The Possession of Alba Diaz Book Club Episode

Hello, Hello, This is Christina and Carmen and this is another episode of a Spooky Tells, a podcast for all things a spooky hunting places, myths, legends to crime in Latin America, but also books, Yes, books. This is a book club episode book Club, book Club. It's been a while since we started this book listen life. I finished it in August to and I think no one was I remember actually when I finished it. I don't remember either. Yeah, like December and we're like in June. Shit. Yeah, So the book. The book is The Possession of Albadas by I was going to confuse her name. I was going to I thought, I said the Possession of Man. I said it, right, you did, the Possession of Albadas by Isabel kas And the way these book club episodes work is that we do a very brief, non spoiler summary, as in, it's the summary in the back of the book. No, I'm making my own summary now, oh, this is Carmen summary. Then, yeah, but this is a spoiler free summary, right, m okay. Then we go into a recap of the book, because maybe it's been a while. Spoilers some people. And I love this because this is something I would do. Some people wait for the recap to see if they want to read the book. Oh, I've done that. Yeah with the other book podcast. I listened to the book Fix. Yes, we love the book Fix. And then after the recap we do our discussion questions and then we read it. Yeah, and then we announce another book. Yeah, okay, okay, So are we ready for the summary? Yeah, here goes. It's seventeen sixty five in Tacatecas and Mexico or Nova Spana, should we say? A plague is sweeping through the area, so Alba and her wealthy family flee to her fiance's mind for refuge, while Elias, the cousin of Alba's fiance, is mining his business, trying to escape his troubled past, but also ends up at the mine. And soon the plague is the least of everyone's worries because there are worse things like demonic things. Yes, this book has it all a more probido demonic things and silver mercury mercury yeah, Catholicism yes, yeah. Alchemy peninsulais the recap, so we start off by learning about the legend of the Monte Rubio Mine, an urban legend like rumor that spread in the town. Some say it's an ancient terror, a pagan devil, or a hunting I just love the way she started this. Oh yeah, immediately all was like hooked. Yes a, whenning gone wrong, we're only a bloody Albadias survived. Next we meet Elias. We learned that he's an alchemist who left Spain and traveled all over the world. During his travels, he comes across his spell book that's written in an old language al Camilla Camia, Yeah, something like that. I don't know what that is. Also, I didn't realize I didn't write the title of the book, but it's in leave it with the Sante Pristian or something like that. And guess what, we have seen that book already if you've read other Albadias already, yes, fuck other book, my yea. I didn't realize that. M hm, this is the book that oh my god, Prista, we all love. Yeah, I forgot's name right now. The book he has, Yes, our husband with aiden from Suso. I didn't realize that. Yes, how cool. I was so spoiled to be able to attend a talk by seven in August when the book came out and She shared this little tidbit during the talk. It was so cool, and I met her and I took a picture with her. It's on the Instagram. It was one of the highlight of my year. So but yeah, Andress I think is his name? Yeah, it was. Yeah, he's the one who has his book, so very cool. Yeah, and the Alhamia al Hamia. We don't know where the accident is. I'm sorry. Yeah. It combined Spanish and Arabic words, and these are his two primary languages. Then he gets a letter saying, your father has returned. Come very ominous, I think very weeks later, he in weeks literally, you can, you can travel fast. Now weeks later, he arrives back to Spain, telling himself he's not going back only because of the letter that he was already planning to go back to get mercury from Saveah for some of his shady dealings or something. When making his way back home, Eleas is asking himself why did his dad stop writing and why did he never come back to Spain. The dad went to Novo Mexico or Noble Sorry aka Mexico. We learned that he hasn't seen his dad in over twenty years. But when he gets home, he finds out from his Grandpaadio that his dad actually died six months ago, and Agadio just lied to him to get him back. That's messed up. Yeah, your dad's back in the sense that he's never coming back. Your dad back in the sense that he died. It turns out that Abuelo Ergadio wants Elias to help the family mine purchased by his dad and uncle Eracio. He wants to wants them to get a debt and taxes because he's a mercury expert. So the plan would be for Elias to get enough mercury to refine enough silver because you need mercury to refine the silver to get them out of debt and then make a profit. Stand and they all have those to a Cleoyo merchant family. They are in debt to a Cleoyo family, which is Alba's family. And Creoyo is what Spanish people born in Mexico, right, I believe? So should we double check that? Yeah, full Spanish descent born the New World. Yeah, you're right. See, we didn't need to double check. You need to trust yourself. I told you we don't need to double check trusting yourself and trust in me because I told you not to doubt yourself. Trust in both of us. Yes, seen in me? Is trusting in you? Really? Yes? Yes? Yeah, you know we are one truly And yeah that family al said that. Okay. At first, Alias does they want to help, but the allure of that much silver is too enticing, and he agrees as long as he can keep seventy five percent of any silver refined from the mercury after they repay the debt, so he goes out to Sacatecas, where the family mine is located. Next, we meet Alba and her mama at their daily confession, which, to Alba's dismay, they never miss. During her confession, Albert tells the priest that she may have blackmailed someone, but totally not on purpose. No, no, it's like it's not a big deal. You know. Have you ever actively blackmailed someone? It happens, yeah, and so like this is really a sin that she's not really yes, right, no damage done right exactly exactly as that her parents are ready to sell her off to the highest better marry her. But the same thing back then, you know, yeah, yeah, but her mom doesn't want her to marry anyone from Spain because she doesn't want about to go far away, especially as an only daughter that they adopted. But her dad didn't want to marry her to the local rich family, the monte Rubios, because of said dead. Around the same time, Alva learns that the monte Rubios are indebted to her family and this happened to be her bestie Carlos's family. She also learns that the monte Rubos found her abandoned in the mind and offer her to her parents, something her parents never disclosed to her. Instead, they would say different origin stories for her. So Alba con confessed that she went to Carlos and proposed a mutually beneficial arrangement because Carlos wasn't really interested in marrying a woman. They could get married but keep being besties and to each do their own thing, and her family wouldn't ask for the dead to be repaid if she married into his family. And the priest is like, girl, that's a sin, which I'm not sure personally, it sounds like a mutually beneficial deal to me. Yeah, yeah, Alban Carlos go to a wedding together and she loves how Carlos commands the room, Carlos brings the champagne and proposes a toast to celebrate that his family receives a large amount of mercury from Spain. Cadlos also tells all about that his bestie Bartholome aka Barn, a former soldier but now a priest, just arrived from Spain, and he goes to introduce them, and when she hears his voice, she raises Bartholome is the priest she gave her confession to the other day. She's like fit and she's like, oh my god, he's gonna tell me he knows. No, fuck he knows. She freaks out and steps out for some air, and while getting some error, she meets a stranger. The man tells her he plans to get rich quick like most other new arrivals from Sakata, and then run away from his family. And maybe it was maybe it's been out in the dark and the cold, but they end up flirting a little, and they even dance outside. And what happens outside it stays outside. It's outside. While they're dancing, before they even learn each other's names, they hear a scream in the ballroom and a commotion. They hid inside there's whispers that the bride fainted and had a fever, and they run into Carlos and Bartolome and here Alas Elias, the stranger from outside is Calos's convict cousin. About four days later, Eraclio, Carlos's dad, stops by Alba's house. Wait, I thought Carlos is not my bad, my bad ignored that. I was thinking he was. Uh Elias's dad. I was like, that was dead. Oh yeah, no. Carlos's dad stops by Alba's house to tell Alba's dad they're leaving for their mind Mina San Gabrielle because of the spreading illness, which Alba calls Mattlasa what. They're leaving the next morning and by Alba's family to come along. Alba's parents were hesitant at first, and they pretty much tell her that they have misgivings about her marrying Catloss. Alba tells them she's going either way with or without them, so ultimately they all go. They set off the next day, and Alba's Hella annoyed because Bartolome is next to her the entire way. Alba is surprised to hear that Elias also joined on the trip, she thought she would never see him again, and so now they're floriding. It was kind of weird, right like now it's like now what. Yeah. As soon as they arrived to Minas and Gabrielle Alba feels something physical shifting inside her body and she hears a voice telling her leave this place, girl you. She also, with zero awareness, starts following the voices up the mountain in a kind of hypnotized way, and the trance is broken when her mom yells at her to get down. And this is only the beginning of such things. Next is Nelia's chapter on the Way to the Mine, and he's thinking about how much he hates no Vaspana, the new moneiness of his family, and he's walking the mule alongside the other as Soghetto of the mine. Rometo and a Tohetto is like the person who works with the mercury mercurating too, so the alchemist. Yeah, but alchemy is like magic. It's not. I thought it was just like the mixing of like no shit, No, a to Guetto is like in the mine like working. Oh okay, So now guy's Rometo and he's Elias is hellinoid because Rometro keeps asking him questions about being in prison. He keeps asking him why he's darker. Alchemy is a trans mutation of base metals like lead into gold. Oh, there is a mystical there's a mystical component to him, like looking for eternal life. I thought I only ever knew of the magical alchemy and then let's just double check. Also, just is this is just a historical term for a silver miner who used mercury to extract silver or silver minor. Okay, that's that's what I said. Yeah, so I was still right. Yeah, well you're wrong about alchemy being magic, but yeah, only being magic. Yeah, yes, okay, I see, I seek Okay, So yeah, es is hell annoyed because the matter keeps asking him questions about president, like invasive questions, rude questions. He keeps asking him if he's darker because his mom was a more and about his cast. Improper questions. Yeah, yeah, yeah, sorry, this just made me think of mean girls. And he just asked someone if there are born exactly that you could just ask one about their cats. Elias is surprised to see Alba and he realizes he's like kind of Christian hard, and he's like, I need to mind my business because she is my cousin's fiance. And then Romelo told Elias lore about the mine, that the house was named Casaka Laverdas, but the first owner who went by all these scared throw and that all these scarecrow's son died in the mine before Elias dad suggested to Eraclio that they buy the mine, and so that's why they got the mind for cheaper, because young Eastcerlow died there so ominous. Yeah, Elias is settling in unpacking his things when a young teen girl and a woman introduced themselves to him, and turns out this is his dad, second family that he knew nothing about, which of course he had, you know. Yeah, in this sense, his dad was actually very Mexican or very self adoran. I mean, I mean, and where did that come from? Probably from the colonizers, honestly, it's a full circle turn around. Anyway. That girl is Maria Victoriana, and then the mom is Carolina, and now we're back to Alba. It's the next morning, and Albas realized she sleepwalked the night before, but she rationalized it away, thinking to herself that she's always sleepwalked in new places, but like, one doesn't just sleepwalk one. It's not just simply sleepwalk like. There's always more to it, especially when the mine is haunted. Mm hmm, especially when upon our arriving to set mine one, there's voices experience luring one to the mind. Alba asks Carlos for a tour of the property, so he shows her around. While Carlos is showing her around, Rometo wants to show Carlos a new line of ore that was discovered, and Alba doesn't want to be alone, so she follows Carlos into the mine, and he told her to stay closed for safety reasons, but of course she doesn't. On their way down to the mine, Alba keeps hearing voices telling her to get out and keep going. Once she's in the mind, she gets separated from Carlos. She gets lost deeper within the mind and she starts hearing a crime baby. And I'm sorry, but if you're hearing a crime baby, you're not You're not hearing a crime baby. That's actually not a crime baby. And that's a sign to get out. That's a sign to leave, and definitely don't go towards the fake crime baby exactly. It feels like the walls are closing in on her. She's disoriented and panicked, and she screams when she feels something grab her shoulders. This is Elias. But before we get there, we switch to Elias's POV and Maria Victoriana is bugging him, asking him a bunch of questions, like I know her dad said Elias learned so much about mercury from being in prison, and that he learned magic with medals. She just wants to get close to him. He's not having it. He can't get over his dad having a second family, which, like you should have just expected. Honestly, he was there for like twenty years. What do you think was gonna happen? I mean, come on. He gets into a little argument with Maria Victoriana and she ends up telling him that he's not in their dad's will, and this pisces him off so bad he goes off on her. This isn't the poor girl's fault though, I mean, Lees, really, you just stoop down to a teenagers of all, yeah, come on, and then made her your dad. Yeah, this is your dad's doing. This is your buddy, yeah, telling her about how their dad left him and his only inheritances their dad's dead, and then he makes her cry. Before Eleaz makes his way to the mind, he gets called to the grotto and there he finds some kind of effigy like an altar or some kind of offering. Yeah to the effigy a bowl of mercury, and he's amazed by this and almost hypnotized by the mercury until Carolina kicks him out, saying that he's just like his dad, un Metich. Then he goes to the mine and soon hears Alba screams. Albas wears up and down that there's a baby in the mine, but Elias gets her out of there because there's no baby. No. When they get out of the mine, Carlos and Elias get into a screaming match with each other. E LiAZ calls Carlos a dumbass for bringing Alba to the mine, and Carlos is like, get your peasant hands off my fiance. Alba realizes her hands are covered with blood, or at least she imagines it. The next day, Alba and her mom go to the chapel on the grounds, and when Alba dips her fingers into the holy water, she feels an icy shock of cold, and when she tries to make the sign of the cross, her hands are held as stiff. And if we remember from our episode about the extracystem of Gina, this is one of the signs. Yeah, I was gonna say this is sign number one. Something is an aversion to all the idea demonic kind of way. After mass, Carlos introduces Alba to more townspeople and Carolina is one of them, but they don't have a pleasant introduction. Carolina tells Alba that she has no place here. Why is Carlina so mad at this? I don't remember. You will find out later then, Okay. Later on, Alba and Carlos are sitting Carlos's favorite spot when they catch Maria Victoriana spine on them. Carlos says he's sick of his uncle's mistakes, Osa his second family, but Alba's are just wondering if Maria Victoriana is spine on her because she knows something about her or about the baby that Victoriana found in the mine twenty five years ago. So Alba resolves to befriend Maria Victoriana. Carlos also ends up telling Albad that Elias went to prison for murder, so she promises to stay away from him. The next day, Alba sets off to look for Maria Victoriana. A cook from the house tells her she'll find her at the and there she finds Maria Maria Victoriana with Elias, and Rometo is also there. Madia Victoriana takes Alba aside after Rometo talks some ship to her and makes her feel bad. To explain how the work is done, Rometo makes Madia Victoriana, I feel bad? Or Alba feel bad? Who's feeling Alba? Okay? Alba's about to touch the mercury before Elias stops her, telling her that it's poison. Madia Victoriana explains to Alba that the poison is the reason Elia's hands are shaking and that by the end of her dad's life he couldn't even write anymore. She says that it gets your hands first and then your mind. Elias is like, I don't want to hear about this shit. What the fuck? He argues with Maria Victoriana abbe, and then Alva learns that Elias studied alchemy in Constantinople and she can't help, but thinking how cool that is. She asks Elias about Constantinople and they talk for a bit until they both make sassy remarks about their lots in life, and it gets a little awkward because they flirted, yeah, but also because she's like, oh, well you're a man, you can just travel, and he's like, well, you're a merchant, rich, wealthy person and she's like, well, you don't understand what it's like woman. Of course, she's right, he doesn't get it. But whatever. Yeah, yeah, we will get into that in the discussion portion of this. Later that night, Raclio tells Elias they're having dinner with Alaba's family and they need to put on a show of family unity because they need mister Dias's respect. Raclio tells Elias to not talk about either of his shitty parents or prison. Long story short, the dinner goes bad once Rometo makes a remark about Elias's mom being a more Of course it was roumetto. Yeah, he's a little bitch. Everyone hates him. Yeah. Eliaz responds by throwing his glass of wine at Rometal's face. He deserved it, though, I think so too. Yeah. Pissed off, Elias leaves and ends up going to the workshop. He looks around and finds a map of the mind, notes on refining silver by Mercury, and he also finds notes about the effigy that the peasants worship is described as a skeletal figure covered in a white shroud. Elias is dozing on and off at the workshop when he thinks he sees a ghost, but it turns out to be Alba sleepwalking to the mine. He tries to guide Alba back to the house, but he gets scared when Alba turns around to face him and she has like a skeletal kind of face with no eyes, and He's like, what the fuck? Then she started shaking, kind of foaming at the mouth, screaming and then collapses. Yeah, imagine, no, I can know I would have kind of left her there, like I fear I would have done the same like losiento track us. Yeah, when she wakes up, she doesn't remember anything. Elias helps Alba get back to the house, and before they go their separate ways to hear Rometo's laughter commute from the parlor for the last time. Don't don't dun. They didn't know that would be the last time anyone would hear his laughter. Yeah, Because the next day they learned that someone has killed that bitch Rometo and everyone is blaming Elias, but Alba knows it wasn't Alias because he was helping her after she was sleepwalking, But she doesn't think anyone will believe her, especially because of how Carlos reacted when Elias helped her at the mine, So she decides her best band is to confess you about about last night and get him to help Elias. So she tells him about sleepwalking to the mind the night before, about Elias helping her, and that they were up until dawn. But during her confession, she hears a voice telling her she can't trust Bartolome since it's a confession. She does that she has sinful thoughts about Elias when they were alone together. She tells Bartholome to intervene and tell Carlos that Alias couldn't have killed Romero, but pleads that but pleads that he doesn't tell Carlos how he knows, and Bartholome promises to help. Elias is dragged to the stables and locked there when he hears Bartolome coming to his defense, demanding Eraclio and Carlos to release Elias because he was innocent. They start screaming at each other, and Bartholome tells Eraclio the townspeople are worshiping the devil and bringing an evil sickness to the land, doing mercury to protect themselves from evil, and they have a shrine for this idolatry and a mercury barrier around the town. So he threatens to bring the Inquisition to the town if the shrine isn't destroyed. Elias hears all of this and wonders if that could be what's wrong with Alva, and also worries for her if the Inquisition is brought the town. Eraclio and Carlos then release Alias, and Maria Victoriana brings in food. She and Alias have a touching moment. Madia Victoriana tells him she doesn't really like him, but she also doesn't want him to die. She's like such a sister thing to say. M He asks about their dad's books on reserving and reusing mercury, and she starts going through the books and journals, but then comes across a book full of pentagrams that scares her, and she says that it wasn't their dads, And then Lilias is like, oh, that's mine, Actually, that's mine. It's a Elivio de sansi piano, which we mentioned at beginning. I feel like I said capistrano earlier, but I don't think I did, right. Oh, I hope not. It's caprice, like you might have cheese or a salad or whatever. Caprisan caprian liberal de san piano a historical artifact. But as soon as Eleanne starts reading the passage from the book, they notice a breeze that comes out of nowhere and the smell of soffur, which is never a good sign. There's a demon amongst them. The next day, when Alba wakes up, she finds her door unlocked, even though she locked it before going to bed, and she feels gravel underneath her feet when she first gets out of bed, and she's like, oh, what is happening because there should be in a gravel Thereone says Bone that she was sleeping all night. You know, she never went outside as far as she knows. Yeah. At lunch, Alvastar's having visions of being choked falling to his death, and she also hears a voice that says the priest like the priest, the priest like brains about the priest. Yeah, yeah, very medicine, and the voice also says Bartolomey is next, as there was a first, possibly right right. During siesta, albas sneaks out, hoping to talk to Elias about how he might help her with all the weird things she's been experiencing since. During lunch, her dad and Bartolo may we're talking about the alchemy about Lias, and her mom's like, alchemy is demonic and she's like, wait, but what if I'm demonic? So anyway, she tells e Lias about her nightmares involving bartolome her fears that he'll be called next. She asks Elias to warn him, and she tries to rush away. Elias is like, hold on, actually tell me what's going on, because you'ren't really telling me anything. You're just saying that he might be next, And so she tells him that even though her door was locked, she had a gravel on her feet and her door was unlocked the night of Metal was killed. Alias tells Albab about finding her outside, that she wasn't herself and how she was walking like if she was being led by something, and that didn't seem like normal sleepwalking to him, and he knows because his mom used to sleepwalk. And mind you, the whole time that they're talking, Alba's hearing the voice telling her to flee. Alias is like, I fear you. You're possessed, and she's like, what the fuck? And then she leaves possessed me possessed impossible. She runs away, and while she's running away, whatever voice she's hearing, it's like, yes, get away from him, leave, yes, yes, my breshus exactly like that. Then the next day, Maria Victoriana brings Lilias some food to the workshop and she tells him not to go out at night because not safe. She also makes fun of him for a Christian Alba, and he's like, ordeying that conversation at night, that's really important. But anyway, he he remembers about his time in prison that there was a man that was said to be possessed, and how alike in like behavior that man in Alba were and it's just like cementing, I guess to him, nd Alba, Yeah, for sure possessed. Then he hears a door opening and sees a woman with Alba but not Alba, because he's holding a knife attacking him. She rushes towards him. They struggle, and she's heal strong, and he's like, she's impossibly strong. What's going on? What's happening? And she's so strong she manages to hold the knife against his throat and during the struggle, Elias remembers the instructions from a liberal de Santi Priano. So he asked, this woman, are you the devil? And who basically trying to find out how the demon is whatever? What's going to at a smo like that book? Are you a demon? Yeah? Yeah, So he goes back and forth with Alba, slash the demon, and the demon reveals something he's never told Alba. Alba would have no way of knowing. The demon knows about Elia's wife who died, Fatima, and the demon also spoke to him in his dialect that Alba or language that Alba doesn't even know. Oh my god, I just realized I wrote something else earlier. But I think that earlier I wrote the language. And then this is like the dialect. Oh yeah, m hm. And so we try another sign, right, yeah, she knows things she shouldn't. Yeah, yeah, And Elias starts reciting prayers, which seemed to weaken the demon before the demon leaves and tells Elias that he'll need stronger allies if he wants Alba, and then Albat comes to and collapses. When she wakes up, Alias confronts her and he's like, how did you know about my wife? And she's like, you're you're married wife? What wife does Castaldo? And she also doesn't remember attacking him with the knife, so they're like, yeah, yeah, you're possessed. Yeah yeah. During this conversation, Elias tells Alba that he went to prison for accidentally killing a man during a drunken fight and that his wife died while he was in prison. Alba keeps hearing the voice telling her to kill Elias during the whole conversation. Not good and yeah. So Alias comes to the conclusion that Alba is possessed and she's the danger around here. Mm hmm am I the danger? Wait? Am I the problem? Yes? Yes, Alba you are. They decided Alba could be possessed again. She falls asleep, so it's best that she stays there with Alias, and Alba wonders if, maybe, if she should talk to Bartolome her issue, but Elias is worried about the quisition, so they decide to look in the book to see what answers they find, and the next day they plan to try out try out a spell to identify the demon possessing Alba, but first Elias tells her shessler how to say no, so he knows when to stop the spell or whatever it is exorcism, I guess, And they end up kissing during this because she's like, no, don't stop, and now kiss basically yeah, and they're making out when Maria Victorina walks in and interrupts them, and they act like, you know, they weren't doing a thing, as well as when one is birched, yeah someone, it looks like, oh, oh hey, we were we weren't busy, you're not interrupting anything. During this exorcism, Elias had to draw out, you know, the little pentagrams and whatnot. Madia Victoria sees them and she is scared, but she gets Melias because she's like, Bartolome is gonna kill you for doing black magic and she runs away because she's like, you're gonna get in trouble and it's her fault. Fuck, that bitch, and she also tells I mean, she's saying all this so i'll but finds out that Alias has a crush on her, which I mean, they just made out, so obviously she did that, but now it's confirmed. Yeah. Yeah, And so then back to the to the extiorcism that they were so really interrupted, Well they were making out instead of doing extiousism. Right now, they get down to business. Right right now we're making out. It's time for the exorcism. So a LiAZ starts the incantations and soon Alba is gone and the demon takes over. The demon says it wants Elias dead for being a my teacher, and it wants Bartolo dead because he's a priest. No I know, but just because it's funnier. The demon and up pitting Elias before and he's all bleeding before Alba comes to, and then they're like, okay, this is too much for us, we have to go to Bartolo Mare. And as soon as they're talking to Bartolome, the demon is telling Alba kill him, kill him. So yeah, they don't get far into telling Bardolo may what's going on. And then they don't have to tell him because she becomes possessed. She starts showing symptoms of her possession, shaking, frothing at the mouth. Bartolome and Alias decide to confine Alba and they take turns watching her since she seems to be more susceptible to being possessed when she sleeps, and to cover for all of this, Bartolomet tells everyone that she has to isolate because she's showing symptoms of matelasawat against Elias wishes Bartolo may well. Elias ends up a green, but Bardolome rights to the inquisition and he assures Alias the album won't be her, but they have to know in case they can help or whatever. But that's also something he can to assure, right, Yeah, And then Elias tells Bartolomeo about about attacking him, and Bartolome is like, why are you on wats in this? Wait? Why are you here? Where's Carlos? Yeah exactly, But then he's like, well, maybe it's because you double on alchemy, so that makes him more open to like this dark stuff. Bartolome takes over watch of Alba and Alias goes back to the workshop where he sees my dear Victoriana and Carolina and they invite him over for dinner. Alias is worried about Bartolome seeing all his alchemy and dark magic stuff, so he takes his spell book and liberal the son Cipristiano with him. Once they sit down for dinner, Carolina warns Alias that there are some things he needs to understand now that he's used the book. He just played dumb well a book, but that doesn't work. I don't even know how to read. Carolina tells Eliaz that many many years ago, her grandmother and others had been brought to that land by force to work the mines, and everything was dead, and there were dry bones of the people before them everywhere, either killed by pox, matlasawat or the musket. There were no trees, no life, only stones and ghosts until they scar those opened the mountain, and there was something foreoring there that got there with the beninsulares, and it laid waste to everything it found. Rumors said a ruko had trapped the thing there, but it kept living deep in the mountains. Then, some twenty five years ago, Victoriano came to her with a baby that someone had left inside the mine, and she could immediately see that evil thing from the mountain was living inside that baby. Carolina knew who gave birth to the baby. It was someone that had been raped by young Isquero, and she told everyone she had a still born Before bouncing from town. Carolina told Victoriano to just put it back in the mind, but years later she learned that he had given the baby to a merchant couple from Sacatecas. And she's like, cool, the evil was gone, it's far away, but now it's back because it was Alba. That baby was Alma, and that's why she didn't like her, okay, and I think she has a good reason. I think she does. Yeah, yeah, Alba's a demon. Yeah mm hmm. She tells Elias he has to kill the host of the demon in open air on a windy peak because the wind will take it away, but Elias refuses because he loves Alba, my de Victor and I was like, see, I told you she wouldn't do it. He's in love with her. To her mom, she says there might be another way, that there's a goddess who lives in the mountain who they call Death. That's who the shrine is for Death might be able to help, so Elias agrees to get death's help, and he goes to the shrine with Maria vic Doriana. Alro wakes up and sees Bartolome who is praying Novenna. After Novenna, he tells Alba that it will take will, that nothing will change unless she wanted to, and she's like, what the fuck of course, I don't want this thing inside of me, dumb bitch, and they keep praying together. Elias, Carolina, and Maria vic Doriana, in the meantime, go to the shrine, but before Maria Victoriana can follow Elias into the entrance of the grotto, Carolinas natchez Maria Victoriana and tells Elias he has to go by himself, that no one else can touch the darkness like that, that darkness can only be undone. But it's like so like Elias is emo and he's dark and that's why he can do that darkness undone stuff inside. Alias finds the shrine and the bowl of mercury. He plunges his fingers into the mercury and a voice speaks to him. It says it's been waiting for him. He asks for help for Alba, and the voice tells him it moves with quicksilver, and that it is wherever it runs, and that Alias is full of it. That is the road to it, and to walk that road. Then the mercury kind of enters his body and the voice says, use quicksilver, raid my land of the foreign devil, and like the Spanish would fucking bring this demon with them? Of course, yeah, they're demonic selves. Alias sticks over Alba's watch again and tells her about her birth and abandonment, and Alba can't help but feel admiration for the women that gave Brits to her, a woman who walked away from her burdens and carved the path for Alba. She also feels hollow, lack of grief, and she feels like a curse, like she never belonged to anyone. She's a demon. So Arabat feels the demon coming forward and warns Elias to stay away, But at the same time, Alba's hopeful that she'll be free of the demon, and she asks for Elias help to get away from Psychathicas once she's free of the demon, and then she wants him to touch her once she's no longer a pothess. Yeah, yeah, of course. The next day. It's big. It is exorcism a day. But before that, Elias is eating when his uncle Eraclio comes to talk to him and tells him that he wants him to go and is willing to give him the money he owes already because he brings out the worst in Catlos and he's bad for the family and for Gadlos' engagement. And Elias is like, no, I'm not going anywhere. Then it's time for the exorcism, and Carlos and Alias are like, what the fuck are you doing here? Oh? Because Cardloss is there? Yeah. Yeah. They're to each other, you doing like what are you doing here? Like Spider Man mean, like what are you doing here? Yeah? And then Bartholome is like, shut the fuck up. I need two assistants, so get over it and help me. They're about to get started when Alias realizes Alba is already possessed the demons, starts slashing out. Cardlos freezes because he's a little bitch, but he's never seen a possessed To be fair, No, Elias is just a real man, okay, And because he's a real man, Elias manages to tie Alba down. They start praying and the demon starts sucking shit, accuses Cardlos of wanting Bartholome in o gay way. It's Pride month. Bartholome tries to compel the demon to give him its name, but the demon, like Spanish, is beneath me. I don't have a name in your language, because you fucking suck. Bartolome starts hitting Alba ah, and for a second it seems like the demon is expelled from her, but it's not. Finally, Elias resides incantations, and finally Elia is like a real man, takes over and he resides incantations from Libro, the san Cipriano, and the mercury surges th through him. But then Bartolomeo Carlos turn against Alas because they're like, no, now you're doing demon shit. But he's not, you know, he's just saving her. Yeah. Alba wakes up the next day and finds another priest there, Padre Oracion, and learns that more priests are there to take over the exorcism. So this is the inquisition now, right, Yeah. Eventually, Maria Victoriana comes to Alabas's room with some soup and she's skimming me. Spills some soup and Alba Sorao has to leave the room. While bare Orazio is gone, Maria Victoria tells Albada Alias is being held at the stables and that will probably kill him and that it's Alaba's fault. Later that night, Alba manages to get away with surprisingly with Carlo's help, Yeah, which took some convincing and pleading, but he does help. Ultimately, Alba frees Alias while Carlos gets them horses and supplies, and they set off. Unfortunately, the dems Alaba almost right away, and Elias is able to fight it off. I think he well, he uses his new mercury powers, but also he the go into the side of him. Yeah, yeah, something like that. And just when they're about to set off again, Bartolome comes and ruins everything. He could have just been happy with. Uh, he could just let them go, but no, Bartolome is too greedy in a capitalist Spainiard colonizer sort of way, you know. Yeah. Yeah. So then they start fighting Alias the demon inside of him, the mercury also inside of him against Bartolome, the mercury demon fusion if you right, right, Bartolome and Alva hits Bartolome in the head but Elias doesn't survive the diving. And when this happened, I fell to my knees and I was like, what do you mean he died? What do you mean he didn't survive? I screamed. I felt my knees and I screamed. Yeah. Album Alba remembers the day Alias died, and she remembers seeing the shadows of the demon and the goddess or death whatever it is, leaving his body. But the demon is like, well, you know what I gotta do now, and it enters her body again. I need a home. Yeah. The days go on, the Inquisition is there in town, ruining everyone else's lives, and they also have one final exorcism for Alba. During the exorcism, Alba decides to make a deal with the demon. Three months go by, and as far as everyone knows, the exorcism worked and the wedding is back on. Alba walks down the aisle and as soon as she gets to the altar, she lists the demon loots. The demon was never exercised. It was just chilling for a minute because she's like, you know what, you know what, you can stay here with three months, but then you go and attack those priests, especially specially Bartolome. The demon pretty much kills everyone and it's still craving more, more murder, more death until she hears a voice called her name, and Alba like kind of comes back to herself and it's Alias there. Yeah. Yeah, then when one we thought that died. Yeah, when I was like, wait he called her, I jumped up from my knees. I was no longer on my knees. I was able to stand up. Yeah, and they walk away happily ever after. But a yet, because we get one final Alia's chapter where we learn that he survived the stabbing and Maria Victoriana, with the help of the local curandera, then nursed him back to health and he goes back to the shrine, gets some more powers whatever. He sticks a round. He finds out about Alba's wedding, and he's like, that's when I make my move and go save her. That's when I'm healed. Yeah. He doesn't make it a time though, to prevent anyone's murders whatever, but it's fine because it was Bartolome and Spanish priests. Yeah yeah, so who cares. Yeah, But before they run away, Elias does the actual final extorcism of Alba with his mercury powers, and it works. The demon actually leaves and they head off to to live happily rafter without demons, mercury alchemy, black magic. What happened? First of all, Finally, Isabel Kanyas, thank you for not separating the two love interests. The only one that happens is that that happens in is the senda. They end up together. Remember at the end, You're right, yeah, yeah, but I'm happy. I'm happy that they survived and that they they got to leave and they went to a capulco and they lived happily rafter. Hmm yeah, same, okay, And before all else, you have any anything else to share? No, we're we're going to do thoughts and then discussion questions. Yeah. I just have these thoughts that are like like share, I can't like call the home, like I can't give me to them, fall to the floor and screamed them to me. Okay, okay, okay, So possession, m okay, possession, possession, yeah right right, possession. They often possession stories often highlight yeah anyway, possessions like about highlighting women's lack of autonomy and older possession stories right, like the extisses. They punish women, slash girls who don't follow the rigidness of social norms, heteronormativity, you know whatnot right, Like if we go back to the ectresses, Reagan's mom is a business woman, she's single, and there's no male role model in the home, all right, in the eyes of a Catholicism, right, and so then the two priests have to come in and restore the social order. Oh say I exercise the demon from Reagan? Yes, And I was like wow, wo wow. This book subversive, yes, right, it echoed a lot right of the similar themes albat lax agency. She's a woman colonial times, and she schemes her way into an engagement that would be beneficial for her. Right, she's not following, she's scheming wrong of her deserves to be punished whatever she gets possessed. But unlike the exiorcist, it's not the it's not the church, it's not the Catholic Church, not the priest not but that saves her right and the church obviously representing the patriarchy heteronomativity. Instead, it's Alias who only from the power of a goddess death whatever she is. And Albert consent, right, because every step of the way he's like, you have to, you know, tell me this is okay. Even at the end he's like, I forgot what he how he wards it, But basically he gets out about consent to do the exorcism, and it's only then that the excorism works. And if this is not like a flipping of the normal exorcism story, right, yes, also worth adding that I'd rather ask my god, I was pregnant while writing this. Oh yeah, she said on her talk that I attended, right, the one talk you want to okay, Yeah, the one talk I intended where I got a picture with her that's up on our Instagram right now, go look at it right now, Go look at it again, like it if you haven't liked it. And so yeah, during that and she mentions and talks about how that's kind of like a possession itself. Oh my god, Well, I not in this book, but I just got done listening to the Chad Wife by I forgot there's name. There's like two tread wife books out there with that name, and one coming later this year. By the way, Well that's the what's in right now. Yeah, the whores of our current era. Yeah, tread Whiffrey. But in that book, it's not really possession, but it's demon and there's like a pregnancy. So I was thinking about that a lot. And there's other books where it's like they like could compare like pregnancies. Look that like a possession and it's it is. I mean when you look at it and and it is. Yeah, there's like a demon inside you, you know. Yeah, it wants to come out, stealing your nutrients, yeah, making you sick mm hmm. And then you have to at least for a long time your needs on the back burner, and this new demon baby, it takes over your whole life. You're everything you like, You're not you anymore. You're a mom now your mom, you're your old heilm is gone. Yeah. Yeah. And when you look at the imagery of a possession, right, the screaming, the painfulness, the shaking, the throwing up. M hm, does that not sound like giving birth? I mean I threw up, I screamed, I field profanities. Yeah so yeah, yeah, so yeah, very insightful. And also, let me just finish that thought real quick. Pregnancy is probably one of the most dangerous, if not the most dangerous time in a woman's life, and so is the demonic possession. Right, And pregnant women are more likely to be harmed by their male spouses partners, usually father of the children. Right. So I feel like in this story, like we get like the example like of patriarchy, the harmful you know, typical mescaline man, and then we have a Lias who is like the opposite. And I feel like, obviously not everyone you never know, you know, like who the man you're dealing with really is, right, And so of course it's never a woman's fault where a man ends up hurting her obviously, right. But it's like that's a real monster Manah yeah, right, not in Lias. But yeah, yeah, it's like it's like the Church Bartolome equivalent. Yes, and yeah, that just kind of develed a little bit. But it's what was on my mind, and I loved it. I was here for it. Yeah. Should we get into discussion questions? Yeah, let's do it. Okay. First one, this book takes place in Mexico in seventeen sixty five. Did anything take you by surprise in this time period and setting? Yeah? I think so? No, I mean, like someone else maybe it would have, but like not us, because we know again already about the time period. Yeah, some people would be surprised to learn that there's minds or that actually, you know what, I feel like I had a really like I know about the Moors and Spain in a very vague sense, and so it was just cool to hear about and learn about like Elias his background, and like his language and the combination which I didn't know a little bit about, but like that his dialect, how it combines like Spanish and Arabic, Arab Arabic, yeah, yeah, yeah, and a lot of a lot of words in Spanish are Arabic, like yes, yes, so yeah, no that I think that would have been interesting for someone who didn't know that already, but I yeah, but no, yeah, yeah, okay, So next question, mm hmm. Albat goes through a lot when she reaches the Minds and finds herself relying on Elias. Did you find him trustworthy? Was there anyone else you thought she would have confided in. I think it makes sense that she didn't really trust anyone around her, like her parents lied to her whole life. Carlos is he's like her bestiep But at the same time, he's he's a man, right, and also he is uh, I don't know colors that maybe she hadn't seen before. There there were, I mean, now, yeah, yeah, I trusted Elias immediately. He is my new andress. So yeah, I was like, yeah, I put my life in his hands Lord full faith. Yeah yeah, yeah, but no, I don't I agree that there's no one else you could have confided it in. So, having read the story, what, why do you think the quote by jose that Costa was included at the beginning of the book. And I have the quote here because I took a picture of it. Oh, I want to look at it in my book because I haven't here. Yes, flipped to the page in the beginning. Yeah, are you gonna read it? Yeah? But it is a circumstance worthy of much consideration that the wisdom of our eternal Lord has enriched the most remote parts of the world inhabited by the most uncivilized people, and has placed there the greatest number of minds that ever existed, in order to invite men to seek out and possess those lands, and coincidentally, to communicate their religion and the worship of the True God to men who do not know it. Hence we see that the lands in the Indies that are richest in minds and wealth have been those most advanced in the Christian religion in our time, and thus the Lord takes advantage of our desires to serve his sovereign ends. In this regard, a wise man once said that what a man does to marry off an ugly daughter is give her a large diairy. This is what God has done with that rugged land, endowing it with great wealth in minds, so that whoever wished could find it by this means. Hence there is a great abundance of minds in the Indies, minds of every metal copper, iron, lead, tin, quicksilver, silver, and gold costa And why do we think it was included? Yes, well, pretty much the whole story. I was gonna say that it's kind of everything, isn't it. I don't need to remember if I read this clue, if I just skipped, I don't think I read it either. But wow, did it not just kind of sum up everything? No? It did? It touched on everything? Yeah, the colonization, the righteousness of the colonizer, right, the explotation of the land, mm hmmm hmm. And the entitlement that is involved in that. Yeah, I mean everything is the exploitation in the name of religion and God. Yeah, like the talking about the selling off the ugly daughter, that's like how the Alba This this quote kind of encapsulates literally everything that is wrong with the world. Colonization, why supremacy, the patriarchy, which are all intertwined. It's in this quote. Yeah. Crazy, Yeah, oh wow, we read it for the first time right now, I know, we're like mind blown. Oh my god. Okay, who did you envision the speaker to be at the beginning of the story? Were you surprised when you got to the end and found out who it was? I thought it was I thought it was oh, well, yeah one of them. Who is it? Actually, I think it's Alba? Oh okay, because in the end she's talking about like this version was told and then we went off to walk the of the legend. So yeah, I think it's Alba. Oh okay. Well not me, assuming it was a man. Oh not you being a sexist. Clearly, I have a lot to unpack and unlearned. Still you have a lot to learn. Yeah, yeah, you picked me a ways yeah, did you have anything else to say about that? No? Okay. What did you think was the role of the Inquisition and Bartolome in the book? Well? I think that he and the Quisition just represented the harm of colonization in everything we've already said, like I was wrong, was and I'm sure, I'm sure there were things are wrong before before Anyone's like me, you know what I mean? No, I did not even me. Yeah, yeah, I'm sure, but you know what I mean, Like, no, you're she small the patriarchy. Yeah, Someone's like like, well, did you know that's what what about you? You know I had the same time that they that's what they represent. Yeah, Okay. Aliens finds himself helping Alva. What do you think he got out of helping her? Love? Why everything is about love, the love of his life, only to lose himself and someone else and his noble life is all about No, but really I don't know what else he got. I know, I'm trying to think, like a companion. What did you make of Alva's possession? Do you feel it was something she needed to go through? Yes? Why I think that she needed to go through the possession to really know what it's like to feel control over her decisions, her life, to have agency, to trust herself, you know. Yeah, yeah, maybe we all need to be possessed. Well yeah, well what were you gonna say? There we go on to take the dumblest ship. I was gonna agree. I do think she needed to go through it, one to really know herself, to really learn who she was, who she came from, what she is that wouldn't be possible without the possession, but also to learn, I think, to really what it is to really trust someone else, that it's not just her. She really needed to go through it to trust Elias and to love you know, oh my god, there it is again, to find a companion. No, because she she thinks she's she has agency in the city, control of her life when she schemes her way into getting engaged to Carlos, right yeah, yeah, And that's finding agency in a system where you don't have it. She forced herself to it. Yeah. After going through the possession, I think, you know, she learns like, no, that was not this is a true freedom. Yes, killing the priest Bartholome, Yeah, and then running off to a capuco with the companion of her life the man who helped her and save herself. Yes, yes, yes, you didn't see me, right, I was just no, I saw, I saw, I saw your arm and I knew what you were doing. She's throwing, uh, I'm free throwing like yeah yeah, I was like, she's doing a three liner, not a sound. I mean nothing about No, I just know that to throw. Yeah you did? Yeah, okay, yeah, okay. So the demon in the story thirst for priests blood? Why do you think that is? Why not? You know what? I actually like obviously coloensation, but also like they brought this thing supposedly maybe it's assumed right the story said it came with the Benninsulas. Yeah, so like, what is it? I just wanted to go back to its origins they wanted it, or maybe they had somehow trapped in and just want to revenge against Oh maybe from the whole something. Who knows? Was interesting though to think about. Yeah, yeah, I don't know. I wonder Actually I would love to hear other people thoughts on that specific question. Let's see, do the horrors in this book connect to the time period being portrayed? What? I don't know? Why then he ain't grasp me like, wow, okay, do the horrors in this book connect to the time period being portrayed? How so horrors? And yeah? Yeah, yeah, because this is a time it's seventeen sixty five. Yeah, what more needs to be said? Yeah, I mean we kind of already talked about it, but like I mean, this is a time period where women were the most object of objects. Yeah, yeah, and the book highlights that. Okay, Uh, silver and mercury play a big part in the story. What do you suppose these elements symbolize? Oh my god, I got nothing. That's such a question. I actually don't know. And I feel like I should know about silver and mercury to be able to process the question in the first place. And uh, what if they represent like because in the end that he leaves that behind mercury and what's the other thing? Silver? Yeah, what if it's like representing like the the greed of silver, silver dissolves into mercury. There's something there. Well, you need mercury to process the silver, but mercury poisons you and kills you. And in that way colonization, Yes, yes, also kills you on the inside and everything around it. Yes, I think that's the answer. And and yes, I had to leave it behind to truly had to be deconnize. Oh my god, that's it. That's it. And somebody please tell us if we're on the nose, we just we're making it up. If you have a serious, real answer to that question, I would know We'll just be right now. These questions were all from the Reader's Guide on Penguin ran House. I love when I have answers. No, bitch, it's open for discussion. I want. I am hoping someone can also tell us their interpretation of that question. Please, Oh my god, please did I did I read this book? I don't remember. Oh, we shouldn't ask him and then just send him the discussion portion like answer this question please, just the ones we needed to like yeah, yeah, okay, And that brings us to the end of the discussion. We recapped the plot. Now let's rate. What did you rate this five Mercury's out of five mercurys. Yes for me, five pounds destroyed by putting them inside mercury out of five. No, but I loved it. I loved the book. It was no, it was a five out of five. No seriousness, it was a five out of five for me as well. And if she writes it, I'm reading it, and if she, if I read it, it's a five out of five automatically, I don't care. Yeah, I have not read that one seven book that is less than a five out of five. Yeah, And like I understand for some people, like Vampires of Norte, they didn't have enough vampires in it. It was still a five out of five for me because it was like a novela with vampires in the background. And then I also saw some people saying that the metaphor of the vampires was two on the nose and I loved it. I loved it. And then for this one, I saw some batter views that were all like the Mercury Goddess thing came out of nowhere. But the whole time that they've been they were talking about like they were talking about something doctor goddess. Yeah, So to me, it didn't feel like, you know, weren't paying attention. Yeah. Also, she needed a way to get rid of the demon, like come on, come on, okay, and what oh should we pick a new book? Oh yeah, sorry, yeah, yeah, discussing, I'm leaning in between. I'm torn between two right now, Okay, the Immaculate Conception one I thought that didn't come out tot a bit. When the fund does that come out? I don't know, Actually I didn't. I did see it was an arc, but I don't know when No, man, is it even're gonna come up? Oh, but there's another Macli, which is the one I sent. You're talking about the one I sent you, right, Yeah, because there's in twenty two five amclate conception. Wasn't it called the Magine Deception? Oh? Deception? Because there's a book called the Micline Conception. But it's like an Asian author. Wow, there's a lot. Oh, Isabela Lino, isabel Let's see. I love the cover. It's like very gothic. When September first, Oh should we because by the time we uh. I was also going to suggest Monsterlio. Oh, because I wanted to yap about it. Yeah, but I guess I'd have to re read it, which is fine? Which is that because that will be quick because we already read it. Yes, okay, and that's what we can talk about it. Let's do Monsterlio and let's announce the next book after Monsterlio an immaculate exception. My fucking got I was sick. Conception. I'm sorry. I just feel like conception rolls out the tongue. No, it does, it does? Because Okay, so we're gonna do next Monsterlio by Herado Samano. This is a quick read. Yes, I was quicker than I thought. I thought it wasn't tipping longer, and I finished it so fast. So that's going to be our next book right away. And I'm thinking maybe in like two months we'll have that episode out, you know. Yeah, and then after that I want to do an Immaculate Deception by Isabela Libino. It comes out September one, twenty twenty six. Can I read those or not? That's really quick? Go for it? Okay. This is any debut gothic horror set in eighteen seventies Brazil, a tale of creeping suspense in which a young pregnant woman. So I got excited. I feel like lately I've really been into like troldwye horror. But also it's like that's kind of tight end, like pregnancy horror anyways, and which a young pregnant woman finds herself unable to escape her lover's isolated family home, and a family deal with the devil goes terribly wrong, and that's just like the little blur, but it goes on. Okay, that's amazing, Yeah it does eighteen seventy seven, Pernambuco, Brazil. Raised in a deeply religious household, A little bit of tid reframing. I'm there, I mean this is traidwy time, eighty seventies. In a deeply religious household, Madelena knows Dante's inferno by heart and fears her mother's reaction as much as she fears God. When she falls pregnant with the child conceived in sin, her mother issues a threat, Mary, or surrender the baby. Madelena is confident that the father, the dashing Leandro Neves, will do right by her and propose, but just as she's about to tell him about the baby, a violent storm sends her carriage kreenin off the road. Madelena awakens in Leandro's sprawling, secluded home under the care of the mysterious and larger than life doctor Lobo Landro is there, but he is no longer the charming poet she knew. He's silent, obsessed, always watching. Strange perfume haunts a locked room, pages vanished from books, jewels lie, untouched, and they forgotten A wardrobe, and Mars begins disappearing after Malena sees something or someone ghastly in the reflection, Leandro is unraveling. Doctor Lobo may be hiding something even darker. Trapped in its a cane house of secrets, Madelena must uncover the truth before the men around her destroy her and before the hell she fears becomes the one she's living in. Oh my god, that sounds amazing. House. She's trapped in a family of secrets, the devil religion. She's pregnant. Oh my god, yes, amazing. It sounds amazing. Okay, okay, exciting. Also, sorry side thing, I was wondering if you wanted to yap about Yesteryear for Patreon right now. I guess we could right now. I kind of wanted to do a little recap, but I guess we don't have to. Actually, Oh you know why, because I'm not done with it yet. I've almost done with it. I just remember I'm not actually done. Yeah, yeah, actually done. Yes, And if we both read Yesteryear, if you want a recap of that same kind of book club episode, vibe but over on Patreon for Yesteryear, because that's not a Latina book. We can't do it on the normal feed, so yeah, but I have a lot of thoughts on the book. I already did like a short video on it on TikTok, but I have been wanting to further discuss the book. So I'm excited, all right, Okay, and with that, let us know your thoughts. And I don't know. If you hear a baby crying inside of a mine and it's seventeen sixty five and Mexico, maybe don't follow the crime baby. Yeah, and actually that's you because that's how you're born from a demon. Yes, yes, all right, say this booky. We'll catch everyone next time. Bye bye. As Booktells is hosted by Christina and Carmen, produced and edited by Christina, researched by Christina Carmen and with the help of Don Shout Out Don. If you aren't joining the podcast considerably going to say five star review, we would really appreciate it. 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