HIGH SCHOOL NEVER ENDS

L I T T L E B E A R W O L F

T W E N T Y  S I X T E E N

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Aloha - Ahoy
 You know those times you look back on life & just think 'well damn, those were some good times' that's what discovering live music felt like for me.
The energy & emotions ran high as did the conversations of school, of what we'd do at the weekend & what we'd do when we grew up; while walking to The Void on a Saturday evening.

An event that became the start of the higlight of my week when I was a teen.

As we got closer you could hear the skaters in the park; the smell of cigarettes & sweat hit you as you entered the building.
Up the stairs and into the darkened room.

What felt like a thousand bodies surrounded you, the lingering smoke a few inches above my head swirling through my hair as we made our way to the bar.

We'd seek out our friends, perhaps look for strangers; it didn't matter the night was young & we owned the world.

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The band would start, the tunes would play and we would mosh, skank, dance & laugh the evening away.

Taking breathing breaks imbetween bands outside as the stars covered the night sky; the chatter of teen angst, lust & excitement was rife outside.

Gigs at The Void revealed a passion in me for live music that I had never expected. The atmosphere of being in a room when the bands got the place jumping is an experience like none other.

Live music is incredibly important, going to punkrock nights & local gigs was a right of passage in our city as kids. We didn't have wifi, Instagram & blogs.

We had music, playing outside, making our own fun & causing a whole lotta trouble.

We didn't wear luxury cosmetics, vans just made awesome skate shoes & taking a selfie involved buying a disposable camera holding it at arms length & trying to squeeze all your mates in the shot, while hoping for the best. That or a photo booth.

It was a pretty great time to be a teen.

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I can't show you cool snaps & wicked YT vids because it simply wasn't a thing to do but here's a pretty good way at showing you what it was like -

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Before I get all 'back in my day' being a millenial is a wicked awesome time to be alive.

I can literally make a living from doing what I love which was pretty much just a pipe dream at 14.

But hell being a teen at the turn of the millenium was just epic.

This year is 10 years since I left college, what I've learnt since stepping out into the world at 18 feels like a couple a lifetimes worth of content & this stories only just got started.

While I'm all stoked for what's going down this Spring/Summer, I can't help but look back at my time in high school & college with a smile on my face.

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Those nights at The Void started a love of live music that i've carried with me right through school into college, university & life beyond.

Here's the ultimate awesome tunes that we popped on while gathering before heading to The Void, the tunes we danced our legs off too at Route on a Monday, that we rocked out to before The Joiners & that ten years (and the rest) on are still wicked awesome.

& alright we were 14 -18 year old girls we're allowed some questionable tunes!

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T H E  V O I D

L B W 

 U L T I M A T E  A W E S O M E  P L A Y L I S T 

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S . O . A . D 

C H O P  S U E Y

N O F X
L I N O L E U M

L E S S  T H A N  J A K E
A L L  M Y  B E S T  F R I E N D S  A R E  M E T A L  H E A D S

The next song is such a sweet cover - reminds me of the night of five encores.

That was a sweaty night.

R E E L  B I G  F I S H 

T A K E  O N  M E 

G R E E N  D A Y
 B A S K E T C A S E

J I M M Y  E A T  W O R L D

T H E  M I D D L E

S U M  4 1
F A T  L I P

B L I N K  1 8 2

A L L  T H E  S M A L L  T H I N G S

 

S A V E  F E R R I S

T H E  W O R L D  I S  N E W 

L E T T E R S  T O  C L E O

I  W A N T  Y O U  T O  W A N T  M E 

 H O L E

C E L E B R I T Y  S K I N

N I R V A N A

H E A R T  S H A P E D  B O X

F O O  F I G H T E R S

A L L  M Y  L I F E

 

Q . O . T . S . A

N O  O N E  K N O W S

S L I P K N O T

W A I  T  A N D  B L E E D

A F I 

G I R L S  N O T  G R E Y 

T H E  O F F S P R I N G

S E L F  E S T E E M

S U M 4 1

S T I L L  W A I  T I N G

I  DON'T BELIEVE ANY OF YOU THAT TELL ME YOU WEREN'T A LITTLE BIT EMO.

You knew it was coming.

And you thought the chick rock was painful didn't you?!

F A L L  O U T  B O Y
D A N C E  D A N C E

M C R 

H E L E N A 

Better shove in a couple a TUNES while we scruff away our emo fringes & hide those skinny skinny jeans away from the world...

Just for good measure because I saw them live this year and they were a right good laugh & top dudes...

B O W L I N G  F O R  S O U P
 H I G H  S C H O O L  N E V E R  E N D S

& on to the reall good stuff...

S L I P K N O T

T H E  D E V I L  I N  I

 I R O N  M A I D E N

T H E  T R O O P E R

M E G A D E T H

S Y M P H O N Y  O F  D E S T R U C T I O N 

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That was a lot of fun.

A little trip down memory lane for a Saturday night.

If you like pirate viking metal - check out my battle of the bands between Nightwish & Alestorm on the blog here.

 Tune in and rock out again soon!

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Love & Peace

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- Content belongs to it's respective owners -

- L I T T L E B E A R W O L F - KG Ⓒ 2016 -

TOP OF THE PIRATE VIKING POPS

L I T T L E B E A R W O L F

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T W E N T Y S I X T E E N

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T O P  O F  T H E  P I R A T E  V I K I N G  P O P S

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Aloha, Ahoy

Alright folks, I'm just going to come out with it -  I LOVE power-pirate-viking-goth-metal.

I don't care what you say. It's just damn right flinging-flanging jeffing epic.

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I find the older I get the less I care about what's mainstream, what's not, what's cool, what's hot..

I never thought I'd find solace in the pirate-goth metal of the world, but hey here you have it.

I owe that to my parents - they read me Lord of the Rings as bed time stories - if that's not going to instill a love of the fantasy realm in a young mind, I don't know what will.

Boy am I glad they did though - I mean you've seen it right?!

With the elves and the YOU SHALL NOT PASS and the battles and did I mention the elves?! - It's like the most metal story; the book to end all books.

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In case you spent the turn of the millennium under a rock or y'know being born and stuff here's LOTR broken down into about ten minutes set to Nightwish's Ghost Love Score - (seemed as good a place to start as any)

In time my love of fantasy developed through the music I listened to. Until I discovered pirate-power metal - It's a murky cocktail of fantasy inspired lyrics, the famed power stance, serious hair goals, leather pants, bitchin' guitar solos & the odd dragon or pirate thrown in for good measure.

We've all read a playlist post featuring the best of the best blah blah blah, so here's something a little different for you all tonight.

Here's my dual for the throne playlist of the pirate-viking-power-metal lords of

 Alestorm & Nightwish

but who will reign victorious?

Here's a breakdown of the most epic pirate-goth-viking-power-metal tunes for the closet goth scrambling to escape you.

N I G H T W I S H  - N E M O

A L E S T O R M  -  K E E L H A U L E D

N I G H T W I S H - A M A R A N T H

A L E S T O R M - D E A T H  T H R O E S  O F  T H E  T E R R O R S Q U I D

N I G H T W I S H - T H E  I S L A N D E R

A L E S T O R M -  D R I N K

While Nightwish make a powerful sound, Alestorm totally own their pirate-metal sound, but I have to say that while Nightwish stole my heart from the word go - despite changing leading ladies - what great band hasn't had a lineup change or three?- The kings of power-goth-pirate-viking metal go to -

A L E S T O R M

& here are the pirate squad are in all their hair goal - power stance - glory

Because it's a pirate life for me.

What bands would you like to see battle it out to be king next?

Tune in and rock out again soon

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Love & Peace

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- Content belongs to it's respective owners -

- L I T T L E B E A R W O L F - KG Ⓒ 2016 -

MANIFESTO

L I T T L E B E A R W O L F

T W E N T Y S I X T E E N

A P R I L

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Aloha - Ahoy

I looked out across the calm sea from the shore & as the sun twinkled over the world's ocean I felt the warmth of the day, as if for the first time in my life I'd awoken.

Feeling as though the air I breathed in was coursing through my veins, my body awakening every sense, until every part of me came alive.

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The near cloudless sky a perfect blue, the breeze through the trees sweeping out across the waters edge and into the world.

I knew my life was about to begin.

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I can't explain how I've been feeling of late, I don't remember when it began, somewhere circa leaving Worcester as a teen.

I'll never know if it will have been better if I stayed but I'm not going to waste time wondering.

I've learnt enough to know the grass isn't always greener and the hardships we endure help to shape who we will become in time.

 All I know is that I did leave, I think I was ready for that on some level but in a lot of ways I wasn't prepared, I was just a kid.

I left my hometown, my comforts, I lived without my family for a year & moving to be back with them made the most sense to me at the time.

That meant leaving everything I knew and had started to develop for myself.

I don't regret it, it's led to many adventures, to lots of opportunities & to being able to spend time with my family, because through everything we experienced over the ten years following, we stuck together.

Family is important, whether it's the family you're born into, the family you create for yourself of the family you find along the way.

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Despite this, life tests us still, she won't hesitate to kick us when we're down.

I'm learning she's urging me to fight back, she's not trying to keep me down, she's testing me because she knows I'm determined to do more, explore further. become the person I'm going to become.

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One day when you've been drowned at sea, suddenly you reach the surface, spluttering & struggling against the tide but hell you're alive.

That day for me is today.

I can't explain it, I didn't feel it when I went to bed, when I woke up it felt like any other usual day except I knew that I was different, something in me had woken up.

Ensuring that for the first time in I can't even explain, I feel like autopilot's been switched off.

As though I can acheive anything.

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I don't know what the future holds, I feel like every thoughts come rushing through in technicolor.

I feel as though I've been living someone else's life, as though I've been in a dreamworld.

Today I've woken up & I'm not exactly sure where the road is headed but I know I'm on it.

I stand but at a crossroads.

I can't see where either road leads, but I know the directions I now face, is the only one I'll walk down.

Because to not step onto the path would be the only thing worse than to at least take a leap.

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I feel like as Spring wakes up the Earth, as my birthday approaches I awake too.

It's true, I've felt lost, I've felt down, I've felt unsure & I let the demons take over.

Until I woke up and didn't recognize the girl staring back at me.

In 2013 I stepped onto a path that has at times become so foggy I've not been able to see & I've wandered from the path many times, but now I'm here today, the road is clear, the destination isn't but for now I'm okay with the journey that lies ahead.

Sometimes travelling the road is more important than reaching the place at the end of it.

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All I know is that today I am me. I've woken up. 

I've spent a long time feeling sad, down & broken by the world.

I've lost family, friends, dreams, I've lost my mind at times.

I was too scared to admit that I felt so anxious I may just spontaneously combust.

That I felt so sad I could have cried my heart out wherever I stood.

I'm not scared anymore.

I'm not going to let my past define me, I'm not going to let my present situation become my future.

Ultimately I'm not going to let anyone tell me what's possible in my future.

Because we're all made of cosmic stardust, a beautiful erratic miracle within the universe & I don't believe that anything is impossible.

I think we just have certain lessons to learn before we can wander towards the truth, so that when we find it, we don't take it for granted.

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I'll fight my demons while chasing my dreams.

I'm not worried if you think I'm a mess because I think I'm brave for leaping.

I didn't succumb to the pain, the shadows or the dark.

I chose to fight against the current & this morning I washed up on the shore.

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When I started my blog under this title it was in a different space, a different place but today I start that journey again.

Everything's different.

Nothing's the same & this time I'm not here to play by the rules.

There's a world out there, that I'll share here & I hope that you'll join me on the adventure.

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If you feel in pain, if you feel like you've hit a wall.

I'm telling you now, that you will heal, even if you can't see a door, you will learn to climb.

Life is hard, no one is going to give you everything you've ever wanted.

You will have to work for what you want, you'll have to fight to make the world a peaceful place.

You'll have to fight for the things you love, for the things that bring passion to your world.

When you do, you'll feel truly alive.

Happy ever after doesn't exist, because life goes on.

I'm choosing to live, to not just exist.

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I don't know the girl looking at me in the mirror today, but I want to.

I want her to experience life, because when I look at photos of times gone by, I can still see that hope twinkling in her eye.

I've always been on the edge of everything, a little eccentric, a little different to the girls my age, the girls in my class, the people in my house, the people I work with, work for.

I was never willing to accept things as they appeared to be.

I'm not willing to live the life I've been pretending to live.

The life I'm told I should want to live.

Because the truth is

it just doesn't feel like me.

I've been feeling immense amounts of pressure to become a person who's settled, who's got everything figured, with a plan, with a family, with a house.

Who has this perfectly scheduled routine of work, gym, social, personal life all measured in equal parts.

Except as much as I craved 'normal' from my wildchild mummabear as a kid; I am exactly her.

I'm kooky as hell & I want to stop pretending that I fit in with everything.

Life will take me high & low, while I might not always be ok, I know I will fight back.

I live in a world where anything & everything is possible.

I want to start sharing that beauty, living that life.

I'm have an adventurers heart, I crave knowledge.

I'm changeable & untameable.

I'm KG

& 

I'm just about done living to convention.

The only time I have is now.

I don't know about you, but I'm ready for the next adventure, the next chapter.

Keep a weather on eye on the horizon.

LOVE & PEACE

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- Content belongs to it's respective owners -

- L I T T L E B E A R W O L F - Ⓒ KG - 2016 -

SNAPSHOT - WEST SUSSEX - ENGLAND -

L I T T L E B E A R W O L F

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T W E N T Y S I X T E E N

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S N A P S H O T

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Aloha - Ahoy

I was on a train to Brighton when I first ever saw the Market town of Arundel.

I was staring out of the window when upon the horizon appeared the most beautiful cathedral; as I was glancing toward the town to better my view of the skyline, a towering castle appeared also.

I had no idea at the time of where this town was, what it was called but I knew I had to make the journey there.

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Arundel Castle - Arundel - West Sussex - England
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With Spring finally upon us; the open road & a blank page waiting for a story, I decided today would be that day that I would climb the hill to the castle & explore the historic market town.
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As the road twists among the countryside of the Sussex downs, driving East towards Brighton; the town appears on the left.
On the hill right where I first saw it, was the ancient Castle.
I was excited to finally roam around this magical place.
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Arundel Castle has been restored (which I have to say is so wonderfully done, it's lovely to see this ancient place being preserved), though originally the medieval castle was established by Roger De Montgomery on Christmas Day (25 December) 1067.
Roger De Montgomery was the first to hold Earldom of Arundel - (graces of William The Conqueror.)
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Upon entering the grounds to the castle, you will see literally thousands of daffodils all over the banks of the castle.
The castle towers in beauty and splendor above you, my favourite part of ancient castles (ever since I was a kid) is the cross shaped windows.
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Arundel Castle - West Sussex - England

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Raven Tor living history group were at the castle today to provide spectators with demonstrations, performance & interesting facts about the history of the castle, weapons, people & fashion.

All the way from the Norman beginnings as a wood and Earth fortification to the stone castle visible today.
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Arundel Castle - The Keep 

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First up on my venture was The Keep for a combat display.

I climbed the many steps up from the entrance of the castle, practically giddy with excitement at the medieval display.

Round the narrow winding steps of the tower to The Keep.

The views from the keep across the South Downs are unspoiled and unrivaled.

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Arundel Castle - View from The Keep

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Raven Tor performed brilliant battle scenes between warriors with swords and battle shields with archers from the top of The Keep.

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Raven Tor Living History

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After the performance, the guys talked us through the weapons, the armor and the strategies of the soldiers of Medieval England.

I love a good opportunity to learn about history, especially through experiencing it. I love Archery but surprisingly today my attention was drawn towards the maces, swords and shields.

I loved learning about how these were utilized in war and how the group train to execute their performances.

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Raven Tor teaching the crowd about Maces and tactics of battle

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Probably my favourite part of the day was getting to experience the weaponry by trying it for style.

I have to say I've played a lot of Skyrim in my time and while holding the shield and sword felt perfectly empowering - I would not like to march into battle.

(Though I have decided Archery and combat are skills I'll be leveling up in the near future!)

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King Kage - Arundel Castle

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After the display and realising I may have unearthed a hidden passion, the castle remained to be explored.
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Arundel Castle

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I must recommend the castle rooms and in particular the castle bedrooms.

I've been to a number of stately homes, palaces and castles but the rooms at Arundel are perfectly splendid.

The queen visited and wrote 'The rooms are small but bright' I think that the imagery those words portray are perfect. Though I can advise that small may be a strange description as most were larger than all of my bedrooms added together.

We must remind ourselves that royal visitors would be used to a certain level of luxury.

While we're on the topic of royalty there are a number of paintings in the castle that took my attention, but perhaps even more inspiring were the photographs of the Queen herself. 

I've always admired the queens style but seeing images of her when she was younger I realised how beautiful a woman she is.

Rich velvet robes, beautifully carved furniture & Eastern pieces decorate the richly colored, exquisitely kept rooms.

The library deserves special mention - enough leather bound books to keep you entertained for life. I can only dream of creating a library of such stature or of ever reading those books.

The books were kept in beautiful cases surrounded by rich drapes & interesting treasures.

I would have loved to have shown you images but there are strict rules against photography & video inside the castle rooms.

I can understand why and for once actually it was great to wander round a place without any desire to look for the angle of the perfect shot.

Besides the rooms are perfectly beautiful and I hope you'll be inspired enough to go and explore the rooms for yourself.

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Fitzalan Chapel

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The castle was damaged during the Civil War. The castle was remodeled & restored during the 18th and 19th centuries.

The castle has served as a home since the 11th century to the family of the Duke of Norfolk.

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The gardens are exquisite, I love the different flowers, the landscaped space provides a serene space for wandering the grounds of the castle. I would certainly recommend the Collector Earl's Garden, The Stumpery & The Fitzalan Chapel.
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Castle Gardens

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Castle Gardens

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Lunch was a huge slice of salted caramel cake and a latte - tasty to say the least.

The restaurant provide a lovely menu of hot dishes and cakes.

If you pay the gift aid upon entry you will even receive a discount to use in the restaurant or gift shop.

Talking of gift shops, the store at the castle has all manner of gifts, books, tapestries (in particular the tapestries), shields, armor and swords - of which I may have purchased (you're never too old for wooden swords!)

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Arundel Castle

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I loved exploring Arundel Castle, the gardens were spectacular. the rooms were perfect. The keep and castle were magnificent & the Raven Tor history group were wonderful.
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Garden Wildflowers

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I loved learning about the history of the castle, the families & the artifacts held inside.

I highly recommend a day trip - why not check out the official castle site, their social pages & remember those Gold Plus tickets are worth the extra pennies.

Don't worry if you missed the living history as in May there is the 'Castle Under Seige' an event I'll be sure not to miss.
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Raven Tor History Group

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Arundel Castle

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Pop back soon for more adventures.

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Love & Peace

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- Content belongs to it's respective owners -

- L I T T L E B E A R W O L F - KG Ⓒ 2016 -