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Shawn Mercy Quantum

@smq.codes
1K followers 216 following 3K posts

Programmer, progressive, aspiring antifascist. (he/him/any) Cishet white dude of a certiain age but I try not to be an ass about it Using "lame" disparagingly is ableist.

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Shawn Mercy Quantum @smq.codes · 16h
If you see this, post a vampire that isn't Dracula.
Geraint Wyn Davies as Detective Nick Knight from the Canadian TV series Forever Knight
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Shawn Mercy Quantum @smq.codes · 24/09/2026
hashtag goals
A mid-90s Buick Roadmaster wagon, white with faux wood grain paneling, parked in an an active lot implying it's still being driven
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Shawn Mercy Quantum @smq.codes · 10/09/2026
rp with your home river
Downtown Grand Rapids, MI as viewed across the Grand River from over Ah-Nab-Awen Park.

The park is in the foreground with paths winding through greenspaces. The river is in the midground with the Pearl Street Bridge and two pedestrian bridges visible. In the background are the Amway Grand, J.W. Marriott, and Courtyard by Marriot hotels rising over the shorter downtown buildings, with the sun rising over the medical mile at the left of the frame. The sky is light blue with high grey and pink early morning clouds.

Photo credit Craig Rinzema / Shutterstock.com
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Shawn Mercy Quantum @smq.codes · 09/09/2026
You say that, but I printed 60 or so of these enclosures for work using a 3D Chameleon "universal" color changer hooked up to an Ender 3. I had to write g-code from scratch to handle the color changes and still set an alarm to babysit the critical ones. It got the job done, but....
A plastic 3D-printed electronics enclosure in blue with white text and gray highlights.
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Shawn Mercy Quantum @smq.codes · 03/09/2026
A sculpture of said Crorb on a wooden base against a white background.
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Shawn Mercy Quantum @smq.codes · 01/09/2026
What a hansome one! Our tuxedo boy is named Oreo. Names that reference black & white, classy or sharp dressing, or (esp. British) high society are all traditional.
A tuxedo cat sits tall on a light blue table runner next to a blue-and-white ceramic cream serving cup.
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Shawn Mercy Quantum @smq.codes · 08/08/2026
Caught a gang of thieves in the act this morning. Enjoy your moldy bread, trash panda family.
A large raccoon eyeing the organicycle bin on.ky back porchThe raccoon in the bin, her back feet hanging on to the lip and her tail sticking out under the edge 9f the lidThe raccoon emerging from the bin, a piece of moldy white bread in her mouthThe large raccoon, along with two smaller ones--presumably her nearly-grown children--enjoying their pilfered bread on the porxh railing
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Shawn Mercy Quantum @smq.codes · 04/07/2026
Parade time!
A yellow 1973 Corvette convertible decorated with a few American flags and bunting. Painted on the windshield are the number 250 in red, white and blue, and the words "with liberty and justice for all" in blocky capitals. The word "all" is bolded and underlined. A child sits in the passenger seat and another on the back deck lid. The picture is taken from the driver's side front.A yellow 1973 Corvette convertible decorated with a few American flags and bunting. The driver's door is partway open. A child is barely gisible in the passenger seat and another sits on the back deck lid. The picture is taken from the driver's side rear.
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Shawn Mercy Quantum @smq.codes · 04/07/2026
Big foamy club I'm gonna keep on whacking with my Big foamy club Big foamy club
Woman in a pink skirt holding a 6' long foam bat
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Shawn Mercy Quantum @smq.codes · 21/06/2026
Hmm. Is that actually a miss at mid throttle I'm hearing? Or maybe a small exhaust leak? Or maybe just the way a 50-year-old small block with dual exhaust normally sounds? Better stare at it some more.
The engine bay of my '73 Stingray. You can see the chrome air cleaner, a valve cover, the alternator, the brake reservoir (no power anything, not even brakes) and the cooling fan, along with various hoses and wires. The car is bright yellow (still the original paint!) and the hood hinges at the front rather than at the windshield.
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Shawn Mercy Quantum @smq.codes · 07/06/2026
Chat. I've finished my 40oz beer and the baseball game hasn't even started yet: am I doomed?
An empty large plastic beer glass with a crushed orange slice at the bottom. In the background is the field of LMCU ballpark.
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Shawn Mercy Quantum @smq.codes · 25/05/2026
It only goes to 1990 though.
A Commodore 128 system set up on a card table
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Shawn Mercy Quantum @smq.codes · 25/05/2026
It's Alive!
A Commodore 128 home computer with two 1571 disk drives, a 1084S CRT monitor, and two joysticks sits on a card table in the sun in front of windows trimmed in dark wood. On the screen is the green and gray boot screen and one line of BASIC:

PRINT 'IT'S ALIVE!"

followed by the text IT'S ALIVE! and a READY. prompt.
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Shawn Mercy Quantum @smq.codes · 25/05/2026
With my boys home from school in a week and at loose ends all day, I'm offering them a time machine back to 1990. Games count as screen time; BASIC doesn't 🙂
A Commodore 128 computer and 1571 disk drive in original boxes. Next to them is a Commodore 1084S CRT monitor sitting on a pink plastic bin full of accessories. These are all on a card table, next to which is a box full of 5.25" floppy disks.
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Shawn Mercy Quantum @smq.codes · 22/05/2026
Ooh, look what just showed up on my doorstep thanks to @greenroninpub.bsky.social 's collab with @nkjemisin.bsky.social !
The front cover of a book titled "Fifth Season: Roleplaying in the Stillness"

The cover is patterned as white marble with a wide stripe of black marble running vertically down the middle. In the center is a large gold foil crystal (obelisk?). Over that is the title in white text along with the game's symbol: a ten-way pattern of overlapping circles within a single large circle resembling a rose window.

In the background above the book my computer keyboard is visible with its green underlighting, along with some odds and ends in my desk. Below the book my jean-covered legs can be seen. My left hand is holding the book by the spine.
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Shawn Mercy Quantum @smq.codes · 15/05/2026
I think we might have the same cat
A tuxedo cat sits handsomely on a diningroom table.
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Shawn Mercy Quantum @smq.codes · 13/05/2026
I've said things in person but maybe not on here, so let me correct that now: This language targeting trans people and their supporters is dehumanizing, fascist, and unacceptable. I stand proudly with my trans siblings and if that makes me a terrorist in the eyes of this government so be it.
Excerpt from the Whitehouse counterterrorism plan. While made to look like a single page the two paragraphsare from different places in the document. The first reads:

In addition to cartels and Islamist terror groups, our national CT activities will also prioritize the rapid identification and neutralization of violent secular political groups whose ideology is anti-American, radically pro-transgender, and anarchist. We will use all the tools constitutionally available to us to map them at home, identify their membership, map their ties to international organizations like Antifa, and use law enforcement tools to cripple them operationally before they can maim or kill the innocent. We will do the same with the state sponsors of such groups and those governments undertaking lethal plots on U.S. soil or against Americans anywhere.

And the second reads:

Our new U.S. Counterterrorism Strategy is a return to common sense and Peace through Strength. As I said after our first successful counterterrorism mission, just days after I was sworn back in office – if you hurt Americans, or are planning to hurt Americans, "We Will Find You and We Will Kill You."

[Trump's signature]

President Donald J. Trump
The White House
May 2026

The person creating the image has highlighted the compound word "pro-transgender" and the phrase "We Will Find You and We Will Kill You" in yellow.
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Shawn Mercy Quantum @smq.codes · 06/05/2026
Forgive my crude drawing. Couple short lengths of 4x4. Chain of appropriate working load. Screw the chain in place so it doesn't slip off the ends. Attach the bottom 4x4 firmly to a surface (so that operating the jack doesn't torque the assembly apart.) Stand off the the side in case of failure.
Crude MS Paint drawing of two 4x4s chained together with a bottle jack between them
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Shawn Mercy Quantum @smq.codes · 28/04/2026
Without downloading anything new, where are you mentally?
A rusty and moss-covered robot with a tiny head and giant shoulders stands in a forest glade with sunbeams slanting from right to left.
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Shawn Mercy Quantum @smq.codes · 19/04/2026
Queens, your buildings are less tall.
A street view in Queens, NYC while waiting to catch a bus to LaGuardia Airport. A low tan.builfing across the street houses a bakery and an income tax preparer. The other visible buildings are only darker brown and four or five stories tall. An elevated train.track painted dark green is visible on the left
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Shawn Mercy Quantum @smq.codes · 19/04/2026
Goodbye for now, Manhattan; I've enjoyed your parks and tall buildings! (Especially now that the sun is making an appearance. )
A low-angle shot of the fountain in Bryant Park with two glass-clad skyscrapers in the background against a blue sky with streaky white clouds.
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Shawn Mercy Quantum @smq.codes · 19/04/2026
The most fancy-ass Home Depot you'll ever see. (23rd between 5th Ave. and the Avenue of the Americas)
A Home Depot store in a five-story building with a neoclassical facade pictured from across 23rd Street
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Shawn Mercy Quantum @smq.codes · 19/04/2026
Lego Store! Lego McLaren F1 car! This store is much larger than the one in the mall back home and has better prices, especially on big kits!
The interior of The Lego Store in Manhattan. The Lego logo (made from Lego bricks) is on the right. In the background is the pick & pack wall and a selection of kits from US history. Various shoppers go about their business. An assembled Lego McLaren F1 car model, about 2 feet (60cm) long in a plexiglass display case atop a yellow shelf holding the boxed kits
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Shawn Mercy Quantum @smq.codes · 19/04/2026
Looking uptown from the Flatiron building. Nothing specific in the shot I just liked the feel of it.
A Manhattan street view looking north up 5th Avenue from 24th St. A large tan building (which incidentally houses the Lego Store) is on the left while various towers can be seen on the right and in the background.  If you look closely you can see part of the Empire State Building peeking out from behind a mirrored tower just left of center. The street is wet and the sky has a mix of white and gray clouds with a few spots of blue in between.
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Shawn Mercy Quantum @smq.codes · 19/04/2026
Proof that I met @alepresser.com ! (I also met @kbspangler.com who.is just out of frame to the left, but she prefers not to be tagged in photos so y'all will just have to catch her yourselves sometime.)
A quick selfie of me and Ale. She is on the left in a gray sweater holding up her right hand in a peace sign. I am on the right in a blue shirt with my pfp button and name tag.
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Shawn Mercy Quantum @smq.codes · 19/04/2026
I haven't been to NYC since the September 11 attacks, and was only here a few times before, but that was still enough to find this view from Washington Square Park ... disquieting.
A view south down Thompson St. from the south side of Washington Square Park in NYC. Brown buildings line the street in the midground, with parked cars down the sides and a few pedestrians about. In the distance the top and spire of the "new" One World Trade Center building can be seen. In the close foreground a pigeon picks through the fallen cherry blossoms.
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Shawn Mercy Quantum @smq.codes · 19/04/2026
Manhattan i am in you this grey and slightly-drizzly morning! Now to kill a few hours before the main event.
Looking east down 17th St in Manhattan toward 5th Ave. Brown 7-to-10-storey buildings line the street, fading to an overcast sky in the distance.Me, a 50-ish white guy with a full salt-and-pepper beard, receeding hairline, and glasses with a correction strong enough you can see past my head through the lenses. I'm wearing a medium-blue button down shirt and a dark charcoal spring jacket. Behind me is the Books of Wonder shop sign--reversed because of selfie mode--and the grill of the currently-closed store.
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Shawn Mercy Quantum @smq.codes · 19/04/2026
New York I am in you!
A subway platform at Roosevelt & 74th in Queens. An overhead sign displays information about arriving trains. Various passengers stand around waiting and looking at their phones.
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Shawn Mercy Quantum @smq.codes · 16/04/2026
The BACK SIDE
A "Battery Daddy" battery caddy sitting on the counter between my kitchen and dining room with 33 double-A size batteries filling the back side a bit over half full.
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Shawn Mercy Quantum @smq.codes · 08/04/2026
@genuscorvidae.bsky.social met some handsome friends of yours in Great Smokey Mountain National Park today! This fellow came up to see if we had any treats before heading off to his lookout tree.
A crown perched on top of a mostly-bare tree with mountains receeding into the background
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Shawn Mercy Quantum @smq.codes · 03/04/2026
In the wild at my local indie, in a "featured" top shelf spot with the full cover displayed! @alepresser.com @kbspangler.com
Several copies of Ale and K.B.'s Sidequested on a bookstore shelf
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Shawn Mercy Quantum @smq.codes · 03/04/2026
Seen in the wild on the new and interesting table right when you walk in the door of my local indie! @tkingfisher.com
A stack of T. Kingfisher Wolf Worm books among other books on a wood table
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Shawn Mercy Quantum @smq.codes · 28/03/2026
I am so weary of leaders who think bullying is strength, that liberty is the freedom to abuse others, that diversity is weakness, that compassion is for loosers. I HATE it. No king. No ICE. No war.
A picture of the sign I carried at today's No Kings march: a 24" x 36' white cardboard poster attached to a 1x2 handle. The poster is in portrait orientation with three sections. The top section says NO KING with a crown in a red circle with a slash through it. The middle section has an ice cube in a red circle/slash and says NO ICE. The bottom section says NO WAR and has a drawing of a rocket-shaped bomb in a red circle and slash.
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Shawn Mercy Quantum @smq.codes · 27/03/2026
Getting ready!
A protest sign in progress leaning against a dining table. The sign reads;

NO KING
NO ICE
NO WAR

In black text with pictures of a crown, an ice cube, and a falling bomb each surrounded by a red circle with a slash through it.
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Shawn Mercy Quantum @smq.codes · 27/03/2026
TFW you stare into the sink so long that the sink stares back
A black cat with white toes perched on a light brown laminate countertop staring intently into an empty stainless steel kitchen sinkA black cat with white toes perched on a light brown laminate countertop staring intently into an empty stainless steel kitchen sink, this time from the other sideA black cat with white toes perched on a light brown laminate countertop still staring intently into an empty stainless steel kitchen sinkThe same black cat with white toes, the same empty stainless steel sink, the same intent stare, this time from a slightly different angle. A green glass jar and a drying rack are visible in the background
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Shawn Mercy Quantum @smq.codes · 19/03/2026
Half of a shredded chicken wet burrito from the little authentic Mexican place around the corner from me! Much yum!
Half of a burrito covered in red sauce in a black plastic takeout container
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Shawn Mercy Quantum @smq.codes · 17/03/2026
And there it is, all spot-glossy and everything! @kbspangler.com @alepresser.com
The cover of K.B. and Ale's graphic novel SideQuested (Book 1) looking nice and shiny against the delivery bag from my local independent bookstore Schuler Books.
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Shawn Mercy Quantum @smq.codes · 16/03/2026
Four-panel Anikin/Padme meme:
1) Anikin: We're making a Firefly cartoon with all the original actors
2) Padme: All the original actors except Adam Baldwin, right?
3) Anikin: ...
4) Padme: Except Adam Baldwin, right?
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Shawn Mercy Quantum @smq.codes · 19/02/2026
If you see this post, yay! Pronouns: he/him Height: 6' Shoe: 10.5W Zodiac: Aquarius but I had to look it up. Smoke: nope Tattoos: maybe some day Piercings: nah Fav drink: Cherry Coke Zero I really am vanilla as shit aren't i. 😆
Me, right now, in a car waiting in line for an oil change. I'm a veardedbwhite dude with a salt & pepper beard, mustache, and receeding hairline wearing a black & gray flannel over a gray t shirt. The correction on my glasses is strong enough it visibly squishes my eyes together and you can see past my face through the lenses.Me again, behind a black cat with white whiskers. There are books in the background. Me wearing a black t-shirt with one of Mox's elephants overdrawn 3 times in trans flag colors. I'm standing in a beige room with dark woodwork and leaded glass windows.Me, smiling, wearing a light gray t-shirt. There are leaded glass windows with dark wood frames in the background along with some led displays and a colorful "stack" light like you might see on a self checkout station or other automation equipment.
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Shawn Mercy Quantum @smq.codes · 05/02/2026
Oreo says: "no stress, only cat."
Me, peeking out from behind the black-and-white cat who has positioned himself pointedly between my face and the work I had been doing moments prior
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Shawn Mercy Quantum @smq.codes · 01/02/2026
A Facebook post by Writing About Writing which is itself a screenshot of two posts from another social media site.

In the first, user hamlet-trash writes "the moral of hamlet is don't ever try to go home and resolve conflicts with yr family just stay at college and do gay shit w ur friends"

User legoloveletters replies: "As an English teacher I am qualified to tell you this analysis is insightful and may be supported fully with textual evidence."

The post is tagged #hamlet #shakespeare and has 399,740 notes.
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Shawn Mercy Quantum @smq.codes · 22/12/2025
Oreo is absolutely obsessed with this condensate pump. Every time I go to the basement he follows me down then goes and stares back and forth between it and me as if to say "do you see this thing?!" 🤣
A tuxedo cat sitting up on a concrete floor. He is between a water heater and a furnace, staring pointedly at a medium-sized black and white plastic box with tubes, pipes, and wires running into and out of it.
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Shawn Mercy Quantum @smq.codes · 14/12/2025
A rebuilt red Shelby GT500 Mustang on a gravel lot against a desert setting with the light of sunset streaming in from just to the right of frame
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Shawn Mercy Quantum @smq.codes · 05/12/2025
An infographic titled "IS MY NEIGHBOR A RIGHT-WING EXTREMIST? A non-comprehensive guide to suspicious flags". It contains 16 flags in four categories. I'm afraid it would take me several thousand words to describe each flag but I'll at least list them so you can look them up if you want.

Category 1, ALL BUT CERTAINLY

British Movement, Neo-Nazi group.

Kekistan, Alt-right meme.

Category 2, LIKELY:

(White crosshairs on black) Celtic Cross: Often a white power symbol.

German Empire war ensign: Appropriated by Nazis

US No Quarter: Wartime threat.

US Civil Peace: Pseudo historical.

Category 3, TOSSUP:

Knights Templar: History buff or fascist?

Vinland: Band flag stolen by racists.

Category 4: UNLIKELY

American Iron Front: Anti-Fascist group.

Christianity: Interdenominational.

Eintracht Frankfurt: Football club in Germany.

First Galactic Empire: From Star Wars.

Clan Keldau: From The Mandelorian.

Tampa Bay Lightning: Hockey team in Florida, USA

United Farm Workers: Labor union in the US

Vasco da Gama: Football club in Brasil.
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Shawn Mercy Quantum @smq.codes · 08/11/2025
Red Creatures whose name begins with the word "Goblin" (Sorting MtG cards)
A stack of Magic the Gathering cards several hundred tall sitting on a countertop. The top card: Goblin Swine-Rider is maybe just possible to make out due to the perspective.
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Shawn Mercy Quantum @smq.codes · 07/11/2025
"I saw someone call generative AI a Thneed. [...] It's a PERFECT analogy. The Thneed was an all-purpose tool that didn't do anything really useful. It was a fad that did major damage to the environment to make the Onceler a billionaire. It left no real lasting impact, only damage." --BrainsandSpoons
An illustration from Dr. Seuss's The Lorax: The Lorax stands outside a shadowed doorway, one hand raised pointing at the sky, declaiming. Inside, in the foreground, a pair of green arms holds a bright pink fuzzy Thneed--an oddly shaped somewhat amorphous branching tube of fabric about half the size of a person that doesn't look useful as a garment, blanket, towel, or anything else really.

The image has the text of this post above it, and a watermark from Facebook user BrainsandSpoons in the lower left corner.
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Shawn Mercy Quantum @smq.codes · 21/10/2025
For those who need to learn the difference: These are harmless pirate fun This is Nazi shit ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓
An array of jolly rogers featuring skulls and crossed bones or swordsThe German 3rd Panser Division Totenkopf: a skull in partial profile with the ends of two femurs protruding from behind
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Shawn Mercy Quantum @smq.codes · 18/10/2025
Didn't find time to make a sign this week, so my 2020 @warren.senate.gov presidential campaign shirt it is! #NoKings
Me, a 50-year-old bearded white dude with glasses, wearing a dark blue tee shirt that says "Warren has a plan for that" in capital white and light teal letters.
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Shawn Mercy Quantum @smq.codes · 07/10/2025
Oh no! Here have 14 seconds of a cat washing her face
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Shawn Mercy Quantum @smq.codes · 04/10/2025
Further upside-downness has ensued.
A tabby cat, now laying mostly on her back, paws in the air and white belly to the sky
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