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The Subtweet
The Subtweet: A Novel | Vivek Shraya
34 posts | 15 read | 20 to read
Biting and beautiful. Jonny Sun, author of everyones a aliebn when ur a aliebn too Everyone talks about falling in love, but falling in friendship can be just as captivating. When Neela Devakis song is covered by internet-famous artist Rukmini, the two musicians meet and a transformative friendship begins. But as Rukminis star rises and Neelas stagnates, jealousy and self-doubt creep in. With a single tweet, their friendship implodes, one career is destroyed, and the two women find themselves at the center of an internet firestorm. Celebrated multidisciplinary artist Vivek Shrayas second novel is a stirring examination of making art in the modern era, a love letter to brown women, an authentic glimpse into the music industry, and a nuanced exploration of the promise and peril of being seen.
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RealLifeReading
The Subtweet: A Novel | Vivek Shraya
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MY ROOMMATE IS A VAMPIRE by Jenna Levine
THE GUEST by Emma Cline
GLORIA BUENROSTRO IS NOT MY GIRLFRIEND by Brandon Hoàng
CHLORINE by Jade Song
KUSHIEL‘S DART by Jacqueline Carey
MADEMOISELLE REVOLUTION by Zoe Sivak
THE SUBTWEET by Vivek Shraya
THE GOBLIN EMPEROR by Katherine Addison
LUCKY BOY by Shanthi Sekaran
THE VERY UNFORTUNATE WISH OF MELONY YOSHIMURA by Waka T. Brown

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kera_11
The Subtweet: A Novel | Vivek Shraya
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I think I missed the part where this was supposedly queer? There‘s no canonically queer people or relationships in this book.
BUT it‘s good in a lot of other ways & brings up many important topics, female friendship, racism/colorism in the music industry, ownership in collabs, social media, accountability, etc etc.
the lack of emotional awareness/labeling that led to miscommunication was concerning & annoying but quick read and mostly enjoyed it

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psalva
The Subtweet: A Novel | Vivek Shraya
Pickpick

This was a wonderful novel. It dealt with relationships in a social media age and the challenge of navigating social justice issues and celebrity online versus in real life in nuanced ways with beautiful writing. I'm going to seek out more by Vivek Shraya for sure.

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StillLookingForCarmenSanDiego
The Subtweet: A Novel | Vivek Shraya
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🎧 Current Read.

BiblioLitten Are you enjoying it? This is on my TBR 3y
StillLookingForCarmenSanDiego @BiblioLitten Not really. It might be better in physical form. I'm having trouble following along. Based on the cover I thought it would be more light hearted. But there are heavier themes than I was looking for when I started it. 3y
BiblioLitten I might try it on paper then 3y
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Centique
The Subtweet: A Novel | Vivek Shraya
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Pickpick

I was engaged by the writing and read this very quickly. The ideas were interesting especially some of the facets of racism in the music industry. It was also great to read a book that focuses on female friendships, creativity and careers and is queer inclusive. However a few days on I‘m quickly forgetting this book. Shraya is a great author but music is just a little outside of my interests so I look forward to what she writes next!

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TheKidUpstairs
The Subtweet: A Novel | Vivek Shraya
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Pickpick

Started out good, finished great. Friendships between women, social media, professional and creative jealousy, racism and shadeism in entertainment, who owns ideas/creative output in a collaboration? So many thoughts and ideas in a small package.

And so so so much Toronto. The Toronto I know and love. #Booked2021 #Here/Hear @Cinfhen @4thhouseontheleft @BarbaraTheBibliophage

Cinfhen Ohhhh, I‘m fully intrigued 🥰 4y
Cinfhen Is it YA?? 4y
TheKidUpstairs @Cinfhen nope, not YA 4y
Cinfhen Woohoo 🙌🏻 4y
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S3V3N
The Subtweet: A Novel | Vivek Shraya
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Pickpick

I listened to the audiobook in one sitting. It was so good. Music artistry and jealousy between brown girls and society.

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Lindy
The Subtweet: A Novel | Vivek Shraya
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Vivek Shraya gave the Canadian Literature Centre‘s annual Kreisel lecture tonight. It was great. 😍

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Lindy
The Subtweet: A Novel | Vivek Shraya
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I‘m always excited when this list is announced. Lots to discover. And the tagged book, one of my favourites, is on it!

https://dublinliteraryaward.ie/book-category/2020/

Simona Ooo, I‘m really surprised that on the list is also Slovenian author https://dublinliteraryaward.ie/books/a-chronicle-of-forgetting/ Obviously I have to read it now... thank you for sharing the link 🙏 4y
Lindy @Simona Which book is by a Slovenian? I‘ve read 11 of the books on this list and I‘m certain that I haven‘t yet read anything by a Slovenian. Time to fix that! 4y
Simona Click on the link in my previous comment. It‘s a book by Sebastijan Pregelj, A Chronicle of Forgetting. I already placed a hold. 4y
Lindy @Simona Oh! I‘ve seen the title via your link. Thanks! 4y
Simona I never paid attention to this award, and I must say that the list is very eclectic and interesting. Thank you again for sharing the link 🤗 4y
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Lindy
The Subtweet: A Novel | Vivek Shraya
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“You are not predictable and you are not controllable.”
“Damn. What is [June Jordan] talking about here?”
“Bisexuality.”
“Wow. See? These words need to soar. They can‘t be delivered in a predictable way. You have to sing them. Just try.”

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Lindy
The Subtweet: A Novel | Vivek Shraya
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Rukmini made her reflect on how much she missed not always feeling right or sure, how uncertainty was a gift that could lead to adventure or an opportunity to discover something new.
(Author photo from the book cover)

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Lindy
The Subtweet: A Novel | Vivek Shraya
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What a great pick for the 200th book in my lesbian book club! Everyone loved it. One of the many aspects we appreciated is that the trans representation is totally embedded and not in any way a conflict aspect of the storyline. #Queer #trans #LGBTQ #CanadianAuthor

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Lindy
The Subtweet: A Novel | Vivek Shraya
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Starting a reread tonight, in preparation for book club on Monday.

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Larkken
The Subtweet: A Novel | Vivek Shraya
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Pickpick

#12booksof2020 day 4:

I thought this book was a romance when I started it, and somehow this made the focus on the friendship between 2 minority artists perfectly gripping. All friendships are romances of a kind, amiright? This #ownvoices fits a ton of next year's challenges, was an insightful look at allyship and friendship, and made me learn a bit better how Twitter works.

Andrew65 Good choice. (edited) 4y
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Well-ReadNeck
The Subtweet: A Novel | Vivek Shraya
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BarbaraBB That cover 😍 4y
readordierachel What @BarbaraBB said ☝🏽😍 4y
58 likes2 comments
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xicanti
The Subtweet: A Novel | Vivek Shraya
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Pickpick

Like all Vivek Shraya‘s work, THE SUBTWEET is compulsively readable and nuanced. She explores creative insecurity, friendship in the age of social media, how music gestates in the artist‘s mind, and who gets to claim ownership of a piece of art. And she delves deep into how all these issues intersect with her characters‘ lives as brown women in a culture determined to tokenize them—when they aren‘t dismissed outright. It‘s powerful, painful stuff.

xicanti Also of note: the characters weather a ton of abuse, but none of it is transphobic. Nobody ever needs to justify their gender. It means a lot to me that Shraya made this one utopian addendum to her otherwise painfully realistic artistic landscape. 4y
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jouleian
The Subtweet: A Novel | Vivek Shraya
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This one seemed to be quietly gaining good reviews and was suggested to me by Scribd so I‘m gonna give it a whirl 🙂🙂🙂 #tbr #audiobook #suggestions

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WellReadCatLady
The Subtweet: A Novel | Vivek Shraya
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This book 😍😍. I‘m about half way through and I love it. The way the author writes the inner monologue of the characters is perfection.

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Lindy
The Subtweet: A Novel | Vivek Shraya
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I‘ve got a new collection of Tim Hortons references up on my blog today. It‘s a nice way to get a taste of a dozen different Canadian authors‘ works. https://lindypratch.blogspot.com/2020/06/the-continuing-saga-of-tim-hortons-in.h...
#CanadianAuthors #CanLit

AlaMich I almost want to cross the border just so I can sample some! 4y
KVanRead What a great compilation. Really enjoyed! And now I‘m missing Tim‘s more than ever now @Book_Fiend_Melissa 😂❤️🇨🇦☕️🍩 4y
Lindy @AlaMich 😁☕️🇨🇦👍 4y
Lindy @KVanRead I‘m glad you enjoyed it. 😊 4y
Reggie Lol, awesome! If I ever go to Canada, poutine and Tim Hortons will be on the agenda. 4y
35 likes5 comments
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Kenyazero
The Subtweet: A Novel | Vivek Shraya
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Pickpick

The Subtweet follows two music artists as they navigate friendship, careers, social media, dominant white culture, and content creation. This wasn't a pick for me, but it's way more than so-so. I didn't like the attitude of one of the women, and have a hard time connecting with the types of drama that permeate both womens' lives. The writing was excellent and any music fans or creators might really enjoy this book! #lgbtq #music #transisbeautiful

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Kenyazero
The Subtweet: A Novel | Vivek Shraya
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Every week, I'm highlighting #lgbtqauthors. 🏳️‍🌈 Canadian musician, writer, and visual artist Vivek Shraya is a woman of many talents. In addition to being a university professor of creative writing, she is also a director on the board of The Tegan and Sara Foundation.

Update: I noticed that she has some or all her books on Spotify.

#lgbtq #lgbtqauthors #lgbtqvoices #transgender #pocauthors #womanauthors

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Lindy
The Subtweet: A Novel | Vivek Shraya
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Today on my blog, I fret about being able to judge books as a member of the Shadow Giller jury. #shadowGiller

https://lindypratch.blogspot.com/2020/08/why-oh-why-did-i-agree-to-be-on-shadow....

Ruthiella I just listened to you on the Reading Envy podcast. I would be intimidated too but what an experience! You can do it! 😀 4y
TrishB Good luck 👍🏻 4y
Nute I agree that selecting an ultimate BEST book is an undo-able task. Like you my favorites-list is several listings long. And what makes one book rank high, might not have anything to with why another book ranks high. I trust in your book review skills, Ms. Lindy. I know that you will your purpose well on the Shadow Giller Jury!😊 (edited) 4y
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Cathythoughts You‘ll be great Lindy 👍🏻❤️ 4y
Penny_LiteraryHoarders I just want the Longlist to hurry up and be announced! But I normally disagree with the chosen winner by the official jury so things should be interesting this year! 4y
Lindy @Ruthiella thank you Ruth. 😘 I am excited about the project. 😊 4y
Lindy @TrishB thanks! 😊 4y
Lindy @Nute thanks for your vote of confidence 🥰 4y
Lindy @Cathythoughts thank you Cathy 😘 4y
Lindy @Penny_LiteraryHoarders It‘s always interesting but this time we will be in the thick of it, won‘t we? 4y
KVanRead Great blog post. That sounds very tough indeed. But all Litsy has faith in you! Look forward to your posts on this. 4y
Lindy @KVanRead thanks a bunch 😘 4y
Reggie Listening to you on Jenny‘s show talk about this made me feel like I knew a bookish rock star. You‘re a book rock star Lindy. You‘ll do great. 4y
Lindy @Reggie I‘m blushing ☺️ Thanks for your kind words. 🥰 4y
ReadingEnvy @Reggie totally! We knew her when! 4y
Lindy @ReadingEnvy ☺️😘 4y
Centique What a big pile! You can do it though - we believe in you! Lovely hearing you on the podcast too 😍 4y
Lindy @Centique Thanks Paula! This pile is only a sample. Audiobook and ebooks aren‘t visible, plus library books I‘ve read and returned. It‘s a big project. 😊 4y
Centique @Lindy whoa! I think I would drown in all those books 😱 I guess knowing there is that important discussing and judging process to come gives extra excitement/motivation to keep on reading, reading, reading 🤞 4y
48 likes20 comments
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rachelsbrittain
The Subtweet: A Novel | Vivek Shraya
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Pickpick

A novel about friendship, insecurity, and the complicated ways miscommunications hurt each other. When musicians Neela and Rukmini become friends after cover singer Rukmini covers the songwriter's song, they take the internet by storm. Especially when an old, unpublished school project of Rukmini is anonymously released launching her mainstream music career. But is her fame standing in the way of Neela's?

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rachelsbrittain
The Subtweet: A Novel | Vivek Shraya
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New audiobook for my drive home today

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Dogearedcopy
The Subtweet: A Novel | Vivek Shraya
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Today's book club virtual meet up was a Zoom call with the author followed by a Q & A. I got more insight onto the book and, I'm absolutely fascinated with Vivek herself-- but for now I'll keep my rating of her book at 3-stars until I've re-read it. Armed with new information/better understanding, I have no doubt that my rating will be bumped up :-)

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ReadingEnvy
The Subtweet: A Novel | Vivek Shraya
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Reading Envy Podcast Episode 192: Sly Milieu with Thomas

Thomas is back! We discuss reading during a pandemic and more importantly, the books we've managed to order online during the pandemic. Jenny gets Thomas to talk about audiobooks, and we follow every tangent from E.M. Forster to epistolary novels.

Follow the link to listen and subscribe:
http://tinyurl.com/ReadingEnvy192

rachelm Ooo can‘t wait! 5y
Lindy Loved this episode! I remember Thomas talking on the Readers podcast about how irritating he finds dialogue in epistolary novels because he doesn‘t believe anyone records dialogue that way. I kept a journal when I travelled for a year and there are long passages of dialogue in it, so it doesn‘t seem unusual to me when I encounter it in novels. On another topic, I had chosen The Subtweet as one of the books I would talk about with you in July. 🙃 5y
ReadingEnvy @rachelm 👩‍🎤 5y
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ReadingEnvy @Lindy You are a rare bird, Lindy! And you can still talk about the Subtweet if you'd like! Several books have come up multiple times; I think Idaho still has the most instances. 5y
rachelm Omg Idaho!!!! That book! 5y
Lindy @ReadingEnvy Thanks! I think I will talk about The Subtweet when we record together. I‘ve been recommending it all over the place. 5y
Centique Just listening to this now 😊 You can tell Thomas at least one person got the Mork and Mindy reference 😂😂 My mind went straight there when he said Boulder #oldbookworms 5y
ReadingEnvy @Centique the bookstore in Boulder responded in Twitter too! 5y
ReadingEnvy @rachelm I know! So much to talk about, and I STILL think about it! 5y
41 likes9 comments
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Dogearedcopy
The Subtweet: A Novel | Vivek Shraya
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Mehso-so

This book was chosen by my book club in context of June being Pride Month— So I was expecting some element of LGBTQ+ness to be showcased in this novel about 4 very insecure musicians who perpetuate passive aggressive social stunts for self-validation and petty revenge. But I was disappointed to discover that the only thing queer about this book is the author. It‘s entirely possible I missed something here. We‘ll see what discussion will reveal!

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ReadingEnvy
The Subtweet: A Novel | Vivek Shraya
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Pickpick

I loved this read that starts with one musician covering the song of another, and how that leads to a friendship until one becomes much more famous than the other. It's about friendship and cultural appropriation. The author does a fantastic job showing how relationships are complicated with texts and social media, and how music can unite and divide. ⤵️

ReadingEnvy Shraya posted the song as she envisioned it as well as the cover version; you can also listen to the audiobook of this book via her account in Spotify. 5y
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Dogearedcopy
The Subtweet: A Novel | Vivek Shraya
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Starting the next selection for the #TimesReads book club and, 20 pages in I can‘t say I really “get” the main character and, I‘m pretty sure I wouldn‘t like her if I met her, but to be fair I haven‘t met The Pearl Rule of pages read to disposition the book yet.

So far, it‘s about a YouTube musician who creates & sings non-traditional music (?) Let‘s see where this goes...

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Lindy
The Subtweet: A Novel | Vivek Shraya
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Pickpick

The nuances of friendship, artistic competition & striving to assert individual identity by members of a minority group—in this case, South Asian Canadian women—are extremely well portrayed in this novel set in Toronto. Shifting viewpoints capture misconceptions & insecurities exacerbated by social media. At least one of the women is trans, and I love that it isn‘t in any way an issue for these characters, who feel so real I ached for them. #LGBTQ

Tonton On my TBR! Great review, I‘m moving it up 😎 5y
Lindy @Tonton 😘You won‘t regret it. It‘s that good. 5y
CaseyTheCanadianLesbrarian I loved this so much too! My favourite book this year so far. 5y
Lindy @CaseyTheCanadianLesbrarian Yes, it IS excellent. It‘s taken me a week to come up with words to do it justice in a review. 😊 5y
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Lindy
The Subtweet: A Novel | Vivek Shraya
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She reached for her dad‘s old wooden harmonium, tucked on the bottom row of her bookshelf. He had given it to her when her parents had decided they were officially over the frigid climate and locals and moved back to Pakistan.
(Internet photo)

Lindy This reminds me of a quote by Scaachi Koul: Mom talks about moving to Canada as if my father had requested she start wearing fun hats. ‘Why not try it?‘ she thought, instead of, ‘This fucking lunatic wants me to go to a country made of ice and casual racism.‘ 5y
37 likes1 comment
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Lindy
The Subtweet: A Novel | Vivek Shraya
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“The idea had come to her … to write an entire album of songs that focused on the thrill of solitude, the luxuriousness of her own company.“
This novel comes with a link to an entire original soundtrack created by the multitalented Vivek Shraya. I love everything about this.

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Lindy
The Subtweet: A Novel | Vivek Shraya
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Rukmini had made out that the girl‘s name was Malika from the mandatory name tent displayed on the edge of her desk but they had never spoken to each other. This wasn‘t unusual—there was an unwritten code of silence amongst brown girls in white rooms. Staying separate was a way to assert their distinctiveness and delay the moment when their classmates would “accidentally” refer to one of them by the other‘s name.
#ownvoices

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Lindy
The Subtweet: A Novel | Vivek Shraya
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I‘m starting TWO new books today. I plan to go slow with Thammavongsa‘s collection, interspersing her stories with other reading. I have a feeling Shraya‘s novel is one to dive into, based on the first page. Also, I‘ve been spending a lot of time on Twitter lately and I hope I can substitute my time reading this instead. Celebrating #ownvoices #CanadianAuthors!

Sace Uf. I've been spending way too much time on Twitter. 5y
Lindy @Sace 👯 5y
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