. Pran forms a new family unit with Pat and draws strength from him when his parents inevitably reject his vision for his life. Jae Won pushes and pulls away from and returns to Ji Hyun when he is certain he can trust him to hang in through the hard parts (and we know there are many hard parts still to come). From these bonds they also both build a stronger community around them - Pran strengthening his relationships with the friends in their inner circle that know the truth about him and Pat, Jae Won finding new closeness with Yoon Won and an extended support system in Ji Hyun’s friends.
Their fear of family rejection hasn’t gone away, but they are better fortified against it. They haven’t magically cured their generational trauma, but they have found a way to live beyond it. And I just think that’s beautiful.
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dribs-and-drabbles · 2 years
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Vice Versa ep 2
It's another long one folks!
If we hadn't been joking that Vice Versa was a Bad Buddy AU already then ep 2 has sealed its fate because not only do we have Pran Tun pining after and oblivious Pat Talay and pushing him away but we also get Pa Prae and Ink Som…with Prae even wearing the yellow-sole shoes! (8:50 in pt 4). Oh and somehow it's also Bad Buddy AU The Musical.
Anyway, there's part of my brain that just lights up when a series uses intentional design motivs…and the colours in Vice Versa are causing a whole fireworks show up there. It's still early days to be making interpretations - more 'data' is needed to see any patterns to the colour use…and I only began formulating my theories of Bad Buddy's colours around episode 4/5 - but gosh it is so pleasing to watch.
Having said that, here's an attempt at some kind of interpretation of ep 2…
So the ep's theme is Forest Green and early on it also seems to be paired a bit with purple (you can see it in the opening title credits)…but maybe just because it's an aesthetic pairing. What was interesting is that the inclusion of green seems to start small - with a few items of clothing, props, and pops of lighting - and then increases so by the end of the ep the whole frame is saturated with it (from the plants and maze).
Despite the green theme (and the purple pairing) the four main colours (or two main pairs - red/blue [until any distinction is made clearer I'm including pink with red here] and green/yellow) also pop up regularly - in people's outfits, the drinks in the various bar scenes, the kites and bikes, signs or designs on walls or windows, and combinations of them all with pops of lighting. A few examples:
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I've already mentioned this in an ask I answered but I adore the simplicity of this shot in particular:
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Not only does it encapsulate the general vibe of the slightly 'off-centre’ feeling of this universe, where it’s the little things like the above and the finger counting that sets it apart from ours, and (as was pointed out by @miscellar) it reflects the circle design of the opening credits…but it once again has the four main colours.
Now, I can't say much about why these pairings are being used yet BUT I do want to talk a little about brown and orange - two colours which Talay interpreted at the beginning of ep 1.
It seems in this ep that brown is still connected to being "serious" - despite the green theme and pops of green in the opening association scene, there is also a lot of brown while Talay is talking seriously about his experience for the group. Brown is also featured a lot in the montage of Talay trying to talk to Tun - in the archery, wedding, café, and bar-with-friends scenes. (It's also interesting that in the café Talay has bright blue trousers which he then wears in the bar where Up-Pree is also in a bright red sweater). Talay's top appears brown-ish (although perhaps black and white or grey?) when finding out from Anna the real reason why Tun has been avoiding him - but I love that the light behind Anna is red whereas the light behind Talay is blue. Pong, the bar owner, is also in brown when Talay is feeling his lowest about this whole situation. Later, Talay has a brown jacket for the taxi ride to the association when 'Tun' is declaring that they're boyfriends - which isn't serious at this point…but will be by the end of the series *nudge nudge wink wink*
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On to orange - and although not used much this ep, it still seems to be connected to the pull between being "lively but with something on his mind". In the bar scene with Tun's friends, there is an orange light behind Tun and between Tun and Tess/Talay when Up-Pree and Aou are being lively but Tun is deep in thought about something else.
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The next one might be a bit of a stretch (since I've been wrong before about names) but I'm going on the assumption that the name Som means orange (thanks to Secret Crush on You) - Milk's character, Som, is very outspoken and lively whilst both Talay and 'Tun's minds are distracted by each other.
A few other interesting things… I liked the dapple of lights above Jubjang's head in the beginning - very similar to ep 1 with the lights above Talay's head and then later Phuwadol's… I wonder if this will be a recurring thing (Incidentally, in all three scenes there's also blue...) - the same goes for the light in the elevator changing to reflect the episode's theme, for scenes with Talay and Phuwadol talking under archways, and Fuse's anecdotal t-shirts that seem to reflect the mood of the scene.
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I also wonder if the phones or the colours of the phones are important/deliberate - Tun's is white, Tess' is blue, Tun's friends' are green and orangy-red…so I wonder if there will be a yellow one…perhaps Kita or Fuse's... And lastly, it's interesting that both Som and Tun are wearing black at the end whilst Talay and Prae have bright colours…I wonder if this will come back as something later…
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But also...Puen/Tun/Pakorn have hardly worn any bright colours so far, sticking to mainly black, white, or grey. The most colour Pakorn has worn has been denim/dark blue (end of ep 1) and shades of brown (the wedding photographer in ep 2). Only having worn black or white (and blue jeans), I wonder when Puen will start wearing colours...
[Ep 1] [Ep 2] [Ep 3] [Ep 4] [Ep 5] [Ep 6] [Ep 7] [Ep 8] [Ep 9] [Ep 10] [Ep 11] [Ep 12]
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anyways at the end when Pran looks down at the watch on his wrist and then at the guitar and then at Pat’s door something something getting back what you thought was lost forever
#Universe Ends Posts#Bad Buddy#i was rewatching the episode (yes again) because i'm trying to pinpoint all the times Pran says thank you for a different reason#and then i noticed the fuckin. way he brings up the watch to look at it. wild. absolutely wild.#this is a post both about Pran being so in love and also about Pat just like. holding on. to things. and giving them back to Pran?#i don't know how to word it. Pat Giving Things Back To Pran is a whole theme.#i mean pat doing things in general for pran is a theme it is the boys love language for sure but like specifically in this context#like okay. okay. kid!pran definitely realized he'd left his watch behind and also definitely thought there was no way it would still#be there or still be working. or maybe he went back and checked and it was already gone idk#and then suddenly. this kid that he's always been told to hate shows up in his room and gives it back to him#how out of the blue must that have been? there is no way he thought pat was gonna do that#and then. pran gets transferred and has to leave his guitar behind and like. he doesn't know what happened to it but its been years#if any of his old friends had it he'd know- he said he knew wai before he got transferred so he wasn't out of contact with them#so maybe it got thrown away or someone stole it or something but it's gone and there's nothing he can do about it#and then?? pat just walks out of his room. carrying it. this incredibly sentimental thing. he just Has it. and he's kept it safe.#for three years. pat has had this important guitar and kept it safe and in his room and is now giving it back to pran completely for free#and then y'know. pran himself. they were friends in high school and like. maybe flirting (definitely flirting) but its been 3 years#and their first interaction after those 3 years was pran drop kicking pat in the chest and then fighting over garbage cans#(solely because their dads also fought over those garbage cans)#so Pran must've just assumed that whatever they'd managed to build in high school was gone it ended when he transferred#and Now. Pat. is flirting again. helping him. doing things for him. teasing him. and you can tell its a dynamic they're used to#its fun for them its easy it fits and pran thought it was gone and pat is easing them right back into it#anyways.
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Character writing
I discovered a parallel in storytelling between Lovely Writer and Bad Buddy and I think it's the key to why these shows are so good and why the lovestories feel more realistic.
It's the "inside vs outside" theme which lets the characters shine because they switch roles depending on who's around them.
I would call it the "social filter". We all adjust to other people surrounding us, meaning we play different roles throughout our social life. Knowing someone in more than one particular constellation with others makes you feel like you already know them better than others and it adds a layer of their personality to them. Shows and movies which make a character show different parts of their personality in different situations are writing-wise the best ones because even though they might lack a catching story, it's always a discovering journey for the audience.
It's what Lovely Writer did and it's what Bad Buddy does and I really admire the craft of storywriting with such details and the power to envision it, so everyone understands the journey the character goes through because we see them in every step of the way. The audience discovers their personalities step by step, just like the two protagonists do by spending more and more time with each other.
Such shows are in general more interesting to watch than shows like "Fish upon the sky" because the relationship the protagonists have, is build up slowly and lets the characters settle with each other. It's not publicly, in fact, the public is pretty far away and not really important. The protagonists get to know each other behind closed doors and when you're with someone, it's like you have your own little world apart from the outside because the moment you start to interact with others, you change your behavior towards each other. It's a natural thing, adjusting to atmosphere and acknowledging other people.
In Lovely Writer, you could differ between Gene and Nubsib, Gene and Nubsib with friends, with their families and in public. They always acted different but some reassuring moments took place in more public spaces, showing the world between them still exsists and a reminder that it's all true what's been said before. It's what real relationships are like and it doesn't have a weird fake-y touch to it - not like other GMMTV shows.
In Bad Buddy, you can differ between four worlds as well: Pat and Pran, Pat and Pran with friend, with their families and in public. Those are the same layers and it works the same. It's inside vs outside, it's privacy vs eyes watching and it's a concept that works every single time. Because it just mirrors the real world and lets the roots of the conflict spread until you get where it came from. Bad Buddy obviously deals with some social issues and the trope in general is pretty cliché but the way it's told, is way too good.
At first, you think Pat and Pran have a problem with each other because of their grades, because they are equally good in school. Then we see it's because of their parents. But that's not enough because it's not only their parents despising each other, it's their friend groups as well. You can feel the pressure lingering in the back like a shadow whenever they interact.
Because behind closed doors, inside, they are whoever they want to be, but the outside doesn't want them to and pressures them to stay apart.
The conflict roots in the families but has a much bigger effect on their lives that it even affects their relationship. It creeps inside. That's why the angst that's being portrayed doesn't feel off. The conflict gets bigger and everyone knows it. It slowly crashes down and Pat is now painfully aware of it because he needed to hide in Pran's room for the outside not to get suspicious. It's a dark aspect of the story.
The scene with Wai can be seen as the outside tearing the privacy they share apart, like it's invading something special they have apart from other people to know. There's gonna be so much angst.
Lovely Writer was the same. The outside got so loud at some point, it was affecting them which led to the turning point of Gene and Nubsib both laying awake at night. Because the outside creeped in, because it invaded their privacy.
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gilly-bean · 2 years
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Thank you @liyazaki for tagging I also haven't done these in a while and I though it might be fun.
1. our all time favorite bl and why: It has to be I Told Sunset About You. Always and forever. I mean Bad Buddy did come very close and if the last episodes hadn't been the way they were it probably would have been my favorite. Ohm and Nanon's chemistry and the community I found while watching that show were both things I didn't expect that turned into something magical. I will always have a special place for Bad Buddy in my heart. But just for the sheer quality of the show I have to say ITSAY. It's a literal work of art that I wanna make everyone watch bl fan or not because it's just that stunning. They should be teaching ITSAY in film classes for decades to come.
2. that one bl that scarred you for life: I Promised You the Moon. Has a show ever felt more like your loved one betraying you like IPYTM did? IPYTM came into my house, threw me out on the curb and closed the door while I sobbed in the rain asking why. Why did it have to be like this? It did look very pretty while doing it though.
I've moved on now but never make me watch that show again.
3. bl that made you feel very single: Bad Buddy. I'm not generally interested in romance in my life but Pat and Pran made me think that it would probably be nice to have something like that in my life. Just that unwavering support and adoration. Very specifically that beach episode. Imagine just having fun like that with someone you love even though everything else is going to hell? Yeah I wouldn't mind it.
4. if you could change one thing from a bl, which one would it be? Can I use your answer here Mor? I think it says everything I want to.
5. your top five:
I told sunset about you
Bad buddy
Gaya sa pelikula
Not me (even if it hasn't ended yet I'm confident it will remain on my top 5 list. I'm obsessed. Gimme anarchist gays, protest politics, queerness, supernatural twins, amazing musical score and cinematography any day of the week and I'll be into it whatever you do with it)
A tale of thousand stars (those yearning looks, no one does it better than Mix and Earth)
honorable mentions: Dark Blue Kiss. Pete and Kao had the best and most believable LTR I've seen in a bl. Despite some questionable ways the drama was handled in the latter part of the series, I also loved the way queerness was woven into the story. That conversation Pete and Kao had by the pool about the pressure to be good because you're already disappointing your parents with your sexuality? Heartbreaking and relatable.
Oh and We Best Love! I mean I think Gao Shi De's obsession went a little too far in that one for me to fully love it but the acting was superb and there's no denying that.
6. that trashy bl that you lowkey like: Why R U. Now there's a bl with such a messy plot it's incredible I managed to follow it at all but SaintZee had such fire chemistry it didn't much matter. It also had the beach episode to end all beach episodes.
7. your favorite korean bl (it’s important we know): Where Your Eyes Linger. Ugh the dark themes, the toxic relationship, just the right amount of stuff for that eight 10-minute episode long arch the Koreans like to do, everything just worked for me.
8. but also your top 3 for kbls: Can't say I'm a huge fan of the other ones I've watched. Color Rush? That was good. Wish it had a season 2 with both of the leads.
9. season 2? which one? Gaya sa Pelikula desperately deserves a season 2 but I'm not holding my breath for that one and it absolutely breaks my heart.
10. a bunch of dramas will air soon. which ones are you the most excited for? Moonlight Chicken and even the other ridiculous one Earth and Mix are involved in are making me the most excited, I just love those two. Kinnporsche looks like an interesting disaster I will definitely try out and I'm hoping against all odds Between us is finally happening.
11. @becomingabeing I know you haven't watched that many bl's but if you wanna do this I would love to hear your thoughts! And all the other moots who haven't yet done it tag me if you end up doing it.
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mejomonster · 2 years
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I still need to watch the very last ep of bad buddy but from the spoilers ive seen, my opinion on the show pretty much remains the same: it's a Romeo x Romeo thai bl romcom overall, with a grounded plot when it comes to the main two characters relationship and personal struggles especially with their family. In the grounded regard? I personally loved that, because I prefer a bit more realistic arcs I relate to and can feel the weight of (but it means not all sunshine roses if u prefer Just romcom). In the romcom regard? It has enough to maintain an overall optimistic tone that makes it comforting to watch, funny, makes some setups over the top unrealistic like their toxic families and friends being Ridiculously Fantastically Rivals (so expect the side stuff to move plot/themes/comedy rather than be grounded and fleshed out on its own right), and means there's still thai bl romcom tropes galore (which I found worked for me better because a grounded long term secret-friends to teen crushes to lovers story was being told With those tropes, and that emotional arc felt realistic as someone who went thru something similar and can relate to parents expectations hurting you growing up). So like. For me it was a mix of typical romcom bl meets something with a bit more weight in the romance/growing up with expectations part.
For tropes it didn't do anything like groundbreaking, it did do a LOT of tropes that felt right with the chemistry and played with expectations a bit. Whats mainly cool about its tropes usage is just it was mainly executed in a way where the couple felt equal, the individuals didnt feel boxed into a mold, and the way queer identity was handled was respectful, which are all nice things to see and I hope it's a trend. The show also went a nice direction with no real 3rd party situation even tho a similar trope shows up, no real breakup out of character, and side ship being a gl couple.
So like? Does it offer any plot I haven't seen other shows do. No. I've seen my gear and your gown do teen crushes/friends to lovers, theory of love also does a version of friends to lovers (WAY more seriously and angst with internal conflicts, whereas bad buddy's conflicts are mainly external toxic pressures on them so it's lighter hearted in some ways), I've seen enemies to lovers of a similar style in Why R U and Dark Blue Kiss. What makes Bad Buddys plot stand out to me is it starts years into the relationship (unlike many which start from the beginning of meeting), is acted phenomenally (could not have gotten better chemistry leads that add so much depth to the relationship so it feels like it really has been Their Whole Lives together), has a ton of the fun tropes you look for in a Thai bl romcom in a lighthearted way (think 2gether but more character depth/serious family expectation and character themes, theory of love but way less angst/heavy tone), executes those tropes in a generally forward way.
Pat and prans personal arcs felt very relatable to my own experiences and I appreciated that part of the story being mundane and grounded and handled with weight. This show fit my niche of the rare romcom I can click with.
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dribs-and-drabbles · 2 years
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Another new costume colour theory...
(Even I think this is getting to be a bit much now but here goes...)
A reminder to start, so far we have:
Blue = Pat (and the engineering group)
Red = Pran (and the architecture group)
Forest/Olive Green = conflict or obstacles to the characters’ happiness
Yellow = the characters’ love and happiness
Mint Green = the union of the characters as a couple
Now I would like to propose a new theory: 
Brown = Sacrifice/Giving in/Submission
Before I go into my ‘evidence’, I admit I’ve been wondering whether Aof/the production team actually just wanted to have a changing colour palate through out the series (with no underlying meaning to any of them) but because of the way the story develops and how different themes come in, it’s just been easy to associate the changing colour palate to the different aspects of the story (meaning I’m just clowning here)...because it feels like it’s getting so complicated and I do wonder how likely it is that this has all been genuinely planned out...so maybe my brain just likes looking for patterns and can easily invent reasons for those patterns...
Anyway, evidence for the Brown colour theory:
Pran’s dad. He’s generally very submissive to his wife and family, looking to her mainly to take the lead on things or be the louder ‘voice’. When we first see him, he’s in a brown and white striped top and Pran stops him from serving himself with his own spoon. He looks guilty and ‘put in his place’ as though if his family weren’t there, he would live by a different set of rules:
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Then we see him accompany his wife as she stops Pran from playing in the music concert..again looking to her to take the lead and giving in to her wishes:
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Pat. Brown isn’t seen again as a large item of clothing until Pat wears this t-shirt in episode 7 at the end when he sacrifices winning the bet by stepping up to help out Pran with the play. He gives in, he submits - all out of love - but he does it for Pran to make him happy. 
The design of the face is also interesting and could be interpreted it as though he’s helping Pran ‘save face’ - to avoid the humiliation of having to chase down Chat to re-join the play. Instead, Pat is allowing himself to be the one ‘humiliated’ (he obviously doesn’t feel this way because he does it gladly) by ‘losing’ the bet (even though he does ‘win’ in the end - by him and Pran getting together):
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Pran. And lastly - this one is a stretch because we haven’t seen it yet - but there will be a scene with Pran in a brown and white striped shirt where it looks like he is pulling himself away from Pat, seemingly unwilling to do something, but then later gives in, yields to Pat, and feeds him the food that was in his hand. There might be more to this scene but for now it seems to fit:
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So if we see this colour more during the up-coming conflict then I think this theory will stand...perhaps if Pran feels he has to submit to his mother’s wishes, sacrificing Pat...or maybe Pat will sacrifice himself so that Pran doesn’t get hurt...or the other way round... Who knows how the story will pan out...but be wary of brown clothes, I think!
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