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City of Stairs (Divine Cities #1) by Robert Jackson Bennett - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00J1ISJFA/ A Game of Thrones (Song of Ice and Fire #1) by George RR Martin - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000QCS8TW/ Interview with the Vampire (Vampire Chronicles #1) by Anne Rice - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004AM5R20/ Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson - $3.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FBJCJE/ Oryx and Crake (MaddAddam #1) by Margaret Atwood - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FC1BNI/ Golden Compass (His Dark Materials #1) by Philip Pullman - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FC1ICM/
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# ? Jul 25, 2021 17:45 |
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# ? Jun 6, 2024 09:20 |
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pradmer posted:
trolling this thread is a bannable offense
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# ? Jul 25, 2021 17:56 |
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pradmer posted:Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson - $3.99 I made a post about Snow Crash in this thread a while back, but it sparked a terrible derail. Might as well quote it now, since the derailer was banned. Silver2195 posted:I just read Snow Crash. It was OK, I guess. Like The Diamond Age, it had a lot of interesting ideas and enjoyable scenes, but I don't think they really cohered together very well. It's all over the place tonally; sometimes it seems to be a parody of cyberpunk (especially near the beginning), sometimes it's trying to have serious Big Sci-Fi Ideas, and sometimes it's just a thriller.
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# ? Jul 25, 2021 18:10 |
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Orc Priest posted:Man, the prince of nothing series loving sucks. kind of felt like I got tricked into reading that. I read the first one and enjoyed it, started the second one, and realized that I just...couldn't care anymore. There was nothing but misery ahead for me. Glad I got out when I did, as I read the thread about the series here in the Book Barn and the spoilers are.... hoo boy.
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# ? Jul 25, 2021 18:41 |
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Just went to wikipedia to see and this sentence: 'The plot, characters, setting, and metaphysics of the Prince of Nothing are intertwined with philosophical positions unique to the series.' Seems kind of unlikely.
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# ? Jul 25, 2021 18:52 |
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Imagine a guy telling you that the human brain cannot fully comprehend the reasons for its own behavior and that much of our 'free will' is determined by our culture and environment, but every fifth word out of his mouth is him screaming RAPE. This goes on for like half a million words. There's some very cool stuff in those books but even as a teenager I could tell they weren't gonna deliver. And they didn't!
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# ? Jul 25, 2021 19:06 |
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HopperUK posted:Just went to wikipedia to see and this sentence: I've had enough Sword of Truth, thanks.
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# ? Jul 25, 2021 19:32 |
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General Battuta posted:Imagine a guy telling you that the human brain cannot fully comprehend the reasons for its own behavior and that much of our 'free will' is determined by our culture and environment, but every fifth word out of his mouth is him screaming RAPE. This goes on for like half a million words. I really enjoyed a lot of the bits of said cool stuff, but this is accurate.
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# ? Jul 25, 2021 19:42 |
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The single coolest thing that came out of Bakker's stuff is the concept that - it's been years since I read this theory, pardon errors - is that the elder god or "outside force" that destroyed an army was like, helicopters with missiles. Of course, that's not what Bakker ultimately did with that because he's a hack, but I ADORE the idea of a low-tech setting going "wow this must be strange magic" and no it's just modern military tech. I am that sucker who wants to see dragons vs F-14s. I am that sucker who was devastated the Final Countdown film wimped out of its own concept halfway through.
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# ? Jul 25, 2021 19:48 |
I read the first Prince of Nothing book, and there was indeed some cool stuff in there, but holy poo poo what a bunch of irredeemable assholes that I absolutely did not want to hang out with for any more books. When the insane rapist barbarian is the most sympathetic person in your book, something has clearly gone wrong. Also, the idea that being raised by a bunch of New Atheist hyper-rationalists makes you a master of manipulation is just too stupid for me. I have no problem with wizards, aliens, and alien wizards, but everyone falling for Kelhus' blatantly obvious PUA-level manipulation techniques just broke my suspension of disbelief, sorry.
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# ? Jul 25, 2021 19:51 |
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StrixNebulosa posted:The single coolest thing that came out of Bakker's stuff is the concept that - it's been years since I read this theory, pardon errors - is that the elder god or "outside force" that destroyed an army was like, helicopters with missiles. Of course, that's not what Bakker ultimately did with that because he's a hack, but I ADORE the idea of a low-tech setting going "wow this must be strange magic" and no it's just modern military tech. When I was a kid we had these graded series of reading books, and I remember a short story in one of them intended for 11-year-olds that I read a couple of years earlier. These two knights are sitting by a fire, waiting for a terrible dragon to arrive, when they plan to try killing it. They discuss stories of those who've died trying to defeat it before, and talk about its impenetrable skin and the terrifying roar of its voice. At the climax of the story it arrives and a full-page illustration makes it clear that the beast is a steam locomotive, one of those huge freight-train types that just doesn't even notice them trying to stab it as it roars past at speeds they can hardly even comprehend. Made a huge impression on Tiny Me.
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# ? Jul 25, 2021 20:00 |
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HopperUK posted:When I was a kid we had these graded series of reading books, and I remember a short story in one of them intended for 11-year-olds that I read a couple of years earlier. These two knights are sitting by a fire, waiting for a terrible dragon to arrive, when they plan to try killing it. They discuss stories of those who've died trying to defeat it before, and talk about its impenetrable skin and the terrifying roar of its voice. At the climax of the story it arrives and a full-page illustration makes it clear that the beast is a steam locomotive, one of those huge freight-train types that just doesn't even notice them trying to stab it as it roars past at speeds they can hardly even comprehend. Made a huge impression on Tiny Me. That owns, I would love to read that.
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# ? Jul 25, 2021 20:10 |
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StrixNebulosa posted:
I'll try to remember to look for it! I got hold of a copy of the book a year or two ago and had to put it aside because it really stank of cigarette smoke. Been long enough that might have eased off. e: I found the cover!
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# ? Jul 25, 2021 20:30 |
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BurningBeard posted:Finally wrapped The Golem And The Jinni last week. I’m happy to tell you the sequel does exactly what you want. I just finished it last week and liked it better than the first for this exact reason.
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# ? Jul 25, 2021 20:33 |
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pradmer posted:Oryx and Crake (MaddAddam #1) by Margaret Atwood - $2.99 this is an incredible book and the only bad thing about it is that it wasn't supposed to be a history of the future, but we're making it happen anyway
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# ? Jul 25, 2021 20:44 |
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StrixNebulosa posted:The single coolest thing that came out of Bakker's stuff is the concept that - it's been years since I read this theory, pardon errors - is that the elder god or "outside force" that destroyed an army was like, helicopters with missiles. Of course, that's not what Bakker ultimately did with that because he's a hack, but I ADORE the idea of a low-tech setting going "wow this must be strange magic" and no it's just modern military tech. That's technically spoilers for the final ending but lol I don't think anyone will experience that twist for themselves.
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# ? Jul 25, 2021 20:51 |
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SimonChris posted:I read the first Prince of Nothing book, and there was indeed some cool stuff in there, but holy poo poo what a bunch of irredeemable assholes that I absolutely did not want to hang out with for any more books. When the insane rapist barbarian is the most sympathetic person in your book, something has clearly gone wrong. The New Atheist hyper-rationalists had also eugenicized themselves into being smarter than the average bear. In particular, they were capable of fully modeling the behavior of lesser humans in their own minds and could read micro-expressions to precisely identify the internal mental states of their victims. And if you hate the absolute misanthropy of the Prince of Nothing series, do not read Neuropath. Bakker is basically "what if Peter Watts but more nihilistic?"
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# ? Jul 25, 2021 20:52 |
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90s Cringe Rock posted:You should absolutely not play Drakengard, but if it was playable then I'd recommend it here. Just read the Dark Id’s LP of it, all the flavor and none of the Drakengard-ness.
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# ? Jul 25, 2021 21:02 |
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pseudorandom name posted:The New Atheist hyper-rationalists had also eugenicized themselves into being smarter than the average bear. In particular, they were capable of fully modeling the behavior of lesser humans in their own minds and could read micro-expressions to precisely identify the internal mental states of their victims. One of my favorite continuity fuckups in that series is when, in book 1, our hyper-rationalist uberman protagonist thinks of a mountain as resembling 'the hip of a beautiful woman.' It later turns out the New Atheist hyperrationalist people had somehow converted all their women into giant axolotl tanks so he's literally never seen a beautiful woman before! Except maybe in pictures, I guess? Maybe the mountain looks like a sexy woodcut. He's also (of course) a sex god, which is peculiar given his upbringing; he was either trained in the gay ways or he was literally a virgin until he left the Big Smart Man Convent.
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# ? Jul 25, 2021 21:05 |
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General Battuta posted:One of my favorite continuity fuckups in that series is when, in book 1, our hyper-rationalist uberman protagonist thinks of a mountain as resembling 'the hip of a beautiful woman.' It later turns out the New Atheist hyperrationalist people had somehow converted all their women into giant axolotl tanks so he's literally never seen a beautiful woman before! Except maybe in pictures, I guess? Maybe the mountain looks like a sexy woodcut.
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# ? Jul 25, 2021 21:09 |
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I was pacing the halls of Atyersus contemplating the knowledge of pure meaning when my senses were assaulted by a hideous Mark. Whirling I saw a velour-robed Schoolman. Impossible! As I summoned my wards the man said, "Yo momma made a pit of her womb so deep they call her Mom-Uirokas." Desperately I focused on the simple truth of the geometric point. But the sorcerer's chapped lips chuckled "Yo momma so stupid she thinks skin-spy can cover up her herpes" and I was confronted with the knowledge that my disgrace was anticipated in ancient counsels where men's honor was bound to the grace of their mothers. My world pitched as the nimil-chained wizard cried "Aurang left yo momma's house so ashamed and hosed up he ran up to me saying, 'who am I? what do you see??'" And I wept as I accepted the busting of my soul.
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# ? Jul 25, 2021 21:09 |
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drat.
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# ? Jul 25, 2021 21:11 |
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Deep within the halls of Ishual I oversaw the birth of the latest Candidate. From the scents and issues of the pregnancy I had determined the sex of the boy. But when the child slid from the whale-mother it was at a time unanticipated by the evidence, and beneath the natal filth he wore a robe of thick cloth. Improbably, the child spoke. "Look here," he burbled, "buncha nerds so cloistered they think a clitoris is a property of the soul's will to become self-moving. Hey! You! You spend twenty years studying how passions move peeled-up faces?" And I saw in his bloodied face the words 'and yo cock so little they call you the Death of Girth.' I fell into the Probability Trance to explore the causal origins of this event, but everywhere I turned I saw a man with nimil-jeweled teeth hooting "They say an Anasurimbor will come at the end of the world, so I guess the Second Apocalypse goes down after three pumps". And I felt the Absolute escape me forever.
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# ? Jul 25, 2021 21:11 |
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Fantasy do be like that sometimes.
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# ? Jul 25, 2021 21:26 |
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Not many BravestOfTheLamps posts I think back with chuckle, but the Bakker putdown would be one.
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# ? Jul 25, 2021 21:29 |
Lunsku posted:Not many BravestOfTheLamps posts I think back with chuckle, but the Bakker putdown would be one. Anälsybarite Killhöuse was a nice one.
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# ? Jul 25, 2021 21:39 |
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HopperUK posted:When I was a kid we had these graded series of reading books, and I remember a short story in one of them intended for 11-year-olds that I read a couple of years earlier. These two knights are sitting by a fire, waiting for a terrible dragon to arrive, when they plan to try killing it. They discuss stories of those who've died trying to defeat it before, and talk about its impenetrable skin and the terrifying roar of its voice. At the climax of the story it arrives and a full-page illustration makes it clear that the beast is a steam locomotive, one of those huge freight-train types that just doesn't even notice them trying to stab it as it roars past at speeds they can hardly even comprehend. Made a huge impression on Tiny Me. This is 'The Dragon' by Ray Bradbury, published in 1955.
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# ? Jul 25, 2021 22:23 |
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Crashbee posted:This is 'The Dragon' by Ray Bradbury, published in 1955. Thank you! Awesome. Good to know I had taste even then. (lol I didn't and still don't)
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# ? Jul 25, 2021 22:37 |
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pseudorandom name posted:The New Atheist hyper-rationalists had also eugenicized themselves into being smarter than the average bear. In particular, they were capable of fully modeling the behavior of lesser humans in their own minds and could read micro-expressions to precisely identify the internal mental states of their victims. Also vastly more in need of an editor. Though, as it turns out the hyper-rationalists were also full of poo poo in text. I guess I can spoiler that Kelllus was hosed over by his kid, because he couldn't imagine that there were things he can't see, the other Dunyani took over the Ark, were actually just being used as hardware, and the one survivor they meet on their way bugs out and jumps from a clip. I thought it was actually quite clever, though of course it follows one and a half novels of tedious cannibalism. And no one should read Neuropath. General Battuta posted:One of my favorite continuity fuckups in that series is when, in book 1, our hyper-rationalist uberman protagonist thinks of a mountain as resembling 'the hip of a beautiful woman.' It later turns out the New Atheist hyperrationalist people had somehow converted all their women into giant axolotl tanks so he's literally never seen a beautiful woman before! Except maybe in pictures, I guess? Maybe the mountain looks like a sexy woodcut. I mean, would you say a mountain has classical model proportions or looks more like the tanks? General Battuta posted:Deep within the halls of Ishual I oversaw the birth of the latest Candidate. From the scents and issues of the pregnancy I had determined the sex of the boy. But when the child slid from the whale-mother it was at a time unanticipated by the evidence, and beneath the natal filth he wore a robe of thick cloth. Improbably, the child spoke. "Look here," he burbled, "buncha nerds so cloistered they think a clitoris is a property of the soul's will to become self-moving. Hey! You! You spend twenty years studying how passions move peeled-up faces?" And I saw in his bloodied face the words 'and yo cock so little they call you the Death of Girth.' I fell into the Probability Trance to explore the causal origins of this event, but everywhere I turned I saw a man with nimil-jeweled teeth hooting "They say an Anasurimbor will come at the end of the world, so I guess the Second Apocalypse goes down after three pumps". And I felt the Absolute escape me forever.
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# ? Jul 25, 2021 23:58 |
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Nomnom Cookie posted:this is an incredible book and the only bad thing about it is that it wasn't supposed to be a history of the future, but we're making it happen anyway Yeah. I love it though.
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# ? Jul 26, 2021 00:18 |
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StrixNebulosa posted:I am that sucker who wants to see dragons vs F-14s. I am that sucker who was devastated the Final Countdown film wimped out of its own concept halfway through.
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# ? Jul 26, 2021 00:21 |
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But what if the dragons were F-14s?
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# ? Jul 26, 2021 00:35 |
pseudorandom name posted:But what if the dragons were F-14s? Honestly, I'd compare a dragon more to an A-10. Big and lumbering in the air, but devastating to targets on the ground. And if y'all want tech vs fantasy magic, Gate is right there, assuming you can get past the anime-ness of it.
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# ? Jul 26, 2021 00:43 |
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Nomnom Cookie posted:this is an incredible book and the only bad thing about it is that it wasn't supposed to be a history of the future, but we're making it happen anyway Agreed. Easily her most underrated novel, and much better and more believable than The Handmaid's Tale. (The sequels suck though and have the most egregious example of retconning I've ever seen.)
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# ? Jul 26, 2021 00:46 |
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freebooter posted:Agreed. Easily her most underrated novel, and much better and more believable than The Handmaid's Tale. I'm still mad that Ian Malcolm dies in the Jurassic Park book and then Michael Crichton just ignored that when he wrote the sequel. I think the movie had come out and Malcolm's popularity made him change his mind. What a hack.
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# ? Jul 26, 2021 01:57 |
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StrixNebulosa posted:I am that sucker who wants to see dragons vs F-14s. I am that sucker who was devastated the Final Countdown film wimped out of its own concept halfway through. There was a bit in one of Stross's later Laundry novels about dragons vs SAM fire that was quite fun. As I recall, elven glamour magic was effective against modern sensor seekers but less so against old-fashioned Rapier optical guidance syetems.
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# ? Jul 26, 2021 04:49 |
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I think the dragons just didn't match any profile the missile guidance software recognized and they were forced to manually aim the missiles, which is problematic when the enemy has mind-destroying stealth glamours.
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# ? Jul 26, 2021 05:22 |
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General Battuta posted:I was pacing the halls of Atyersus contemplating the knowledge of pure meaning when my senses were assaulted by a hideous Mark. Whirling I saw a velour-robed Schoolman. Impossible! As I summoned my wards the man said, "Yo momma made a pit of her womb so deep they call her Mom-Uirokas." Desperately I focused on the simple truth of the geometric point. But the sorcerer's chapped lips chuckled "Yo momma so stupid she thinks skin-spy can cover up her herpes" and I was confronted with the knowledge that my disgrace was anticipated in ancient counsels where men's honor was bound to the grace of their mothers. My world pitched as the nimil-chained wizard cried "Aurang left yo momma's house so ashamed and hosed up he ran up to me saying, 'who am I? what do you see??'" And I wept as I accepted the busting of my soul. buying a copy of traitor to give away because of this ultimate hustler ref
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# ? Jul 26, 2021 05:48 |
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Sanderson retconned the ending of one of his books in subsequent printings, that's pretty egregious.
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# ? Jul 26, 2021 05:55 |
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# ? Jun 6, 2024 09:20 |
TOOT BOOT posted:Sanderson retconned the ending of one of his books in subsequent printings, that's pretty egregious. Really? Which one? And how?
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# ? Jul 26, 2021 08:04 |