#not saying too much here By My Standards but i'm just in the [post editing all this together] efforts lol like shrug well here it is

[sunshine-jesse]

Control: The Strange Dynamics of Andy and Leyley or

The Incest End Is Not The Fucking Bad End, Stop Coping

EDIT:

Hey guys! This post is blowing the fuck up, but this was my first essay on this game, and I think I've had many more insightful things to say since then. Here's a link to a masterpost with all of my essays, which I'd definitely suggest reading after this one:

Anyways, without further adieu...

I heard a lot about this game going in. I knew the general story beats and the funny haha incest memes. I knew it was about a toxic codependent relationship where Ashley, the sister, acted like your standard overly-controlling person who used various abuse techniques to keep someone in line. I expected Ashley to be a yandere-type character where she was borderline psychotic, irrational, and had a skewed perception of reality. I expected her to be a crazy bitch, and I love me some crazy bitches.

But then I actually played through the game. ...That is not what I got.

The game advertises Andrew as a doormat extraordinaire who is strung along by his Very Not Good sister and has no agency of his own' that he's just a henpecked abuse victim. But in practice, that doesn't seem to be the case. One of their first exchanges that in the story is when the occultist played his music and Ashley wanted them to check it out. He says 'no', sure, but then he smirks and says 'but I'll come along if you do.'

That is not the dialogue of someone who has no will of their own, that's the dialogue of someone who willingly gives up their own agency.

This is not, on its own, a sign of anything out of the ordinary. What caught my attention with it, though, is how it flew in the face of the common narrative surrounding their relationship dynamic. But that's not the first time I noticed it, it's just the first time, in retrospect, that their actual dynamic begins to show. The first time I personally noticed it is in the choking scene.

There are a lot of ways to view this situation. But my own reading? This was not a crime of passion. This was not him trying to break free. This is him doing something he's thought about for a while. This is premeditated. In this scene, Andrew is done playing along with Ashley's shit. In this scene, I firmly believe Ashley is the victim.

Ashley is the more openly abusive of the two who seeks to do whatever she can to trap Andrew so he'll never leave her. That much is clear. But Andrew-

-clearly has these same tendencies. He says this shortly after Ashley mentions putting her name up on a call girl's wall for money. There's protective brotherly instincts, and then there's this. This is not something you'd threaten a sister with, this is something that a man would threaten his wife with, which is directly brought attention to in the story.

(hey look he accepts the framing of it being WIFE beating at face value, and says Ashley is the only one who makes him like that! HMMMMMMMMMM WONDER WHAT THAT IMPLIES???)

It also implies that this is not the first time physical force has been threatened! I mean, that much is obvious, because of the choking scene that happened before, but I more mean that this implies that Andrew either threatening or utilizing physical force is an established pattern of behavior. However, the Decay route implies that she never thought Andy would kill her (but Andrew would) which can either be for or against depending on one's perspective, so I don't hold to the idea that it's an established pattern too strongly.

Okay, so. Andrew has some controlling and possessive tendencies too. So what? Their relationship is codependent. It's advertised as such. What of it?

Well first of all, it pretty much blows the lid off of the idea that Ashley is the sole perpetrator of abuse in their relationship. I've seen a lot of people view Andrew's behavior as justified retaliation against abuse, but frankly, I don't believe that him threatening to strangle Ashley for violating boundaries by trying to hold him accountable for his actions (given the strangulation part happens after she brought up Nina's death and how Andrew was ultimately responsible) is justified. And I ESPECIALLY don't believe that him threatening to backhand Ashley for her transactional attitude towards sex is justified in ANY circumstance.

EDIT: This part was edited in from the original post for the sake of readability so they don't have to see the reblogs to see the updated version! This post gained more traction than I was expecting!

…But perhaps even more telling is what she DOESN'T do.

Pushing someone's boundaries until they lash out is a pretty common tactic in abusive relationships. It's easy to see why, too: It justifies prior behavior and paints them in a negative light to others. This can be an important aspect of using DARVO (deny, attack, and reverse victim and offender) against someone, although the two ideas aren't necessarily linked.

It's pretty easy to argue that this is what Ashley does, but if you look at the one time her boundary pushing DID go too far, when Andrew lashes out with physical violence… she doesn't do that. She doesn't blame him. She doesn't paint herself as the victim. She doesn't even try to give a reason as to why she shouldn't be killed outside of the comfort she gives him. Why is this notable?

Because the mom does, in fact, engage in what could be considered DARVO against Ashley:

(i will elaborate more on this screenshot in particular below)

Ashley is directly compared to Mrs. Graves by Andrew, and yet she crucially displays none of the habits that Mrs. Graves does. Mrs. Graves lays the blame on Ashley, but Ashley doesn't lay the blame on Andrew. Mrs. Graves tends to paint herself as the victim of Ashley, but Ashley does no such thing to Andrew. The mom denies her culpability at every turn; Ashley doesn't. Ashley tries to hold Andrew accountable for his role in Nina's death, which could be considered a kind of DARVO. But she never denies that she had a role to play in it. She just mentions that he was the one who pulled the trigger. And he was.

(and the point was more that she DIDN'T engage in it when threatened with physical violence; the perfect chance to)

In Mrs. Graves' mind, she is the victim of either Ashley, or society as a whole. In Ashley's mind, she knows what she is, what she does, and what she's about. The only thing she's oblivious to- or doesn't acknowledge, at least- is the threat Andrew poses to her. In her mind, she's the bad guy. In Andrew's mind, Ashley is the bad guy. In official art, she is the bad guy:

And yet, in the game itself, Andrew is the one holding the cleaver. Not her. Hm.

Ashley is the world's most convenient scapegoat. She allows people to mask their own worst habits and pretend they're better people than they are. She accepts this role. She embraces it. She doesn't try to deny it. But when that mask slips, people lash out at her. Both Mrs. Graves and Andy (NOT Andrew, crucially) predicate much of their self-perception on being what she's not.

But they're the ones who enabled her to become like this, every step of the way.

And that's what blew my fucking mind, and made me question just who the victim really is. She was never given a chance to be normal, because other people relied on her NOT being normal.

By the end of my second playthrough, I felt worse for Ashley than I did for Andrew, and I still do.

So. What am I getting at? What does this show me about the relationship between Ashley and Andrew?

(I also wanted to point out that Andrew does engage in DARVO too but I didn't want to distract from the behavior of the mother. Unlike what Andrew does, it doesn't require someone to reassess the narrative they have towards the game in order to realize the implications of it, whereas it's pretty easy to justify Andrew's words as not qualifying as DARVO if you buy into the narrative that he's the sole victim and/or that Ashley is the main perpetrator of abuse. A friend of mine pointed out that it's a pretty key part of the push/pull dynamic they have, and I completely agree.

However, the direct comparisons to the behavior of the mother can't be ignored no matter your narrative, so I felt as if I needed to highlight that more.)

EDIT OVER

It shows me that their relationship is all about control.

Specifically, the push and pull of who controls who in any given situation.

Andrew weaponizes his incompetence. He always looks to lay the blame on Ashley. This is drawn attention to several times, and said explicitly in the Decay route.

He is always surrendering control to her, and yet he never HAS to. He could always just say no. He could always refuse. What are the consequences? Her being upset? Well, unfortunately, it's not that easy. That's not how abuse dynamics work. He probably feels like he has to, or rather, feels like there's no other option. That he's in too deep, and stuck with her no matter what. But personally, I think it's pretty clear from his willingness to surrender control to Ashley that he still feels like he has it at points, because the moment he feels like he's about to lose it, he either considers violence, even as a child-

(the actual scene of slicing her finger is pretty sus too with this reading in mind)

-or resorts to it, outright, in both the choking scene and the vision in the Decay ending... when Ashley doesn't have enough bullets to defend herself (this will be important later!).

SO WHAT POINT AM I TRYING TO MAKE??? AM I JUST MAKING ABUSE APOLOGIA (the answer may surprise you)?

No. I don't think so.

Ashley is obviously very bad. She's controlling and uses pretty textbook abuse and entrapment tactics on Andrew whereas everything he does to her is inference, with Ashley too daft to realize just how much danger she's in until the vision in the Decay ending spells it out for her- and I don't know if a true abuse dynamic allows for one to be completely unaware of the consequences of breaking free. She could just let go of her desire for control and Andrew would be a much happier person.

And that's the point, because so would she.

I bring up control because that push and pull- that desire for control over each other- is exactly what's tearing their relationship apart, and this effect most obviously manifests in the two endings of episode 2. In the Decay ending, Ashley either tries to exert control over Andrew due to a lack of trust, or Andrew allows his feelings of entrapment to truly take root in his mind and guide his actions. In the Decay ending, Andrew becomes a true doormat with no will of his own, allowing his feelings of bitterness and resentment to fester and grow, eventually resulting in their deaths.

In the Burial ending, Andrew does the exact opposite. He takes control of the situation and does exactly what Ashley would do without much of a fuss. This eventually culminates in THAT scene (assuming you take the Questionable route), where his facial expression alone speaks volumes:

Look at how fucking confident this man is. This is not the face of someone who's unsure of himself; this is the face of someone who knows exactly what he wants and takes it. He is absolutely in control of this situation, and everyone is happier for it.

And what does Ashley have to do to get this ending?

Let's go back to Decay for a moment. If Ashley has bullets in her gun, she has control over the situation. She, at any point, could put an end to Andrew and survive. And yet, at the very end of it all, she could choose not to. She could choose to surrender control to Andrew, allowing herself to die. And that ending, I believe so much of his life and willpower will have decayed that there's nothing left for him to take control of, leaving him no choice- or rather, no use for the control he now has- but to die with her.

And in the Burial ending, she has to let him out of his cage before it's too late. She has to surrender control to him, and when she does-

-He will become everything she ever needed him to be.

It's all about her surrendering control, and it's all about him taking control. Because, no matter what, as long as that happens... the two of them will be together forever.

In life...

...or in death.

How romantic.

So no, the incest end is not the fucking bad end. They're going to be together forever in the end either way, so they might as well live through it.

#gaming #the coffin of andy and leyley #gravecest #ashley graves #andrew graves #someone help me i can't stop thinking about this fucking game

[callsignfate]

HELLO HELLO! Happy New Year! From 1 to 10, how would you rate 2023? (10 being the BEST YEAR OF YOUR LIFE and 1 being the worst year)

It's not my first time reading your work (which is amazing), but it's my first time making a request in your blog. I don't see one of those posts with the rules and boundaries to make a request soooo I hope this isn't disrespecting any of your rules.

Valeria Garza could have any woman she wants by her side. But not her personal assistant (reader). Reader always kindly reject valeria every time she invites her on a date or for a drink. Valeria never understand why but respect her decision.

One day valeria finds out reader is a single mother!!

Reader rejects valeria not because she's not interested but because she thinks when valeria finds out she has a kid, she would change her mind.

Take your time and take care 🫶

Valeria x Single mother

A/N: This is lightly edited as most posts might be for a bit, I'm just finishing all the drafts I left hanging and editing them as much as I can for the night. Thank you Anon for this idea and I have some fluff one-shots for this idea I might post as well. As for my 2023, it was rough so I would say 2 or 3 for most of it but it did have some nice times. Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy!

TW: Mentions torture and hints to murder, child is gn! but referred to as beautiful.

Loving a woman who runs Las Almas would be a mistake, a huge mistake you always told yourself. Moving here to Las Almas to get away from the man who threatened everything you loved was one thing but to fall in love with a woman who was more dangerous than him was something you cursed at yourself for even thinking about it mentally every day.

The day you caved and took her offer to become some sort of secretary was one that you wish you could regret, but you often didn’t. The pay was great, giving you the chance to give you and your child something you dreamed of the day you had them. Stability. All you did was show people to her office and answer calls that weren’t the dangerous kind. Sometimes you’d keep track of whatever accounts she trusted you with and make sure nothing was coming in or out unexpectedly, easy enough.

You worked efficiently while you thought of the thing that usually plagued your mind, why you? She must have had hundreds of not thousands of people at her disposal, so why you? You didn’t let yourself think too deeply about it as the fear of losing the comfortable life you had made for you and your child over the now two years you worked for her.

You rarely missed days, only taking a few when your kid was sick or needed you, often saying instead that you were sick, she didn’t question it and never told you off for taking a day or two, only eyeing you slightly when you arrived back.

Valeria was always impressed with your work, she didn’t at first need a secretary, rather using it as an excuse to get closer to the woman who ran through her thoughts often when she first heard of a beautiful outsider's arrival to Las Almas, nothing came up that made her worry, and the few things she trusted you with at first always stayed in her inner circle so you were trustworthy, even if the things she told you at first were false, tests to see if the info would end up anywhere else.

As the months went on things got more comfortable, as she hoped they would. Hoping her little flirtatious comments would get through, they did most of the time, not that you weren’t quick to offer a small smile but quickly get back to the point of the conversation. The gifts she gave were met with endless thank you’s and a small smile before she'd find the items worth of money back into one of her accounts soon after.

Valeria was getting slightly impatient and confused, She could have anyone she wanted as most were at her feet, willing to receive gifts of her wealth that she rarely personally used on anything but well-made clothes or the standard needs for herself. Why weren’t you cracking? Why were you evading her efforts so well? Why were you so unwilling to take a gift, other than a holiday bonus? Many others have asked for this and tried to get close to El Sin Nombre for the same treatment you received.

The weekend rolled around again and like always she walked by your empty desk where you had always left a reminder sticky note for her, something that needed to be done over the weekend when you couldn't remind her yourself. She huffed and kept walking, taking a stroll through the streets of her empire for something to do wasn’t the worst idea, you told her many times to try it, and this once she did.

At first, Valeria walked with her men trailing her far back, looking as if they were too just strolling the bustling streets in the crowds. The store windows and many street vendors had nothing she could think of getting you that you wouldn’t return or pay her back for anyway. Valeria’s eyes scanned the street, and the people, many times over, until she spotted you being pulled around by a child who looked strikingly similar to you, you had an exhausted smile as you followed the kid seemingly pulling your arm off as you nodded and watched as the kid pointed to some toy a vendor was selling, she walked through the small crowds as she got closer to hear you talking, you were asking if they were sure if that's what they wanted, the kid nodded quickly, your back was to her but she could already tell that was you, and that was your child that held on tightly to your clothes with a tight fist, anxiously.

Before you could get out the money for the toy Valeria already paid for it, you looked over to her with a smile that fell into shock, the one secret you had desperately held on to, the one thing you had feared her finding out was now indisputable, there was nothing you could say to sway her otherwise. You stood there frozen before clearing your throat and trying to think of something, anything to say.

“Thank.. You.” You finally mumbled out before you looked down to see the toy already in their hands as they moved it around in the air, some dragon toy they had asked for many times, a toy they had only seen a few times because you didn’t want Valeria’s men to see you and possibly report back to her, you were so careful, your head felt like it was building with pressure, the soft thrumming your blood pumping through your veins filled your ears as you assumed they, like your face, were bright red.

Valeria noticed the shock and fear immediately, she wasn't a stranger to people looking at her like this, yet until now you hadn’t. You always had a polite smile and kind words to offer, even small talk when you both had the chance. Valeria was perfect at keeping her emotions hidden, yet this time she struggled to not react in any way to the fear that was so prevalent on your face that it looked like she had tied you to the chair and was getting ready to torture you.

Your mind was racing with anything to say or to do, but you felt paralyzed. She wouldn’t harm you but would she stop talking to you? Offering you small compliments and the job if she found out you were taking sick days for your child instead? You knew Valeria had a soft spot in her somewhere but were you in it?

“They’re beautiful, they look just like you,” Valeria said before offering them a piece of candy from the vendor, which she quickly paid for. Of course, they took it excitedly, with a small thank you before putting it in their mouth.

“Thank you… Again. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, I just didn’t want you to worry I wouldn’t be there or that I.. single mothers are somewhat frowned upon sometimes and I-” You rambled on filled with anxiety that felt like the world around you was louder and brighter than before.

Valeria saw this quickly, how anxious you were, how you pulled your child behind you and pressed them against you, for a moment she wished she had a mother who was willing to stand in front of someone deadly and still put themselves between it all. She offered her normal smile and a laugh, hoping to ease your worries.

“I’m not worried, I’m guessing this is why you always told me no to my many advances,” Valeria said with an amused tone, finally realizing it wasn’t that you weren’t interested, but rather you were worried she’d perceive you differently. Valeria was happy to know that her killing that man who ended up putting hits out on you and hunting you down wasn’t a terrible Idea. She could see the smallest resemblance to the father's in the child's face.

“I don’t want anyone in my life that isn't supportive or willing to help me take care of my child, they are my priority, always.” You said as the confidence slowly filled your town, the protectiveness Valeria could see in your eyes.

Before Valeria could say another word, she watched as your child begged to be picked up which you obliged, struggling to carry the bags with everything else. Valeria sighed and clicked her tongue in disagreement while shaking her head before she slid the bags off of your shoulders and tilted her head for you to lead the way to wherever else you were headed.

#valeria x reader #valeria garza x reader #valeria garza x fem!reader #mw2 valeria x reader #valeria garza x you

[for-a-longlongtime]

About shooting Triple Frontier, singing Moana songs on set, and The Hat

(disclaimer: this post includes some pap shots at the end, sorry. I'm conflicted about sharing them, even though these are really old at this point, but just given you a heads up in case you want to skip it - I've cropped them to show the hat on Oscar)

I've been meaning to make a post about this sooner, because a while ago I came across the Happy Sad Confused podcast (2019) where Oscar talks about shooting Triple Frontier - and it had some interesting things in it that weren't in the group promo for the movie. E.g. he talks about how he has videos of Pedro and Garrett singing Moana songs while holding assault rifles, "that's quite a bit of a mindfuck" (that tracks, I remember Bella talking about singing Moana songs with Pedro on the TLOU set).

About making the characters their own and bringing the story to the screen:

"There was not a ton of dialogue or backstory that you get to see about these guys. So there was an element of how do you show these people, how do you not make them anonymous? That didn't necessarily just jump out of the page. So a lot of that is trusting JC, and particularly trusting him in the edit. That's where he just, he really shines a lot - you can feel and trust that you can try a bunch of stuff. Things might not go great when you're shooting your production - the other was definitely a lot of like wrestling with ideas and things -, but in the edit, he sticks with it and he stays at it, and he is relentless."

At one point Oscar is asked about the Standard Heating Oil hat in the movie. For those of you who do not know the background story there; several years before Triple Frontier, Oscar worked with JC Chandor on a movie titled A Most Violent Year. He played Abel Morales, a Colombian born businessman who lives in Westchester, NY and owns the Standard Heating Oil company.

And we all know the hat Frankie (Morales...) wears in Triple Frontier:

Josh Horowitz from the Happy Sad Confused podcast is a real movie nerd, so he asked Oscar about it mentioning the JC Chandor Cinematic Universe. Here's what Oscar said:

"I know. That was, I gotta say, that was me, because I was like 'Can I, can I wear the Standard Hat?', and then he [JC] started thinking like 'Yeah, maybe', but then he was like 'It's too much, but Pedro can wear it'. And I was like okay, alright!"

Which brings me to my last point...

We know about those beach pics that were snapped of Oscar, Garrett, Charlie -- and then another set of them with Pedro and Tom Ben -- when they were in Hawaii to shoot Triple Frontier, right? As Oscar mentions in the interview, it seems like someone from the team [I'm assuming he means crew] ended up tipping off the paps for those photo ops.

I just randomly came across a much bigger set of those photos than I've seen before, and my heart suddenly stopped. Because...

...Oscar is wearing Frankie's hat?

Oscar is wearing FRANKIE'S STANDARD HEATING OIL HAT.

I mean.

I know it is/was Oscar's hat first, and I think it was @legendary-pink-dot who mentioned that a bunch of people on the crew had them, but as far as I can see, this was the only moment he was captured wearing it - so I love it. I'm having a moment.

If you haven't heard Oscar on Happy Sad Confused before, check out the podcast here.

tagging some folks for heads up: @sin-djarin @legendary-pink-dot @magpiepills @perotovar @romanarose @penvisions @prolix-yuy @writefightandflightclub @ezrasbirdie @astroboots @pimosworld @alltheglitterandtheroar @nerdieforpedro @wardenparker

ok my brain is asleep at this point, so consider this a tag for everybody

#triple frontier #pedro pascal #oscar isaac #garrett hedlund #charlie hunnam #Spotify

[pixiemage]

I deal with ADHD on a daily basis, meaning I struggle with multiple (frustrating) things. There's one in particular that's been on my mind the most as of late: it's difficult for me to complete large tasks easily. For me, motivation, mental energy, and time are limited, and those rare moments where it all lines up so I can get shit done are often few and far between. This applies to both things I don't want to do, and things I do want to do. Even writing or cosplay construction or editing videos can become daunting tasks even though they're all fun and enjoyable hobbies of mine.

Recently, I've been trying to clean my room.

As anyone in my immediate family can tell you, this has been a big problem since I was young. My room starts clean, but then I put a few pairs of shoes by my bed, then don't have the energy to deal with the growing laundry pile, then can't find a place for the new mic stand I got for my birthday, then I start dumping jewelry on my bedside table at the end of the day when I'm tired, then - then - then. And then it builds to a disastrous tipping point and it has become this massive, incomprehensible task I have to tackle, and because my brain hates me, it's a frustrating and grueling process to even figure out where to begin.

But deadlines help (pressure helps) and I have found that working on it in the wee hours of the morning (from midnight to like 5am) is somehow a way to get my brain to focus on it. For some reason I work better then. Arguably, this isn't logical or useful every day because I need sleep and I have work, but I made MASSIVE progress two days ago by staying up way too late on a night when I finally found the drive to get shit done.

That's not really the point of this post though.

The point is that I've found that a majority of society (or maybe just the NT community in general) have a hard time seeing progress as worthwhile when completion is better.

"Did you finish your room?" "Not yet, but I dealt with that massive pile of crap on my couch! It's SO much better, and I can actually see the floor in front of my dresser now, and-" "That's not what I asked. Did you finish?" "Not yet." "The answer is no, then."

It doesn't matter how much I've done. It doesn't matter how proud I am of my partial progress. It doesn't matter that I fought tooth and nail to get to the point I'm at, because unfortunately, I haven't finished it all yet, so it's not good enough.

(And I know I have a deadline, and I know we have family coming over soon, and I know that being done is the goal, but the deadline isn't here yet. Give me time. I need time.)

I think we as a society need to award and praise ourselves more for the efforts we put in, whether we reached a finish line or not. I'm not saying we shouldn't strive for completion, because at the end of the day that's often the goal of any task. But we should also let ourselves be proud of how far we have come as long as we're doing our best. I don't see that often enough. I continuously struggle to reach that finish line, but hey, I came this far today! I didn't reach Toad so he could tell me my princess was in another castle (because god knows there's always another task), but I did hit that checkpoint, and since I've been struggling through this level for as long as I have, that's still worth celebrating in some small way. It's still worth all the coins I collected and the goons I defeated to get to this point.

Don't reprimand your kids because their hard work thus far doesn't quite live up to your standards. Applaud what they've done and then help them find the right next step so they're motivated to keep going.

It takes a lot of work to save a princess. The journey has a lot more monsters than just the dragon.

#ADHD #Actual ADHD #ADHD Experience #Executive Disfunction

[catboybiologist]

Hey, transfem who has only started to like her body about half a year ago here

As someone who takes a lot of pictures of themselves, do you have any resources/tips for angles or something that accentuates feminine features?

Also in regards to having a somewhat normal facial expression, like my eyes look so weird in every picture I take bc I don't know where to look

This response ended up WAY longer than I expected, and I think Imma add it to my pinned post- thanks for pushing me to talk about this! I don't think I'm really an expert here, but if people want to leave more advice in reblogs and comments, please do.

So when I say "I had two years of femboy experience before transferring to the related (and potentially overlapping) but separate field of trans womanhood" I'm only like... half joking. Selfie angles took a fucking wild amount of time for me to figure out, and guess what? The pictures I post are usually 1-3 in a set of about 20 that I take at any given time. I'm still unhappy with most pictures I take, you just gotta take a lot of them, and figure out for yourself.

That said, I think I have gotten a lot better over time. Behold, the first selfie I posted on reddit (warning for kinda cringe but I know y'all fuck with that):

(Damn, my thighs look good when I properly shave, gotta do that sometime)

(btw I'm 23 in this pic so feel free to simp if you so desire)

And another early one:

This was still selected from a bunch that were horrible, but you can really tell that my face is basically just covered in fabric entirely. My eyes look very dead in both. Compare that to:

^this one is still pre-transition, so don't blame the estrogen.

So what are my specific tips? Well, the classic "selfie angle" is from above. This angle certainly helps, but why? Personally I've found that its far less about angles are far more about lighting. Since most lighting is overhead, taking selfies from above means that you'll have a well lit face in those standard lighting conditions. Notice that in both the early selfies and the later one, the camera is actually positioned below my height level, and there's still a noticeable facial difference between them. The reason this is possible is good, forward lighting. Generally, you want a soft light source to be vaguely behind the camera, shining onto your face- but make sure its not too close, or too bright. This will ensure that harsh shadows don't artificially make your features look much different than they actually are.

Another thing that cannot be understated: DISTANCE between yourself and the camera, especially if you're using a phone camera. There are several reasons for this- notably, it'll help make the background be framed more pleasantly, as well as prevent the camera/phone itself from shadowing your face. But there's also a massive, insidious reason this happens- all phone cameras have some degree of fisheye to their lens to increase the field of view while still using compact optics. Multiple lens have helped a bit, but its still a problem on all of them. Higher end phones will algorithmically correct for this, but they also add a TON of other postprocessing "beautification" in ways that are sometimes completely invisible (insert entire rant here about how this is a deceptive marketing tactic to make a brands phone cameras seem better than they actually are). Sometimes, these edits are way off base. But I digress. The fisheye is killer because it takes any slightly more prominent feature and bulges them out, including the nose and chin. Conversely, recessed features, like eyes and the sides of your cheeks, are going to be less emphasized. Moving further away from the camera significantly reduces this. If you can get a small phone tripod and take selfies that way, it'll alleviate this. Unfortunately my living space is not large atm, and I have less motivation to bother my roommates in the common areas and use their hallways for picture taking, so this has been a little lacking in more recent selfies. It's also just a lot of work for a couple quick selfies, so its hard to do right- but it genuinely makes a world of difference.

Otherwise, my advice about eyes would be that your eyes show your overall facial expression, even if you're covering your mouth. Most of my pictures are taken while smiling slightly under the mask, and it shows in the eyes. If I want a scarier looking picture, I'm stone faced or deliberately make my entire face angrier, and you end up with the "glaring directly down the camera wanting to kill you" face. Referring to the pictures I just posted- the first two are both dead faced under the mask, whereas in the last one, I'm doing a smug, sultry smirk. The eyes then reflect that.

Don't focus on specifically trying to open your eyes wider. Change your facial expression and just let them be how they want to be in relation to that. Eye position should fully commit to looking straight into the camera, or be fully distracted with something else, imo (including the screen of your phone, if you're doing something like a mirror selfie). If you're taking a mirror selfie, look at the camera lens as it's reflected in the mirror. A HUGE takeaway is that cameras, especially phone cameras, straight up lie to you. They don't work the same way as the human eye, and have to compensate for that- but they'll never be a completely faithful representation of what you look like. Don't let your ego be affected by how you look in pictures, when all is said and done.

And of course, experiment, experiment, experiment! Figure out the lighting you can get in the space you have available, and the angles that work for you! Don't be afraid to delete selfies you don't like! Show off your style and your features in the way you want to! There are no rules for what's attractive, this is just what I do and you should develop your own style!

I guess I'll take this with both femboy and trans tags bc the selfies are pre-HRT

#trans #trans advice #transgender #selfie #selfie advice #femboy #femboy advice #femboy fashion #crossdressing tutorial

[crescencestudio]

Devlog #35 | 09.26.23

Hi everyone!

Hope the beginning of Fall has been kind to you all <3 To be Frank, it has not been Kind to me LMFAO. But I'll get into that, so let's dive in yippee!

Before I do, someone liked this post recently, which was such a throwback. It was before the full demo was out and everything!! I was so young and full of life. I'm going to sprinkle some comparison shots of the new assets with the old ones to break up the text and also walk down memory lane with me! (Full GUI not shown as I'm still waiting on the assets)

Chapter Cards (Left: After | Right: Before)

The "Progress"

I'm going to structure this devlog a little differently from the usual template. The main reason being, for those of you who didn't see, I have not been feeling Myself recently.

This month I found myself all out of sorts. While I felt like I was making progress and doing so much everyday read: fighting for my life, when I looked back on things at the end of this month, I didn't feel like I really did much.

On a higher level, I finished fulfilling Kickstarter physical rewards, opened a Kofi shop of the remaining merch, edited Druk's route and continued writing Etza's route, updated assets and code for the updated demo, and then general commission stuff (BGs from Vui, soundtracks from Peter, etc.).

But overall, Alaris felt largely like it was kinda sitting at around the same spot as it did when I entered this month. Which made me a little sad! I had wanted to make So Much Progress on Alaris because next month I won't be able to work on it really. Then, I realized I haven't taken a break from game development since I started it two years ago HA!!!

The Real Progress

Development for me has been back-to-back. Chapter releases every 1-2 months during my first half year of development, Full Demo release shortly after, Kickstarter shortly after, Full Game Development shortly after. When I was feeling burnt out from Alaris, I made intertwine. Then I was Heavily Involved in the development of two games shortly after.

All of this on top of my IRL responsibilities, which include a job, PhD school, and well, functioning as a normal human occasionally.

And then here we are at the end of September 2023, and I'm wondering why even though I creatively want to work on Alaris, I find my brain literally just getting too tired to think.

Etza CG (Left: After | Right: Before)

I think ever since the Kickstarter, I've put a lot of pressure on myself to consistently put out LOTS of updates for each monthly devlog. I don't want people to think I'm not working on things or I'm not committed to delivering after giving me their hard earned money. But now, with two years under my belt, I'm realizing that is... HMM maybe too high of a standard to put on myself for my first game ever. There are many much more seasoned developers than me who don't put that pressure on themselves (which is Good and Healthy).

So this month, I debated scrounging around and gathering all my crumbs to give you all a devlog that you'll be satisfied with. But I decided ultimately that wouldn't be good for me and would honestly not be the most transparent way to present the current process of things.

And so. Here I am. Head in my Hands. Letting you all know that while I'm not "burnt out," I am.... only human LOL (one human at that). And so some months, like this one, will just not have much progress to report. Not because I'm not working on it or any other deeper reason. But because it's physically impossible and unreasonable for me to be continuously pushing out a steady stream of content.

In-Game Sprites & BGs (Left: After | Right: Before)

Next month, I'lll be taking a vacation. It's actually my first Big, Official one in a Long Time! I'm very excited for it. And while I did initially think about working on Alaris while I was traveling on trains or things like that, I decided to respect my own need to be a Human and just take a break for once in my life. I don't even want to say I Might work on things, because that sentiment alone will pressure me to make some progress. So yes. Next month, there will be no devlog or updates. But please rest assured, I am "working on Alaris" by letting myself just Exist and Rest Up!

Not an Alaris screenshot but it is market research that deserves to be included because I played House in Fata Morgana recently and it was Phenomenal!

Thank you all for understanding and your continued support. I'm extremely appreciative to have such a kind and patient community. Hope you all have a wonderful October filled with Fall Treats, and I'll see you in November! <3

#alaris #devlog

[adelarsims]

Hi, you are more than welcome to ignore especially if you have answered before and I missed it/it's elsewhere on your blog but can I please just ask how you get your CAS photos to look so incredibly clean? Especially around the edges, they're so smooth it's incredible. Thank you in advance, I really appreciate it! You inspire me so much tbh, everything you post is so beautiful. (Also also also the eyebags you released recently are my new gold standard and I use them for everything now tysm for sharing them) 🖤

thank you!

ok so here are a few tips, you don’t need to follow all of them, but if you like exactly my cas style, maybe some of them will help

1. edge smoothing. sorry for being obvious, but use either in-game anti-aliasing, or a smaa shader if you’re a reshade/gshade user, or you’ll get a pixelated staircase for the edges that will be hard to fix. if your PC doesn’t handle high graphics well and you play without edge smoothing, you can toggle it on temporarily just for taking a few good cas pictures and then turn it back off.

2. use MXAO. if you use reshades, use mxao shader for pictures, it's really a life changer. though i don't use it during the regular gameplay and only turn it on when i take pictures, because moving a lot with it is a visual overload for me.

3. but don’t overdo it with MXAO. seriously, don’t go all out with mxao. for a cleaner look shadows need to be delicate, just to overline shapes and give your sim more dimension. every time i tweaked my reshade presets, i made mxao even more thin and gentle and realized that it only got better.

4. background makes a huge difference. solid colors. in my personal opinion, grey gives the "cleanest" look (i said while still using my old dirty yellowish that i'm too lazy to find a replacement for). also, if i want to use black or white background, i make it a little darker than white and a little lighter than black, they look pretty much the same but will attack your eyes less (especially the white one).

5. CAS lighting makes a huge difference. maxis light isn't that bad, but cc lighting definitely give you more clean, crisp image. my personal favorite neutral one that i use by default is v2 by helgatisha. sometimes i use lightings with side highlights for more “rendered” look, but they aren’t always comfortable for everyday use and i only use them for specific pictures and then get back to my default neutral one.

6. shadow overlays. i mean cc that imitates shadows on sim's face, it gives sim's face so much dimension. there are spotlight v1 and v2 by simandy and lighting overlay v1 and v2 by joshseoh. i'd say josh's overlays are for fancy portrait pictures (they imitate a very strong light source from different angles, cool for sim photographers), and simandy's are more neutral. personally, i only use v2 by simandy, it's my holy grail and i don't take sim's pictures without it.

7. SRWE. it's a program that emulates having a bigger display resolution than your monitor can afford, meaning much better screenshot quality and cleanliness for small details. srwe can be a bit of a hassle to use for a lot of pics and most of the time i’m too lazy to use it and just take my regular small pixelated screenshots, but sometimes i want just one, but extra clean picture.

8. Topaz Clean 3 (photoshop). i don't usually edit my pictures and just drop them like whatever, mostly because i can't, but i make them sharper and cleaner with a gentle touch of topaz on very low strength.

#adelar ask

[muertawrites]

Tequila Sunrise (Eddie Munson x Reader) [18+]

Summary: You get drunk with your best friend after his gig, and the only evidence you have of anything that happened after you blacked out is a stack of Polaroids you find in his dresser the next morning.

Warnings: tequila, naked Eddie, explicit descriptions of s*xual acts, anxiety, scrambled eggs (sorry vegans)

Word Count: 2k

Author's Note: inspired by / accompaniment to this photo edit by @eddieonfilm. it's an unofficial collab but a beautiful one. this might be my favorite fic i've posted. characters are aged up bc i am also aged up. also whenever i censor s*x in my descriptions i always imagine myself saying it like miranda hart. just. very awkward and tall and british. trying to be decent for bbc standards and practices.

(edit by eddieonfilm. original by @zerlinity )

The first thing that hits you is the pain. It's achy, throbbing, like a sinus infection conjured up by the devil himself. You roll over, groaning at the way your head feels like it's filled with bricks.

Something heavy shifts around your waist - a grip you don't notice until it tightens. Someone else's skin against yours.

Your eyes shoot open. You're not asleep on the pull out couch in Eddie's living room like you remember agreeing to last night. You're in his bed. And you think you might be naked.

Panic overrides your growing hangover and you sit straight up, trying to remember something, anything, from the previous evening. It was late when the gig ended, and Eddie didn't like the idea of you taking the long train ride back to your apartment alone - he offered to let you stay at his instead, which you did. You got slices of pizza from the place downstairs; came up and ate them with a couple beers. You were both already tipsy, and Eddie kept teasing you about what a lightweight you are.

And of course you opened your big stupid mouth and bet him you could drink him under the table.

That's when the tequila came out. That's where your memory ends.

To your relief, you look down and find your torso covered by a faded black t-shirt. You're horrified all over again when when you realize it's ridden up over your waist, everything south of it exposed. Your panties are on the floor beside the bed.

There's a sharp intake of breath beside you, followed by the rustling of sheets and a dip in the mattress. You look over and see that Eddie is also awake, shirtless, and now laying on his back, staring up at the ceiling. After a moment he side eyes you, not moving his head but meeting his lovely brown irises with yours. Despite yourselves, you smirk at each other.

"You look like shit," Eddie comments.

"I feel like shit," you reply.

He chuckles, running his large palm down his face.

"Yeah... me too."

His hand finds your back, rubbing it gently as you lean over with your face in your palm, trying to ride a wave of pain that crashes at the inside of your skull. You wonder how he can be so calm. Casual about something so intimate.

"... Did we fuck?" he wonders.

You let out a heavy sigh, the question making your headache that much worse.

"If we did you weren't very good at it," you remark. "I'm not sore at all."

The pillow he'd been laying on smacks against the side of your head. You shriek, and Eddie grins despite the grimace that pinches his brows.

"Not so loud," he groans. "I feel like I've got a knife between my eyes."

"Shoulda thought of that before you brought out the tequila."

"I'm not the instigator here, tuts."

He sits up and nestles his chin into the crook of your neck, giving you an impish smile.

"I think you lost your little drinking game."

You plant your hand over his face and shove him off you. He chuckles as he flops back down onto the mattress.

Tugging your t-shirt (which you now realize is actually Eddie's) down so you don't reveal anything more than you want him to see with sober eyes, you crawl off the mattress, intent on finding anything with caffeine you possibly can in his kitchen. You pause when something on his dresser catches your eye.

A Polaroid.

A Polaroid of your tits.

You snatch it up, staring at it in horror. What's even worse is that there's more of them, scattered across the cigarette-burned wood and stained carpet below. You sift through them, thankful at least for the fact that they aren't just of you. Many of them are of Eddie - holding a lighter to the cig between his lips, head flung back as he takes a shot, tongue hanging out and middle fingers up, mid-laugh.

His bare torso spread out on his sheets as he smirks up at you.

His hand gripping the small of your back while he tugs at the waistband of your panties with his teeth.

His head between your legs, lips pressed to the inside of your thigh.

You jolt when Eddie's arms curl around your middle, a gesture much more involved than what your relationship (or at least your relationship before the night previous) entails. He plucks one of the photos out of your hand, letting out a little cackle.

"Damn, looks like we did fuck last night," he muses.

His expression suddenly drops, going from amused to grim in less than a second. You catch the change in the mirror and whip around to face him.

"What?"

He swallows heavily, like his throat is full of sand.

"I, uh... We didn't... I... I don't have condoms."

You blink.

"... What?"

You smack at his chest, focusing on the slap of his skin against your palms so you don't faint.

"You're in a band!" you shout. "Why don't you have fucking condoms, Eddie?!"

"You've met my band!" he yells back at you. "We're fucking dorks! You really think we're all getting pussy 24/7? Women terrify me! And I don't want a fucking STD!"

"THEN YOU SHOULD HAVE CONDOMS!"

You slump back against the dresser, any bit of humor you could possibly find in having been drunkenly railed by your best friend completely vaporized. You're not on birth control, and as far as you know, your reproductive bits work exactly as they're supposed to - possibly even better than they're supposed to, since you've been ovulating for the past week and, subsequently, hornier than usual. Unless Eddie got a vasectomy he hasn't mentioned, there's no way you're not harboring a little stowaway.

"Hey."

The warmth of Eddie's palms settling against your cheeks snaps you out of your downward spiral. He gently tilts your head up so you meet his eye, his panicked demeanor replaced by the soft, calm side of him you've only seen a handful of times. It's enough to send the tears stinging your waterline spilling over onto your cheeks.

"No way in hell I'm letting you have a kid, least of all my fucking kid. There's a pharmacy on the corner. We'll walk down together, get you some Plan B - that I'll pay for - and have breakfast at the diner next block over. Yeah?"

You nod, sniffling and wiping at your now blotchy, tear-stained face.

"Yeah," you agree. "Yeah... yeah, okay. Yeah."

The journey to the pharmacy is silent, but not uncomfortable. Eddie walks with his arm linked in yours, keeping you pressed to his side as if trying to shield you from prying eyes; he doesn't leave you alone, either, a hand always at the small of your back or locked around your shoulders.

As you make your way out of the contraceptive aisle, he tosses a few pregnancy tests and boxes of condoms into your basket, "just as a precaution". The woman who rings you up takes one look at the scandalous haul and tsks, fixing you with a shaming, disdainful glare.

"Something wrong?" Eddie quips. He wraps an arm around you, tucking you behind him ever so slightly so you're out of the woman's eyeline.

"No," she responds through tight lips. "Sixty-two eighty, please."

At the diner, Eddie asks for a booth in the corner, away from the counter and the front door. You unwrap the medication and take it as instructed, swallowing it down with a cup of weak, slightly burnt coffee. The heavy, greasy plate of hash browns and eggs you're served stills your spinning headache, grounding you along with the feel of Eddie's hand on your thigh.

"How you feeling?" he asks once you return to his apartment.

You nod, too shy to meet his gaze.

"Better," you tell him. "... Thank you."

Eddie lets out a heavy sigh, taking the few steps forward he needs to reach you and wrapping you in a tight, tender hug. You don't hesitate to return it, your hands gripping at the thin fabric covering his back.

"I got you," he murmurs into your hair. "It's gonna be okay."

You can't bring yourself to leave him, so you spend the rest of the day on his couch, watching reruns of The Mary Tyler Moore Show and listening to him strum nervously at his guitar. Around dinner time, he offers to pick you up a pizza to share, which you say you'll pay for to thank him. He doesn't let you.

While he's gone, you take a quick shower, washing away the remnants of last night's debauchery. You step out of the bathroom to find him reclined on the sofa, legs kicked up on the coffee table, cigarette dangling between his lips as he sorts through the Polaroids that were left on his dresser. A box of fresh pizza lays open on the kitchen counter; three slices are missing, and there's a paper plate and napkin waiting for you (you're not sure Eddie even owns any actual dishes).

"You should quit smoking if you're gonna be a dad," you tease him in a deadpan, joining him on the couch with dinner in hand.

He chuckles, tossing a photo of your tongue licking at the head of his cock onto the table. You hate that the sight is so... appealing to you. That you're a little disappointed you don't remember doing it. That you kind of want to do it again.

"Maybe if I'm lucky it'll stop my balls from working," he mumbles.

His hands stop shuffling as he looks at the photo currently in them. He removes the cig from his mouth, exhaling long and slow; contemplative. You lean over to see what's caught his attention.

To your surprise, it's a picture of your face. You're pressed into the pillow on the right side of his bed, eyes lidded, lips curled into a blissful smile, hair knotted with traces of his fingers having run through them and yanked at your scalp. You're clearly fucked out. But you're also... gazing at him. Seeing him. Giving him the kind of heart eyes you only ever do when you're sure he's not looking.

"I remember why I took this one," Eddie says. "I thought... I thought you looked really pretty. My heart felt like it was gonna... fuckin' explode or something. I was wicked happy I finally had you in my bed and that you were gonna fall asleep next to me and... I wanted to keep that moment."

"... Finally?"

His eyes snap up, clearly shocked that he said that exact word out loud. For a moment he says nothing. For a moment you're unsure what the hell there is to say.

But then you're throwing yourself onto him, latching your arms around his neck and trapping his waist between your thighs, holding him like he's the last thing you're ever going to touch. He hugs you back, burying his face in your shoulder, his hands reaching up under your shirt to stroke loving patterns along your back.

"I love you, Eddie Munson," you whisper into his neck.

"I love you," he breathes. "God... I fucking love you. So fucking much."

BONUS:

you and eddie lean over the sink in his apartment, staring at the overturned pregnancy test inside it.

"ready?" you ask.

he nods.

you flip it over.

one pink line.

eddie shrieks - literally shrieks - with relief and lifts you into his arms, spinning you until you're dizzy.

"oh thank god," he gasps, repeatedly kissing your cheek. "ohhhhhh thank god thank god thank god. i'm gonna celebrate by fucking you dumb."

🌹💀get your eddie fix💀🌹

#muerta's works #eddie munson #eddie munson fluff #eddie munson x you #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x reader fluff #eddie munson x reader smut #eddie munson smut #eddie munson x alt!reader

[taxidermybymail]

Jekyll and Hyde Quest Part One: THE BOOKS

So, uh. Yeah! I have quite a few books. I'm going to put a closeup of each cover and a short review beneath a cut. I have another book coming as an Unspecified Winter Holiday gift. I'll add it in a reblog when I get it!

This book... is not about Jekyll and Hyde. It's a fine book, I read about a third of it, and it's just not Jekyll and Hyde. The protagonist is Edward Hyde, which is fun, but he's so different it's not the same story at all. There is a moment early on where a doctor basically looks at the camera and says "being mentally ill doesn't make you a monstrous murderer," which should be the standard for J&H stories. If you like gaslamp fantasy you might enjoy this book, but it wasn't what I was hoping for.

I don't remember where I got this one. It's a comic! It's got a classic comic style. Not much to say about this one, it's alright.

I... haven't read this one. I don't plan on reading this one. It's a college romance, which really isn't my thing. I bought it for the sake of having it.

Another one I bought for the sake of having it. It's nice! Cost me like $8, not too bad.

My pretty boy. My precious darling. She sparkles! I haven't actually read this one, it's too pretty. (And here, tumblr is beginning to lag...)

My other pretty one! Bought this from a very cute young man in a book village. She's a little beat up because I don't have anywhere good to keep my books right now. The cover is soft!

When I actually want to read Jekyll and Hyde, this is the edition I actually read. It's torn from living in my bag :(. I bought this edition at a record store!

This one has a really cool educational insert! It teaches you vocab and has a little bit about R. L. Stevenson's life. There are even scenes from one of the movies, though I haven't been able to figure out which.

My first Jekyll and Hyde book. Hyde doesn't look like that in the illustrations, but he still manages to be problematic.

Not featured is Dr Jekyll, Orthodontist, because that book deserves its own post and I ran out of images.

#the strange case of dr jekyll and mr hyde #dr jekyll and mr hyde #jekyll and hyde #jekyll and hyde quest #movie post coming soon!

[attyattlaw]

heyyy I'm new to digital art, would you mind sharing some tips regarding programs and tutorials and etc? also on how to turn a real life piece into a beautiful and clean digital piece... really love your art

oh good luck with your art journey! my experience with digital art is pretty dated (as in a decade + levels dated) and i might be too out of touch to give beginner tips but regardless, allow me to attempt

Programs: it would help to know which hardware you have for digital but ill put down some i have experience in 1. Clip Studio Paint Pro - PC/Android/ipad/everywhere i think? unfortunately they betrayed humankind and its now a subscription everywhere but on PC. i bought a one-time license years years years ago on sale and its probably the best available on my end. I also got it on subscription on android so i can sync works between my PC and tablet. its very flexible in a way that you can draw with it in the most basic way single layer sketches or whatever but they have so many features and keep adding more.

2. procreate - ipad only never been an apple user but my friend is, and he's been a procreate user forever. he recently tried CSP on ipad though and he still claims he likes procreate better for ease of use and compatibility with tablet ergonomics and apple pen

3. medibang paint - pc/android/ipad

free forever. and out of all the free programs i recommended my other digital art newbie friend this is what he liked best.

4. adobe photoshop - dont even look at this the only reason i have one is im leeching off company license. its still unfortunately the industry standard tho but CSP is much cheaper and has the same controls and most of the basic functions 5. Paint Tool SAI - my first art program but i haven't tried it again. honestly still think this has the best brush flexibility and pen pressure control ----- As for tutorials, i find digital art has such a steep and high skill ceiling and its a challenge im still tackling and probably will forever tackle haha. I'm trying to osmosis painting techniques from splash art painters from League of Legends who most of them post complete timelapses (my favorite being Bo Chen) where you can study not just their techniques but like, art directions that make their pieces striking. Anyway, I also promised a friend I would make a simple coloring tutorial so maybe after inktober hustle, I would look for a piece there I'd use for the guide.

---- Traditional to digital is never a satisfactory process to me but if you can, invest on a scanner. I use an epson v39, had it for years.

scanned vs edited. the goal is to at least get the white of the paper as white as possible and the blacks the blackest, without whitewashing/burning the rest of the colors. Level correction function is your best friend here and most art programs have that.

Then i just clean dust and errors and slide the contrasts around until it looks as close to the original piece

If you have a decent phone camera, you can get away just posting instagram aesthetic pics with materials framing it or smth and just edit as usual. natural light tends to be a lot more forgiving than the harsh light of scanners anyway.

Anyway I hope this helps and have fun learning!

#granpa voice: back in my day we didnt have phones or tablets capable of drawing #we had to use dodge and burn on pirated photoshop apps using a mouse on the family computer #i think i also started digitals a bit late in life so unlike younger millenials and gen Zs its not easy as second nature to me #compared to traditional mediums at least

[justporo]

An update, my dears.

You might have noticed I haven't been posting as much. I mean my own stuff, there's always enough Astarion/BG3 content on here to shove in my queue or just batch-reblog!

This has several reasons which I would like to shortly talk about, but I will keep it under the cut because I don't want to bother you all with my rambling too much.

Just know: I am still writing, I have several things cooking and still many more ideas.

Okay, so I'd like to touch on several things and be warned, this will probably be half a journal entry (I don't journal eveb... although I probably should...)

First: I am trying to prepare as much as possible for the Winter Holiday Challenge. Most of the prompts will probably be filled with drabbles because I wouldn't even remotely be able to manage all that if each prompt got like a 2-3k word fill. Secondly... it is hard. Like I want to write cute stuff and it really is not that easy I feel like to come up with twelve different things that have the same theme and have it be different enough. And I don't want to throw you some super uninspired shit. So, I try to go for shorter stuff that will make a somewhat coherent timeline for a winter month with Astarion and Tav.

Second: Christmas time is starting - I love this time of year but it is also pretty stressful all around. And that goes along with me still trying to balance everything.

Third: I feel my standards have been raised. Not saying that my writing has gotten better, but when I first started I just type-type-typed and then immediately hit post. I can't do that anymore. I need to edit - sometimes I give it several passes. Also most pieces have become so much longer than anticipated, one could say unnecessarily long, but I'm not sure about that (looking at you next chapter of "Stars that collide"). And I've noticed that I haven't necessarily been writing less but the process has evolved and looking back I can't even wrap my head around how I almost posted new writing at least like any other day...

All that being said: I have absolutely no intention to stop. But I probably will branch out in the future, maybe write other stuff too, try other projects - hoping to make this a permanent thing in my life.

Alright, that was long - hope you're still staying with me and enjoy my writing (if that's what you're here for!)

#poro rambles #poro writes

[fastcardotmp3]

find the word!

tagged by the illustrious @roguenancy <3 thank you friend this was a fun one!

my words are: soft, bright, time, reach, and burn

most of these are from yet-to-be-posted febuwhump fics because that's what my time has been going to preparing the past few weeks, but there are some old standards too!

i. soft (from a Kali-centric febuwhump fic)

Hunting down One and helping Eleven and her friends to take him down once and for all? That was an arena in which Kali was comfortable, an arena in which she got to be the victor, even in her sharing of the title.  But it hadn’t gone to plan. Of course not.  It hadn’t been a one-off and had instead turned into months trapped within the confines of this town, haunted by more than just those initial days Kali spent small and scared and broken as she ran from the lab and tried to find a way out.  She had been so young then. She feels it around every corner, amidst every patch of trees; she feels the younger version of herself everywhere and at some point during these past few months of battle it went and made her soft.

ii. bright (from a future installment of the bear au)

“You staying here tonight?” Nancy says on a tired exhale as she drops her bag and kicks off her shoes.  “Maybe,” Holly says at length, hands still on her keyboard but no longer typing.  The way her fair hair glows in the bright white light is almost unsettling. She’s such a beautiful girl. “Couch is yours,” Nancy tells her, “I’m going to bed.” “Mike said you flipped this afternoon.” 

iii. time (from the METAMORPHOSES sequel one-shot I'm working on :) kicks feet twirls hair etc)

They decided to move to Chicago on this porch, decided to officially move into the same bedroom on this porch, decided to kiss for the first time on this porch.  It’s a near-sacred place, these panels of wood and screws, the spot that once held a beaten-down couch and now sports the beautiful handcrafted swing that Steve had made for them completely of his own volition.  It’s sacred because it’s theirs, their home, but it’s only that because they decided it would be. They made it this bubble of earnest communication and so when Eddie asks do you ever think about it with a heavy sort of sincerity lingering on his tongue, the only context Steve needs is— “About what?” 

iv. reach (another febuwhump fic, nancy character study style)

There’s a hand around her forearm just before she reaches the edge of the pool, a hand large and strong but a hand, still, which releases his grip with a half-hearted shove from Nancy.  “Don’t,” she snaps, whirling around to look at him, avoiding the confused and concerned and baffled expressions of Robin and Eddie hovering feet away at the edge of the forest like they truly don’t know what to do with themselves. “Don’t.”  Her voice is ragged, she knows. She can see the sound of it in the harsh shine of Steve’s eyes, but she can see something else there, too.  She can see something like understanding, like the crossing of a great divide between them, where they’ve both changed irreparably in the journey, but changed into the kinds of people who can trust each other above all else. 

v. burn (febuwhump again, stobin edition)

There's so much to grieve, even after they win.  There's so much to grieve that Robin doesn't think it feels much like winning at all.  They keep going, she keeps moving forward, because that's what's supposed to happen and that's what they've always done, but no matter how much time passes between them and watching that place, that monster, burn, she still feels it.  Tastes it. Can't swallow around it some days and wakes up needing to rush to the toilet to puke it up on others.  It burns her from inside and as she gets her diploma, as they help rebuild the town into something still broken but at least standing, as people make plans and leave and get away, away, away from the mass grave that is Hawkins, Indiana, she keeps it there. Inside.

tagging with zero pressure but one million love: @kkpwnall @judasofsuburbia @cheatghost @fragilecapric0rnn @thefreakandthehair @yxlenas @snowangeldotmp3 + anyone who wants to join because this is simply fun!

your words are: new, try, still, part, and home

#wip game #dot fic #i feel like i haven't done a tag game in ages this was a delight!

[thotpuppy]

If you’re so vehemently against ai fanart what’s your take on fanmade graphics and edits that use stolen pictures from the internet? These fans didn’t go out with their camera to capture the images themselves, they searched through Pinterest and google and found photos taken by real photographers and, without asking permission, stole these images to edit and create into something else. Yet this practice is widely accepted amongst fandom, but the second ai is involved it’s akin to murder? Even when the fans have clearly uploaded said ai generations into photoshop to edit them first? Seems like a pick-and-choose double standard to me.

Okay first of all, let's address the fact that - going by the language you've used here - you've already decided how I feel about it, so why bother the pretense of "asking"? Dishonesty breeds Discontent. Don't lie to someone's face and expect them to be kind, yeah?

Secondly, almost every single person I know who works with image manipulation uses assets they DO have the rights to outside of specific actor's likenesses. There are millions of photos, graphics, illustrations, paintings, etc. that are open for free personal AND commercial use allllll over the internet and people use them liberally. And, actually, many, MANY of these people DO go out and take their own photographs, so I don't know where your misconception is coming from.

And, the big kicker - they also don't lie about it. They say when something is an edited photo, if it's not obvious.

Stolen images being used in edits is NOT widely accepted and is in fact generally pretty damn frowned upon in most art circles, and I absolutely don't support use of them.

Every single instance of fanart is a rocky road as far as IP infringement goes, but don't put fanartists on the same level as the industry professionals providing celebrity model photos. Unlike in AI and Art Theft, when those photos are used that's bringing attention to the figure in question, not taking it away from an actual creator.

Lastly, where the FUCK do you get off saying ANYONE is comparing AI use to murder? Persecution complex much? I get it, you wanna be a victim so bad, but you're the one stealing from people at YOUR industry level.

AI in general has a metric fuckton of potential to be something genuinely useful to artists of all walks, but the CURRENT industry is too unethically sourced. We need to get control of the market, get stolen works (including, once again, STOLEN LEAKED MEDICAL RECORDS) out of the training data, even if that means starting over from scratch.

Also, we need to get the bullies who think it's okay to do shit like spam a Machine Learning program with a single artist's work to harass them offline, target voice actors who have asked not to have their voices used into harassment campaigns, or lie to celebrities by selling them commercial rights to ML-generated fanart, which right now, they legally CAN'T DO. Because the copyrightable legitimacy of AI/ML works IS currently in debate in courts in the US. So.

Maybe instead of assuming everyone is out to get you, Anon, try not being a douchebag and stealing from fellow fanartists? And if you're gonna steal anyways, at least be honest and don't lie to people trying to convince them it's actually a digital illustration.

We can see the weird, fake blending. We can see the extra fingers, or utensils clipping through plates, or hands disappearing into heads, or shoes that don't end where shoes end. And while I'm not going out of my way to confront anyone about it, I'll just stay here on my own blog, blocking people who post AI, I am not the only person who is angry and disgusted at the lack of integrity and blatant disrespect.

#sterek #doughrito answers #tag your AI so I can block you #don't lie to me and expect me to be chill #and don't act like me making 1 tumblr post means I am the only one doing shit #I haven't messaged a single person about it #I haven't made a single comment #but you bet your ass I fuckin see it when y'all say shit and I KNOW you're lying #it's not a medical necessity you can fucking WAIT like everybody else with a moral bone in their body #im so fucking tired of this shit just be a decent human why is that so hard

[indecisivepsyche]

Dracula: The Evidence

Well, now that we've finished reading Dracula, I'd like to highlight yet another upcoming way to read Dracula! This one is Dracula: The Evidence by Beehive Books, a small press imprint in Philadelphia currently available to preorder. Let me preface this by saying that I'm not affiliated with the creators of this project. I'm just discussing it because I think it's cool. I'll also warn that the two cheapest options for purchasing these items are $400 (for the complete artifactual experience) or $100 (for a hardcover version). If that's too much for you, I'd still recommend taking a look at the neat prototype images and information about the creation process found on their product pages and project updates.

Dracula: The Evidence is a project recreating the primary sources that make up Dracula. As they describe it, "In our edition, you are not merely a reader – you are an explorer making your way through this archive of first-hand evidence, retracing this nightmarish story through the remnants it left behind: correspondence, charts and diagrams, memoranda, artifacts, photographs, and much more."

That means you'll be receiving items like Jonathan's journal and letters from Lucy to Mina in their complete (and unburnt) form.

For people willing and able to shell out the $400, these items will come in a suitcase. For those who can commit $100, you can purchase a hardcover art book with pictures of the artifacts and transcripts of their contents.

There's also the option to purchase a vinyl record of Seward's phonograph recordings (also for $100).

I'm going to ramble a bit more about the project under the cut, but before that here's a link to a post I've made with links to the project. One of them is a promotional Twitter thread written by a fictional archival intern hired to process the Stoker Papers. It's pretty fun.

Edit: It slipped my mind that there was a PDF preorder on offer on Kickstarter for $25. It's not currently on the Beehive Books storefront, but it might be sold once the preorder period is over.

Beehive Books has been transparent about supply chain issues and events like the calligrapher they cast to write for Jonathan Harker being conscripted in the army causing delays. However, it is currently projected that the products will ship in early 2023.

Speaking of calligraphers, they've hired over a dozen of them to write for the different characters. It's neat to hear that they've put a lot of consideration into how the personalities of the characters should be reflected in their handwriting.

If you want to hear a sample of their recordings for Dr. Seward's diary, check out the September 12th Kickstarter Update on either edition. The updates are open to the public, and they've posting a link to a Dropbox with a two-minute sample from Jack's May 25th entry.

Check out the update from January 10th, 2022 to hear how they're tackling the fact that most of the documents that make up Dracula are originally not written in standard English. Here's an excerpt from it:

"For Mina, we've had her switch back and forth between shorthand and longhand throughout her diary. We've used it to enhance character building and storytelling. She's using the journal as an opportunity to learn and practice shorthand -- so which sections does she feel most urgent about, and might she scrawl down in her natural hand without translating into her shaky shorthand? Which sections might she feel private about, and want written in an alphabet that someone who comes upon her diary might not understand?

And then we have Mina's typescript, which transcribes every word of every document contained therein, and more. This allows readers to work with the two documents side-by-side, decoding shorthand or Russian with the help of the typescript."

On the update from October 29th, 2021, they discuss how the Captain of the Demeter wrote his log before the modernization of the Cyrillic alphabet and how they had to find a linguist to rewrite their Russian translation.

Seriously, even if you can't afford to buy this, there's a lot of fun to be had in poking around the project updates and looking at the prototype images they've shared.

That's all from me! It's time to see some of the adaptations for myself, starting with Dracula (1931).

#dracula daily #dracula #jonathan harker #mina harker #john seward #psyche speaks

[astroboyanalysis]

4. His Highness Deadcross

Note for people actually following this: The slight delay in post will probably be common. I work almost every weekday and come home really exhausted so I don't normally have the energy for something like this.

While I generally don't question the order the comics are placed in in this compilation, I will say that if someone were reading Astro Boy for the first time in this order, they would probably be pretty confused right now. "But Atom is in this panel!" "Who are any of these people?"

I'm curious where the comics introducing the creation of a family for Atom will end up in the compilation. This being a serialized manga without a singular coherent storyline, this type of thing happens a lot, where it makes more sense for a story to go early, but some detail in it won't be explained fully because it's a change made in the years between whatever comics you read.

While I'm fond of the more coherent storylines of modern animation and comics, I do sort of miss serialized stories and the return to normalcy at the end of each "episode." I understand it's more common in childrens' TV, especially childrens' TV we might not think of as Artful when compared with the childrens' TV that has those storylines (thinking of like. Uncle Grandpa. That type of show.)

I think the general culture around media has shifted to one of character and story development, which is interesting. Characters and stories can still be evolved over serialized media, but it's a different approach. I remember when Wander Over Yonder was airing thinking "wow, this is a great cartoon and it's episodic instead of arc-based!"

This is a ramble. I just think it's becoming much rarer, so this problem the omnibus has to deal with is not as much of an issue anymore, at least with officially published content.

EDIT: I realized the reason for this ramble is unclear. It's much more difficult to present a coherent storyline when the changes to the main cast are episodic rather than arc-based, because the pacing would be very strange. Many times these character introductions are apropos of nothing in a larger arc or storyline, which is fine, it's just a different approach and presents a challenge when trying to create a cohesive work later, because there are many possible ways to organize the "episodes"

Genuinely Uran is so funny for this. I know this is the first time we're seeing her in the omnibus but I'm just so fond of her. Her childish but sneaky approach parallels Atom's polite near-deference with figures of authority (unless they are "evil," but at this point we don't think anything of the Pants we are being presented) Part of me believes in my heart that this is because Atom has had high responsibility for his actions - He is held accountable to a standard human children are not, and the optics of what he says and does are scrutinized somewhat. Uran has not had this, but has the same type of "free will" and lack of given purpose that Atom does. Oh yeah cobalt is there too. Hi cobalt.

Really funny visual gag where did you get that bigass weight. Don't answer. I do love that he's ostensibly working out in his free time despite this giving no real strength benefit to a robot with a set strength built in, although I do suppose getting used to how weight handles and how heavy objects throw as opposed to light objects would be extremely useful for him. Anyway. You could probably guess this but as I grew up on the 2003 Astro Boy dub, I was also a Teen Titans (2003) fan. Cyborg has a great episode surrounding the idea that strength is built in called "Sum of His Parts". I have my artistic preferences with that episode and personally would not have done everything the way it does, but the evaluation of psychology when your physical limits are perceived as set in stone is very relevant here.

We are like two pages into this one btw. I'm normal.

Another robot specific law: Robots aren't allowed to go overseas by themselves/unaccompanied by humans without a permit. This makes a bit of sense relative to robots widely being property to be protected (read: you do not want them fleeing). This was actually shown in "The Birth of Astro Boy"

See the above panel from the first comic in the omnibus.

It's also funny that they didn't just also get Atom permission on the way and were instead like. Okay Atom we're just going to do a whole trenchcoat deal. I imagine that permission to move between borders is different to acquire in different countries, and likely far more difficult in countries with more restrictive laws around robotic existence. Japan is fairly forward in robotic tech from what we see, but it's likely the bureaucratic process would take a while. Easier to just break the law. (In some regard, this can be argued as a loophole rather than an outright crime - It depends how "A Robot" is defined. One could argue that a robot is based on their singular brain, so one pass per brain, but there are robots with parts that operate independent of one another, and this would mean they would need multiple passes. This is like, really specific legal wording type issues. What is shown here indicates that this is the case, but I can't say for certain why as we don't know the law in full.)

Also, while they say overseas, it's likely more like humans needing to acquire a visa, and certain countries or borders have agreements on the issue. Japan is surrounded by water, so any other country is "overseas."

Also, pretty sure we'll see Atom go to other countries without permission.

It's funny to me that they both act like younger siblings a lot of the time because Atom is just a lot more mature and has a lot more experience in the world. Anyway Ha ha ha ha lookee! lookee!

Ban really does get some of the best reaction expressions lol

I'm not asking how they made indent footprints in what seems to be concrete or stone. I'm not.

Seems to me that this indicates some amount of standardization in robots, or at the very least, robots meant to look human, by country. This also would make sense to identify what's going on, but uh. Can't they wear shoes...? Anyway, this kind of standardization would likely be required for those roaming permits to be functional in other countries. I.E. If Canada does not agree to standardization law x394.32, the USA will rescind their robotic passage permits and any permits currently in use will be void.

If I were making an Astro Boy comic, I'd keep some element of this standardization. Just maybe not on the feet.

God I love this series so much. WE CAN'T LET HIM KNOW WE ARE BOARDING FLIGHT 0036!

MORE ON ROBOTS BEING DISALLOWED FROM HURTING HUMANS: "We had no choice" is apparently a retort to this. So it's definitely a choice-based thing and not a built-in limitation of the AI. Anyway Atom looks really nervous about having hurt a human, probably for multiple reasons, one being that his teacher is out cold, another being what the consequences would be for this law being broken - And also the optics of Atom possibly being within blame.

I have no comment on this really it's just something that's likely disallowed in other countries. Sentiments would have to be extremely positive toward robots in a country for one to be allowed to run for president, and for them to win ).

This would be one of those countries with lax robotic laws I mentioned earlier.

.

Actually gruesome as hell

Another progressive robot law Gravia had that allowed this to happen, robots can vote. I sort of doubt this is the case in other places, but I'm not sure within the initial run of the manga.

Rag your minister just kicked a human in Japan like. For not even that much reason he could have just run faster instead.

Puts you in my torture chamber I devised full of polyester balls and pours water into it, half-crushing you (but not to worry, it's a comic strip, after all.)

Our first actual portrayal of a hate group, the Deadcross Society.

SPROING. I love the ZERO pause between "how can I meet him?" and Atom just using the window immediately.

I believe this is Atom Using An Unopened Window As A Door #1 of our read through. I suppose it indicates synthetic robot skin is more difficult to cut than human skin since he's so willing to jump through windows, but he's not really worried about his clothes either. So who knows.

Atom is highly capable in robotics. This is not new it's just the first we're seeing of it in the read through.

Also, Rag is really fruity about this. Strange two panels.

I know I add this kind of thing a lot but I love this detail. Looking forward to seeing it disregarded later <3 (Said with genuine love)

While simplified (because it's a kids manga), this is a pretty realistic and also like. realistically dark (? I don't know how else to describe it. It parallels how messed up they are in real life too with real tactics) portrayal of a hate group. The explicit "The fear this and the attacks put into you is with the intent of making you resign and return to subservience" is good for kids to see, I think.

Future technology. I do agree in the world of Astro Boy it's probably much more possible to have a realistic 3-dimensional display of something, which we haven't actually really acquired yet in the real world. That said, in this case, it can't be touched or interacted closely with (It's like a stage, you just can't step past the screen and into the scene), whereas something like Pluto shows holograms that can allow for closer investigation of detail. Looking forward to analyzing how other Astro Boy media approaches this type of technology.

Having to plan ahead and conserve energy for later things is notable since if two things happen one after the other he just runs out. He conserves energy even during combat if he thinks there will be More Combat After That.

Most days he probably hardly uses any though, assuming he doesn't fly to and from school.

Fucked. Jesus Christ. (no pun intended)

his beutiful eyes

.

Post to be continued in a reblog. Guess who hit 30 images. I'm so silly goofy like that.

#astro boy #mighty atom #tetsuwan atom

[emberfrostlovesloki]

Hey!! 🌷🌸🌷🌸 Here's a

　　 🌸🌷🌸🌷🌸 flowers bouquet

　 Λ🌷🌸🌷🌸🌷 for you because

( ˘ ᵕ ˘🌷🌸🌷 you got through

　 ヽ つ＼ ／ October despite

　　 UU / 🎀 \ everything !!

I'm proud of you ♡

Photo credits: Left and Right (@academia-core) Center (@sillyhotchsgirl)

A Little Pleasure and Some Joy 

Anon, you have no idea how much these messages help me get through the day! I’ve had a lot going on recently in my personal life and these make me feel so warmed and cared for. Your use of flower emojis might have made its way into the Aaron fic that I’m going to post in a few minutes. 😊 I want to give you something back for being so kind. So here’s just a short Hotch x gender-neutral reader blurb (as I don’t know your pronouns). This is highly inspired by my favorite essay, “Joy” by Zadie Smith. I include flowers in this because of your emojis. If any of you want to give that piece a read I’d be happy to send a PDF link, just comment or DM me. I hope Anon and anyone else who reads this has a lovely and safe night. Levi 💖

Read the story below the cut. (Hardly edited) 

Pairing: Aaron x gender-neutral reader. The reader uses they/them pronouns. 

Category: Fluff

Word Count: 1K

Warnings: None 

List with all stories

y/n_ = your name 

Aaron had many pleasures in his life. The chief of which was nestled warmly against his chest and down the hallway two doors over. The one in his arms was slowly coming to wake. He rubbed _y/n_’s bare shoulder as they blinked slowly awake. “Morning,” _y/n_ said in a voice muted by a good night's rest. They were still half asleep as Aaron leaned down and kissed their forehead. The Pleasure and joy that was still asleep two doors down would be up in an hour, asking for cereal and milk and to watch Saturday morning cartoons. And _y/n_ would have to bargain with Jack that he did not watch the big kid cartoons and only saw two episodes of whatever the child was currently hyper-fixated on. They would take the child to the park and Jack would let out his energy and he and _y/n_ would sit hand in hand on the bench near the playground or they would take turns pushing Jack into the sky on the swingset. Jack’s laugh was not a pleasure, that was a joy. And when _y/n_ became fully conscious and pressed their lips to his own slightly stubble-covered face, that too was a joy. _y/n_’s eyes shone with care and they moved a bit off of him to grab a shirt to cover themself before they moved to the communal area of the apartment. _y/n_ brushed a hand down his jaw and said, “You want coffee?” Aaron smiled and responded, “Always my love.” _y/n_ nodded and asked, “Pour over or French press?” Hotch settled back against the mattresses and pillows saying, “If you use the last of the grounds for the pour over we can go to our favorite spot to pick up some new beans after the park with Jack.” _y/n_ beamed, and replied, “Pour over it is.” Coffee was another pleasure. His taste had become decidedly better after _y/n_ had moved in with him and Jack. Aaron didn’t have a problem with shit coffee. He was used to shit coffee. But _y/n_ had standards, and he wanted them to feel totally cared for by him, which included raising and learning about the caffeinated beverage they both relied on so much. Aaron moved out of bed and grabbed some pants from the dresser, He slipped them over his hips. He looked at _y/n_ and said, “I might be a minute, dear. I’m going to shave.” _y/n_ looked over to him and said, “Do you have to? You know I like you with a beard.” Aaron flushed slightly. This was another pleasure. He was so used to being clean-shaven, and he still preferred that at work, but on a lazy weekend when he could spend an extra minute or two with _y/n_ instead of performing that grooming ritual, he would take the time with _y/n_ every time. The fact they liked him, loved him with a beard was something he was still getting used to. One time after a case where his dominant hand had been injured, _y/n_ had shaved him with skill, precision, and care. That memory was a joy. 

The day moved along at a slow, relaxed pace. The family moved to the playground and Hotch did his best to not suspect everyone he saw. He couldn’t turn off the instinct, but he tried to think of the world as a kinder place when he was out like this. _y/n_ leaned over and kissed his temple, stilling his thoughts for a moment. _y/n_ was an optimist and a romantic. Some evenings he caught them scribbling in a worn journal. When he had asked what they were writing, they quickly closed the book saying, “Oh just things I see in you and Jack.” From his partner's expression that they weren’t anything bad. He had sat on the bed and asked, “What type of things?” _y/n_ had taken a breath and said, “Oh just little things about you that make me full. The way you hum Bowie off-key in the shower. How Jack moves his hands when he talks about his friends in kinder. Small pleasures that fill my days.” Aaron’s heart felt like it had grown with the love _y/n_ showed him and Jack. So he had started to look for little pleasures of his own. He distinguished them from joy. Joy was something else and though he was happy to have experienced it, and continue experiencing it, it was far too close an emotion to fear to want on the daily. The sound of Jack crying had them both up in an instant. His son had scraped his knee and Aaron picked up his boy saying, “What happened, buddy?” Jack explained and _y/n_ ruffled Jack’s sandy hair to distract them. They moved on to the coffee shop from there. They waited in line, placed their orders, got a new bag of dark roast, and then moved back to the street. They passed a street vendor selling flowers and Hotch recognized most of them. Flowers were also a pleasure. _y/n_ had shown a fondness for them in a bittersweet way. They had explained that flowers were a great metaphor for life. Struggling to make it to the world against the elements and bugs. Then they bloomed in their glory for a short while. Then they could be supported for a while longer. And finally, they faded. But even after they were gone they could still be remembered for the joy they had brought. If Aaron was an existentialist, then _y/n_ was a naturalist both figuratively and literally. They knew all the scientific names of these flora and fauna. As he passed the stall he thought of the common names he knew: Roses, babies breathe, sunflowers, Castilleja, tulips, forget-me-nots. _y/n_ was partial to sunflowers. They had once said many years ago, “I know it’s cliche but did you know that sunflowers turn to face each other when the sun is covered by the clouds?” Later that evening, Hotch had kissed them for the first time. That memory was another joy. Aaron told _y/n_ to move ahead and that he’d catch up. Hotch moved back to the stall and pulled out a twenty and a five and got some of the prettier forget-me-nots; his favorites. And as he walked to catch up to his family with the flowers in tow, he couldn’t be more grateful for little pleasures and some joy.

______________________________________________________________

tagging my moots cause I love y'all and thought you might enjoy -@criminalskies @sadgirlzluvdilfs @citrusiove @tgskitten @softhairedhotch @hotchs-big-hands

#criminal minds #fanfiction #i love my moots #anon is so sweeeet #thank you anon #aaron hotch x reader #hotch x y/n #hotch drabble #hotch blurb #domestic hotch #found family #reader x hotch