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duckprintspress · 10 months ago

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Ongoing Pre-Order Campaigns: Updates!

Now that we’ve finished our month-long push for our Kickstarter campaign for Aether Beyond the Binary, we have space and time to talk about literally anything else on our social media (lol). We’ve gotten a couple private inquiries about the status of our other projects, so here’s an overview of progress on our current publishing projects (we’ve also got a couple art projects in the works, but that’s a topic for another day).

To Drive the Hundred Miles by Alec J. Marsh

fulfillment on the crowdfunding campaign is complete

as of January 20th, the book and leftover merch are now available on our webpage!

e-book

print book

tarot card and spell jar recipe postcard/art print

trans pride mountainscape sticker

you can also get the e-book and print-on-demand print book through major retailers and through the library of your choice – you can even special order the book at your local bookstore!

I also have a small number of the campaign deer antler pendants left; if you want one, feel free to contact me privately!

Missed the campaign and curious about the book? Read the first chapter as a sneak peek!

Aim For The Heart: Queer Fanworks Inspired by Alexandre Dumas’s The Three Musketeers

fulfillment on the crowdfunding campaign for our most recent anthology is complete

as of January 20th, the book and leftover merch are now available on our webpage!

e-book

print book

campaign bookmark

front cover magnet

coat-of-arms enamel key chain

musketeer dux die-cut sticker

you can also get the e-book through major retailers and can request it through your library

we’re working on reformatting the book to a slightly different size so that we can also offer it print-on-demand to major retailers, local bookstores, and libraries everywhere

Hockey Bois by A. L. Heard

all merchandise has been received and prepared for distribution

trade paperback books have been received

the proof of the hardcover edition has been approved, and the hardcover edition is in production

according to our book printer, BookLogix, we should expect delivery of the hardcover edition in roughly a month (around the end of February)

once we’ve received all items necessary for fulfillment, we will send out everyone’s orders as quickly as possible

Aether Beyond the Binary

the crowdfunding campaign for our next anthology successfully concluded yesterday!

we are putting finishing touches on stories

we are preparing templates suitable for printing our merchandise

we’ve begun to gather information from backers necessary fulfillment

most fulfillment activities are on hold until the funds clear and we can actually place orders; this will take roughly three weeks

Many Drops Make a Stream by Adrian Harley

fulfillment on the pre-order campaign is complete

as of January 20th, the book and leftover merch are now available on our webpage!

e-book

print book

art print of the front cover

campaign bookmark

tiger transforming to a goose enamel pin

tiger transforming to a goose dux die-cut sticker

you can also get the e-book and print-on-demand print book through major retailers and through the library of your choice – you can even special order the book at your local bookstore!

I also have a small number of the campaign “Eye of Sacarus” pendants left; if you want one, feel free to contact me privately!

Missed the campaign and curious about the book? Read the first chapter as a sneak peek!

Other Projects

Many Hands: An Anthology of Polyamorous Erotica: stories for this collection are being edited, with progress ranging from “barely started” to “almost done.” We’re just beginning to discuss the books internal appearance, and are waiting on the final cover from the artist we’re working with. We expect to release the contributor list in the next few weeks and hope to crowdfund the anthology during the spring.

Untitled Best Of Anthologies: we’ll be doing two anthologies – one general imprint and one explicit imprint – featuring stories published to our Patreon and webpage before September 31, 2023. Most of the stories have been set, and we’ll beginning work on the cover and campaign features soon. We expect to launch this during the summer of 2024.

A Truth Universally Acknowledged: Queer Fanworks Inspired by Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice: recruitment for this anthology closed on January 15th, and we will be selecting contributors and notifying them by January 31st. We expect this campaign to be ready for launch in roughly a year (late 2024 or early 2025).

Untitled General Imprint Anthology: we’re in the very preliminary stages of discussing a theme for our next general imprint anthology, and we expect to open recruitment for it in the late spring, with an expected publication date of summer, 2025.

Scrap Metal Angel by Nicola Kapron: our next novella project, we are working on final editing, and once that’s done we’ll begin work on a cover, artwork, and other campaign aspects. We don’t yet have a time frame on pre-orders, but definitely during 2024, before the fall.

The Twinned Trilogy by Tris Lawrence: we still have a great deal of editing to complete on this project, but covers are done and the pre-launch page is on Kickstarter. We’re aiming for spring or summer 2024 for crowdfunding.

We have several other novellas and novels in the pipeline, but none that we’re ready to announce yet. Be on the look-out!

Want to always know the latest on what we’re working on? Want a say in what we work on next? Want behind-the-scenes access, more information, awesome extras, free stories, and more? Want exclusive extra merch for supporting our future campaigns? Best yet: want the joy of supporting queer independent publishing? If you said “yes” to any of these, there’s no time like today to become a backer of our Patreon!

#duck prints press #about us

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lesquatrechevrons · 5 months ago

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45, 34, 50, 11 and 27 for the books and reading ask meme please :D

Thank you so much for the ask, and so many questions!! ヽ(o＾▽＾o)ノ woohoo!!!!!! ╰(*´︶`*)╯♡ It got a bit long... hope it's ok! ^.^"

(questions are from Books and Reading Ask Meme)

45. Do you use a bookmark?

I mostly read digital!! (I have... so many apps and tabs and!) *waves hands apologetically* (what moving too often does to a mf). but the few times I do read physical... if the book is mine... I dog hear the corners. :') If the book is not mine, I try to remember the page number!

34. Quick - what is the closest book to you right now?

I'm by my work desk, so I have a bunch of illustrated stuff: Natsu no Ichinichi (a summer's day) by Koshiro Hata; look how pretty the art inside is (image from the French amazon edition)!

50. What was the last book to make you cry?

It was a fanfic!! Little Sharp Toothed Privates by Moxibustion! The fit does a wonderful job to take crack seriously so that when the tension ramps up it hits you sideways with the reality that it's still very much Star Wars and yannow there are wars in these stars. (so good! I will comment as soon as I find words again!!)

11. What book(s) have you read more than once?

Oh, I love (l o v e) urban fantasy/paranormal and I love competent characters (like yes, please info dump on all the niche stuff you know), so I have reread Wild Fire by Ilona Andrews quite a lot. My favourite part is the heroine grappling with what it means to have power, yield it, and how you will terrify some and loved by others. IA does a good job in having queer characters in all their series (in relationships and not, both as allies and as part of the inner circle so to speak) I just hope one day we'll get them as protagonists!

Fanfic wise, I'll give you 2:

edge of providence by adiduck, whimsical images (jangobi, fix-it, clone centric & huge cast) a lot (Clones getting a CHILDHOOD! And many other things!!)

those who can by K_R_Closson (educorps f!Obi-wan x Alpha-17, fix-it, clone culture by the kazoo) ... and I can't count the amount of times I've reread it. Their dynamic is so good!!! not for the faint of heart though! (emotionally speaking I guess??)

27. Do you write in your books?

On physical books, not really! I used to spill and stain them (smuggling books to school lol) as a kid, but in digital I am a serial highlighter (I have 2 file copies of I Got My Head Checked by frostbitebakery because one is so highlighted/annotated it's unreadable... I want to devour it, it's that good).

Thank you again for your questions!!!! ♡＼(￣▽￣)／♡

#let me know if you've reblogged this meme so I can ask back!!! ٩(◕‿◕｡)۶ #asks #actually feel free to reblog or reply and let me know how you would answer these questions!!! especially if you have books or fiction recs!#♡＼(￣▽￣)／♡#fic rec #book rec

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zelkiff · 6 months ago

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Hi. Creation convention 101.

It is expensive but for an important reason. They limit attendance to I believe the number of seats in the main theater. I just went to a FanExpo that had 80000 on 1 day!!!!! Made things difficult.

Your one stop center is Creationent.com

Bookmark it.

You can get different levels of tickets. Gold, Silver, Copper, preferred or general admisson. Preferred and general are also available as 1 day tickets.

When you buy all but general, you get a seat number that is yours for the weekend. Example. I am treating myself to Gold for the first time in Austin since I live there and so have no plane or hotel costs. L 18 is my seat. Or the 12th row seat 18. The main theater is where all the panels are. You come and go at will. Just show your Lanyard or the wristband you get when checking in. The wrist band stays on all weekend. The Lanyard has your badge and is important not only to get in but some levels get a few autographs and are punched as you get them. Main theater also is the place for Karaoke (free Friday night), the Saturday Night Special concert ($ or included on some tickets), and other stuff.

Anything I need to clarify so far?

omg this is so helpful thank you sm!!! no like you laid this out perfect thank you!!! ily

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arthenaa · 2 years ago

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college! graphic design artist! seb x fem! reader sneak peek (inspired by true events HAHAHA i projected me and my gfs experience on this)

an: might turn into a fic !! a mix of socmed au and writing. if ever i dont turn it into a fic, ill be uploading a completed ver soon of this whole meow meow. for now enjoy!

It was supposed to be a time for discussion. Thesis work was what you exactly hoped for; a pain in the fucking ass. It was mostly expected that you'd already have a planned group before the semester started as it was a course that would last for 3 whole semesters.

That meant you'd be spending a whole school year (basically) with that group of people.

Alas, your introverted self only relied on randomized groupings and you only had a very very small social group that had different schedules from yours. You were doomed and panicking.

Luckily with the help of your professor, whom you had discreetly approached with your problem after seeing that other groups had already filled in their required numbers— had placed you in a group of four who had still yet to find a 5th member. You were thankful, yes, however, the present predicament had proved to be quite troublesome for your performance on your first meeting.

Three of your groupmates were absent. Three.

You think it might be alright to work as a pair for now considering that one was out of town, one had org duties and the other was not feeling well but the anxiety of being in a new setting with new people wasn't really doing good for you right now.

You had to depend on this man for a short presentation due in like 2 hours and you were both doing nothing.

You look down at your notes, scribbles of possible topic ideas written haphazardly across the sheet of paper. Your eyes then flicker back onto the man sitting adjacent to your seat.

You forgot his name but his face was hard to miss. You first saw a glimpse of him hosting one of the school's functions and had a great relationship with most of your professors. He was a popular kid but a good one based on your assessment of character.

He was slouched on his seat, legs stretched out on the floor and crossed over one another. He lets out a yawn as he rests his cheek on his arm propped up on the armchair while his eyes never seemed to leave the screen of his Macbook.

He seems to be busy typing several things which made you slightly feel scared that he might've been doing things by himself and forgetting your presence.

This is obviously something you're entirely assuming as he looks up from his laptop and locks eyes with yours.

You immediately look down at your notebook and begin busying yourself with the tassels of your bookmark. A flush spreads across your cheeks at being caught staring.

How could you not stare? He was known to be friendly and someone you saw often due to his reputation and connections with various school organizations. He had an overall approachable personality and was practically an attention magnet.

And also because he was .... cute.

College life wasn't exactly as much fun as your older friends used to say. It was a nightmare and an obligation you had to begrudgingly attend to. Uni days consisted of you just trying to survive throughout the week so it's safe to say your love life was as dry as the fucking desert. It was super rare to see a guy this cute in your field.

You allow yourself to scan his fit for today. How could he make an outfit as mundane as a green sweater and jeans look so ... good? The rings adorning his fingers and the black strapped watch on his wrist added to the charm and you could only will yourself to not stare even further as you'd probably be deemed as a creep by this poor young guy.

"Hey," His voice snaps you from your reverie causing you to flinch in your seat. Your look up at him in surprise as he leans forward to catch your gaze. "Y/N Y/L/N, right?"

"U-Uh yeah?" You answer timidly, fiddling with the bracelet adorning your wrist. He smiles at your answer before responding.

"Um so, I've thought of a few topics right now. Can I share them with you?" He asks softly, aware of the quiet working ambiance of the room. You nod at his offer, body positioned to listen to his proposals.

However, he only stares at you as if he's expecting you to do something else. There's a moment of silence that leaves you confused and unsure if you did or said anything wrong. It doesn't take long before you began spiraling down in a chaotic mess of overthinking. You would expect him to tell you his intentions but you certainly didn't expect what he'd do next.

"Um uh, apologies in advance—" He smiles sheepishly as if to warn you of an incoming danger. You tilt your head in confusion before watching him as he leans down, arm grabbing the underside of your chair before effortlessly pulling you close to his side. The chair glides against the floor (thankfully it had guards on its legs so the noise wasn't all that ear screeching) and you yelped in surprise at the sudden movement, gripping your armchair in the process.

It seems to have caught your professor's attention and Sebastian only sends an apologetic smile for disrupting the silence. You turn to him with wide eyes.

"I — What?"

"Sorry. I was expecting you to move but you looked like you were about to have an aneurysm or something." He chuckles as a flush spreads across your cheeks. You huff out in embarrassment before directing your eyes toward the screen.

He starts off like the previous events didn't happen. It was kind of embarrassing for you to see him so nonchalant as if he didn't just fucking drag you by one arm. He lists off his ideas to which you nod in response. Up close, you could smell the scent of his cologne and the warmth emanating from his body. He had such a huggable physique and the scent only lulled you even further to your urges.

You begin to relay your ideas as well, stumbling and stuttering over your words but he only listens patiently. Taking in your ideas and even noting them in his document.

You felt oddly touched. He heaves a sigh of accomplishment as he scans over your topics and plans of presentation. There was about an hour left before the teacher would began calling names.

"Yeah. This is good. We can present this later." He seems impressed by your ideas and makes some edits before slightly bending down the screen of his laptop.

You shuffle in your seat, unnerved by the incoming silence that would again remind you of your troubles with social interactions. He, however, turns towards you much to your surprise. A pleasant smile is plastered on his lips. You're granted by a nice view of his face as the sunlight from the window lightly hits the back of his head, creating a halo of some sort.

Dear Gods. What are you implying by this.

Wait— What the fuck. Does he have a fucking dimple?

"Quite busy aren't we?" He asks, leaning back on the chair with his head turned towards yours. In your peripheral vision, you see his leg moving from side to side as he twirls his pen on one hand. "You seem to always have a lot of things to stay and yet, nothing."

"S-Sorry." You mumble, tucking a hair behind your ear. "I'm not good with..." You motion to the space between the two of you. "This."

"Ah." He nods in understanding. "It's alright. Although, I do want to say that I don't bite. So you can freely speak your mind here."

He flashes you a boyish grin that does wonders to your heart. You watch him run a hand through his curls.

"Do you even know who I am?" He raises his eyebrows expectantly before backtracking. "Well, to be fair I didn't introduce myself and I'm acting like a fucking bigshot or something. Not my intention at all!"

He raises his arms in defense, chuckling at his response. You smile softly at him.

"I-I know who you are," You reply. "It's just the name I'm having a hard time remembering."

"Oh?" He sits up. You feel his knee hit yours and you will yourself not to flinch as your body slightly tenses at the touch. "Well in that case. I'm Sebastian Sallow. ID 121."

"Ah, yeah," Your face lights up in recognition. "Yeah, I remember now— Sorry, I'm just really bad with names."

"It's alright." He shakes his head lightheartedly. "There's a lot of people in campus so I also have a hard time remembering as well."

Your hands fiddle with each other as you glance up at him. He still has his eyes locked on yours and you can't help but avoid his unwavering stare.

"... I also know who you are." He cuts the silence once more. You turn your attention back at him in surprise. You would call yourself delusional right now but with the way he's smiling at you, you can't help but assume he's being bashful for recognizing you.

You? Recognizable? As far as you were concerned, you were practically invisible to the public eye. Just an art student surviving on her own.

"Huh?"

"Um, we were classmates before actually," His grin is wide but uneasy. Like he's uncertain if saying this would ease the gap between the two of you. "On one of our graphic design courses? It was with Professor Garlick, if I recall correctly."

Oh?

"That 6 pm class back in the first semester?" You lean towards him, intrigued. He seems shocked at your sudden interest.

"Yeah. Miss loved your output and made a whole lecture about it." He recalls. You remember her praises about your final output. Gods. He was in that class? "Made a mark in my head for sure."

"That's embarassing." You whine in protest, palms against your face. He smiles in response.

"It was rather eye opening you know? A revolutionary moment for artists—"

"Stop please." You hold your hand out to stop him from further pulling you in a spiral downward to madness. He only smiles wider.

"For what it's worth, it was well-deserved to be praised and discussed for an hour and a half." He quips, teeth showing as he grins at your exasperated face.

"Has your friends ever told you you're quite insufferable?" You raise an eyebrow at him. Your voice holds a tone of teasing. He laughs in response.

"Don't remind me." He rolls his eyes, smile still beaming on his lips. "Besides, I was just merely telling the truth."

"Aha, right. Whatever makes you happy." You gently nudge his shoulder with the back of your hand. It was supposed to be a small innocent touch but with the way his smile fell and his eyes that immediately followed the motion of your hand, you could tell that there was something else going on in his head.

Before you could question it, he immediately recovers.

"Well, I still have three semesters to win you over." He sighs, dreamily. "I think that's a win."

"You mean a nightmare." You snort in reply. He laughs.

Your eyes glance at his crinkled eyes and face riddled with laughing lines as laughter bursts out of his lips. His laugh is melodic and something you could probably never get tired of hearing.

Your eyes widen at your thoughts. That was only a mere observation. Anyone sitting within a meter from him would also say the same.

Yes. yes. That's right.

"You're drifting again." He sits up and its the sudden feeling of his thigh against yours that snaps you back to reality. You gulp at the sudden add of touch and you expect him to move it away but he stays there. You huff out a shaky breath. "It almost looked like you were shitting yourself."

"Gods," You furrow your eyebrows at his words. He chuckles. "You're insufferable."

"That's one." He clicks his tongue under the roof of his mouth. You roll your eyes at his antics. There's a moment of silence before his voice slices through it once again. "Have you... Have you ever thought about what I said?"

"Which one?" You ask nonchalantly, fingers flicking through your notes. You pen taps on the paper as you await his answer.

"The one where I said I'm as bad as you with names." He speaks with a calm demeanor but his voice is hushed as if his words are reserved for you. You can't help but give him you're undivided attention.

"Um," You pause. "No not really?"

His eyes dart toward you in the corner of his eye before smiling that familiar boyish grin.

"I like to make exceptions." He vaguely says. You furrow your eyebrows, head tilting in confusion.

"Huh?"

"I already said I know you, Y/N." He chuckles. You feel butterflies roaming in your stomach albeit confused at his insinuation.

Before you could ask him what the fuck he meant by that, the professor calls out your group. Sebastian walks to the front with no hesitance and began setting up the presentation.

Just as you watch him work, the realization sets in. Heat immediately flushes your cheeks.

No fucking way.

You stand up on shaky legs before you walk to the front. Your eyes never leave him as you stand beside his figure. You were nervous, yes, but it also had something to do with the vague motherfucker beside you.

You were about to threaten him to tell you what, how, or why but as you lock eyes with the man beside you, he sends an adorable smile and small pat on your back.

Your face stiffens and you could only will yourself to forcefully stand beside him and await your turn on the presentation.

But there was one thing you deduced from all of this.

Sebastian Sallow from ID 121 is doing things to your poor little heart.

a/n: projecting myself on seb when i tried to flirt w my gf. might contain grammatical errors lmfao im so sorry IM FALLING ASLEEP AS I CURRENTLY TYPE THIS.

#arthenaa #hogwarts legacy #sebastian sallow #hogwarts legacy x reader #sebastian sallow x reader #hogwarts legacy fluff #sebastian sallow fluff

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x-authorship-x · 1 year ago

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So, you have a lot of bookmarks on AO3, which I love to go through, because you have good taste. But I must know, are there any fics, from any fandom, that are pretty much your all time favorites?

Hiya

Yeah I do have a lot 🤭 over 7K on my side of things (I know some people are super picky about what they bookmark but I just do what a finished and liked, and l I like 95% of what I finish anyway, because I prefer to filter my own bookmarks when rereading...) and generally I will say that they're all good in their own ways. My big favs? Regardless of fandom?

Hm.... This is off the top of my head

Disclaimer: be very mindful of tags, warnings, and ratings! This is also not in any way meant to stir discourse and I'll just block people if they try something

Update: had to slash my link numbers as even my drafts (almost twenty of them lol) wouldn't save SO-!

Naruto

Tobirama/Kagami (I tagged this "Kagami hauls ass out of the ground" because I desperately need that shortcut to finding it) ⬇️

Summary: It’s just his luck that whoever revived him lacked the courtesy to summon him onto a nice bloody battlefield. No, instead he’s underground, probably in his own fucking coffin and wearing his own goddamn corpse. He hopes he remembers this when his soul is re-released into the Pure Lands; he’s going to kick Tobirama’s ass for inventing Edo Tensei in the first place.

Mild crossover with Venom, Team 7 genfic BAMFness (this fic is enshrined in my mind) ⬇️

Summary: By all accounts, Sakura is dead for the first five minutes of her life.

Yet, she continues. If she occasionally has too many, too sharp teeth then that's their business.

Team 7 & Rookie 9... Hysterical, that's probably the word for this masterpiece of comedy (I cry every damn time it gets to Genma interrupting the alley fight) ⬇️

Summary: Kakashi comes down with a cold seven(ish?) days after he passes his first genin team. He knew children were a bad idea but he didn't think it would change anything this fast.

Bnha/My Hero Academia

This fic is the one I rec to get people to actually read fanfic for the first time (and it always works)⬇️

Summary: Heroes lead by Bakugo.

Villains lead by Midoriya.

Seven days prep time.

Three days for Izuku Midoriya to show why they should be glad he's not a real villain.

The Quirk-science in this Todoroki-centric (subtle reincarnation) fic is just so delicious ⬇️

Summary: Todoroki Shouto has memories that he didn't make on his own, motor skills that his brain doesn't know how to parse, and a love of science and mathematics and physics that means he broke down his Quirk into its most intricate, universe-bending components at the age of seven.

In one universe, he wants to become a hero. In this one, even though he doesn't want to, he might have to.

Hawks-centric fix it BAMFness because hello to that insane quirk, insane backstory training and bleeding heart!⬇️

Summary: After the incident at USJ the Hero Public Safety Commission is concerned about the security of UA. With All Might still a target and a member of the staff they offer to add another hero to their roster to boost their security as well as appease the public.

Hawks does not want this job. He has many other jobs that need doing.

The kids are kind of cool though. They make him laugh.

In which Hawks unwillingly adopts children by the bucket loads and learns some things about himself in turn.

Then the League of Villains happens and his newfound teaching knowledge gives him IDEAS

Okay so this was originally about three times as long BUT Tumblr won't let me post that many links together and it's getting very late for me SO so I'll quit here but...! If anyone wants more recs, the rest of my list (which were other fandoms) or if anyone has a rec for me/my followers, go ahead and drop into my askbox!

Happy reading, Anon! Do let me know if you try any of these and what you think of them!

#torship #torship talks #ask #anon #torship recs #fic recs #fanfic recs #fanfic #naruto #bnha #mha #tobirama x kagami #team seven #class 1a #todoroki family #bnha hawks

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whoslaurapalmer · 6 months ago

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pinocchio (as annotated by lemony snicket) 🦗

-okay objectively the way they put the book together is gorgeous -- it's enormous with these fun blue black and white illustrations by mike mignola, and it feels like, a very grand and impressive fairytale experience, which I think is thoroughly charming and the way you SHOULD read fairytales, with this, sprawling expanse of art and text, in a book that doesn't NEED to be this big but also does, bc it's supposed to capture magic and excitement and a literary journey, especially like, in a child's hands

-only thing missing is one of those ribbon bookmarks........

-it has a slipcover too!!!!!!

-lemony's annotations are inserted as extra sheets of paper with typewritten and numbered notes at the beginning of each chapter that you can take out, and have pen marks and stains on some of them, and corresponding numbers written in pen within the text, which is all INCREDIBLY neat

-I have to say that I myself have about like 2% knowledge of what happens in pinocchio and it's been an absolute actual age since I saw the disney movie. this lead to some, uh, Thoughts of my own

-but since the idea behind lemony's notes is that he too is reading it for the first time, it felt as if I was in the room with lemony snicket and we were looking at each other with increasing incredulity and horror and concern (and decreasing hope)

geppetto and cherry: /TWO arguments that lead to violent physical altercations that end with friendship handshakes lemony: ????? me: ??????????????????

the narrator: what happened after this is an almost unbelievable story, but you may read it, dear children, in the chapters that follow. me: you know, that's a vibe.

pinocchio: if you're a kid you have to go to school and school sucks me: pinocchio you've been alive for a hot HOUR AND A HALF how do you know about school????????

the cricket: kids shouldn't run away from home, or be lazy! get a job pinocchio: wow shut up /angrily throws hammer the cricket: /dead, re: the hammer me: HOLD ON HOLY SHIT WHAT THE HELL????????? JIMINY BOY'S DEAD??????????? JUST LIKE THAT????????? lemony: this happens to people you get attached to. me: I'm. hello. what the hell.

the marionettes: omg look it's pinocchio!! lemony: I do not understand how the marionettes recognize pinocchio, who just a short time ago was a piece of wood in a cottage, and thus has had hardly any time or experience in the world. me: E X A C T L Y

ghost cricket: I am the ghost of the talking cricket me: HELLO????????????????? HE CAME BACK?????????

-AND THEN HE COMES BACK AGAIN -this should come as news to absolutely 100% no one not even me but i did in fact think 'goddamn disney did a fucking number on this.'

-i do find part of all this incredibly silly though bc danhan HAS been asked if 'lemony snicket' came somehow subconsciously from 'jiminy cricket' but he's always said no. and i do believe him.

-these adventures. are horrifying. like. no seriously, what the fuck

the narrator: I don't know what happened to lamp-wick lemony: WHY DON'T YOU me: BOLD WORDS, LEMON MAN???????????????

me, some chapters later, presented with a random donkey: oh, it's gonna be lamp-wick the narrator: it was lamp-wick! and then he died. me: wait, what lemony: /performs the written equivalent of a table flip

-lemony going 'i'm nothing but a puppet controlled by the mysteries of literature alone! humanity is nonexistent and impossible!' will, in fact, stick with me for some time, i must say

and then, i'm so sorry lemony i'm cackling

lemony: NOTHING IS REAL the narrator: and pinocchio becomes a real boy. lemony: n e v e r m i n d

-there are honestly some great little lemony gems --

"these paintings in geppetto's house are examples of 'trompe l'oeil,' a phrase which here means 'paintings of things you wish were here but aren't.'"

"I am so disturbed by pinocchio's feet turning to ashes that I fainted and missed this chapter." (however this turns into a running joke of lemony fainting at the mentions of bizarre danger every few chapters which did, wear on me after a while.)

"Anyone crying does not want to die. I write this weeping."

"'Disobedience' seems like a curious way to describe the activities of someone trying to find out what happened to their father, like referring to someone chased through the streets by a panther as a 'jaywalker.'"

"There has been so much trickery in this book that this question seems to me larger and more profound than it may seem at first glance. What is the joke? Pinocchio finds himself alone and in trouble once more, and as anyone who has found themselves alone and in trouble knows, life begins to feel like some long, cruel joke that, like so many jokes, is tricky to understand."

"NEAR a farmer's wagon doesn't seem like a good hiding place. Almost any other preposition would do: aboard, above, alongside, astride, behind, below, beneath, beside, inside, on, over, past, under, underneath, upon, with or within a farmer's wagon are all better plans to avoid being spotted."

"It is often the case that people work very hard making children and then seem very eager to get them to leave the house, as if it is the thrill of making children, rather than the responsibility of raising them, which most interests them."

after geppetto says "I should have thought of this before I made him. Now it's too late!" -- "This, sadly, is a common lament among people who make other people, and if you don't believe me, wait until the middle of the night, and wake up the people who made you and ask them if they have any regrets." me: /eyeing and then? and then? what else? which is still on the coffee table, thinking about the part where danhan's son wakes him up to look at the lighthouse

-still unsure just what to make of this --

-literally no other mention of her after that, except in that last note with the 'mysterious woman' comment -i mean, tempting to think of it as bea, and i certainly did when presented with the first one, but it also doesn't really fit with bea??? -but i have no idea who i would even say it is??? -i feel like we are once again in the position of, this is danhan, choosing to write something in lemony's tone just to have a good time, i guess -there's some references in his notes early on to absinthe and nightcaps too where i was like 'danhan, your, danhan is showing.'

-i have, Thoughts i am trying to parse out -i feel like his lemony voice has changed over time and well, change comes for us all -but also that he's definitely (poison for breakfast) used lemony to say things about himself that he just doesn't want to put his name on, for reasons known only to danhan -and after reading and then? and then? what else? i do see more pieces of danhan in lemony, like i said before re: poison for breakfast that lemony has a kindness that i didn't think i saw in danhan but after reading the memoir, no, i absolutely Do see it in danhan, a great deal, and he reveals this like, silly history of lemony's name AFTER coming up with it for the right-wing material and BEFORE using it on the books, so i see more of how danhan exists in lemony (-i did not expect to read and then? and then? what else and feel personally shot in the heart by lisa brown but that also happened. god i can't get over her saying 'well if lemony snicket is so lonely why doesn't he come join us and hang out?' at the goldfish ghost reading. like. pierced to the bone, lisa.) (-oh, and you know, the rumination on the word lunatic in and then? and then? vs the use of the word lunacy here) -but! lemony is still of course his own distinct character, with his own distinct personality and everything that exists apart from danhan, all the same -and i can approach this from a vibe of, even lemony has grown out of his grief, and it's not his grief necessarily that characterizes him nor would i not want him to, i mean we all know i roll post-canon lemony around in my head very often and wish him great joy -but i do feel like when danhan does something with lemony now it is Missing something of Lemony. -which i also feel rude saying. like fucking christ who am i to tell a man how to write his own character -but he didn't always do it like this either, like hero of the story and that murder alibi book whose name escapes me and i can't find at the moment but you know what i'm talking about. i've got screenshots somewhere -anyway they clearly exist as lemony pieces irrevocably linked to lemony the character, without any, idk interference from danhan himself, as danhan -but as we move through time i feel this less with more current lemony, and there's, yknow, a sadness in it -not that i went into PINOCCHIO OF ALL THINGS expecting any particular snicket content, bc i didn't, but you really never know with danhan -idk. the musical and all its potential perils and joys is looming somewhere in the future of us all as well, so, shrug emoji?????????? -i can't say i had a BAD time reading the annotations to pinocchio (reading pinocchio is a different matter), i enjoyed them, but i do feel like, there's just something Missing, is all i can say about it -and it's not that lemony's sadness is what makes him, there is so much that makes lemony, but i just see lemony Less, in a way -SHRUG EMOJI you couldn't pay me to actually use the shrug emoji. it's funnier to say shrug emoji. -so, anyway

-oh the art really was incredible. some of my favs --

-the book in its slipcover!

-oh and lemony's author picture is the most fascinating thing i have seen in some time --

#lulu talks about the sad lemon man #..........I GUESS?????

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sly-fox · 2 years ago

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This is honestly going to suck but-

Okay, I don’t see enough people talking about this so- here we are. This will contain spoilers for the analog horror series, Guilty Tears Au of Sanders Sides. If you haven’t seen it or if any of the following triggers you, please skip: (I am listing the triggers from all the episodes just in case you want to watch it as well so some won’t make sense on a tumblr post, but just in case-) Disturbing Imagery, Loud Sounds, Body Horror, Blood, Gore, Death, Violence, Food (more like implied cannibalism, but ok-), Flashing Lights, Spiders, Ladybugs.

Now if any of that bugs you, I would say that this isn’t for you. This is just my personal opinion and analysis on this series! So let’s get started:

Episode 1: Teachers PowerPoint

So, we’re starting off with a very simple format; a PowerPoint presentation called “Dreams, a Manageable Analysis by Logan Sanders”.

Like omg Logan is so cute in this 🥺. He keeps talking about sleep and the benefits and downsides of it. But something is… off about it. The monitor keeps glitching out and skipping parts of the presentation. It skipped over the definition of Non-REM sleep, and it just is a bit strange. Then this happens:

And then it gets closer T-T. I kinda jumped when I saw it ngl- Then he gives us the definition of a nightmare. It kinda was normal at first but then-

Like wth-? This was honestly just weird to me me, cause he looked like a fucking demon- this isn’t even the weirdest part (and therefore not the most interesting).

Now, the first one is obviously a reference to everything going on with the wedding arc and… other things. Missing Important Events? The callback. Loneliness. More so up to interpretation, or is it? I’ll come back to it later. Rejection? Again, back to it later. Confusing Emotions? All that Thomas has been dealing with for a WHILE. Broken promises, WTIT, anyone?

The second photo:

Morse Code Translated (not by me): WHY DON’T YOU LISTEN TO ME? AM I A JOKE TO YOU? I TRY SO HARD TO BE PATIENT AND GIVE YOU TIME, BUT YOU CHOSE TO MAKE A STUPID PROMISE INSTEAD OF ACTUALLY DOING SOMETHING

Wow.. well what I say about this, is that Logan is snapping at Thomas again, cause as we have seen, he tends to distract himself rather than actually solving his problems. Logan is trying to communicate with Thomas again and he. Won’t. Listen.

After that we got a number sequence:

19/20/15/16/9/7/14/15/18/9/14/7/18/5

If you line it up with the letters in the alphabet, you get “Stop Ignoring Re”. I thought I heard it wrong but I didn’t-. So there had to be a reason for it to say “Re” instead of “Me”, right? Right. I’ll be tying it together, I swear. Just bear with me here. I also find it interesting that a YELLOW GLOVED HAND turned off the monitor and put an out of order note on the screen (I mean it was pretty glitchy so I mean-).

(Also there is a sticky note on the bottom left corner that reads “DONT LOOK BEHIND THE CURTAIN” keep that in the back of your mind c:)

Episode 2: Forgotten Fairytale

So it starts with Janus opening a story book titled “The Young Prince”.

This is interesting- I see a little crown charm on the bookmark- Erin focus- okay so the cover already grabbed my attention. At first cause I thought of beauty and the beast and

H O L Y S H I T the parallels. We have a mirror with a green gem on the handle (I don’t think it’s important but I could be mistaken-). In it, a black wilting rose. Black roses itself mean death, while the wilting flower by itself means “Term used to supress desire when it would otherwise be impossible to fornicate.” Roman wanted to go to the callback (and ask out Nico), but it seemed just out of reach, so he ended up with choosing an option that goes against himself (Virgil helped him with Nico but still-).

To the actual story, it talks about how lonely Roman feels (Loneliness huh?) and that he wants to meet his true love. He searches and searches but can’t find them. One night, a witch pays a visit. He says that he wants to make a deal: he will give Roman his “one true love” in exchange for half of his kingdom. Roman didn’t want to risk it, and told him no.. the witch did not like that.

He cursed Roman, and his face had melted off. Overwhelmed by heartbreak, he locked himself in his tower. The people eventually forgot about him and he died alone, holding the wilted black rose..

And then Janus literally closes the book on that tale-. So Roman’s I feel is more metaphorical, he feels like his world is falling apart, trying to use love to distract him from the pain of his decision to go to the wedding, and the moment he was attacked, no one helped him.. (Janus I love you but you’re a bitch-)

Episode 3: Cookie Mistake

(Yes I’m sure it’s a pun off of Rookie Mistake, it’s Patton what did you expect?)

So this an actual person acting out Patton this time.

The puns 😭. But yeah, it’s a simple baking tutorial! And it’s a mime kinda thing, so we have dialogue on the screen. It seemed normal, but this is Guilty Tears.

He dumped the flour into the bowl and made a little bit of a mess- it’s baking what are you going to do about it? But Patton started shaking slightly saying “That wasn’t supposed to happen…” It’s okay I know you said you were feeling “crumby” but damn- it’s just flour.

Ok then, laying it on thick. So Patton is freaking out over the little things and these little messages pop up. “Do you feel guilt consuming your every thought?” No I don’t think so- but this is maybe reference to POF, where he caused Thomas pain without realizing. The “Nobody is free of sin” seems like a twisted version of their new concept, “Not everything is black and white.” Patton is trying to distract himself from what happened and is only stressing himself out more.

HOLY FUCK, PATTON- Okay. So there’s obviously SOMETHING going on. Why did he have blood in the first place? Why’d he think it was a good idea? Patton are you a cannibal now-?

This gave me an idea.. this could be both figurative or literal but, the blood is on his hands.. Let’s take a look at Virgil’s episode.

Episode 4: Wake Up Call

According to (assumedly) Thomas’ phone, it is 3:23 pm. April 23rd. Almost his birthday, hmm.

Holy shit- no✨ Dolls are creepy enough-. Anyway, it’s starts off by (I assume) Virgil asking Thomas:

So one answer is normal, one is more normal for Thomas and the other sounds more Anxiety related. He chooses to brush his teeth, but they fall out. In dreams, teeth falling out are associated with loss and important life changes. Thomas has been struggling to coming to terms with the fact that he isn’t a complete pure good, and his life has changed drastically. This series started from a silly blog and now it’s a series dealing with complex and controversial issues, while he’s struggling to show the world who he is.

With the answers, they’re the same type. He chooses to make breakfast, but in the fridge with Virgil Doll, is a fucking skeleton/corpse and the fridge is all bloody. The “blood on his hands” thing might be more literal than we MAY have thought. Did Thomas kill someone? If so, who did he kill? I’ll get us there (hopefully-).

Okay- Hi Virgil- so, here I want to point out c. “I promise tomorrow I will change I will be a good person I will clean”. As soon as it had showed up on the screen, Virgil appeared. Thomas is making promises he can’t keep.

(“WHY DON’T YOU LISTEN TO ME? AM I A JOKE TO YOU? I TRY SO HARD TO BE PATIENT AND GIVE YOU TIME, BUT YOU CHOSE TO MAKE A STUPID PROMISE INSTEAD OF ACTUALLY DOING SOMETHING”)

Seems like Logan had another good point- Thomas keeps trying to say tomorrow this and tomorrow that, but Virgil knows. He wants Thomas to get up and be productive, but with Logan “out of service” you have anxiety based motivation. Virgil, being his anxiety, is also reminding him what he did.

At the end, Virgil doll is hanging by a thread (literally) and we see a gloved hand cut the thread. Setting Virgil free for now..

Episode 5: Important Reminder

Thomas is upstairs, and is going down to his living room to answer a knock at his door, and it is a WRECK. But worse than before. There’s blood on the walls and all that. He picks up “The Young Prince” something he apparently used to like during childhood, and finds this drawing between the pages:

“Have you ever imagined killing your brother?” “This is me electrifying my brother!”

Could this imply that Remus was actually the supposed witch? It was (possibly) the drawing mentioned in the Moving On episodes within the pages of a book where Princey died. This could be implying that ever since Remus appeared, Roman has been hurting. Maybe because he blames his dear twin for the murder?

…

THIS IS WHY WE SAID DONT LOOK BEHIND THE CURTAIN-!?

Okay- I’m okay. If you can’t tell, the word “unhelpful” was written in blood, and there is some behind the curtain. I can’t tell who it is tho- Patton? Nightmare Nico?

Speaking of Nico, ✨R E J E C T I O N✨

But really, Thomas is obviously having issues. He tried to get out the house, but Nico was busy that whole week. (Including his birthday 😢)

When he finally answered the door..:

As we’ve seen in WTIT, Thomas is scared of getting older, so I think it’s interesting that Remus called him that. “I can show you how bad things can truly get” I think this is his twisted way of saying “Get over it, you didn’t do as much harm think you did.”

(“Stop Ignoring Re”)

But of course, Janus closes the door on him, shutting him away from Thomas.

Episode 6: Blinding Denial

>No no no.

>I’m fine, I’m alright.

>I’m just…

>I’m just tired.

>I’ll fix it tomorrow, okay?

>I promise.

Thomas have still not learned? 🤨

I feel when Janus leaves the baby crying, he’s not talking about a literal baby, but Thomas. Janus has been sheltering him from the sides trying to confront him (Turning off the PC, Closing the Book, Editing the Video + cleaning the blood, etc.) but has had enough of Thomas prolonging the inevitable.

“You’ve been walking in circles”

“You’re running away from yourself”

He squished the Ladybug. Whilst crushing the hope that good luck will suddenly make things better.

“It’s time to move on and forgive yourself”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Holy crap I did it. Well hopefully you enjoyed! See you later!

#thomas sanders #sanders sides #logan sanders #roman sanders #virgil sanders #patton sanders #janus sanders #remus sanders #guilty tears

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ericszhon · 7 days ago

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THE BOYZ for W Korea Vol. 11 • Eric Full Interview

Translated by @.tbzwangdeuls / Oktober 2024.

<W Korea> Hello, this is Eric of THE BOYZ who is in charge of 'visual' and 'height'.

"That's right, I'm Eric who's in charge of visual.....nope. Just joking!"

How have you been spending your days lately? It seems like you're about to get busy.

"Honestly, I feel like I'm going through days that aren't as happy as they would be. It's not that I am unhappy but more of, 'I could have been happier but why am I not?' The members. and the fans know how satisfied I am with my job. But even so, I don't know why I feel like this. It's strange. I am just trying to make an effort to be happier."

It's surprising to hear something like that from someone as passionate as Eric. But isn't happiness something you can attain if you try to force it?

"I think it takes effort to be happy too. My situation these days is like this: I'm reading a book but I have to leave for a bit, so I put a bookmark and close it. Then, when I came back, the bookmark seemed to have disappeared. I can't even remember where I left off. It feels like I am wandering aimlessly in the wilderness."

Have you thought of how will you spend your time that makes you feel comfortable or feel good?

"Although the tour made me physically tired I was happy, and I also have happy memories when I was working on music...but I'm still looking for it. I went for a two-hour (2) walk the other day and while walking, I kept thinking, 'How can I be happy?' I just, think of it as something like a passing rain."

Do you write in between work?

"Sometimes. I often (write it) in my memo. I do it whenever I think of something, like when I was on the plane for the tour, I was watching a movie when I heard a good script and I wrote it down. Do you want to hear it?"

"I first started to write a poem to please a girl. She loves poetry. And I love her." (...) "I might be embarrassed tomorrow for what I wrote today, but I never regretted it. Words are similar to the traces of love."

Ah, I think I've watched that movie too...

"It's a Korean drama called <Single in Seoul>. I actually didn't intend to write it down in my memo but when I heard the part, 'I have never regretted it, I replayed that part, and wrote those down. I might get embarrassed tomorrow but as long as I do my best today...l totally can resonate with that."

It feels like the emphasis is not on the 'love' aspect but rather on the 'attitude towards life', right?

"I am known as a passionate person, even the fans recognize that but it's just like how the bookmark disappeared. There are times when I want to write down lines like "Where am I right now. And I like romance movies. My favorite movie is <The Notebook>. I heard there will be a re-make of it soon, right? Movies like that make me cry so much. It's because I'm an F."

Do you have this kind of mood or personality whenever you talk with your mom who lives in LA?

"I actually talked with my mom on the way to the shoot today after a long time. I don't talk about things like this with my mom but there's something she usually tells me after we talk and before we end the call, "You have to be busy, Youngjae-ya." Yes, I have to keep myself moving without taking a break, it's ok even if I can't get some sleep. If the time I spend alone gets too long, I feel like I am trapped in my own world."

How's working on your mixtape or on music? Working on your songs one by one and as they accumulate, when you look at it next time will give you a sense of security.

"I only uploaded my mixtape <22> on Soundcloud on my birthday. My motif then was '22' and when you combine those two numbers, it will create a heart, so I chose love as the theme. It consists of three tracks that talk about bright love, melancholic love, and my own style of love. I also got a tattoo of the number 22, which is in the shape of a heart. This may sound cheesy, but I don't get much inspiration these days."

When I see boy groups, being close doesn't necessarily mean they talk a lot. However, it seems like THE BOYZ communicates a lot amongst yourselves. While you are searching for your happiness, do you share your thoughts/feelings with them?

"Of course. We all gather around in our waiting room and have some talk 30 minutes before we come on stage. Whether in the hotel or wherever it is, we meet when someone says, 'Let's gather. That's why the amount of conversation amongst us accumulated tremendously. Throughout those times, we were able to confirm that we were looking in the same direction."

What do you think are the necessary things to have for a group to last long?

"It's (to have) Eric (laughs). It's not a joke, and I mean it. Of course, that doesn't mean that other members don't have sincerity. I have a lot of affection too. I might not seem like it, but I have a lot of affection, you know? So there's a lot of affection within the team too. Of course, having an occasional rift in the team is inevitable, but at those times, I try to hold on to the affection that we have and keep my head in the game. It's not just the role I have to take, but each member takes turns fulfilling that role. Putting aside my pride, it might sound cliche, but we must have a "united heart." Trust alone is not enough. Even if we all have our own sense of trust with each other, if everyone is not in the same direction, then it will be difficult to sustain a long-term relationship. Of course, not all 11 of us can have the same goals or dreams; it's possible. But ultimately, our hearts are united, and that matters. We all know very well that we need each other."

You recently had a world tour. Did you feel something different compared to the past tours?

"I felt it very much. As I had to take a break during the tour in 2022, I couldn't participate. That's why this is my first time doing a tour in the U.S. since my debut. My family home is in the U.S, but it's only now that I am doing a tour there. It's also been a long time since we did a tour in Europe. Since I took a break from touring unlike other members, I could feel how the scale-venue and fandom-wise increased greatly. While touring in the U.S., I was finally able to invite my friends living in LA to watch the concert, and I was really happy to spend some time with the members and enjoy our stay in the States."

What kind of feelings do you have now that the new album is fast approaching?

"We have our own colors that we've shown already, and this might be the final look of that narrative. For example, it is like preparing for a short haircut after dyeing the long hair I've been growing. Next time, I could show up with a completely different style, starting from the midpart (of the hair). The desire to break free from this change. For your hair to grow, you have to trim it from time to time, right? So I want to break from this style/mold and try something new. The other members would probably feel the same. Other members would probably feel the same."

If the members talk a lot amongst themselves, you must know each other well. Who is the person that is most different from Eric?

"Although Q hyung is quite different from me, if it's work-wise, I'd say it's Sunwoo. I am ENFJ, you know, with 99% J. I felt at ease when I thought everything out in advance and calculated everything well. I also imagine all sorts of scenarios from a person's tone or gaze, which, yes, can be overwhelming at times. There are moments when I wish I could be reborn. From Sunwoo's perspective, I wouldn't be seen as someone very cool. But I am the person who has the LA vibes... but the two of us can have a 5-hour conversation over mango juice and a cup ramyeon."

It was mentioned that you are swimming upstream like a salmon. Why so?

"It's not only a comparison with a salmon. Was it like.... a yellowtail fish? Flatfish? Ah, a sunfish! I said I'm like the mix of a salmon and a sunfish (laughs). The sunfish is known to die easily if it bumps into something or gets surprised. It's a fish that seems to die from just anything it does."

It's quite strange, isn't it. The more I listen, the more I feel the love between the two of you. Sunwoo talked a lot about Eric. You two also did unit activities together.

"I think Sunwoo's analogy isn't that wrong. I tend to get hurt on the things that I should not. During those times, I lean on the members. Sunwoo is a member I also lean on. Our 'Honey' unit only has good memories in it. The song and choreography were good, the music production was nice, and the promotion was enjoyable. When 11 of us perform together for about three (3) minutes, it's hard to show each one of our charms properly every time. I also heard from the fans how they started to see me differently and became interested because of that song. It was when I was filming for the <Genius Paik Season 2 in Spain when I got a call from Sunwoo. He's not the style who will call you first but he said, "I think we definitely have to do this."

What do you like about yourself when you think about it?

"It's the sincerity I have. I don't hold back when it comes to expressing my sincerity. To me, the concept of doing something half-heartedly doesn't exist. I want to give my best in everything that I do, whether it's for work, working out, love, or whatever it is. I'm already the type of person who tends to stress myself out, and if I don't give my all in something and really regret it, then I won't be able to bear it."

Sincerity and doing your best goes are two things that go hand in hand. You have no regrets when do your best.

"Yes, those two things are connected. Just like what Sunwoo mentioned, I sometimes swim upstream with my busy thoughts, but when I want to reach the point where I originally wanted to get to, I don't fool around. I think it's the same thing. When the company's concept differs from what I envisioned, I try to talk it out to persuade them and find common ground. I want to convince them. If the result of that effort is good, I can't help but feel happy. Even when we are practicing our choreographies while. others are doing well, I insist on our dance teacher to let us practice more. I'm like that kid who raises their hand and asks, 'Teacher, aren't you going to check the homework you gave us yesterday?'. In other words, I can be bothersome and tiring sometimes. Although I am also someone whose existence is essential in a group, I know I can be hard on myself sometimes, but I am not giving up."

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dearlydarlingdahlia · 4 months ago

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Taste of Redemption

I'm quite pleased with the response Taste of Redemption is getting so far! Understandably, people are probably waiting for more chapters before reading and passing judgement. I'm so content that it makes finishing worth it! Even if I was going to do that anyway.

Only a few people opened it since I put up the first 2 chapters last night, however, I already have one kudos and one private bookmark! This is the smallest number of chapters I've ever put up for the first upload! I'm glad it has a decent impression so far. I think I usually put up 5-10?

This is also the earliest in my writing process where I've started posting. I've written 19 chapters so far and we are maaaaybe about halfway through. I feel so eager I just want to dump all of it so far, but I'm going to try the uploading once a week process that people usually recommended.

Compared to my other works, this one will be relatively short, unless Act III is going to be wild and maybe it will be. I've been listening to action anime music, and I feel l want to write something intense now.

The first sex scene I have written for this fic (chapter 13) is one of the best I have ever written. My goal for this fic is to write smutty scenes so naughty that I'm embarrassed to read them at the dinner table. This sets a high bar because I always read my smut at the dinner table.

I'm not sure if the first two chapters offer the complete flavor profile for this series. They're mainly just funny and cute. It only starts getting slightly serious chapter 4 and I didn't cry until chapter 6. I'm not sure how many I'll put up next week, but definitely at least two more!

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unenvs3000w24 · 9 months ago

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The Melodic Bond Between Nature and Music

Music plays a big role in my life. I listen, discuss, play, and share music with my friends and family frequently. Music is hugely connected to nature in a number of ways including storytelling, interpretation, communication and enjoyment. Stories and teachings are passed down through songs in many cultures (Hooykaas, 2024). This form of storytelling likely outdates any records we have as it is an oral tradition. In a similar way, songs are used to interpret. In my blog titled, “Art in Nature Interpretation”, I touched on the thought that it is sometimes hard to say something in plain speak that can be easy to say when written into a song. Songwriting allows for a certain ambiguity that can be used as a tool for interpretation. Communication is another intersection between nature and music that has been used for centuries. By humans, yes, but animals as well. Birds, whales, bats, elephants, and I’m sure many other creatures that we don’t even know about use sound to communicate (Gray et al., 2001). Finally, music meets nature at entertainment. We use music for communicative purposes but also for fun and for connecting with one another. Nature should be enjoyable and maybe even more so when combined with music.

The fact that every known human cultural group has its own form of music tells us that humans have always been making music and always will (Gray et al., 2001). Humans have been making instruments out of anything in their reach since as long as we have records of (Gray et al., 2001). Drums were made of animal hyde, flutes were made of sticks, and bows were made from hair… and they still are! Humans developed these methods of making instruments years and years ago and continue to use the same materials because they are reliable and more malleable than synthetic products. Nature is present in all music because the sounds we make come from it and literally out of it.

Music often seeks to replicate the sounds of nature. On tabla, an Indian drum that my dad plays, ragas (melodies) are first learned by singing them and then replicating the sound on the drum. The same can be said for other instruments as well like singing a note to establish a key or a call and response between instruments. A lot of ambient artists use electronic sounds to replicate the sounds of nature like Brian Eno and Steve Reich. While the sound of this type of music is not explicitly copying the pitter patter of rain or birds chirping, it refers to nature in an abstract way, replicating the vibe of that environment rather than the sounds themselves. This creates a composition much like the soundscape that exists in nature.

A song that brings me back to a “natural landscape” is Arrival by Dominique Dumont. Sometimes my friends and I like to hang out at the park while ~exploring new realms of the mind~ and I like to listen to this song during these times when I feel most connected to nature. This song I feel fits the name quite well. It makes me feel as if I am arriving to a new world for the first time with fresh perspective. Listening to this brings me back to a sunny day in the park filled with giggles and good food and great company.

Gray, P. M., Krause, B., Atema, J., Payne, R., Krumhansl, C., & Baptista, L. (2001). The Music of Nature and the Nature of Music. Science, 291(5501), 52. https://link-gale-com.subzero.lib.uoguelph.ca/apps/doc/A69270354/AONE?u=guel77241&sid=bookmark-AONE&xid=fb9366a8

Hooykaas, A. (2024). ENVS*3000 Nature Interpretation course notes. https://courselink.uoguelph.ca/d2l/le/content/858004/viewContent/3640021/View

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skylar102 · 1 year ago

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NLBF - Chapter Seven

A portal swirls to life inside a familiar Brooklyn loft. Magnus takes a deep breath as he and Asher come through. The putrid smell of farm and manure is gone, though some still clings to his clothes. He giddily snaps his fingers and a wave of magic covers his body, replacing the clothes he was wearing before with freshly dry-cleaned ones.

“There’s no place like home,” Magnus hums.

“Was all that flair necessary?” Asher teases. The man isn’t even looking at him as he glances around Magnus’ home, taking in everything around him.

Magnus lets his pride show as it’s clear the man has never seen anything like this before. His lifestyle is what some people would call extravagant. He keeps relics of his past on display as a reminder of the life he’s had and what he’s been through in his five hundred years of life.

Asher pauses at his bookshelf with curiosity while Magnus goes about getting ready to have to deal with the Shadowhunters who are no doubt blowing up his cell phone waiting for any news. He’s surprised he didn’t get a fire message while he was in Ireland.

He places the Book of the White on his apothecary’s table and turns to the page containing the spell to free Jocelyn. Seems that even in his haste to get Magnus out of there, Ragnor bookmarked the page he needed. He skims through the nonsense and gets to the counterspell he needs. Thankfully it's simple enough and only requires a few more magical items to work.

He snaps his fingers and summons the items to the table. He gets to work on the spell and lets his magic do the rest. It should be completed within 30 minutes.

Now is the perfect time to check his phone. Turns out, there’s no cell service in Ireland farmland so he hasn’t gotten any messages for the past eight hours. He can only imagine what is waiting for him.

Sure enough, his assumptions are never wrong, the Institute has blown up his phone, demanding his presence. Either he missed something big or they are just typical stubborn shadowhunters. He lets out a sigh and dials Blondie’s number. It barely rings before Jace answers.

“Where the hell are you?” Jace demands.

“Hi Chase, I am well! How are you?” Magnus deadpans, rolling his eyes.

He can’t stand Shadowhunter’s fragile egos in not being the center of attention. Why couldn’t he have just sent another High Warlock to deal with this mess?

Because no one else has the patience to deal with Lightwoods.

“This is serious Magnus!” The shadowhunter growls into the phone. “Valentine is about to have his hands on the mortal cup and you’re doing whatever it is you’re doing!”

“I am well aware of the stakes at hand, Jace. Especially since my friend was just kidnapped by the psychopath in an attempt to aid you stubborn people!”

The line goes quiet for a moment before Magnus catches a faint conversation being held that ends with a yelp of pain from Jace.

“Magnus? This is Izzy. Sorry about my brother,” his favorite shadowhunter says. “He’s just wanting to prove himself again to Clary. Don’t take it personally.”

“Isabelle, my dear. Always good to hear from you,” Magnus says. “I found the book needed to break Jocelyn out of her stasis, the spell is in the works as we speak. I will make my way over to the Institute when it’s done.”

“That’s good to hear.” Her relief can be felt through the phone. That poor girl has taken on too much responsibility at that Institute since her brother died. He became acquainted with her after she showed up at Pandemonium looking to get plastered and instead poured her guts out to Magnus about everything that was happening at the New York Institute.

He kept a good relationship with her after that. Making sure that she was able to actually grieve the loss of her brother and find a safe space to come to when the responsibilities became too much. Magnus already knows that she is on the path to being an amazing Head of the Institute.

Her brother Jace on the other hand went the destructive route. Magnus doesn’t know what it’s like having a parabatai. He can’t imagine his soul being connected to anyone in that way. From what Isabelle explained, when a person with a parabatai dies, the one still remaining pretty much loses a part of their soul and it can never be replaced.

Alec’s death took a major toll on Jace. One that Magnus can’t even fathom. It’s clear to anyone who gets a look at the Golden Boy that he is not the same. He tries to play it off like he’s gotten better, but the few times that they were in the same room, Magnus caught him with a hand over where his parabatai rune used to lay.

Magnus saw the faded rune once when he had to find Jace in the training room. It had streaks of silver in it that made it stand out from the stark blackness of the rest of his runes. Apparently, he is going to live with it forever like that as no treatments or Silent Brothers are able to remove it.

All the texts Magnus gets from Izzy are mainly concerned about Jace and his destructiveness. The amount of times they go on patrol and he comes back with more injuries than necessary. Magnus thinks he is taking hits to hide the pain in his heart. He has tried to talk to Jace about it but the man clearly never wants to talk about it and threatens anyone who even says Alec’s name. Magnus got a nice adamas blade to the throat before Izzy shoved her brother off him.

These Lightwood siblings need a break more than anyone he knows.

“Who did Valentine take?” Izzy asks, concern lacing her voice.

“My friend Ragnor,” Magnus admits. “I don’t know how he knew where we would be, but he showed up at Ragnor’s house here in New York and took him. He saved my life and risked his instead.”

“Oh Magnus, I am so sorry. If there is anything I can do to help please let me know. I know my parents are hounding me right now about the mortal cup but taking Valentine down is also important.”

“Let’s focus on one thing at a time. Besides, Ragnor had a secret friend this whole time who is here to help me,” Magnus whispers, peeking over to the living room to see if Asher heard him.

The man is completely engrossed in whatever book he plucked from the bookcase. Eyes glued to the pages as he consumes its words. Magnus will have to ask what has him hooked after he hangs up.

“Well, now that’s a story I definitely need to hear,” Izzy laughs.

“For another time,” Magnus agrees. “For now, I just need another twenty minutes and I will be over to free Jocelyn of her stasis so we can interrogate her on what she heard while captive with her ex.”

“Sounds like a plan. I will try to stop Clary and Jace from being impatient, but Angel knows there’s only so much I can do about those two,” Izzy sighs. Magnus faintly hears Jace’s cry of protest in the background.

“See you soon,” Magnus says and hangs up the phone.

He checks the spell one more time to make sure it hasn’t gone wrong and makes his way back to the living room. A smile graces his face as he watches Asher put away the book he was reading before and pulls out another. He finally sees that Asher had grabbed the book about the history of warlocks. The other book is one about greater demons, an interesting choice.

Magnus doesn’t say anything and leans against the door frame just watching Asher skim through the book. The man is in his own world forgetting about the whole plan they made. He’s sure the man will have a million questions.

“Enjoying the book?” Magnus muses.

All Magnus gets in response is a hum from Asher. Magnus doesn’t even know if the man is reading the book with how fast he’s flipping through the pages.

“You know, normally you have to read what’s on the pages to gain the knowledge it holds,” he jokes.

“I’m looking for something,” Asher finally says.

Another alarm bell rings in Magnus’ head. First his knowledge of warlocks and now he knows about greater demons. Just how much did Ragnor actually tell this man? Ragnor said Asher wanted no part in this world and yet at every turn, it seems that Asher knows more than he lets on.

“And what exactly is that?” Curiosity is getting the best of him.

Asher hasn’t given him a reason to not trust him but that doesn’t mean he fully trusts him like Ragnor does. The faint scar on his neck that Magnus sees from time to time is screaming at him from his memories but he can’t place where.

“A demon,” Asher states.

“Well, I could have guessed that from the title of the book,” Magnus snarks. “I want to know what demon you are looking for.”

“Azazel,” Asher sighs, clearly getting annoyed. He looks up at Magnus for the first time since they got here. “You said you were attacked by Shax demons that seemed to be controlled by Valentine. To do that he would have had to make a deal with a greater demon.”

Asher looks back down at the book, looking for the page, completely ignoring Magnus’ wide eyes.

“Which I’m pretty sure would have been Azazel- ah ha!” Asher points to a section in the book before turning it around to show Magnus. He gives Magnus a triumphant grin. “Right here is our answer.”

Magnus reads the section and sure enough, Azazel can give people the power to control a small group of demons for the right price. Magnus shivers at the thought that Valentine is so desperate to win that he’s made a deal with Azazel of all the greater demons.

Magnus had his fair share of being around that man when he was with his father. He knows that it takes a lot for him to agree to a deal.

“Well shit,” Magnus says. “The last thing I want to deal with is him.”

“Maybe Valentine was smart and didn’t allow him to roam?” He doesn’t know what look he has on his face but it makes Asher change his tune. “You’re right, he definitely let that man roam this realm for the deal.”

“Great so on top of my closest friend being kidnapped and a man the shadow world thought was dead for the past twenty years, I have to deal with a greater demon I have a past with.” Magnus throws his hands in the air with a huff.

“Do I want to know?” Asher asks, though there is mirth to his words.

“No, you don’t,” Magnus sighs. “It’s a part of my past that I don’t go sharing around campfires much like how you avoid any talk about your life before you took over the farm.”

Asher gives a small nod of agreement. Can’t argue with that.

“Look, let's try and focus on one thing and not get sidetracked. I have to go to the Institute and break Jocelyn from this stasis spell. I will learn what she knows about Valentine and his hideout. Then we can go from there.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Asher agrees. “I guess I’ll just stay here?”

Asher looks around the loft like a lost puppy that just found the juiciest bone. Clearly the man wants to snoop around his collections and Magnus could really care less at this time. It’s not like there’s anything that the man can get into that would kill, maim, or paralyze him.

“That would be preferable. Unless you want to subject yourself to the all-mighty presence that is Jace Lightwood.”

Asher freezes at the mention of that name. Magnus doesn’t know how many alarm bells he can ignore at this point.

“Okay, before we go any further, I need to know how much you really know about the shadow world because as far as I can tell, you’ve been acquainted with this world for longer than just four years.”

“Why does it matter what I know?” Asher asks, though he does look ashamed.

“Because it would make this whole thing a bit easier and with the way you reacted to Jace’s name, it’s clear you have a past!” Magnus shouts, red magic sparking at his fingertips. “Are you a disgraced Circle member? Is that why Ragnor never talked about you? Is that what the scar on your neck is?”

Maybe he should have come at this with a calmer manner but his friend’s lives are at stake. Asher’s eyes widened with each rapid-fire question he threw at the man. The panicked shaking of his head and the hand moving to cover the left side of his neck.

“No,” Asher stammers. “I’m- I’m not a Circle member. I would never be one.”

“Then what is it?” Magnus demands. “What makes you so afraid of Jace Lightwood?”

Asher flinches at the name and Magnus forces his magic to cool off. He knows Ragnor told him to let it go and it’s clear the man has trauma with this city and its Institute.

“I-,” Asher starts but hesitates. He looks at Magnus pleading with his eyes to not make him do this.

Magnus continues to stand opposite to the man, not saying a word. Asher seems to get the message loud and clear. They’re not going anywhere until he explains.

The man lets out a shaky sigh and sits down on the couch. Asher suddenly looks a million times older than he does.

“Jace Lightwood is- was my parabatai,” Asher finally lets out.

Magnus doesn’t know what he was expecting but it wasn’t that.

“But– what– Jace Lightwood’s parabatai was Alec Lightwood,” Magnus states. “He died in a demon attack four years ago.”

“Yes,” Asher says. “Alec Lightwood did die that night, but the body was never found. The den was so dense and overrun with demons that the New York Institute had to hire a warlock just to purge the whole space without ever recovering his body.”

“I remember that night,” Magnus says. “It was the only thing anyone would talk about. The mighty Alec Lightwood died at the hands of demons. There were rumors that his parents set him up for failure by making him go alone.”

Asher snorts at his words. “I bet my parents would have done that if they weren’t so adamant on making me their scapegoat for all their crimes as former Circle members.”

It doesn’t take much to put two and two together. Even when Asher said that Jace was his parabatai, he was connecting the dots. He knew the man looked familiar. His features are similar to Isabelle’s and he definitely has his father’s face. The bow and quiver should have tipped him off. Jace would always look at the same weapons hanging in the ops center for all to see. Blondie practically dared anyone to remove them after he put them up himself.

“My parents were awful to me,” Asher admits. “I felt more like a slave than their own son. The way they forced me to do things I never wanted to do. Blaming me for mistakes I had no part in and forcing me to marry a woman who was already betrothed to someone else.”

Asher is not looking at him anymore. He’s hunched over and staring at the floor, pinching at his hands. Recounting memories of a life he no longer lives.

“I just couldn’t take it anymore,” he croaks. “Everything was overwhelming and no one was there to help me. Not even my parabatai who would rather bask in the praise of our parents than realize his brother was taking the brunt of his punishments.”

Magnus can’t stay still anymore and walks over to Asher, kneeling down in front of the man. He tilts his head to try and get the man to look at him. He places his hand over Asher’s to stop the man pinching his skin. As expected, the hands twitch under his touch and Asher’s eyes flick to his.

“You’re the person Ragnor and I made that spell for,” Magnus whispers.

“Yeah, Ragnor said that he had a friend help him with it but never said who. He said the fewer people knew who made the spell, the better,” Asher explains, but a tiniest of a smile appears. “Should have known he would have gotten the great Magnus Bane to help with such a task.”

Magnus feels his face heat up at the compliment. “Well, obviously that man needed a better insight into crafting such a spell.”

The pieces all start to fall into place in Magnus’ head. Ragnor leaving New York four years ago and the sudden news of New York’s finest shadowhunter dying. He wants to be angry on Isabelle and Jace’s behalf because of what he witnessed of the aftermath of Asher faking his death, but seeing the broken man in front of him makes him understand why Asher did what he did.

“So Ragnor took me to Ireland to take over his farmhouse,” Asher continues. “From there I used this de-runing device that’s mainly for condemned shadowhunters or shadowhunters who activated too many runes.”

Magnus closes his eyes. That kind of pain, he can’t even imagine. Runes are already etched into Nephilims’s skin permanently that can be used again, but to reverse that effect… Magnus shivers at the thought.

“I was in a coma for almost a week,” Asher confesses. “I knew that surgically removing my runes would put me in the most excruciating pain I had ever been in. It was even worse than that time I was bit by a kappa and almost lost my arm.”

Magnus doesn’t know how Shadowhunters do it. Sure, there is animosity between their races, but knowing and seeing firsthand what Shadowhunters have to face every waking day does not make Magnus envy them. He can’t imagine was de-runing is like. Taking away the very thing that makes you who you are, Magnus couldn’t live without his magic. He would never be desperate enough.

“So that’s it,” Asher finishes. “Now you know the truth about me.”

“Asher, I- If I had known-”

“You wouldn’t have demanded I tell you my whole life story?” Asher muses. There’s a wet tinge to the humor in his voice.

Guilt washes over Magnus. Ragnor told Magnus not to pry and this is what he gets. A scared, broken man who just wanted to be free from the shackles of his parents' tyranny. He has half a mind to hex Robert and Maryse for how they treated Asher. The man was only twenty years old when he drastically changed his life. Magnus’ heart hurts for that man who was so desperate to leave his life he’d rather accept death as a friend.

“I get it,” Asher says, clearly seeing Magnus’ thoughts as if they were written in the air. “I was just some random farmer that your friend never told you about that knew about the shadow world. I’d be suspicious too.”

“I’m sorry,” Magnus apologizes. “I didn’t mean for you to pour out your life story to me.”

Asher snorts and gives him a teasing glare. Okay, so maybe he did. He just didn’t expect it to be so heavy.

“Well there’s nowhere left to go but forward,” Magnus says. “This will probably make things more difficult since I’m sure you don’t want to be around the Institute at all.”

“Absolutely not,” Asher agrees. He stands up from the couch, offering a hand to Magnus who is still kneeling on the floor.

“I was going to go to Ragnor’s house while you took care of Jocelyn to see if I could pick up any evidence of their whereabouts.” Asher grabs his bow and quiver and tosses them over his shoulder. “Knowing Ragnor he probably left something we could use.”

“I’m not letting you go back to that house alone. Valentine could still have his goons watching it for any sign of me, and you’ll be defenseless against them.”

Asher stares at Magnus like he’s grown a second head. The man says nothing as he points to his weapon with a smirk on his face. “I think I’ll be fine.”

“Alexa-” His phone starts ringing in his pocket. “Hello? Yes, Chase, I am aware of the time. The spell just got done,” he lies. “I get that you are trying to get into this girl’s pants but that doesn’t mean you have to drag me into it as well!”

He hangs up the phone in a huff. He looks over at Asher to see the man trying to hide a laugh behind his hand.

“I see why you wanted out.”

#shadowhunters #malec #fanfiction #my writing #Nothing Left But Forward

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nbtenvs3000w23 · 2 years ago

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MUSIC AND NATURE

Music is present in virtually all human cultures. We use it to share our feelings, our stories, points of view, sometimes just to sound nice, and many more reasons that I can’t hope to exhaustively list here. When we hear music it is hard to avoid experiencing emotions and feelings in response to the song, and even forming clearer thoughts and opinions in response to a song is not uncommon (Mallarach et al., 2012). However, it is important to ask if music is something exclusive to human communities, or if it exists elsewhere in nature.

While the sound of wind rustling through the branches of a tall tree, or the gentle bubbling noises from a creek may sound like music to some of our ears, these sounds may lack the types of purposeful repetitions and the intention behind it that some would argue is necessary for a sound to be musical. I’m sure we are all somewhat familiar with the enchanting sound of whale songs. But whales possess an intelligence that certainly rivals that of humans and may surpass it in some ways. Both whales and humans possess a lobe in our brains called the “insular cortex” which is responsible for a number of functions that range from pain detection, speech production, and processing social emotions (Nieuwenhuys, 2012). However, some species of whales, such as orcas, have larger insular cortexes than humans do, which suggests their capacity to feel emotions may be even more complex than ours (Zeppetelli-Bédard, 2021). This forces me to ask if the songs that whales sing may convey emotions that are so intense that a human bran could not comprehend the depth of meaning behind it. I’ve included a video of humpback whales singing so you can ponder this idea with me.

In human music, examples of nature can be found all throughout. I would like to recognise the fact that the human voice is a product of nature and evolution, and the sound of a human voice is as natural as birds chirping and even whales whistling in the ocean. Furthermore, while there are many examples of songs that emphasize appreciating and protecting the natural systems on earth, I would argue that songs about nature can encompass a broader set of songs. Music that reflects human emotions of love, loneliness, anger, and confusion are also examples of nature in music, since emotions are a natural phenomenon that occur in countless animal species. Going beyond the messages in our songs, even the rhythmns and notes that we are accustomed to like can be considered an element of nature, since other groups of animals like whales and birds will use similar tones and timing in their music (Gray, 2001).

Lastly, I would like to include a song that I find very meaningful, and maybe some of you will as well. It is called “Free in the Harbour” by Stan Rogers, and it makes strong references to the cycles of natural exploitation that humans fall into, and how nature is resilient when we learn to live in harmony with it. He draws parallels between overfishing in the Maritimes and oil drilling in Alberta, and how the whales must appreciate the decline of whaling in favor of drilling. I'd encourage you to give it a listen for yourself.

That's all for now,

See you next time

youtube

Works Cited:

Mallarach, J.-M., Mallarach i Carrera, J. M., & Internationale Naturschutzakademie Insel Vilm (Eds.). (2012). Spiritual values of protected areas of Europe workshop proceedings: Workshop held from 2 - 6 November 2011 at the International Academy for Nature Conservation on the Isle of Vilm, Germany. Bundesamt für Naturschutz, BfN.

Nieuwenhuys, R. (2012). The insular cortex. In Progress in Brain Research (Vol. 195, pp. 123–163). Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-444-53860-4.00007-6

Zeppetelli-Bédard, L. (2021). What Do We Know About Intelligence In Whales And Dolphins? Whale Scientists. https://whalescientists.com/intelligence-whales-dolphins/

#Youtube #whales #natural

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