LKH Lashouts

Sorry, tried to keep it off LKH's appearance. Seeing her pic changed my mental image, which is the only reason I mentioned that. I'm more curious about AB's description because well.... all the men in the books sure think she's something special, ya know?

From:

kitsu.livejournal.com

I don't know. But I get annoyed that her "harem" is full of long haired femmy boys. I mean, if you're going to have a harem wouldn't you like a little variety?

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I like femmy women and masculine men. horribly sexist of me, yeah?

I can't help it. I LOVE men who have shoulders that look like I could climb them safely. *laugh*

girly-boys just do not interest me. Long hair on a guy annoys me.

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witchwillow.livejournal.com

Hell, there are Supermodels and Actresses in the world who have people (from designers and casting directors to prospective dates) who don't think an individual is to their taste).

There are people who'd be turned off by Cindy Crawford's mole, Kate Moss' thiness, Tryra Bank's booty or Lauren Bacall's front teeth gap.

It's always been more than incredulous to me that everyone who meets Anita wants her. I've believed they want her power, or her position (before it was all about sex) in the supernatural community. But her for herself? No.

Especially considering that strong enough weres can shift themselves to the most physically attractive version they can manage (according to their personal standards) and vampires can make you want to hump them with their eyes.

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nicbemused.livejournal.com

Really it depends. If you are a girl in the Anitaverse you can only be gay or straight. If you are a guy you can only be straight or bi. Consistency, not LKH's thing.

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skeezix74.livejournal.com

It's always been more than incredulous to me that everyone who meets Anita wants her. I've believed they want her power, or her position (before it was all about sex) in the supernatural community. But her for herself? No.

See, I thought a good deal of the "attraction" to Anita was about the ardeur. I suppose that that may only apply to Micah and everyone after him, though.

However, and I may be wrong because I refuse to read the book, but wasn't it mentioned in The Harlequin that they (The Harlequin) could mess with people metaphysically to influence their libido etc?

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Yeah, they did -- among other emotions. Of course with Anita, I didn't actually notice much of a change, to be honest.

Someone on amazon.com said it best -- that if Anita lost the ardeur and her ability to please men, she'd end up a crazy lady with thirty cats, mumbling about how it was just yesterday all the vampires wanted the Crotch of Doom.

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skeezix74.livejournal.com

I wonder if Laurita realizes she has given herself an out when it comes to the harem then. If it were me, the Harlequin would be used to solve that problem. Like, the emotions were false so now that the Harlequin are out of the picture (if they are) so are the emotions. I don't give Laurita that much credit to have been able to see what she has done by bringing that aspect of the Harlequin up and to be able to use it.

I also don't think her or AB's ego (aren't they really the same) could handle it if it turned out it wasn't that everyone was in love with Anita but that they were being completely manipulated by the Harlequin. She's already shown with the ardeur that *it* only magnifies feelings that are already present. *eye roll*

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roguetailkinker.livejournal.com

Exactly. As far as I can tell, the only ones who wanted her pre-arduer were Jean-Claude and Richard. Well, and Asher, but probably because she was a) a ticket back into Jean-Claude's bed and b) the best he thought he could do, being so "hideous" with his scars.

All the rest- ardueroofie. That, and apparently now there's some thing about her necromancy that makes her oh-so-attractive to vampires. (Because I know I would sure want to hang around somebody who might have the power to make me into a permanent slave. Yeah, shoor. Not.)

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I can kind of understand Asher's attraction there. He's spent centuries being used to scare people... and vampires... half to death. He's been an instrument of torture. AB didn't run screaming, stare in horror, etc. She actually touched his face and said he was beautiful or somesuch. That'd have a profound impact on anyone, vamp or no, had they been through that sort of thing.

Re: But do they really want Anita for herself?

From:

roguetailkinker.livejournal.com - Date: 2007-07-29 01:34 am (UTC) - Expand

Re: But do they really want Anita for herself?

From:

recovered-dream.livejournal.com - Date: 2007-07-29 01:38 am (UTC) - Expand

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Yes, exactly. No man has personal taste -- everything with a penis, including male hamsters and the pigeons on the roof, is utterly attracted to a short, plump brunette. Nobody says he likes redheads, or girls as tall as him, or thin girls -- no no, it must be Anita or NOTHIN'. And if he chooses the second one, she'll shag him anyway a la Byron.

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nimnix.livejournal.com

It's not the looks that turn me off, but the hypocrisy and overall idiocy. There are plenty of men who like that look, but I really can't believe that they would ignore all the rest for longer than a night if they didn't have an ulterior motive. There are certainly captivating people who come in all manner of shapes and sizes, and she is not one of them in my opinion.

She annoys me no end from the moment her first thought crawls off the page and into my screaming brain. There is nothing there to hold interest for anything longer than a one-night stand, except for the ardeur. In my alternate universe, JC is there for the long haul because it is really, really easy to manipulate her, not because she's astonishingly beautiful or captivating in any way. She's useless on her own, but great as a weapon in the right hands.

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sharkbytes.livejournal.com

When the series started, I kind of liked the fact that Anita wasn't terribly attractive. After reading tons of female detectives who were all somehow, magically stunningly beautiful without a single flaw, I thought it was pretty cool that Anita was a short, scarred, slightly stocky woman with untameable hair and a surly attitude.

Now though, the focus has turned to assuring Anita that really, she's more beautiful than the vampires -who become supernaturally gorgeous-. And when I first saw what LKH looked like, forget it!

The evidence had all become clear: this is a woman who has had trouble accepting her looks all her life (and i'm not criticizing them, she's an average looking woman) who created a character that not only looks just like her, but is clueless to her own appeal and therefore more desireable. In her imaginary world, her appearance is the "beauty ideal" and her superpowers only serve to make that more evident.

What LKH doesn't realize is that it's the reverse of the same problem: heralding one type of beauty above another only serves to make other women feel badly about their own unique features.

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The evidence had all become clear: this is a woman who has had trouble accepting her looks all her life (and i'm not criticizing them, she's an average looking woman) who created a character that not only looks just like her, but is clueless to her own appeal and therefore more desireable. In her imaginary world, her appearance is the "beauty ideal" and her superpowers only serve to make that more evident.

What LKH doesn't realize is that it's the reverse of the same problem: heralding one type of beauty above another only serves to make other women feel badly about their own unique features.

Exactly so. She's kinda average. I can see where she'd be attractive to some, not to others, not looking like the most recent "beauty" fad, but not a troll. The thing that threw me the most in the first few books was how UNattractively she described herself. There was not a single comment on appearance that didn't have a complaint in it. Then it turned to complaints about clothing and how she didn't like anything she wore... except t-shirts that could pass as dresses or nightgowns...

I can't speak for the world, but to me, 90% of whether I'll be attracted to someone isn't just the physical side though I admit there are things that get my attention, it's the self-esteem. Does a person move like they're not hating being in their own skin? I still can't picture AB carrying herself with confidence. HUGE amounts of paper thin bravado, sure, but real confidence, not really.

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zgirl714.livejournal.com

LKH=AB so if everyone loves AB then everyone loves LKH.

If we want to make logic out of the book then one would have to conclude that many of the harem is using AB for her power and not her looks.

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And that they were HUUUUUGE fans of her money and power before they shagged her.

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I started off thinking so, since there are some curvy fit women that look very good. Usually fitness is the key -- and since I come from a family of women who are curvy, average-shortish (5'3" or 4") and oftimes black-haired, I couldn't help comparing her to similar looks.

But then I found out that she was an LKH Mary Sue, and saw pics of LKH in the flesh, and read her comments about how women under size 8 aren't real women or whatever. I think her standards for things is QUITE ifferent from mine.

The answer: Yes by my standards, no by hers.

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tylergrrls.livejournal.com

If I were going to make a list of all the things that are unattractive about Anita Blake, I would not start with her height, her weight or her coloring. ;)

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tehuti.livejournal.com

I tend to go for shorter, busty girls with some meat on them, so AB is right up my alley. Psychologically, the pre-arduer AB is also my type. I kinda like uppity women. ;-)

LKH, who does seem to be the model for AB, is also my type, physically, but not so much psychologically. Of course, reading the blogs has colored that perception.

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You realise that some men like chunky women? I've never had a problem finding sexual partners. And I'm bigger than LKH and AB.

Overall I think this post is really skirting the line of offensiveness to pretty much everyone.

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poor-toms-acold.livejournal.com

Agreed. If the OP's point was that there's no way Anita could be attractive to ALL the men (as some commentors have already said) then sure, that's a valid point. But asking whether we think short, dark, curvy women can get guys? I fint that insulting. Mostly because I am all of the above.

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I would like to point out that we are speaking here of AB, not real people. A fictional character in, what seems to me, a more and more unrealistic setting.

On that note, I would like to make a few points, both in my own defense (as I have now been made out to be some horrid, offensive little hag), and to CLARIFY the issues that were clouded in both of your responses and perhaps have you both see the question I asked, and why. Understanding is far preferrable, IMO, than conflict or hurt feelings/offense taken, where neither was the intent.

1 - I did not say "chunky." I said "heavy-ish." I stated this was how I pictured AB BEFORE I saw LKH's picture and recognized the similarities in the description. Heavy-ish being above the "social norm" for what's attractive, but then also not at an unhealthy level of excess weight. IMO, LKH is, herself, about average in weight, given her height and age, but then she was not the one I was discussing. AB was.

Nor did I imply that I am, myself, a slender willow-wisp. At 5'5" I weighed in at just over 180 about 18 months ago. Due to health concerns I'm down to 160 now, but will probably never see much lower than that simply because that is not how my body was made.

Ah, and before my response to someone else becomes an issue, my comment about liking femme women does not imply **anything** about body shape or size, but rather that I prefer women who look like women, rather than women who look like men, which do exist and are very attractive to others. That's fine with me, it simply means that those who are attracted to more masculine women will not be competing with me for the women who are more feminine, and I will not compete with them for the more masculine women.

2 - Uppity was also not at issue. Pre-ardeur I pushed the series on anyone I could because of the fact that Anita was a successful, powerful female character with a sense of personal integrity, a heart, and a brain. She could brute force her way through things that would have left men crying. I enjoyed that immensely.

If anyone bothered to read my profile, you might glean that I am also an "uppity" woman. I have plenty of ego. I just don't find a need to live as though ego is all I have, which is what AB seems to do now.

I do however have issues with AB's continued "uppity" attitudes when she's little more than a tramp crying out that she has no choice but to screw everyone around her. She should be buring her head in shame at being a disgusting predator. What a waste of what could have been a good character.

3 - There is a difference between "never having a problem finding a sexual partner" and having literally every man in the room crawl over one another for the rights to bang someone because of some mystical effect which, ***IMO*** amounts to a freaking roofie. Men who would never have looked at AB (ie: gay men) suddenly can't live without doing her?

I also didn't suggest that AB (remember, a fictional person) couldn't find a partner without this ardeur bs. Remember when there was the tension between she, Richard and JC? It was interesting to read. A woman who had two men interested? Sure, that happens. I've known women who had more than two interested. I've been there myself. There's no tension anymore, just "somebody screw me!" and every male around jumps for a chance!

4 - With as many responses from people who were able to undertand the question I asked, I don't think "everyone" is offended by it.

I am VERY SPECIFIC in my language. Read what I write, not what you read into things.

That cleared, the question you must have missed is this:

"Would THIS MANY MEN be THAT interested in a woman who is SELF DESCRIBED as being far from the social norms of beauty without the mystical magical ardeur to seduce anything male in the area?"

I would like to hear from you both however why it is that I haven't seen either of you comment when others have made commentary on the fact that they think AB must not be a terribly attractive woman? AB is not, btw, the only one who is the subject of many comments about appearance. So why take offense to my post and not the rest?

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"Would THIS MANY MEN be THAT interested in a woman who is SELF DESCRIBED as being far from the social norms of beauty without the mystical magical ardeur to seduce anything male in the area?"

Not unless she was very, very rich.

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Because you started the convo. Simple as that. I figure the rest are gonna read the comments as well, so might get the message.

Yeah, the arduererere is a mystical roofie. But there are plenty of men who do think short + curvy = hot. Regardless of hypocrisy. You question, based on short + curvy = unhot and therefore cannot get that many men, is stupid. Because the 'oh no I'mnot hot' isn't an objective judgement, but an insecure whine. A lot of men would run for the hills once AB started in with that little rant or any brand of her special idiocy, but I know a lot of men (and women) who would be taking another look at any short + curvy + darkhaired chica. My husband for one. My ex for another. Me for another. Then if you add in the jerks my sister has dated/been cracked onto, you've got a lot of guys chasing a woman outside the 'norms' which aren't set by what is actually attractive to most men, but by what can be sold as attrctive and gain the best market share by inducing the self-esteem nonsense.

I thought I'd been very clear in my answer - it doesn't take magic to make a short, curvy girl attractive anough to be fuckable. The concept that it would is offensive, because it assumes that short + curvy = unattractive.

Also, don't care about your weight. It doesn't add to the discussion.

From:

tartful-dodger.livejournal.com

I find the short, cuvrvy, less than waith like thing attractive. It's not that so many people want to shag her for me, its that nobody *doesn't* want to shag her, even people who have every reason to despise her.

No matter how gorgeous you are, you can only really fit a limited number of personal tastes and the idea that someone can appeal to *everyone* is pretty ridiculous.

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Yeah, exactly. I don't think the question is "would she be attractive to ANYbody," but "would she be attractive to EVERYbody?" And the answer is no, just because in any large group of men, not ALL of them will find this particular combination of personal traits attractive, let alone omigosh-so-sexy-must-worship-at-her-crotch. The closest I've ever heard to a woman with universal appeal was Sophia Loren.

And when even flagrantly gay men actually WANT to shag Anita, enjoy it and want to continue it, we're obviously entering the realm of pure fantasy, and not the good kind either!

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It's not that so many people want to shag her for me, its that nobody *doesn't* want to shag her, even people who have every reason to despise her.

No matter how gorgeous you are, you can only really fit a limited number of personal tastes and the idea that someone can appeal to *everyone* is pretty ridiculous.

EXACTLY!!!
Thank you!

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You question, based on short + curvy = unhot and therefore cannot get that many men, is stupid.

If that is how you want to take it, then sweetie, you run with it. It wasn't what I meant. I said that it was not what I meant already, at rather great length.

My grandmother is proven right again, people will take offense wherever they choose and you just can't stop them.

From:

alex-lebeau.livejournal.com

Not entirely specific until the end, I'd say. Even though I got what you meant immediately, the majority of the post up until your last paragraph was a bit snarky. I'm not trying to piss you off anymore, but you did kind of word the post a bit indelicately for most of it. A quick read would produce bad results.

And as for the post...considering the Midwest in general, I don't think she would be considered that unattractive. I know here in WI there are plenty of women who would be considered "chunky" simply because they're not model thin (myself included, even at a size 4-6), and I doubt Missouri is any different. But when you take into account the different types of men, ages, fetishes, and personalities? I can't believe anyone honestly likes Anita for herself past Richard and Micah, LKH's two husbandly avatars. Her personality factors in just as much as her looks, and even though Jean-Claude himself even pointed out how standards of beauty have changed drastically, I highly doubt so many different men would find her worthy of fixation outside of a need for power/influence/protection etc.

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tsubaki-ny.livejournal.com

I always did like the wild, blackblack hair. (Not exactly fair, since that is my favorite type of hair in general.)

Everything else seems way too harped on and/or unrealistic for her lifestyle. (I don't buy her descriptions of bust size for an instant, for starters. What was it -- she can't cross her arms over them or some such nonsense? But she's an acrobatic gunslinger? And the weight-height-boob-dress size ratio was all off, if I remember correctly. Which I might not.)

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So she has Pamela Anderson boobs, but can still do all this action without the giant Boobs o' doom throwing her off balance? I think if she were that short, and had boobs that big, nobody would be able to look at anything else... and not because she's so sexay either.

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5'4" on a good day, J cup rack (M in US sizes). My balance only got shot to shit after surgey took out most of the cartiledge in my left knee and did a shitload of nerve damage. So yeah, it isn't the handicap people like to think it is. Not to mention while mine are huge, they don't draw that much attention. A lot yeah, but the media likes to exaggerate the effects of leering. Very few men have actually run into things while staring at my chest, and no women have (to my knowledge).

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Eh, boobs don't really affect balance that badly. I guess it's maybe because you don't just wake up with a DD strapped on one morning *rofl* It takes time for them to grow, like any body part.

I'm with you on the thing of people staring though, especially in the US. *chuckle* This country is fixated on boobs, and not just the men! I've heard some really nasty comments made by women about women who are well-endowed. It starts in elementary school when the first girl to develop ends up with a bad reputation and gets worse from there.

I'm figuring the way AB is described, no one would notice how tall she is. They'd be trying to figure out how anyone with arms that short managed to reach THAT FAR! *rofl*

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roguetailkinker.livejournal.com

Actually, the bit about the boobs isn't too far off. You don't have to be huge to have the crossed-arms problem. With big bosoms you can still cross them over your chest, but it squooshes them and looks weird. So beyond a certain point, you just get in the habit of folding your arms under them.

For a woman that skinny, I'm guessing she's a C-cup. Not likely, but not unrealistic, and fairly bosomy for an otherwise small woman.

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dwg.livejournal.com

For me, it's not so much what she looks like, as how she chooses to look. The make-up and clothes just aren't doing LKH any favours at all. And I'll join in the echoing comments of that it's Anita's total ignorance of how she must be SO ZOMG GORGEOUS and needing continual reassurance of it from her harem that just irks me.

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Yup. I cringed every time she mentioned black fucking jeans. *throws up* And oversized shirts. As a busty girl, there ain't much worse you can do than wear shirts made for big men.

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dwg.livejournal.com

Specially the shirts that go down to her knees! It doesn't matter if she's got abs that you can use as a trampoline, in that outfit? Hello frumpidom.

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moonsinger.livejournal.com

In short no. She's pretty but not a knockout. That was what I got from the books, so she isn't perfect looking and thinks her boobs/thigsh are too big. Out of all the men, I think that Richard is the only one that loved her for her until she became more of a monster than she was and they broke up. JC was attracted to her power and personality (aka spunk). All the rest except maybe Philip (remember him?) I think were attracted by the ardeur.

And I have to second the idea that she should write some non-girly men for Anita. Personally, I like strong men not wussies. Of course, I don't consider Richard, JC, or Asher to be wusses even though the latter two are definitely pretty boys.

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Yay for non-girly men!! Can we have one that isn't a serial killer now? *lol*

Richard wasn't really all that girly, but she made him look like such a wuss.

IMO, the better route would have been to do a book on Richard rather than on Micah, and get his story... how he became a were, his reactions at that time, how he found and fit into the were community... what exactly happened with he and ... ooh whatsername... the old Lupa??? Also, being from the part of the country he was from, it's NORMAL for Richard to have had fairly traditional family values. It's NORMAL for him to have the reactions he's having. I think LKH would understand him better if she considered how a small-town guy would feel and be treated if he ended up with something like HIV in the early 80's. (HIV being the only heavily stigmatized disease I can think off off-hand that would have impacted career, future and relationships with family and childhood neighbors on the level that lycanthropy seems to do in this series.)

IMO, Richard is a decent guy. Yet he ended up having to choose to drop over dead or take over the local pack. So here he is with a disease he didn't choose, one that could destroy his career, in a leadership position he never wanted, and the woman he adores banging everyone in town and using him as her evening snack. He also gets to deal with mutual friends, mutual community circles, and so on. He can't breathe without tripping over her, wants to move on but can't let go... yet.

Holy hells LKH!! Give the poor guy a freaking BREAK already!

He's not a wuss, he's just utterly overwhelmed... and no one lets him have the time he needs... there's always another crisis where everyone dies unless he shows up and then he gets to see this woman he is in love with bang ANOTHER man and add him to the list of food sources.

Heck, most guys woulda snapped and killed them all by now. I think Richard is the best character in the series!

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moonsinger.livejournal.com

I wasn't including Richard in the wuss category btw. He is the only masculine male except for Rafael that is a major character.

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chucklingcorpse.livejournal.com

Actually, I think LKH is quite pretty and what I get from the books she doesn't necessarily think she is or something along those lines. I think she isn't being completely realistic. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and a lot of men (some women too) are attracted to those particular attributes in a woman, curvy, short, busty, dark-haired, but I feel not every guy is going to go for AB's traits simply from the fact every guy has tastes that vary.

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stickfigurepeep.livejournal.com

LKH looks nothing like a picture Anita. I always pictured her a lot cuter in the face, sort of pixie-ish to contrast with her attitude. It's mentioned that Anita looks like a china doll, and I don't see that in LKH. I look pretty much exactly like Anita is described (including the doll part) and I do get a fair amount of admirers, but by no means does every man on the planet salavate at the sight of me. It really, really does boil down to a person's type.

I have a bit of a beef to raise with some of the discussion here. It's been said that Anita is "chunky" because she has big hips and tits. I find that just as offensive LKH claiming that a thin woman is a boy with breasts. I have a 24 inch waist but both my hips and chest are both 36 inches. (The "ideal" measurments for a curvy woman, I've just been informed.) I don't look chunky unless I wear really, really unflattering clothes. Marylin Monroe had similar mesaurments--by today's standards, she would be considered plus size-- and was only 5'5, but she continues to be a sex symbol to most of the population.

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