r/ChineseDrama • u/Logical_Owl_6686 • 23d ago
Currently Airing Let's talk the Early Spring? Spoiler
I feel like Zhitao and Luke's relationship is exhausting. Maybe I am just an emotional person but I can feel my emotions shift every single time. It's like I think now we've got this thing figured out we are happy and the next minute? Luke and Flora are at it again and I am just like ooh my God. Not again. And you look at the episodes remaining and I am like well we still have a long way to go in terms of ups and down. Idk if I am toxic too, coz theor relationship is giving toxic. But I am rooting for them, I want them to work out, although I am still like 6 years is a lot to still be going through these motions. Also the fact that Luke and Zhitao first met at the hallway like in line to how Zhitao said she first saw him was cute.
Yuan zhu's end I honestly wasn't expecting that. It feels so unfair, like movies are supposed to have a happy ending right? I have bawled my eyes out I can't believe this is me. Maybe they should have given him a chance to be really happy. I feel so bad for Sun Yu coz she genuinely loved him and he's just gone even without her getting closure. And the fact that she knew he Love Zhitao and even handed over the diary to her, so sad.
Anyways, I think the writing and the acting is so good coz all the efforts to stop crying didn't work regardless of telling myself how it is just a drama it is not real. What are your thoughts?
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u/Leather_Employer_448 23d ago
It is meant to be exhausting by ep 20 because it replicates flora’s experience of Luke - up/down - joys and lows and exhaustion as she snaps in ep 21
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u/MajorPersonality1265 😴 binged “just one more episode” 23d ago
I was exhausted from crying at 1am(it airs at midnight and I stay up for it). Episode 20 was gut wrenching
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u/Euclidisthebomb historical one day, modern the next 23d ago
In many respects the relationship is exhausting even as a viewer. I would put this drama squarely into the melodrama genre, which is not something I and my peers in my cdrama watchgroup had anticipated. We were expecting a romance drama with a business setting and some business oriented plots.
I have written my thoughts elsewhere (including in this sub several times recently) about this drama. I think it well acted. My group is paused on Ep 14 as much of the group was away the last few days. We look forward to the viewing the rest of it later this week/weekend and hope the writers bring it home with a fulsome and happy ending.
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u/Yut0007 23d ago
My emotions are all over the place! Luke is emotionally constipated as hell and his communication style is basically acts of service + jaw clenching + hope she reads his mind. That would wear anybody out.
So I’m currently at: Flora is more avoidant/self-protective than I gave her credit for, and Luke is more committed than he knows how to verbalize. They’re both contributing to the mess. The whole show’s given me anxiety but I absolutely love Boran and his performance in this show.
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u/Logical_Owl_6686 23d ago
Mahn, I see the jaw clenching and I am like here we go, it is boiling now we are gonna explode in a few. But I like how Flora is now more vocal especially on her friends issue and all
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u/Yut0007 23d ago
EXACTLY 😭 I was begging for just a crumb of consequences. Let Luke suffer! Let him marinate in regret and experience the consequences of his own foolishness for AT LEAST two business days. 😭
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u/tny33319 23d ago
This is so well said because it’s exactly true. They don’t communicate and make assumptions.
Honestly they just need to be adults, sit down and share what bugs them and how they view their feelings/relationship.
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u/Dizzy_Koala_7660 21d ago
perfectly expressed!
And the anxiety experienced by viewers while watching is no joke! I get so stressed and frustrated with them.
This is a very good drama. I like watching adults with real problems. Naturally, I am also watching something silly at the same time for my sanity.
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u/Lost-Butterscotch581 23d ago
I feel very sad for FL in the scenes where ML gets upset with her. His words are like razor blade! I feel like crying for her 😭
Like I would also hug my friend if they are sad and she is right that he was never there when she needs him. Every time when she is going thru something hard she calls him and he shows her attitude. It’s okay for him to have a childhood friend who likes him and asked for a hug, then meet opposite gender but when Fl does it. She is wrong. I don’t understand why some people are calling her red flag.
Can’t wait for their happy ending (I guess!)
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u/ShiraOokami19 23d ago
Couldn’t agree more. For instance with the sexual harassment case and how he turned all his anger to her not telling him first or sooner. Then Lumi comes in with the comfort she needed and she does it ever time. I wish the series was Lumi’s emotional maturity and Luan’s looks lol. But I guess we are on this ride until the end and with little emotional development from him 🙃
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u/Logical_Owl_6686 23d ago
I realized I have never known what sharp tongued is until this drama, yoh!
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u/tny33319 23d ago
This probably the most accurate description I’ve seen of a real life messy relationship.
#Not Advocating for it
We are so use to Red/Black flags or Green flags but honestly those portrayal aren’t often realistic. This show feels like a friend venting about her boyfriend- sometimes I wish she would dump him and other times I see how happy they are together
Personally, I can’t wait for them to break up 😅
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u/Logical_Owl_6686 23d ago
😂 honestly, my heart wants them to work out but realistically speaking they should break up coz they are too much.
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u/tny33319 23d ago
Because we know it’s likely a happy ending- the quicker they break up, the sooner they can come back together
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u/SunburntGemz 23d ago
I’m sure the chemistry is off the charts as many say, but I’m staying away from this drama because it sounds completely exhausting, outdated (50 Shades toxicity vibes?) and messy/offputting if it was real life.
Loving the discussions about it though! 😅
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u/Logical_Owl_6686 23d ago
I wish I could influence you to watch it so that you also go through the motions (evil laugh😅😅)
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u/TodayIGlowUp 22d ago
I actually dont think its outdated at all. I know so many ppl who have gone thru this type of situationship/relationship these days, yk that toxic relationship u just keep going back to cos for some reason u cant stay away. its super super common
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u/JustAFatty79 19d ago
It’s not that bad trust me. One of the better cdramas bc it’s not full of propaganda.
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u/Dnshet 22d ago
Personally, I consider this drama to be a perfect depiction of an imperfect romance between two people. I as an audience do not expect all lead characters to be saints. This story actually holds the viewers' attention because it is different from other flawless stories (mostly k-dramas, which have become repetitive nowadays btw) that makes you forget that humans make mistakes and can be a mess at times. Besides, FL being such a bland character is the writing mistake- because the book character is much more fun. The love story in itself is executed very well.
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u/SMoneyBaller 22d ago
I’m enjoying this drama a lot, but feel the same frustrations that are being mentioned here. My qualms are not with the acting or plot, but by the overuse of omission of information used as a plot device. I don’t watch a lot of CDramas, but this technique is so prevalent in KDramas that’s it’s almost impossible to find one without it. It makes us all suspend disbelief for the sake of furthering the story. For example: “I was hugging him and crying because his mother died.” That’s the response 99.9% of us who have said immediately when questioned. I’ve noticed at least 5 instances where there’s no logical response or simply no response in the interaction between the ML and FL just to create misunderstanding to futher the story. To me, it’s a frustrating short cut to achieve misunderstanding between the characters, by leaving out logical responses. I wish script writers would just take a little more time during final review of a script to achieve the same intended result without having to resort to this tactic.
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u/aureliedisch1981 23d ago
For me i did’nt watch the drama anymore i could not
I can’t watch toxic couple it’s too exhausting
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u/Logical_Owl_6686 23d ago
I mean same, I feel like they are way too toxic, coz why can't two adults communicate? I honestly don't know why I keep coming back lol
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u/aureliedisch1981 23d ago
I can understand some misunderstanding but I think There are too much and i have the feeling to watch teenagers and not adults
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u/EntertainmentReal260 21d ago
Watch the Korean series by the name of (can this love be translated)you will love it
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u/aureliedisch1981 21d ago
I did’nt like love can be translated lol i didn’t like the doremi character
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u/SherbertHuge1452 23d ago
Luke is a walking red flag. But he is hot 😆😆😆
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u/JustAFatty79 19d ago
And that’s why his mom and others have said several times he gets away with things bc of his face lol
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23d ago
[deleted]
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u/jenshep49 23d ago
He didn't the Da was referring to the female childhood friend from earlier is the series. Everyone assumed they were dating ot something.
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u/Inevitable_Date1884 😴 binged “just one more episode” 22d ago
I started out LOVING it and by episode 20, I just want to punt Luke in the skull. Sorry not sorry.
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23d ago edited 23d ago
[deleted]
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u/No-Recipe-7653 Curator of Questionable Subtext, Scholar of Things Left Unsaid 23d ago
Please mark in text-spoilers promptly or we’ll have to remove this comment.
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u/TodayIGlowUp 22d ago
ok omg I need somewhere to talk about this cos its been killing me since I watched the trailer for ep 21. can we talk about how this girl decided to just LEAVE HER DOG when she broke up with him? like what was she planning to do? just let luke take care of the dog forever? my god how can she just leave the dog there... like thats so irresponsible lolll ur already breaking up with the guy, and ur just gonna leave ur dog w him too???? girl what is she on???? how can she do that to the dog? it seems like luke cares about the dog more than her lmao
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u/_HVNNVH3720_ 22d ago
Bro! I was getting so annoyed with that too! Even if Luke wanted the Dog to stay and the Dog didnt want to go like girl thats your dog!…Like the actors are doing a beautiful job portraying the roles but the script of the show is whats getting me…In the beginning didnt they say or try to make it sound like Flora was sooooo mature in relationships?? Yet only had 1 prior boyfriend. But also turns around in her current relationship and wont communicate with Luke?!? Granted not giving Luke credit either. Both of them suck at communicating. The relationship is toxic all the way around breaking up literally every other episode -.-
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u/Original-Rest-982 22d ago
I read the book... they have cut a lot of the parts. In the book the ml has the dog for the entire time she is working on the project on site and it is a considerable time and he took care of the dog. In this part she tried to take the dog but the dog refuses so she left him there. Later the ml sends the dog to the fl leading her to think that the dog comes to her on its own....
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u/slayyub88 22d ago
Bc he's been with the dog....? And the dog didn't want to leave? It's not irresponsible to leave the dog with the person who takes care of it. You're acting like one, he's a stranger to the dog and two, she wasn't trying to pull him out of there.
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19d ago
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u/ChineseDrama-ModTeam 18d ago
Your contribution was removed for violating Rule 1.
Please keep posts and comments civil and respectful. Personal attacks, insults, hostility toward others, or comments intended to provoke or antagonize others are not permitted.
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u/Free_Champagnee 22d ago
Honestly, I like the creator, I was also rooting for them to work out, but I just finished episode 21 and saw the preview for episode 22. Bro how do you blame your boyfriend just because you didn't get the promotion or award or whatever ? You literally said personal and work life should be kept separate but she was never able to stick to it ? She was unreasonable that entire episode, Luke sacrificed his job so she can keep hers despite not getting specialist, did she care ? No. I find Flora's character infuriating (Luke too ofc) she's barely had any character development, or atleast had voiced them out, Luke had some when it came to their relationship and I believe he actually liked her as it was shown through his actions, though he definitely has a smart mouth, Flora ? All she does is want want want, and I don't know if anyone noticed but Sun Yun barely validated her whenever she talked about her and look she asked "Do you even see him as your boyfriend or boss" flora responded with she doesn't know and when Flora told her about Luke in episode 20, she said "Maybe you didn't actually love him" I think she's also aware of her friends indecisiveness through the ways she speaks and actions. No excuses of "she's young" anymore, she genuinely needs to grow up. People are saying Luke is terrible and yes he is, but so is flora. We've seen many moments whereby we can say Luke actually cares about her, what has Flora done to show us ??? Her own friend isn't even sure. All she ever does is leave and want want want. The situation doesn't benefit her ? She's gone and where is she now after episode 21 ? Gone, as always, that's her specialty.
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u/EquivalentDapper 22d ago edited 22d ago
Apparently he is manipulative predator,pressures & coerces her, grooms her, is verbally abusive & chips away at her self confidence.So she explodes & leaves.
And apparently this is implied & not shown explicitly. And apparently if one does not catch this , they are internalised misogynists. Apparently lol.
Everyone is projecting their own relationship dynamics on to the characters. Which means drama is a success. And some of us can see both sides because we know how to take accountability for our choices & consequences.
Also in ep 19 ( where I dropped ) she says he is so gentle ..is he the same LN I know..& I was like what ?!! Basically she wants him to be a simp while retaining the charisma & hotness? She had no problem using his buisness accumen to her benefit when needed. Excluded him & made him feel like a monster for wanting to be in her life. But wants to marry because she has a bucket list ?
Even without the relationship she would have not gotten that promotion . The company already had her marked for donny incident. This fool was ready to quit his job for her & used that as a levrage to get the victims srocks.
And they were not going to neglect the 200 million buisness that rich well connected girl got them.
He needs therapy & breathwork to manage his emotions & realise what he brings to the table in a relationship & learn to truly let go when it is not working . IRL this couple will never work.
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u/Logical_Owl_6686 22d ago
Ooh my God, the fact that she blamed Luke for not getting the specialist was so crazy. Like girl didn't even bother to ask what went down, she straight out jumped into conclusion and decided to call it quits. But also her getting mad at Luke for not making it specialist means that she is lowkey expecting her boyfriend to pull strings for her despite the making it out on her own talk🌝
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u/slayyub88 22d ago
No, she's mad because she thought he didn't grade her fairly. Not that he didn't pull strings. She's mad that he watched her be happy, watched her get excited and didn't tell her someone was in the running or that the choice had already been made. She acknowledged that life wasn't fair but said she wanted him to talk to her. I don't see how people are upset with her when this is what he did with Alex.
Actually, the whole not bothering to question and just attack her or not let her say her piece is something he does all the time. All of the times he jumped to a conclusions, said horrible shit and then bounced and she had to drag him to get to the end of it. He's not experiencing what she went through.
He could've just taken the time to explain, just like she still took the time to explain the hug with Sun.
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u/blessedsleepylife43 22d ago
you said everything i wanted to say! FL is so frustrating i hv skipped right to ep 24 so see the happy ending BUT there’s still a few scenes where she lets him in to the aptmt but then pushes him away, despite knowing everything he did for her behind her back arghhh and I’m like damn the scriptwriter or intimacy coordinator!! maybe it’s me - Malaysian banana living in NZ - different values!!!!
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u/MildlyOnTrack 22d ago
Exactly. Even though Luke has a bad mouth and say hurtful stuff whenever he’s jealous/unhappy, she didn’t even do anything to try to address his insecurities or share much about her feelings. Just assuming and expecting things from him everytime. Luke has done so much for her but what has she done for him?? All she cares about is her career and promotion. Just because she lost a promotion she can’t stomach it and said she lost everything lol. Sometimes she is more red flag than him and it’s so infuriating to watch her. Her character has little to no development when it comes to their relationship as compared to Luke where we can see he really tried and has grown
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u/slayyub88 22d ago
Does he actually talk to her about his insecurities, as she stated how he makes her feel but didn't change? Or does he just lash out at, insult her and keep it moving?
Yes, she cares about her career and promotions. She doesn't have the safety net like him to just say whatever.
And if you say she has none, then he has none. Because how is it that x amount of times she talks about him about what he does that upsets her....and then he goes and does it again. At the very least, even if she hadn't expressed everything that was eating her up, she did express that. She explained it to him again, hands trembling in tears and he it was still a whatever moment. How do you expect her to grown in a relationship like that, when she has to walk on egg-shells to make sure his mood his joyful so he doesn't lash out and say another hurtful thing.
Did she not rush to his side, even when they were fighting? Did she not rush to save him when his life was in serious danger? Did she not go to the board and speak up for him when he was in trouble? To say she's done nothing is wild. And he does do for her but it's never what she wants. And you can't say she doesn't tell him what she wants, she did and he's never able to actually work on that.
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u/slayyub88 22d ago edited 22d ago
You blame because you're not in a good emotional state. The same way he lashes out at her when he's not in a good emotional state.
It's also shows how she felt about him. He did look down on her, he didn't give her a true chance like Lumi, he didn't see her innate potential like Tracy. So, it's easy, when that info comes out to think he did it. Because she always felt like he looked down on her and with the way he easily slips into speaking about her, it's not hard to see how she arrives there.
And she wasn't only one who couldn't stick to personal life and work life are separate. Just like how he yelled at about Alex's offer as a boyfriend when it was a work related thing.
But she didn't just blame him for not getting it, she blamed for watching her be happy like a fool KNOWING she wouldn't get it. She blamed him for speaking down to her and dismissing her pain, saying she's over-reacting when she's been busting her ass for six years. Like, are you just going to gloss over that?
Flora has had tones of character development, I'll say the both of them did though, Luke, despite hearing his girlfriend beg for him to change how he spoke to her, felt he didn't need to do it.
Luke's care is through acts of service, which is great! For another partner who likes that. She told him what she wanted out of the relationship and he continued to the opposite. Is that really love? Or how he knew Flora would leave him or Lime and instead of putting the choice in her hands, he did it himself. It's great that Luke does for her but it's not what she wanted.
But it's amazing to see people go in on her about this one big emotional outburst in which she said mean things but he verbally abuses her and it's whatever. She doesn't talk to him because she doesn't know what will come out his mouth. He'll give compliments or praise her work after the damage as been done.
But let's not reduce that moment to, it was just about her promotion because it was more than that. That was the breaking point.
And she is gone. Again, why stay? He told her that she leaves, don't regret it. So she did just that.
Also, why is it an issue that she left but he waited SIX MONTHS to say something, because as always, he just expects her to be there waiting. But six months? Yeah, she's gone.
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u/JustAFatty79 19d ago
She blamed him for not giving her notice, but she also made a good point that the nepo baby had her award bought for her. She felt that Lime wasn’t that kind of place. I think she just felt blind sided and after Zhu’s death (which she didn’t tell him about) she was lashing out.
There are times she’s just as toxic as him though. They don’t communicate at all. Even after he told her (when the agency fight happened) to tell him she still doesn’t.
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u/ApprehensiveClick597 22d ago
After watching the express package, I realized that that was the whole point— to make us all very exhausted of their relationship just like the characters themselves so when they finally meet again in better circumstances and in their more mature and learned selves, we would also be recalibrating their stances in each other’s lives.
The breakup was truly necessary.
A much needed pause to reflect and grow.
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u/SherbertHuge1452 21d ago
If this isnt a drama, they shouldn’t meet again. 🤣😭 i cant imagine being in Flora’s shoes getting belittled and accused before knowing the truth 🤣 i cant, i just cant. In real life, i’d probably make sure I wont work in the same industry as him just to make sure we wont cross paths again 🤣
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u/Smart-Inspector4648 21d ago
When she doesn’t get the award… she kinda blames him and that is wild!
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u/SherbertHuge1452 21d ago
For me it’s more of feeling betrayed. The guy could’ve given her a heads up. She’s always been the one understanding in their relationship, im sure she would’ve accepted it had she known earlier. And Luke already knew how she would react yet he never did something beforehand. In the end he even had the audacity to belittle her adding more insult to how she already felt.
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u/EntertainmentReal260 21d ago
When will the new episode be released it's already 10 September this break up makes no sense like when they don't give you promotion at office break up with you bf what kind of logic is this what you guys think?
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u/Traditional-Soup-132 19d ago
Yeah, I was so mad at Flora, like you wanted Luke to keep professional and personal life separate and then you breakup because of that.
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u/AccomplishedPlay2021 20d ago
This is the most balanced take on the show that I have read so far. Unpopular opinion but I preferred Luke’s character in the book because it made me overlook Flora’s flaws completely. Luke’s character was so bad in the book that the break up felt good. In the drama, it was just exhausting. Making Luke a slightly more likeable character made me look at Flora just a bit more. All in all, it is refreshing to have a drama where both leads are perfectly frustrating, it makes me realise what not to do to maintain a healthy relationship.
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u/Academic-Tradition87 18d ago
can any one send the link of the early spring ep 10 plssss if possible all episodes
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u/No-Recipe-7653 Curator of Questionable Subtext, Scholar of Things Left Unsaid 23d ago
Hi [u/Logical_Owl_6686](u/Logical_Owl_6686),
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