History Main / ThePowerOFBlood

* The ultimate use of her power to [[spoiler: unite humanity into a single being]], Charlotte B. Lord of "Anime/UnlimitedFafnir" can use massive amounts of her own blood to control other people over a wide area, with the controlled adding their blood to the equation in a positive feedback loop that could involve the entirety of humanity.

* FanFic/AGrowingAffection has a BloodOath Jutsu, which is absolutely binding. Whatever a person sets as the penalty for breaking the oath, his or her own body and chakra will make happen.

* TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}:

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* One of the Liminal {{TabletopGame/Exalted}} castes is blood. Given that the Liminals are basically reanimated corpses, this is quite fitting.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'': One of the main tenets of the Khornate religion ('''BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD! SKULLS FOR THE SKULL THRONE!''') is that their god demands blood, no matter whose, as long as it's obtained through combat.

* In ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima'', [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Evangeline]], who was [[PowerLimiter de-powered]] into being stuck on the [[ElaborateUniversityHigh school's campus]] by Nagi [[RedBaron the Thousand Master]] says an ample (probably fatal) drinking of blood from him or one of his relations will somehow lift the curse.
** It's stated (at least in the English translation) that an alternate method of executing a Pactio is "open veins, swap blood", but that's not as FanService-y as kissing, so it's never actually been done that way.
** Even later, Negi learns a [[BloodMagic spell that requires him to bleed]] before he can use it, although that may be only in it's incomplete form. He uses the full version later and doesn't bother with the blood.

* FanFic/AGrowingAffection: Naruto's Blood Clone Jutsu, a dangerous technique that uses blood to create stronger clones.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'', [[TheOjou Remilia]] [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Scarlet]] has power over blood, and possibly so does her [[StrongerSibling little sister]] [[MadWomanInTheAttic Flandre.]] Apparently she can do [[SwissArmyWeapon many things]] with it. As [[KleptomaniacHero Marisa]] [[BlatantLies so eloquently]] put it: "[[RunningGag Blood is amazing!]]"

* In ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' death knights have power over blood. Those that specialize in it can apparently suck blood they've lost back inside them through [[http://cata.wowhead.com/spell=49998 Death Strike]] (or possibly drain it from their enemies into themselves, how it's supposed to work isn't entirely clear), create a "blood shield", boil the blood of the enemies, and create bloodworms to attack their enemies. Which ''burst'' from gorging themselves, healing nearby allies through a mechanism that appears to be ''showering them in other people's blood''. All in all it's pretty [[{{Squick}} Squicky.]]

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* In ''Webcomic/{{Hungry City}}'', vampire Jerome becomes more powerful when he gets his fill of blood and weaker when he's thirsty, so the human main character has to feed him her own blood so that he'd have the strength to defend her from zombies.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'':

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* ''Literature/CursedWorld'': [[Spoiler: Ella]] the sanquinmancer can read "the chaos in blood" to get a read on someone, alluding to Type B, but their reluctantly used true power is that by drinking blood their senses and attributes are magnified many times over... at the cost of gaining a craving for even more blood.

* O) Most importantly, '''[[BloodyHorror Blood is ]]''[[BloodyHorror disturbing]]''''' -- There's just something about blood leaving the body that generally freaks people out, either from fear or disgust. For obvious reasons, it's directly associated with pain, injury and death. {{Horror}} and [[SlasherMovie Slasher]] stories rely on this. A further division of this, often connected to A, B, or AB, are messages written in blood, which are used primarily to scare the bejeezus out of people, but may also have magical, symbolic, or binding properties. This is sometimes combined with RoomFullOfCrazy for the extra creepy. Properly used, blood can turn fear into PrimalFear - as per the shower scene in ''Film/{{Psycho}}'': the sight of Janet Leigh's hand trailing slowly down the shower curtain - scary. The blood (actually just ''chocolate syrup'') smearing under her fingers - PSYCHO! Many movies overdo this, resulting in mere {{Squick}} - ''Film/SilentHill'' pours on the tension until your heart threatens to explode from your chest - scary. Then Pyramid Head shows up and tears the skin from a woman in a single tug - not that scary, just your basic {{Gorn}}.

* ''Anime/TheVisionOfEscaflowne''. The movie version took it UpToEleven

* ''Film/{{Apostle}}'': The cult of the island has been trying to keep the island going by sacrificing their blood to the island's goddess. [[spoiler:This turns out to be the disturbing sort, as feeding blood to the goddess, rather than just worshiping it, causes it to pervert itself into a HumanoidAbomination that has been slowly killing everything in the island.]]
* Being 'blood brothers' is part of many westerns.
** Film/McLintock

* In ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'' only Gwynn can use [[TomeOfEldritchLore the Book of E-Ville]] to cast spells because her name has appeared on the inside cover written in blood. Right above instructions to, if lost, drop in any mailbox to return it to the rightful owner.
* In ''Webcomic/{{Sinfest}}'', [[http://www.sinfest.net/view.php?date=2000-01-19 Satan wants the forms and waiver filled out in blood, of course.]]

** When it comes to [[BloodMagic Thaumaturgists]], the basic in-universe mechanics of the art requires both Paths and Rituals to have some way to "target" the subject of the power. With most Paths, it's as easy as being near enough to see the target. With rituals - which could take minutes, hours, or even days of preparation - there's got to be something on hand to establish what - or more importantly who - the magi is going after. And there's nothing that ensures a target lock like having a sample of the victim's blood. Except maybe knowing the victims True Name, but that's difficult to learn.

* One of the Liminal {{TabletopGame/Exalted}} castes is blood. Given that the Liminals are basically reanimated corpses, this is quite fitting.
--> '''[[WordOfGod John Morke]]:''' '''Aspects of Blood''' are born of [[MadScientist creators]] driven by “possessive” passion—lust, greed, and ambition. Blood represents the heat of passion and the wonder of emotion. Blood is a carrier as well as a fulcrum; it can be a river of plagues or a font of virginal purity with which to attract and bind the foulest of horrors and bid them whip. Blood Aspects are sanguine, passionate, outgoing creatures.
--> Blood Aspect magic, for example, may allow a Liminal to easily track a man for hundreds of miles with only a sample of bodily fluids to work from, but it also allows confident navigation of the dark waterways and torrential courses of the Underworld, as well as influence over the desires and addictions of others.

* In ''Anime/PrincessTutu'', Drosselmeyer wrote a story in his own blood [[spoiler:to control the town where the anime takes place]].
** Also, the Raven is so evil that his blood can [[TheCorruption turn people evil]] when they ingest it, [[BloodBath bathe in it]], or have it otherwise go into their body.
* The jousei manga ''It's Not Like That, Darling'' uses a more passive form of this trope (a combination of Type B and Type AB). The main character gets a blood transfusion after an accident in the backstory. Later, the donor dies in another, unrelated accident and our heroine finds herself having the ''strangest'' thoughts... A tolerably good romantic comedy, as such things go.

* In ''Manga/BlackCat'', Sheldon's Tao is manipulating blood.
* In ''Manga/FullMetalAlchemist'', Ed uses his blood to draw the alchemical seal which binds Al's soul to the suit of armor. Apparently, being produced in a living body and rich in iron makes blood a good intermediary between souls and steel.
* ''Manga/{{Hellsing}}'', where it has slight crossover with Type B when referred to as "the currency of the soul." What it means is that vampires like Alucard absorbs their meals' souls when they consume their blood. Seras discovers this truth when she consumes Pip's blood, collecting his soul, becoming a true vampire, and herself gaining some of the Power of Blood. Later, it's revealed that [[spoiler:the huge amount of souls he's consumed fuels his absurdly powerful HealingFactor--and that he can release his victims as a macabre army of the undead]].

* One of the Contractors in ''Manga/DarkerThanBlack'', Wei, is able to teleport away anything that is covered in his blood. This power is frequently used to create gaping holes in the torsos of his enemies. Naturally, the only way he can use this power is by [[NightmareFuel carrying a knife and cutting his own wrists to toss blood on opponents.]] In case you couldn't tell, [[BadPowersBadPeople he's a bad guy]].

* In ''[[ComicBook/TheSandman A Game of You]]'', menstrual blood is used to power a spell to send the characters to the land of the dead and come back alive ([[spoiler:mostly]]). In ''The Time Of Your Life'', the same spell is powered from blood from Foxglove's hand.
* Another parody happens in ''ComicBook/LenoreTheCuteLittleDeadGirl'', when she pricks her finger and spills a drop of blood on a doll. It turns out to be a vampire that was cursed to be an inanimate plaything, and her blood broke the curse. Unfortunately, he realizes he's still in a doll's body because the curse didn't break properly; she'd been embalmed.
* ''ComicBook/{{Runaways}}'': "When blood is shed, let the Staff of One emerge."

* Melisandre of ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' uses the blood of a king in a ritual to [[spoiler: cause the deaths of Robb Stark, Joffrey Baratheon, and Balon [=GreyJoy=]]]. [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane Possibly.]] The maegi Mirri Maz Duur also uses blood magic to [[spoiler: [[EmptyShell "heal"]] Drogo]] and the favor is returned by Daenerys when she [[spoiler: burns the maegi alive as part of the magic to awaken her dragons.]]
** This was also part of the Targaryens' reasoning for their [[IncestIsRelative rampant incest]].
* Creator/MercedesLackey loves this concept, and blood mages are frequently villains in her books. Combines with Type O, since the shedding of blood is incidental -- the suffering and trauma of the victim is the real source of power.
** There are also good people who use blood magic--they only use their own blood. Most notably, the [[Literature/HeraldsOfValdemar Shin'a'in]], whose patron goddess will sometimes require someone (usually a shaman) to sacrifice themselves to prove the people's need.
* In ''Literature/{{Stardust}}'', the witches use the hearts of living stars to prolong their youth as a form of blood magic.
* In ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire'', Voldemort uses [[spoiler: Harry's blood to reconstitute himself]]. In addition to reviving himself, it gives Voldemort the power to touch Harry, because [[ThePowerOfLove the all-sacrificing love]] that Lily imparted to her son resided in Harry's blood. This later[[spoiler: backfired as the blood link to the then-immortal Voldemort prevented Harry from dying, though this]] didn't stop a rebounding Killing Curse later on.
** And speaking of Lily, the fact that Harry lives with her last blood relative (her sister Petunia) allows Dumbledore to cast a protective charm that makes Number 4, Privet Drive (Petunia's home) the one place where Voldemort and his {{mooks}} cannot get close to Harry.
** Also, in ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheHalfBloodPrince'', a small blood sacrifice is needed [[spoiler: to reach the spot of Voldemort's Horcrux. Dumbledore actually expresses disappointment at Tom Riddle for such a basic idea (that overlaps with Blood Is Scary, below), and points out to Harry that the idea is to weaken the intruder as much as possible.]]
** And then there's unicorn blood. It will, according to Firenze, "keep you alive, even if you are at the brink of death, but at a terrible price. You have slain something pure and defenseless to save yourself, so you will have but a half-life, a cursed life, from the moment the blood touches your lips."
* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' parodies this with the Rite of Ashk'Ente, which summons Death - it's implied that this is supposed to require a human sacrifice, but magical refinements mean that it's now possible with only "4 cubic centimetres of mouse blood".
** In ''Literature/CarpeJugulum'', Granny Weatherwax uses this kind of blood magic against vampires by [[spoiler: 'infecting' ''them'' when they feed on her.]]
--->[[spoiler: I aten't been vampired. You've been Weatherwaxed.]]

* The Mosquito-kinden of ''Literature/ShadowsOfTheApt'' have a ''serious'' thing about blood, and huge quantities turn up in some prophecies.
* Also from ''Literature/SwordOfShadows'', it's possible for weaker sorcerers to enhance their powers by draining blood from a properly bound stronger sorcerer. [[EvilOverlord Penthero Iss]] demonstrates both the binding and the bloodletting in NightmareFuel detail.
* In the ''Literature/OldKingdom'' trilogy by Creator/GarthNix, the power of the Charter that gives the King, Abhorsen, and Clayr their unique abilities is found InTheBlood - as in, both genetically and literally. Charter Stones, which keep the magical Old Kingdom sustained, can be broken if a Charter Mage's blood is spilled on them (in death), and the [[CosmicKeystone Great Stones]] can only be broken by the blood of one of the Charter bloodlines (see above.) Finally, in ''Abhorsen,'' [[spoiler: Sam makes a sword to break apart the EldritchAbomination by combining, among other ingredients, blood from carriers of all [[strike: three]] four bloodlines.]]
* In one of Tamora Pierce's ''Literature/CircleOfMagic'' books, Niko cuts his palm so that he can use his own blood to fuel a past-viewing spell, saying that mages will often use blood to make a spell more powerful. He then says some use their own, others use the blood of others - willing or not - and sternly warns the student listening to him not to use others.
* Some cross-over with Type A in the ''Literature/ChroniclesOfTheKencyrath'' with blood-binders- Kencyr who have the inherent magical ability of creating a telepathic link with anyone who's exposed to their blood, a link that is so powerful that can endure past death. [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Darkling Changers]] have a related ability of being able to take the form of anyone whose blood they've sampled. If a Changer tries to feed on a blood-binder, and the blood-binder's magic is stronger, then the Changer will be wracked by intense pain, the only known release form which is death.

* In ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'' series by Robert Jordan, we have the mindtrap; similar to a phylactery. Combined with the blood and saliva of a channeler(magic user), it captures the soul, or essence of said channeler. Should this fragile item be crushed in someone's hand, the holder will have complete control over the (now)mindless puppet.
* In ''Literature/NewArcana'', only people with mageblood can use arcane magic, and mageblood is a street drug. The Order's soul-binding ritual involves mingling the blood of the cohort members.
* In ''Literature/{{Pact}}'', blood is symbolic of the self, and can therefore be used as a source of power in an emergency-but only the mad or the desperate do this, because spilling blood is spilling the self, and a lot of Others ''like'' it when people are hollowed out shells-it gives them room to move in.
* In ''Literature/TheWitchlands'', Bloodwitches can distinguish people by the smell of their blood and track them down by it even across open sea. They can also control blood in other people's veins, letting them, for example, freeze them in place or stop their hearts.

* ''Literature/TheCityOfBrass'': [[OurGeniesAreDifferent Daeva]] society was once ruled by the Nahid Dynasty, descended from the one daeva to win the trust of the Prophet Suleiman. Their blood is unique in that it's a deadly poison to the ifrit -- those daeva who defied Suleiman at the cost of their magic.

* In the ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}'' supplement ''Aztlan,'' mages can use BloodMagic: spilling a human's blood to enhance spellcasting and summon Blood Spirits. Extremely evil, restricted to Non Player Characters.

* Common in the TabletopGame/{{Ravenloft}} setting, both as a power-source for certain kinds of evil magic and as a means for vampires to bequeath temporary vigor and prolonged life to their mortal minions.

* As mentioned above, both ''[[TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade Vam]][[TabletopGame/VampireTheRequiem pire]]'' games take full advantage of this subtrope. Once blood enters a vampire's body, it becomes something ''more'' than blood (often referred to by vampires as "Vitae").

* The Whateley Family in ''TabletopGame/{{Deadlands}}'' have this as their hat. It is CastFromHitPoints, is powerful and overuse does Very Bad Things. The Whateleys are for the most part inbred, insane, powerful, rich and servants of the BigBad.

* In ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' death knights have power over blood. Those that specialize in it can apparently suck blood they've lost back inside them through [[http://cata.wowhead.com/spell=49998 Death Strike]] (or possibly drain it from their enemies into themselves, how it's supposed to work isn't entirely clear), create a "blood shield", boil the blood of the enemies, and create bloodworms to attack their enemies. Which ''burst'' from gorging themselves, healing nearby allies through a mechanism that appears to be ''showering them in other people's blood''. All in all it's pretty [[{{Squick}} Squicky.]]
* This is part of the plot to ''VideoGame/ZeldaIITheAdventureOfLink''. Link killed Ganon in the [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZelda original game]], but several of his minions are still running amok in Hyrule. While he goes on the eponymous adventure to return six crystals to six palaces, he has to be careful; the minions want to kill him so they can scatter his blood on Ganon's ashes and return him to life.
* In ''VideoGame/VanguardBandits'', the [[EvilWeapon monstrous Zulwarn]] [[AMechByAnyOtherName ATAC]] needs Blood in order to run.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Okamiden}}'', the BigBad Akuro must [[BloodBath bathe]] his [[DemonicPossession vessel]] in blood to become perfect. [[spoiler:Specifically, Orochi's blood.]] Or, maybe he has to bathe himself. The game can't agree with itself on this point.

* In Creator/CliveBarker's ''VideoGame/CliveBarkersJericho'' ([[WebAnimation/ZeroPunctuation by Clive Barker]]), the character of Wilhelmina "Billie" Church is a blood mage, whose spells can bind enemies and set them on fire. Her blood magic and abilities are also very important to certain aspects of the story.
* The Healing Church's special blood in ''VideoGame/{{Bloodborne}}'' can cure any ailment and has cemented the church's power over the city of Yharnam. [[spoiler: Too bad it belongs to/''is'' an EldritchAbomination and gradually transforms people into horrific beasts.]]

* In ''Webcomic/TowerOfGod'', King Jahad transfers power to the Princesses of Jahad, his adopted daughters, by his blood.
* In ''Webcomic/PublicHumiliation'', Pooka blood is needed to power magic runes used for all sorts of things in modern society. Originally, it was freely given by Pooka to their allies, but when they were tired, and tried to say "no more", they found that their "allies" had become just another foe. [[spoiler: Needless to say, when a Pooka hero did show up, things got messy.]]

* In Creator/RobertEHoward's Literature/ConanTheBarbarian story "Literature/ShadowsInZamboula" Baal-pteor offers HumanSacrifice with a NeckSnap, to save blood for the god.

* This is why Vampires in ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}'' attack people and drink their blood -- ''Shadowrun'' vampires actually drain [[LifeForce Essence]] to survive, but Essence Drain only works when the victim and predator are connected on a deep, emotional level. It just so happens that for most vampires, the easiest emotion to connect with your victim is "fear", and drinking someone's blood while they're watching helps tremendously.

* In ''Literature/ShadowsForSilenceInTheForestsOfHell'', by Creator/BrandonSanderson, shedding blood will draw the wrath of the shades like nothing else. An accidental bump or nosebleed doesn't count, but blood shed in anger, exposed to the air, will enrage every shade in the vicinity. First, they will hunt down and kill whoever shed the blood, then, being enraged, they'll kill anyone else that happens to be nearby.

** And speaking of Lily, the fact that Harry lives with her last blood relative (her sister Petunia) allows Dumbledore to cast a protective charm that makes Number 3, Privet Drive the one place where Voldemort and his {{mooks}} cannot get close to Harry.

* In ''Webcomic/{{HungryCity}}'', vampire Jerome becomes more powerful when he gets his fill of blood and weaker when he's thirsty, so the human main character has to feed him her own blood so that he'd have the strength to defend her from zombies.

* A) '''[[BloodOath Blood is binding]]''' -- Any {{Magically Binding Contract}}s made in blood ''must'' be honored, on pain of death, even if the contract was only written in blood because you CouldntFindAPen. If you make a BloodOath, and swear that "if you break your word, may the earth drink your blood!", and break your word anyway, you may find yourself six feet under.

* B) '''[[SymbolicBlood Blood is symbolic]]''' -- Blood may be used as a stand-in, or weaker form of souls, life force, what have you. Alternatively, other things may be used to symbolize ''it''. The latter applies to things like an android's oil being sprayed out like it's HighPressureBlood.
** For examples of the latter, see MachineBlood.

* AB) '''[[BloodMagic Blood is magical]]''' -- Any spells that require [[EyeOfNewt blood as a reagent]] will probably be either extremely powerful, BlackMagic, or both. Since blood is basically LifeForce, [[PowerSource anything using it]] will work similarly to things CastFromHP, or it may be used to [[FertileBlood create life]]. The blood of [[MainliningTheMonster especially powerful or arcane creatures]] may compel others, grant immortality, or even [[BodyToJewel become gems]].
** See Also: BloodBath

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[[caption-width-right:350:Well that bites!]]

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* In ''Webcomic/TowerOfGod'', King Zahard transfers power to Zahard's princesses, his adopted daughters, by his blood.

** In ''Discworld/CarpeJugulum'', Granny Weatherwax uses this kind of blood magic against vampires by [[spoiler: 'infecting' ''them'' when they feed on her.]]

** For examples of the latter, see AlienBlood or SymbolicBlood.

* In ''Manga/FullMetalAlchemist'', Ed and Al use drops of their blood to stand in for "information of the soul" when trying to bring back their mother from the dead using alchemy.

* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer''. In the episode "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS5E22TheGift The Gift]]", Spike basically lays out the trope.
-->'''Xander:''' Why blood? Why Dawn's blood? I mean, why couldn't it be like a, a lymph ritual?\\
'''Spike:''' 'Cause it's always got to be blood.\\
'''Xander:''' We're not actually discussing dinner right now.\\
'''Spike:''' Blood is life, lackbrain. Why do you think we eat it? It's what keeps you going. Makes you warm. Makes you hard. Makes you other than dead. Course it's her blood.

* Seems to be a thing for TheFairFolk in ''Webcomic/TheWeave''; a BlindSeer fairy can tell who and what protagonist Tally is and what'll be her purpose by drinking a drop of her blood, and another who's dying binds her ghost to Tally by getting her blood into Tally's own wound.

* In ''Literature/DaughterOfTheLioness'', an oath sworn in blood kills anyone who breaks it, with the blood boiling in their veins. It's not much favored in Tortall due to the nastiness of it, but Aly happily exploits it when forcibly recruiting spies from the enemy in the Copper Isles.

* In ''Shadows For Silence In The Forests Of Hell'', by Creator/BrandonSanderson, shedding blood will draw the wrath of the shades like nothing else. An accidental bump or nosebleed doesn't count, but blood shed in anger, exposed to the air, will enrage every shade in the vicinity. First, they will hunt down and kill whoever shed the blood, then, being enraged, they'll kill anyone else that happens to be nearby.

* Averted in ''Theatre/DamnYankees'', where [[LouisCypher Applegate]] laughs at the idea of having Joe sign his name in blood to the [[DealWithTheDevil contract]].
* ''Theatre/{{Showboat}}'', as described above.

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* In the ''Literature/SwordOfShadows'' series, blood is sacred to [[ProudWarriorRace the Sull]], who bleed themselves as a form of offering to their gods. Obviously, most Sull become ''very'' skilled at letting blood with minimum pain and without hitting anything important.

* Seeing as it provided a title quote it's not surprising that ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' has a few examples of this. The blood of a slayer apparently has mystical qualities, allowing Angel to survive Faith's poison, and granting the Master the strength to escape his prison in the first season. Dawn's blood was used by Glory to open the interdimensional portal.
* ''Series/{{Angel}}'' also used this quite extensively. The Beast dripped blood onto the artifacts it had gathered as the final part of its ritual to blot out the sun. The blood of a virgin was used to expedite the birth of Jasmine. Lorne's blood was used in another ritual calling for the blood of a demon. And of course Hamilton's blood turned out to be full of the power of the Senior Partners. There are probably a lot more. Any show with vampires and magic is likely to feature a lot of this trope.
* In the ''Series/DoctorWho'' episode "The Christmas Invasion", the Sycorax use samples of A Positive that they took out of a satellite to control everyone in the world of that blood type.

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