extrapenguin: A man raising a glass protector off from above a magic device. (guardian)
ExtraPenguin ([personal profile] extrapenguin) wrote in [community profile] sid_guardian2019-05-30 08:22 pm

Guardian Episode by Episode: 15

Welcome to the rewatchalong! We are now at episode 14. The Imgur screencap album has 100 images, because Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan kept having expressions.

Previously on:
Episode 1, Episode 2, Episode 3, Episode 4, Episode 5, Episode 6, Episode 7, Episode 8, Episode 9, Episode 10, Episode 11, Episode 12, Episode 13, Episode 14

This week, we conclude the Cong Bo case and start the soil composition/Zhao Yunlan runs around Dixing case. Also, Zhao Yunlan gets a new hairstyle.

Introductions
We meet the Regent for the first time! He is the dodgiest, most suspicious person ever, and his natural instinct is buttering people up. He claims that Dixing doesn't have pretty girls or consultants. Also, he has no kids and lives life alone.


Available in two colorways! Be sure to buy before stocks run out!


Zhao Xinci turns up in person in the present to surprise inspect the SID.


And by "inspect the SID", he means "insult Yunlan".


We also see a very brief moment of the space outside the universes that the Hallows dump Zhao Yunlan into after the time travel. I suppose this is indication that Zhao Yunlan has been partially corrupted by the Hallows already?


Bright and swirly.


Characterization
Shen Wei gets to do a lot of plainclothes Envoying in this episode, and we see that he's quite good at switching between his Envoy and Professor personas as soon as there's a need to switch. (I don't think we ever see him in private doing stuff not related to either persona.)


Smug little Envoy smirk!


The relationship between Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei has significantly improved! Shen Wei tells Zhao Yunlan his power is learning when asked, and he's started sitting on tables under Zhao Yunlan's bad influence.


Also, a grabby grab of "I have things to say to you".


The way Shen Wei turns "how come you lost the booklet" into a grudgematch over the Regent's means of governance and his willingness to tell Zhao Yunlan the Envoy's identity is very representative of the state of Dixingian rule.


This is what a seething Shen Wei looks like.


This is the episode where Zhao Yunlan switches hairstyles! Finally, we can see his eyebrows!


Visible eyebrows are an immediate +10 to hotness.


We also see his superpower of delegation: he makes Lin Jing hack and delete all of Cong Bo's files on the SID (even if hacking doesn't work like that and does Cong Bo not keep any backups???) instead of trying to explain away the Dixing powers Cong Bo saw used.


"What you saw was merely the results of regular exercise. You should try it, too!"


Then Zhao Yunlan claims another "reward" for dealing with Cong Bo and has Shen Wei clean his room. It's okay, he takes him out for fancy dinner the day after!


Peak Zhao Yunlan.


I recall there being some controversy on Zhao Yunlan undermining Shen Wei's authority in the confrontation with the Regent (or something along those lines); my read on the situation is that Zhao Yunlan would like for them to stop arguing and move on the something useful, then sets off to manipulate everyone into doing that in as face-saving a way as possible and fails colossally. You can see him go "Oh fuck" at Shen Wei's reaction and then turn around and grasp at something else to interrupt the argument with.


"Abort mission!"


Huh, Zhao Yunlan really does not want to meet the Xingdu Bureau's Special Commissioner, even if Da Qing considers it unlikely that Zhao Xinci would come himself. I suppose he'd have wanted to visit Dixing himself at some point, anyway, but this timing is a little suspiciou.

Visions Zhao Yunlan sees while traveling through portal to Dixing: Shen Xi staring at the camera, Zhao Xinci from behind, child Zhao Yunlan running towards where his mother will die, Shen Xi staring at the camera, Shen Xi dying; cut to present Zhao Yunlan in interdimensional space. Then he's subjected to one more parental argument on Zhao Xinci not coming to Zhao Yunlan's graduation because he's too busy, and gets to go to Dixing and be touched on the shoulder by the Envoy.

Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan both apologize for the pinhole camera, though they're so very different in body language. Shen Wei is super tense, while Zhao Yunlan is more on the resignedly sorry end of the scale. (Likely this is due to asymmetric repercussions: Zhao Yunlan would not have to personally deal with people considering him a monster, unlike Shen Wei.)


Different stances, different postures.


The scene where they tag teamed Cong Bo by revealing his perspective to be limited (how did they get the full images??? a Dixing power?) and then gave him life advice and recruited him to the SID was hilarious and very much deserving of the later celebratory glass-clinking. Even if the glasses were filled with tap water.


The neighbors have come over to destroy your self-esteem and lecture you on your life choices.


We also see them argue: first over Zhao Yunlan's Hallows fondling and then over Zhao Yunlan going to Dixing. The Hallows fondling argument was in a way informative: Zhao Yunlan said he did it for a reason instead of for the shits and giggles, and then Shen Wei said that they could just steal the other two Hallows from Zhu Jiu when the time came. We also get Zhao Yunlan's willingness to self-sacrifice pop up when he states that the risk of being corroded by dark energy doesn't matter. Shen Wei is obviously unhappy that Zhao Yunlan is willing to risk being corroded by dark energy, whether via Hallows-fondling or visiting Dixing.


Shen Wei is jealous of Zhao Yunlan fondling something that is not him on the eve of their fancy restaurant date.


This is also the episode where we see them share vision! Shen Wei shows Zhao Yunlan what the world looks like using dark energy vision. Zhao Yunlan is baffled about how dark it is, and also didn't seem to know that Dixing didn't have any sunlight. This says interesting things about how much people know about Dixing! (I wonder whether Zhao Xinci's opinions would soften if he realized Dixing had no light?)


We get a decent quantity of touchy-feely in here.


On the villain end, Ya Qing is being followed around by Ying Chun, Zhu Jiu is still indured, and Zhu Jiu still considers Yashou useless garbage.


"Tell the boss to get me an official identity so I can go to the hospital, you Yashou trash!"


On the topic of Yashou, our Zhu Hong gets drunk due to Zhao Yunlan rejecting her, then (tries to) drunk dial him.


Da Qing is playing wise mentor; Guo Changcheng is the youth too young to learn of broken hearts.


Guo Changcheng has no spine or ability to delegate. He'll drop everything and help even the most suspicious-looking grandpa if looked at pitiably enough.


"I-I guess I'll just be late for work... It's okay, Wang Zheng likes canceling people's bonuses."


On the other hand, Chu Shuzhi is perfectly willing to choke heads of government in public. I suppose he's still resentful over the punishment/his brother dying. Da Qing knows his origin story.


"Call me 'xiao-Chu' one more time and I will end you."


Why do they want to trick the Commissioner? The treaty doesn't forbid travel to Dixing (or Shen Wei would've brought that up), so they could've told the truth and said that Zhao Yunlan went to Dixing on a diplomatic trip to alleviate future problems or something. Lying of the magnitude they're doing is rather questionable.


Canon details
  • Dixingians have some sort of astrology/divination/birth chart thing, since Zhu Jiu refers to having one
  • Dijun booklet is basically census; contains everyone's power and origin.
  • Shen Wei must see a power to learn it
  • On Haixing, Shen Wei is restrained by the Guardian Writ* and dark energy itself
  • Touching the Hallows too much will make one's body corrode from the dark energy
    The average Dixingian doesn't have active powers


* 令 refers to orders, commands, and warrants, so it's likely a piece of paper that tells him what he is and isn't supposed to do.

Cinematography
We get a bunch of zooming-in tracking shots, which of course are hard to represent in still format.


This was one of them.


Shots from afar

Pinhole camera POV


Lots of close-ups of hands

Example.


Shots from above

In addition to those tracking shots that start from above and afar and zoom in


Shots that tilt the horizon to make them more dramatic

Chu Shuzhi's wannabe recidivism must be sufficiently dramatic


Also, lots of shots of Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan touching each other's shoulders or otherwise existing in each other's vicinity.

Even when Shen Wei is the Envoy, Zhao Yunlan is willing to bump shoulders against him while walking.


Zhao Yunlan jacket watch
A denim vest, a brown trench coat, and my favorite coat of his! (This episode technically takes place over 4 days, but we only see scenes from 3 of them.)



Shen Wei shoe watch
Excitingly, we see the Envoy's shoes!

If you wish, you can draw some conclusions.


Did Shen Wei take off his glasses?
Yes! He has stopped wearing glasses at Zhao Yunlan's place. He puts them back on to face Cong Bo, but takes them off again when they return.

Smiling, happy Shen Wei who cannot be happy and do eye contact at the same time.
solo: SW and ZYL reading stuff (GD reading)

[personal profile] solo 2019-05-30 05:48 pm (UTC)(link)
Shen Wei is incredibly rude to the Regent's little puppet. (And not nice to the Regent either, I guess.)

The sitting on things! Oh, Shen Wei, you have been corroded by ZhaoYunlan energy!

That last still is amazing, I could stare at him looking happy for days!
mecurtin: Doctor Science (Default)

[personal profile] mecurtin 2019-05-30 05:49 pm (UTC)(link)
I'll read & react later, just noting that the album link goes to Ep 14.
jo_lasalle: a sleeping panda (ZYL and the BCE)

[personal profile] jo_lasalle 2019-05-30 06:05 pm (UTC)(link)
I suppose this is indication that Zhao Yunlan has been partially corrupted by the Hallows already?

Where do you get that from? It's an interesting thought, but I admit I took it as to mean as either somehow related to his mother dying from a Dixingian power, and as he's travelling to Dixing for the first time, he gets a vision-memory of her, or that the trip is just so intense it pulls up memories in a rather vision-y way.

Though also, I will admit that that interlude originally made me think that there would be more plot involving Zhao Yunlan's mother (either that she was trapped in Dixing on trapped in some other dimension, instead of having died) so that might have influenced where my mind went as to the 'point' of that interlude.

Shen Wei gets to do a lot of plainclothes Envoying in this episode, and we see that he's quite good at switching between his Envoy and Professor personas as soon as there's a need to switch.

I watched this in HD for the first time this time around, and Shen Wei's flipping friendly prof and badass motherfucker was always impressive but in HD it's SLAYING. He is not at all nice when talking to the messenger! And I think we see him being badass and/or intimidating in other situations, but this is the one time I can think of offhand where he's being a little arrogant. Like really letting it show that he's The Boss Here.

and he's started sitting on tables under Zhao Yunlan's bad influence.

LOL! ❤️ I have to say, Zhao Yunlan's cuteness in this ep gets to me more on every rewatch. He is so so happy that he finally knows. Happy!Zhao Yunlan is my jam.

I also like that the teasing while Shen Wei is sitting on the couch is on the one hand a mirror of episode 14, most obviously with the compensation, but it's like a lower stakes version of it and nobody has to get angry - Zhao Yunlan is just happy-teasing, and a bit of a troll, but not really trying to play Shen Wei, and Shen Wei's reaction is much fluffier in response.

Visible eyebrows are an immediate +10 to hotness.

TRUTH.

You can see him go "Oh fuck" at Shen Wei's reaction and then turn around and grasp at something else to interrupt the argument with.

I think this is an interesting one and I haven't quite sorted that out for myself yet. I'm intuitively with Zhao Yunlan in thinking that defusing the situation is called for (and I empathize that watching someone continue to chew out someone else who is creepily bowing and hitting themselves in the face would make him want to interfere), but I also instinctively cringe a little at how he goes about it. By calling attention to Shen Wei's different personas here, he'd be bound to make Shen Wei self-conscious, not just nudge him to maybe get a grip. Not that Shen Wei immediately gets self-conscious, because he's on a roll and almost takes Zhao Yunlan's head off too. But it's a potentially really awkward meta level to take that conversation to, and Zhao Yunlan does seem to regret it. *g*

I don't know if we get a comparable scene later on - the other angry scene I can think of is in episode 19, but they're alone then, and Zhao Yunlan plays submissive hamster in response to Shen Wei flipping his lid - but my gut feeling is that Zhao Yunlan might have handled this better at a later date, when he's a bit more used to the Shiny Envoy Knowledge Situation and a bit more attuned to when he can flirt Shen Wei out of RAWRR! moment instead of... you know, causing it. *g*

Also, in this context: I liked Zhao Yunlan's save when Shen Wei walks into the station and is already radiating Pissy Envoy and the Regent almost gives him away. Shen Wei wasn't, like, suuuuper concerned to be playing the meek professor there!

The scene where they tag teamed Cong Bo by revealing his perspective to be limited (how did they get the full images??? a Dixing power?) and then gave him life advice and recruited him to the SID was hilarious and very much deserving of the later celebratory glass-clinking.

I adore this scene so very much! It's one of my (mild) regrets that with the overarching plot ratcheting up intensity soon, we don't actually get that many 'normal plots' where they work as a team like that. I could watch them be joint badasses out on cases all day.

Also Cong Bo's office is totally the SID set.

And on the ever important topic of Shen Wei's dress sense: that is one crumpled coat, I have to say. It's another contrast, IMO, of his generally non-university clothes to his posh suits.

Even if the glasses were filled with tap water.

The tap water continues to puzzle me, though. I'm like, yes, okay, you can't have booze, but surely you can rustle up some cocoa or tea or pineapple juice or something... They really need their booze ersatz drink, those two.

One of my favourite bits in the series is when they arrive in Dixing, and Zhao Yunlan has had visions of his mother, and he's completely shaking out of his usual facade. I remember that having a really big impact on me when I watched the episode for the first time, and I think that change from his general bravado to the way he arrives in Dixing still hits really hard. (Good thing Shen Wei is there to be all sweet to him.)

Dijun booklet is basically census; contains everyone's power and origin.

This really makes you think: BACKUPS ARE A THING, PEOPLE.

Also, boy does Chu hate the Regent. I mean, it makes sense, but almost-strangling is kind of... impressive, given he's an SID cop and this is... the Regent.

And one random note: I remember this also being the episode where I first noticed that Shen Wei is actually shorter than Zhao Yunlan. And while in later episodes, you can sometimes see that (because, well, fact!) there's still something about this episode that makes Shen Wei look actively a bit wee to me - both shorter than Zhao Yunlan, and looking not as broad as he actually is. It might really just be chance and a few scenes in a row where they're shot in a way that emphasises Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei is a few steps behind, but, yeah, that still struck me on rewatch. I'd be curious if anyone else had that experience or if I'm just dreaming.

This episode has excellent jackets! And the close-up of Shen Wei's hands on the couch is *___*

Yes! He has stopped wearing glasses at Zhao Yunlan's place. He puts them back on to face Cong Bo, but takes them off again when they return.

:DDDDD

Thanks again for all the work you put into these! I really enjoy them every week!
jo_lasalle: a sleeping panda (BCE judges you)

[personal profile] jo_lasalle 2019-05-30 06:07 pm (UTC)(link)
Shen Wei is incredibly rude to the Regent's little puppet. (And not nice to the Regent either, I guess.)

Yeah, I don't think we get anything comparable in other episodes, do we? He's really being a little arrogant / Bow To Me As You Should. (I'm not criticizing, I'm fascinated!)
solo: SW and ZYL really really close (GD whisper)

[personal profile] solo 2019-05-30 06:18 pm (UTC)(link)
With the puppet, I'm not sure what's up, but he is very pissed off at the Regent for giving away his identity (even though he disappeared that on time). So he pulls rank. I'm loving it! :DDDD

And, well, the Regent's weaselling would drive the kindest soul to distraction.
jo_lasalle: a sleeping panda (Shen Wei Sparkle Princess)

[personal profile] jo_lasalle 2019-05-30 06:28 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh, I don't mean 'fascinated' in that I don't get it. Maybe noteable is the better word.

I was actually just going to come back and edit myself: in terms of flashes of arrogance, we do get some of that when he is being interrogated by Zhu Hong and Chu in the face-stealing episode. /belated edit
soupytwist: Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan from Guardian (guardians)

[personal profile] soupytwist 2019-05-30 06:44 pm (UTC)(link)
These posts are always great and I just wish I had more time to roll around in the sandpit of joy!

Shen Wei not wearing glasses when visiting Zhao Yunlan's place is just so charming and perfect to me. Uughhhhhhh HOW SO GOOD.
lannamichaels: Astronaut Dale Gardner holds up For Sale sign after EVA. (Default)

[personal profile] lannamichaels 2019-05-30 06:46 pm (UTC)(link)
Do we know what the Regent's power is? Shen Wei and Ye Zun both change their appearances between Haixing and Dixing, but they could have grabbed that power from someone else. Is the Regent's power related to that, or is that just something that all Dixing folk can do?
trobadora: (Shen Wei - duality)

[personal profile] trobadora 2019-05-30 08:20 pm (UTC)(link)
I suppose this is indication that Zhao Yunlan has been partially corrupted by the Hallows already?

I thought it meant that the portal used that same extradimensional space as a medium? And possibly that Zhao Yunlan saw it because he has an affinity for the Hallows, but we don't really know what other people see, do we?

sets off to manipulate everyone into doing that in as face-saving a way as possible and fails colossally. You can see him go "Oh fuck" at Shen Wei's reaction

I really appreciate that Zhao Yunlan makes these missteps – that there are still sides of Shen Wei he hasn't managed to integrate into his mental image, that he misjudges Shen Wei's limits/boundaries here, that we see him still learning more about Shen Wei.

(how did they get the full images??? a Dixing power?)

I thought that was part of what Zhao Yunlan told Lin Jing to do.

We also get Zhao Yunlan's willingness to self-sacrifice pop up when he states that the risk of being corroded by dark energy doesn't matter. Shen Wei is obviously unhappy

They're both so very "do as I say, don’t do as I do". I love it. :D

also didn't seem to know that Dixing didn't have any sunlight.

I think it was the absence of light in general? No sunlight, all right, but so little artificial light, too.

On Haixing, Shen Wei is restrained by the Guardian Writ* and dark energy itself

I like that translation!

So, legal limits and natural limits – that makes a lot of sense. (I think the second part combines with what he said about gravity in the Hanga caves, so we have to conclude black energy is affected by gravity somehow.)

He has stopped wearing glasses at Zhao Yunlan's place.

That is such a lovely character note, isn’t it? :D
trobadora: (Black-Cloaked Envoy)

[personal profile] trobadora 2019-05-30 08:22 pm (UTC)(link)
Obstructionism, surely, not incompetence? Shen Wei knows the Regent, after all.
trobadora: (Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan - jacket grab)

[personal profile] trobadora 2019-05-30 08:28 pm (UTC)(link)
Zhao Yunlan plays submissive hamster

I was just nodding along reading your comment, but I HAVE to tell you how much I love this phrase. :D

my gut feeling is that Zhao Yunlan might have handled this better at a later date, when he's a bit more used to the Shiny Envoy Knowledge Situation and a bit more attuned to when he can flirt Shen Wei out of RAWRR! moment instead of... you know, causing it

Yes! That's how I see it too - Zhao Yunlan clearly is still learning all the various sides Shen Wei has, and how to interact with them depending on the situation. I do like that he doesn't just magically get it right every time, that he does step on Shen Wei's toes on occasion and has to quickly switch gears.
jo_lasalle: a sleeping panda (Weilan in nature)

[personal profile] jo_lasalle 2019-05-30 08:44 pm (UTC)(link)
I was just nodding along reading your comment, but I HAVE to tell you how much I love this phrase.

I can't claim entire credit - have you seen the Twitter collage about that scene?

I do like that he doesn't just magically get it right every time, that he does step on Shen Wei's toes on occasion and has to quickly switch gears.

YES! I love it. (And want more of it. Srsly show, why didn't you give us twenty more episodes somewhere in there??)
jo_lasalle: a sleeping panda (Zhao's file)

[personal profile] jo_lasalle 2019-05-30 08:53 pm (UTC)(link)
Ah, gotcha! I don't think we see enough comparisons for people travelling between the dimensions to be sure what exactly the swirly space means. But it could be an interesting take, yes!

I, too, would've loved for Shen Xi to have actually been alive and turned up later! That's an amazing premise and you should definitely write fanfic of it!

Heee. I did actually consider this as a plot strand of my longer WIP, but decided against it because it would have gotten too complicated. Definitely one to keep in mind, though. :D

It really is interesting that he jumps straight to calling attention to Shen Wei technically being two people.

Probably makes sense in that moment because that's where his head is - both on the 'omg I'm so happy I finally knoooooow' level, and because right before, he was saving Pissy Envoy Shen Wei's bacon by intervening when the Regent was about to give him away. (But mostly the former. He must be fascinated by the differences still, he really hasn't known for that long.)

there's a longish sequence in episode 2 that has the Envoy look shorter. After that, I started noticing how Shen Wei was always on the uphill side of the slope... Did you notice it from the Professor Shen scenes or the Envoy scenes?

I really never noticed until this ep (and then went to google the actors), and it was in the Dixing scenes both for height and for Shen Wei looking smaller compared to Zhao Yunlan. Which is WEIRD because the Envoy's robes should make him more impressive, not make him look extra slight to me. (In terms of height, I wondered if it's something about the ground we're shown in the Dixing scene - it might be some sort of gravel where even heels don't help you pretend? But the 'looking more slight than usual', I have no clue.)
trobadora: (Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan - jacket grab)

[personal profile] trobadora 2019-05-30 08:54 pm (UTC)(link)
No, I'm not on Twitter, and I haven't seen it linked. Do you have a link?

(And want more of it. Srsly show, why didn't you give us twenty more episodes somewhere in there??)

I would very happily take twenty more! And a sequel. But at least we have fic?

(I would love more fic about ZYL learning Shen Wei's limits, just saying. And of course all kinds of in-between fic, casefic and otherwise.)
jo_lasalle: a sleeping panda (ZYL and the BCE)

[personal profile] jo_lasalle 2019-05-30 08:57 pm (UTC)(link)
I think it was the absence of light in general? No sunlight, all right, but so little artificial light, too.

The light/sunlight thing really fascinates me sometimes. (Which is admittedly often code for "is a thing where the show isn't all that clear".) I notice mostly in the context of Zhu Jiu that what they say about his power awakening really sounds like they mean SUNLIGHT (because it's not like there is absolutely no light in Dixing, as we can see people... not continuously walking into things), but in the ep where they take him down, it also is the artificial light. I guess that means you can go a few ways with that in interpretation, but the Zhu Jiu thing has always bothered me a little for logic reasons.
clevermanka: default (Default)

[personal profile] clevermanka 2019-05-30 09:01 pm (UTC)(link)
I never understood exactly why it was so bad for Zhao Yunlan to go to Dixing, either. I mean, apart from possible health complications? I feel like the possibility would be sort of, maybe not anticipated but not exactly a surprise, either?

Angry Shen Wei is one of my favorite things. I want to shush Zhao Yunlan so much! No, no, let him go on! Trust me, you're gonna hate the Regent so much eventually--enjoy this while you can!
jo_lasalle: a sleeping panda (Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei)

[personal profile] jo_lasalle 2019-05-30 09:01 pm (UTC)(link)
I suspected! I found it again: https://twitter.com/WR190330/status/1132303879226322944

(100% canon as far as I'm concerned.)

I would love more fic about ZYL learning Shen Wei's limits, just saying. And of course all kinds of in-between fic, casefic and otherwise.

I AM WITH YOU!

(Ngl, sometimes in my wildest, wildest dreams, I wondered about a second season. The ending seemed so deliberately leaving room for it. But once I learned about the schoolteacher!ghost first ending, I conceded that that impression was probably accidental. >.<)
trobadora: (Black-Cloaked Envoy)

[personal profile] trobadora 2019-05-30 09:10 pm (UTC)(link)
*dies* That is amazing. :D

Yeah, same here about a second season. It seems like such obvious sequel-bait! Not that I'm complaining.
trobadora: (Black-Cloaked Envoy)

[personal profile] trobadora 2019-05-30 09:10 pm (UTC)(link)
I think it's actually meant to be darker in Dixing than we see? Not so dark that you can't see anything, but still darker than it looks on screen. A bit like the scene when they take down Zhu Jiu - it's bright enough for us to see everything, but to the characters it's supposed to be much darker.

I think from what we see it may not any light for Zhu Jiu but rays/beams of light, something with a clear source? I got that impression, anyway - maybe from that bit in the caves where he steps into the light and teleports away? So if what light there is in Dixing is diffuse enough, it might not work for his powers.
lunabee34: (Default)

[personal profile] lunabee34 2019-05-30 09:25 pm (UTC)(link)
I also thought his mother was going to play a bigger role in the plot or that there was going to be some mystery about her that would be uncovered.
lunabee34: (Default)

[personal profile] lunabee34 2019-05-30 09:27 pm (UTC)(link)
The Regent is so squirrely and awful. How on Haixing did he get that appointment? LOL

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