And wheeling on to SEELE and potential origins:

Secret societies developed typically as old gentlemans clubs. I mean, really, they started off as merchant guilds with craftsmen all looking out for each other, but we're more secret societies as we understand them today. Freemasons, Illuminati, etc.

You had a lot of them emerge as places where people could gather in secret and talk. Rites of secrecy and rituals were designed to validate someones identity. Lot of the stuff they said was critical of those in power, and those in power liked to punch down on anyone talking shit. Illuminati is a classic example, and on paper a lot more benevolent in their goals than you'd think for a group often pinned as the one true Evil Conspiracy.

When governments became less crazy, they became places rich people could pat each other on the back, trade favors, and use all the secrecy and fancy names to feel more important about themselves.

Heres what we -do- know about SEELE as it is in Eva's timeline:

-They want to cause Third Impact on paper for ideological reasons. The Council seems to have more human motivations like immortality and power over the new human collective. Without a lot more information, its hard to tell where one ends and begins. They could be an ideological group with the Council growing more petty as age and pride takes its toll. They could also be a more terrestrial group but with a lot of posturing.

-They're powerful and international. Members are few, but they span the globe and all hold immense political power and wealth.

-German for soul

-Their only real symbol is the mask of Lilith.

My speculative first draft follows:

The name, SEELE, implies german origin or someone appealing to germanic tastes. So I'll say that they were founded their. Further, I propose they discovered Lilith, or her existence, fairly early on or at their inception.

Lets say a german archaeologist was getting into the digging shit up craze, but he didn't find a mummy or something. Instead, he finds the Dead Sea Scrolls. These are either the actual, historical ones found in '46 and onward or an entirely separate instance with the same name.

For simplicities sake, I'll say that a young Keel finds these scrolls in '46 and comes across strange and cryptic references to LILITH. These would probably stand out, the rest being scripture of a sort that fits into what is already known to exist. He keeps the "true" Scrolls to himself, and decides to investigate.

And he finds something, something that validates this information. Maybe he manages to dig an early access to the Geofront. Maybe he finds LILITH's old equivalent to a field tent. Either way, he's absolutely certain of the existence of LILITH and has some means to prove it. Also, he really likes the snazzy seven eye thing.

Being fairly successful, he's already palling about with secret societies, but none of them with the substance to do something with this. Having lived through both World Wars, its likely that the horrors of both back to back convinced him humanity was, collectively, fucked. All that talk of destroying the barriers in peoples hearts might have had a benevolence to them at some point.

So he picks and chooses who gets to be in SEELE, only going for those with massive influence and power. Long years, an obsession, wouldn't even be hard to see how he could become convinced only he could "Save" mankind. Old age, the dimming of his faculties, might concern him at first, but then he begins to resent them.

If they existed before '46, the organization was likely very different, and probably had no idea about LILITH. Or they could have been descended from whatever sect hid the real Dead Sea Scrolls, with Keel deciding in the modern day to be a bit more pro-active about it.
46 was an interesting year. The UN replaced the League of Nations in april after its founding in January. Given that SEELE has its hooks deep in the UN, they might have had some control of the LoN as well. This would make them as either there for its inception or soon after.
 
For what it's worth, here's what the NGE2 Classified Information has on SEELE (courtesy of Evageeks):

Seele
A. Publicly Released Information
Data unavailable.
B. Generally Recognized Information
A secret society that puppets Nerv from the shadows towards the fulfillment of the Human Instrumentality Project. Nerv's financial backing comes almost entirely from them.
C. Confidential Information
An esoteric secret society born during the medieval Dark Ages and originally a religious order. Slowly but surely, they extended their influence, until at last they crushed the final forces of opposition in the mid-20th century and became a latent power with covert rule over human society.
D. In-Depth Information
Upon acquiring the Secret Dead Sea Scrolls, Seele turned once again to a creed that, up to that point, they had considered naught but the pipe dreams of their ancestors. By putting the miracle of divinity, in the form of prophecy, within their sights, they restored the faith. Their dogma is the Path to Adam Kadmon — that is, the approaching of a divinity both ageless and undying.

This has it going from a religious order to simply a group of wealthy power brokers, before the discovery of the Secret Dead Sea Scrolls (a "manual" on the Seeds of Life and the Lance of Longinus, found mixed in with the more traditional religious texts known as the Dead Sea Scrolls in real life).

One wonders how continuous the group's existence really was; assuming it really does date in some form back to the Middle Ages, I could see it falling apart and being re-formed several times over the centuries, each being an in-name-only version of the previous one, claiming ancient descent more for a sense of prestige and legitimacy than out of any true continuity.

Two lingering questions I've had:

1) How did Gendo find out about the group as a simple college student, and about Yui's association with it? We know it has public faces in one form or another; in 2015, it's the Human Instrumentality Committee, the UN committee overseeing NERV. It supposedly had public faces as a patron of art and archaeology as well, which is how it obtained (apparently by happenstance) the Secret Dead Sea Scrolls in the mid 20th Century. I'm guessing it has aspects as a patron of physical science as well, and it was Yui's father's affiliation to those that Gendo learned of; like I said before, I'm guessing his initial motive was simply financial/career security. I seriously doubt Gendo could have sought out SEELE knowing what their ultimate goal was; it seems like it would have been obscured too much for him to know, especially if an actual spy like Kaji has a hard time figuring out what exactly they're all about.

2) How many of the people associated with SEELE know what its ultimate goal is? How many are actual religious fanatics vs simply employees of organizations SEELE owns and operates under another name? And of the fanatics, how many actually know about Instrumentality and what it entails? My theory would be that entry begins through its public faces -- science or historical research entities it endows financially. Higher-ups from the main organization acting as wealthy patrons overseeing their investment vet potential members either for their possible ideological agreement (at this level probably couched as something vague like "elevating human consciousness"), their interest in acting as a behind-the-scenes power broker, their willingness to deviate from normal moral scruples for the right cause, or some combination of the above, along with their usefulness to the organization. Once in on the bottom levels of SEELE proper, they're further vetted by the higher-ups to see who's receptive to the more radical plans, with different levels of ideology and goals being revealed as you progress in the organization, like a Mystery Religion in Roman days. It wouldn't surprise me if even a lot of mid-level candidates end up "disappearing" when it turns out they've had too much revealed to them without signing on to the plan.

EDIT: And on an utterly different note, I'm surprised nobody seems to have caught on to what work Rei was referencing to Ritz in my joke yesterday about the dangers of going off her meds...
 
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Rita is overdone. And Rei, much like her, would have been undone by some teenagers in technicolor spandex.

Well, NERV already has a team of teenagers, and you could say at least Asuka, Touji (when he's a pilot -- actually, come to think of it, he's fairly subdued as a pilot), and Mari (when she exists) have attitude...

Granted, NERV's spandex is IMHO a little less Technicolor than most Toku suits...

Asuka: "That reminds me, why don't we have helmets?"
 
Well, NERV already has a team of teenagers, and you could say at least Asuka, Touji (when he's a pilot -- actually, come to think of it, he's fairly subdued as a pilot), and Mari (when she exists) have attitude...

Granted, NERV's spandex is IMHO a little less Technicolor than most Toku suits...

Asuka: "That reminds me, why don't we have helmets?"
At least their mechs are colorful (and color-coded!).

God, imagine the crime against nature an EVA-based Zord/Megazord would be.

...Fuck, that's a great idea.
 
Because the whole point of the LCL is to maximize the connection to the EVA, and therefore insulating your head from the LCL is a bad thing? And what would Asuka use as hair clips if the A-10 connectors were built into a helmet, anyway? :tongue:

Now that you mention it, the A-10 connectors could explain those silly cat ear helmets from Rebuild...

At least their mechs are colorful (and color-coded!).

God, imagine the crime against nature an EVA-based Zord/Megazord would be.

...Fuck, that's a great idea.

Gendo: Fuyutsuki, Lilith has escaped. Recruit a team of teenagers with attitude!

Fuyutsuki: ...In case you haven't noticed, we already have one. Although if you try to get Doctor Akagi to make the Evangelions combine, I think she'll walk out on you for real this time...

 
Now that you mention it, the A-10 connectors could explain those silly cat ear helmets from Rebuild...



Gendo: Fuyutsuki, Lilith has escaped. Recruit a team of teenagers with attitude!

Fuyutsuki: ...In case you haven't noticed, we already have one. Although if you try to get Doctor Akagi to make the Evangelions combine, I think she'll walk out on you for real this time...

eeennrrmmmm wtf
 
I'm critical to the concept of a big conspiracy that has ruled the world for centuries. If anyone really ruled the world, we'd know about it. Human pride would be just too much, not to mention those centuries give you LOTS of time to slip up just once. Also, shadow power only goes so far, especially in chaotic times. Ultimately, its an ideological band-aid. People don't know how certain important things are decided and, in the absence of any information, decide it must be the work of a global conspiracy.

Continuity isn't impossible - the Freemasons have lasted a LONG while, though the nature of the organization has changed dramatically. That might actually work with the Evageeks info: That the Instrumentality thing is a historically recent event. They might be publicly known, but considered a non-issue. Like, someone who knew secret societies might go "Oh, SEELE? Yeah, they make neat rugs, and have a bowling party every other month but thats it." Like they started out super religious, got more secular and grounded as time went on then HOLY SHIT THATS SOME GOOOOOOD IMPACT WE GOT GOING HERE WHOOEEE

As for Gendo, I'm assuming that he came across something by chance or circumstance that put him on the trail. Which could probably be an interesting story all on its own, if Anno ever hashed it out. I'm kind of imagining it like Phantom Blood era Dio got wind of a group with that much power. He'd want to claw his way out of the bottom to the very top. His one thread is a woman, Yui Ikari, and he decides to seduce her as his ticket in.

Only, unlike Dio, he has the bare minimum of humanity to realize he's falling for her, and is genuinely loved. And then she tries to become an immortal space robot.
 
Now that you mention it, the A-10 connectors could explain those silly cat ear helmets from Rebuild...



Gendo: Fuyutsuki, Lilith has escaped. Recruit a team of teenagers with attitude!

Fuyutsuki: ...In case you haven't noticed, we already have one. Although if you try to get Doctor Akagi to make the Evangelions combine, I think she'll walk out on you for real this time...

I'll take "Things the Should Not Be" for $200, Alex.
 
On the subject of helmets, isn't LCL the ultimate air bag or something? I mean, I'd love to see some proper military grade helmets instead of those daft A-10 things (basically plastic cat ears) but it looks like LCL serves excellently for protective purposes.

Not to mention, it appears to have a great medicinal use. I mean seriously bathing in LCL might not be the cure for all ills, but still...

As for SEELE, there is a compelling and cool theory about how they were behind the world wars. Makes sense doesn't it? Force the creation of an international body which has authority over the world (the United Nations) so as to use it to control the world when you put the final stages of your plan into action. Although, how a peacekeeping and humanitarian organization transformed into a world government...eh, I'm nitpicking.
 
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On the subject of helmets, isn't LCL the ultimate air bag or something? I mean, I'd love to see some proper military grade helmets instead of those daft A-10 things (basically plastic cat ears) but it looks like LCL serves excellently for protective purposes.

Not to mention, it appears to have a great medicinal use. I mean seriously bathing in LCL might not be the cure for all ills, but still...
Everything a body needs.
 
EDIT: And on an utterly different note, I'm surprised nobody seems to have caught on to what work Rei was referencing to Ritz in my joke yesterday about the dangers of going off her meds...
Oh, I did. But when I sat down to write the following comedy snippet, I started thinking 'What other incredibly powerful and dangerous female characters might Rei cosplay as?', and Death of the Endless was just too perfect, especially for the follow-on joke about Kaworu reacting to her. :)
Gendo: Fuyutsuki, Lilith has escaped. Recruit a team of teenagers with attitude!

Fuyutsuki: ...In case you haven't noticed, we already have one. Although if you try to get Doctor Akagi to make the Evangelions combine, I think she'll walk out on you for real this time...
Asuka: "Hey old man! You hair looks stupid!" :V

Fuyutsuki: "Get off my lawn, you damn kid!"
 
Gendo: Fuyutsuki, Lilith has escaped. Recruit a team of teenagers with attitude!

Fuyutsuki: ...In case you haven't noticed, we already have one. Although if you try to get Doctor Akagi to make the Evangelions combine, I think she'll walk out on you for real this time...
Asuka would be thrilled! Everyone knows that the Red Sentai is the leader, right? :lol

Here's one that lets Kaworu get in on the cosplay:



And I'll bet she can get the voice perfect!:p
I did not know I needed this picture until now... And Kaworu's been kinda leaning on the 'It's a secret (and has to remain that way)' button since he showed up.
 
"it's a secret" makes me think of Yukari-sensei greeting the wrong class in episode 1 of Azumanga Daioh...
 
I'm critical to the concept of a big conspiracy that has ruled the world for centuries. If anyone really ruled the world, we'd know about it. Human pride would be just too much, not to mention those centuries give you LOTS of time to slip up just once. Also, shadow power only goes so far, especially in chaotic times. Ultimately, its an ideological band-aid. People don't know how certain important things are decided and, in the absence of any information, decide it must be the work of a global conspiracy.

Continuity isn't impossible - the Freemasons have lasted a LONG while, though the nature of the organization has changed dramatically. That might actually work with the Evageeks info: That the Instrumentality thing is a historically recent event. They might be publicly known, but considered a non-issue. Like, someone who knew secret societies might go "Oh, SEELE? Yeah, they make neat rugs, and have a bowling party every other month but thats it." Like they started out super religious, got more secular and grounded as time went on then HOLY SHIT THATS SOME GOOOOOOD IMPACT WE GOT GOING HERE WHOOEEE.



The funny thing is, most of the things that get called conspiracy theories are actually out there in plain sight. It's just that most people choose to remain willfully ignorant of such things.

How well known is the term "Human Instrumentality Project"? Even if no one outside SEELE knows what it truly is, the fact that there's a UN committee labeled as such should send up some red flags.
 
Comedy Omake #54 - Backstage #5 - You Can (Not) Sober Up
Got some bad news today, serious depression, so... time to write some comedy.
Sorry about the lack of update, but I could barely move for half the day.

+++

Backstage #5 - You Can (Not) Sober Up

+++

"Psssst."

Gendo looked up from lighting the next bowl. He took a deep drag first, though. Never hurt to have a little more, be a bit more mellow, when meeting new people. This was new people, right? Wait, he needed to look at them first to find out.

"Hello? Whozzat?" he inquired carefully. "This is for personal use, officer," he added as a just-in-case.

"Down here," the voice whispered from somewhere above him.

Gendo thought for a moment, then looked up. "Hah, you can't fool me, you're not to my left!"

Mari Makinami looked down at him from her perch among the lighting racks over the Central Dogma set. "Man, you are stoned. Ok, quick, I've sent that PA and his new assistant chasing Sakura again. They think she's got some more of my script pages. They don't know those are right here!" Mari brandished a sheaf of papers."

"So what's she got?" Gendo chased the key mystery.

"Some Chinese takeout menus with Sakura's crayon embellishments."

"Cool." Gendo took another hit. "Ok, two questions. #1, you want a hit of this? And #2, what are you showing me these pages for? I'm not in the next scene, as far as I know." He scratched at his head. "Well, as far as I can remember, anyhow. It's still Tuesday, right?"

"Saturday."

"....fuck, I missed taco night!"

Mari warily looked around for any lurking production assistants or Directors before uncurling from the lighting rack like a large cat and dropping nimbly to the floor, landing in a picture-perfect three-point crouch. Gendo would have been impressed if he hadn't been looking at an actual cat that had wandered across the far side of the set.

"Whoa.... a cat..." Gendo looked back up. "Hey, where'd you go?"

Mari tapped him on his left shoulder. "Er, I'm right here?"

"Oh holy shit, you are to my left! Whoa, I can predict the future!" Gendo exclaimed.

"Ah, look, you're obviously a very... busy man. And I've got to get this stuff," she hefted a large bag in her left hand, "back to Miss Soryu's trailer in the next 20 minutes or she's going to notice I've been gone a suspiciously long time, even for getting this weird shopping list of hers."

"Weird?"

"Indian takeout, 10m of silk rope, six candles, 8 D-Cell batteries, some matches, and a jar of salt blessed by a Eastern Orthodox Priest," Mari explained. "I have no idea why, but she was very insistent I go get all this for her right away." Mari snorted. "She smelled like rum and I know that super-hot boytoy of herrrrrrrrrrrrrr, I mean your handsome and intelligent son," she hastily corrected, "was already in her trailer with her. I think she just wanted me to go away. She could have just let me have a break." Mari glanced to the side. "Ok, so maybe the last time I 'took a break' we shot that scene with me parachuting onto Shinji, but still..."

Gendo blinked. "She wanted all that in a hurry, smelled like rum, and was in her trailer with my son? All afternoon?"

"Yeah."

"Man, that's my boy!" Gendo took another hit. "So, whatcha need me for? I've got the hook up, if you need," he said with a cough.

Mari grinned and held up the sheaf in her other hand. "I think you'll like these pages."

"I dunno, the last time you said that, the Director said I wasn't allowed to take anymore from you. Even if scene with the giant exploding Rei head that cried blood was pretty metal. Or was that Yui's head? Uh, what was that supposed to symbolize, again?"

Mari waved the sheaf at him. "It's too deep for you, don't worry about it," she said. "You'll get it after you sleep on it. Anyhow, you'll like this stuff. You get another scene with your son! And a way cool space-future visor. Way better than Kihl's!"

"I'm in."

+++

"Shinji."

"Father..." the young Pilot said tremulously, trying not to hunch over in the spotlight. The cavernous chamber housing the huge, steam hissing dome with EVA UNIT-13 stenciled across it was at the same time oppressively hot and humid, but still somehow left him chilled to the bone.

"You will Pilot Unit-13. You will do it with the Fifth Child," Gendo said ominously from within the beam of his own spotlight, on the balcony far above the hissing dome. A third spotlight snapped on behind Shinji, illuminating a smiling Kaworu Nagisa, who waved.

"Father, I have questions!" Shinji found the nerve to speak up. "What happened to NERV? Why was Misato-san and the others fighting? What happened... to... everything."

Gendo's way-cool space future visor glittered coldly in the spotlight's beam. "Shinji," Gendo said even more darkly. "Quit whining and get in the fucking giant robot."

+++

"CUT!" Director Strype threw his hat at the ground. "Gendo, that's not even the line! That's that same old memetic joke you keep throwing in the blooper reels! You do it in every goddamn scene you and Shinji do together!"

Gendo bent over, giggling helplessly. "I'm sorry, dude, I had to! That set up was perfect!" He pointed at the First, Third, and Fifth Children, all of whom were likewise cracking up at the far end of the set. "Look, I just killed it! Everyone's happy!"

"I don't want 'happy', I want what's in the bloody script! We are already three weeks behind the shooting schedule, and what the Hell is that thing on your face?!"

"My way-cool space future visor."

The Director's face was a study in shades of Wut. "What is this I don't even..." He scrubbed at his face. "Fine, you know? Whatever. Space future visor. Sure. Why not?"

"Way-cool space future visor."

Strype gripped the copy of the script in his hands tighter and tighter until it squeaked, and slowly turned the color of Unit-02. "Going. To Murder. Everyone..."

"You look like you need some of Uncle Gendo's Special Medicine," Gendo said, nodding sagely. He pulled a bag of green buds out of his pocket. "Just what the doctor ordered!"

Strype glared at him. "Since when are you a doctor?"

"Hôtel-Dieu de Paris, Class of '93. I specialized in pharmacology," Gendo said peaceably. "So, you like some?"

Strype stared at him. ".....you're a doctor. A medical doctor. At 26."

"I had a few years free, seemed like a thing to do. I needed something with a bit more intellectual bite after I finished the Tour de France."

"Wut."

"Ah, Mister Director? I told you my dad had been everywhere, done everything," Shinji said, still wiping tears out of his eyes. "Wait until he tells you about his time in La Légion."

"Oui," Gendo nodded. "C'était une période de grandes aventures. Et de chevaux."

"Wut." Strype shook his head again. "I'm too sober for this."

"I can fix that!" Gendo said, smiling helpfully. He held up the baggie again.

"You shut up!" Strype picked up his hat and carefully, calmly uncrumpled his copy of the script. "Ok, now, where were we?" He peered more closely at the pages. "What, what the fuck is this scene? I don't remember any 'Unit-13' in the storyboards."

"It did seem a little odd," Kaworu put in. "I mean, I thought Unit-13 was one of the Mass Production Series?"

"Shhh, that hasn't happened yet," Shinji stage whispered to him.

"Oh, right. Nevermind me!"

"Wait, this is more of that crack Makinami keeps slipping in, isn't it?" Strype said warily. "I knew it! Makinami, get down here! I'm going to make you an extra in Rebuild of Aeon Entelechy Evangelion!"

"Wasn't that a rewrite of Aeon Natum Engel to start with? So, that's like Rebuild-ception!" Mari said from the rafters.

"Ah HAH! There she is!" Strype cried. "Pen Pen, grab her!"

"Tally-ho!" said the hot-springs penguin, taking flight towards the voice.

"Uh oh," Mari said. Skittering noises rapidly heading away were heard overhead, mixed in with the flapping of penguin wings.

"I thought penguins were flightless birds?" Shinji said, watching Pen Pen zoom in and out of the lighting rig.

Strype scoffed. "Shows what you know, kid. Pen Pen went to Oxford. He learned a lot."

Shinji boggled at him. "To fly?"

"Did you go to Oxford? Can you fly?" Strype retorted.

".....no, but.... huh?"

"Everyone, take five while we chase her down," Strype called to the set at large. "Gendo, get down here and take that.... thing off."

"Awww...."

"But... but... but... penguins can't fly..." Shinji complained to Kaworu, who slung an arm around his shoulder.

"Eh, don't worry about it too much, bro. This is only a TV show," Kaworu said.

"What? What? But... he... flying penguin?"

"Who went to Oxford. Keep up, here."

"I'm too sober for this," Shinji complained.

"Let's go see the girls, and you'll feel better. Everything's better when you've got Asuka around, right?"

"Ok..." Shinji let the smiling Fifth Child lead him off towards the trailers.
+++
 
I see Gendo has taken the old course of pharmaceutical medicine. Tell me, how many grains of weed would it take to make a dram of the oil, Mr. Ikari Sr?
 
Got some bad news today, serious depression, so... time to write some comedy.
Sorry about the lack of update, but I could barely move for half the day.

"Shinji."

"Father..." the young Pilot said tremulously, trying not to hunch over in the spotlight. The cavernous chamber housing the huge, steam hissing dome with EVA UNIT-13 stenciled across it was at the same time oppressively hot and humid, but still somehow left him chilled to the bone.

"You will Pilot Unit-13. You will do it with the Fifth Child," Gendo said ominously from within the beam of his own spotlight, on the balcony far above the hissing dome. A third spotlight snapped on behind Shinji, illuminating a smiling Kaworu Nagisa, who waved.

"Father, I have questions!" Shinji found the nerve to speak up. "What happened to NERV? Why was Misato-san and the others fighting? What happened... to... everything."

Gendo's way-cool space future visor glittered coldly in the spotlight's beam. "Shinji," Gendo said even more darkly. "Quit whining and get in the fucking giant robot."
:lol:rofl:Classic.
Strype gripped the copy of the script in his hands tighter and tighter until it squeaked, and slowly turned the color of Unit-02. "Going. To Murder. Everyone..."
Yeeeees. Give in to your Anger. Give in to your Inner Rambo...
"Ah, Mister Director? I told you my dad had been everywhere, done everything," Shinji said, still wiping tears out of his eyes. "Wait until he tells you about his time in La Légion."
An delinquent, angry young man looking to bust heads for a greater purpose? Yeah, that's perfect Legion material.
"Wait, this is more of that crack Makinami keeps slipping in, isn't it?" Strype said warily. "I knew it! Makinami, get down here! I'm going to make you an extra in Rebuild of Aeon Entelechy Evangelion!"
Wait, EarthScorpion's writing that?
"Wasn't that a rewrite of Aeon Natum Engel to start with? So, that's like Rebuild-ception!" Mari said from the rafters.
Eh, to me it's more like the author can't decide what elements work right when it all starts coming together, but what do I know?
 
"Wait, this is more of that crack Makinami keeps slipping in, isn't it?" Strype said warily. "I knew it! Makinami, get down here! I'm going to make you an extra in Rebuild of Aeon Entelechy Evangelion!"

"Wasn't that a rewrite of Aeon Natum Engel to start with? So, that's like Rebuild-ception!" Mari said from the rafters.

I can only hope... so much funtimes.
For the reader, not the characters.

Also: even your depression fueled omake are really good times. Good job

//Mtmb, more than mildly buzzed
 
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