#lgbtq+ books
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part 3 of the 2023 version of this post: adult books!
part 1: middle grade books | part 2: young adult books
this is a very incomplete list, as these are only books I've read and enjoyed. not all books are going to be for all readers, so I'd recommend looking up synopses and content warnings. feel free to message me with any questions about specific representation!
list of books under the cut ⬇️
yerba buena by nina lacour
if we were villains by m.l. rio
everyone in this room will someday be dead by emily r. austin
i want to be a wall by honami shirono
portrait of a thief by grace d. li
the thirty names of night by zeyn joukhadar
on earth we're briefly gorgeous by ocean vuong
love & other disasters by anita kelly
take a hint, dani brown by talia hibbert
boyfriend material by alexis hall
almost like being in love by steve kluger
the charm offensive by alison cochrun
something wild & wonderful by anita kelly
red, white & royal blue by casey mcquiston
something to talk about by meryl wilsner
honey girl by morgan rogers
one last stop by casey mcquiston
once ghosted, twice shy by alyssa cole
kiss her once for me by alison cochrun
a spindle splintered by alix e. harrow
finna by nino cipri
every heart a dooryway by seanan mcguire
the starless sea by erin morgenstern
under the whispering door by tj klune
space opera by catherynne m. valente
light from uncommon stars by ryka aoki
dead collections by isaac fellman
the city we became by n.k. jemisin
light carries on by ray nadine
an absolutely remarkable thing by hank green
feed them silence by lee mandelo
summer sons by lee mandelo
upright women wanted by sarah gailey
lavender house by lev a.c. rosen
fried green tomatoes at the whistle stop cafe by fannie flagg
the seven husbands of evelyn hugo by taylor jenkins reid
a master of djinn by p. djeli clark
witchmark by c.l. polk
a marvellous light by freya marske
a restless truth by freya marske
when women were dragons by kelly barnhill
plain bad heroines by emily m. danforth
a lady for a duke by alexis hall
infamous by lex croucher
passing strange by ellen klages
even though i knew the end by c.l. polk
the chosen and the beautiful by nghi vo
whiskey when we're dry by john larison
wake of vultures by lila bowen
silver in the wood by emily tesh
the once and future witches by alix e. harrow
the kingdoms by natasha pulley
a tip for the hangman by allison epstein
she who became the sun by shelley parker-chan
the song of achilles by madeline miller
spear by nicola griffith
this is how you lose the time war by amal el-mohtar and max gladstone
gideon the ninth by tamsyn muir
some desperate glory by emily tesh
all systems red by martha wells
a psalm for the wild built by becky chambers
the mimicking of known successes by malka older
winter's orbit by everina maxwell
fireheart tiger by aliette de bodard
empress of salt and fortune by nghi vo
legends and lattes by travis baldree
the house in the cerulean sea by tj klune
other ever afters by melanie gillman
the priory of the orange tree by samantha shannon
a day of fallen night by samantha shannon
a strange and stubborn endurance by foz meadows
the unbroken by c.l. clark
real queer america by samantha allen
fun home by alison bechdel
in the dream house by carmen maria machado
better living through birding by christian cooper
why fish don't exist by lulu miller
#lgbtq+ books#queer books#book recommendations#gay books#book flow chart#part 3 of 3!#AND THAT'S IT oh my god this took me days#mp
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I’m rereading rwrb in preparation for the movie and I forgot how fucking obviously in love Alex is from the very beginning.
“His eyes lock on Alex’s, and something like annoyance or adrenaline spikes in Alex’s chest.”
Uh huh… totally… “annoyance”
“hate reading Henry’s Wikipedia page”
Because that’s definitely what you do when you hate someone
#rwrb#red white and royal blue#prince henry rwrb#alexander claremont diaz#alex rwrb#fsotus#casey mcquiston#reading#rereading#lgbtq+#lgbtq+ books#queer books#mlm books#gay books#seriously tho true to my name I love some oblivious idiots in love#oblivious idiots in love#rwrb movie
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This should be required reading for EVERYONE. I need more people to read this because it was such a gut punch and I’m just here trying to make sense of all the things I read. There is just so much packed into this graphic novel that it’s hard to get my thoughts in order to make a coherent review. Especially when my thoughts were just a revolving door of “WTF?!”, “holy shit!”, and “colonialism is an absolute bitch”. Seriously, my inner monologue was one giant swear word generator the entire time I was reading. Squire is honestly one of the most eye opening stories I’ve ever read and it’s getting a solid five stars. Please, please read this!
Reading Challenge Prompt Fills:
Alphabet Challenge: Q somewhere in the title
#booklr#squire#graphic novel#book review#reading#books#graphic novel review#read#book#bookish#bookworm#lgbtq+ books#queer books#palestinian authors#free palestine
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T.J. Klune and V.E. Schwab, two popular and beloved authors with large queer fan bases, both naming their asexual main character Victor give evidence to a secret society for queer authors and I will hear no arguments otherwise. From now on I propose we assume all characters named Victor are asexual unless explicitly told differently.
#villains series#in the lives of puppets#did they just say there's something about the name victor that oozes asexuality?#tj klune#ve shwab#asexuality#lgbtq+ books#queer fiction#victor vale#victor lawson
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hardback volume 4 joins the gang !!
#i am running out of space#books#heartstopper#nick and charlie#charlie spring#nick nelson#osemanverse#alice oseman#lgbtqia#lgbtq+ books#solitaire#i was born for this#iwbft#loveless#radio silence
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The Vampires in Castlevania
Vlad III Dracula Ţepeș (Impaler) was a real person. He was a Wallachian voivode who was born sometime between 1429 and 1431, and he died in 1476. The exact manner of his death has been lost to history, but the common belief is he was beheaded in battle and his head was sent to Sultan Mehmed II in Constantinople as proof of his death.
As for Bram Stoker’s Dracula, some historians are starting to doubt the prince was the actual inspiration for the famous vampire. One of the reasons for this is Stoker was a very thorough note-taker, but none of his notes for writing Dracula mention Vlad III or any of his lifetime achievements/atrocities. So it’s possible Stoker only chose the name ‘Dracula’ because he knew it translated as ‘son of the Devil.’ Further reading - Dracula: Sense and Nonsense by Elizabeth Miller.
Carmilla is the name of a lady vampire in the novella Carmilla by Sheridan le Fanu, a story that is actually older than Stoker’s novel. It features a lesbian relationship between Carmilla and the protagonist, Laura, and was written as a criticism of the Victorian view of women, specifically repressed sexuality.
Varney also comes from a book. Varney the Vampire or The Feast of Blood was a penny dreadful written by James Malcolm Rymer and Thomas Peckett Prest. (I haven’t read this one all the way through, but there is a scene where Varney is struggling to get over a garden wall, and I think that’s hilarious. Not exactly apex predator material.)
Varney: You think you have me stymied, don’t you.
Trevor: No, I think a garden wall has you stymied.
Lenore is the name of a German poem written by Gottfried August Bürger. It’s about a woman named Lenore who curses God because her beloved did not come back from war, so Death kidnaps her to reunite them, effectively condemning her soul for eternity. It’s not about a vampire, but the poem has had a hand in influencing vampire literature.
Anyway, does anyone else really want to see Lenore cheering Trevor on in the last battle? Or stealing the knife and ending Death herself. Cause I do now.
The closest thing to a vampire in Viking folklore is the draugr, although this creature is more of a restless ghost than what we think of as a vampire. They haunt the graves of the dead and guard the treasures they acquired in life by driving humans insane, drinking their blood, eating their flesh, and other nasty things.
Side note: I’m really curious as to what led Godbrand to becoming a vampire. Immortality didn’t really play a huge factor in Old Norse culture since the Vikings believed a glorious death in battle was the one and only way to go to Valhalla. Other deaths that were deemed shameful or unworthy landed you in Helheim, which I really need to address further in a separate post.
Japan also doesn’t have an exact vampire equivalent, but they do have some yokai spirits that have vampire-like characteristics, including but not limited to:
Nukekubi: A flying head that detaches from its human body at night and attacks people to drink their blood.
Rokurokubi: A similar creature to nukekubi except the head doesn’t detach but rather travels from the body via an elongated neck.
Nure-Onna: The ‘drenched woman’ is a large serpent with the head of a woman that drinks blood.
Personally, I would have loved to see Cho’s head fly off to attack someone simply to see Sypha, Alucard, and Trevor briefly panic.
#castlevania#castlevania netflix#dracula castlevania#castlevania carmilla#lenore castlevania#godbrand castlevania#castlevania vampires#cho castlevania#varney castlevania#death castlevania#trevor belmont#alucard castlevania#adrian tepes#sypha belnades#norse mythology#viking vampires#japanese vampire#yokai#lgbtq+ books#sorta#bram stoker#sheridan le fanu#carmilla novella#dracula novel#draugr#penny dreadful#the big bang theory reference
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I want to tell you all a bit about what is currently happening in Hungary because once again the government chose Pride Month (which is in July here) to attack the lgbtq+ community. Three news from just the past week: queer books are wrapped in plastic in bookshops, a bench painted in rainbow colours started a war in Budapest, and a law about retirement was modified to specifically exclude trans women. I'm sure others posted about these, probably could put it better than me, but here it is in one place.
Books: two years ago the government passed a so-called "child protection" law, but it's most commonly reffered to as the anti-gay law. The law is supposed to protect children, but it bans all media depictions of anything that would "promote homosexuality" or different gender identities.
The law is hard to understand on purpose, to make it unclear what is against the law and what isn't, resulting in the censoring of everything even remotely not cishet in fear of accidentally breaking the law. One notable example of this is commercials on tv. All media "promoting" homosexuality or gender change has to have an age restriction on it, including commercials. But since it is unclear what this means, now all tv ads have a 12+ rating, on every channel.
Previously bookstores which sell lgbt themed books had to make this clear and separate these books, which resulted in many bookstores having signs on their doors saying they sell these books. Some bookstores were fined for failure to comply.
Last week people started noticing that in the biggest bookstore chain, Libri, certain books were wrapped in clear plastic. This all happened because of the anti-gay law. Books including lgbtq characters are now wrapped in plastic and cannot be sold at the YA section of the store, they are moved to the adult section, regardless of the topic. Multiple writers called this out on social media, finding their own books wrapped up and moved.
Once again, since the law in unclear, Libri is wrapping up random books, because there is no clear guideline what goes against the law and what doesn't.
From literally two hours ago: one of the biggest bookstore chains, Líra, was just fined for 12 million forints (approx. 35k dollars) for selling Heartstopper without the wrapping, in the YA section.
The Bench: last Thursday, Amnesty International, with the permission of the mayor of the district, painted a bench in Budapest rainbow colours.
This was supposed to symbolise love and acceptance, especially during Pride Month. Since then, the bench was painted 6 more times. First, two men belonging to the neonazi fanclub of the local football club painted the bench the club colours, green and white. Amnesty International filed a police report, and painted the bench back to the rainbow colours.
Then the bench was painted green and white by two football fans yet again, this time with the message "stop lmbtq". After this, someone painted it back to brown, and left a note saying "I just want to be a bench. Which is good for everyone. To you. To them. To us."
After this Amnesty International repainted it with the rainbow colours. Then just today, a right-wing party, Mi Hazánk painted it red-white-green, the national colours, and stated that they will offer protection to the football fans, they will do the sane painting to any rainbow coloured anything they find anywhere in the country, and if anyone paints over it, they will file a police report for damaging a national symbol.
update: just a few hours after the last painting, unknown people wrapped the bench in plastic, with the message "Lately LGBTQ+ content can only be in public in wrapping", referencing the plastic wrapped books
The transphobic retirement law: back in 2010, Fidesz, the current ruling party made a promise during its campaign, which since then became a law. Currently this "Nők40" (Women40) law allows women to retire after 40 years of work, including time spent raising a child, as a way to honour women.
In 2006 the EU ruled that transgender people are entitled to retirement according to the gender they are when retiring. In line with this, earlier this year a Hungarian court ruled in favour of a trans woman, allowing her to retire after 40 years of work, due to the Nök40 law. It is worth noting that she has legally changed her gender in all her offical papers in 2013, and only found out in 2021 that the pension payer still had her registered as a man, and due the transphobic Law 33 passed in 2020, the pension payer refused to correct her gender. The court later ruled in her favour though, and she can retire.
Now, a member of Fidesz argues that this ruling is "a gross provocation and a slap in the face of the legal system". She urged lawmakers to changed the law and make it clear what they mean by women, reminding everyone that Fidesz still maintains that there are only two biological genders.
This was yesterday. By today, a change in the law was prepared. The announcement said the law has been clear for everyone with common sense, but to avoid any "sensitized" judge using this legal loophole, they are now amending it so it stated the early retirement is for everyone who "worked as a woman for 40 years". They claim now nobody can just decide to suddenly want to be a woman for early retirement after working as a man for 39 years. Because obviously early retirement, in a country where it is impossible to make ends meet just on pension alone, is the main reason someone would "decide" to be trans. Obviously.
so, this is where we're at in Hungary, two days before the Budapest Pride Parade. another Pride Month, another attack on lgbtq rights. I don't really have a point with this, I don't want to guilt trip anyone. Just spreading the word, since we rarely read about non-usamerican news.
#yeah i still hate it here#hungary#lgbtq rights#eu politics#pride month#lgbtq+#lgbtq+ rights#trans rights#transgender#books#censorship#lgbtq books#lgbtq+ books
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Queer Book Recommendations
It's pride season in Wellington, New Zealand and my local library has published its second "Teen Staff Picks" zine! In that spirit, I bring you, a collection of lesser-known queer books featured in the two that have been released so far! I've narrowed the lists down to books that have 1000 or fewer reviews on Goodreads as of posting (though I actually use Storygraph personally). I haven't read most of these, they're new to me as well but looking forward to getting into them.
Sapphic
Trouble Girls - Julia Lynn Rubin
Planning Perfect - Haley Neil
Improbable Magic for Cynical Witches - Kate Scelsa
The Meadows - Stephanie Oakes
Never Trust a Gemini - Freja Nicole Woolf
This Is All Your Fault - Aminah Mae Safi
The Year My Life Went Down the Toilet - Jake Maia Arlow
Youngblood - Sasha Laurens
In the Role of Brie Hutchens - Nicole Melleby
Achillean
We Are Totally Normal - Rahul Kanakia
Two Can Play That Game - Leanne Yong
Blaine for the Win - Robbie Couch
I Like Me Better - Robby Weber
The Language of Seabirds - Will Taylor
The Feeling of Falling in Love - Mason Deaver
Charming Young Man - Eliot Schrefer
Emmett - L. C. Rosen
Pages I Never Wrote - Marco Donati
Trans Characters
Across a Field of Starlight - Blue Delliquanti
Welcome to St. Hell: My Trans Teen Misadventure - Lewis Hancox
The Borrow a Boyfriend Club - Page Powars
If I Can Give You That - Michael Gray Bulla
Transmogrify!: 14 Fantastical Tales of Trans Magic - G. Haron Davis
Jess, Chunk, and the Road Trip to Infinity - Kristin Elizabeth Clark
Magical Boy - The Kao
Kisses For Jet: A Coming-of-Gender Story - Joris Bas Backer
Between Perfect and Real - Ray Stoeve
Featuring Queer People of Colour
Ander & Santi Were Here - Jonny Garza Villa
The Loophole - Naz Kutub
Spell Bound - F. T. Lukens
Tim Te Maro and the Subterranean Heartsick Blues - H. S. Valley
Rise to the Sun - Leah Johnson
Never Kiss Your Roommate - Philline Harms
Rainbow! - Bloom & Sunny
Other Ever Afters: New Queer Fairy Tales - Melanie Gillman
Anne of Greenville - Mariko Tamaki
#lgbtqia#books#books & libraries#public libraries#queer books#lgbtqiia+#lgbtq+ books#pride#sapphic books#gay books#trans books#bipoc lgbt#wlw#mlm#reading#wellington pride#lgbt#lgbtq#diverse reads#diverse books#graphic novel#fantasy#contemporary romance#romance#coming of age#is this enough tags yet#libraries are important#support your local library#libraries are cool#transgender
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Dear, Authors.
Saying your book is LGBTQ+ but both main characters are cishet and the only queer characters are background or barely mentioned means that it is not LGBTQ+ and just (yet another) straight romance. The LGBTQ+ community is not here for you to gain brownie points for putting us in the background. Make us main characters or don’t write us at all.
Signed, a very fed up trans/agender queer 😘
#books#authors#lgbtq+#queer books#lgbt books#lgbtq+ books#enough with the straight people#bookstore#books and reading#reading#bookworm#dear author#trans problems#Agender problems#queer problems#diversity#queer media
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Celebrate Pride Month With
Sapphic Sci-Fi & Fanatasy
By Molly J. Bragg
https://desertpalmpress.com/molly-j-bragg/
https://amazon.com/author/mollyjbragg
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/mollyjbragg
#pride 2023#pride#pride month#lesfic#lesbian books#sapphic books#trans books#queer books#lgbtq+ books#lgbt books#sci-fi#fantasy#superhero#trans author
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part 2 of the 2023 version of this post: young adult books!
part 1: middle grade books | part 3: adult books
this is a very incomplete list, as these are only books I've read and enjoyed. not all books are going to be for all readers, so I'd recommend looking up synopses and content warnings. feel free to message me with any questions about specific representation!
list of books under the cut ⬇️
aces wild by amanda dewitt
the chandler legacies by abdi nazemian
bruised by tanya boteju
juliet takes a breath by gabby rivera
picture us in the light by kelly loy gilbert
when we were magic by sarah gailey
iron widow by xiran jay zhao
the rise of kyoshi by f.c. yee
jane unlimited by kristin cashore
summer of salt by katrina leno
the wicker king by k. ancrum
the dead and the dark by courtney gould
wilder girls by rory power
i kissed shara wheeler by casey mcquiston
her royal highness by rachel hawkins
tell me how you really feel by aminah mae safi
the weight of the stars by k. ancrum
you should see me in a crown by leah johnson
last night at the telegraph club by malinda lo
the grief keeper by alexandra villasante
crier's war by nina varela
how to excavate a heart by jake maia arlow
imogen, obviously by becky albertalli
in other lands by sarah rees brennan
carry on by rainbow rowell
cemetery boys by aiden thomas
felix ever after by kacen callendar
i wish you all the best by mason deaver
little thieves by margaret owen
technically you started it by lana wood johnson
the gentleman's guide to vice and virtue by mackenzi lee
the infinite noise by lauren shippen
bonds of brass by emily skrutskie
the darkness outside us by eliot schrefer
simon vs. the homo sapiens agenda by becky albertalli
what if it's us by becky albertalli and adam silvera
aristotle and dante discover the secrets of the universe by benjamin alire sáenz
like a love story by abdi nazemian
different for boys by patrick ness
history is all you left me by adam silvera
twelfth grade night by molly horton booth, stephanie kate strohm, and jamie green
across a field of starlight by blue delliquanti
heartstopper by alice oseman
check, please! by ngozi ukazu
bloom by kevin panetta and savanna ganucheau
laura dean keeps breaking up with me by mariko tamaki and rosemary valero-o'connell
the princess and the grilled cheese sandwich by deya muniz
if you'll have me by eunnie
on a sunbeam by tillie walden
the girl from the sea by molly knox ostertag
always human by ari north
rust in the root by justina ireland
dread nation by justina ireland
pet by awkwaeke emezi
the darkest part of the forest by holly black
elatsoe by darcie little badger
i was born for this by alice oseman
loveless by alice oseman
i hate everyone but you by gaby dunn and allison raskin
you know me well by nina lacour and david levithan
the black flamingo by dean atta
spinning by tillie walden
dreadnought by april daniels
a lesson in vengeance by victoria lee
all the bad apples by moira fowley-doyle
clap when you land by elizabeth acevedo
summer bird blue by akemi dawn bowman
the miseducation of cameron post by emily m. danforth
we are okay by nina lacour
radio silence by alice oseman
we used to be friends by amy spalding
a neon darkness by lauren shippen
i hope you get this message by farah naz rishi
are you listening? by tillie walden
alone in space by tillie walden
all out edited by saundra mitchell
out now edited by saundra mitchell
out there edited by saundra mitchell
#lgbtq+ books#queer books#book recommendations#gay books#ya books#lgbtq+ ya books#book flow chart#part 2 of 3!#dear god this almost twice as many books as the previous flow chart. and it's JUST YA.#mp
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🔥 Okay, spicy. 🔥
#books#read#reading#booklr#bookish#features#bookworm#bookaholic#book blogger#book blog#currently reading#sapphic#lgbtq+ books#romance#book covers#bookish photography#Meryl Wilsner
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The Bonds That Bind Us
I started this book in late 2016/early 2017, and it has been through so many iterations before finally becoming what it is now.
When I first published this book in 2018, it was impulsive and unfinished; I was just so excited to have written a novel people might buy.
Now, I'm at a stage in life where this story (all three parts of it) have helped me heal so much of my own trauma and hurts, and I want it to do the same for others.
For everyone who doesn't have a family, who has found family, who are dealing with trauma and the shitty things life has to throw at us.
To the survivors and the ones who refused to give up. The ones who shouted fuck you to the people who told them they'd never amount to anything.
Whether you pay for this story or get the free, kindle unlimited version, I want to thank you for giving it a chance, and for supporting me. <3
#writing#writers on tumblr#writeblr#writeblr community#lgbtqia#the bonds that bind us#tbtbu#kdp publishing#amazon kdp#self publication#self published#indie author#lgbtq+ books#literary fiction
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Two mini reviews for the price of one today! 😊
Sandry’s Book:
It’s been a very, very long time since I last reread this book and it did not disappoint. It was like coming home and snuggling under a warm blanket. There were so many things that I had forgotten! But getting to meet these characters again? It was so much fun! I loved getting reacquainted with all the kids, and somehow at 30-years-old I feel like I connected more with them than I did when I was 12 or 15. I can also see where my love of found family’s came from. I love the way the Pierce wrote the kids because they got to be actual kids and learn and make mistakes and grow into who they’re meant to be. Sandry’s book is getting a solid five stars, both for the nostalgia and for being a fantastic book that really stands the test of time.
Tris’s book:
Tris’s Book has always been one of my favorites in this series. It’s were these kids really get their start as actual mages and dig into their studies more. I love that they have these mentors that are with them every step of the way and are encouraging them in everything that they do. It’s really nice, especially in a YA book where most adults are usually absent. I just really loved being back in this universe and I could gush about it endlessly, but I won’t. This is getting a solid five stars!
Reading Challenge Prompt Fills:
PopSugar 2023: a book you read more than 10 years ago
PopSugar 2023: a book you wish you could read for the first time again
#circle of magic#tamora pierce#booklr#book review#reading#books#read#mini book review#book#bookish#bookworm#lgbtq+ books#queer books#middle grade books#fantasy books#high fantasy books
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I’m not really on Booklr but I’m dying to scream about this book with someone PLEASE
#books#booklr#I’m not really sure if booklr is a thing like Bookstagram or whatever but#what the hell might as well give it a shot#hell followed with us#horror#lgbtq+ books
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Pride and Prejudice and Pittsburgh by Rachael Lipponcott, author of The Lucky List and coauthor of She Gets The Girl
Artwork by @jeniferprince
#pride and prejudice and pittsburgh#racheal lipponcott#jenifer prince#wlw books#sapphic books#lgbtq+ books#bookblr#she gets the girl#the lucky list
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