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6 Reasons We Keep Watching Shows After They've Jumped The Shark

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Why bad TV happens to good people. Warning: Spoilers for the True Blood series finale — if you still care.

Tony Rivetti / HBO

Watching the series finale of True Blood on Sunday night, I found myself haunted by two persistent questions: One, how is it possible that this episode could be so much worse than my already dismal expectations? And two, why the hell am I still watching True Blood? Each season has been progressively worse than the last, and that's saying something for a show that was never that good to begin with. Season 7 was a particularly arduous slog toward a conclusion I'd long stopped caring about. And yet, I continued to tune in every goddamn week. Sometimes, I confess, I even looked forward to it.

It occurred to me that True Blood isn't the only series that I've stood by long after it went off the deep end. There are plenty of shows I once legitimately enjoyed that saw a serious drop in quality — but canceling my season pass was somehow harder than enduring crappy television on a weekly basis. I know I'm not alone here: Several people I've spoken to continued to watch True Blood and other former favorites years after they should have quit. So what gives? Why do we stick with certain series long past their expiration date?

1. Loyalty

1. Loyalty

John P. Johnson / HBO

The problem with giving up on a show you once loved is just that — you once loved it. That feeling is hard to shake, even after you realize that the current season is a mere shell of its former self. We grow attached to these series and, perhaps more importantly, to the characters. As much as you might hate the direction the show has taken those characters in, you feel guilty about leaving them behind entirely.

It's important to remember that you can't hurt a show's feelings by changing the channel. Nor will the fictional characters mind if you decide to move on from their weekly adventures. It's a testament to the emotional investment we have in the television series we love that these thoughts even cross our minds. Let's be clear, though — being kind to yourself is way more important than being kind to a now-shitty show.


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25 Superhero Graphic Novels To Binge Read Right Now

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Just A Few Modern Classics.

Ultimate Comics Spider-Man Vol 1 (by Brian Michael Bendis and Sara Pichelli)

Ultimate Comics Spider-Man Vol 1 (by Brian Michael Bendis and Sara Pichelli)

What It's About: In the Marvel Ultimate Universe, Peter Parker is dead. Miles Morales takes over the Spider-mantle in one of the best superhero origin stories ever told.

Why You Should Read It: REMEMBER WHEN DONALD GLOVER WANTED TO BE SPIDER-MAN AND HOW AWESOME THAT WOULD'VE BEEN!?

Get it here!

Marvel / Via thebendisageofcomics.tumblr.com

Young Avengers: Style>Substance (by Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie)

Young Avengers: Style>Substance (by Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie)

What It's About: Queer teen superheroes saving the multiverse from the world's worst mother and instagramming the whole thing along the way.

Why You Should Read It: Jamie McKelvie is your new comic book artist crush and every character he draws is your new comic book character crush. Also, Noh-Varr's abs.

Get it here!

Marvel / Via goodcomics.comicbookresources.com

The Joker (by by Brian Azzarello and Lee Bermejo)

The Joker (by by Brian Azzarello and Lee Bermejo)

What It's About: Heavily influenced by Heath Ledger's Joker performance, this crime-noir comic shows The Joker being released from Arkham Asylum and seeking revenge on former co-horts like The Penguin, Two-Face, and The Riddler.

Why You Should Read It: The Joker has never been more terrifying.

Get it here!

DC Comics / Via blog.thelondonvandal.com

X-Men: Messiah Complex (by Ed Brubaker, Marc Silvestri, and various other writers and artists)

X-Men: Messiah Complex (by Ed Brubaker, Marc Silvestri, and various other writers and artists)

What It's About: The first new mutant baby is born since M-day. The race is on to find her before Mr. Sinister and nearly every other X-Men villain can find her first. This story sets the stage for a lot of the current X-Men runs.

Why You Should Read It: Lady Deathstrike and X-23 is the fight you didn't know you needed to see. AND IT'S ALL THE X-MEN FIGHTING TOGETHER SO LIKE...

Get it here!

Marvel / Via buzzcomics.net


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Here's How To Explain Amazon's $970 Million Twitch Acquisition To Your Parents

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Quite simply, it’s a portal to the young gamer’s wallet.

Riot Games

In 2011, the first World Finals of League of Legends, the preposterously popular online multiplayer fantasy game, were held in Sweden as part of a computer festival, for a grand prize of $100,000.

Last year, the third World Finals were held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, for a grand prize of $1,000,000. I was there, and I was flabbergasted by the extravaganza created by Riot Games, who make LoL. At the time, I called it "a half rock show, half sporting event...a dress rehearsal for the future."

And this October, the fourth World Finals will be held in South Korea, where competitive gaming is a religion, at Sangam Stadium, which hosted the 2002 World Cup Final between Brazil and Germany. That's how big we're talking.

In three years, LoL has gone from hobbyist sideshow to world-renowned spectacular, and if you want to know what Amazon invested in when they bought the livestreaming service Twitch for nearly a billion dollars today, that exponential curve is a good place to start. Twitch, which has experienced a similarly explosive growth (their CEO, Emmett Shear, wrote in a letter announcing the sale that "It's almost unbelievable that slightly more than 3 years ago, Twitch didn't exist") is the leading place for fans of LoL, and games with similarly ravenous fandoms, like Defense of the Ancients 2 and World of Warcraft and Hearthstone, to gather to watch their favorite players of their favorite games, well, play. When I visited Staples last year, I was struck most by the sense of a new, collaborative culture being created on the fly by a tide of passionate, young, international gamers. Honestly, it's a movement that is so specific and siloed from contemporary culture that it is almost impossible to describe to somebody who hasn't grown up online.

It's a culture with its own celebrities (most famously the Swedish game commentator, or "shoutcaster", PewDiePie, who hosts the most popular channel on YouTube and makes millions of dollars a year in advertising) and mores and there is no question that it's booming. Yes, it's also inchoate and rough around the edges and beset by all the problems of the open internet.

But that's not really the point. Even though though many of the people who stream and play games on Twitch don't pay directly for the privilege, they've proven themselves to be a remarkably profitable audience for both Twitch and game developers through the sale of advertising and the purchase of special in-game items. To Amazon, those millions of gamers (Twitch gets 55 million visitors a month) watching games for thousands of hours represent the digital consumers of the future, people whose entertainment connects effortlessly via a computer or Amazon phone or enhanced television to purchase prompts. For gamers, Twitch is a portal to other gamers. For Amazon, its a portal to their wallets even if we don't yet know exactly how it'll happen.

That's not to mention, of course, the games Amazon is building for their FireTV, which could themselves be tailored to game streaming. But even if a hit game for that device never comes to fruition, by buying Twitch, Amazon has neatly bought into the lives of a booming segment of the consumer culture of the future.


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13 Questions People With Fake IDs Are Tired Of Answering

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Not these again!

What's your birthday?

What's your birthday?

Uhhh, it's on my card, doi.

Thinkstock

Are you over 21?

Are you over 21?

DUH!

Thinkstock

What is your middle name?

What is your middle name?

Hehehe, it says it on my license.

Thinkstock

How tall are you?

How tall are you?

I'm as tall as my ID says I am.

Thinkstock


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The Last Time My Grandmother Slapped Me

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“Sometimes we have to forget in order to keep loving the people we need to love.”

Jenny Chang for BuzzFeed

The other day I remembered something I've spent almost two decades trying to forget. When I was 11 years old, my grandmother told me to stop holding the books I was carrying "like a girl." We were walking out of the Southland Mall in Memphis. I can't remember why I even had the books with me, but there they were, three slim books pressed against my chest, secured by my crossed arms.

"Well, tell me how boys carry their books," I spat. And, without turning to look at me or pausing in her stride, my grandmother slapped me across the face with the back of her hand. I remember feeling the air whir between us. The automatic doors ahead of us opened, buzzing with the sudden mix of the mall's air-conditioning and the sticky heat outside. She walked through, then paused on the edge of the sidewalk, waiting. Lit by sunlight that wasn't hitting me, my grandmother looked like she was standing on the surface of another planet, perhaps a different reality altogether.

I was still standing inside the mall entranceway where I had been struck, my mouth agape, books still pressed against my chest. Speechless, for once. I was always talking back, perpetually rolling my eyes. The slap had been so sudden, so unlike my grandmother who I tended to think of as being too quiet for her own good. But what else could explain the stinging on the left side of my face? I raised a hand, touched my cheek, and smiled faintly — like a lunatic.

Realizing, finally, that she wasn't going to say anything about what had just happened and that we could only stand like this, encased in invisible lightning, for a few seconds longer before people started staring, I started walking again. She did too. The automatic doors opened and I passed through, out into the heat.

That's where the memory ends and the wish to forget begins. I want to believe that this memory is not who we were. Sometimes we have to forget in order to keep loving the people we need to love.

My grandmother and I are two very different people now. For one thing, we love each other warmly again, and better this time. We have also shared the recent loss of my mother, her youngest child. I cannot say enough how much grief has reminded us how much we need each other.

"I miss that woman," my grandmother confessed to me on the phone a few weeks after the funeral. She exhaled loudly. On the other end of the phone line, I was in Harlem, missing that woman too, differently but just as intensely. My eyes stung with tears. There was so much love and hurt in my grandmother's voice I wanted to reach through the phone and, for once, hold her. I can't remember the last time I held my grandmother as tightly as I used to hold my books.

Jenny Chang for BuzzFeed

"It takes strength to remember, it takes another kind of strength to forget, it takes a hero to do both," James Baldwin wrote in his novel Giovanni's Room. I am a grandson, not a hero. I am a writer, not a hero. I am a black gay man in America, not a hero. But I understand more now than I did then. I understand now how often our families hurt us in the very act of trying to love us. When a grandmother tells her 11-year-old grandson not to hold his books "like a girl," she is trying to prepare him for a world she believes is dangerous for men who don't act "like men."

The act of gendering — or, rather, teaching someone how to conform to gender expectations — is as common and banal as evil. But it's also a way we misguidedly convince ourselves we are being good parents, good teachers, good shepherds. I'm doing this to you for your own good.

Raising a black boy in this country is damn hard work. And, as we are reminded again and again, even when the work pays off, all too often the reward — a long, promising life — is struck down. And the fear of that danger can poison the way we love each other. I'm doing this to you because I'm scared for you. That may be true, but that doesn't mean it's right.

I forgive my grandmother because I see her as being just as human as myself. We were both wrong that day, as loved ones so often are with one another. It took time and, admittedly, a great deal of distance for me to both remember and understand why we love. A few weeks ago, she called to see how I was doing and, to my surprised, asked what I was writing these days. She never asks about my writing; I never raise the subject. Why bother?

"I'm working on an essay about gay nightclubs," I said, without thinking about the fact that I've never actually told my grandmother I'm gay.

"Oh," she said, simply. "You know, I just saw on the news a young man out here got fired for being…you know."

"For being gay?" I offered.

"Yeah, I saw it on the news. I'm pretty sure that's what they said, he was fired for being…you know."

I did know. I knew that somewhere in America another young man had been wronged for being himself and that in this moment, on the phone with my grandmother, she was trying her best to meet me at the crossroads. Our love is made of silences and repeated sentences and blanks that have to be filled in. This is how our love works.


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What $1,000 Rent Looks Like In America

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The rent really is too damn high.

BuzzFeed Video / Via YouTube

23 "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" Jokes That Are Just To Die For

7 Quick Dinners To Make This Week

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Some nights you need a PB&J sandwich, or maybe two, and some nights you need all the spices and pasta things as quickly as possible. Me too, me too.

Jessica Merchant / Via howsweeteats.com

Cornflake Crusted Grilled Peanut Butter And Jelly Sandwich

Cornflake Crusted Grilled Peanut Butter And Jelly Sandwich

For whatever night this week that you just can't anymore. Get the recipe.

Emily Tan / Via fussfreecooking.com

Beef and Shishito Pepper Skewers with Sichuan Salt

Beef and Shishito Pepper Skewers with Sichuan Salt

Grind up some salt, peppercorns, red pepper flakes, and cumin seeds (that's the "Sichuan salt," and you can sub black peppercorns for Sichuan peppercorns if you need to). Sprinkle it onto skewers of beef and shishito peppers, then grill. Get the recipe.

Christina Holmes / Via bonappetit.com

Zucchini Pizza With Fresh Mozzarella and Basil Pesto

Zucchini Pizza With Fresh Mozzarella and Basil Pesto

Spread pesto on pizza dough, add seasoned zucchini rounds, add cheese. Get the recipe by Elizabeth Winslow for Camilla Styles inspired by Bufalina pizza restaurant.

Thomas Winslow / Via camillestyles.com


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10 Situations Perfect For The Phone Monologue In "Taken"

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Good luck.

When a telemarketer calls.

When a telemarketer calls.

20th Century Fox / Via youtube.com

When you're fighting with your S.O over where to go to dinner.

When you're fighting with your S.O over where to go to dinner.

20th Century Fox / Via youtube.com

When you get stopped in the mall to test a hand lotion.

When you get stopped in the mall to test a hand lotion.

20th Century Fox / Via youtube.com

When challenging someone on the dance floor.

When challenging someone on the dance floor.

20th Century Fox / Via youtube.com


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The "OITNB" Cast Is Officially The Best Dressed At The Emmys

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Give them all the awards.

Yael Stone and Lea Delaria

Yael Stone and Lea Delaria

Michael Buckner / Getty

Officially the cutest pair.

Michael Buckner / Getty

Laverne Cox

Laverne Cox

Frazer Harrison / Getty

Alberto E. Rodriguez / Getty


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13 Drunk Horror Stories That'll Make You Give Up Alcohol Forever

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What happens in Vegas stays on BuzzFeed.

Universal Pictures / Via youtube.com

"I got on stage at a T-Pain concert and drunkenly twerked in a leopard print skirt. Mid-twerk, I realized my AMF drinks weren't sitting right in my stomach. I started to spin and grab onto whoever was nearest, and spewed a rancid blue geyser of vomit onto T-Pain's security team and the front row. They picked me up and carried me offstage, and I screamed: 'LEMME BUY YOU A DRAAAANK' at the top of my lungs. I accidentally kicked a girl covered in my blue vomit in the chin on my way out. My friends locked me in the backseat while I was covered in animal-printed blue shame, and went back to enjoy the rest of the concert."

"Recently my boyfriend and I walked home, very intoxicated, and a skunk graced its presence beside me. Being the stupid person that I am, I ran with my arms flailing and made elephant sounds. This obviously alerted the skunk into spray mode, and my poor boyfriend got sprayed before he could comprehend the whole situation. He had to take three days off from work because of the smell."


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Here's What Lena Dunham Wore To The Emmys

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Because you were DEFINITELY wondering.

Here's what Lena Dunham wore to the Emmys.

Here's what Lena Dunham wore to the Emmys.

Michael Buckner / Getty Images

THIS is what Lena Dunham wore to the Emmys.

THIS is what Lena Dunham wore to the Emmys.

Designed by Marc Bouwer.

Michael Buckner / Getty Images


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13 Reasons To Always Use Protection

PSA: This Is Why You Shouldn't Wear Red To An Awards Show

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Red was a big color at the 2014 Emmys, but on the red carpet it’s not the best color…

What you think you look like...

What you think you look like...

Frazer Harrison / Getty

What you actually look like...

What you actually look like...

Frazer Harrison / Getty

What you think you look like...

What you think you look like...

Frazer Harrison / Getty

What you actually look like...

What you actually look like...

Frazer Harrison / Getty


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22 Very Real Truths Girls With Mostly Guy Friends Will Understand


Sarah Silverman Shows Off Her Vape Pen On The Emmys Red Carpet

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Sarah and her liquid pot: the true story of two best friends.

After Guiliana Rancic decided to pry into Sarah Silverman's clutch, we found out that Sarah has found a way to tolerate The Emmys, and that is by living the vape life.

After Guiliana Rancic decided to pry into Sarah Silverman's clutch, we found out that Sarah has found a way to tolerate The Emmys, and that is by living the vape life.

Liquid pot = a vape pen.

Liquid pot = a vape pen.

Here's the interview in which once again we realize why Sarah Silverman is just the best.

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13 Rookie Mistakes I Made The First Time I Went To The VMAs

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I was invited to attend the VMAs as a guest (i.e., a non-VIP). This is what it’s like for everyone who isn’t allowed on the red carpet.

Wearing heels.

Wearing heels.

The first lesson I learned is that no one knows where the hell the ACTUAL entrance to the VMAs is. You know how you see the celebs casually strolling the red carpet and then relaxing inside? That wasn't me as a guest at the VMAs. I had to park no less than a mile from the venue and walk across barren parking lots with tumbleweeds until I found a group of people who seemed to know where they were going.

Jason Merritt / Getty Images Entertainment

Following the crowd.

Following the crowd.

Once I made it through the barren parking lots, I began to follow the large crowd. I was already sweating at this point and seriously wondering why I had thought wearing heels was a good idea. Next thing I knew, I realized we were walking away from the venue. WHERE WERE WE GOING? Was it a secret side entrance with a carpet and air-conditioning awaiting us? Nope. It was the Maroon 5 stage outside, in the sun, in another parking lot.

Frazer Harrison / Getty Images Entertainment

Wearing my hair down.

Wearing my hair down.

After realizing the crowd let me astray, I walked approximately 24 miles back across parking lots until I found someone who seemed to ACTUALLY know what was going on. She informed me that I needed to stand in line. I looked at the line and began to silently cry while dreaming of my couch at home. It was at least 300 people deep. In the California sun. On pavement. I slowly made my way to the back. As I walked, my scalp began to shed tears of sweat. The sweat made its way through my curls. My curls became limp and sad.

Jason Merritt / Getty Images Entertainment

Not bringing food.

Not bringing food.

Spoiler alert: There's no buffet inside the VMAs. :( I looked, I searched, I scoured. I was dreaming of ice cream, hors d'oeuvres, maybe a fruit platter. There was nothing. NOTHING. I eventually found some concession stands that sold popcorn and hot dogs, but they cost more than my rent, so I went on to find my seat, hungry, dreaming of In-N-Out.

John M. Heller / Getty Images Entertainment


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9-Year-Old Girl Accidently Shoots, Kills Gun Instructor With Uzi

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Charles Vacca, 39, died at a hospital after he was shot in the head in an accident at a firing range in White Hills, Ariz. He was showing a 9-year-old girl how to fire an Uzi submachine gun, authorities said.

Sergey Mironov / Thinkstock

A 39-year-old firing range instructor died Monday night at a hospital after he was accidentally shot in the head by a 9-year-old girl, authorities said.

Charles Vacca of Lake Havasu City was an instructor at a firing range in White Hills, Ariz., about 60 miles from Las Vegas. According to the Mohave County Sheriff's Office, he was accidentally shot in the head around 10 a.m.

Vacca had been showing a 9-year-old girl how to fire an Uzi when the accident happened, officials said. The girl pulled the trigger, and the gun's recoil sent it over her head. Vacca was standing next to her when he was shot.

He was airlifted to a hospital in Las Vegas, where he died around 9 p.m., officials said.

The girl's parents were with her at the time of the shooting, officials said. According to the Burgers and Bullets website, which organizes tours from Las Vegas to the range, 8 is the minimum age. The location advertises machine guns, military-style bunkers and specialty weapons.

A call to the firing range's owner was not immediately returned.

The Mohave County Sheriff's office released this video of Vacca and the 9-year-old girl at the shooting range moments before the fatal accident.

youtube.com

32 Reasons Every Day Should Be National Dog Day

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Aug. 26 is National Dog Day , but let’s be real: EVERY day should be dog day.

It's just fact: Dogs are the best thing this world has to offer.

It's just fact: Dogs are the best thing this world has to offer.

lolroflmao.com

They are just the most adorable creatures...

They are just the most adorable creatures...

imgur.com

...and they are ALWAYS excited to see you.

...and they are ALWAYS excited to see you.

imgur.com


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Vladimir Putin Had An Incredibly Uncomfortable Handshake With Ukraine's New President

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“The fate of Ukraine and the fate of Europe are being decided in Minsk today.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko met face-to-face in Minsk, Belarus, on Tuesday, the pair's first bi-lateral meeting to discuss the bloody fighting in eastern Ukraine that has gripped the region since June.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko met face-to-face in Minsk, Belarus, on Tuesday, the pair's first bi-lateral meeting to discuss the bloody fighting in eastern Ukraine that has gripped the region since June.

Putin is on the left, Poroshenko on the right, and Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko in the middle.

AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko

In opening remarks, Poroshenko cast the the talks as an important step towards reaching a political compromise between the two warring countries. "The fate of peace and the fate of Europe are being decided in Minsk today," Poroshenko said, NBC reported.

In opening remarks, Poroshenko cast the the talks as an important step towards reaching a political compromise between the two warring countries. "The fate of peace and the fate of Europe are being decided in Minsk today," Poroshenko said, NBC reported.

AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko

Putin, on the other hand, spent his opening remarks largely focusing on trade, according to NBC.

Putin, on the other hand, spent his opening remarks largely focusing on trade, according to NBC .

Putin also told his counterpart that the current standoff in east Ukraine could not be solved without including representatives of Ukraine's Russian-speaking east. Ukraine has accused Russia of supporting pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine in part to destabilize Poroshenko's recently elected government.

Grigory Dukor / Reuters

Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev and European Union Vice-President Catherine Ashton also attended the much-hyped meeting.

Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev and European Union Vice-President Catherine Ashton also attended the much-hyped meeting.

Sasha Mordovets / Getty Images


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