Characters introduced in Chapter 6!
Note: all character designs are made with Gacha Club due to a lack in my own artistic abilities at the current time. Please feel free to interpret my designs in your own style! Yes I know these two were technically in the last character designs as extras but this time they were actually introduced so I'm still putting them here.
https://archiveofourown.org/works/60544732/chapters/161904352
Conflicting Lives (somewhat) returns! I apologize that's its been so long since I've done anything with this project. between life stuff amongst motivation for the story, its been hard to get as much progress done as I have hoped to. I will be trying to work on this more though!
Word Count: 1704
Scar and Scythe arrived at the Central Hero HQ with around 10 minutes to spare. As they walked out of the elevator that took them up to the meeting room, Spore was waiting to make sure everyone that had received the message did indeed show up. As they walked in, Scythe saw that each of the District Heads were gathered at the farthest point of the long meeting table, with the strongest heroes from each District taking their own spots in groups around the table.
Scar, with the help of his hero suit, walked over to Sumner and Ram, both Hermiton Heroes. Scythe nodded politely to the two heroes as they spotted him and Scar, but instead went over to stand with Archangel, his mentor when going through the Survan Hero Training course. Scythe was technically a Survan hero after all.
“Hey kiddo! How have you been holding up?” Archangel said with a grin on his face that stretched from ear to ear as he wrapped his arms around Scythe for a hug. Scythe was never one to deny a hug, but Archangels hugs were like getting the air forced out of your lungs. Lovingly though, of course.
“I’m doing- good Archangel” Scythe said through gasping breaths, trying his best to put on a smile through his lack of oxygen.
Archangel put Scythe down, to Scythe’s untold gratitude, and looked at him, his white wings reflecting the light from the fluorescent lights above them. “Well that’s great to hear, Lux.” Archangel smiled genuinely at Scythe, and he couldn't help but smile back at his mentor and friend.
Right as he was about to reply however, Scythe heard Voidling speak from the head of the table, turning to see that the District's heads had sat down in their chairs. “Welcome everyone and thank you for coming on such short notice. I severely apologize for interrupting your schedules, but I believe that this is a matter of utter importance that must be discussed as soon as possible.”
All the gathered heroes took a seat. Scythe found himself in between Archangel and Stratos, an Empyrian Hero. He wasn't the closest to Stratos, but he had been assigned to missions with him that involved activity on the Survas-Empyria border. They didn't interact much outside of that, spare the occasional regular event (aka non-hero work) that Scar invites him to that Stratos was also invited to.
“There has been an increase in activity from villains around the Survas-Hermiton and Wynnra-Hermiton borders. Most of this activity seems to involve Nebula and Spindle.” CuteGuy, the Wynnran Hero District Head, said. The tip of Scythe’s tail flicked involuntarily in his lap as CuteGuy spoke, and he prayed that no one had seen it, especially other heroes with tails.
Thankfully, no one else had seemed to notice, and a different district head spoke, “The five of us had an idea of how to deal with the increase of activity in these areas, and wanted to call a meeting with all of you to get your opinions on the matter.” Tinkerer said, the Empyrian Hero District Head.
There were a few whispers between heroes as to what kind of matter would need the opinions of all of them, but Atlas, the Survas Hero District Head, spoke soon after, “We have each done some research, and have gathered a very short list of reporters who are the best in their field. Not only are these selected individuals highly credible, but they have each shown us their investigative abilities and the process in which they have found the information for each of their stories and reports.” “These factors lead us to believe that we can trust these individuals to gather the information we would be asking for. It would, however, be a high price to pay for such a task.” Strawberry, the Drimas Hero District Head, spoke next.
More whispers emerged after this, and the district heads let the heroes talk amongst themselves for a minute. A hero spoke up.
“How do we know we can trust the information that these individuals give us is completely fact?” Guardian, a well-known Empyrian Hero asked. “For commissions such as these, reporters often do it for the money right? Who’s to say they won’t give information to someone else who bids a higher price?” The room went silent after Guardian spoke, so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. Everyone stayed silent for a few moments longer before another person spoke up.
“Yes, and no.” Heads turned to Puppeteer as he spoke, but he didn't really seem phased by it. Instead, his gaze was focused on Guardian. “Yes, for larger commissions or asks such as what is being proposed, reporters are more likely to accept it because of the profit and the exposure to their business. No, it is very rare for a reporter to sell information to someone else for a better price.” Puppeteer looked around the table as he spoke next. “A few different names come to mind at what the district heads have proposed, and if the individuals are the names that I am thinking of, we have no reason to suspect that they will sell what they find to a higher bidder.”
The room went still for a moment as everyone processed what Puppeteer had said. He was well known for his ability to gather knowledge and intel on just about anything he was given and he knew how to work the system, so everyone trusted him in what he said, even if they didn't know the names of the individuals the heads had picked out.
“If I may ask,” Sting, a Wynnran Hero with a skillset similar to that of Puppeteer, spoke up, “who are the individuals you selected?” The district heads exchanged glances amongst each other, then towards a door to the side at the back of the room that led to a smaller meeting area. Voidling gave a small, almost unnoticeable sigh before speaking, “Come on in.”
The door opened slowly, and the first thing the heroes saw was translucent blue... hair? Three people walked out of the room, and they all stood semi-awkwardly at the end of the room behind the District Leaders. “This is Storyteller, Slime, and Snowfall” CuteGuy said, pointing each of them out as he said their names. Slime seemed to be a slime hybrid, but he was blue instead of the normal green. Snowfall seemed to be both Elven and Blaze; as well as just really stuck up in general. Storyteller was a lot more familiar to Scythe than the others, he did know them casually after all.
For a moment, Scythe and Storyteller even locked eyes with the other, but the both of them quickly looked away as to not draw any suspicion. Heroes started to quietly whisper between each other, wondering how much had been heard through the door before then. They quickly stopped though as Atlas spoke up, seemingly floating just above the ground as they tend to do, “We asked them to come here prior to summoning you all to lay out some ground rules and expectation in the case that you all agreed to this plan. If the majority vote is against this, then it won't happen.” The heroes from all districts looked at eachother, slowly realizing just how much was being left up to them. After all, it was usually the District Heads themselves who made decisions like these, and the last group vote like this had taken place long before any of them had even finished going through their respective training courses. Seeing the shock and tentativeness from the other heroes, Strawberry spoke up, “The decision doesn't have to be made today, but in a few days time we’ll send out another call to everyone to meet back here for the vote. Let's say 3 days from now at around 6:30pm we’ll all meet back here and make a final decision.” Shoulders relaxed and quiet sighs of relief were heard from around the table, nervous but relieved chuckles coming from a select few as well. “Well, that settles it then. We’ll see you all in a few days.” Voidling said as he stood up, nodding to the other District heads before turning around and talking with the reporters more. As he stood, so did everyone else, the room almost immediately bursting into chatter and talking. Scythe stood seated for a moment longer, looking towards the reports and subconsciously fiddling with the hair on the end of his tail. It wasn’t until he felt a hand gently touch his shoulder that he snapped out of it, jumping slightly and turning to look over his shoulder. “Sorry kiddo, didn;t mean to scare you” iWork said, a soft smile on his face, but a small bit of worry in his eyes. “You alright? You seemed pretty spaced out for a bit. The meeting’s over, we’re all going home.” he continued gently. “Oh- uh, right. Thanks I-dub – I mean iWork.” Scythe responded, silently cursing himself in his head. I-dub was what Archangel called iWork, that man had a silly nickname for everyone, Scythe swears it, and he was rubbing off onto him a lot more than Scythe was willing to admit right now. In response, iWork just chuckled and nodded, walking off to where Archangel was actually waiting for him outside of the meeting room doors.
Scythe took a deep breath before finally getting up himself, letting his tail fall back behind him from on top of his lap where it had been resting. Just before he reached the door to the room, he heard Tinkerer call his name, “Hey Lux, would you mind hanging back for an extra minute?”
As he turned around, Scythe saw that Slime and Snowfall were walking past him and out the door, and Scythe could have sworn that Snowfall glared at him as he passed a little too close by his arm. Only the District Heads and Storyteller remained in the room, other than himself. Scythe looked at the 6 of them, hoping the anxiety he felt in his stomach didn’t show outwardly, or as he responded. “Yeah of course, what can I help with?”
Word Count: 2247
It was the third day following the meeting. Scythe had woken up later on the same day of the meeting, about an hour after the others had gotten him back to his dorm room, but didn't talk much, just letting the others chat around him. Sam was coming over today though, so he at least had something to look forward to. He mostly just sat on the couch either watching tv or playing some games, but today he was too excited to see someone else to properly focus on anything on the tv.
Thankfully, Scythe didn't have to wait all too much longer in his little pool of excitement before there was a knock on the door. “Come in!” Scythe yelled from where he sat. Ella was in class right now, and the door had been left unlocked for the past few days so friends could come check on him if they needed to, and he didn't mind one bit. Sam walked in, taking care not to knock anything over with his extra arms, they came with being a spider hybrid after all.
“Hey Scythe, How are you feeling today?” Sam asked with a wide smile. Sam goes to Cursia University as well as Ella and Scythe, and studies his major, Digital Game Design, as an off-campus student, traveling to go to his classes. He walked over to where Scythe was on the couch and sat down next to him.
“Way better honestly even though I still don't quite understand how I got so panicked so quickly. It is what it is I guess,” Scythe responded as he moved to the side a little to give Sam more sitting room. “I’m glad to have you here though it's been forever since we’ve been able to just hang out, chaos causing or not”
Sam chuckled and agreed, “Yeah it really had, but with what's been going on I'm not really surprised we haven't been able to either.” The pair sat for a minute longer, simply enjoying each other's company. And then there was a knock on the door.
The door burst open, and before Scythe could turn to see who it was, he heard a familiar Australian accent. “What’s this then? A sad friend? Well that just won’t do!” That's when both Sam and Scythe found themselves with chocolates and chips being dropped on their heads.
Scythe chuckled and looked up where the friendly voice was coming from. “Hey Pearl!” Scythe said with a smile plastered across his face. “Did you really come all the way from Survas just to dump junk food on me? And you didn't have to open the door so fast either y'know.”
“Nonsense, of course I have to make an entrance! How else do you think I got my reputation as Scarlet Moon?” The tall moth hybrid replied with a smirk and a wink. She walked around and plopped down onto the floor in front of the two younger men, and looked expectantly at them. “Well, are you going to try anything or not? Cleo and Gem made those right there--” Pearl pointed to two pieces of tupperware, one circular and one square, that had landed between Scythe and Sam “-- and the two made sure that they were your favorite.”
Scythe looked at the circular tupperware, hardly hesitating before grabbing it and opening the lid. Almost instantly the smell of chorus fruit met his nose, the scent of pie coming only a moment later. He looked back at Pearl, still sitting on the ground, and said with a grin, “Please tell them I say thank you and that I love them. It has been far too long since I've had chorus pie and I know it'll be damn good if both of them had a hand in it.”
He took one more good sniff and put the lid back on to save for later. Reaching for the other, more square tupperware, Scythe opened it as well. “And fudge brownies?? Oh my void those two are saints I swear.” he said as soon as he saw what was inside of the container. Sam and Pearl burst into laughter, and it took a minute for Scythe to realize what they were laughing about before he started laughing too
“I don’t know if I would call those two saints but they sure are something.” Sam said in between laughs. “It definitely is nice of them to do that for you though.” The three finally stopped laughing as much, and Scythe found himself nodding in agreement.
“They may be chaotic but who’s to say you guys aren't either?” Pearl responded
“Yeah but you and Cleo are something else entirely” Scythe said back with a smirk.
“Hey you can’t say anything either, Scythe. Not with what you and Joel can get up to together.” Sam said, and Pearl stuck her tongue out at the Enderman hybrid in a mocking victory.
“Wooooow Sam. And I thought you loved me,” He said back playfully, holding his hand to Sam's face, blocking the view of the others' faces. The pair on the couch laughed, pearling chuckling along as well.
Scythe handed the other two a brownie after pulling one out for himself. “We all deserve a wonderful brownie if I do say so myself.” He said after taking a bite of his own piece, and the other two nodded in agreement while taking a bite.
The three just sat and talked for a few minutes longer, each enjoying the snacks Pearl had brought. They ended up splitting just about everything between themselves, Scythe making sure to grab a few that he knew Ella would like. He enjoyed having the company of others with him, but these were two of a select few people that he enjoyed talking to the most.
“Do you guys want to play some games?” Scythe asked eventually. “I’m not quite sure what we have that all 3 of us will want to play but we can always look”
“Sure! What kind of games ya got?” Pearl replied.
“I don’t even think he knows what he has himself” Sam chuckled and said, causing Scythe to stick his tongue out.
“I know most of the games I have, thank you very much! I just don’t know what we all want to play!” He pouted as he responded.
“Quit your bickering ya spoons,” Pearl said, standing up and gently hitting them both on the top of the head, effectively bonking the pair. “Let’s see what games you’ve got, eh Scythe?”
Scythe nearly jumped off the couch and to his shelf of video games, pulling around 15 off of it to show to the pair waiting behind him. He excitedly “ran” back to them, sitting on the ground and spreading them out in front of him.
“This one--” he pointed to a game on the left side of the spread, “-- is more of a sandbox game. Its open-world type but still kind of has a goal but really we could all play and do whatever.” he pointed to one a few to the right, “And this one is more a fighting type game, but not in like a 1v1 type style but more of like pve style and can have I think up to five players in a game.
This one over here is sort of a mix. It has the partial open world and sandbox type aspects, but it's also a lot about surviving and building a base from primitive tools to advanced machinery.” that time Scythe was pointing to a game on the far right side. He explained the rest in a similar way, then waited for Pearl and Sam’s responses.
After what felt like forever to Scythe, but was only probably a few more seconds, Sam spoke. “I think the mixed kind of one sounds cool. It could be a really fun challenge.” Pearl nodded in agreement, “it certainly does sound like a challenge, and a fun one at that!” She said with a smile.
And so Scythe booted up the game and they played. They played for what felt like hours. At some point, Ella has returned to the dorm after her classes for the day, hopped in a shower and had some snacks. She joined in as well, opting to be the farmer in the game, focused on getting food for them all. Pearl took the role of building the house up, Sam took to material gathering for just about everything, and Scythe took to taming the beasts that the in-game world had to offer.
They must have played though the entire night, as when they were finally starting to get tired the clock read 10:42pm. They all winced simultaneously at how late it was getting, and Pearl was the first to stand, followed by Sam.
“I should probably be getting home right about now lovelies, but thank you for letting me stay and play some games with ya!” she said, grabbing the few belongings she had brought along with her. The other three said goodbye, and Pearl left the dorm room and Scythe could’ve sworn he saw her flying through the window..
The three friends sat for a few minutes longer, but it wasn't too much longer until Sam grabbed their own items. “I should probably head home too. All of my stuff for my classes tomorrow are at home.” The spider hybrid said, double checking he did have all of his belongings.
“Alright, well get home safe Sam.” Ella said, helping him to get all of his surviving snacks in his multiple appendages and minimal bags. “Don’t do anything stupid on your way back.” She added with a small glare.
“Hey I’m not that dumb--” Sam's said, turning back to face Ella, stopping what he was saying at her stare. “-- ok maybe I can be but it's too late to do anything, plus I already said i have classes tomorrow I’m not going to do anything.” He conceded.
“If I know you and Scythe, and I do--” Ella looked at Sam, then at Scythe, “-- you guys get up to stupid shit at stupid times. I know you likely won’t do anything stupid, but that doesn't mean you won’t at all.” She ended her sentence, making sure to enunciate each point of her mini-lecture.
Sam looked at Scythe for some support. “Come one Scythe help me out here man.” “I wish I could Sam but, well, she’s not wrong.” the Enderian replied, and Ella’s face turned into one of triumph.
“How could you betray me?” Sam said jokingly before the three laughed together a bit. “Alright , alright, I wont do anything too stupid. I promise.” He added as Ella looked at him once more with suspicion.
The trio said their goodbyes to each other, and when Ella had closed the door behind Sam, Scythe grabbed something. As she made it back to the couch where he was sitting, Scythe held out the circular tupperware from earlier in the day.
“What’s this?” Ella said, looking at the container Scythe handed her, trying to determine what it was before opening it. “Is it something that Pearl had brought?”
Scythe nodded, “Yeah! Cleo and Gem made it for me, but I thought we should share a slice or two given what it is.” Ella looked at him curiously. “Open it you dummy! Look at what it is!” he said in response to her curious glance.
She chuckled a little to herself and opened the container. The smell of the Chorus Pie once again hit Scythe’s nose, and he could tell that Ella was excited about the delicious treat as well. She looked back up at him, her eyes full of excitement. “Can we eat some now?” she asked, her multi-colored wings flapping a bit in her excitement..
Scythe laughed, “Yes, yes we can.” he grabbed the tupperware back from her and got up to go to the kitchen and cut a few slices. “You know, you can be really cute when you get all giddy and excited like that.” he said, smiling as he put each slice onto its own plate, grabbing a fork each. Ella’s cheeks turned a lighter, pinker hue, and her wings instinctively moved to cover her face. “The little wing movements make it even cuter.” Scythe added.
He chuckled as he walked back to the couch with the chorus pie slices, setting one next to a flustered and “hidden” Ella. Slowly, his winged partner emerged from her feathered cocoon, mumbling small curses as she picked up her plate and took a bite of the pie. Almost as soon as she took the bite, her wings flapped a bit happily.
Scythe chuckled to himself once more, and Ella shot him a glare before taking another bite, and he put his hands up in defeat. Taking a bite of his own slice, Scythe appreciated Pearl's partners ever more for the pie, and how well they made it. From what he knew, chorus pie was pretty difficult to make, mainly because of the toughness and general difficulty to handle chorus fruit itself.
As the clock ticked ever closer to midnight, Scythe and Ella ate their slices of pie, chatted about some random stuff, and even played a few games, more chill in comparison to the one they were playing with Sam and Pearl. By the time the clock did hit midnight, the pair were already in bed, falling asleep and getting ready for another hopefully peaceful day.
<<<Previous Next>>>
Come and meet Scythe in all his various lives! Scythe Lux and Ender are from my Superhero fanfiction Conflicting Lives! Separate images are below the cut :D (Glitch TW I think) oh boy the tumblr quality crunch-
Scythe
Lux
Ender
My brain keeps flip flopping through states of having either no art motivation but lots of ideas, or art motivation and having no ideas..
CMON WHY CANT I HAVE MOTIVATION AND IDEAS AT THE SAME DAMN TIME
My commissions are still open! Ypi can view my prices and example artwork on my Ko-Fi!
This should be reblogged by everyone. Even if you’re straight, you should be a supporter.
i couldn't reblog this gem so here you go
(donations)
Word Count: 1250
Scythe fumbled with his keys as he stood in front of the door to his dorm, Joel standing impatiently beside him.
“Does it really take you this long just to open your front door? I could’ve called Pearl and Cleo by now and they'd get here before you open that thing!” He said jokingly, though still definitely annoyed. Scythe just rolled his eyes as he put the dorm key in the door, twisting it and opening the door.
“Ladies first,” he said with a smirk, stepping aside to hold the door open for Joel. The blaze hybrid’s only response was a glare as he flipped imaginary hair, walking through the door with confidence.
Scythe chuckled as he followed into the apartment-dorm, closing the door behind him and pulling his phone back out. “Welcome back from patrol,” Ella said from the couch as Joel plopped down beside her.
She looked expectantly at Scythe for an answer as to why Joel was here, even if it was a regular occurrence that the two would hang out. He sighed and responded, “I agreed to make dinner for him and invite Pearl and Cleo over for it as well since he took me home. Plus it wouldn't be bad to talk to them anyways after the patrol.”
Ella just nodded in understanding, curious about what happened, but not quite sure if she should ask. “Why? What happened during the patrol?” She asked a little hesitant after a moment. Scythe and Joel simply looked at eachother and simply sighed. “What happened?” Ella asked again, further confused by the reaction of the two men. “Was it really that bad?”
Joel shook his head, “It's not that it was bad necessarily,” he paused, and Scythe finished the thought. “It's just something that we should probably talk about afterwards.” His gaze had drifted off to the side, and he looked hack at an evermore puzzled Ella, this time worry noticeable in her eyes. “It's nothing bad, I promise.” He measured her, walking over to where she sat on the couch and planting a small kiss on her forehead.
She visibly relaxed as soon as he did so, trusting Scythe that he knew what he was doing, or at the very least Joel and Scythe. “Alright I trust you, but don’t go too crazy. You still have classes in the morning and I don't want to have to clean up after you four.” Ella replied, a stern look in her eyes to both men infront of her. Scythe put his hands up defensively, and Joel replied “Yes ma’am. No messes are to be made.”
The phoenix hybrid nods approvingly before turning back to Scythe. “What are you planning to make?” she asked. Scythe thought for a moment before responding, “Spaghetti?” It was far more a question than it was a legitimate answer, but the pair on the couch nodded anyway. “Spaghetti is it then!” he said as he turned towards the kitchenette. As he rummaged through the cabinets to take out a pot and some noodles, Joel took his phone back out to call Pearl. He wasn’t on the phone for long before he updated the other two. “Pearl says she just has to finish cleaning a few small scrapes off Cleo and Ren then her and Cleo will head over. She was curious if you’d mind him coming over too since the three of them are at Pearl's place anyways.”
Scythe thought for a moment as the water was heating up, looking over at Ella to gauge her thoughts on an extra person coming to the apartment dorm. “I don’t think I would mind, but you guys would know Ren more than I would, so you could better judge.” she said, looking between Joel and Scythe. “I know Ren more than Scythe does, but even that's not super well either.” Joel replied, looking to the enderman in the kitchen for his opinion. After what felt like long hours, but really only a few seconds, Scythe responded, “I don’t really know Ren at all to be completely honest. The way I see it is this: I trust Pearl and Cleo. They seem to trust Ren. I think that if both of them trust him, then I can trust him for a night.”
He looked between Joel and Ella after he finished. They had yet to come to a conclusion, and Pearl was waiting for a response about Ren. “That makes sense” the two said in near-unison, and Scythe chuckled a little at it. As he turned back to pour the pasta in the now-boiling water, he said something to Joel. “Go ahead and tell Pearl that Ren can come along too. It won't be hard to feed everyone.”
“Will do,” Joel replied, and turned his phone back on, messaging Pearl the go-ahead. Ella leaned to the coffee table to get the TV remote, turning it on and browsing through shows before settling on a forging competition show.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There was a knock on the door just as Scythe finished mixing the sauce into the spaghetti. Walking the short distance from the stove to the door, he opened it and was greeted by a familiar, but clearly tired, face. “Pearl!” Joel said from behind him on the couch, getting up and walking to the door.
“Elo mate!” the moth hybrid responded, walking in as the two guys stepped aside. Cleo followed right in after, greeting Ella as she found a nearby chair to sit in. Ren was a little more hesitant to follow, but seemed to relax once Scythe welcomed him in.
While everyone got situated and started chatting, Scythe went back to the kitchen, grabbing bowls and silverware for everyone. “Foods ready!” he called behind him. Almost immediately he heard the shuffling of everyone standing up and walking to the small kitchenette. He grabbed a bowl of his own to eat before quickly stepping aside to let others get their share.
As he went to sit down at the table, Scythe looked up and saw Ren hesitating to grab some food. The wolf hybrid's ears were down to the side in worry, but uneven in confusion as well. “Is there something wrong with the noodles Ren?” he asked after a moment longer. Thinking he might have done something wrong as he saw Ren's ears perked up in panic, the taller responder, “Oh- no! No, not at all!” He brought his hand up to the back of his head nervously. “it’s just.. uh what’s in the pasta? being a wolf hybrid and all i have to be a bit more careful and all…” he tried to explain.
It took a minute for Scythe to process what he did, but as soon as he did he started laughing. “Are… are you alright,dude?” Rem\n asked him. “Yeah.. Yeah I’m good,” Scythe said in between laughs. When he was finally done, he answered his concerns, “Ella and I make all our food allergen and animal safe. Her being part phoenix and me being part endermen there's quite a lot of food specifications we have to meet, and so we just make it safe for everyone.”
After he finished explaining, Ren looked as though he had just noticed Ela having wings and Scythe having a tail, key traits to their hybrid species, face flushing red in embarrassment. “Oh, uh, right. That makes sense. Like, a lot of sense. T-thank you.” he said awkwardly, trying not to show just how embarrassed he really was.
Hello! I'm Scythe or Joel and I use he/they pronouns. I am a mcyt-centered artist and I do a lot of Hermitcraft and Life Series fanart! My asks are always open and I am (almost) always willing to chat!Commission Status: OPEN (0/5 slots taken)Email: scythe.gameing@gmail.comYouTube: YouTube.com/@ScytheGameingTwitch: twitch.tv/scythe_gameingCommissions: https://ko-fi.com/scythegameing/commissions
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