iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Jess Wayde @jaydestone.bsky.social · 27/06/2026

I'm telling this story pretty much exactly how I remember it. It was the first grade, and I was seven, when my older siblings asked me that fateful question.

A four-panel comic titled "Little Piles: first crush part 1". The first comic panel shows three children sitting on the floor in a bedroom, and labels tell us who they are. K.T. is the author's oldest half-sister, and has earrings, overalls, and a high ponytail with bangs. She's laying on the floor looking bored but happy. Pres is the middle child and the author's older half-brother, with a blond crew cut and a rat tail, looking mischievous. Jess, the author, sits on the floor in a red ball cap, and appears apprehensive.
Caption: 1994
K.T.: Do you like anybody in your class, Jess?
Jess: Ummmmmmmmm
Pres: You totally do! Who? Who?
K.T.: Come on, tell us!
Jess: No way! You'll tell everyone!
The second panel shows, from above, the three siblings' hands held out. K.T. is holding a smiley face stamper, and has stamped the back of her hand.
K.T.: We swear we won't! We'll stamp our hands as proof of our secret!
Pres: Yeah! Perfect!
Jess: Um, okay...
Caption: Somehow this made sense at the time.
In panel 3, a blonde girl with pigtails stands proudly under a spotlight, stars fluttering around her, with one foot on a soccer ball. She is wearing a soccer uniform, and her name is emblazoned over the background. The three siblings' heads are floating in this space as they imagine Jess's crush.
Jess: Okay. Here goes: it's Kelly White*.
Caption: *Name changed to protect the innocent (and besides, you don't have a stamp)
K.T. and Scott: Oooooooooooooooooh!
For the fourth panel we're back in the bedroom. Pres has a finger on his chin as he thinks, clearly cooking a scheme, while K.T. claps her hands in excitement. Jess is distraught.
Pres: I think I know who she is. She's cute!
K.T.: There's a Brian White in my class! Think he's her brother?
Pres: Pretty sure! They live in a cul-de-sac a few streets down.
Jess (in small text): oh no
Caption: To be continued...

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Jess Wayde @jaydestone.bsky.social · 27/06/2026

Here's the first part of my next comic! I'm happy to finally introduce my siblings, whose designs I've been noodling on for, you know, a year. Expect Part Two in the next few weeks! I am a slow, slow worker. #transcomics #transgender #journalcomic #the90s #siblings #poorlykeptsecrets #firstcrush

Comic panel showing three children sitting on the floor in a bedroom, and labels tell us who they are. K.T. is the author's oldest half-sister, and has earrings, overalls, and a high ponytail with bangs. She's laying on the floor looking bored but happy. Pres is the middle child and the author's older half-brother, with a blond crew cut and a rat tail, looking mischievous. Jess, the author, sits on the floor in a red ball cap, and appears apprehensive.
Caption: 1994
K.T.: Do you like anybody in your class, Jess?
Jess: Ummmmmmmmm
Pres: You totally do! Who? Who?
K.T.: Come on, tell us!
Jess: No way! You'll tell everyone!

From above we see the three siblings' hands held out. K.T. is holding a smiley face stamper, and has stamped the back of her hand.
K.T.: We swear we won't! We'll stamp our hands as proof of our secret!
Pres: Yeah! Perfect!
Jess: Um, okay...
Caption: Somehow this made sense at the time.

A blonde girl with pigtails stands proudly under a spotlight, stars fluttering around her, with one foot on a soccer ball. She is wearing a soccer uniform, and her name is emblazoned over the background. The three siblings' heads are floating in this space as they imagine Jess's crush.
Jess: Okay. Here goes: it's Kelly White*.
Caption: *Name changed to protect the innocent (and besides, you don't have a stamp)
K.T. and Scott: Oooooooooooooooooh!

We're back in the bedroom. Pres has a finger on his chin as he thinks, clearly cooking a scheme, while K.T. claps her hands in excitement. Jess is distraut.
Pres: I think I know who she is. She's cute!
K.T.: There's a Brian White in my class! Think he's her brother?
Pres: Pretty sure! They live in a cul-de-sac a few streets down.
Jess (in small text): oh no
Caption: To be continued...

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Jess Wayde @jaydestone.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

I have plumbed the depths of my Instagram account to bring you this two-panel comic I made on a whim--LAST DECEMBER? WHAT THE HECK? Anyway it is a true story. Once I have a proper working laptop again, I am very excited to show you the dumb panels floating in my head.

A cartoon of an Instagram Story, by littlepilescomic, showing a first-person view of a bundt-shaped cake held by two oven mitts.
Instagram caption: "I made this."
Cartoon caption: "What I posted to Instagram."

Cartoon of a woman holding a bundt-shaped cake in two oven-mitted hands. Because both hands are holding the cake, she is leaning backwards in such a way that she can hold her camera with her upper teeth in order to take the first-person image seen in the previous panel. It looks both goofy and uncomfortable.
Caption: "How I took the picture."

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Jess Wayde @jaydestone.bsky.social · 02/03/2026

Fun fact: Portland has the most beautiful sunsets according to a study conducted by my spouse and I in our backyard. We like to watch the bats flutter around during summer evenings.

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Jess Wayde @jaydestone.bsky.social · 02/03/2026

Little Piles #5: spelling I made a comic about my deadname! It's also about uncomfortable elementary school moments, soothing sunsets, and modern American cinema. "Roofman" is a dramedy starring Channing Tatum and Kristin Dunst. It's fun! You may like it. #trans #transcomic #journalcomic #deadname

Comic frame of two adults sitting in adirondack chairs in a backyard, looking into the distance. The non-binary adult, Linzi, listens with interest as Jess, the woman in the other chair, speaks.
Jess: "The best part of 'Roofman' is how the dude's name is 'Jeffrey' (ending in R-E-Y) but everyone keeps spelling it 'Jeffery' (ending in E-R-Y)."

Jess as a child stands, embarrassed and grimacing, in front of a school blackboard that is has "Welcome Jeff-E-R-Y" written on it in bright chalk colors.
Jess (offscreen): "But when you already didn't like your first name, having it get misspelled felt worse, somehow. Like another example of why it didn't belong with you."

Back in the backyard, we see what Linzi and Jess have been watching from their chairs: a gorgeous sunset. Jess has her hand sitting on Linzi's armrest, and Linzi has laid their hand on top.
Linzi: "And you'll never have to deal with that again."
Jess: "Thank Christ."

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Jess Wayde @jaydestone.bsky.social · 28/01/2026

New comic, why not? Please don't ask how long I've been working on it (three months). Please don't ask if it really happened (it did). Please share with your friends if you're into comics about ADHD and being trans.

A four panel comic titled "Little Piles: true story (part 1)". The signature on the comic reads "Jessica Wayde", and an Instagram link reads "littlepilescomic".
Frame 1: A young man, Jeff, wearing a backpack and looking happily down at a scroll clutched in one fist. He is set against a sky blue background.
Jeff: I can't believe it. It's really happening.
Frame 2: From behind, we see that Jeff is standing in front of a vast mansion or castle, made up of numerous colorful parts and peppered with windows. A grand fence surrounds the property, but the gate is wide open.
Jeff: I made it into magic school.
Frame 3: We look down on a cafeteria that has several round tables spread about, all full of students who chat and relax. Jeff stands to one side, rubbing the back of his neck.
Jeff: Oh my god, where do I sit? There's an open seat at that table...
Frame 4: Jeff's hand is on the back of the open seat as he looks tentatively at the table's occupants, all young women, all missing eyes and mouths except for one with messy hair.
Jeff: Hi, um, can I sit here?
Featureless Girl: Do you go here?
Messy Haired Girl: He has a scroll.
Jeff: Oh yeah! I got it this morning!

A four-panel comic titled "Little Piles: true story (part 2)", continuing from part 1.
Frame 5: Jeff peers uncertainly at his scroll, reading from it as one of the featureless girls looks on.
Jeff (reading): "Let this letter serve as proof that Jeffrey Wayde, a trans girl from..." "...from," uh... "...Oregon..."
Featureless Girl: Oh geeze.
Frame 6: Jeff stands gobsmacked, drained of life, staring at the scroll as a bell rings (some colleges have class bells, probably). The girls around the table all start to gather their things and get up, but the Messy Haired Girl appears concerned.
Featureless Girl 1: Shoot, there's the bell!
Featureless Girl 2: Yeah, we better go!
Frame 7: Jeff continues to stand with a dead look on his face, and the Messy Haired Girl passes by with a sideways look that turns into turmoil.
No dialogue.
Frame 8: The Messy Haired Girl approaches Jeff, lifting her hand in a friendly, empathetic gesture, while he flaps the scroll for emphasis.
Messy Haired Girl: Look, this is apparently a big shock to you. That's no surprise. But you're one of us, now.
Jeff: The scroll...
Messy Haired Girl: It's magic. They know these things. But hey, better to find out now, right?

Frame 9: We see the Messy Haired Girl from Jeff's point of view, her friendly face looming large as she gives an encouraging smile, her eyes wide in honesty. The corner of the frame is turning to white, like reality is fading away.
Messy Haired Girl: Don't worry. We'll be here for you. I'M here for you.
Frame 10: The frame is split diagonally by a gradiated white bar, with the Messy Haired Girl fading away in the upper-left, to be replaced with Jeff on a bed and pillow, waking up from a dream.
Messy Haired Girl: And everything will be alrig...
Jeff: Hnuh?
Frame 11: Jeff sits up in a dark bedroom, his blanket over his knees. He has a hand to his forehead, and his hair is mussed from sleep.
Jeff: It wasn't real. Damn.
Jeff: Wait.
Jeff: "Damn"?
Frame 12: Jeff's hand has drifted from his face and his eyes are exaggeratedly large, taking up half of his head. His mouth is pressed to a wide line. The shock of realizing what it means to wish you were trans is hitting him. It probably means you ARE.
No dialogue.

A drawing continuing the previous comic. Jeff continues to sit in bed with his eyes wide open and his mouth drawn. A tiny caption appears in the middle of the frame, reading only "fuck."

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Jess Wayde @jaydestone.bsky.social · 15/10/2025

Here's all four panels if you like that! Why not? If you have an Instagram account (and really I don't blame you for not) you can get these when I post them at instagram.com/littlepilescomic

Panel 1:
A woman, Jess, lays in a tattoo artist’s chair while a tattoo artist gives her a fresh tattoo of vines and leaves.
Caption: 2024. Tattoos ARE painful, of course—everyone asks—but that only lasts a few hours.
Artist: You doing alright?
Jess: Oh sure.
Caption: To me it’s like undergoing a difficult but wonderful transformation: the process of making my body beautiful in a way that it isn’t by default, making it uniquely mine. It’s a concept that scared me for most of my life.
Panel 2:
Jess, now a young girl, peels stickers off of an otherwise clean door. Her mother watches and shakes a finger.
Caption: 1996. In second grade I got in trouble for putting stickers on my bedroom door.
Mom: Stickers ruin what they’re stuck to. Peel them off before they become permanent.
Caption: Just as Mom predicted, there’d be sticker ghosts stuck to the door for years to come, a constant reminder of how permanence can mar otherwise perfect surfaces.
Panel 3:
A young man, Jess’s brother, poses to show off his tattoos. Behind him are other very basic tattoos.
Caption: When my brother turned 18 and started getting tattoos, they struck me as just like those stickers: one-time mistakes that you’re then reminded of every day. Bad bumper stickers that reduce you to the symbols you’ve covered yourself in.
Panel 4:
Three arms sporting different tattoos are backed by several other abstract organic designs.
Caption: After moving to Portland and seeing FAR more tattoos I saw them as opportunities to display beautiful art, to add character to otherwise featureless skin, to remind yourself of who you are, what your history is, and what you believe in.
Panel 5:
Jess stands in shorts and a sports bra with glowing white eyes in a reference or parody of De Vinci’s “Vitruvian Man”, half of her body covered in more leaves, vines, and shapes.
Caption: 203X? It was my body before, but now it can be mine by choice, how I want it to be. Why wouldn’t I want that to be permanent?

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Jess Wayde @jaydestone.bsky.social · 15/10/2025

Two weeks ago I posted this comic to Instagram, and now you, my loyal follower(s?) can see it. It's about tattoos, ragrets, and life in the time before Goo Gone.

A woman, Jess, lays in a tattoo artist’s chair, her eyes closed and body relaxed, while a tattoo artist gives her a fresh tattoo of vines and leaves.
Caption: 2024. Tattoos ARE painful, of course—everyone asks—but that only lasts a few hours.
Artist: You doing alright?
Jess: Oh sure.
Caption: To me it’s like undergoing a difficult but wonderful transformation: the process of making my body beautiful in a way that it isn’t by default, making it uniquely mine. It’s a concept that scared me for most of my life.

Jess, now a young girl, peels stickers off of an otherwise clean door. Her mother watches and shakes a finger.
Caption: 1996. In second grade I got in trouble for putting stickers on my bedroom door.
Mom: Stickers ruin what they’re stuck to. Peel them off before they become permanent.
Caption: Just as Mom predicted, there’d be sticker ghosts stuck to the door for years to come, a constant reminder of how permanence can mar otherwise perfect surfaces.

Panel 1:
A young man, Jess’s brother, poses to show off his tattoos: two stars on his shoulders, and “aquitas veritas” across his chest. Behind him are other very basic tattoos: “no ragrets”, a “mom” heart with an arrow through it, a Triforce, and an embossed star.
Caption: When my brother turned 18 and started getting tattoos, they struck me as just like those stickers: one-time mistakes that you’re then reminded of every day. Bad bumper stickers that reduce you to the symbols you’ve covered yourself in.
Panel 2:
Three arms sporting different tattoos (a pair of blacksmith tongs, abstract leaves and swirls, and a simple dot-and-bar tattoo) are backed by several other abstract organic designs.
Caption: After moving to Portland and seeing FAR more tattoos I saw them as opportunities to display beautiful art, to add character to otherwise featureless skin, to remind yourself of who you are, what your history is, and what you believe in.

Jess, once more an adult, stands in shorts and a sports bra with glowing white eyes in a reference or parody of De Vinci’s “Vitruvian Man”, half of her body covered in more leaves, vines, and shapes, along with the dot-and-line tattoo from the previous panel.
Caption: 203X? It was my body before, but now it can be mine by choice, how I want it to be. Why wouldn’t I want that to be permanent?

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Jess Wayde @jaydestone.bsky.social · 24/09/2025

And here's the art in two 2x2 images, if you like square things, and one complete image, if you prefer the complete collection. New comic is being worked on at this VERY MOMENT. Once I hit "Post All", I guess. And once I have lunch. #comics #trans #transart #journalcomic

The first four panels from "Little Piles: snowboots", a comic about a young trans girl experimenting with her gender expression.

Frame 1: A girl, Jess, and her mother browse through a shoe store in 1996. Mom: "You have to pick something." Jess: "I know..." Caption: "You need good snow boots in Idaho. Ice, snow, sleet, those crunchy frozen puddles--all call for dependable footwear."
Frame 2: A pair of white snowboots with glittery rainbow laces. Caption: "It was third grade, and I knew the pair for me from the moment I saw them. They were cheap and simple, and the white rubber would sure become smudged and gross before long. But I wanted them, despite my mom's misgivings. I loved the colors and I loved their sparkles."
Frame 3: Jess, wearing the snowboots and winter clothing, ducks during a snowball fight, a grin on her face. Caption: "I wore them all winter. Ice attached itself permanently to the laces, and the white indeed turned grey, but I loved them. They made me feel special, like a fantasy hero with magical shoes."
Frame 4: Jess, still wearing a winter hat and snowboots, faces an elementary school playground that is empty apart from some patches of melting snow. A swing set sits notably unoccupied. Jess: "Yes! All mine." Caption: "cold days meant the playground would be mostly empty when I arrived at school, which meant I could do whatever I wanted. I loved the swings in particular."

The last four panels of the comic "Little Piles: Snowboots".
Frame 5: In an imaginative sequence, Jess swings happily while looking at her snow boots. She's surrounded by fantastical elements: a castle on a hill, spaceships engaging in battle, an ocean that her backpack floats on like a large island. Caption: "On the swings I could be anywhere. Flying over the ocean, cruising through space, falling into a fantasy world. With my rainbow boots I could do any of those things, and more."
Frame 6: The imaginary world disappears with a "Poof", revealing that Jess is in the playground on the swings, being greeted by a strange boy. She seems happy to see him, or at least unbothered. Caption: "...unless I was interrupted." Strange Boy: "Hey! Can I swing?" Jess: "Yeah, sure!" Strange Boy (his dialogue cut off): "Oh--" Frame 7: Strange Boy (off-screen): "--you're a BOY." In a dramatic frame, Jess is being pierced by a large, abstract arrow labelled "BOY". Her hat has flown off and her features have changed to no longer be a round-faced girl with bobbed hair, but a narrow-faced boy with a bowl cut and large glasses. The stranger calling Jess a boy has snapped her back to reality where she was assigned male at birth, instead of the girl she was in her head. Strange Boy (off-screen): "Those boots made me think... nevermind."
Frame 8: The white boots with rainbow laces sit alone in a dark closet, where a spider has built a web. The laces are frayed and untied. Caption: "I never wore the boots again. I thought about them often, always in embarrassment and a little shame. If anyone indicated I wasn't acting or thinking or dressing like a boy, I'd do anything to convince them otherwise. ANYONE. Even me."

The complete 8 panels of the comic "Little Piles: Snowboots". The story traces a young trans girl's experiment in gender expression with a pair of white snowboots with rainbow laces. Despite loving the snowboots and feeling that they were magical and pretty, Jess ultimately hides them away and never wears the boots again after a strange boy on the playground expresses surprise Jess is a boy. Jess, who does not know yet that she is transgender, is mysteriously hurt and confused by this, and resolves to never wear or do anything that a boy wouldn't.
For complete alt descriptions, see prior images.

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Jess Wayde @jaydestone.bsky.social · 24/09/2025

These comics are entirely based on my own recollections of events from over 30 years ago so they probably aren't entirely accurate. They're more about how these events affected me, which means it doesn't quite matter how accurately I remember them. (2/2) #comics #trans #transart #journalcomic

In an imaginative sequence, Jess swings happily while looking at her snow boots. She's surrounded by fantastical elements: a castle on a hill, spaceships engaging in battle, an ocean that her backpack floats on like a large island. Caption: "On the swings I could be anywhere. Flying over the ocean, cruising through space, falling into a fantasy world. With my rainbow boots I could do any of those things, and more."

The imaginary world disappears with a "Poof", revealing that Jess is in the playground on the swings, being greeted by a strange boy. She seems happy to see him, or at least unbothered. Caption: "...unless I was interrupted." Strange Boy: "Hey! Can I swing?" Jess: "Yeah, sure!" Strange Boy (his dialogue cut off): "Oh--"

Strange Boy (off-screen): "--you're a BOY." In a dramatic frame, Jess is being pierced by a large, abstract arrow labelled "BOY". Her hat has flown off and her features have changed to no longer be a round-faced girl with bobbed hair, but a narrow-faced boy with a bowl cut and large glasses. The stranger calling Jess a boy has snapped her back to reality where she was assigned male at birth, instead of the girl she was in her head. Strange Boy (off-screen): "Those boots made me think... nevermind."

The white boots with rainbow laces sit alone in a dark closet, where a spider has built a web. The laces are frayed and untied. Caption: "I never wore the boots again. I thought about them often, always in embarrassment and a little shame. If anyone indicated I wasn't acting or thinking or dressing like a boy, I'd do anything to convince them otherwise. ANYONE. Even me."

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Jess Wayde @jaydestone.bsky.social · 24/09/2025

I posted another comic a few weeks ago, and heck, maybe you missed it (or don't follow me on Instagram at littlepilescomic)! This one is about footwear, gendering, and the weird way snow melts. (1/2) #comics #trans #transart #journalcomic

A girl, Jess, and her mother browse through a shoe store in 1996. Mom: "You have to pick something." Jess: "I know..." Caption: "You need good snow boots in Idaho. Ice, snow, sleet, those crunchy frozen puddles--all call for dependable footwear."

A pair of white snowboots with glittery rainbow laces. Caption: "It was third grade, and I knew the pair for me from the moment I saw them. They were cheap and simple, and the white rubber would sure become smudged and gross before long. But I wanted them, despite my mom's misgivings. I loved the colors and I loved their sparkles."

Jess, wearing the snowboots and winter clothing, ducks during a snowball fight, a grin on her face. Caption: "I wore them all winter. Ice attached itself permanently to the laces, and the white indeed turned grey, but I loved them. They made me feel special, like a fantasy hero with magical shoes."

Jess, still wearing a winter hat and snowboots, faces an elementary school playground that is empty apart from some patches of melting snow. A swing set sits notably unoccupied. Jess: "Yes! All mine." Caption: "cold days meant the playground would be mostly empty when I arrived at school, which meant I could do whatever I wanted. I loved the swings in particular."

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Jess Wayde @jaydestone.bsky.social · 11/08/2025

And sure, here's the full four-panel version. Comics are fun but difficult to make! And alt text for comics is tricky but also fun, in its own weird way.

A four-panel comic exploring how a childhood chastisement of the protagonist, Jess, affects her in the modern day.
Panel 1 is set in 1997 and shows Jess being reprimanded by her mother for making "little piles" instead of properly cleaning her room. The captions indicate this is a habit that Jess never grew out of.
Panel 2, set in 2025, shows Jess, now an adult, taking an ADHD screener, which asks if she leaves her things in small "organized" piles. This amuses Jess, who decides to text her mom about it.
Panel 3 shows the start of the text conversation, with Jess explaining the situation to her mom, while commenting "it will be a good conversation starter, at least."
Panel 4 shows Jess's disgruntled reaction to her mother's reply, which indicates not only her mother's lack of recall about the "little piles" incident in the first place, but is quickly overrun by her mother's self-centered rambling. The caption says this was devastating to Jessica, but the tests were fun.

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Jess Wayde @jaydestone.bsky.social · 11/08/2025

Little Piles #01: Little Piles Originally I just called this "my weird trans diary thing" but I decided the subject matter of this first one also works as a vague metaphor for, like, everything. So yeah, look for more Little Piles comics in the next month or whatever.

In 1997, a young girl, Jess, looks forlorn as her mother critiques her room-cleaning abilities. "I asked you to clean up, but look. Little piles! Little piles everywhere!" the mother says, gesturing broadly. The captions explain this was a common thing for the girl.

In 2025, an adult version of the young girl laughs to herself while answering a test at a desk. The caption indicates she is taking an ADHD screening test, and is amused when the test asks if she leaves her things in small, organized piles. "I'll text Mom! She'll probably laugh," Jessica says.

A close-up of a text conversation between Jessica and her mom, explaining that Jessica is taking an ADHD screener and a question made her laugh. She hopes this will be a conversation starter with her mother.

Jessica looks distraught as she reads her mother's responses, which imply the mother has no recollection of these conversations, and instead goes off onto a long rant that fades into the background about how the mother has always suspected she herself may have ADHD. The caption states that Jessica thinks of the "little piles" interaction daily, and her mother's response was devastating--even if the tests were fun.

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Jess Wayde @jaydestone.bsky.social · 23/07/2025

At some point in the early 90s I attended a church Easter egg hunt. Only a young tyke, I annoyed that one prize I found was not candy, but was still intrigued at the paper binding and colorful pictures of the thin, fragile book. It soon disappeared. That book was, I believe, this issue of Weapon X.

The cover of "Weapon X #1" by Marvel Comics. Featured is an image of comics character Wolverine, shirtless, with a sci-fi helmet covering his eyes, and blood spattered across his upper torso.

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