About Shhhh! Digital Media

This content is produced in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and written by Brian Joseph Johns. There is no Shhhh! Digital Media in New York that has anything to do with this Shhhh! Digital Media in Canada, not to mention I've never been to New York.

Terms And Conditions

By using this content, you agree to the Terms Of Use disclaimer and our Views Expressed disclaimer.

Wednesday, August 13, 2025

Tales Of The Sanctum: The Era Of The Spellbound - Episode 3: Ghosts Of A Distant Future (Started August 12, 2025 11:00 AM EST) - Written by Brian Joseph Johns

  [Spellbound - Siouxie And The Banshees] 


Do you like enigmatic characters, engrossing story, magic and the ever atemporal weave?

Play Baldur's Gate 3 [On Steam]


This content is created and produced at 200 Sherbourne Street Suite 701, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. I am European Canadian and I am a heterosexual  male, though I support LGBTQ2 rights. I don't have a "brown skin" fetish at all and never have. My own love interest is Southeast Asian, though she's not Filipino with all due respect to the members of that community. 

I don't volunteer, nor do I pay volunteers as part of a sponsorship scam, but I do advocate for charities that I support and who don't take part in sponsorship scams involving some kind of forced payment. Cults or groups that do commit such scams are damaging the good reputation of honest and dedicated volunteers. Especially abusive groups involved in counterfeiting freemasonry membership, or membership to outlaw motorcycle gangs or using citizens as the garbage bags for the symbolism of the colour brown.

I have nothing to do with any ideologies involved in such nonsense. I'm not on the brown team. I'll stick with my Shhhh! Digital Media colours of red black, red white and red yellow and nobody has black skin and nobody has white skin and no two people have the exact same skin colour.

I support the video game industry and always have, and Shhhh! Digital Media has nothing to do with payment processing companies who abusing their power to filter what consumers can and cannot purchase.

Oh, and I don't play guitar and I've never owned a guitar and there isn't a writer or content creator working for Shhhh! Digital Media that does play guitar. Its a wonderful instrument in the hands of a skilled player, however I am not a guitar player.

There is nobody named Bob or Bobby (Guyanese or otherwise) who works for or with anyone involved in Shhhh! Digital Media with all due respect.

I'm not Irish, Italian or Jamaican with all due respect, and I'm not mentally ill nor would I harass or make fun of those who truly struggle with such issues themselves.

I don't use, buy or sell narcotics myself, but I do believe in harm reduction and in the case of those who can afford it, rehab. I drink occasionally, but infrequently.

I live and work (mostly) alone.

I support the use of pharmaceuticals, as prescribed by Doctors of Medicine so authorized to issue such prescriptions.

I don't have hepatitis and have never had a sexually transmitted disease, though I'd never harass or torment someone over their health issues.

Truthfully, I am an Atheist that leans toward Buddhism and Taoism.


Chapters

  1. Reali-Tea (Finished April 13, 2025 11:00 AM EST)
  2. Day Of Truth - Night Of Stars (Finished April 13, 2025 2:00 PM EST)
  3. Of A Curios Nature (Started April 13, 2025 2:00 PM EST)


Support Charity


Please support education and information access where you can in addition to these charities:


Sick Kids Foundation - Check out the Sick Kids Raffle!
Help research that provides cures and support treatment for sick children. 


Creating a world of possibility for kids and youth with disabilities.


The Cancer Research Institute
The Princess Margaret Foundation
Cancer Research organizations that combine the expertise of many different research firms and Universities to find innovative treatments and cures for Cancer.


David Suzuki Foundation
Through evidence-based research, education and policy analysis, we work to conserve and protect the natural environment, and help create a sustainable Canada. We regularly collaborate with non-profit and community organizations, all levels of government, businesses and individuals.


Donate directly to FireAid today to help us start rebuilding our community. Direct donations will be distributed under the advisement of the Annenberg Foundation and will be distributed for short-term relief efforts and long-term initiatives to prevent future fire disasters throughout Southern California.


United Nations Fund
United Way Worldwide
Two organizations whose contribution of expertise, human and financial resources and volunteer efforts provide humanitarian solutions to real world problems the entire world over. These charities operate worldwide. The United Nations Fund supports the various programs part of the United Nations' global mandate, as much a foundation as it is a roof around the world.


World Veterans Federation (Under Reconstruction) [Wikipedia]
The World Veterans Federation is a humanitarian organisation, a charity and a peace activist movement. The WVF maintains its consultative status with the United Nations since 1951 and was conferred the title of “Peace Messenger” in 1987.


I'd like to point out that it was the incredible Gary Sinese Foundation that brought the issue of Veteran's rights to my attention. I've always had little respect for those who'd forget the great contribution made by those who've risked life and limb to defend those values that so many of us espouse. Perhaps the true measure of one's principles are by that for which they'd risk their life.

"None can speak more eloquently for peace than those who have fought in war."

Ralph Bunche, Nobel Peace Prize 1950


The Reeve Foundation provides programs for research, uniting Scientists and Specialists from many different fields to find treatments for spinal cord injury translating them into therapies and support programs.


For over 60 years, Heart & Stroke has been dedicated to fighting heart disease and stroke. Our work has saved thousands of lives and improved the lives of millions of others.


The ALS Society Of BC
ALS (also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease) is a progressive neuromuscular disease in which nerve cells die and leave voluntary muscles paralyzed. The ALS society provides a variety of programs to combat this disease and help those with it to survive.


Muscular Dystrophy Canada
Muscular Dystrophy Canada’s mission is to enhance the lives of those affected by neuromuscular disorders by continually working to provide ongoing support and resources while relentlessly searching for a cure through well-funded research.


Humane Society International
The Humane Society protects the health, lives and rights of animals the world over, ensuring that they too have a voice in this world. We are interdependent upon the complex web of life this entire planet over for our mutual survival. This is a world wide charity.


The Global Foodbanking Network
Ensuring that people the world over have enough food day to day in order to survive and lead healthy lives. In this challenging day and age services like this are becoming more and more essential. This is a world wide charity.


The Edgar Allan Poe Museum
Because Barris told me to put it here. If I didn't, he said he'd walk. Geez. Stardom really gets to some people's heads. Maybe I could kill him and bury his heart beneath the floor boards! Or I could encase him in behind a brick and mortar wall, for shaming my family name of Amantillado! 

In all truth, there's a good chance that thanks to the works of Edgar Allan Poe, Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain), William Shakespeare, Jane Austen, Jonathan Swift, Mary Shelley, Robert Louis Stevenson, Herbert George Wells, Jules Verne, Dr. Seuss, Stephen King, Clive Barker and Pierre Burton (for The Secret World Of Og and his ground breaking interview of Bruce Lee) that all of us are literate. Actually that goes back much farther to the Phoenecians and their first 22 character system of symbols. Literacy is important. Really it is. Literally. It allows us to approach our employer at the end of the week (with a big club) and ask: where my money?! Math important too. It help us count our thirteen fingers and toes.


Wikipedia
The model for what may become the Encyclopedia Galactica, a complete reference and record of history, events and knowledge of humanity and its journey beyond. It is the encyclopedia of all that we know, what we surmise that we've known and will learn in the future. Yes, Wikipedia is a charitable organization of great importance. If you enjoy what I am doing here then please take the time to donate to Wikipedia. Surprisingly only 1% of Wikipedia's users donate yet the site serves pages to millions every day.


Humble Bundle
A video gaming storefront benefiting a vast variety of different Charities in the United States and United Kingdom (hopefully soon to be expanded to include other areas of the world?). By software their software bundles and choose which Charity your money benefits and how much of your money benefits that Charity. See? Gamers can do their part too.


Multiple Sclerosis is a degenerative disease currently affecting an estimated 2.3 million world wide. By donating you are contributing to effective research in finding a cure and tipping the scales of MS research to change lives forever.


If you're a resident of Ontario then please consider supporting Building Better Schools.


Other Ways To Help Using Your Computer

Donate your idle computer time to science! Join the World Community Grid by clicking on one of the links below and follow the instructions for how to participate:



Thank you for your support

Shhhh! Digital Media

Brian Joseph Johns



Reali-Tea

Summer, 2006


Neville walked slightly ahead of the group, with Nelony keeping pace beside him. She paid him little regard as he vied for the attention of the group. His voice most often the loudest and interrupting, a fact that Nelony had come to put up with.

In a way, she felt sorry for him, for it was obvious that he was always trying to jut his way into the like of others, rather than simply being comfortable with himself.

Gone were their school uniforms, their attire much more casual and expressive as teenagers on the front doorstep of adulthood.

Nelony was dressed very casually and comfortably, and despite the growing heat, her latest plant necklace hung in place, centered on her breastplate. Its green leaves and bright yellow flower standing out prominently beneath her cherry red lips.

Neville wore a stylish t-shirt, a rather expensive one for which he'd saved his pay from his part-time job for two weeks to be able to afford. The shirt sported a grafitti like motif in a variety of bright colours, the sleeves just short enough that they revealed the stylish tattoos on both of his arms.

Shaela walked side by side with Mila, Wes between the two of them despite the fact that they talked around him, though they both enjoyed having his company where it was. He remained quiet mostly, enjoying hearing their banter and remarking little unless directly broached by them.

Shaela of course wore the darkest of gothic shades, a long black lace figure hugging dress spanning down to her Doctor Martens, which fit her style perfectly. Her face was pale white with foundation, while her eyes were dark with eye shadow and liner, while her deep red lips underlined her entire look, her forboding blue eyes standing out amidst the cacaphony of shades.

Mila on the other hand was the apparent bookend antithesis, wearing a white summer dress and a white sun hat, protecting her pale complexion and make-up accented natural look, while Wes between the two of them seemed to be a great bridge for the dichotomy of their styles. He lay somewhere between gothic while still sporting a loose fitting tie and a tweed vest atop of his button down shirt. His dyed black hair, messy and spiked.

"No skateboard today Neville?" asked Shaela confronted him during a moment silence in their conversation.

"The bearing casings are shot. Besides, I'm kind of done with it. Saving up for a moped. That way, I can pick Nelony up and drive her to summer school," Neville admitted to them.

"Maybe in your dreams, but not on my flower here," Nelony responded defensively, gesturing to her eco-necklace.

"Can't blame a guy for trying," Neville's attention span was short, and after he'd replied to Nelony, he directed his gaze to another blonde haired girl ahead of them on the sidewalk.

"Excuse me miss. You dropped something," Neville ran up to her, and handed her a slip of paper he'd withdrawn from his pocket.

She looked at the slip of paper and her eyes rolled, for on it was written his name and phone number.

She picked up her pace to get away from them rather than be the subject of a group's amusement.

"I love it when they run. I might not want what I haven't got, but I want more than anything what I cannot have..." Neville laughed as the girl ahead of them picked up her pace, seemingly unphased by the rejection he'd just experienced.

"You disgust me!" Nelony smirked at Neville.

"What? Would you think better of me if I'd been crushed by your rejection of me? Who's the creep now?" Neville challenged her.

"You! Instead of waiting and trying again with me later, you instead went right away for the nearest woman matching my description! You don't want what you cannot have. You want what takes the least effort!" Nelony reasoned with him, perhaps slightly flustered that he'd embarrassed both her and the other woman he'd approached.

"Are you saying that you're worth it?" Neville countered her.

"You have no clue, do you?!!!" Nelony responded.

"If you'd have waited and tried again with her later, that would mean that you really want her!" Wes responded to Neville's antics.

"You're just jealous that I went for someone else, not to mention, you'd have preferred it if I was destroyed by your rejection. Gives you a sense of power!" Neville turned his back on her just as they arrived at the front door of their favourite tea shop: Reali-Tea.

"Lets just get our morning tea and crumpets and get to class..." Shaela interjected.

"I take it that you two have a history?" asked Mila of Nelony and Neville, as Wes secretly tried to stop her from asking, shaking his head and mouthing: NO! NO! several times.

Just as Neville was about to answer Mila, the loud siren of an ambulance interrupted their conversation as it pulled up to the corner shop next to the tea shop.

A pair of paramedics jumped out of the ambulance and retrieved a gurney from the back of the vehicle, then wheeling it into the front door of the corner-lot shop.

"What happened?" asked Nelony, turning to face the shop.

"That's the store that old man runs..." Neville responded as a crowd slowly started to gather.

Neville and Wes peered into the window of the shop, catching a glimpse of the paramedics performing Cardio-Pulminary rescucitation on a balding, older man who lay on the floor unmoving.

"I think he's pushing up daisies..." Neville remarked, looking to the flower around Nelony's neck.

"Sorry..." Neville added, a look of mischievous malice on his face.

Nelony just shook her head in disgust, when out of the corner of her eyes, she caught a glimpse of a man leaving the shop. 

A familiar man, in a hood and cloak.

"Look! Its Mr. Norbid!" Nelony exclaimed, as the man turned to get a glimpse of her.

Their eyes met and time seemed to stand still.

"One by one they all will fall. The truth be gone and that is all," Mr. Norbid said to her as time remained at a stand still.

"No!" Nelony tried to scream, but nothing, no sound, no air came out.

Mr. Norbid then turned and disappeared around the corner and a moment later, time resumed.

"Who did you see?!!!" asked Wes of Nelony.

"It was... I... I can't remember..." Nelony responded, the name and face now gone from her memory.

Nelony saw a vision of a withered squirrel caught in the grip of a man who's face she could not recall.

"What happened?" asked Mila of Wes and Nelony.

"I saw someone... someone who hurts squirrels... He... I can't remember. His name was just on the tip of my tongue..." Nelony responded, once again receiving a blurred flash of a memory.

"He was wearing a cloak and maybe a hood..." Nelony shook her head.

"I think the old man's gone..." Wes looked inside of the store through the glass window.

A bald Japanese man well into his nineties appearing shriveled and gaunt lay on the floor, his face lifeless. The paramedics lifted him onto the gurney.

They then pulled a plastic cover over his face and wheeled him out to the ambulance.

Mila watched as the old man was carted over to the back of the vehicle and carefully fastened within, the life that had once flowed through his body and much like his memories, now beginning their journey into obscurity and effacement.

Shaela looked up at the sign above the shop's front door:

Sato's Curios And Treasures.


Within the shop, they heard a yelping sound, coming from a tiny animal.

Nelony and Mila immediately ran in through the front door of the shop, and wandered within until they found an apartment in the back. There within on a tiny cushion in a wooden box, a tiny pug puppy jumped up at the sides, yelping at them playfully.

"He's got nowhere to go. They'll put him down..." Nelony spoke sadly as she bent down to comfort the poor little animal.

Mila quickly grabbed a tiny blanket that lay beside the wooden box and used it to line her purse. She then bent over and picked up the puppy ever so carefully and placed him gently inside of it.

"He's got a home now. I wonder if he's got a name?" Mila stroked his head, as Nelony bent over and picked up a card that had been fastened to the wooden box.

"Here," Nelony handed the card to Mila, who then opened it and read it aloud:

To my best friend Mishima Sato on his birthday. May this new friend bring you much joy and luck!

B.W.

PS: His name is Happiu~isuka.

"That's Japanese isn't it? What does Happiu~isuka mean?" Nelony asked Mila.

"I think it means: vomits happiness..." Mila responded, then looking to the puppy, who'd just vomited in her purse.

"What's that smell?" Nelony began sniffing, getting a scent of the pug's vomit.

"Happiness, I'm guessing..." Mila responded to Nelony's question as she gently wiped the puppy's face with a tissue.

At that moment, an older man who had been in the shop as the events unfolded, moved closer to Mila and grabbed her by the wrist.

Startled, she looked to his face, and for a moment saw someone very familiar to her. The feeling quickly receding only a moment later.

The withered old man stared at her for a moment, a distant and forboding look in his eye.

"They'll take it all from you... please believe me!" the old man said to her, his lower lip quivering.

"Sato...? He's gone..." he released her wrist, and then turned and headed out of the door of the shop, and for the ambulance, getting in the back to accompany the deceased man on the gurney on his voyage to the morgue.

"Mila. We'd better get out of here. I have a very bad feeling about this..." Shaela arrived from outside of the shop.

"Keep the puppy safe. Lets get our tea and make it to class," Nelony urged Mila, Neville and Wes now tapping on the glass window from outside and urging them to pick up their pace.

The five of them made their way into Reali-Tea to get their tea and crumpets as a group of local workers arrived to seal off the old man's shop, putting a sign across the door:

CLOSED PERMANENTLY. 

THOSE INTERESTED IN THE PROPERTY MAY SEND INQUIRIES TO SHEPPERTON REAL ESTATE AGENCY.



Day Of Truth - Night Of Stars


Wes had decided that he'd be the one to open the door to their summer school classroom, as the class had already started and they were late. He figured he'd be the one to bear the brunt of the teacher's scolding of their tardiness and so his hand gripped the doorknob as he turned and opened the door.

He quickly scanned the room for a set of unoccupied desks, and upon having spied five of them together, he stepped aside, between their thirty-something teacher and his four friends behind him as they snuck their way to the desks he'd earlier spied.

 "Sorry M'aam," Wes said to her, she turned to face him, brushing her hair aside of her forehead.

"For what?" she asked him.

"For being late and interrupting class," Wes said humbly.

"Relax, though don't make it a habit. The only reason that you're here, is because the lot of you did horribly on your non-elective sciences. As much as you might like to get by in this world on charm and magic alone, you're going to need the help of the sciences, and in this day and age, more than ever," she said to Wes, looking to his four other friends as they found their way to their desks.

"I'm Mrs. Trufflebury, though seeing as this is a summer class, you can call me Cheryl," she smiled at them as they found their seats.

"I know that the reason many of you are here is because you find maths and sciences boring. Lets face it, on a cold bland page or a computer screen, some of this can seem very boring compared to say... High School Musical or The Last Kiss. Until Apple, Microsoft, Google or MindSpice invent a medium that brings the sciences to the masses in a very interesting way, like some of the more creative publicly funded television channels, its up to us summer school teachers to re-introduce you to it in a way that the teachers of the regular school year couldn't, given the sizes of their classes," Mrs. Trufflebury explained to them.

Shaela and Wes looked around, only then realizing that there were actually very few students with them in the classroom. The entire class appeared to be about fifteen people in all.

At that moment, Happiu~isuka let out a tiny little bark from where his head poked out of Mila's purse in her lap.

"Whirp!" Mila let out a yelp of her own, immitating the puppy.

"Are you quite alright?" Mrs. Trufflebury looked to her, confused.

"Just the hiccups..." Mila replied, secretly tearing a bit of her crumpet and feeding it to the pug.

"Now that we're all comfortably, how many of you know what science actually is?" asked Mrs. Trufflebury of the class.

One of the other female students, a pretty girl wearing thin rimmed glasses raised her hand.

"Miss Dorens?" Mrs. Trufflebury acknowledged her.

"Its the study of the world and the universe..." Jessica Dorens responded.

"Yes and no. Yes, in that there are sciences that study the world. Geology for instance, and there are sciences that study the universe. Cosmology for example. I need a more encompassing answer, and one that you might never have suspected. Maybe something you'd expect to find in a philosophy text?" Mrs. Trufflebury hinted.

"Anybody?" Mrs. Trufflebury continued.

She waited, one of the students coughing ever so slightly.

"Science, to put it quite simply and yet very profoundly, is the search for truth," Mrs. Trufflebury told them and waited for that concept to fully sink in.

"The search through all that obscures it. Truth. How and what has happened, so that we might one day be able to use creatively, what can and will happen. Including what we can create ourselves using what we've learned from that truth," Mrs. Trufflebury wrote the word truth on the chalkboard, underlining it three times.

Nelony raised her hand.

"Miss... Ardbloem?" Mrs. Trufflebury gestured to Nelony.

"But what is truth?" asked Nelony.

"Now we get to the bizarre and sometimes confusing philosophy of the answer to the question of what is science? If science is the search for truth, then what is truth?" asked Mrs. Trufflebury.

Wes raised his hand.

"Mr. Emerson?" Mrs. Trufflebury got his last name correct as she acknowledged him.

"My backpack is heavy. That's truth, isn't it?" he said, lifting it with both of his arms, it being filled with library books he'd planned to return after class.

" What about to someone like Mr. Cooper here? Our class athlete it would seem...?" Mrs. Trufflebury introduced John, a tall somewhat muscular fellow who humbly stood and bowed like a gent to the rest of the class, drawing a fair bit of laughter and at least one cat call whistle from one of the women.

 He blushed as he sat back down.

"Try lifting Wes' backpack, would you John?" asked Mrs. Trufflebury of the student.

John went over to Wes' desk, Wes handing him the backpack. John at first played along, and seemingly dropped it because of the weight, again drawing some laughter.

"Just kidding..." he said, then easily hefting Wes' backpack with one arm.

"Its a little heavy. Not much though. I can easily lift it with one arm," John handed the backpack to Wes and returned to his seat.

"So it would seem that we have two truths simply by conducting science on Wes' backpack," Mrs. Trufflebury explained to them, pulled a scale from a cubby hole under the counter space at the front of the class.

"So, lets deal with that by sorting this out so that we have one truth about Wes' backpack that we can all agree upon. Wes, could you bring your backpack to the front of the class?" Mrs. Trufflebury adjusted the scale and then beckoned Wes to join her.

He carried his backpack to the front of the class, and lifted it up onto the counter.

"Now place it upon the scale here and then read for the class what you see in the digital display," Mrs. Trufflebury instructed Wes.

"It says six point five kilograms," Wes said aloud to the class.

"I'll confirm that for him, and assure you that it does in fact say six point five kilograms in weight. There, we've conducted science and yielding truth from it. Something that we can all agree upon as being fact. Its not six point five according to Wes, and three point two according to me. The scale upon which we measured it says the same answer for both of us. Truth," Mrs. Trufflebury explained to the class.

Mila raised her hand.

"Miss Ren Dubel?" Mrs. Trufflebury gestured to Mila.

"My favourite kind of drink is raspberry bubble tea. Isn't that science?" asked Mila quite cleverly.

"Now we're getting somewhere. We have discerned something very important about the nature of truth, and therefore science. Mila's favourite drink is without a doubt her truth. Her truth, but it might not be someone else's. Wes found his backpack to be very heavy, but to John it was a little bit heavy. How is it that they can both be right, but have different answers to the same question?" asked Mrs. Trufflebury of the class.

The class remained silent as Mrs. Trufflebury waited for someone to respond, but nobody did.

"When it came to weighing Wes' backpack, we have one truth that is the same for everyone, but when it comes to something else, like whether something is heavy or not, or a someone's favourite drink or food, we can have more than one truth. One truth in fact, for each and every person. Therefore, there are different kinds of truth. The truth relating to the weight of Wes' backpack is called objective truth. Objective truth is a kind of quality or measure for which there is only one answer, no matter who measures it. Subjective truth is a kind of quality or measure for which there can be a different answer for everyone who measures it, therefore, science mostly concerns itself with objective truth, while sciences like philosophy quite often deal with subjective truth," Mrs. Trufflebury explained to them, sending Wes back to his desk with his backpack and allowing time for the concept to sink in throughout the class.

"Remember, how I said at the beginning of this class, that truth is something that assuming it doesn't change over time, can be used to predict and create things that we can use to better our lives, but it goes much farther beyond that. If we know where we've been, and when, and what happened accurately, both objectively and subjectively, we have something we can build upon. Something stable that doesn't move or change, putting at risk everything we built atop of it. Science is just such a thing, but it just so happens that science had an early friend in the form of mysticism a very long, long time ago. A time when we obtained truth from a source that simply could not lie to us. That source was in the sky. The stars. The constellations. From distant places their light came to us from across the heavens, to reveal to us the truth as it happened somewhere so distant from us, that millions if not billions of years passed for that light, that truth to reach us. For next class, I have a project for you. I want each of you to go to a library or read a book and research until you've found what a constellation is, and which one is your favourite constellation and why. You're each to give me one objective truth about the constellation as well. For instance, the star Betelgeuse in the constellation of Orion, is a Red Giant class of star, whose apparent magnitude is zero point five. That's your homework, and on Friday evening, you are each going to attend with me a special class at 9 PM, where we will visit the Norman Fisher Observatory, and get a look at your favourite constellations in person. Be here at no later than 8:15 PM and we'll be taking a chartered bus from this school. Enjoy the rest of your day, and Wes, try to make sure you have your friends here on time next time," Mrs. Trufflebury smiled at them.

Happiu~isuka chose that very moment to yelp once again, causing Mila to hiccup loudly in order to cover up for the puppy.

"Hic! Pardon me..." Mila blushed, causing the rest of the class to laugh as she tucked Happiu~isuka's head back into her purse as she stood.

Nelony and Shaela stood with Wes, and the five of them left through the classroom door.

"Oh, and Mila?" Mrs. Trufflebury addressed the young Japanese Canadian artist.

"Yes?" Mila stopped just shy of the classroom door, almost having evaded the scrutiny of the teacher.

"Make sure you get your puppy a proper meal and home for next time," Mrs. Trufflebury revealed that she'd known  about Mila's ruse the entire time.

"Yes Mrs. Trufflebury," Mila bowed once with an embarrassed smile on her face, and then turned to catch up with her friends.



Of A Curios Nature


"Well that was ever so utterly boring and yet very captivating at the same time..." Shaela said with a pouty lips, which despite that fact still managed to hold Wes' attention quite thoroughly.

"That figures. I thought it was kind of uplifting, given the passing of that poor store owner..." Nelony responded to Shaela's sardonicism.

"Now that was sad, but to tell you the truth, we didn't really know him all that well," Shaela reminded them.

"I went in there once and picked up an old dusty book from his basement collection, but I never read it. Something about mysticism though. He was very sarcastic to me when I bought it. He said: Oh well. Another great book falls victim to the ever so deteriorating grip of pop culture! I suppose next time I see you in here, you'll be wearing the t-shirt with the book's title as if it had been your bling all along," Wes admitted to them what he'd remembered about Sato.

Mila somehow found the statement to be very funny, and covered her mouth as she laughed at Wes' recollection.

"I never met him, but that strange man that grabbed my wrist? It was like I knew him," Mila then admitted to them.

"What? That dirty old man? He was very strange. A bit creepy too. I'd never seen him in that store before and I've been there a few times. The puppy wasn't there last time I went in, and that was only a week ago," Nelony finally admitted to them.

"So the puppy was a gift given to him by B.W. then?" Mila confirmed with her friends, showing them the card that Nelony had given to her when she'd found the puppy.

"I guess so. B.W.? We could ask around maybe?" Neville suggested, suddenly interested in anything that might help him repair his dwindling friendship with Nelony.

"Mr. Norbid! That's who I saw at the shop!" Nelony sudden recalled the man she'd seen leaving Sato's Curios And Treasures.

"You mean that guy that hates squirrels?" Wes confirmed with Nelony.

"And tried to take you away from me... I mean us..." Shaela added, quickly correcting herself, though her foundation hid the fact that she was blushing over her own words.

"Yes. The same one. The man whose grasp seemed to wither everything..." Nelony described for them, recalling her experience as a little girl outside of the school.

"I think that we should look into this..." Mila urged them.

"I have to return my library books... but afterwards...?" Wes responded to Mila and then turned to Shaela.

"Sounds like a mystery to me. Might be fun. A lot better than looking up constellations in a book..." Shaela said to them.

"We can do both at the same time, but first lets get my books back to the library and then we can check out Sato's store again," Wes suggested.

"I still have the puppy with me. We need to get him somewhere safe, and somewhere he can... you know?" Mila said to them, opening the purse enough so that Happiu~isuka could poke his little head out and watch the world as they walked the streets of Shepperton.

"There's a park across the road from Sato's shop. We can take him for a quick little run there," Neville suggested, softening his approach, which seemed to draw Nelony's forgiveness of him.

"Not to mention he might be able to tell us something while we're there," Nelony suggested.

"And I suppose you can speak with animals, can you?" asked Neville responded slightly sarcastically, losing a bit of ground with her.

"That's nature girl. She can speak with birds. Cats. Dogs. You name it. If its got fur or feathers, she's a walking translator for them," Shaela remarked sarcastically about Nelony.

"Then its decided. To the library first, and then to Sato's Curios And Treasures..." Mila stroked Happiu~isuka's head gently as the five of them began their journey into the second half of their day.


To be continued...


Credits and attribution:

Special Thanks To Rocket Fuel Lakeshore Blvd West, perhaps the best place in history to get a coffee, circa 2001-2004. Miss you all very much.

Artwork: Amy Wong, Wendy Pusey, Ghastly, Birdman, Brian Joseph Johns, Daz3D, Unreal Engine...

Tools: Daz3D, Corel Painter, Adobe Photoshop, Lightwave 3D, Blender, Stable Diffusion (Easy Diffusion distribution), InstantID, Sadtalker, Google Colaboratory, Microsoft Copilot (Windows 11), Hitfilm, PhotoPea (a great web based Photoshop stand-in if you're on a low budget or in a pinch), Borderline Obsession...

DeepSeek AI for suggestions on exercises to improve aspects of describing scene and settings with a more sensory focused grammar.

InstantID by: Wang, Qixun and Bai, Xu and Wang, Haofan and Qin, Zekui and Chen, Anthony. Research Paper Title: InstantID - Zero-shot Identity-Preserving Generation in Seconds.

Sadtalker by: Zhang, Wenxuan and Cun, Xiaodong and Wang, Xuan and Zhang, Yong and Shen, Xi and Guo, Yu and Shan, Ying and Wang, Fei.
Research Paper Title: SadTalker: Learning Realistic 3D Motion Coefficients for Stylized Audio-Driven Single Image Talking Face Animation.

Gratitude: Our Mentors, Senseis, Sifus, Sebomnims, lifetime inspirations, family, friends, the Nomads (ask Stanton about that one), the Music, the Movies, the Theatre, the Arts, ASMR, (both YouTube and Bilibili and the many other creators on those platforms), the Gaming and Developer communities and of course, the audience.

Martial Arts (in the words of real experts and at least one comedian): https://brucelee.com (home of the real Dragon and an entire family of inspirations), http://iwco.online International Wing Chun Organization (International presence of a very scalable intensity martial art, protected and developed by Shaolin Nun Ng Mui) and the alma mater of Jinn Hua's own specialized variation thereof, https://iogkf.com International Okinawan Goju-Ryu Karatedo Federation (even Hanshi had his teachers), https://itftkd.sport International Taekwondo Federation (Here there be Taegers), https://tangsoodoworld.com Tang Soo Do World (the path of Grandmaster Chuck Norris), https://www.aikido-international.org International Aikido Federation (how else would Navy Chef Steven Seagal liberate a Nimitz Class Aircraft Carrier from a team of hijackers?), https://www.stqitoronto.com Shaolin Temple Quanfa Institute (The City Of Toronto's own Shaolin Temple), https://www.enterthedojoshow.com Master Ken's Ameri-Te-Do presence (If we can't laugh at ourselves, then we can at least laugh the loudest at others, and other Zen)

Magic (performance, illusion and perhaps the real thing): Magic Week Archive (I'm currently growing this section so stay tuned)

Special thanks to Aitrepreneur, Mickmumpitz, Hugging Face and the YouTube educational content producers, including those catering to the AI content production pipeline and of course AlphaSignal.

Shi Heng Yi Shaolin Training For Self Mastery 
A reknowned Sifu under whose tutelage you can study the theory and practical applications of the Shaolin Arts for health, physical and mental wellbeing in every day life

Shi Heng Yi Shaolin Training For Self Mastery 
A reknowned Sifu under whose tutelage you can study the theory and practical applications of the Shaolin Arts for health, physical and mental wellbeing in every day life

Jesse Enkamp: Karate Nerd
Jesse, a reknowned Sensei who runs his own dojo, explores the world of Martial Arts, traveling to many exotic locations to meet practitioners of a variety of different arts

Sensei Rokas: Martial Arts Journey
A reknowned Sensei of Aikido who in seeking to understand the roots of Aikido and its applications, seeks to stress test its effectiveness in a number of real world situations while studying its history

Seamus O'Dowd
An extensive growing archive Katas, Techniques and Waza (mostly Shotokan)

Iaido: Train For Katana Mastery Like Samurai 
The original weapons focused curriculum under which Samurai became masters of their art

Tapp Brothers Exercise For Better Motion 
Extensive courses for calisthenics and body strength, stamina and flexibility

Special thanks to Canva for inspiring other creators and giving them the tools

Special thanks to Captain Crunch and his wonderful sister!

Special thanks to Bandcamp for giving indie music artists a home under one roof

Something to give you perspective: The very first teacher had no formal education, didn't graduate and was self taught, but only because they had no other choice. We do.

This content is entirely produced in Toronto, Ontario, Canada at 200 Sherbourne Street Suite 701 under the Shhhh! Digital Media banner.

at