#observe the fabulous art

[chipou-art]

Summer sketchbook tour, part 2! 🌞🏖️

Lately, I’m trying to get better at drawing faces and avoid same face syndrome. I can confirm that drawing your favourite characters do help with that! It’s a very good exercise when you easily have crushes on fictional characters like me, heehee! 🤭😳

I hope you’ll enjoy those drawings as much as I do, posting my sketchbook pages here makes me more confident in my art 💗

#as always there is gonna be a LOT of tags LMAO #my art #art #artists on tumblr #sketchbook #sketchdump #traditional art #my ocs #the blues brothers #fanart #darth vader #ragnar lothbrok #watercolor #observational art #observation #alan mr fabulous rubin #murphy dunne #blue lou marini #blacklist #lost #elwood blues

[runningwithscizzorz]

HOW DO YOU DRAW FACES??!?! seriously, everything about your art is pure eyecandy, I love it SO MUCH, but faces. YOUR FACES. the faces are perfect. they capture every detail. they feel so human. so expressive. i would love to know how you draw/structure your faces because it's the biggest thing i'd like to improve on with my art!

Art is a translation of how you perceive the world. Art is both extremely watered down and painfully vulnerable with emotions. The artist translates the world, and people translate the art. Lots of art gets lost in translation. My goal is to make people read my art regardless of my language. I want my art to speak louder than my simple cluttered words could.

How can you read a face with no words? You have to find your own way to do that, but here’s a very rough way of how I read people and attempt to translate their world into mine.

One practice is drawing straight from a reference. I've been watching TLOU, which has some of the best acting ever and is perfect for screenshotting specific moments to recreate. Pulling scenes from episode five, I stretch and amplify the facial features to properly read their emotions in my style, ex, making Ellie and Sam's eyes bigger to amplify their youth, smoothing out facial wrinkles for simplicity, and (my favorite) exaggerating the mouths so they emote louder.

Second method is feeling how your face moves. Ethan Becker on YouTube explains it better (go watch all his videos) of how to feel and observe how your face compresses and works with different features to properly express emotions. Using your own face as a stencil to understand how your muscle and jaw work is both simple, and always accessible for artist reference.

An example of how I break down bits of a chapter into chunks for each panel while still attempting for it to run smoothly like the writing. Honestly, a lot of this part rides on wanting to do the author justice for their fabulous work. You want to show them how much their work affected you and why it’s totally worth it to draw their stories.

Some examples of scenes from media (that almost made me cry) and how I translate and manipulate it into my style. This is why I redraw scenes from movies so often, not only is it fun and easy, but it’s a great way of studying the masters

But, to actually answer your question, I think the reason my drawings are so expressive to you is because I still follow somewhat typical human anatomy while still being cartoony enough to break the uncanny valley and create an aesthetically pleasing style. I’m still practicing and studying everyday to get better. You must work as much as possible to attempt to properly translate the world.

#asks #tlou #ellie tlou #joel tlou #art tutorial #liseysart

[khristie16]

Your daddy Carlos paid for your visit to Paris as a birthday present for you and in order to make it better, he travels to you to show a side of himself not many people know

Warnings: just sweet asf

Based on this request ^^ : Meow

I’ll pick you up at seven at your place;)

You just were at your solo trip to Paris to explore the city you’ve always wanted since you were a kid. And today you were supposed to see your boyfriend. Just last week you had your birthday and Carlos made you decide on what you wanted for the gift. You liked jewelry and beautiful piece of clothes but you were really feeling to go travelling instead and that is why you’re right now in a fancy hotel at 15 place Vendôme.

Carlos wanted to spend your birthday with you and had a nice plan to visit you on your last two days to enjoy the time together.

You’ve put the last pieces to your fabulous outfit and waited for Carlos to arrive, already excited about what he planned for the two of you. You cannot wait much longer to see his beautiful big brown eyes and get lost in the warmth of them, as now when you finally meeting him in front of his car waiting for you. You kissed softly as he had a hold on you laying his hand on your waist to keep you close to him. You chuckled at his actions scratching your nails on the back of his neck. He groaned in response and closed his eyes.

“I missed you”

You smile and plant a kiss on his right cheek.

“Me too”

Smile was the first thing he saw after opening his eyes again and the light sparkled in them it warmed your heart.

“Let’s go”

Carlos opened the doors for you to hop in and be excited about what’s to come.

After few minutes the engine turned down and it made you wonder why you’re stopping. You turned your head to your handsome boyfriend to get some answers.

He was already smiling. “We’re here already”

The air outside was getting colder with each passing second as it was early spring. You hugged your arms and looked around. The moment you realised where he took you, he was already reading your mind and responding to you.

“I hope you haven’t been there yet?”

You shook your head with a smile on your lit up face.

Goosebumps on your skin disappeared the minute you went inside and walked together through the security X-ray.

“I didn’t know you liked art?”

A soft smile on his face and eyes on the floor signalled you it was not something he talks about much and your curiosity with this fact only grew. He had to chuckle to see you that way because he loved your curious nature.

“I’ve actually studied Art History back in home”

Your mouth fell open as you couldn’t put Carlos and Art together, but you closed it as soon as it opened so he doesn’t feel bad he told you. He just shook his head and shrugged.

“Let me show it to you my way”

Light beautiful decorations all around the space you two were right now standing in made you feel like you’re breathing a different type of air in here and lift you up with a different energy you immediately sensed all the possible symbolisms and meaning displayed on the canvas.

“That’s Luig Loir”

He nodded towards the painting on his right.

“Loir was a master of capturing everyday scenes with a touch of enchantment. Notice how his use of vibrant colors and soft brushstrokes brings life to the bustling streets and tranquil landscapes.”

You take a look properly on the painting and try to concentrate on those colors and contrast they give. You tilt your head slightly to see more.

“Do you like it?”

He suddenly asked you which made you frown and wonder where the urgency came from. When you looked at him you saw a slight worry on his face.

“Y-yes of course! It’s a masterpiece.”

You’ve heard a light sigh left his lips and his composure relaxed a bit.

“Whether it's a bustling Parisian street corner or a peaceful countryside vista, his attention to detail draws you into it and you can see how effortlessly he worked with lights and shadows”

You cannot hold back yourself to observe Carlos instead because you’ve never seen him like this. It made you feel intrigued?

“Does it make you feel anything ?”

Answer came to your conscious as you narrowed your eyes some more back on the painting.

“It all look so slow and simple. I feel kinda nostalgic to be honest.”

With the last words you snapped to him as if waiting to be corrected from your teacher. He smirked a little and nodded. You felt immense sense of pride filling your veins and you had to blush for yourself. Damn this guy is so much more than he let you know.

“In essence, Luig Loir's style can be described as a harmonious blend of realism and romanticism, capturing the beauty and charm of everyday life with a touch of poetic flair.”

His warm eyes landed on yours with a serious undertone.

“That’s why I like you. You’re like a piece from this old man. Real yet charming as the fairytale itself”

His broad shoulders were now facing you and closing the distance between the two of you. His hands cupped your face. Your eyes on contrary were wide open with so much admiration for this man and for the way he makes you feel. The presence of his eyes on your lips made you lick them.

“No, baby”

Frown appeared on your face, searching for answers in his warm eyes.

“If I kiss you, I won’t be able to stop.”

You bite your lower lip because you’re a brat that likes to play with your daddy Carlos. And he loves it. His low groan and amusement in his voice made you melt and wetter by the passing second as his scent filled your nostrils and let your imagination run wild as all those paintings here.

#carlos sainz fanfic #carlos sainz imagine #carlos sainz smut #carlos sainz x reader #carlos sainz x you

[thecoolblackwaves]

Family Of Nerds: Feanorian Modern AU

(I’m sorry this is somewhat Americanized I just don’t have enough knowledge about anywhere else to make those allusions) (Also please reblog with your own headcanons or other thoughts!)

Feanor 

Philologist; studies language history

Often assists at various museums, colleges, archeological sites, etc

Has published several books and given many lectures 

Creates his own languages like Tengwar for fun, also is a hobby blacksmith

Teaches his children many archaic languages no one else speaks and takes his family on "educational" vacations 

Also attends every convention known to man, even ones that have seemingly nothing to do with his own interests, dressed to the nines and spends his time there signing books and debating other people 

Loves his wife just as madly as the day he met her and is ecstatic he married his high school sweetheart

Idolizes his father. Would have done great following his political career if he hadn't "ruined" his public image by becoming a teen parent, ultimately feels he's made the right decisions for his life though and is happy with his work

Rivalry with Fingolfin over who can host the best dinner party (and you best believe he wears smart-ass punny aprons while cooking a six course meal for his guests)

Nerdanel 

Professional sculptor and multimedia artist

Teaches classes at an arts college 

Is known to eat the fruit out of the bowls her students are sketching when no one is looking

Cannot cook to save her life 

Enthusiastically attends every possible event in her family’s calendar no matter the weather or lack of skill at a toddler dance recital 

Dresses in a fabulously bohemian eccentric artist way; stole the show when she attended the Grammys with Makalaure and has been featured in several fashion magazines 

Carries all sorts of art supplies and seemingly random tools in her purse at all times, including a chisel, googly eyes, edible glitter, a bajillion hair ties, DW40, and peanut M&Ms

Has a calm, wise disposition that belies her truly chaotic nature

Often looked to for advice from her students and children and will only pull your leg when she thinks you’re being stupid 

Does give genuinely good advice though, mostly because she is uncanny in her ability to read people and observe subtle hints 

Maitimo

Studied communications, currently working as his father’s apprentice but hopes to find a position as a public relations specialist 

Uses his intimidating stature and loud, deep voice to his advantage as needed

Was born while his parents were teenagers and still living with their families, he remembers watching cartoons with Grandpa Finwe and being babysat by his uncles 

Also attended his mother’s graduation from art school as a small child and clapped until his little hands hurt 

Is painfully aware of how all his younger brothers look up to him - literally - and sometimes struggles with the pressures of setting a good example, though he does much better than he realizes 

Drinks his coffee from a mug that reads “don’t make this ginger snap” (Nerdanel has a matching one)

The gayest gay to ever gay, informs everyone of this via cheesy tee shirts gifted from his brothers and cousins 

Drives a minivan, claims he chose it because it was the only car that would fit his legs and not because he can haul his brothers around in it 

Frequently complains about missing the technology of his childhood but resents being called a millennial 

Makalaure 

Grammy award winning artist and composer

Created the score for a recent movie that bloomed his popularity and brought him to the limelight 

Has a Youtube channel with several music videos he definitely didn’t blackmail his family into filming with him 

Also performed on Broadway once and will not let you forget it 

Used to skip school to busk in the train station and once caught his math teacher also skipping school 

Extremely popular with interviewers, camera crew, and other industry specialists for his kindness and crazy stories about his family 

Donates large amounts of his royalties to children’s hospitals and other charities 

Used to hog the bathroom in the mornings to put on makeup and style his hair 

Practices Beyonce dance routines in the mirror, has convinced Curufin to do them with him before 

Spent a semester studying in Sydney, Australia and fainted after encountering a large spider in his dorm room 

Tyelkormo

Forest ranger at a National Park 

Works at outdoor summer camps every year, all the children love him and his giant fluffy dog

Also volunteers at animal shelters and the wildlife rehabilitation center at the National Park 

Creatine for breakfast, lunch, and dinner; drinks so much milk Nerdanel used to tell him it was why his hair was white 

Wakes up at 5 in the morning to exercise (disgusting)

Got a long bow for Christmas one year (the note said Santa but he knows it was his mom) and practices in the backyard by shooting at Amrod’s pumpkins 

Metalhead, particularly likes viking metal and Nordic black metal 

Made Huan his own battle vest complete with dog-themed patches such as “Bad to the Bone” and “No Leashes No Masters” 

Tells the most terrible jokes you’ve ever heard then laughs like a seagull vomiting up a stolen bag of Doritos 

Extremely loyal to his family, sometimes to a fault 

Carnistar

Professional business accountant 

Also does taxes as a side hustle because “it’s so easy” 

Is obsessed with Oreos but will not admit it because of his brother's teasing about "Moryo's Oreos" 

Obligatory family goth and not ashamed of it 

Started mending his hand-me-down clothes as a necessity and got into sewing, now makes fantastic garments for his family and friends to wear 

Halloween is the only valid holiday, he spends the entire year making his costume (it’s usually a vampire or some fandom character)

Stays up until 3am gaming on a PC he and Feanor built together one summer, favorite game is currently Balder’s Gate 

Had to take speech therapy as a child and later some anger management classes.... because he got too good at expressing himself

Curufin

Silversmith and jewelry maker 

Specializes in accessories for ballet dancers and other performers 

Ballet dancer since he was young, never succeeded with a professional career but still practices daily and chose his specialty to remain part of the scene 

Holds a serious grudge against certain critics that failed his entry to ballet academy (will not sell his products to them or their schools)

Always looking for new business opportunities, not always in the most honest of ways 

Struggles with self esteem issues 

Has several cats and claims they betray him when they snuggle with Huan but secretly finds it adorable 

Frequently collaborates with Caranthir to make elaborate costumes just for the fun of it 

Made a tiara for his favorite cat, Princess Paws

Would sleep until four in the afternoon if you let him (or if Princess Paws didn’t wake him up screaming for food)

Amrod

Gardening Club President at his school 

Started a trade and barter farmers market after school to reduce waste and share the bounty of his and fellow club member’s gardens 

Frequently tries to convince his parents to turn their property into a “self sufficient homestead”, leaves pamphlets and pictures of adorable baby animals lying around the house 

Enlisted the help of his twin and Maitimo to build a chicken coop, forgot to ask Feanor’s permission first 

Demands payment in the form of fresh caught fish or deer jerky for the use of his gourds in Tyelko’s target practice 

Has definitely switched places with Amros to escape trouble or science tests 

Often neglects his homework for pursuits he feels are more important, will only do it without complaint when Carnistar tells him to 

Had eyes for the cool-looking red glow on the stove as a child and was banned from the kitchen for most of his adolescence 

Is generally a persistent and stubborn person (wonder where he got it from)

Amros 

Amateur photographer with an instagram following nearing one million 

Account consists of 95% nature photography and 5% “The Adventures of Huan and Princess Paws” as he follows them around the back yard 

Takes all of Makalaure’s headshots and creates his album covers, also photographs Curufin’s jewelry to upload to his retail website 

“Borrows” Carnistar’s prized PC to upload and edit his photos 

Conspired with Amrod to convince their elementary school classmates they were secretly Fred and George Weasley disguised as Muggles, ultimately failed because someone thought their accents “just sounded like they were copying Peppa Pig”

Still pulls out his British accent on occasion when someone needs cheering up 

Inherited Nerdanel’s keen observation skills, mostly uses them to blackmail his brothers into doing his chores 

But also gives the most amazing presents because he knows exactly what everyone truly wants 

#tolkien #the silm fandom #silmarillion #maitimo #russandol #feanorians #feanor #nerdanel #maglor #makalaure #tyelkormo #celegorm #carnistir #caranthir #curufin #amrod #amros #ambarussa #headcanon #my works #family of nerds

[mrs-snape5984]

“I think, I know just what you’re longing for…”

“I may be undone, but nothing seems to undo you…” (“My Thieving Heart” by Sivert Høyem feat. Marie Munroe)

Wow…I’m crawling back to the surface of tumblr, coming from hell. My last crash has been one of the worst so far…I couldn’t stand up, I couldn’t get myself something to drink, I couldn’t eat, I wasn’t even capable of thinking in a proper way. Since I couldn’t even type anymore, I had to ask my sweet friend @vulnus-sanare to help me out by sending messages to some of my friends. I didn’t mean to make anyone feel worried about me, so please forgive me for my long silence.

This beautiful artwork, which I’ve requested from my lovely friend @opalchalice, is based on a dream, which I’ve had some weeks ago. Lia, I’m sorry for the delay, but I wanted to transform my dream into a short one-shot fiction to honour your fabulous work the way, it deserves to be seen. You know, that I’m a fan of your art, my dear….but this one…damn, Lia! You overwhelmed me with this stunning piece of art! Thank you so much for your understanding of my ideas. I’m beyond grateful for our verbal exchanges and I’m proud to call you my friend. You’re so talented and kind, Lia. Please…never change!

Now…back to my dream. Since I’m struggling immensely with brain fog, due to my disease ME/CFS, I noticed that my ability to write seems to fade away. This isn’t my best work and I’m very aware of this fact…so please keep in mind, that I’ve written this under the torture of my sickness and be gentle with me.

TW: smut and a slight mention of lactation kink…well…I leave it like that. 😅

🔞 🚫mdni 🔥💦 (1012 words)

More to love

It was midnight. From afar Julia could hear the faint tintinnabulation of the church tower bells…ringing once…and her bare feet touched the cold grass beneath herself. Twice…and she felt a cold breeze caressing her blushing cheeks. Tilting her head back, Julia closed her eyes and listened to the remaining ten strikes of the clock tower. Her nightdress was billowing in the wind, sending shivers down her spine.

Suddenly Julia sensed some arms coming from behind, tightly wrapped around her waist, when she was pulled back against a tall presence. A surprised gasp left her lips, but the familiar personal scent of her husband soothed her nerves immediately. “What are you doing here alone in the middle of the night, Jules?” Even after so many years, the deep voice of Julia’s husband caused a certain weakness to her knees. Severus‘ hot breath tickled the soft spot behind her ear, leaving goosebumps all over her alabaster skin. „You‘ll catch a cold, darling,” he murmured lovingly, burying his face in Julia’s wild curls. “Mmmh…so divine…,” she heard him whispering hoarsely, his voice was dripping with desire.

Severus’ hands roamed over her tummy, clenching the satiny fabrics of her nightdress in his lustful grasp. “Severus…,” she breathed, pressing her back against his chest. “…this isn’t the right pl…,” but one of his hands silenced her resolutely, whilst his other hand passed the plunging neckline of her nightdress, massaging her voluptuous bosom with a firm grip. “Shhh…stand still and be quiet, Jules,” Severus urged her, playfully pinching her erected nipples, causing a muffled whimper from his wife.

Suddenly, Julia felt two more hands grazing over her bare legs and her eyes widened in disbelief when she perceived another man kneeling beside her, shoving her nightgown up to her waist. But this wasn’t just any man, who touched her so intimately! The silky raven hair…the adorably crooked nose…and oh, those mesmerising obsidian eyes! She didn’t understand how this was even possible, but the man on his knees was no one other than a second version of her very own husband…observing her reactions with a seductive smile on his lips.

Julia couldn’t suppress a guttural moan escaping her lips…smothered by Severus’ hand on her mouth, when bold fingertips brushed against the edge of her panties…pulling them aside in a swift move. Another groan found its way up her throat as soon as a finger dipped into her moist depths. “Gods, you’re already so wet for us, Julia,” the deep voice of her husband cut the silence of the night, a subtle hint of mockery seemed to be layered underneath the lecherous tone of his words.

“Be a good girl and spread your legs for us, Jules,” Severus murmured close to her ear, still holding her in place from behind her back. His hand released her mouth…only to be replaced by his arm, tightly wrapped around her neck. The tickling sensation of Severus’ breath on her delicate skin sent goosebumps all over her body, which didn’t stay unnoticed by him. His amused chuckle echoed through the air, only to be followed by a strict demand: “Wider, Julia! We know, you could never get enough of us…”

Severus’ commanding tone and the mysterious situation left her speechless and aroused. The wetness between her thighs glistened in the moonlight, causing a never known neediness to creep up inside herself.

“Damn…you’re dripping already,” Severus teased her from his kneeling position, before his thumb started to draw circles on her throbbing clit, causing her to moan in delight. “Just give in and enjoy the magic, Jules…,” his dark voice growled and Julia couldn’t make out, who of them said that. The confusion mixed with her growing excitement made her feel slightly light-headed. Two fingers entered her moist entrance, adding a new layer of greediness to her already tense body. While her husband held her in place, his magical likeness drove the redhead crazy with the gentle and yet determined play of his digits….fingering her deliberately slowly…teasing her clit with his thumb until she begged for more. “Oh, gosh….yes! Please, Severus….fuck me! I’m begging you,” Julia whimpered desperately, almost crying from this lustful torture.

Suddenly a third Severus joined the scene. Julia noticed how good he looked with his man bun, a cheeky strand of hair falling over his eye, just like she had seen it countless times before, when her husband was focused on brewing his potions. His voice sounded so mockingly when he approached her, pinching her hardened nipples through the silky fabrics of her nightgown. “Well, well…what do we have here?,” he groaned huskily before he licked over the delicate skin on Julia’s neck. “Damn, you’re truly insatiable, Jules…but so am I!” Ripping off her dress, Severus revealed Julia’s soft, full breasts and bit his bottom lip in anticipation. “Fuck, Jules…you know, what I want…,” he murmured under his breath before his mouth found its destination…embracing her stiffened nipple with hungry eager. “Let me be your good boy, Jules…,” Severus mumbled before he started to suckle greedily until a small trace of milk drooled from the corner of his mouth…causing her legs to tremble.

“Aah! Severus…yes…do with me whatever you want…,” she whimpered needily, closing her eyes in pleasure.

“Oh no, Jules…open your eyes, my darling,” her husband growled from behind her back. “You will watch us, sweetheart…we want you to see everything, what we’re doing with you…and you will enjoy the view until you’re coming undone.” Julia couldn’t do anything else than nodding obediently, when Severus held her in place for his companions…pressing his hard cock against her back….

Suddenly Julia woke up from her naughty dream, with a loud gasp escaping from her mouth. Blinking rapidly, she looked at her familiar surroundings, feeling the soft surface of the bedsheets beneath her bare skin. Her gaze fell on her peacefully sleeping husband on the other side of the bed. Tenderly Julia bent over to place a little kiss on Severus’ adorably crooked nose…before she slipped underneath the covers to worship him the way, he deserved to be treated…..

🖤Severus & Julia🖤

🖤Sevy & Jules🖤

#Severus x Julia #Sevy x Jules #Severus x OC #my dream #transformed into an one shot fic #commissioning artwork is my goddamn coping mechanism #this is my red carpet for all the artists of snape fandom #fuck me/cfs #severus snape #i love snape #snape #i love severus #pro snape #snape love #pro severus snape #snape content #severus snape art #severus snape fan art #severus fanart #severus snape fanfiction #snart #severus snape fandom #snape art #me/cfs #severus snape smut #snape smut #smut

[wannaeatramyeon]

Is this how you do it- (Not a frequent tumblr user so) Anyways I'm in love with your writing and always look forward to reading new content from you everytime I open this app it's fabulous tbh. On a side note, I wanted to request the lookism guys with a s/o who loves to draw, is generally into art and just lives a normal life like going to college, travelling by the metro, staying up till 3 am to finish art school assignments or just homework you know. I'd love it if you include gun but its totally upto you. Lastly I say it again you're my favorite account on here so I'll always support you btw lmao😭😭😭

Thank you so much for sending in the ask and apologies again (and to all the current requests...) on how long it is taking! AHHHHHH you are so sweet!! THANK YOU FOR THE SUPPORT and for giving the idea for another soft Gun!

Gun Park x Reader: Masterpiece

Gun with art student!reader. You're creating your final assignment.

"What's this piece?"

"Wait and see."

Gun watches you move the oversized blank canvas, rearranging your paints and material. Preparing your little corner of his penthouse. Your studio, you call it. A spot he has cleared aside for you when you gasped at the lighting one afternoon.

Between your art assignments and Gun's job, any free time you have together is sparse - you both take what you can. A call here or there, sporadic messages, infrequent dates if both your schedule allows.

It only made sense for you to move in, to make it easier to steal time together.

Still, your final project looms on the horizon. You need to focus your time and energy on this for now.

Regrettably.

Because as Gun sits and watches you, tie hanging loose, top shirt buttons undone, hair casual and flopping over his eye, you think he looks good enough to eat.

Focus. You shake your head, redoubling your efforts to concentrate. Strike while the iron is hot; you're inspired right now and you don't want to fail an assignment due to an art block. Again.

Gun stays quiet as he observes you. Gracefully moving, pencil between deft fingers, sketching out your ideas.

There's a lot of things that Gun Park can do, but he knows he can't do this. His hands are better suited to create and mould other sort of masterpieces.

His eyes watch you as much as they do your hand. The crease between your brows as you work out the angle, nose wrinkling when it doesn't quite work out how you imagine. Tongue out in concentration, hair up in a bun and wispy tendrils caressing your neck.

He is in awe seeing the lines and shapes take form.

.

.

The buzz of Seoul softens at 3am when you finish a few weeks later.

You look proudly at your work. It may be your best one yet.

"Is that me?" Gun takes in the figure you have painted.

Suddenly shy and self-conscious, you nod. It's not the first one you've created of your boyfriend but it's the first one that he has seen more than a passing glimpse of.

Gun blinks at the canvas. Is that how you see him?

He studies the angle of the face, scar softened in shades of pink between eyes that should be demonic. Recognises himself in the pose, odd that it is comforting and protective rather than intimidating. The lighter shades of your paint strokes illuminates, frames him like a halo.

Gun looks at the painting and feels your love poured into it.

It's him all at once and not at all. At least not in the way anyone else could possibly see him.

"It's a masterpiece," he kisses you softly as you smile against his lips, "And you're mine."

#lookism #lookism x reader #lookism headcanons #lookism hc #lookism fic #lookism webtoon #lookism manhwa #gun park #gun park x reader #park jonggun x reader #park jonggun #wannaeatramyeon

[dduane]

I want to mention that this one channel recapping PICARD on YT does a up/down for most of the recap, but at the end, they do random Easter eggs/this-is-cool notes under the title "Cetacean Observations." Given that you were the one to think of that, I wanted to share that little homage they do.

Thank you kindly... but that idea's not original with me at all! When it appears in my work, it's an homage to Rick Sternbach and Mike Okuda, who pushed for the cetaceans (and the Ops section they manage) to be included in the ST:TNG Technical Manual.

(Rick's an old friend of mine, and did some fabulous art of spacegoing dolphins, back in the day.)

...See this link for more info on Cetacean Ops' history.

#Star Trek #Cetacean Ops #Picard #Star Trek: Picard

[lets-try-some-writing]

I love what your doing with your writing and how your properly fleshing out the bots and legit doing fabulous world lore. I’m so sick of TF media ether making bots dumb and humans superior or just really missing out on the content they could get heck we have barely seen cybertronian and there is a hell of a lot of potential that could be introduced e.g. cybertronian culture.

In programs such as RID other then it’s horrendous art style and writing it really just ruins all characters. I saw you mention it the other day and I wholeheartedly agree. I wish we got to see a trope of humans realising how utterly fucked they are when these supposedly gentle giants are actual observant as fuck and can can fuck them up and are not just robots. I don’t know if you’ve seen that’s there’s going to be a show that’s pre war 👀 might see some Young Orion and Megatron.

Keep up your lovely writing and stay hydrated.

YOU GET IT.

You have my complete and total agreement on this front. I am SICK of the ALIENS FROM SPACE WHO ARE FUNCTIONALLY IMMORTAL being treated like children or otherwise being ignored in modern TF media. It's driving me mad. Humans aint all that special in comparison to them. I came for the robots, not the squishies.

I heard about the upcoming show. Honestly, I am not too hopeful. ROTB wasn't all that good. Too much human and TERRIBLE writing. But I want to hope that sometime in the near future SOMEONE will make a good TF show.

No I am not particularly fond of Earthspark. Again, too much emphasis on the squishies. Also Optimus looks weird, almost like he got his Botox botched up.

But yes, I stand with you on this front. I will do my best to stay healthy to continue to write for yall :)

#lets try some writing mumbles #transformers #maccadam

[frostycatblr-fandom-files]

I See You : Crosshair x Fem!Reader

Warnings and Information: Going with a 13+ rating just on account of language in the form of Star Wars and real-world swearing, just to be cautious. Self-indulgent modern AU fic, but you can read it too. This is practice for Crosshair's character as well as something mildly therapeutic. I'm… fine, but not fabulous, y'know? Job hunting is not exactly fun, so I'm just writing out my frustrations. How many Clone cameos can I fit in here? We'll find out together. They're not dead, what are you talking about? Empire gets compared to any one of those multimillion-dollar companies that treat you like shit no matter how good of a worker you are with Palp as the soul-sucking CEO in modernized terms. Rare fic without minor instances of Mando'a, but plenty of my stylistic and narrative use of italics. Minor proofreading. 

Word-count: 4,237

The phone rings. You put it up to your ear so fast you nearly drop your cell in your haste to answer, not even looking at the screen. You should've. It would have saved you time, the realization that these people were not reaching out to get back to you about your job application. You hang up halfway into the pitch about repairing damaged products you don't even own. 

The lid slams to the washing machine."Oh, fuck me!" you yell, groaning loudly.

You're of two minds; be consumed with your frustrations and take it out on the washing machine, or just clean the paint stains out with your tears. You're sure that'll work just as well as the detergent in order to get out that large smear of phthalo blue. Except, it won't, and the sooner you get this load started, the less time the paint has to set and stain. The lid is lifted.

Footfall softer than falling snow, Crosshair makes his way in from some other part of the shared house, his expression passive as he observes you dunking fistfuls of dirty clothing into the wash-drum. "Is that an invitation or a request?" He at least waited to make his remark until he was certain you noticed him and gave him a trademark "what the kriff do you want?" sort of look. 

Knuckles pale as you grip the lip of the machine with one hand. "I'm not in the mood for your-" 

"No; I know you're not." Crosshair interrupts you. "But I came to see if you hurt yourself, mostly." 

"I'm fine." you snarl, slam-dunking the last of the clothing from the hamper anchored against your hip. "I slammed the lid." A neat brow buckles just a fraction, all the response you get as you push your way past him, returning to the small office that served as your art studio in this house. You're really not in the mood. You were a whirlwind of emotion, most of it negative. 

You can feel his eyes from the doorway, trained on the back of your neck as you work. Gosh you made such a mess, you shouldn't have used so much paint thinner. "Go away, Cross. I need to clean up my easel and see if I can't salvage this portrait of…" You stop, breath hitching when you hear Crosshair clear his throat softly. He's directly behind you now, his voice taking on a slightly serpentine quality in its softness.

"Your clean shirt's on backwards, doll." 

You shake your head, stubbornly refusing to believe him. "Nice try. Not while my hands are dirty. Tell me again once I get this mess cleaned up." 

Wordlessly, Crosshair plucks the runny canvas from its easel and makes sure not to take it beyond the edge of the tarp. Hunter would be disappointed to find a mess on the beautiful hardwood floors so soon after he's treated them. And you'd be disappointed with yourself to give a portrait to an important friend in its current state. What should have been beautiful, angular and geometric lines are little more than a royal mess.

"Just go ahead and trash it for me…" 

The same brow arches. "Why?" 

"Because I don't want to give Hardcase a painting that looks like that..." you reply, huffing in your disappointment and frustration that you'd gotten so sloppy with your oils. "I said his portrait would be perfect practice for crisp, angular forms with that beautiful pop of blue from his tattoo and this is… far from it." 

Your housemate looks at you with mild surprise. As far as mild surprise goes for Crosshair, anyhow. He wouldn't look quite so aghast like Wrecker, or frown quite so deeply as Echo. 

"Who are you and what have you done to the Bob Rossified [____] we know and admire? What happened to the happy accidents?" Ordinarily, the comparison to the famous art instructor and television host would have made your face burn brighter than your favorite brand of alizarin crimson paint. 

Instead, you scoff at him. "Very funny..." 

"I'm serious." Crosshair insists, setting the portrait back on the easel once you've wiped it down, "What's the matter?" 

You shouldn't snap at him, but your mouth just runs away from you. "I thought I got a call back from the place I applied to. I was wrong! It was some damn spam call, and I don't know if I'm relieved or disappointed. Okay? Happy now?" 

The palms of his hands flash in a surrendering fashion to you before he speaks. "I'd say you're more angry than disappointed." Sighing, you take your cleaning rag and do Crosshair a favor by removing the thinned, blue oil paint from his hands after he notices it himself. "Kriff. Sorry." 

Gently, you assure him you'll take care of it. That it's no trouble. That he's right, after some thought, "I guess… I am angry. All these places that are supposedly so kriffing desperate for employees sure take their damn sweet time. Or they seem to be hiring everyone but you. It makes me feel… invisible. They should have called me by now! Right…?" Crosshair looks at the calendar tacked to the wall of your little studio, where it's written in your favorite color the day you applied to the art supply store. They definitely should have by this point, he agrees. 

"Have they reached out by email?" he asks gently, watching as you take that same cleaning cloth and gingerly wipe down the bottom edge of the canvas. He's convinced you for the time being not to break it over your knee and pitch it into the curbside bin until you at least give yourself an hour away from your brushes to think it over. 

You shake your head, "I've been checking every day. Nothing." You now wash your brushes before the paint gums up the bristles, at least. And then you promise you'll lay aside your brushes and go grab a bite to eat with him. "And most places these days, they're likely to actually trash your résumé if you call them to 'follow up' on your application process. That old piece of unsolicited advice needs to die out, pronto. Just because it worked for- for- Agatha and her generation, doesn't mean it works for mine!" 

Crosshair snorts. 

"What?" 

"Agatha?"

"Shut up… I could have gone with Karen and been unoriginal." you grumble, gingerly fixing the arrangement of your fan brush. 

Crosshair retorts sarcastically, giving you a playful smirk. "The 1930s called, they'd like to know why you're using such a dated name." Ordinarily, Crosshair stays out of your hair (and your studio) by never bothering you as you work, but it's clear that he's trying to cheer you up, even a little. 

"Unless the 1930s is offering me a job," you start, plucking the thin script brush from his dexterous fingers just as he begins to twirl it, "it better not bother me by calling…" 

"The art store will call you eventually, I'm sure…" he tells you, the grim frown matching your souring expression. "You love art. You're a creative person. What better person to work at a place like that than someone who could practically recite an episode of The Joy of Painting in her sleep?" You point out, playfully, that Tech could recite an episode of Painting in his sleep just as easily as you. But at least you crack a smile as you do so, so he lets it slide. "Okay, you and my brother." Cross concedes, thinking back to the time the household decided to try a "painting party" to break up the seasonal gloom last December. "Maybe Hardcase and Wrecker too, if the pocket squirrels make an appearance." 

Here, you finally chuckle. "Forgetting Fives would be criminal. Or how concentrated Dogma gets." 

Cross just nods agreeably, hoping to keep a good thing going. "I wouldn't dare. My point is, you'd be amazing at an art store. They'd be lucky to have a gal like you who gives a kriff about art working for them." 

You flash Crosshair a confused and crooked smile as you set down the last of your brushes and tighten the last twist-cap on your tube of oil-based paints. "You think so?" You're surprised how… sincere Crosshair sounds. You had to do a little metaphorical arm twisting just to get him to join you when the only spot left in the living room was a seat on the couch next to Rex. 

Cross just nods decidedly. "C'mon. Let's grab a burger or something. My treat." A burger sounds great, you tell him, fixing your shirt so it's not on backwards before you stroll out the door.

Maker above, did he really mean his treat. Crosshair took you both down to the best burger joint in the city, where the two of you ate your respective orders and split a carton of fries with the house seasoning and plenty of salt. 

"Oooh, kriff me…" you moaned blissfully, sucking your fingers clean of the granules of salt and seasoning, "these fries hit the spot every time." They're probably your favorite thing here, honestly. Perfect amount of crispness, balanced flavor, and hot; never ever tepid or cold. Cross snags a few more fries from the carton before nudging it your way, inviting you to polish off the rest. "You don't want any more?" you ask, curious. "There's still plenty in there to share." 

He offers a lazy shrug, "I'll think about it." He slips his phone from his pocket when he hears a ping, and he hums thoughtfully after reading the message. "... Think I should let Wrecker find out on his own that he's home alone?" You can only shake your head disapprovingly of the wry smile, mouth too full of food to chastise him. While Wrecker and Crosshair weren't afraid of messing around with one another, you worried about it getting out of hand on occasion. "Fine. I'll let him know we're not home so the big guy doesn't worry, doll. In fact…" 

Cross types down a message much longer than a simple courtesy "we're not home" text, and then cleans up the discarded burger wrappers and straw sleeves, snagging a few more fries once you say you can't possibly eat another bite. "Good. Not a lot of fun when you go shopping hungry." 

"Didn't we just make a grocery run two days ago?" Crosshair shakes his head, then pitches everything into the large garbage receptacle as you grab your things. "Not that kind of shopping then." you determine. There were a lot of possible options, but you didn't have to slog through another massive grocery list, at least. "Where are we going?" 

"You'll see." Crosshair replies simply, holding the door for you to follow after as he steps into the parking lot. "I had an idea." Now you really wonder where you're going, or what he has planned. Crosshair and spontaneity get along about as well as a Tooka and bathwater, sometimes. 

You have to remind yourself that Crosshair wasn't a complete stick in the mud all the time, and when you first met him, he was still working for the same company that his other brothers had quit once they found out what kind of person the man who ran this multimillion company turned out to be. 

First found himself working under some bloke named Edmon down the managerial line, before he was arrested for embezzlement. Then a real asswipe of a superior named Nolan took over, and after someone got hurt really badly on a "company retreat" and Nolan refused to call for an ambulance, Crosshair finally came to his senses about the place. 

They don't give a shit about how loyal of a worker you are, just like Hunter, Wrecker, Tech and Echo warned him. They were right all along. 

You thought you mattered to us? Please… Someone younger and desperate enough will come in and take your place if we feed them enough honeyed lies!

So Cross stole Nolan's car and drove himself and the injured coworker down to a hospital two hours away from the company retreat. Crosshair had known the guy for less than 24 hours (or something like that), but Mayday's injury helped Cross come to realize that the company was a sinking ship. So he got them both out. Now, Mayday and Cross spend every Sunday night checking in on each other. Cross works odd jobs from home, mostly, and Mayday… Well he was content with not being employed for a while. 

The longer Crosshair has been living at home with his brothers again, the more he's starting to get (some of) his old sense of self back. He's no longer couch surfing because he didn't want to deal with his brothers fussing over his choice to remain with the company. 

He was never, ever kicked out. 

Cross had always been welcome to come back home, with a spare key tucked under the welcome mat if he ever needed it. 

You'd been the one to find him letting himself into the house at three in the morning after Mayday talked Cross into going and seeing his brothers. You were "leasing" a room from the brothers at the time, and they had let you know the deal about Crosshair. "Please don't call the police if you ever find someone who's just… let himself into the house. That's our brother. We've been worried about him. He's made choices we don't agree with, but he's still our brother. We care about him." 

Of course, Cross had no warning about you, but he eventually warmed up to you in time after you had practically broken Hunter's door off its hinges to let him know that Cross was here and he was tackled into the coffee table by the biggest of his brothers in Wrecker's excitement.

That spare key under the welcome mat now sits on your ring of keys, which you fiddle with in your hands the longer you and Crosshair drive through the city. 

"Isn't this the way downtown?" 

"Mhm." 

"Still won't give me a hint, Cross?" 

"No." he chuckles, pulling the steering wheel into a smooth left turn. "You'll see soon enough, doll."

He's taken you to the art store, to your surprise. The one you applied to. Not that specific location you applied to in town, thank the Maker, but the chain, rather. "I haven't been to one of these places in years…" Cross admits softly as he pulls himself out of the car. "Figured while we were out of the house, we'd stop by." 

"How come?" you ask. You'd recently just bought a bunch of paint, so it's not like you needed anything in particular, really, maybe just wanted… There was one particularly pricey art supply you've had your eye on and lusting after for a while now, but given your current unemployment status, you're really trying to control your spending. "You got a project in mind, or somethin', Cross?" 

Shoulders bounce. "Not really." 

"So… what are we doing here?" 

"Looking." he declares, steering you into the store by your shoulder. "Lookings always free. So is anything you can apply the five-finger disco-"

"Cross!" 

"I'm kidding." he declares semi-defensively, laughing at the expression on your face. "C'mon, doll, you know I'm kidding. Hard to smuggle out a whole canvas or large pack of… whaddya call those markers? Cop-picks?" 

Mild mortification turns into bubbly giggles over his decent effort to pronounce the brand name. "Copics. They're called Copic markers. And, they're kind of a scam." He just looks at you with an expression of confusion, so you figure you better explain. "Here, lemme show you." Taking his hand, you lead Cross down to the aisle dedicated to sketch pads, pencils and markers. On the shelves, there's dozens of specialty packs and bundles with quirky names. 

Oceanic, "Beach Blast!", and skin tones are all prominently stocked for the summer. Singleton markers are what you're looking for though. You pluck a Copic Classic from one of the slots, and point to the price sticker. 

A whopping 9.65 credits for a single kriffing marker. "Keep that in mind," you say, as you scoot down the aisle and show him the stock of Ohuhu brand markers, "and compare it to this." You select a similar color to the Classic in the Ohuhu brand, and tap the price sticker. A far more reasonable 2.49 credits.

He scratches the back of his head and neck. "What the kriff…? Is there a significant difference in the brand or something?" He's not exactly all that artistically inclined like you are, so to him, he's not sure if there's anything he's seeing that warrants such sticker-shock for a damn marker. 

"Just the name, really. Copic markers aren't really the end-all-be-all of alcohol-based art markers anymore. Ohuhu branded markers are just as good as Copics, and you get more markers for say… fifty credits in Ohuhus than Copics." you explain, putting the markers back in their respective slots. "I won't bore you with more details that go into it, but that's the bare bones of it." 

Cross nods politely to indicate he's listening to you, lifting a pack of art markers off the display to give it a closer look. Once he has satisfied his curiosity, he puts it back and glances at the different sketch pads. "And these probably tell you what they're best suited for, somewhere." You confirm his thought with a simple nod, tapping one of the sketchbooks. Drawing pad, 64 pages best suited for graphite, marker and colored pencils. 

"They'll often tell you either on the cover, or on an inside page, sometimes. Depends on the brand."

You're getting the feeling that maybe Cross is looking for something after all, but he won't admit it to you. He keeps asking you question after question as you go down each aisle of the store. If there's a section dedicated to a particular craft you're not very familiar with, the two of you just look at the items in silence for the most part. You're (pun not entirely intended) pouring over all the different resin supplies together when Crosshair asks you another question to break the silence. 

"Do you ever show your art online? Some kind of… creative forum, or something? Or is it all just personal projects, like the portraits you've done for Rex and the one you're trying to do for Hardcase?" 

You chew your bottom lip for a moment as you mull over what you'll say. "I… stopped. For a long time." 

"Why?" 

You huff softly, returning one of the unusual resin molds back to the shelf. Little space shuttles and UFOs and such. (Space travel… wouldn't that be something?) "I couldn't get out of the trap of comparing myself to others. I don't know if you could call it imposter syndrome, or anxiety, or what. But I just felt… small. Unnoticed. Invisible." Crosshair frowns, stepping closer to you to allow someone with a large cartful of yarn and children's paint sets squeeze past. She looked like a teacher, gentle and kind and so, so tired. But she gave the pair of you a kind smile as she moved down the aisle and pondered over the different bags of beads one could buy in bulk for crafts. 

"That's the second time you've used that word, [____]." 

You give him an inquisitive look, surprised by his statement. The rare use of your name. "Wh-what word?" 

"Invisible." Crosshair answers, closing that gap between you further when his hand reaches out to cup your face for a moment to scrutinize you, study you. "Is that how you feel?" 

"I guess?" you start, but you think a little more, and you find that, yes, sometimes you do feel invisible. "I feel like… people don't… notice me. Like I'm trying to do it all damn wrong. It's been fucking weeks and places won't call me back! Or I'll post things and it gets a handful of interactions when I put the effort into it, but the shit I don't, that's what fucking blows up and goes viral. I don't fucking get it and I… sometimes I just don't know why I bother trying to apply myself when I'm just… invisible and unseen. This shit sucks, Cross." you admit a little bitterly. You take a deep breath and apologize for swearing in the store, in case the other customers can hear you. You apologize again when the tears begin to prickle and well in the corners of your eyes for getting so worked up, but you're just kind of at a loss for what to do next. You've tried so many things… you just feel like you're talking to yourself because no one will answer your applications. 

Crosshair doesn't say anything for a while, and you don't take it to heart. He's not the chattiest of your housemates, as you learned a long time ago. Sometimes, he did have things to say, but he wanted to take some care with his words if Cross sensed he needed to be a little more delicate. 

And he could be surprisingly good at being delicate when the need arises.

Assuringly, tenderly, Crosshair brushes the tears from your eyes and motions for you to follow him. "I see how much this stuff matters to you. If a stuffy old art store can't see it, just know that I see it. You're not invisible to me, kid. I see you." He's brought you to the paint section, coming to a stop in front of the selection of oil paints in particular. 

"I may not understand all of… this," he gestures broadly at the display of thick, silver-foil tubes of paint, and selects a beautiful cerulean blue off the rack, "but I see how much this means to you. You know your shit. You're getting better all the time. I see that. One day, I think people will see that you know your shit too, and you won't have to feel so invisible anymore. But I see you. Hunter, and Wrecker and Tech, and- your friends see you, doll. You've got such a passion for these things… but you're…" 

You wait for him to continue for a moment, wondering what he wants to say. You decide to hazard a guess when all he can offer is a soft shrug when he finds himself at a loss for words. "Beating myself up, too much…?" You eye the tube of paint in his hands, and wonder for a moment why he's been taking so many things off the shelves only to look at them before putting them back in their proper place. Tech's told you Cross has sharp eyesight, perhaps more on the farsighted side if anything. (Was he more farsighted than you initially assumed?)

"Perhaps." Cross admits, softly juggling the tube in the palm of his hand. "If nothing else I said sticks with you… I just hope that the fact that I see and recognize your efforts does, doll. I know I'm only one person, but sometimes, just hearing it from one person is all we need." 

You feel your cheeks pinch with a little smile hearing him say that. One of those things, one of those times where someone says exactly what you needed to hear when you didn't know you needed to hear it most. "That's… awfully nice of you to say, Crosshair. Thank you…" 

"I should give some credit to Mayday," Crosshair admits with a soft laugh, now pulling a tube of cobalt and ultramarine blue off the shelves, "he's the one who's been encouraging me to… do what feels right, if he thinks I'm feeling a little lost between the odd job. And doing what feels right includes helping you restart that portrait of Hardcase if you really think you need to trash the first one." 

"Is that why you keep grabbing all those different blues?" you giggle, watching him now idly shuffle three different tubes of blue oil paint in his hands. 

Crosshair nodded, making you laugh as he grabbed a fourth tube with a wink. "Yeah. I noticed that you didn't have these blues back at home. And that you use phthalo blue a lot like a certain painter." 

"Are you comparing me to Bob Ross again?" you tease, stifling a laugh as you make your way to the checkout together. You've been away from your brushes for more than an hour at this point, and you're itching to get back to the process of creating while you still have the time to do as much as you want; before you're hopefully contracted with a job offer and have less time to dedicate to such things. 

"Maybe." he purrs mischievously, ringing up each of the paints before carefully wrapping them up in their own separate plastic bags for the trip home. "If I am, do I get to see you paint?" 

You can only shake your head with a gentle laugh. "We'll see, Cross." 

That's good enough for him, he says as you collect the receipt from the self checkout machine, just so long as you promised you'd give yourself a little more grace and faith that soon enough, you'd get the job offer you wanted. 

Some days will be easier than others… but you'll do your best, you promise. You're pretty sure you can manage that.

[Masterlist] [Requests: OPEN]

Tagging: @the-hexfiles who wanted to see some soft!Crosshair <3

Note from Frost: Apparently Mayday got assigned some kind of "Work Dad who takes care of and looks out for the younger employees" vibes while I was writing this self-indulgent (and mildly therapeutic) quick-fic, lmao. And hopefully, this ends up being good practice for soft!Crosshair down the line, as it comes into play in the next long-form series I'm working on. Yeah maybe it's perhaps a tad too out-of-character, but kriff it. 

#frostfics #I See You #star wars #x reader #tbb crosshair x reader #crosshair x reader #crosshair x you #star wars x reader #star wars au #star wars x you #tbb crosshair #crosshair tbb #(and this is where I'm like; do I tag the cameos?) #(kriff it) #tbb hunter #tbb wrecker #tbb tech #tbb echo #tcw fives #tcw dogma #tcw hardcase #tcw captain rex #captain rex #tbb mayday #commander mayday #crosshair fluff #crosshair fanfiction #self indulgent fic #(like very self indulgent; i don't do painting in oils though. but everything else is reflective of irl woes lately. job hunting SUCKS.) #(please wish me luck...)

[theprologues]

Cheers to 2023!

Hi Everyone, 

I hope you are having a happy new year and are warm and safe wherever you are reading this. I want to take this time to talk about my blog and Kaylor as it pertains to this blog in the new year. 

It’s no secret I am bummed that the girls are still having to hide and beard in the public eye. That being said, I understand that no matter what I say or do I have no skin in the game. I can not control other people. Especially not famous millionaires. No matter how upset it makes me or how many times I say ‘I’m disappointed’ by their actions. I can not control their actions. All I can control is how I am, how I blog. I’m not going to pretend like I am morally superior to them by blogging about it. 

I’ve had to re-examine what Kaylor has meant to me in the past year and how I blog about Kaylor. I find that I would often fall into negativity spirals and being crushed so often because I kept raising my expectations for what would happen. I’ve been an avid Kaylor follower since 2017/2018 and these spirals of raising expectations based on Easter Eggs, sources, whispers on other social platforms just led to a ton of disappointment and angst. The fun of the Easter Eggs are not to predict the future but to look upon the past foreshadowing. (Example: The Look What You Made Me Do music video and song. Taylor said people would find the eggs years later and we did realizing most of the lyrics pertained to Scott Borchetta and that she was in the battle for her music.) When we see Easter Eggs that make sense from the past it’s a better experience than trying to predict what week a single will be released. The same goes for Kaylor. Trying to predict when the contracts will end, when the divorce will be announced, or when a Kaylor sighting will happen just leads to hurt and heartbreak. It raises expectations only to crush them and then feel anger towards Karlie or Taylor because we falsely thought something would happen. That is why I am no longer making predictions or having deadlines for Kaylor. Things will happen when and how they need to happen in good time. 

I trust Taylor and I trust Karlie. 

Why I fell in love with Kaylor is because these two beautiful, smart, kind, funny, fabulous women are/were (past tense because I mean how I came to discover it) having a truly magnificent love story unfold in our lifetimes. I feel for both of them navigating their lives in the public eyes while having this secret magical love. It’s beautiful and sad but I know they will have their day in the sun. I’m not putting my own timeline and deadlines on it. I’m just observing and appreciating them for their art, and their impact on the world (one’s sexuality is just one small way to impact the world there are other ways the girls do this positively). I also know the girls read or have read the blogs on here. I love them and I want my blog to be a safe place for everyone including the girls. 

Happy New Year! To Kaylor blogging for me because let’s be real I blog for ME (and a little for you all too😉).

xx🥂🥳🔍🕵🏻‍♀️🪩 PRO

#pro #askpro #thoughts

[ariel-seagull-wings]

SEPHARDIC BNEI ANUSIM IN BRAZILIAN TELENOVELAS AND MINISSERIES

@themousefromfantasyland @gravedangerahead @tamisdava2 @princesssarisa @professorlehnsherr-almashy @the-blue-fairie @amalthea9 @faintingheroine @budcortfancam

A Converso, Marrano, New Christian, Crypto-Jew: these terms are intermittently applied to the men and women of 15th-17th century Spain and Portugal whose identities lingered somewhere between Jews and Christians.  In most cases, multiple labels can be used to describe the same individuals, because the boundaries between their identities were porous. For both contemporary observers and for modern historians, the label used reveals more about the labeler than about the phenomenon described.

Jews first settled in the Iberian Peninsula, (the region now known as Spain and Portugal) before the arrival of the Phoenicians in about 900 BCE. Jewish merchants settled along the coast of Spain during the time of King Solomon when this region was called Tarsus, or Tarshish. Iberia was referred to as Sefarad by its Jewish inhabitants and Hispania by the Romans from which the name “Spain” was later derived. More Jews immigrated after the destruction of the First Temple in Jerusalem. When the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar conquered Jerusalem, there were already large well-established Jewish settlements throughout Iberia.

The first recorded persecution of Jews in Spain began about 489 CE when Jews were forbidden to marry non-Jews or to hold public office, and any children already born of inter-marriage were forcibly baptized into the Catholic Church.

From this time forward, the Iberian Jews were periodically subjected to progressively worse persecution until finally from 653 to 672 CE, Jews were beheaded, burned alive, or stoned to death for the crime of relapsing from forced conversion to Catholicism back into Judaism. It was during the period of 489 to 711, under Frankish and Visigothic rule, that Crypto Jews (Secret Jews) first emerged as a large group.

In 711 CE the Moors of northern Africa conquered the region and there resulted approximately three hundred years of what is known as the “Golden Age of Tolerance,” when the Muslim rulers coexisted with Jews and Christians. Non-Muslim people were allowed great freedom as long as they paid a special tax, to which the Jews gladly agreed. Jewish art, music, medicine, education and religious study flourished, and the Jewish population increased greatly and prospered, many Jews becoming fabulously rich and famous.

During the Golden Age, Spain became the world center for Talmudic Studies, with some of the world’s most famous rabbinical academies. Some of the greatest Jewish scholars lived in Moorish Spain during the years of transition just after the end of this period of time. Rabbi Abraham ben Meir Ibn Ezra was born in Tudela, Spain, in 1089. He was a poet, mathematician, grammarian, astronomer, commentator of Torah and philosopher. Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon, known as “The Rambam” or “Maimonides,” was born in Cordoba, Spain, in 1135, and earned his living as a physician. He is most famous for his codification of Jewish law, entitled Mishne Torah, and for his philosophical work Guide for the Perplexed. Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman, known as “The Ramban,” was born in 1194. He, like Maimonides, was a physician and scholar who was the first to incorporate Cabala, or Jewish mysticism, into the Torah teaching, and was a strong proponent of taking possession of the land of Israel. Jews and Crypto Jews flourished in relative peace and plenty, enjoying the Golden Age and the free exchange of ideas, a relatively high level of education for that time in the world, and the benefits from living among Torah and Talmudic scholars. Cities such as Lucena, Granada and Tarragona were populated by Jews magnificently wealthy in culture and material goods.

However, the so-called Golden Age in Spain was also marked by occasional violent upheavals and political turmoil that affected the Jews and Crypto Jews, who were subject to the whims of the frequently changing governments. For example, violence erupted in 1002, when two politically powerful and wealthy Muslims fought to rule Granada; unfortunately the Jews had backed the loser and suffered from Muslim suspicion thereafter. In 1066 a Jewish chief minister of Granada was crucified, followed by the slaughter of more than 1500 Jewish families. The original Moorish dynasty was overpowered by the fanatical Muslim Almoravides in 1086, who were in turn overpowered by the even more fanatical Muslim Almohades from Morocco in 1112. By 1149 the Almohades had overrun the entire peninsula which had become fragmented into about twelve small kingdoms. The lack of centralized control caused constant power struggles among neighboring kingdoms, such that the Almohades were unable to gain a strong hold on the peninsula.

Although the Jews had coexisted relatively peacefully with the Muslims, the Catholics bitterly resented the loss of Christian control of the peninsula since 711 and had perpetuated unrest and uprisings, and by 1212, outright rebellion. The centuries-long “Reconquista,” or reconquest, of the entire region was considered a holy obligation. Unfortunately, to the Christians, the Jews were identified with the death of their Christ and with the Muslim rulers under whom the Jews had enjoyed privilege and power. Also during this period of time, the Black Plague was ravaging Europe, killing as many as one in every four people, but far fewer of the Jewish population. Relatively few Jews died from the Plague perhaps because of better hygiene. Jews washed their hands before eating bread, bathed weekly prior to Shabbat and before holidays, washed their clothing regularly, maintained sanitary households (especially the kitchen and toilet facilities), consumed only fresh and kosher meats from healthy animals, were required to be distant from sewage and other forms of uncleanliness when reading Torah, and buried their dead within twenty four hours. All of these practices in combination with segregated all-Jewish neighborhoods provided some measure of protection from the Plague, albeit not total immunity. The Catholics did not observe such hygienic lifestyles, and seldom washed or bathed. The Catholics hated the Jews for their apparent immunity to the Plague, and widely believed the canard that the Jews were the source of the “Black Death” by poisoning wells.

The Catholics united against the Muslims who were absorbed in fighting one another and slowly took over most of the small kingdoms, one by one. Catholic rule was not kind to the Jews. Widespread pogroms in 1391 resulted in the deaths of fifty thousand Jews, such that, in fear for their lives, tens of thousands converted to Catholicism. These people were called “Conversos” (converts), “New Christians”, and “Maranos” (a derogatory term meaning “pig people.”)  In 1412, the Laws of Catalina were promulgated, which excluded Jews from any economic interchange with Christians.  From this time until the Edict of Expulsion in 1492, Jews were strictly confined to ghettos and had to wear identification badges prominent on the outside of their clothing.  Hard-pressed to survive, many Jews, perhaps as many as 600,000, converted to Christianity by the end of the fifteenth century.  Many of the New Christians were in reality Crypto Jews, outwardly Christians, but tenaciously and secretly practicing Judaism.

The Spanish Edict of Expulsion of 1492 stated that all Jews must leave the country. Those who stayed faced the Inquisition. A small number fled to Italy, Amsterdam, and the Americas, but most went to neighboring Portugal. When the Inquisition came to Portugal in 1496, the Jews were forced to leave, convert, or die. Of those Conversos who opted not to emigrate, many, if not most, were murdered by the “Holy” Inquisition. By 1500, estimates of as few as 40,000 and of more than 200,000 Jews were forced to leave the Iberian Peninsula. Exact numbers are not available because many of the Crypto Jewish family names had been changed after the pogroms of the 1300s in anticipation of future persecution.

The Spanish and Portuguese Inquisition continued for three hundred and fifty years. Accurate recorded accounts of the names, numbers, dates and punishments were kept by the officers of the Inquisition, such that today anyone who cares to recount the horrors may read of them. Of those Jews and Crypto Jews who chose to not leave, or could not afford to leave the Iberian Peninsula, many later bought passage or a commission on a sailing ship bound for safer destinations, preferably as far as possible from the nearest Office of the Inquisition.

Some purchased the proper documentation for “temporary” (which frequently became permanent) business trips to Italy or Germany, whereas poorer people fled to the north through the mountains and into France. Entire communities of “Portuguese Christians” were documented in southern France, while others continued northward to Amsterdam, England, Scandinavia, and eastward to the German provinces, Austria, Hungary and Poland. In most of these European destinations, these “Portuguese Christians” eventually revealed their true identity as Jews, and then subsequently blended into the established Jewish populations; thus, we do not find long histories of Crypto Judaism throughout Europe.

Many Jews and Crypto Jews immigrated to the New World, now known as the Americas, or the Western Hemisphere. Their choices were limited to the colonies of Spain and Portugal, so that when the Inquisition came to Peru in 1570, to Mexico in 1571, and to Cartagena in 1610, these same people were forced again to choose to convert or to die. The Inquisition spread throughout what is now the southern United States of America, Mexico, Central and South America, the islands of the Caribbean, and Cuba. No Jew or "Converso" was safe from suspicion, accusation and persecution, thus the numbers of Crypto Jews swelled to encompass almost all people of Jewish descent. The experience of the Crypto Jews in the Western Hemisphere was a litany of suffering, continual fear, social, political, professional, and religious suppression and murder. As late as the 1850s the Inquisition was finally officially ended in Mexico, and elsewhere a little sooner; however, overt discrimination and random incidents of lynching and murder continued until well into the 1950s in what we now call "Latin America".

The final result of approximately one thousand years of persecution and murder of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews (minus the three hundred years of the "Golden Age") caused many families who immigrated to the New World to become Crypto Jewish, while living their public lives as Catholics. In the Americas, some of the Crypto Jews reverted to being openly Jewish, only to find a few years later that the Inquisition had followed them to their new homes, and they were forced to go back into hiding again. All of these people, the "Conversos" or "New Christians", were forced to submit to Catholicism, thus in Hebrew they are referred to as the "Anusim" or "those who were forced."

It has been approximately fifteen-hundred years since the emergence of Crypto Jews in the Iberian Peninsula, and five-hundred years since Crypto Judaism moved to the Americas. Today we find a large Crypto Jewish presence throughout the Western Hemisphere. No one knows for sure how many there really are, however in Brazil alone an estimated 10 to 25% of the total population are Crypto Jews, which translates to 15 to 40 million people.

Some period setting audiovisual productions in Brazil took interest in the history of the Anusim during the colonial period, and two teleivision productions included Anusim characters as main figures in their narratives.

Xica da Silva (1996-97)

This telenovela produded by Rede Manchete, set in 18th century Brazil, told the story of Xica da Silva, a black woman who was born in Brazil and was enslaved, until a white and rich portuguese man named João Fernandes fell in love with her, made her his lover and gave her freedom, making her one of the most rich and powerfull people of Arraial of Tijuco (now the city od Diamantina, Minas Gerais).

Among the side characters who were part of Xica da Silva and João Fernandes's story, were the Pereira family, who were jewish people that came from Portugal to Brazil hoping to escape the Inquisition, and were atracted to the Arraial of Tijuco because of the diamonds that were found there.

Teodoro (António Marques) was the patriarch, Guiomar (Lídia Franco) was his wife (who threw tantrums when she saw a slave naked) and Joaquina (Rosa Castro André) and Graça (Anabela Teixeira) were his daughters.

Both sisters were in love with the gentile travelling merchant Felix (Jayme Periard) who, despite loving Graça, is forced by tradition to marry Joaquina (in a plot inspired by the hebrew tale of how Laban tricked Jacob to marry Leah, despite having promised the hand of Rachel).

Like most characters in the narrative, being to the historical period being portrayed on screen, the Pereiras were slave owners, and Teodoro sexually abuses Fatima (Ilea Ferraz), one of the black woman who is enslaved in his house, and this results in the conception of an illegitimate child.

Later, when Fatima falls in love with another enslaved black man named Jerônimo (Alexandre Moreno) the two join forces to find a plan to take revenge on the Pereira family and get their freedom.

This plan takes form during the visit of a representative of the Inquisition to Arraial of Tijuco: The two reveal to the Inquisitor that the Pereiras had a 7-pointed candlestick (which the representative recognizes as a description of the jewish menorah), hidden in a chest.

At the end of the telenovela, the Pereiras are put under arrest by orders of the Inquisitor, who will take them to trial in Portugal. Felix comes to rescue one of the women, and the baby he had with Joaquina. Joaquina is to ill to run with him trough the woods, so she sends her sister Graça (who she always knew was Felix's true love) to go with him and her child, and Guiomar asks her son-in-law to take away the family's menorah, so her grandson will always remember his jewish origin.

Xica da Silva was a story of black and gray morality: most characters were capable of being simpathetic, and also held prejudiced beliefs and take part in cruel acts, because those were normalized by the political system, rather than a question of individual morals.

This ambiguity was also shown in the Pereiras, who were both victims of opression for being targets of antisemitism, and perpetrators of opression for participating in the widespread enslavement of black people, when owning slaves was considered prestigious and respectable.

A Muralha (2000)

In the year of 2000, during the 500th anniversary of the arrival of the portuguese squad to brazilian shores (which started the proccess of colonization), Rede Globo produced a minisseries set in the early 17th century called A Muralha (literal translation The Wall, titled The Conquest for international markets) , based on a novel written by Dinah Silveira de Queiroz, that told about the everyday life of the people who lived trough the proccess of colonization, economic exploitation and territorial expansion led by the portuguese and their descendants born here, during the period known as "Bandeiras".

The point of view which we followed those stories was primarily of the women living through that period, and one of these women was the portuguese jewish Dona Ana Cardoso (Letícia Sabatella), who arrives in Brazil to get in an arranged marriage to Dom Jerônimo Taveira (Tarcísio Meira).

Dona Ana owes a moral debt to Dom Jerônimo: he is the brother of the inquisitor who saved her father from death in Portugal. Falsely converted to Catholicism and originally resigned to her fate, Dona Ana's resignation is put into question when she is courted by the rich merchant Dom Guilherme Shetz, a libertine man who lives in harmony with nature and the Indigenous people.

The man who marries Dona Ana, Dom Jerônimo, knows how to be a scoundrel and a pretender before the authorities, but he does not respect them, and he is foolish towards the priests, but in reality he is a cruel man, who imprisons Ana on his property to satisfy his most perverse desires.

After denouncing several residents to the Inquisition for alleged heresy, Dom Jerônimo orders the arrest of those who defy his authority, including Ana and Guilherme. To everyone's astonishment, everyone is condemned to the stake. But Guilherme stabs the villain, who ends up dead in one of the fires he lit himself.

Ana and Guilherme run to live in a cabin built in the woods, and end the story living happy, expecting their first child.

Another jewish character present in the narrative was the jolly Master Davidão (Pedro Paulo Rangel): whereas Ana is more resignated, Master Davidão, while also being carefull in hiding his jewish faith, is more confident and optimistic, not letting himself be afrayed of those in power.

His joifull personality and kidness eventually win the love of Antônia Brites (Claudia Ohana), a former prostitute who came to Brazil in search of a happy marriage, and at the end, having also survived the rage of Dom Jerônimo, the two get married.

While Davidão and Ana refused to convert to Christianity, Simão (Paulo José) was an Anusin who fully embraced it years prior, having become a priest and acting as a leader of the Jesuit Order that comes to the colonies to convert the natives.

His position was in a complex middle ground: While he really believed in Christianity as the only path to salvation, he also called out those who, like Dom Jerônimo and the Inquisition, wanted to impose it trough violence, and frequented acted as a healer and confident of Dona Ana in the moments where she was enduring abuse.

Whereas Xica da Silva was more dark and dealt in black-and-gray morality, A Muralha had more heroic characters, who represented the views on the search for social progress among those who viewed religious and racial hierarchy as natural.

#judaism #jewish representation #the history side of tumblr #brazil #telenovelas #being a child in latin america

[aquariuskat]

Finfolk ReaderXWally

So... Obsessing over @aerkame's Finfolk AU... And I kept thinking about their Wally and how his self esteem got hit from the aftermath of a fight. So... Here we are! ENJOY:

Wally always viewed his back as one huge flaw… A blemish on his perfection as a Finman. You, however, saw the beauty in those jagged marks crawling over the expanse of rippling muscles. You kissed at those scars every chance you got, praising the owner of their handsomeness, that it was a show of strength, and how it made your heart flutter to witness them in their full glory.

Sometimes, it worked. As flustered as you were in worshipping Wally’s back, the Finman was undoubtedly worse. His finned ears would flap, hands covering an apple red face that mimicked his hair. Like he was unsure of how to take the compliments over something he viewed as hideous for so long, but always enjoying it deep down. It was endearing to observe, causing you to pepper your love in sweet little kisses onto whatever skin you could reach just to hear his small noises and feel him squirm in your arms.

But then, there were the times he’d brush off your words. So deep in a funk that he’d scoff and turn his head away. This one seemed to be one of the worst of those times… “My precious Moonrise,” you cooed, using the nickname you came up with when his scales reminded you of a Hawaiian Moonrise Shell in colors. “Talk to me, Love. Please?”

“How can you possibly love my back? Yes, it shows I’m strong to survive and win… But it’s still-“Wally’s breath hitched, huddled closer to his self-embrace as his face seemed to become blank in an effort to withdraw into himself more.

“You silly Rainbowfish!” You huffed out. “There’s still perfection with imperfections… In fact, Kintsugi is an art practice all about admiring the brokenness of an item! In fact, why don’t we try doing it together?” At seeing the lack of interest, you knew you had to pull out that tidbit of info. So, with a thoughtful hum you added, “I think you can also use silver powder instead of gold… and if you do it the traditional way, it takes, like, forever… but the process is food safe…”

That did it. Wally looked over with narrowed eyes and scrunched face where a nose was usually placed on a puppet. You grinned coyly; head tilted to rest upon you knuckles casually as the elbow settled on your crossed legs. “We could fix that teapot I accidentally broke… Good as new with a silver lining. I’m sure it’ll look fabulous given the number of pieces it’s in.”

It later became Wally’s favorite teapot, silver lines swarming the fine China cutting through Sea Glass blue filigree patterns and shining against a pure white background subtly. He did still have his moments of self-loathing, but he focused himself on the art of Kintsugi during those times as if reminding himself that he was still perfect because of his missing fin, not even with…

And you were happy for him. Even though you were having a harder time figuring where to put all his silver-fixed pottery pieces…

#Fanfic of an AU #Short Mess #welcome home #welcome home wally #wally darling #wally darling au

[shanetheferretgaming]

Sims 4 Challenge: Criminal Minds Legacy

Okay this one feels unhinged, but I have been watching Criminal Minds and I think a legacy challenge inspired by it could be fun. I determined the generations by the characters being the first season or in at least 100 episodes. 

Rules:

Start with 1000 Simoleans.

Work your way through Generations themed around the members of the BAU

Feel Free to reorder the generations

The Generations are inspired by the characters, and you by no means have to make the characters for each generation.

The Extras can be switched in at any Generation

Gen 1: Jason Gideon

Traits: Loves the Outdoors, Gloomy, Good

Reach Level 10 in the Art Career, following the Patron of the Arts path

If you have University you can choose to pursue a career as a Professor

Get the "Observant" Reward trait"

Get the "Mentor" Reward trait

Complete "The Curator" Aspiration

If you have Outdoor Retreat you can do the "Outdoor Enthusiast" Aspiration

Name something Stephen (Child, Pet, Cowplant, etc.)

Gen 2: Aaron Hotchner

Traits: Ambitious, Perfectionist, Family-Oriented

Reach Level 10 in Secret Agent, following the Diamond Agent Branch

If you have University you can choose to pursue a career as a Lawyer

Get the "Entrepreneurial " reward trait

If you have Snowy Escape Earn the Workaholic lifestyle

Complete the "Soulmate" aspiration

Name something Jack (Children, Pets, Cowplants, etc..)

Gen 3: Elle Greenaway

Traits: Loner,  Good, Hot-Headed

Reach Level 10 in Astronaut Career, Space Ranger Branch

If you have Get to work you can choose to pursue a career as a Detective

Get the "Independent" reward trait

Complete the "Neighborhood Confidant" Aspiration

Never get married

Have or adopt a child

Gen 4: Jennifer Jureau

Traits: Family Oriented, Outgoing, Self-Assured

Reach Level 10 in Writing Career, Journalist branch

If you have City Living you can pursue being the Social Media career, Public Relations Branch

Reach Level 10 in Charisma

Have at least 3 kids

Name some things Henry and Michael (Children, Pets, Cowplants, etc..)

Complete a Social aspiration

Bonus: unlock the grilled cheese aspiration

Gen 5: David Rossi

Traits: Food Lover,  Snob, Non-Comital

Reach Level 10 In Writing Career, Novelist Branch

Complete "Fabulously Wealthy" Aspiration

Have 3 ex-spouses

Only eat Italian food

Master Gourmet Cooking

Gen 6: Emily Prentiss

Traits: Good, Outgoing, Ambitious

Reach Level 10 in Secret Agent Career, Diamond Agent Branch

Never Marry

Date someone with a child, whom your sim takes care of

Complete the Renaissance Sim Aspiration

Name something Sergio (Children, Pets, Cowplants, etc.)

Gen 7: Penelope Garcia

Traits: Genius, Geek, Childish

Reach Level 10 in Tech Guru Career, either branch

Or Freelance as a Programmer, and make money Hacking

Complete Computer Whiz aspiration

Master Programming Skill

Complete the My Sim Trophy Collection

Gen 8: Derek Morgan

Traits: Active, Self-Assured, Romantic

Complete Bodybuilder Aspiration

Reach Level 10 in Athletic Career, Professional Athlete Branch

Max Fitness skill

Max Charisma Skill

Bonus: If you have Get to Work Marry a Doctor

Name something Hank (Children, Pets, Cowplants, etc.)

Gen 9: Spencer Reid

Traits: Genius, Loner, Bookworm

As a child Complete Whiz Kid Aspiration

Bonus Complete all Child Aspirations, and Master all Toddler skills

Complete Renaissance Sim Aspiration

If you have University, you may choose Academic

Reach Level 10 in Logic Skill

If you have University Reach Level 10 in Research and Debate

Reach Level 10 in Piano

Reach Level 10 in Writing

Reach Level 5 in 2 Careers

Gen 10: The Extras

Pick one or switch them in or out as you want

1. Luke Alvarez

Traits: Bro, Active, Outgoing

Complete Serial Romantic Aspiration

Reach Level 4 in Astronaut career

Reach Level 4 in Secret Agent Career

Reach Level 4 in Athlete Career

Name Something Roxie (Children, Pets, Cowplants, etc.)

Bonus: If you have Cats & Dogs  have a dog

2. Kate Callahan

Traits: Family Oriented, Outgoing, Good

Complete a Family Aspiration

Reach Level 8 in Business Career, wither branch

Marry your High School Sweetheart

Adopt a child

3. Matthew Simmons

Traits: Family Oriented, Good, Ambitious

Complete a Family Aspiration

Or if you have Strangerville Complete the Strangerville mystery Aspiration

Have 5 Kids

Reach Level 10 in Fitness Skill

Reach Level 10 in Astronaut career

Or if you have Strangerville Reach Level 10 in the Military career

Name something after one of his children (Chloe, Lily, Rose, David, and Jake (Children, Pets, Cowplants, etc.))

4. Tara Lewis

Traits: Genius, Good, Ambitious

Reach Level 10 in Logic

Reach Level 10 in Charisma

Reach Level 10 in Writer Career

If You have University, Become a Professor

Bonus if you Earn a Distinguished Psychology Degree

Complete 2 Aspirations (Your choice)

5.Ashley Seaver

Traits, Good, Gloomy, Perfectionist

Reach Level 8 in Logic

Be Good Friends with parents

Complete a Career and Aspiration of your choice

Bonus if you have Cats and Dogs, Get a Pet

6. Alex Blake

Traits: Genius, Loner, Family Oriented

If You have Strangerville trade Loner for Paranoid

Reach Level 10 in Logic

Reach Level 10 in Charisma

Complete a Knowledge Aspiration

Name something Ethan (Children, Pets, Cowplants, etc.)

Bonus: If you have Get to Work Marry a Doctor

Have fun and Happy Simming Created by: ShanetheFerret 

#Sims 4 #Sims 4 ideas #Sims 4 Ideas and Suggestions #sims 4 legacy #sims 4 articles #sims 4 simblr #sims 4 legacy challenge #criminal minds #sims 4 criminal minds legacy #legacy challenge #sims 4 challenges #simblr #sims4 #sims 4 gameplay #challenge #ShanetheFerret's Challenges

[divinatorydoll]

how venus in gemini will affect us: 📝

venus moves into gemini today !! until may 7th, her progress throughout this sign will provide the collective with simpler communication, more diplomatic driving, and a deeper interest in the handheld arts !!

as the planet of unity and togetherness, venus' movement into gemini (speech, opinions) will allow us to express ourselves wholly without the cost of hurting or provoking others — practicing kindness and thoughtfulness in our words truly is the name of the game for this transit.

venus will affect you differently depending on the house(s) it moves through while it transits gemini, read more below !!

VENUS IN GEMINI THROUGHOUT THE HOUSES:

venus in the 1H: softening your self-talk will be important during this transit; try to be less critical towards yourself and take time to think of the qualities you have that you enjoy. great for making small, yet impactful changes to your appearance. this can also inspire you to pick up new techniques or ways of doing your makeup, styling yourself, trimming your hair, etc.

venus in the 2H: a perfect transit for analyzing your expenses and figuring out how to spend your money more intentionally. venus here also provides many opportunities for gaining money from multiple, smaller sources rather than one sole source of income. self-esteem is also seen in this house, so you may feel much more secure in yourself and your abilities right now.

venus in the 3H: this will be a great time to work on your relational and communicative habits !! be honest with your loved ones about what's going through your mind and you'll find that you can actually rely on them to listen. this is also a good transit for exploring your city and discovering what's around you — maybe go to a new coffee shop, a local bar, a thrift store you didn't know about, etc.

venus in the 4H: a useful transit for rearranging your home to achieve better walking access — if your furniture is too close together or perhaps you have clutter on the floor, this would be a great time to move things around to see if you can make your space more walkable. venus also makes our relationships with family much more peaceful / amicable while in this house. 

venus in the 5H: venus rejoices in the fifth house, which governs happiness, art, sex, creativity, self-confidence, and hobbies !! this is an amazing period for developing new pastimes and enjoying recreational activities that are intellectually stimulating; try out crossword puzzles or sudoku, play a new instrument, learn to knit or crochet, read an exciting book or comic, etc. 

venus in the 6H: a great transit for taking care of your respiratory and mobile health !! remember to stretch, practice deep breathing, and take screen breaks to walk around some. if you like gardening, pick up a few flowering plants or small decorations to invest more into your garden. it will be much easier to get along with coworkers, clients, and managers during this time as well.

venus in the 7H: an excellent time to learn more about your partner and your loved ones; gemini is a very talkative and observant sign, so try to carve out more time for chit-chat with the people you care about. it will also be less challenging to interact with people in public spaces during this transit, use this time to be more social and make connections with others. 

venus in the 8H: fabulous for getting tattoos on the arms, hands, wrists, shoulders, ribs, or ears (especially if they're matching tattoos since gemini is the sign of reflection). when you make contracts or promises during this transit, know that they will be profitable, but be sure that they are done in writing as gemini governs scripture and penmanship. inheriting books or secret information is likely during this period too.

venus in the 9H: ideal for getting academic or collegiate tasks completed, especially in the fields of law, psychology, sociology, the natural and chemical sciences, language, and literature. wonderful for experiencing pleasant travel or learning more about another culture of your interest. the ninth house also governs publication, so this will be a great time for you to put out a body of literary work.

venus in the 10H: if you have a thing for history, this will be a lovely time to engross yourself in some historical learning !! look up a few videos that cover historical events you want to know more about, read a book, or ask someone who lived through those events. with venus here, it would also be wise to evaluate the direction of your career and the nature of your work life — are you happy with what you're focusing your energy towards ?

venus in the 11H: an extremely favorable time for asking favors of others or receiving generosity from those in your social networks. expressing yourself more often on social media will also be received especially well during this period — try to be more open about your artistic, linguistic, and intellectual talents !! you'll find yourself connecting with the right people because of those talents.

venus in the 12H: recurring dreams about sex, love, past relationships, or dance may be more prevalent for you while venus moves throughout this house. it will also be much easier to remember and digest the details of your dreams during this transit, so try to write down as much as you can. doing sleep magic or performing spellwork in your bedroom / a private space will be more effective right now.

book a reading !!

my linktree

#astro #astrology #astroblr #astro thoughts #astro community #planets #planets in astrology #zodiac signs #zodiac #horoscope #venus #venus in gemini #venus in the 1st house #venus in the 2nd house #venus in the 3rd house #venus in the 4th house #venus in the 5th house #venus in the 6th house #venus in the 7th house #venus in the 8th house #venus in the 9th house #venus in the 10th house #venus in the 11th house #venus in the 12th house #astro transits #astrological transits #planetary transits #transit astrology #trans astrologer #disabled astrologer

[waitmyturtles]

Hi! I wanted to first of all say I've deeply enjoyed what you've written about various shows, especially your observations, meditations, insights, etc. around family dynamics, intergenerational trauma, etc. For MLC, I've been chewing over some parts of Jim and Li Ming's relationship. It was interesting to see how quickly their interactions became positive and easy after that post-funeral conversation and understanding, and it made me think that their relationship probably had a good foundation, that we met them at a time where it was strained and deteriorating to a crisis point, but since they were able to resolve their conflict they could return to and even build on the baseline they already had. I've thought about the way Jim and Li Ming are so similar being part of the reason they clash so much. I've thought about the way the past casts such a long shadow in Jim's heart. I've thought about how Jim said he and Jam ran away from home when they were Li Ming's age. There is a thing I've read and heard brought up by therapists and even seen discussed in parenting advice columns, where someone will experience something traumatic when they are young, and they'll grow up, be raising children, and when the children reach the same age they were when they experienced The Thing, the trauma can come roaring back in a big way. I wonder if that period in Jim's life--running away young and trying to eke out a living--was particularly hard/traumatic, and if Li Ming entering that same stage in life, with its very similar concerns of poverty and queerness (plus the pile-up of stressors we see happen in the show) is part of what's activating so much fear and overwhelm in Jim. There's a distinct quality to Jim in the worst of these fights where it seemed to me like he wasn't fully present, that the shadow cast by those past fears and hurts was just so very strong in those moments it was overwhelming. (I also think a lot about the fact that he refuted Jam's attempt to place blame on Li Ming being gay on himself, and refuted it being wrong or blameworthy at all, but then confided in Wen that he couldn't help but blame himself--that ambivalence of refuting the Wrong Idea on the one hand but deep down worrying that the Wrong Idea might be true was, in form if not in specific content, astoundingly relatable to me, I felt such overwhelming empathy for Jim there, but that's a different conversation) It was noticing this about Jim's arguments, and Jim's comments about him and Jam running away around Li Ming's age, that set me on this particular path of reflecting. That, and seeing how quickly things got better for them after some breakthrough communication... I thought if things could so quickly turn out this well, surely their baseline must have been better than the dynamic with which we were introduced to them--how and why, then, did it get so bad? I dunno, I just thought this could be one of the pieces of the puzzle of Why Jim Was Being Like That. Anyways, thanks for reading and being your awesome self <3

Oh, dearest Anon. Thank you so much for the wonderful feedback, and for this beautiful write-up, which isn't really an ask, but actually a FABULOUS STANDALONE ANALYSIS -- I'm deeply touched you directed it my way, my heart is so full. (This is going to be a long response.)

You know me well (thank you for reading along, dear Anon!), and I was just thinking about this during dinner last night. I was thinking more on @wen-kexing-apologist's wonderful post, "Moonlight Chicken Is for the Queers," and why I'm so drawn in particular to Asian QL content, even though I'm a cishet mama.

I feel like I've been waiting my whole life for drama content about Asian families, created as intelligently and CRITICALLY as P'Aof and his related group of directors and screenwriters have done over the last few years. Watching these shows -- even though I am not queer -- is like art therapy for me. As a child of Asian immigrants, my sibs and I went through a lot, a lot. I'm reckoning with this shit now as a parent, maybe even à la Jim and Li Ming. I can totally relate to traumatic stuff from my past bubbling up in the course of my parenting -- the way I TALK to my kids, the way I interpret something they're doing as annoying, or (EVEN WORSE) them doing something "on purpose to annoy me" -- when in fact, my kids are being totally normal for their age. I have to check myself every second of every day, and it's exhausting.

We -- all of us as an audience -- I think, are very lucky to be watching this art at this moment in time. Even with the context of this material being set in a QL, I'm seeing other non-QL GMMTV shows tackle huge trauma issues (like 10 Years Ticket, which I highly recommend, and I can't wait to start on The Warp Effect, too, which I know is QL-ish). While the context of a QL provides a framework and structure around stories that feature minority figures, I believe that P'Aof and the other amazing GMMTV artists are saying something in their shows about the Asian cultures that I am from and relate to. The Asian family unit is A -- if not, THE -- dominant framework of an Asian individual's perspective on life, for their lives. I'm American, so I absolutely have grappled with this Asian family collectivist vision and the inherent contradiction of living in individualistic America. But that's why I watch these shows, and can even relate to the struggles of queer characters in these shows, even without being queer. Because being "different" in the Asian family unit is just DIFFICULT, no matter how you slice it. (I was different because... I wanted to stand up to my parents, which was not acceptable, no way, no how.) And perceptions about the Asian family unit absolutely bleed into general Asian societal viewpoints as well.

Anyway. My desire to learn more about families and who we are vis à vis family frameworks actually led me to my career, ha. With that in mind, a couple of other response points:

1) If you (or anyone out there) ever plan on becoming a parent, I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND reading an amazing book called "Parenting From the Inside Out" by Dan Siegel. In fact, I'd probably just recommend this book to anyone who wants to get to know THEMSELVES at any point in their lives, children or no children. The book essentially says: if you don't reckon with your past, and how you were raised, and how you developed and REACTED to that experience -- you will miss out on opportunities for real self-actualization as a parent and as an adult.

Anon, you mentioned that at times, Jim didn't seem to be "fully present" in fights with Li Ming, and I totally agree with that read. I want to note that being "fully present" is like "enlightenment" to me. It is an ideal state that is tremendously difficult to achieve, especially in the minute day-to-day life of a parent, whether you're a parent to a young OR an old child.

In that context, you are so very right about the micro- and macrosystemic stressors that face Jim, and I want to take a quick note of them, because they're very real. This book is somewhat controversial (theories around education always are controversial), but gets into socioeconomic and environmental stressors: Whatever It Takes, about the founding of the Harlem Children's Zone by Geoffrey Canada. Again, many controversies exist about this model and how it's been portrayed over the years, but what I want to point out is: poverty and other socioeconomic stressors (like crime, police presence, drug use, unstable housing options, lack of food, lack of internet, etc.) can literally have both physical and emotional impacts. Brain development can literally be impacted by these stressors, even with fetuses in utero, let alone young children watching their family units face these stressors.

Jim is facing a WORLD of stress -- as the very first episode of MC laid out very clearly for us. The world is getting more expensive as vendors make less, or the same income. Absolutely, the stress of being poor and gay (sound familiar?) impacted him throughout his whole life to lead him to the moment that WE see him in the show.

This leads to my next thought:

2) You've certainly heard the phrase: "my mother, myself" -- which refers in part to repeating your parents' mistakes. (I probably say this phrase about once a day, along with a tiny scream.) If you're a parent who is trying to understand yourself from the context of WHO YOU WERE AS A CHILD, and how you were raised by YOUR OWN PARENTS, that MIGHT get you closer to that ideal state of being fully present. (That's the work that Dan Siegel recommends in his book.)

That leads to my next thought, which connects these two points together:

3) You are totally right to point out the context of Jim and Jam having moved from their rural village. They're both also hesitant about Li Ming moving to America.

What did "moving" do to Jim and Jam? We don't know that much, except that they were leaving a certain fate, to become farmers like their grandparents.

I'm going to take a guess -- borrowing both from my immigrant parents' experience, and from ATOTS, ha -- that running away HAD TO HAVE BEEN TRAUMATIC for Jim and Jam. AND, Anon, to your point about intergenerational trauma: Jim and Jam almost certainly had to have shared that trauma, unknowingly, with Li Ming.

They left their first home. Jim ran away from home while being poor and gay. Jam tried to build homes for Li Ming and failed. She sent Li Ming to live with Uncle Jim. Jim then faced the prospect of building a home for Li Ming. All while being poor and gay as an adult.

That's hit, after hit, after hit, after hit. Jim and Jam carry that with them. And Li Ming carries with him the trauma of moving, and moving, and moving, as well.

Immigrants most often don't go back "home" permanently -- certainly many do, but most don't. And yet.... "home," at least for my parents, was always back in Asia. In ATOTS, "home" for Tian WAS Bangkok, and ended up BEING the village in Chiang Mai.

In MC, what was home for Jim? Oh, my heart, how that gets revealed over the course of the show. When Wen, sleeping on Jim's lap, asks him, in the living room of Jim's rented house -- "do you take this house as a home?" For Wen, and for Jim, home ultimately was what they were going to build TOGETHER.

All of those stressors -- the moving, the identity obstacles, the poverty -- prevented Jim from being able to build a home, holistically, until he met Wen. And I might even posit, ooooh, let me go here -- I might even posit that Jim's ability to level with Li Ming, to see Li Ming for the man that Li Ming is on the cusp of becoming, happened because Jim was simultaneously in the process of discovering himself vis à vis Wen's love, by beginning to build a family with Wen. I think we see Jim developing that stronger sense of presence that you, Anon, noted wasn't there during Jim's and Li Ming's fights.

In relation to what you were saying, Anon, about when things got bad for Jim and Li Ming, I also want to note that it's just really important to understand the context of how younger Asians engage with Asian elders/parents, which @telomeke writes about eloquently here. I'm going to leave this aside in this analysis, but please note that these dynamics are also hugely important in how Jim and Li Ming are set up to engage.

(Anon, thank you for noticing my obsession with Aof and intergenerational trauma, because I haven't seen anyone in dramaworld analyze it better than him.)

In any case, I don't necessarily think that things were dualistically bad-to-good for Jim and Li Ming. I think that, likely, things were ALWAYS COMPLICATED, between an uncle facing an enormous amount of pressure and trauma; and a pre- to post-pubescent teen discovering himself, his sexuality, his first attraction, and contemplating an unknown future -- all while certainly sharing the stressors of the stand-in parent that is raising him. Shit was complicated between Jim and Li Ming, and certainly would stand to still be that way, if we ever get lucky to have an update via an MC Our Skyy 3 (let's pray together for it, ha).

4) Two more quick notes. P'Aof certainly has a genius of showing many facets to the same character, and I just love that he critically shies away from singular or dualistic interpretations of his dear characters. When, as you note, Jim doesn't play the blame game IN FRONT OF JAM, and secretly blames himself to Wen that Li Ming might be gay BECAUSE of him (Jim) -- it indicates not only the intimacy he has with Wen, that he can talk about this stuff with Wen (swoon), but it also reveals the generational perspective that certainly differs between Jim and Li Ming. Possibly, in the course of Jim's busy life, trying to survive as a gay man, working his ass off, in poverty, partly while getting cheated on by that POS, Beam -- Jim just didn't have the time or space to contemplate the roots of his understanding of who he is. (Then again... not everyone is as self-exploratory as yours truly, HEH.)

5) I totally agree with you about the foundation of Jim's and Li Ming's relationship being better than we think, even if, as you note, we were privy to some of their most stressful moments. I just want to leave this post with the screencaps of their last intimate conversation, because I think in only a few words, so much was revealed. Jim revealed himself to Li Ming. At this moment -- he parented from the inside out. He told Li Ming, admitted to the kid -- kid, you made ME a better person.

That's revelation -- the kind of adult revelation, vis à vis a parent-to-child relationship, that you really don't see happen much in Western content. And it just THRILLS me, as I've written before, that this is happening in ASIAN MEDIA, because I think Asian family units definitely are ripe for the kind of brilliant criticism that P'Aof levels at them.

ANON -- sorry to unspool like this! You gave me a lot of inspiration. I'm having such an MC hangover, and you handed this to me like a hair of the dog, ha. I hope you didn't mind this long post, and thanks again for the wonderful note!

#moonlight chicken #moonlight chicken meta #earth pirapat #fourth nattawat #jim and li ming #asian family units #asian parenting #intergenerational trauma #intergenerational trauma in asian families #backaof noppharnach #thanks for the ask! #i can't stop thinking about this wonderful show #the last time i was like this was after the cherry magic movie #it took me months to let go oh lord

[mappingthemoon]

Books Read 2023

Good Talk: A Memoir in Conversations / Mira Jacob

A Grief Observed / C. S. Lewis

Grit Lit: A Rough South Reader / ed. Brian Carpenter & Tom Franklin

Two or Three Things I Know for Sure / Dorothy Allison

Weather: Air Masses, Clouds, Rainfall, Storms, Weather Maps, Climate (A Golden Nature Guide) / Paul E. Lehr, R. Will Burnett, Herbert S. Zim ; Harry McNaught (ill.)

Improbable Memories / Sarah Moon

Endless Endless: A Lo-Fi History of the Elephant 6 Mystery / Adam Clair

The Difference Between / Billy McCall

The Submissive (The Submissive #1) / Tara Sue Me

Last Night at the Casino [v. 1] / Billy McCall

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing / Marie Kondo ; Cathy Hirano (tr.)

Pnin / Vladimir Nabokov

My Heart Is a Chainsaw / Stephen Graham Jones

"Waltz of the Body Snatchers" / Alfred Bester, in Andromeda I: An original SF anthology / ed. Peter Weston

Blue Highways: A Journey Into America / William Least Heat-Moon

The Stars My Destination (The Gregg Press Science Fiction Series) / Alfred Bester

Laughter in the Dark / Vladimir Nabokov

Man and His Symbols / Carl G. Jung

Mysteries of the Unexplained / ed. Carroll C. Calkins

The Westing Game / Ellen Raskin

The Seven Ages / Louise Glück

The Wild Iris / Louise Glück

Vita Nova / Louise Glück

Doctor Who: Impossible Worlds: A 50-Year Treasury of Art and Design / Stephen Nicholas & Mike Tucker

Where's Waldo? (Where's Waldo #1) / Martin Handford

Where's Waldo? The Fantastic Journey (Where's Waldo #3) / Martin Handford

Doctor Who 50 Years #3: The Doctors / ed. Marcus Hearn

Rabbit, Run / John Updike

Mother Night / Kurt Vonnegut

Descriptive Cataloging of Rare Materials (Books) / Bibliographic Standards Committee, Rare Books and Manuscripts Section, Association of College and Research Libraries, in collaboration with The Policy Standards Office of the Library of Congress

"Descriptive Bibliography" / Terry Belanger, in Book Collecting: A Modern Guide / ed. Jean Peters

The Essential Doctor Who #2: The TARDIS / ed. Marcus Hearn

Speak, Memory: An Autobiography Revisited / Vladimir Nabokov

Chicago: City on the Make / Nelson Algren

Gustav Klimt, 1862-1918 / Gilles Néret

American Gods: A Novel / Neil Gaiman

Marcel Duchamp, 1887-1968: Art as Anti-Art / Janis Mink

The Empathy Exams: Essays / Leslie Jamison

Let Us Now Praise Famous Men: Three Tenant Families / James Agee & Walker Evans

Hallucination Orbit: Psychology in Science Fiction / ed. Isaac Asimov, Charles G. Waugh, Martin H. Greenberg

Dream Street: W. Eugene Smith's Pittsburgh Project / W. Eugene Smith ; ed. Sam Stephenson

Twilight / Gregory Crewdson ; Rick Moody

Magic Eye: A New Way of Looking at the World / N.E. Thing Enterprises

Bowie: Stardust, Rayguns & Moonage Daydreams / Steve Horton & Michael Allred ; Laura Allred (ill.)

After the Ecstasy, the Laundry: How the Heart Grows Wise on the Spiritual Path / Jack Kornfield

The Gin Closet: A Novel / Leslie Jamison

The New Kid on the Block / Jack Prelutsky ; James Stevenson (ill.)

A Book of Common Prayer / Joan Didion

Mariette in Ecstasy / Ron Hansen

Camp Damascus / Chuck Tingle

The Mass Production of Memory: Travel and Personal Archiving in the Age of the Kodak (Public History in Historical Perspective) / Tammy S. Gordon

Unfathomable City: A New Orleans Atlas / Rebecca Solnit & Rebecca Snedeker

Other Voices, Other Rooms / Truman Capote

Fabulous New Orleans / Lyle Saxon ; E.H. Suydam (ill.)

Weird Pennsylvania: Your Travel Guide to Pennsylvania's Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets / Matt Lake

Griffin & Sabine: An Extraordinary Correspondence (Griffin & Sabine #1) / Nick Bantock

Sabine's Notebook: In Which The Extraordinary Correspondence of Griffin & Sabine Continues (Griffin & Sabine #2) / Nick Bantock

The Golden Mean: In Which The Extraordinary Correspondence of Griffin & Sabine Concludes (Griffin & Sabine #3) / Nick Bantock

Breath, Eyes, Memory / Edwidge Danticat

Last Night at the Casino, v. 2 / Billy McCall

What If? Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions / Randall Munroe

Collection-Level Cataloging: Bound-with Books (Third Millennium Cataloging) / Jain Fletcher

Speaking Pittsburghese: The Story of a Dialect (Oxford Studies in Sociolinguistics) / Barbara Johnstone

My Misspent Youth: Essays / Meghan Daum

Slender Intuition: Essays on Artist's Block / Brian Hitselberger

The Mister / E L James

Crapalachia: A Biography of a Place / Scott McClanahan

The Transcriptionist: A Novel / Amy Rowland

Explanations/Opinions below the cut:

Ok so I have several reading lists/stacks that I rotate through: my to-read spreadsheet (which has almost 300 titles listed in chronological order by date added, with the oldest being from 8/22/2014), my to-read bookcase/nightstand (which holds ~50 books I’ve acquired over the past few years but haven’t yet read), a stack of oversized unreads that don’t fit on the nightstand shelves (this gets its own list bc I need to read them and find a permanent home for them before the stack gets too tall), and “interruptions” (books that override the list order bc I didn’t want to wait to read them, for whatever reason).

Maybe it’s weird that I’m so attached to reading things “in order”? Idk. I’ve always been like this. It’s only a mild compulsion – obviously, I am perfectly capable of ignoring what’s supposed to be next on the list, in favor of reading something that catches my interest more strongly in the moment, but in general, I like to read things either in the order I added them to the list, or the order I personally acquired a physical copy (if I went by the list only, I’d be drowning in unread books [yay, college town thrift stores], so I gotta stay on top of that pile pretty regularly). So that is why I am often reading things that I first became aware of/added to my list nearly 10 years ago. Sometimes this practice results in feelings like, “Dang, I wish I would’ve actually read this 10 years ago,” but also sometimes, “WOW, I’m so glad I’m reading this RIGHT NOW, as opposed to 10 years ago when I first heard about it!”

I think my favorites this year were Mariette in Ecstasy; Other Voices, Other Rooms; Crapalachia; and Speak, Memory.

Mild disappointments were the essay collections by Leslie Jamison and Meghan Daum, two authors I’m pretty sure I discovered via popular and relateable quotes reblogged on tumblr ca. 2014, but the collections taken as a whole just had too many moments of cringe – casual classism, arrogant self-absorption, and other annoying and unrelateable qualities typical of privileged 20-something writers (this tone definitely appealed to me when I was a naïve and melodramatic snotty 20-something, so there’s that).

As a kind of memorial, Rachael and I read David’s three favorite books: The Stars My Destination, Mother Night, and American Gods. In all the time I knew him, including all the times we used to sit on the porch together, reading quietly while he drank whiskey, I never thought to ask him his favorites. I kept looking for pieces of him in the stories, wondering what lines stood out, what made a book memorable, what did it say about him that these were his favorites.

Being an elder Millennial, I’m in the stage of nostalgically re-acquiring important artifacts from my childhood, so that’s why there are some children’s books on my list. Where’s Waldo? was one of the most coveted books in my grade-school library! There was always a list of people waiting to check it out, but usually, whoever actually had the book that week would let the other kids gather around and look together.

My Heart Is a Chainsaw was a recommendation from my goth teenaged birthdaughter <3 which I probably read too much personal symbolism into but maybe not!

I thought John Updike was overrated, lol.

Favorite photography book: W. Eugene Smith’s Dream Street. His pictures made me so homesick, and it was wild because he took them from 1955-1957 but they still really, REALLY, to me, looked like the Pittsburgh of my ‘80s/’90s memories (bc Pittsburgh doesn’t change, and also the “idea” or “brand” of Pittsburgh in the ‘80s/’90s was ofc consciously referencing its industrial working-class past). He took over 10,000 photos but was never able to “finish” the project to his intense, obsessive standards of perfection (I KNOW THAT FEEL) and felt it failed to capture the multifaceted essence of the city. WELL, not in my opinion at least!

PS I'm moonmoth on LibraryThing.

#books #lists #personal #Dear Sir Decadent