#my photography tumblr is much ignored

[longingforrotkehlchen]

My 2024 Top 10 Favourites.

On Melancholy Hill Tumblr's and my absolute favourite. There isn't much to say. I just remember turning around while counting geese, and there it was - an idyllic scene. A crow extraordinarily relaxed, loafing on a nice spring afternoon. I came a bit closer thinking I *really* hope it stays. Then I crouched fearing the same, but the crow, watched me attentively and stayed. I was blessed - the luck of photographing birds more used to people. The slope gave me the perfect height for the shot, and the crow just chilled there, looking like something was occupying its mind. I got what I wanted and left. The crow stayed there, but it also stayed with me forever.

Sweet mommy's love It was Graugansito season and fortunately I was right in time to see the very little ones. This scene was beautiful, and obviously the geese just chill by the lake and all you need is a perfect moment to capture. This one stood out for me. And I can neither confirm nor deny whether there were more goslings hidden under mommy's wing.

Europe's angriest bird This picture was taking by cheating. So call me a cheat. It is nice, but I cheated. And even worse, I made a little guy angry. Yes, I did play playback (even though I believe that's wrong) in this one because I had seen a pair of goldcrests here the previous week and I was very curious to see if they were genuinely staying and breeding in this place. The male came and sang immediately –that's how I got him nicely close to me–, but the best thing about this encounter wasn't the pictures - it was realizing that the bird seemed to know there wasn't another bird. That I was the source of the goldcrest song. That I was his enemy. I haven't managed to make a bird love me, but that day, I managed to make one hate me.

The light of duckling This pond lends itself to high contrasts and you can play a little with that. I didn't have much time, and the ducklings were all over the place, but I got lucky (otherwise, this post wouldn't exist). As I was leaving I took one last shot with the settings I had for a different spot - and it turned out well. Some of my favourite photos are those that transmit emotions when you look at them. I think this is also one of them.

Spring has arrived It's easy to forget you don't have to be very close to the bird to get a nice photo. In any case, here I was taking a photo out of excitement at seeing Hausrotschwanzkehlchen back, before getting closer to the bird. I never intended it to be anything more than a 'proof' shot, but sometimes those turn out way better than expected.

Is this fluff real? It was peak migration, sunny late afternoon, Schwanzmeise flock and there I was, trying to capture this so-called product of my imagination. It was difficult to get the right angle as the sun was behind them and I had to avoid the backlight, but the good thing about them is that they don't seem to care much about your presence. I got this one really really nicely, and right after they left, I saw my first black storks in the sky. Last September was good.

One more shot As I focus on birding and photography comes second, sometimes I might just leave with zero nice photos to post. That day was no different, but that day I was also thinking: "I'm running out of current photos to post." So I gave it an extra shot, overstayed, and tried to find a subject. A big Blaumeise bunch showed up, many of them, busy foraging, and (I think it was always the same) one came so close that allowed me to take some cute photos.

The pose There's little challenge in taking photos of the coots in this pond. If that wasn't enough, the light was nice that day and someone had thrown a pallet in it. The coot was standing on it and I thought the opportunity was too nice to ignore. Then it even started stretching, giving me the chance to capture this nice pose. The poop is just extra.

The babiest Wacholderdrossel As I was leaving the S-Bahn station, coming up the stairs, I saw this baby perched on a handrail. I could barely believe it, so I emerged, went there, and took my camera out. The baby was going nowhere despite people walking right in front of it. I took some photos, in awe, and I don't know what everybody else contemplating us thought, but I thought that I was so damn lucky to have such a cute photo without even having started.

Just a moment If you're learning photography, nobody is going to tell you "just shoot at whatever you see," but that seems to work sometimes. It's not my intention, mind, because here I saw a little bird perching above my head and I really needed this shot to indeed confirm I was seeing Fitis and not Zilpzalp. But look at that little face, that smoothness... I guess when you take thousands of shots while going places, a few might also be nice. It's never easy to decide, but here's my selection with some background/behind the scenes. As usual there isn't much to it. Mostly just press the button. Let's hope 2025 brings us more bird joy to all of us!

[beat-the-morning]

🖤Guitar Face || Hozier x Reader🖤

FULL FIC ON TUMBLR AFTER CUT || READ ON AO3

Rating: 18+ - Smut

Tags: Pre-Debut Hozier, vaginal fingering, finger sucking, vaginal sex, teasing, protected sex.

Summary: Andrew teaches you how to play guitar while you both try to ignore the very obvious and overwhelming sexual tension between you.

Word count: 5.4k

A/N: I’m back after a month of not posting (sorry lol) with a long fic to make up for lost time (yay) and to take our minds off of everything, really. When will I post my next fic, you ask? I don’t fucking know man, I’m just vibing. I do have a few ideas that I want to start, including a multichapter fic that will get written someday. Love you all, enjoy this pre-debut hozier fic💙

💙FULL FIC UNDER THE CUT💙

You needed a hobby, urgently. It was your second semester of your first year of university at Trinity College Dublin, and you had yet to find something to occupy your time that wasn’t studying, working, or just doing nothing with the group of friends that, despite your nervous and introverted nature, you had managed to form in your first semester. You were desperate for something new to do, a new skill or pastime to occupy you when all your friends were busy or simply when you felt like doing something other than hanging out with them.

The idea of learning guitar came to you after talking to one of your friends about your newfound need for a hobby, she mentioned that you had a great sense of rhythm and that you already really liked music, so why not pick up an instrument. She didn’t tell you to pick up guitar specifically, but it seemed like a good choice for learning in your spare time, and it’s not like you had the money to buy a keyboard or drums, much less a more classical instrument like a violin, a cello or a harp, and you already knew that you didn’t have the lungs for wind instruments.

You asked around your friend group if anyone had any suggestions for cheap guitars to buy, you got one that was moderately good and within your budget. You started to learn by yourself, the only thing was that you sucked, you barely understood the tutorials you found on youtube and didn’t even know if you were really doing it right, your fingers were sloppy and uncoordinated and you only angered yourself more and more with each note you got wrong. So, after two weeks and a half of frustration, you decided that maybe a guitar teacher wasn’t a bad idea, and that if that didn’t work you’d sell your guitar and pick up photography or something that didn’t require you to use your fingers as much.

It was Friday evening, and some members of Trinity Orchestra were having a small rehearsal/get together, and you knew your friend would be there since she was a pianist in the orchestra, so maybe she could help you learn guitar or at the very least find a teacher. You arrived at the get together when it was almost finished, you didn’t want to interrupt them, even if it wasn’t really a rehearsal, you felt out of place just by being there. Miranda, your friend, spotted you from her bench and beckoned you over to her, she’d been expecting you since you told her earlier that day that you’d go see her at the rehearsal, she was leaning on the closed piano, a half eaten bag of crisps sat on the cover of its keys. “I thought you’d come sooner, you missed the little concert.” She smiled.

“Nah, I’d rather not interrupt.” You smiled back, “anyway, what I wanted to talk about before you ran off today because of your horrible time manage skills-“

“-They’re not that bad, come on.” She pouted playfully, faking indignation.

“Bullshit.” You argued back, trying to hold in a laugh. “Now, do you know how to play guitar?”

“No, just piano, and the organ, kind of. Why?”

“I’ve been trying to learn how to play on my own but I can’t get the hang of it, I need a teacher or something.” You explained, trying to be quiet enough so that no one else would hear.

“Teacher for what?” A masculine voice asked from behind you, making you jump slightly in surprise. You turned around, a lanky guy with dorky glasses and a blonde fringe stood there, looking at you as he tried to guess who you were. “Have we met before?” He finally asked.

“I don’t think so,” you answered, a nervous smile on your face

“I’m Alex,” he smiled back to you, but his smile was more welcoming than anything else. You told him your name, and that you were a friend of Miranda, which prompted her to speak up.

“They’re trying to learn guitar,” she joined in. “Maybe you could help them?”

“Can’t, I’m drowning in coursework already, sorry,” Alex said earnestly, seeming genuinely sorry that he wasn’t able to help you learn how to play.

“Don’t worry about it, I’m sure I’ll find someone to teach me.” You assured him, relaxing a bit more now that you had spoken the slightest bit more to him.

“Andy could help you, though.” A smirk grew on his face, “he’s always looking for an excuse to not do his work.”

“Andrew’s a vocalist though isn’t he?” Miranda chimed in again.

“He does more things apart from singing, you know.” Answered Alex.

“I didn’t know he played guitar though, I’ve never seen him play it.” She argued.

“He does! He’s self taught though, so his has this weird way of playing where he-“

“Sorry, but, who’s Andrew?” You interrupted, needing some clarification as to who they were talking about.

“Right, you don’t know who he is,” Alex chuckled, “he’s that one over there.” He said, pointing over to a group of about five guys all chatting while standing around a table.

“Which one?” You asked, still not knowing who to look at.

“The tall one.” Alex and Miranda said in unison. Your eyes focused on him, a pale, lanky guy with dark, shaggy curls on his head and a 3 day stubble on his face and neck, he was at least half a head taller than the second tallest man in the conversation circle. He was smiling, his cheeks a rosy tone from how much he’d been laughing, his front teeth were slightly crooked from what you could see from a distance, and you noticed a pair of glasses in his left hand as your eyes trailed down his body, you assumed that they were his glasses with how he was holding them so close to his body. He was so cute, you thought to yourself, a bit of a nerd maybe but it’s not like you weren’t into it as well.

“Andy!” Alex’s call broke your train of thought, and maybe that was for the best, who knows where you were going to end up with those. Andrew turned to look at Alex, noticing Miranda sat on her seat, and then you, you could’ve sworn you saw him look you up and down as a small smirk formed on his face. Alex moved his arm to call him over, and he approached without hesitation, quickly walking over to the little group you were in.

Alex introduced you to each other and quickly explained your situation to Andrew, who agreed to teach you. You agreed on payment, how many times a week you’d meet, the whole thing, really, and then you exchanged numbers.

“If you want we can meet up tomorrow and we can start with the basics,” he suggested, putting on his glasses as he put your number in his phone. Fucking hell, he looked adorable with them on, you felt your cheeks heat up as you looked at him.

“Yeah, that’d be good,” you agreed without thinking, “I’ll send you my address and we can meet at my place if you want.”

“Sure,” he looked at you with a small smile. You decided on a time to meet and then went home for the night after saying goodbye to your friend.

You felt a nervous knot in your stomach as you laid down in your bed, the worry of making a fool of yourself in front of a cute guy was catching up on you. You shook those thoughts off, putting on some faint music before finally going to sleep.

You woke up the next day, looking at the clock on your bedside table only to find that it wasn’t actually morning, but past noon, almost 1pm in fact. You got ready for the day and had what could best be described as a big brunch before deciding to clean your apartment before Andrew arrived later in the day, something that you only remembered when you saw a message from him confirming that he had your address right. Why did you agree to this again? You cursed yourself as you cleaned up the small space you lived in, it was an attic converted into a studio apartment that was way too cheap for how big it was, but it’s not like you were going to complain.

Time passed as you finished cleaning your apartment, having just enough time to shower before Andrew arrived. You had just finished dressing up when your phone rang, you picked up to find Andrew on the other side of the line, asking you to open since the doorbell wasn’t working, so, taking your keys in your hand, you ran downstairs to open the front door for him. He was carrying a guitar case and what you assumed was a small amp, he wore a very simple outfit, a shirt and jeans with a brown leather jacket and some old tattered converse, but no glasses. “I like the jacket.” You said while guiding him towards the elevator.

“Thanks,” he smiled shyly, “I brought my electric guitar, I hope you don’t mind, my acoustic one has a broken string and I still need to replace it.”

“It’s fine, mine is electric too.” You smiled back.

You went into your apartment, he commented on the fact that it was a studio, and on the absence of a sofa. “The TV’s over there so I usually just put all my pillows on my bed and use it as a couch.” You explained, pointing out the TV on the wall next to the bed. Andrew laughed to himself, he mumbled something under his breath that you thought sounded like “that’s so fucking cute”. He sat on your bed, taking out his guitar and tuning it without even plugging it in to the amp.

You took out yours, tuning it as well with an app on your phone. You and Andrew talked for a bit, making jokes and breaking the tension before he explained the basics of guitar playing to you. You listened attentively and asked questions about the things you didn’t understand, he was a great teacher so far, and you could honestly listen to him speak for hours, his voice was lovely, no wonder Miranda said he was mainly a vocalist.

The time came to finally plug in the guitars, yours was already plugged to your amp, you just needed to turn it on, which you quickly did while Andrew set up his, he plugged the amp to the wall, grabbing the cable to plug it into his guitar, he wasn’t paying much attention to it though, his mind was somewhere else. While his head was, in fact, pointing down towards the guitar, his eyes were mostly looking up at you through his brows, using his curls as a shield so you wouldn’t notice him staring. His hand faltered, the jack circled the plug it was supposed to go in, making some magnetic noises come from the amplifier, you smiled at his dorkiness, finding it adorable. “Trouble putting it in?” You asked, not fully realising the other possible meaning of the question until it was already out of your mouth, he looked up at you with a quizzical look before you both burst into laughter at the question.

“I’m good, thanks,” he said between laughs, getting the jack into the plug once he finally stopped looking up at you. “‘trouble putting it in,’?” He echoed your words with a lovingly mocking tone, trying not to laugh again.

“I wasn’t thinking!” You tried to defend yourself while suppressing more laughter.

“Clearly,” he giggled.

The real, practical, lesson finally began, you spent the next hour and a half learning to play a couple chords and how to transition between them. It was hell, your hands were oddly shaky and very uncoordinated, so you asked for a break before you threw your guitar out the window. “Tea?” You asked, already thinking about making some for yourself so you could have an excuse to wander your apartment for a bit.

“Sure, I’ll have whatever you have.” Andrew nodded, standing up and stretching a bit and walking over to your bookshelf.

You went over to the kitchenette to put the kettle on, your thoughts wandering to how Andrew looked, he was so pretty, and you were definitely embarrassing yourself with your horrible guitar skills, but he had to have expected that, right? You did tell him that you knew basically nothing about playing guitar after all.

He walked closer to you, leaning on the kitchen island. “You’re not as bad as you told me you’d be yesterday, you know.” He said with a kind look in his eyes.

“I’m not?” You asked as you turned to face him.

“Yeah, I mean, your fingers are a bit uncoordinated and all but that’s just getting the hang of it.” He explained. “You picked up the chords and their positions on the neck of the guitar pretty quickly, though, that’s a good sign.”

“Oh, well that’s good at least,” you chuckled, “I don’t know if I’ll ever get the hang of it, though, I have horrible hand-eye coordination.”

“It can’t be that bad, come on,” he scoffed playfully, walking over to you and almost-sitting on the counter closest to you

“It is.”

“I think your hands are just fine, you just need to practise, and maybe learning guitar will help when you do other things with your hands, it did for me.” He winked, you felt your face heat up.

“What other things?” You tilted your head to the side as you smirked.

“Just… things, you’ll see what I mean.” He chuckled, he pressed his thumb into his palm. His eyes looked you up and down slowly, but you pretended not to notice.

“Oh I’m sure.” You laughed.

The water boiled and you made the tea, you lost the track of time as your conversation went on, it was ever so slightly flirty, just some comments here and there that made you both blush coupled with a few lingering touches. You’d be lying if you said that you didn’t want to do more than just learn guitar with him, but you didn’t want to be too forward, so you waited.

/#/#/#/

You met with Andrew for guitar lessons every other day for the next four weeks, slowly improving on your skill while also getting to know each other more and more, to the point that you’d hang out with him even if you weren’t practising, you’d gone to the pub with him and a few more friends a couple times and would just randomly message each other every so often throughout the day just to check on one another. It was nice, and, even if your crush on him had only gotten stronger as the days passed, you were glad to have a new friend. He was so sweet and just the right amount of dorky nerd that you couldn’t help but love him, you only hoped he felt the same way about you.

It was a Saturday evening, Andrew had been over at your apartment since lunch, you’d started the lesson right after he arrived at 1 and it was now 6:30pm, he’d been teaching you a song, or more so trying to. It wasn’t even a hard one, your hands just were not collaborating today and both you and Andrew were growing increasingly frustrated.

You were standing next to your bed while Andrew sat down on it, the guitar was strapped around you, you were considering making it against the ground in frustration. “You look angry, darling.” He pointed out, his expression unreadable.

“I’m not,” you lied, “just frustrated, I don’t know why I can’t get it right.”

“Maybe your hands are just tired, rest a bit and try again later.” He suggested.

“No.”

“The guitar won’t leave if you stop playing for a second, you know?”

“I just want to get this part right, just to hear how it sounds and then I’ll rest.”

Andrew scoffed, the smallest smirk forming on his face, he rolled his eyes before standing up and walking over to you, his frame towering over yours. “Let’s hear it then.” He ordered.

You swallowed air nervously, slightly intimidated by the combination of his height and the more strict and dominant tone his voice had taken. Your fingers moved on the guitar, clumsily playing the song and restarting it every time you messed up a note. After a few failed attempts, he moved behind you, grabbing the guitar even though it was still on you.

He pushed himself flush against your back, his hands playing the instrument as if you weren’t there. You felt the vibrations of the guitar against your abdomen and his body against your back, and, thanks to your height difference, you could perfectly feel his crotch pressing against your lower back. You felt your face heat up and a few whimpers escaping your mouth as he played, and he was definitely getting a bit into it as well, thrusting his hips into you as the song went on, the worst part was that you weren’t even sure if he was doing it because of the song or to rile you up, but that was the effect it was having anyway.

He stopped playing before he got to the chorus of the song, taking the guitar off you before he finally stepped away. “Heard it. Now, rest.” He instructed, throwing himself back on your makeshift couch.

“What the hell was that?” You asked dumbfounded, a nervous chuckle escaped you.

“Sorry, I just… I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done that, it was weird.” He mumbled, his eyes focusing on your pillows instead of on you.

“I didn’t think it was weird,” you stretched the truth lightly, you had thought it slightly weird when he did that, but you also couldn’t ignore the burning between your thighs and you needed to know if he was feeling the same way you were right now. “You could’ve just taken the guitar off me, though.”

“It wouldn’t have worked, you would’ve gotten mad at me.” He bit his lip to fight back a smirk. “I wasn’t really thinking, anyway, and you said you wanted to hear how it sounded so… yeah.”

Your eyes wandered to his crotch for a second, he looked like he was at least slightly hard. Quickly focusing back on his face, you giggled and threw yourself on the makeshift couch next to him, you laid on your side, looking at Andrew with a small, loving smile on your face.

“What’s the smile for?” He asked, turning to his side so he could face you as well.

“Nothing,” you continued to smile. “It’s just funny that you’re kind of beating yourself up about it when I actually kinda liked it.”

“Oh?” His eyes widened for a second as he scooted closer to you. “And what about it did you like?”

“I like how the guitar felt against me. The vibrations of it, you know? I play so slow that I don’t usually feel them like… that.” You bit your thumb lightly, trying to appear a bit more innocent so he wouldn’t guess what you were really thinking about.

“Yeah, they’re nice,” he looked at your lips as well, then scooted even closer. “Anything else you liked?”

“Well… I liked how you felt… against me.” You admitted, only to see Andrew’s smile widening. His hand moved to your cheek, silently encouraging you to keep going. “I liked how you were thrusting against me, it felt nice.”

“Just nice?” He teased, caressing your cheek.

“It was kinda hot, too.”

“I thought so too, maybe we could do something about it?” He suggested, his hand moving to your hip.

You nodded weakly, your lips parting ever so slightly. Andrew lunged in to kiss you, his mouth crashing against yours as you kissed him back passionately. Slowly he moved to be on top of you as you kissed, his right leg moved between yours, pressing against your core. Your hips moved against his legs, desperate for any kind of release. His tongue darted into your mouth, exploring as it pleased while your hands tangled in his shaggy curls.

You deepened the kiss, it became sloppier and more desperate as the seconds passed by, Andrew pulled back, a string of saliva still connecting your mouths to each other’s. His breathing mirrored yours, ragged and irregular even as you tried to calm down slightly. His glasses were slipping off his nose, so, as one does, you moved your hand from his hair and adjusted them, making him chuckle softly. “I feel like a fucking teenager.” He laughed, leaning in to plant small kisses on your jaw and neck.

“You’re twenty-two, not that far from it.” You teased while quiet moans escaped your lips.

“Shut up.” He laughed, his kisses on your skin turning more demanding. His hands snaked under your shirt, slowly pulling it off you until he could finally throw it on to the floor. He grabbed your breasts, moving his face between them before starting to kiss and lightly bite them, you arched your back into him, more moans escaping you.

“Fuck! Andy… please,” you moaned loudly, he hummed against your chest.

“What is it, baby?” He asked with a wicked smile, looking up at you through the rim of his glasses. You whimpered and rubbed yourself against his leg as a response, making him chuckle once more. “So needy… I’ve been wanting you for a while, let me at least play a little before I ravage you.”

“Play faster, I want you now.” You whined again, pulling him in to kiss him. He happily obliged, kissing you back while his hands made quick work of your jeans.

Your jeans and underwear quickly joined the growing pile of discarded clothing on your floor, leaving you completely bare. Your hands moved from Andrew’s hair as he pulled away from your mouth, instead trailing kisses down your neck and collarbone once more, your touch moved to the hem of his shirt, pulling at the cloth to try and pull it off him already. He quickly caught onto that and pulled his own shirt and undershirt off himself, uncovering his torso. He was still as lanky and thin as he was with clothes on, but he was a bit fuller than you had imagined, the slightest bit of pudge gathering on his abdomen. Your gaze turned him slightly shy, his cheeks reddening as he looked away for a second.

“I know this probably isn’t what you imagined,” he said sheepishly, a nervous tone in his voice, “I’m s-“

“You’re so pretty,” you interrupted him, still staring at his body.

“You really think so?”

“Yeah, I do.” You smiled, your hands grazed his skin. “You’re very hot, too.”

“Flatterer.” He smiled back, leaning in to kiss you again. You felt goosebumps forming on his skin the more you caressed him.

“I would never, I’m only saying what I think.” You kissed him back.

He hummed happily into the kiss, his hand travelling lower and lower on your body until it reached your core. He gently caressed it with two fingers, smiling darkly when he felt just how wet you were. Slowly, he played with your clit, making you whimper and buckle your hips against his hand, silently begging for more. He obliged, moving to push two fingers inside you and making you gasp at the intrusion, he slowly pumped them in and out, his thumb moving to play with your clit.

“Is this something that playing guitar helps with?” You teased while trying to suppress your moans.

Andrew chuckled, his fingers quickening. “Yes, actually.” He kissed along your jaw. “It helps a lot, makes it easier to fuck you.”

You moaned more, holding onto him like a lifeline as he played with you. His lips moved to your neck again, leaving passionate kisses and hickeys as he memorised every inch of your skin. His movements quickened even more, his thumb playing with your clit in a way that made your legs shake slightly, his other hand grabbed your hip, his nails digging into your skin. You felt the all-familiar burning-white desire in your lower abdomen, your whines got more and more high pitched until they were nothing more than needy whimpers.

Andrew chuckled, pulling away from your neck to look at your face as you came undone before him. “That’s it, let go for me,” he whispered softly, his free hand now moving up to brush your hair away from your face. “That’s it, good girl. Let me feel you, baby, please.”

You felt something snap within you at his words, pure pleasure running through you as you came on his fingers, covering them with your essence. He smiled at your blissed out expression, taking it in as he fingered you through your orgasm. Once it subsided he pulled out his fingers and licked them clean as you looked at him, a moan escaping him as he finally tasted you.

“Fuck, you’re delicious, I’m going to fucking devour you next time.” He growled.

“Why not now?” You teased breathlessly, still recovering from your orgasm.

“Because I might explode if I don’t put my dick inside you right now.” He teased back, reaching into his wallet for a condom. “Can I fuck you now, baby? Or do you need to recover a bit more first?”

“Now, please.” You begged without thinking.

Andrew smiled at your eagerness, taking off his pants and underwear to reveal his cock, it was as long as you thought, or hoped, it’d be, somewhere above average that was still enjoyable, but his thickness surprised you, he was wider than you’d imagined. You felt your mouth watering. “You’re staring.” He said firmly, rolling on the condom, “does it scare you?” He asked, his tone a mixture of dominance and genuine concern.

“No.” You smiled, opening your legs more. “I was just a bit surprised.”

“A good surprise, I hope.” He smiled back, grabbing your legs and pulling you closer to him. You chuckled at his words.

“A very good surprise, yeah.”

You reached out to touch him once again, his hands catching yours and pushing them to be above your head. He held them in place with his left hand while his right travelled to your thigh, lifting it ever so slightly as he positioned himself between your legs. His cock brushed lightly against your core, making you both whimper lightly at the feeling, then, slowly, he pushed in. Your gasp matched his moaning, soft and quiet enough that it was almost whispered, he was pushing in slowly, making sure it wasn’t painful for you. He bottomed out after a few more seconds, his movements stopping as he let you get used to his size. He leaned in to kiss you, a slow, loving kiss that had you melting into his touch even more.

You moved your hips after a few kisses, signalling Andrew to move. He happily obliged, slowly thrusting in and out of you. Your moans filled the room, making a symphony with his. “You feel so fucking good, baby, oh my god.” He practically whimpered into your ear, interlocking his fingers with yours. His other hand held tightly onto your thigh, his grip almost bruising as he lost himself in you. You shook your hand free from his, moving it to his hair along with your other hand to pull him in for a kiss, muffling your moans.

“Faster, please.” You begged between kisses, Andrew growled in response, letting go of all his restraint. His pace quickened to a brutal one, pistoning in and out of you without a care in the world. Your hands moved down to his back, your nails leaving scratches as you neared your peak just from the feeling of his cock inside you.

He straightened up, getting a better view of you, completely blissed out and moaning like crazy, sweat making some of your hair stick to your face. His hand caressed your cheek lovingly, his thumb pressing on your mouth to pry it open. “Open up, baby.” He ordered, and you obeyed without hesitation. His thumb moved inside your mouth, pressing on your tongue. “Suck.” He added.

And you did, sucking gently on his thumb as a lopsided smile grew in his face. He whispered soft praises as he fucked you, his thumb thrusting slightly in and out at a gentle pace to contrast the one of his hips.

He moved your leg with his other hand so your ankle would be resting on his shoulder, changing the angle in just the right position so his pubic bone would hit your clit every time he bottomed out. Your moans got louder, or as much as they could since your sucking of his thumb muffled most of the noise. Andrew moaned too, quieter, softer moans that could only be audible between your own, but you loved every single one you could hear. You felt his cock twitch inside you.

You felt yourself getting closer and closer to the edge, your own hand moving to your clit to give you the extra friction you needed. Andrew pulled his thumb out of your mouth and moved it to your clit before you could reach it on your own, flicking it rapidly as he moved your leg off his shoulder so he could lean in to kiss you again. You moaned into his mouth and he moaned into yours, both of you nearing your respective climaxes, his cock twitched more inside you, his thrusting becoming erratic and uncoordinated. You felt the pure, unadulterated ecstasy threatening to explode within you once more, your hands moving once more to Andrew’s hair as he kissed you.

“Come for me, baby, come on, let me hear you again pet.” He moaned, pulling back slightly so he could see your face as you came undone below him. “So fuckin’ pretty, come on, love.”

You came under him not long after, pure pleasure flowing through you as your body shook with your orgasm. But Andrew didn’t stop, chasing his own release as his thrusts became even more irregular than before, and, just as you were starting to feel the overstimulation taking over, he came, releasing his spent into the condom and stopping his movements almost completely, savouring the feeling of your walls around him. He moaned loudly, his head going back slightly as his eyes closed and his jaw slacked, you grinned slightly, recognising his current expression as the same one he did when playing a more upbeat guitar solo.

After a few more seconds, you both calmed down, and Andrew leaned in to kiss you once more, slowly and lovingly this time. You kissed back, your bodies still entangled with each other as you savoured the afterglow of your lovemaking. Carefully, and despite how much neither of you wanted that, he pulled out of you, detaching himself from you so he could take off the condom and throw it out. “I’ll be back in a second, stay put.” He murmured before giving you a quick kiss and walking towards your bathroom.

He came back not long after with a damp washcloth in hand, cleaning you up slightly before helping you sit up on your bed. “I should go to the bathroom,” you pointed out.

“Yeah,” he agreed, “go on, I’ll wait here for you.”

You smiled lovingly, getting up and into the bathroom, coming out of it a few minutes later after refreshing yourself. You found Andrew laying on your bed, having put his boxers back on while you’d been washing up. He smiled at the sight of you, opening his arms for you to cuddle into, and that you did, crawling into your bed and hugging him tight. He played with your hair as you cuddled, talking about random things before you decided to be a bit cheeky. “Did you know you have the exact same face when playing guitar that you do when you cum?”

“Shut up,” he laughed, “…do I really?”

“Yeah.”

“Is it at least a nice face or do I look like an idiot?” His face reddened ever so slightly.

“I think it’s a very pretty face, just like your normal one.” You assured him honestly.

“Thank god.” He laughed again, holding you tighter to him. “Can I stay the night?” He added, a hint of uncertainty and pleading in his tone.

“You better stay.” You smiled, nuzzling your face into his chest.

Andrew smiled back, burying his face in your hair and taking in your scent.

[boydepartment]

so cute - anton lee x reader

a/n: DONT LOOK AT ME RN…. okay i’m having a moment shut up i can’t sleep. this is completely self indulgent and writing for fun so whooooooops

warnings- none just fluff and goofy. idol! anton. photography major! reader. (i am not a photography major so pls um bare w me) THIS IS ALSO REALLY CLICHE SO I AM SORRY i also have no idea what tags to use :( so if you are on riize tumblr PLS HELP ME IN MY INBOX WITH TAGS

wc- 250-300

MASTERLIST

when you sat down after you ordered you got all your stuff organized. you had a plan to meet your friend to study together at a small but sweet boba shop. a lot of college students would come and go and half the fun of studying was procrastinating and choosing to people watch instead.

your friend was late and so you were left to fend for yourself. which was okay, it didn’t bother you. you got a little lost in thought and didn’t even notice the gaggle of boys walk in.

you didn’t even notice when the second cashier called up your order and you skipped over to pick it up. it tasted sweet and made you smile.

the way you set up your table looked really nice so you took a couple steps away from your chair to take a photo, not for class. just for fun.

your notes and laptop looked like those aesthetic posts on pinterest and the view outside the window was not the worst for a parking lot. you looked down at your phone and frowned, maybe the flash would help?

you went to get in position again when a guy totally bumped into you. sending both of you crashing onto the floor!

when you sat up you saw all his friends almost sprint out of the shop laughing, you looked down, eyes widening.

“i’m so sorry! here let me help you up!” you stood up and put your hands out. he was quiet and took your hands. you bent over and picked up his thankful pre-poked boba, nothing spilled thank goodness!

“are you okay?” you asked, handing his drink to him. it was a little hard to tell or read him as he was wearing a mask, there was only so much you could read with his eyes.

your head turned to the side trying to get an answer out of him. eventually he snapped out of whatever daze he was in. did this boy hit his head too hard?

“it was my fault! i was walking backwards while talking and i didn’t see you i’m sorry…” the boy was very soft spoken and it took you by surprise. a lot of people you met in college were a little outspoken.

you smiled at him, hoping to lighten the mood, “it’s okay it was an accident!”

“you fell pretty hard on your knees, are you okay?” he asked, noticing that they looked pretty scuffed.

“oh! i’m okay. don’t worry about it.” you went to grab your bag which softened the blow of your fall.

“is your phone okay? if it’s broken i can help pay for the damages…”

that was sweet of him…

you looked at your phone and saw the crack in the screen protector, “it’s a little cracked but it’s just the screen protector! it’s fine! if anyone asks i can tell them about this.” you laughed a little and looked at him again, “my friend’s gonna wish she wasn’t late…!”

you heard the boy laugh a little, “i still feel bad for tripping over you and ruining your photo, can i do anything to make up for it?”

“there’s no need to feel bad!” you said quickly- waving you hands back and forth, “again it’s totally okay. you should probably get back to your friends though… they kinda ran off.”

you saw him look outside the window, scoffing a little, “i’m going to choose to ignore them.”

this made you laugh, it was a total 180 from his voice, it was cute.

“i’m y/n. i figure since we’re having a conversation it’s appropriate to introduce myself, since you’re not just falling over me and dipping.” you stuck your hand out again.

he looked at your hand and shook it, “anton.” his eyes curved which told you he was smiling. cute.

“um… your friend still isn’t here… can i sit with you?”

you nodded, might as well, it wasn’t like you were studying. he happily took a seat next to you.

“you’re in college right?”

you nodded, “mhm! photography major!” you opened a file and scooted your laptop to him. anton looked through your photos almost amazed.

“i’m trying to put together my portfolio right now actually. i’m hoping i’ll get a job soon.” you explained, leaning your head on your palm.

he practically perked up at this, “my friends and i need a photographer for our next show!”

“show?”

“ummmmmmmmmm.” anton scratched his neck, “yes. show. music. yaknow….”

you smiled, “honestly, if it pays well, i’d love to.”

he looked at you and nodded, really enthusiastically. you felt pride bubble in you for someone being so impressed by your work to offer you a job.

“can i get your number to get the details?” you asked, unlocking your phone, he was cute and even if the job didn’t work out, maybe a date would. you could hear his phone buzzing rapidly.

anton nodded again and put his information in, “text me your name n stuff and i’ll answer i promise.” he stood up, “i really need to get back to my friends they’re blowing up my phone… even though they ditched me…”

you laughed again, “no problem. i’ll text you!”

“yeah!” he was walking away from you smiling when he ran into the door awkwardly. almost like the scene of a movie. it was so cute.

he was so cute.

[kbs-and-fds]

Yo, Welcome to my photography blog!

This is a photography project with a focus on older digital cameras sold before the mid 2000s. I've been working with these sorts of cameras since 2022, which grew from my interest in retro computers that I have had since 2020 or so. Here, I'll introduce you to my cameras, my computer rig, and try to convince you that this is a cool hobby.

General Q & A:

Whats in the name? - Kb refers to Kilobyte, all of the photos I take with these cameras only take up a little over 100 Kilobytes of digital storage per photo. FD refers to the physical media the photos are stored in, currently one camera uses floppy disks (FD), the other two use compact flash (CF) and smart media (SM) cards. unfortunately, their shortened forms do not rhyme and so they do not matter.

What can I expect from this blog? - amateur photography using old cameras, I guess. I'll say some nonsense below each photo but you're free to ignore it. I don't plan on reblogging anything here, so don't expect that. I am the star of this blog. me me me. I tend towards finding weird buildings/architecture, "liminal spaces", sunsets, and generally trying to see how well I can make a photo look like a blender render in a Kane pixels video. don't expect any consistency, though. the medium will remain the same but the vibes will absolutely fluctuate with my mood. I'll try and tag things correctly if it's off putting.

Are you a cool person? - I tend to be! I don't want this place to be alienating for anybody but assholes who don't deserve to see the stuff I do. being a tumblr blog, I follow a lot of the standard stuff. jerks are not welcome and I'm not gonna give you the pleasure of an argument if you do turn your head round these parts.

who are you? - trans pan girl. takes pictures. listens to Femtanyl. much unlike Peter Parker.

My Cameras

Mavica FD-7

released in 1997, this was the second of Sony's "Digital Mavica" line of cameras. it records photos of around 50Kbs in size to a standard 3 1/2" floppy disk. it has some standard features like a manual focus wheel, 10x optical zoom, and exposure control. I haven't found a strict source but I believe this camera is less than one megapixel. I actually have a few different Mavica cameras (a fd-71/75/83/85/87 and a cd-1000) but they aren't different from the fd-7 enough to justify being used often. I'll make note on individual posts if I use 'em at all.

Kodak DC220

released in 1999, with a quality of exactly one megapixel the DC 220 is a weird little thing. it has custom software, connects to a computer via com ports with a transfer speed of ~11,000 bit/s. (roughly 30-60 seconds per photo in my experience) you can add custom text to your photos in the cameras built in software, and attach custom audio to each photo. it is a pain in the butt to get working, but it's quirks make it worth the frustration.

Olympus E-10

made in 2000 with a quality of a whopping four megapixels, the Olympus E-10 is the newest addition to my collection, and possibly the nicest camera I'll ever own. it's a fixed lens DSLR camera capable of 4x zoom, you can easily adjust the aperture and exposure on the fly, it's photos tend to be a whole 100kb in size (1/10th of a megabyte!) and to be entirely honest I have no idea how to use it. but I will eventually!

My Computer

I try to use all era-appropriate tech to transfer photos and do any edits, this is the computer I do all that processing on! its a Dell Optiplex gx1- the daddy of pretty much any computer used in public schools (Chromebooks don't count) It's got a Pentium 3 CPU clocking at 500MHz, 512mb ram, running windows ME. it has all the original Kodak DC220 software installed, and I can't really access the Kodak's photos any other way. I've also got a few other weird bits attached to it -an HP sketch pro cad tablet and an external data cartridge SCSI device. both work, but I don't really bother to use them, they just look neat.

that's about it. have a good one! thanks for reading this all, if you did.

[shalomniscient]

you're so soooo right with ei being badly written, especially in her quest. the first time i saw her drip marketing and such i was extremely hooked, like oh we have a potential evil character (not really) who's morally grey, i mean she stole people's vision, then hoyo decided to turn our girl into a shut-in neet waifu *sigh ei spent 500 years in plane of euthymia mediating, and just after like, a few hours with the traveller, she already dropped her whole belief of 500 years and that made me mad mad. like you said, if she and traveller had a deep, meaningful talk about grief and their siblings, maybe ei's decision would be more acceptable. at least to me :( all of this is my point of view tho <33 since you write analysis very accurate to characters i wanted to share my small thoughts with you. hoyo did our girl dirty so much hshshs

i was an og raiden enjoyer alright like i had her as my wallpaper as my pfp on discord tumblr hell even fucking pinterest. my genshin pinterest board caption is still me flexing the fact i pulled c2 raiden on release. i LOVE her, she is truly so special to me i mained her for years and i still use her in abyss. but i physically can't ignore bad writing when i see it, and ei girl you have so much of it. i agree with your point where ei seemed to change her ideals so quickly. even if miko and traveler managed to break into the euthymia, and the traveler managed to awaken all the visions, that still seems ??? so weak of a reasoning ??? i'm glad they addressed this somewhat in ei's confusing as hell 2nd story quest, where even her own puppet turns on her for changing her ideals so quickly lmao also another hoyo fumble with ei... i remember this so vividly because i was SO disappointed, but at the start of her first story quest where we're about to take her out on the """date""" we take a picture first, and i remember thinking "holy shit, this is so cool. pictures are a form of eternity too, maybe ei will find an appreciation or passion for photography as an instrument of eternity" but no. instead we just. take a picture of her then go to the bookstore and have dango milk and beat the shit out of some dude in a duel. like be so fr man

[destiny-in-the-universe]

Updates on RC9GN Ships & Muses

I don't know why I need to clarify this since the RC9GN community has been amazing, and for those genuinely interested in my content, well, you can ignore this!

I'm going to split this into two different categories as well as how to send an ask because I am at my limit genuinely

Also, I can't remember who had this idea but I might create alternate ship names for the characters based on like, interests and/or objects.

Ships I'm Comfortable Writing

Randy x Howard (Weinerham) - emotionally constipated dumbasses who probably need therapy

Randy x Theresa (Fowlham) - high school sweethearts but they still need the nudge in the right direction

Randy x Debbie (Kangham) - the dumbass and the one who carries the braincells

Randy x Howard x Theresa (???) - i don't think there's an official ship name for these three! If anyone would like to help me come up with one, just let me know! (the enabler, the fuck-all attitude, and the epitome of flowers in human form-)

Randy x Howard x Debbie (???) - they also need an 'official' ship name. I thought of Chaos Trio for shits and giggles, but I'm uncertain atm (braincells and dumbasses: the sequel)

Debbie x Theresa (Fowlkang/Twirling Photography?) - literally a perfect match

Other Ships I Can Write but Are Not My Mains

Howard x Debbie (Weinerkang) - how to describe their relationship? who knows, but- well, it exists now

McFist x Viceroy (McViceroy) - the braincell and the dumbass

McFist x Viceroy x Marci (???) - McFist has two hands, y'all

Randy x Julian (Corpse Scarf!) - pls i don't have a silly way to explain their ship they're just adorable i love them sm goodbye

possibly Bucky x Julian (???) - don't expect me to write for this ship too much-

If there's any other ship you're interested in, let me know! Canon x Original Character is also allowed!

How to Send Me Asks?

Pick a ship! Or a muse (if you want standalone headcanons and/or ficlets/etc). You cannot get an ask answered without this.

Choose a prompt if you want something more specific. This can be literally anything from a song lyric (if it's the whole song, please send me a link- i obviously don't know all songs!), a word or two (park, coffee date, etc), OR anything else to your fancy. You can pick something more detailed!

If you want something set in an AU setting, please- please specify. Or I'm going to just write these as close to canon as I can

You can send multiple asks/requests! I really don't mind tbh- just don't send me more than three at once, I think-?

NSFW will not be accepted. Suggestive content is fine, but you have to be at least eighteen- it just cannot be straight up smut.

For original characters, please provide information regarding the OC! I can't write for a canon I know nothing about-

Anon will continue remaining open. I hope the situation has been dealt with because I just started deleting the asks- I will curate my tumblr experience to something comfortable for me and the people who truly want to have a great time here, but now we can talk about my RC9GN muses

RC9GN Muses

Mains

Randy Cunningham (He/Him, doesn't mind other pronouns) - age varies depending on ask/request. Unlabeled on Sexuality. Randy doesn't care about that sort of thing to be honest- he'll date anyone he feels an attraction for. Personal headcanon that he's trans!

Open for both romantic and platonic asks/requests!

First Ninja/Finja (He/Him) - age varies depending on asks/requests. Asexual, but Open to Dating. Doesn't care for partner's gender.

Open for both romantic and platonic asks/requests!

Human! Nomi/Nomicon (All Pronouns) - ageless/doesn't age due to immortality. Arospec + Asexual.

Open for Platonic Asks/Requests!

Secondary Characters

Howard Weinerman (He/Him) - age varies depending on asks/requests. Queer/Unlabeled. Doesn't care about his partner's gender.

Open for romantic and platonic asks/headcanons!

Julian (He/They) - age varies depending on asks/requests! Unlabeled. Bicurious, leans to men.

Open for romantic and platonic asks/requests!

Theresa Fowler (She/Her, open to other pronouns) - age varies depending on asks/headcanons! Bisexual.

Open for romantic and platonic asks/headcanons!

(I could not find a gif- shit)

Spike (He/It/Doesn't Fucking Care) - ageless bc he's a robot. Unlabeled.

Open for platonic asks/requests!

Nomirandy (No /jk He/They) - ageless?? Unlabeled/Bicurious. Kind of leans to men, but he doesn't care all that much

Open for romantic and platonic asks/headcanons!

Tengu! Howard (All) - ageless?? Who tf cares about labels?

Open for romantic and platonic asks/headcanons!

If there's other canons you would like for me to write, I can try but no promises to be honest- I'm experimenting with a lot of these and I thought they might be fun to write more often!

I might write another set of headcanons for each of these characters later tonight, and I do need to write the next piece of my meta-analysis at some point! Plus an ask I'm very bouncy about hahaha, but anyway- have a lovely day, everyone!

~ Ace (He/They)

[foolsocracy]

i wanna know how you learned how to render, it's so yum 😞💔

thank you!!! I'm glad u like it. I can try my best to explain my process but its very much a 'feel it with my heart' experience. This is gonna be long and incomprehensible but I'm gonna try:

If we're talking about the (above) garth & baby arthur jr pic or the bloody pete pic, I'd say i started to actually render like that in maybe high school art class (they were much worse then ofc because i have years more practice now)? Obviously my process now is different than it was back then, but before I actually started physically painting canvases with acrylics I usually just did line art and color without the blending-painting pizzazz.

Thats actually where I get my weird random interspersed colors in my coloring as well. Acrylics dry super fast and a high school art class is like 45 minutes so I'd have to totally mix a new pallet the next day. Not that I couldn't color match, but its annoying and having variations with colors or just mixing something up to fill in gaps looks neat if you get it right. If it looks bad just paint over it, but its worth it to try.

My process with these is almost exactly like my non painterly rendered ones, just with steps after. Also, you can get away with a lot when not fully rendering, but when i do render PHOTO REFERENCE is to die for. Specifically for the lighting. I can't emphasize this enough. By the time i'm done with a drawing my search history should be like "knees. Knees sitting. Knee anatomy. Harsh light photography. Curly hair. baby. J. C. Leyendecker new year baby" + 8 pictures of u doing whatever pose you're trying to do.

Anyway, the process for me is usually: vague sketch > carve out the lines/neater sketch > flat colors > basic shading/rendering > color adjusting sketch lines (usually from black to dark red) > collapse everything into one layer & get to WORK

I know the 1 layer thing is scary, but thats life. Its easiest to adjust things that way (for me). No need to worry about layers and blending modes cause its all right there. I usually duplicate the layer the drawing is in before I start on something crazy just to reassure myself that if I fuck it up I can go back. So a lot of the time my layers in procreate are progressively more rendered stages of the piece lol.

Now that Im here trying to explain this im blanking on how to actually express it. Lets see. I can run through some general stuff:

For both of those artworks (baby & pete) they're 100% made with HB pencil on procreate (a default brush! I've never downloaded any new brushes cause im lazy). I actually made a brush explanation for someone a few months ago I can put that right here:

hopefully those are readable. sometimes tumblr flops lmk if my writing is illegible

the eraser tool is your BEST FRIEND!!!! The way I get my lines and shapes and whatnot is by making big ass strokes and then erasing until whatever I'm looking for reveals itself. Here's a video of that process from the aquababy pic. Ignore the jerky pauses lol. also there's the reference photo!:

rendering itself is really hard to describe. Basically just throw color at it until it works out. (just tried to add a video but tumblr says only 1 video allowed

I hope this is helpful somehow! Just threw a ton of stuff at you. If you want anything more or the actual video or smth just let me know!

[maddiescinema]

first, your services are very much appreciated and i hope you have a wonderful day

second, here's what i remember about the fic i'm looking for (and if it's not real wow my brain is so good at coming up with stories)

lando norris x reader

pretty sure reader is female

its (freelance?) photographer reader and i think also best friend reader

reader was hired by mclaren to do photography stuff for f1 and of the drivers, thats where lando and reader first met and became friends

im pretty sure its part of a (ongoing?) series

part smau part written

financial issues & mclaren not being able to hire reader all the time or smth like that (maybe) lead reader to accept a contract or whatever its called to photograph a football team

its one of england's/uk's football teams (im not well versed in football so bear with me) i think

i think the team may have been manchester city? and i think i remember a jack grealish or someone like that

anyways

reader goes there and does readers job and becomes accquianted with the team members

there's this one member who has a fuckboy/playboy reputation, and keeps bothering reader to go for dinner and eventually reader says yes bc he promises its just between friends

dinner goes fine until the end where he confides in reader that the team is going to let him go if he doesnt get his act together or so he believes

then he asks reader to pretend to be his girlfriend so that doesnt happen, reader says no, he threatens reader and her career, so she gives in and he says lets kiss in front of the paps so word gets out and they do bc theyre outside having this convo and there are paps around and an article is posted and it goes to social media

anyways that dude is an asshole

reader just ignores him and tries not to be with him and interact with him going back to work, and reader is feeling really alone bc lando isnt answering her calls and she deosnt really have anyone at the moment to vent and talk about this situation to, also the internet gets to her a bit i think

reader is camping out in an empty conference room getting stuff done when she goes to get a snack and maybe the bathroom to cry & try to call lando again?

when she comes back theres someone there and its jack grealish(?) (not the relationship forcing asshole) and shes like oh im sorry i must have forgot our meeting

hes like we had no meeting i just wanted to check up on you, bc ive noticed you been down lately and the whole dating thing

readers opens up and vents about being forced into the relationship

he shares that the team is either waiting or looking for a reason to let the asshole go bc his behaviour is bad and the players dont like him and dont get along with him

and he promises reader that if she ever needs anything that hes there for her and that she can go him

and she feels safe and happy and not alone anymore

and thats all i remember, and since im 94% sure that this is a series or at least part of a series, i might be mixing up parts

if you can find it thank you! if not thanks for trying!

p.s. why is it so hard to find things on tumblr??? ive tried to look for this but im also weak and give up to easily

first of all, thank uu 🫶🏻 i’m happy to help!!

second of all, I SWEAT I’VE READ SOMETHING LIKE THIS BEFORE, like i’m so sure but going back to find it is actually impossible 😭 i’ll try again tomorrow cause i know i’ve read this one BUT if anyone knows where to find it PLEASE let us know in the comments, my inbox or my dms!! 🫶🏻🫶🏻

UPDATE:

“A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words” by @f1byjessie

(thank you SO much to the comment and the anons who helped find this fic!! all the love to you guys!!)

[azus-reyan]

Entry 7: I Use AI, so what?

I’ve come across creators and artists who swear by a zero-AI policy.

I get it, and not long ago, I would have agreed with them. But something happened: AI got better.

Every industry has been feeding this beast, and it was only a matter of time before it got freakishly good. So good that it’s putting people out of jobs. 

I get why people are angry about it. No one likes the idea of their job being automated. That’s a totally understandable reaction. But one that still ignores something important.

AI can’t do, and excuse my language, shit without humans. 

Sure, it’s taking over some roles, but there are spaces where it won’t even come close—namely, the creative sector.

Writing, music, painting, photography—these are the fields where AI sticks out like a sore thumb. You can spot an AI-made image from a mile away. It’s too clean, too stupid, or both. 

When it comes to writing, it gets repetitive and lacks the heart of what makes something human—creativity. So why do I use it?

Because it has its upsides

Here is the thing, I suck at editing.

I’ve been bad at it since I began writing seriously. 

For someone in my position, there are only three options: learn how to edit, hire a professional editor, or use AI. So I came up with a neat idea.

Why not get a better editor and learn how to edit—all at the low, low price of $0?

When used correctly, artificial intelligence can make that happen. To show you what I mean, I’ll share a glimpse of how I work.

This is a paragraph from one of the posts I’ve recently made.

The initial paragraph where it says ‘Original Paragraph’, is mine. No AI, no outside help, just raw human hands in action.

Then there is the suggested version, which is ChatGPT’s revised version. As you can see for yourself, there isn’t much difference between the two, only a slight change in flow.

But the most important part is the following section. ‘Why the changes’ section clearly outlines the alterations made and why. 

I’m not great at editing. I tend to add too many unnecessary words, make a lot of grammatical mistakes, and generally struggle with the technical side of writing. Plus, hiring a professional editor or teacher isn’t an option for me. So, using AI was a no-brainer.

Here is another example: 

Not much of a difference between the original and the revised, right?

It takes what's inherently human and kicks the kinks from it.

The main grunt work is done by yours truly, with my heart and soul, and then, said AI simply shapes it up a bit. 

Let's not forget that this is a tool of convenience like the thousands of others we’ve made before. 

Does it have downsides? Absolutely. But can it undermine human ingenuity? Absolutely not, unless we allow that to happen.

The stupid thing is here, with its own set of problems. Yes, it stole what others have worked hard for. I know very well it made some people homeless. But the irony is, humans are behind this tool every step of the way.

Like humans, It’s flawed. Like humans, it steals and displaces. But we’re learning the consequences, albeit slowly.

There are laws now for AI infringements and plagiarism. People are finding more ways to protect their work. And AI is being integrated into the workforce instead of replacing human hands.

I’ll say it again: AI is just a tool—a tool created by humans. And eventually, it will be part of our society, and you won’t even know the difference.

But for now, the only question that remains is: can this help you? 

For me, it’s a yes, In some ways. But if you see the issue from a different angle, then that is your choice and no one else. 

I came across a post here on Tumblr talking about how AI has 0 percent business in creative spaces. I prefer to say around 10 percent is where I draw the line. 

Not just editing but also brainstorming a cool idea. Or generating prompts, and offering an interesting perspective when I’m mulling something over. 

I sometimes sit and chat with ChatGPT like it’s a human being, and the insights it gives are just wild! Seriously, give it a shot.

But hey, that’s just me, what do you think?

Maybe you’ll convince a fellow creative to ditch AI. Or maybe you’ll think I’m not a writer for even considering it

Let me hear your thoughts in the comments.

[justsomeoneintoomanyfandoms]

Heya! I just wanna first say I REALLY like your writing and it's so so cool to see some TD stuff on tumblr TwT the community is so small still so you are doing gods work here!!

I'm interested in a TD match up (possibly OM too if ur up to it!! either way idm<33)

- Name: Jay (nicknames: Bread, bug, jäyssi)

- pronouns: They/them

- sexuality: still figurin it out but I lean more towards men but also sometimes find women attractive too, non binary ppl are always a yes

- Zodiac/mbti: Cancer, ISFP-T

- appearance: 165cm tall, brunette ass lenght hair I usually just slick back using my headphones as a hairband. Always wearing noise cancelling headphones and prefer a more alternative style, almost also teetering to a 90's jock vibes :P small round sunglasses my beloved. Big love to suede leather bomber jackets and ripped jeans.

- Personality: Very empathetic, more of a listener than talker (unless it comes to my interests in which case I yap!!) Can come off as a bit monotone (I have alexithymia which causes emotions to be hard for me). I'm told I'm super approachable and comforting ^^" I get very excited over the little things and can be quite optimistic. I react quite badly to rejection or even the smallest failures.

- likes and dislikes: I LOVE snails, dandelions(my fav flower<33), anything mango flavored winter, art, everything and anything fluffy and listenin to music! I DISLIKE almost all fruits, summer, blood/gore (hemofobia), cooking (cooking anxiety), worded instructions.

- hobbies: I draw/paint digitally and traditionally. I always carry a sketchbook around everywhere :] I also really like going on easy hikes on forest trails as well as amateur photography!!

- extra info: I have autism/ADD so social stuff might suck and I can be very slow at times when it comes to learning stuff.

(If you're not currently doing matchups, please feel free to ignore this <3)

Hi Jay! Thank you for your request! Sorry it took a while. I hope you like your matchups!

In Tokyo Debunker, I match you with...

You and Towa make a good combination since you’re both good listeners and talkative at different times. When one of you is talking, the other is listening intently.

You like dandelions? Oh, Towa’s perfect for you! He’s always bringing you dandelions whenever he visits and plants them nearby so he has a constant supply.

I see him as someone who’s a fan of summer as well. He likes the feeling of the sun on his skin and enjoys going on walks through the Jabberwock fields with you.

He thinks it’s really cute that you have a fondness for fluffy things. There are plenty of those around Jabberwock and he’ll happily show them to you, as long as you show him some affection as well. His hair’s pretty fluffy after all…

Towa also thinks it’s really cute that you get so excited over little things. He thinks that sort of enthusiasm is much needed in the world and it’s lovely being around you.

In Obey Me, I match you with...

Simeon was first drawn to you because of your comforting presence. And the more time he spent with you, the more he fell for you.

Much like Towa, Simeon thinks it’s sweet how excited you get over little things. He feels he doesn’t have to hide his own excitement when he’s around you.

He’s a very creative person himself so he loves sitting by you when you paint or draw. He likes being around the creative process since it makes him feel inspired as well.

I can definitely see him as someone who likes photography and would really enjoy going on walks with you where you each take a camera and compare photos when you get back.

Simeon’s pretty good in the kitchen himself so as long as you don’t mind the company, he’d love to join you. If you prefer cooking by yourself, he’ll happily just have some of whatever delicious food you’ve whipped up.

[sparklymilks]

was gonna try and find this post on my blog to reblog it but tumblr being tumblr i couldnt find it even tho i searched for the words "wedding" "photography" etc lol which i definitely used in the FUCKING POST

anyway, the wedding photographer i hired, who is also one of my oldest friends, has not given us the pics. she told us it would take about 2 months. she told us this 9 montsh ago. lol

i checked in once and once only after the 2 months were up but she never got back to me

we paid her £1000 which is FAR below market rates, and absolutely a factor in why i haven't chased her for the pics beyond a "hey you ok?" type thing, but i want to stress that i specifically said to her even after she told us she'd definitely give us a reduced price bc she loves me etc: tell us how much to pay you and we'll pay it without argument, bc obviously i work in a similar type of field and i dont want to mug my friends off. this is fully the price SHE set!

bc she was ignoring me i messaged a mutual friend we have - she said that wedding photog is leaving her man, with whom she has 3 kids, this is obviously stressful... i just wish she'd told me instead of me having to hear it from someone else only when i asked??

i just dk what the appropriate course of action is really like i would be understanding if she sent am essage apologising for the wait and explaining her circs a bit more (again ive had radio silence since like the day after the wedding when we got a few taster pics sent over) but it has been SILENCE and even tho it was heavily reduced i did pay for like... what is a significant amount of money to me?

im feeling uncomforatble w/ doing it at all bc of our friendship (genuinely like fuck me for hiring a friend even a professional wedding photographer friend i was so pleased to have a professional wp friend lmao i was like ha ha i wont suffer like those people who just pay a friend with an iphone!!) so im probs just gonna hand the task over to ben bc he barely knows her so it'll be less awkward

[bellaxgiornata]

Caught in the Undertow [Chapter One]

Pairing: Matt Murdock x Original Female Character

Summary: Eight months ago Emily Diehl moved from Hell’s Kitchen to the Upper West Side as her wedding photography business successfully took off. But between her recent, traumatic break up with an ex who won't leave her alone and her increased workload, she's lost touch with her friends, family, and herself. Struggling through grief and depression, Emily ends up confiding in one of her best friend's and former crush along with her old neighborhood's mysterious vigilante, Daredevil–though Emily doesn't realize the two are one in the same. Every day she is left wondering what it will take to find herself again. And as she slowly finds her way back, she's beginning to wonder just why Daredevil cares so much...

Warnings/tags: 18+ for this series; contains fluff, angst, domestic violence, depression, PTSD, smut

Word Count: 8k

a/n: Slowly posting one of my angsty Matt Murdock x OFC stories over to tumblr to see if there is interest. The first eighteen chapters are already written and this story is almost finished. Feel free to leave feedback so I know how interested y'all are in more of this one! You can find the entire list of chapters for this series here.

Balancing the heavy bag on my shoulder as I leant forward, I shoved the spare key into the lock and turned it, hearing the telltale click as the door unlocked. Straightening, I opened the apartment door and was immediately greeted with Ezra's voice calling out from his bedroom. 

"I left some pasta in the fridge," he told me.

I grinned, shutting the front door behind me before holding a hand against the wall as I kicked out of my uncomfortable heels. "You're a saint!" I called back.

I pulled the heavy camera bag from my sore shoulder and set it on the little kitchen table, rubbing the ache it had left behind absently as I crossed the small space to the fridge. I pulled the door open, my eyes widening happily when I spotted the bowl of spaghetti covered with a piece of plastic wrap. Hungrily, I pulled it out, ripping off the covering before opening a nearby drawer and finding a fork. Wasting no time, I swirled a forkful of pasta and shoved it in my mouth, my eyes closing as I chewed.

"You didn't even heat it up first?" Ezra's horrified voice rang through the kitchen. 

My eyes flew open and I saw my brother standing at the end of the hallway with a disturbed expression on his face as he watched me eat. His nose wrinkled further as he saw me shovel another forkful of pasta ungracefully into my mouth.

I shrugged a shoulder at him. "What?" I asked around the mouthful of pasta. "I'm starving."

"You're an animal," he said with a chuckle.

I kicked his shin as he stepped beside me, reaching up to pull out a glass before filling it in the sink. He set it on the counter next to me and gestured to it with his head.

"Drink," he ordered. "I know you don't get a chance to drink nearly enough during wedding days."

I swallowed another bite of pasta before mumbling, "Or eat enough."

I picked up the glass, ignoring how Ezra was staring at me from his place beside me at the kitchen counter, and chugged the entire glass in one go. He rolled his eyes and picked up the empty glass, returning to the sink and refilling it for me as I swirled a massive amount of pasta onto my fork again. 

"Animal," he muttered in amusement. 

"Shut up," I responded as I chewed.

"So you're finally gracing Hell’s Kitchen with your presence tonight?" my brother asked as he got himself a glass of water.

I continued shoveling the pasta down, rolling my eyes. "I told you I was coming out tonight. Marci invited me the other week." I chewed quickly as I brought the now empty bowl to the sink, rinsing it out thoroughly before shooting Ezra a look over my shoulder. "Dishwasher dirty?" I asked him. When he nodded, I pulled it open, placing the bowl inside. "I'm going to Josie’s tonight to see everyone. It's been…too long." I closed the dishwasher, straightening and glancing at him. "You were invited too."

I headed over to my camera bag, grabbing the lipstick from an outside pouch and ignoring the curious expression on his face. I made my way down the short hall to the bathroom, flipping on the light and checking my appearance in the mirror.

"We haven't been to Josie’s in forever," Ezra said, appearing abruptly as he leaned against the doorframe of the bathroom. "And why the hell would Marci Stahl be at Josie’s?"

I paused, shooting him a pointed look through his bathroom mirror as I touched up my makeup. "She's dating Foggy now, remember? And that was Foggy and Matt's go-to bar." My eyes darted back to myself in the mirror, capping the dark red lipstick and running my hand through the dark curls that had fallen from a long day of work. "She said the four of them go every Wednesday, Friday, and most Saturday nights when I ran into her the other weekend at Cece's wedding. But I've been too booked the past two weeks to meet them there."

He shot me another curious look, arms crossing over his chest. "You hate going out after working a full wedding, though."

"Yeah, well," I said, turning around with a huff and leaning my hip against the bathroom counter. "I haven't seen them in forever. I've been so busy building up this business ever since I moved out of Hell's Kitchen that I've neglected my social life. I miss Karen, Marci, Foggy, and Matt. And ," I told him firmly, "I'm sleeping on your couch tonight. So I don't have to go far after."

Ezra's expression suddenly perked up, his back straightening. "Wait, Karen's going to be there?" he asked immediately.

I rolled my eyes, making my way past him and slapping his shoulder as I went. "Yeah, lover boy. Maybe don't get too drunk tonight and ruin your time with her, huh?"

I heard Ezra scoff as he followed me down the hallway towards the front door. "You're one to talk."

I frowned, turning on my heel in the space between the kitchen and living room, shooting him a glare. "And what's that supposed to mean?"

He rolled his eyes at me now, a grin on his lips. "Oh come off it already. You've had a crush on Matt Murdock since day one ," Ezra pointed out. "If you hadn't been so off and on with that asshole Justin you'd have jumped Matt long ago." He smirked, stepping closer to me to ruffle my hair and laughing when I roughly swatted him away. 

I frowned as I tried to fix the hair Ezra had just mussed, feeling my heart lurch at the mention of my ex. It was not a topic I liked to dwell on.

"Yeah well, he's old news," I said solemnly, trying to slip my heels back on. I winced as the first one cut back into my already sore and aching foot. "And Matt and I are just friends. Always have been." I slipped my other foot into the black heel and closed my eyes, cringing at the pain. I let out a slow breath before turning back to my brother, watching as he slid his worn out Van's on his feet. "And you know I'm not dating right now."

"Right," he said, raising two fingers on each hand to air quote, "you're taking 'a sabbatical from all men.' I give it another month, Em." He pointed a firm finger at my chest. "And that's being generous ."

I slapped his hand away roughly, annoyed. "Let's just go."

I grabbed the small purse I had tucked into my camera bag for tonight, slipping it over my head before turning to the front door where Ezra was waiting with it open. We walked down the hallway together toward the elevator at the end. The back of my heels dug further into my feet with each step but I tried to ignore the pain. The moment I pushed the elevator call button, Ezra slung his arm over my shoulder. 

"Sorry about bringing up Justin," he apologized softly. "I know it's a…sore spot. I shouldn’t have." I grunted grumpily in response and he lightly shook my shoulders. "You going to be okay?"

I turned my head, eyeing him for a moment. He was staring back at me with worry in his eyes, his mouth pulling down at one corner. Ever since he'd gotten the call when I was in the hospital a few months back he had noticed something was off about me despite my attempts to hide it.

"Yeah," I lied easily as the elevator doors opened. His arm slipped back to his side as I stepped in with him following close beside me. Pushing the button for the first floor, I told him, "My biggest concern right now is walking around the corner in these heels without accidentally slicing a foot off."

Ezra glanced down at my choice of footwear before shaking his head. "I will never understand why you women torture yourselves."

"For fashion," I told him simply. "And it makes our asses look good."

He snorted, slinging his arm back over my shoulders as the doors opened and we exited, making our way towards the apartment building’s main doors.

"Well your ass is going to stick out like a sore thumb at Josie’s dressed like that," he snickered.

I elbowed him in the ribs, grinning when he hissed in a sharp breath. "I just finished working a thirteen hour day, on my feet in heels, toting around heavy camera equipment, at the beck and call of a bridezilla," I retorted testily. "I haven't had a night out for fun in months and I didn't have time or energy to drag my ass to the Upper West Side for a change of clothes."

"You and your fancy apartment," Ezra grumbled, rubbing his rib with his free hand where I had elbowed him. 

"You're just jealous," I shot back.

"Certainly not of your rent," he mumbled. "Should be illegal to charge that."

"Yeah, well, people apparently pay a lot for wedding photographers in the city," I muttered.

"And you're working yourself to death," he told me, pulling the building's main doors open and letting me pass through first. "Seriously, Em, do you even sleep anymore?"

"I'm fine," I answered sharply.

The sharpness of my words had abruptly cut off all conversation as we began the three minute walk around the corner to Josie’s. The night had cooled off a bit and the slight breeze felt good as we walked. I was glad for the silence, even if it was a bit tense, as we walked towards the bar together. I wasn't in the mood for his questions and scrutiny after the long day I'd had.

The truth was I wasn't fine. I hadn't been fine since I'd left Hell's Kitchen eight months ago. I was working myself to death but it was intentional. I was a level of tired I didn't know could exist because of the break up I'd had with Justin four months ago. I didn't like to let my brain have a chance to think or remember anything about what had happened between us back then, but I was admittedly quickly becoming too overwhelmed with work. 

I hadn’t told Ezra much about the break up either because I hadn't been able to bring myself to fully talk about it yet. If I thought about things too closely, my chest felt like it was constricting and the permanent ache there would only intensify. There was a knot in my stomach that wouldn't disappear, either; it sat heavy as a constant reminder that twisted and pulled anytime I thought about that night .

So I didn't want to think about that tonight; I didn’t want to have an anxiety attack because I’d had enough of them alone in my apartment over the past few months. I missed my friends and I was hoping some semblance of normalcy would have me feeling more like myself–or at least better .

When Josie’s came into view just a minute later, the red neon sign on the window out front casting its glow on our faces, I smiled softly. We’d spent many a night here over the past couple of years, whether it was just Karen, Matt, Foggy and I, or whether Ezra and Marci had joined us as well. We’d come here to celebrate many personal victories or drown out our stresses and struggles. For a long time it had been like a second home to me.

Ezra, ever the gentleman, stepped ahead of me, holding the door to the bar open. The sound of classic rock and the faint smell of beer and mold hit my nose the moment I stepped inside. The dim light cast from multiple rope lights around the ceiling and scattered neon signs cast a hazy glow around Ezra and I as we made our way straight to the bar, my heels clicking loud and out of place against the sticky cement floor. 

Josie spotted us immediately, placing a beer roughly in front of a man sitting at one of the stools before she wandered over. She smirked at me, a little glint behind her eye.

“Haven’t seen your smartass around here in awhile,” she said with a laugh.

I grinned, leaning my arms against the counter before cringing, having accidentally leaned into a damp spot. Josie slid some napkins towards me as I removed my arms and I gratefully wiped the booze off of me.

“Forgot how charming you could be,” I teased. 

She shot me a wink before her eyes passed over the pair of us. “What are you drinking tonight?”

“Two beers, the usual,” I told her, slapping some cash on the counter.

She grabbed the cash and wandered back down the bar to get our drinks. A loud noise almost akin to a squeal erupted behind me and I jumped, turning on the spot and causing the back of one of my heels to painfully dig further into my foot.

“Marci said you might come out tonight!” Karen shrieked excitedly.

She immediately darted forward, wrapping her arms around my neck and roughly pulling me in for a hug. My hands flew up around her waist to return the gesture. When she pulled back she was smiling wide before her attention shifted to Ezra who was handing me my beer.

“Ezra, we haven’t seen you out here in awhile either,” she said, lightly slapping his arm.

I swore I saw my brother blush as he half-shrugged. “Didn’t know you all still came out here,” he told her.

“Of course we do!” she said.

She grabbed me by the arm and began dragging me across the bar to a table where I could see Foggy seated beside Marci and who I assumed from the back of their head was Matt next to what must have been Karen’s seat. Marci was bouncing up and down in her seat, waving excitedly as I made my way over. Foggy shot me a large smile when our eyes locked as Karen continued to drag me over. When we were a table away, Marci slid off of her chair and rushed over towards me, pulling me into a hug much like Karen had.

“I didn’t think you were ever going to come back out and see us!” she told me.

A pang of guilt hit me hard at her words. “Sorry I just…I’ve been literally swamped with work. I just finished a thirteen hour day but decided I’d come out since I was going to be passing through Hell’s Kitchen.”

“Thirteen hours?” Marci asked, entirely appalled at the idea.

“Shit, take my seat,” Karen said, ushering me into the chair beside Matt.

I slid into the wooden chair, grateful I was no longer standing on my very tired and sore feet. Matt turned towards me in his seat, a small smile on his lips as his knees lightly bumped mine under the table. My heart gave a little lurch in my chest at the sight of him before me. He still looked good, even with the few cuts along his face, as he sat there in a dark gray tee-shirt that hugged his arms and chest just right as his red-tinted glasses stared back at me.

“It’s been awhile,” Matt said, his voice soft.

I nervously tucked a strand of hair behind my ear as I nodded. “Yeah,” I admitted, voice low. “I uh…maybe underestimated what I was getting myself into.”

“So what’s life like in the Upper West Side?” Foggy cut in, leaning dramatically forward on the table towards me. 

“Shit, you must have a nice apartment,” Marci said as she resumed her place beside Foggy.

I frowned, realizing I’d never had a chance to invite them out after I’d moved. What kind of shit friend had I been lately? Guilt sat heavy in my gut next to the beer I began drinking down.

“Yeah I never really did a housewarming, did I?” I mused lightly, setting my bottle back onto the table.

“No, but you still can,” Marci pointed out.

I noticed the narrowed glare Karen sent to her from her place beside my brother at the end of the table. I caught Marci mouth back a ‘what?’ in response.

“You know what, I’ll set something up,” I told them. “My schedule clears up a bit in a few weeks. I can stop being such a shit friend.”

“You haven’t been a shit fri–”

I held up a hand, immediately cutting Foggy short. “Yeah, I have,” I told him. “And I’m sorry. If I hadn’t run into Marci the other week at that wedding, I don’t know if I’d have seen you all again. Felt like…too much time passed for me to reach out.”

“Absolutely not,” Karen said firmly, shaking her head. “You’ll always be one of us.”

“One of us, one of us,” Foggy jokingly chanted from across the table.

Marci sharply turned her head, shooting him a look. I grinned, my eyes darting down to the table as my fingers fiddled with the beer bottle in front of me. 

“If it makes you all feel any better,” Ezra said, holding his beer to his lips, “I’m her brother and I barely saw her too.”

I shot him a look, my eyes narrowed.

“So I take it the photography is going well?” Matt asked from beside me, catching my attention.

“Too well,” I told him. “I had a hard time saying no at first if I had dates available. Ended up way overbooking myself. Still trying to learn what a healthy work-life balance looks like but I think in a few weeks, when my weddings thin out to a realistic amount, I’ll be in a better place. Work-wise at least.”

Foggy cleared his throat, his fingers tapping lightly against the glass he was drinking out of as he spoke. “Soo,” he began, dragging the word out hesitantly, “are you and…Justin still a thing?”

My eyes immediately dropped back down to my hands on the table, fingers spinning the bottle nervously in front of me. “No,” I answered quietly before grabbing the bottle and taking a long drink.

I saw Foggy glance at Matt beside me before he straightened up further, his eyebrows creasing together. “You mean, for real this time?” he asked.

I swallowed hard, forcing a tight smile on my face as I met his eyes. “Yeah,” I answered simply. “So how long have you and Marci been an actual thing?” I asked, very obviously trying to change the subject.

The two turned to look at each other, the look of pure adoration and affection in their eyes making my heart hurt. I tried to keep the smile on my face as Foggy flung his arm over her shoulder and turned back to me.

“A few months now,” he told me.

“We already sort of were,” Marci said, “So I figured I’d finally let him take me on an official first date.”

“She hasn’t been able to get rid of me since,” Foggy finished for her, a proud smile on his face.

“I had a feeling it was just a matter of time,” I told them, smiling lightly. My attention shifted as I turned a bit in my chair, my eyes darting between Karen and Matt. “What about you two?” I asked. “Any relationships I missed out on?”

Karen shook her head, her eyes briefly glancing to my brother beside her as her cheeks reddened. My eyebrow rose curiously at the sight. Was she interested in him too? She'd never mentioned that to me before.

“No dates,” she told me with a slight shrug. “Just been busy with The Bulletin. Haven’t had time to meet anyone.”

“I’ve been meaning to tell you, I love your articles,” I told her quickly. “I search for them in every issue. I think you found your calling with journalism.”

She blushed, murmuring a ‘thanks’ before my eyes slowly dropped to Matt beside me. He was tapping a finger against his beer bottle. 

“And, what about you, Matt?” I asked, my voice sounding a little tight as I asked. 

His head turned in my direction, his glasses reflecting my own anxious face back to me. He smiled a little before he shook his head lightly.

“No,” he told me. “It’s uh…it’s just me.”

Something about the way he responded made my heart twist a little. But I didn’t have much time to dwell on that before Foggy was loudly cutting in.

“He’s a perpetual bachelor, the bastard,” he told me. 

I nodded, a pained smile on my face as I said, “Well I guess some things never change, right?”

The corner of Matt’s lips turned down as he averted his attention back to his drink. I caught the curious arch of Ezra’s brow behind Matt’s now downturned head. He shot me a pointed look before his eyes roughly shifted to Matt and back to me. I very slightly shook my head, swiftly turning my attention to my drink.

The night carried on as we all caught up, ordering more rounds of drinks for the table as time wore on. Eventually it began to feel like I’d never disappeared for eight months with how much we all were suddenly joking, laughing, and teasing one another. It felt good. It was the most I’d laughed in a long time.

“Well I need to get home,” Karen eventually said as she placed her empty beer bottle on the table. “I’ve got an article to submit in the morning.”

“I’ll walk you,” Ezra quickly offered, downing his drink.

I grinned, watching the blush rise to Karen’s cheeks as she accepted his offer.

“You’re just going to let your sister walk home this late at night alone?” Foggy teased him.

Ezra shrugged, waving a hand at me. “She can walk around a corner, right?”

“I’ll be fine,” I assured Foggy. “If anyone gets too close I’ll stab them with one of my heels.”

Ezra wandered towards me, clapping a hand to my back proudly and saying, “That’s my baby sis.”

I slapped his hand off with a laugh, shooing him away after Karen. I mouthed ‘good luck’ to him and shot him a thumbs up as he left. When they were out of sight, I turned back, taking another pull of my beer.

“They’re totally hooking up,” Marci said abruptly.

I choked on the drink I was taking, coughing for a moment. Matt’s large hand patted me roughly on the back.

“Gross, that’s my brother,” I said when I’d regained my composure.

“And Karen’s been into him for forever,” she said, downing the rest of her drink. “Just like you–”

My eyes went wide and I kicked her quickly under the table. She abruptly stopped, her own eyes going wide. I shook my head as Foggy suddenly narrowed his eyes between the two of us.

“You know what? I’m drunk,” she said suddenly, turning to Foggy. “We should probably go home, babe.”

"Uh, yeah, sure…" he said apprehensively as his eyes slid over to Matt.

I cleared my throat quickly as I said, "I should probably get back to Ez's. I'm pretty tired after today anyway."

I picked up my third beer, downing it quickly before placing the empty bottle on the table and sliding off of the chair. I winced the moment my feet touched the floor, the fresh cuts reopening on my feet as I hissed. 

Matt was on his feet quickly, somehow finding my elbow and gripping it lightly in his hand. His head dipped towards me as he asked, "You okay?"

"Just my feet killing me," I told him, still grimacing. "It's fine."

Marci rounded the table, pulling me into a hug as Matt released my arm. "Thanks for coming out. I missed you, girl." She leaned closer to my ear, whispering, "Sorry I almost outed your secret."

I pulled back, smiling sheepishly at her. "I missed you too. I'll have to come out again."

"Yes, we're here most of the week with the ladies," Foggy told me, throwing his arm back around Marci. "Sometimes Matt and I swing by after work though, if you're ever around." He shot me a serious look as he said, "So don't be a stranger."

I gave Foggy a hug goodbye and promised I'd be back out again soon. When he and Marci took off, I was very aware of the fact that I was now alone with Matt. I bit my lip nervously, feeling my palms sweat as Matt turned towards me, a small smile on his face. 

"I guess–"

"I can–"

We both spoke at the same time, pausing awkwardly when we realized the other was about to speak. I tucked a strand of hair nervously behind my ear, feeling more awkward around Matt after months of having not seen him.

"I was going to say I could walk you home," Matt said, an almost shy smile on his face as he scratched the back of his neck with one hand. 

"Oh, uh, you don't have to," I assured him. "It's literally around the corner."

"I'd feel better if you didn't walk alone this late at night," he told me. 

"Okay," I agreed in a soft voice.

Matt grabbed his folded up cane from off of the table. I watched silently as he unfolded it before I stepped towards him, wordlessly grabbing his hand and bringing it to the inside of my elbow as I had done so many times in the past. For some reason this time I was more aware of the warmth of his hand as it wrapped around my bare skin.

My eyes flew to his mouth as his tongue darted out along his lips, wetting them. 

“You ready to go?” he asked me.

I had to force my eyes away from his lips, clearing my throat lightly. “Yeah, I uh…didn’t bring much,” I told him.

I began to lead him out of the bar, the sound of his cane tapping along the floor almost matching the sound of my heels as we walked. My palms were beginning to sweat as his shoulder bumped up against mine when we exited through the door.

"I hope I'm not making you uncomfortable," Matt said as we stepped outside. 

I glanced over at him as he turned to face me, his head tilted a bit in my direction. I couldn't quite make out his expression behind the dark glasses.

"What?" I asked him, brows furrowing at his comment.

"You seem uncomfortable," he told me.

I hesitated, my eyes darting to the sidewalk as we walked. With how bad my feet hurt, I was sure there was going to be blood in my shoes. I'd need to leave a comfortable pair in the future at Ez's.

"I just…feel like an ass," I admitted uncomfortably after a moment.

"Why?" he asked curiously.

"I should have stayed in touch with you all," I began, the words abruptly spewing out of my mouth. And suddenly I was spilling my guts to Matt like no time had passed at all; he had somehow always had that effect on me since I'd known him. "I've been a shit friend. I've just…I've had a lot going on and I've been intentionally keeping myself busy to avoid having to deal with anything else in my life. And you were one of my best friends and you didn't deserve that, and now here you are being nice and wanting to walk me to my brother's place even though it's literally a three minute walk and I just…I don't deserve that."

Matt paused abruptly on the sidewalk, causing me to come to a stop at his side. I saw his brows dip down beneath his glasses as he looked back at me. The streetlights above us cast his face in a warm wash of yellow and I became all too aware of his hand holding my arm again.

"Sorry, that was a lot," I apologized softly. 

He raised his hand with his cane, adjusting the glasses briefly on his face as he nodded, chuckling a little. 

"Yeah…just a bit," he said. "I wished you'd stayed in touch," he admitted. "We all do. We missed you. … I missed you, Em." 

"I'm sorry," I apologized again.

He hesitated as he looked towards me, the hand holding the crook of my elbow giving a light squeeze. I felt the knot in my stomach tighten, suddenly sure Matt could see straight through me.

"Are you okay, Em?" he asked carefully.

My eyes dropped down to the space between us on the sidewalk, the ache in my chest coming back. 

"Yeah," I told him–a blatant lie.

A deep frown crossed his lips as his head dipped down towards the sidewalk. He stared down at the pavement for a moment before he shook his head suddenly.

"Don't lie to me, Em," he said, his head rising back up. "You've been off all night. There's an edge to your voice that's not usually there. I’ve known you long enough to know when somethings wrong. You know you can always talk to me, right?"

"It's just stress," I told him quickly. "I'm fine."

He didn't answer, instead he stared at me with a pained expression on his face for a long while. Eventually I exhaled sharply, unsure of how he always knew when I was lying about anything important.

"Fine, I'm not okay," I admitted quietly. "But I don't want to talk about it."

The frown remained a permanent fixture on his face as he pulled me forward, tugging on my elbow. We began walking again and I spotted Ezra's building just a few buildings over. Matt was silent as we neared it and I eventually had to pull him to a stop.

"This is Ez's," I told him softly. 

Matt removed his hand from my arm, holding his cane between both of his hands now as he looked towards me.

"You know you used to tell me everything," he said, hurt in his tone. “We were best friends.”

I swallowed hard, looking at the building behind him. It was too hard to look at his face right now, not with the way he was looking at me.

"It's not…not a conversation I want to have right now, Matt," I told him weakly. 

He nodded slowly, taking a step back. My heart hurt at the visible space he placed between us.

"Do you…want me to get you a cab?" I asked him awkwardly.

"No, I know my way home from here," he assured me. "I guess I'll see you next time you come out, Em."

"Yeah," I said, voice strained.

"Goodnight, Em," he said, turning and heading off, cane tapping along the sidewalk as he went.

"Goodnight, Matt," I whispered at his back.

I watched him walk down to the end of the block, my heart sinking further in my chest as he went. With a huff I eventually turned and headed into the building, making my way up to Ezra's apartment.

°•°•°•°•°•°

I had tossed and turned for an hour on Ezra's uncomfortable leather sofa after he had returned from walking Karen home. His faint snores were audible down the hall; he'd fallen asleep almost the moment he'd lain down. He'd always been like that though, always falling asleep the moment his head hit the pillow. Ever since we were kids. I'd often wondered what it was like to be able to fall asleep so easily, to not have your thoughts keep you awake for hours on end and leave you exhausted the next day. Day after day after day.

With a huff, I gave up on sleep for now, the usual thoughts plaguing my mind now mingled with the look of hurt on Matt's face before he'd gone home. Throwing the blanket off of my legs I sat up, frowning at how sore and worn out my body felt from a long day of work. Carrying cameras around my neck that weighed five pounds for an entire thirteen hour day always did a number on my neck and back, add in being in heels for the same length of time and my body was exhausted. Doing double or triple weddings like that back to back left me damn near dead by the end of the weekend.

My arms were shaking slightly as I tried to rub the stiffness out of my lower back for a moment. It was pointless though, the only thing that ever helped was a few days of editing photos and answering emails and phone calls at my desk before doing it all again the next weekend. Thankfully I was at least coming to a point in my calendar where I'd gotten smart and stopped booking every available day someone asked for and instead just booked what I needed to make a living. Working myself to the bone wasn't sustainable. And it was starting to make me feel worse.

I rose to my feet and made my way to the front door, unlocking it and stepping barefoot into the hall. Just to my right was a small set of stairs that led to the roof access; many a drunken night crashing at my brother's place had found me sitting up on his roof. Tonight was no different. 

I sat down on the very edge of the building, one leg dangling off the side of the roof while the other was folded up, my chin resting lightly on my knee as I wrapped my arms around it. I was grateful that I'd left an extra pair of comfortable cotton shorts and a tank top at Ez's to sleep in in the past. The dress had been getting uncomfortable. 

I sighed, closing my eyes and listening to the faint sounds of the city below me. Somehow Hell's Kitchen was louder at night than the Upper West Side, though my apartment building was just barely a few blocks from the Kitchen. 

There was honking in the distance on the streets below, and if I listened close enough I could hear faint drunken yelling. I could hear the soft whoosh of traffic below from the cars and taxis on the busy summer Saturday night. Even the wind was louder up on the rooftop, the sound a low whistle in my ear. 

"You know it's not safe to sit so close to the edge," a deep voice cut through the night.

My eyes opened, immediately recognizing the gravelly voice even though I hadn't heard it in a long while. I glanced up to my right and spotted Daredevil in his red suit staring down at me. He looked exactly the same as the last time I saw him. His mouth was turned up at one corner in a small smile as he stared back down at me. 

I snorted faintly, turning my attention back to the street below me. "Not really too concerned about that," I answered him.

"Because you know I'd catch you if you fall?" he asked, an almost flirtatious teasing in his tone as if it hadn't been months since the last time we'd seen each other.

I hummed softly in response, shaking my head slightly. "No," I muttered. "I just don't really care if I do."

I could see him stiffen out of the corner of my eye at my words. It was a moment before he sat down beside me, dangling both of his feet over the ledge as he positioned himself a couple of feet from my side.

"That's a bit dark," he pointed out.

"Says the guy in a devil suit that spends his evenings hitting people," I quipped back. 

"Fair point," he agreed. "So what's going on? I haven't seen you in Hell’s Kitchen for a while."

"Because I moved just out of Hell’s Kitchen a few months back," I told him, eyes still on the street far below us. "Technically the Upper West Side, but it's only a few blocks from your… territory ."

"Sounds fancy," he mused.

"It is."

"But you aren't happy?" he asked, his head turning towards me.

I exhaled a long breath, closing my eyes. I could feel the ache in my chest and the knot in my stomach a little too well for my liking right now.

"You deduce that from a lonely woman sitting on the ledge of a four story building saying she doesn't care if she falls?" I shot back, though there wasn't much edge to my tone.

"That and the slow, erratic beat of your heart," he told me. 

I rolled my eyes. "You know I forgot you had weird, bat-like senses or whatever."

He chuckled softly, shaking his head. "Just heightened, not bat-like."

"Still weird though," I teased him.

Turning my head on my knee to face him, I caught the faint smile on his mouth. That mouth was all I could ever see of his face, whether he'd been in his man in black get-up or the new red suit he'd had for a bit. I'd always thought he had a beautiful mouth but it's all I'd ever seen–besides the muscles through the previous tight black shirt he used to wear.

It had been just over two years since the first run-in I'd had with him when he'd saved me. An asshole had cornered me in a dark alley one night after I’d been drunkenly bar hopping with friends. Daredevil–or the man in the mask at the time–had swooped in and beat the guy bloody before the man had a chance to do much. After that, he'd somehow often found me on and off over the weeks and months that followed. It usually helped that I had often been on Ez's or my previous apartment building’s rooftop. Apparently rooftops were sort of The Devil of Hell’s Kitchen's thing and he frequented them often. Yet somehow, despite the many late night run-ins and conversations, and occasional flirting, he'd never told me much of anything about himself, other than a little bit about his heightened senses.

"What's on your mind?" he asked softly, his voice bringing me back to the present.

"Too much," I whispered back, noticing the slight dip in the corner of his mouth. 

He was quiet for a bit and I turned my attention back to the street below us. Gently I swung my dangling leg back and forth, focusing on the feel of the wind rushing past my bare skin. It was refreshing, calming even.

 "You want to talk about it?" he suddenly asked.

I ran a hand over my face roughly, rubbing at my stinging eyes a few times. I didn't really want to, but somehow talking to him had always been easier than talking to anyone else over the years. Something about discussing my issues with a masked man who knew nothing else about me just made it easier to open up. 

"Don't you have something better to be doing tonight?" I countered.

I heard the stiff material of his armor groan a bit as he shrugged. "I think helping a friend is pretty important," he told me.

I snorted an unamused laugh at his words. He'd never referred to me as a friend before.

"I don't even know your name," I told him, turning back to look at him. "I've never seen your face. And I haven't even spoken to you in months. How am I your friend?"

He rested his hands behind him, leaning back on his elbows looking way too relaxed for someone whose legs were dangling off the edge of a building. A pained smile crossed his mouth, drawing my eye to the movement. 

"I've always considered you a friend," he told me, his voice strained. "I don't tell you who I am to keep you safe…and you've never minded too much before."

I watched him for a moment longer, curious if it was coincidence that he'd stumbled on me the one night I was in Hell’s Kitchen or if he'd somehow known. The ache in my chest tightened abruptly and I glanced down at my foot dangling off the edge of the building. 

"You ever feel like it's too much?" I asked him quietly. 

He shifted beside me, turning so he was facing me and pulling his legs up from the side of the building. He crossed his legs in front of himself, resting his elbows on them as he leaned forward towards me. 

"Ever feel like what’s too much?" he asked gently. 

"Everything," I breathed out. I ran a hand through my hair a few times anxiously. "I feel like I'm just drowning lately. Like I got swept into a river by some damn current and I keep getting pulled under. And every time I feel like I might be reaching the surface of…whatever this is, I get pulled back under. Just…drowning. In work and stress and…pain."

"Your…boyfriend again?" he asked hesitantly. 

A bitter laugh left me as I rubbed at the tears that had started running down my face. Everyone had hated Justin, and told me profusely as much after we’d broken up the very first time. Yet somehow I’d been a blind idiot thinking I was in love, too dumb to see how poorly he treated me until too much had already happened.

"We've been broken up for four months now. For good, this time," I confessed.

"What'd he do?" he asked, his voice suddenly dark and dangerous.

I glanced back at him, staring into the dark red eyes of his helmet. He looked angry even though all I could see was the thin line of his mouth and the tightness of his jaw.

"He uh…cheated," I admitted quietly. "Multiple times with stupid groupies.” I rolled my eyes. He played guitar in a shitty band, ‘groupie’ was a generous term. “He’d been lying to me about his cocaine use, too. Some things were…were going on between us,” I said nervously, having already felt like I was telling him more than I’d told even Ezra. “One night he got…mean. I don’t know if it was the drugs or the withdrawal," I told him, my voice suddenly sounding so weak even to my own ears.

"He put his hands on you?" the Devil snarled beside me, his lip curled back in a sneer as his shoulders abruptly squared.

"Once," I answered, my voice barely audible over the wind. "I was…I had been…" 

The words wouldn't come out, getting stuck in my throat. The knot in my stomach twisted, the ache in my chest constricting tighter. A choked sob came out of my mouth instead as my throat closed tight. 

Very slowly the Devil slid closer to me on the rooftop, the sound of something unfastening reached my ears before I felt a gentle weight wrap around my shoulders almost tentatively. When I opened my eyes, I saw he'd removed both of his gloves, having laid them beside him on the rooftop. He was carefully pulling me into him as I cried, tears freely streaming down my face. I resisted only briefly before I let him pull me into him; my face buried into the leather against his neck, his hands holding my upper back. My eyes clamped shut again, more tears pouring down my cheeks as I sobbed against his neck. The smell of him this close was comforting and somehow vaguely familiar, but I was too far gone to place it as I cried.

“I’m not ready to talk about it,” I choked out as I cried. My head shook roughly back and forth against him as images from that night flashed before my mind. "I can't…I can't," I repeated. 

“Hey, that’s alright,” he told me, his lips moving against the top of my head. His tone was gentler than I’d often heard him use and my hands immediately wrapped around his back, clinging desperately to him. “You don’t have to.”

For a long while I cried into the neck of his suit, feeling the warmth of his actual hands rubbing soothingly along my back as he just held me silently. His presence alone was somehow comforting and slowly I managed to gather myself, pushing the thoughts back down.

"I lied to one of my best friends tonight," I quietly admitted when my crying had calmed. "I hurt him. And I feel terrible."

"I'm sure your friend will understand," he told me softly.

"I feel like an ass," I mumbled, wiping one of my hands across my face.

"You're not an ass," he assured me.

I sighed, pulling reluctantly away from Daredevil's surprisingly warm embrace. I could see moisture glistening on his armor from where I'd cried all over him. 

"Sorry I uh…" I began awkwardly, gesturing to the wetness around his neck, "cried all over you."

He huffed a laugh, a small grin spreading on his mouth. One of his hands rose, lightly brushing across the dampness where my tears had fallen. His mouth twitched slightly but the grin ultimately remained.

"It's just tears," he told me. "I don't mind. Are you feeling any better at least?"

My head turned, glancing down at the street below. I rubbed the heels of my hands against my eyes, trying to wipe away the remaining wetness. I knew I couldn't lie, not to him, because he had told me before he could tell when someone did.

"No," I admitted softly. "But it's late and you should probably get back to doing gymnastics and hitting bad guys or whatever you do."

He stared at me for a long moment, a slight smirk on his lips at my words, but I could see his body was tense. Eventually he reached for his gloves beside him and I watched as he slowly pulled them back on. He gracefully rose to his feet before bending down, extending his gloved hand to me. I sniffled before accepting it, letting him pull me up. I stumbled for a moment on my sore feet, Daredevil’s gentle hands ghosting lightly along my hips for a brief second to steady me before they were gone.

“You should get some sleep,” he told me, that gravely tone back. 

“Right,” I said awkwardly, biting my lip.

“Until next time,” he said, walking backwards towards the opposite ledge of the building.

At the last second, I watched as he spun and jumped, landing impressively on the next building’s roof. Then he took off at a run, easily jumping over obstacles, until he was out of sight and I was alone again.

With a dejected sigh I went back downstairs to Ezra’s apartment, slipping in and locking the door behind me. A short while later I managed to fall asleep on the couch, wrapped up in the blanket and trying to trick myself it was someone else’s arms.

When I woke in the morning, Ezra was still asleep. I’d written him a quick note before changing back into my dress and shoes, grabbing my camera bag and heading outside. I hailed a taxi and found myself riding back to my apartment just before seven in the morning. Traffic was light since it was Sunday and it only took twelve minutes for me to get home.

As I opened the door to my apartment, I was greeted with the sight of my open kitchen and living room, with their large windows that gave me a decent view of the city a few floors below. Everything was neat and clean. Lots of white and crisp, modern lines. A stark contrast to what I’d had when I was in Hell’s Kitchen by far. But as I stood just in the entry of my apartment, all I could see in it was everything that I was feeling reflected back at me–everything that Hell’s Kitchen had never been. 

Cold. Lonely. Empty.

[inoppositionflorien]

Boy I sure do love people failing to understand how the nature of Tumblr creates extremely closed ecosystems, and assuming that they can get accurate data about site demographics with a poll, failing to understand that the bridges out of their ecosystem and into the other various ecosystems are very narrow, probably don't reblog that much, and probably don't realize that they're a bridge in the first place, leading to them deciding "Staff must be wrong about the ratio of queer people to not-queer people on the website because I sure don't see many non-queer people in this closed ecosystem. No, I don't follow tom-doplopsopin, the blog that has essentially no identifying information on it and posts nothing but photographs of furniture and has five thousand followers who reblog from it often, none of whom I follow or follow me because they're dedicated almost entirely to reblogging nature photos or furniture photos and I don't post those."

This is not to make the echo-chamber-is-bad comment, in fact the echo chamber is the intended and actually pretty good effect, but to comment on the fairly low-algorithm nature of Tumblr being actually far more conducive to forming echo chambers than a site that uses more algorithms.

The lack of the algorithm and the large (compared to like, a forum's) userbase necessarily means you're not going to have a great grasp on what the user demographics are unless you can look down from above, which you can't because you don't follow every blog ever, and probably have several blocked!

This is a good thing and what most people come to Tumblr for, they come for the very specific communities they want to join and ignore the others and are almost never exposed to the others, but people are very eager to decide "but what I see on my highly-curated-by-me dashboard must therefore be all there is on the website, because I am not Outlier Georg who should not have been counted, I'm Normal Georg, who should have been counted!" not realizing that the appeal of Tumblr is very much geared towards being a place where you can BE Outlier Georg and find community with other Outliers Georg.

This is why user polls will never be even remotely accurate when they try to get a general picture of the userbase unless they target something that's invariant across the communities it reaches. They have to hop between communities, many of which will never reblog a poll on principle because they're entirely dedicated to like, photography or motivational quotes or something.

The point is Staff is almost certainly correct about the demographics, or at worst, not undercounting nearly as much as people seem to think. It is technically possible that many of the people Staff assumes to be not queer are, in fact, queer and just hiding it for whatever reason, but that's irrelevant because you'd have no way to know either.

Your community is not the world, because you built it, and you didn't want to build the world.

[sapphic-outlaw]

Part 1/2 Long text ahead and a mixture of cringe RP stuff and "two stoned friends with way too much time on their hands" stuff. Be warned lol. I had kind of an internal monologue while doing this trail ride. Probably because I was inebriated, but regardless I took some mental notes and wanted to put it in writing before heading to bed. Everything is perfectly optional to read, of course, since I'm mostly writing this all for myself, but more power to you if you're interested! This post is kinda randomly peppered with screenshots I thought were pretty, and then some that are actually written about. I did my best to place them accordingly! The devs of the mod menu I use, Fortitude, recently added a slow motion feature which I've been having an absolute blast with! So tonight, accompanied by a lovely friend (whom I'm just going to refer to as Charles for simplicity's sake), I went on a nice long digital trail ride with Charles and took some screenshots. This was a whole ordeal lol. Started out rather normal, no issues whatsoever as we were in a private server and had all the time in the world to just take our time and take pics. We listened to music, smoked a bowl, just got comfy and prepared for a LONG journey because I wanted this whole thing to be in slowmo. Charles hasn't really played RDR2/RDO before, much less with mods, so I had to teach him a bit. But I digress! Early into the ride I started playing Angels and Airwaves, a band that I grew up with and love dearly. Turns out… Charles hates them lol. But he DID agree that they fit the Charles and Blair aesthetic really well with both sound and lyrics, plus helped me pick out the best song to put some clips to, so there's that. Then we ran into the red coyote. I tried my hardest to ignore it, truly. But my ADHD got the best of me. I think we spent the better part of 30 minutes in a constant back and forth of "Where is it?!" "THERE!!" "WHERE?!" "RIGHT THERE!" "I CAN'T SEE WHERE YOU'RE POINTING, YOU'RE IN A DIFFERENT ROOM!" Let me tell you, chasing a coyote with cinematic mode on and in slow motion is HARD. I wish I had gotten some better pictures. Oh well though, the experience was worth it. And then I killed the poor thing. I didn't mean to, but I ran it over a couple of times and that did it in. I was actually gonna let it go after taking pics, and just let it despawn, but I guess little coyotes are no match for two stomps of an Arabian's hooves. So after selling the little cutie to Gus and getting my garment (that's my fave legendary and I somehow hadn't gotten it yet; I only let myself get legendaries when I see them in game and won't spawn them for myself), we continued south. More screenies, ofc, and I wanted to hurry through Armadillo (that town gives me the creeps. Also, I waved to a cop once and immediately became wanted) but Charles insisted we stop so he can buy some food (I told him how to fill his cores but he was immersed at this point lol, brave soul had been riding almost entirely in first person). So while he went to the general store, I chilled out with Johnny and Taima (Johnny is my horse, the brindle Arabian) and took some more pics. I caught a glimpse of Charles sprinting his big ass out of the shop when I said I was doing so, he immediately came running and said "Wait! I wanna see what [Charles] looks like on Johnny!" As if I was about to let that photography opportunity slip by lmao. Seeing Charles sprint is HILARIOUS btw. He's got kind of a naturally bow legged stride, and he honestly kinda runs like it's heavy. Iykyk. I gotta break the post off here bc Tumblr isn't cooperating, but I'll post part two in just a second. ♥

[qsycomplainsalot]

That energy is going towards theft and the creation of soulless garbage. You keep ignoring what I said, which is it doesn't matter if the energy cost is low (it isn't) because it's still an energy cost tacked on top of everything else we do to pollute the environment, and is completely useless.

Asking for fucking permission, also being an actual artist and not a machine. To quote myself:

Reposting this here because through some tumblr shenanigans I can't reblog the original answer I gave to someone claiming anti-AI sentiments excludes certain forms of art, especially transformative ones. Photography, collage, readymade and various of the more abstract styles of painting and drawing are all art, and AI isn't. Why is that ? Simply, there are skills required to make technically interesting artpieces using these media, let alone meaningful ones. A skilled photographer might not be skilled with a pen, but their knowledge of composition and observation will always be transferrable to a new medium, in a way that they'll never start their art journey from scratch again. Because they're already an artist, because they've already done art and are skilled at it. Speaking for myself it took me a decade to get to a level where I was able to get paid for my work drawing traditionally, and once there it took me less than a year to reach a somewhat similar level switching over to digital. The skills are more comparable than with say collage or sculpture but the core principle still stands: I had gone and learned traditional art in art school, and while there I learned a slew of skills that were not at all limited to one tool, and when it came to switching I did not have to learn these skills again. Because by that point I was already a trained artist. I could just switch to sculpting with clay tomorrow and the biggest challenge would be to find a new market more than any skill issue. Meanwhile fucking about with a computer to generate new pictures randomly has NO transferrable skills whatsoever. So much of the work has been taken out of your hands by a pattern seeking piece of software that it is impossible to learn anything from the experience. It's just plain to see when before you click the doodad to generate a new picture, you have NO IDEA what it will look like, none whatsoever unless you've been iterating on it before. You're not having an idea, formulating it in your mind and applying your skills to getting it out into the world, you just sort of have an idea and then a machine does the actual art work for you. The only way you could possibly get better as an artist from doing this is if somehow you were deluded enough to think the process of scalping every artists' work in history was ethical, while also being observant and caring about art history enough that you'd learn critical skills from looking at the result of your quotation mark work end quote. Which is something you can do by going on a museum, or the internet. And if being an art historian isn't good enough for you, I invite you to actually join the elite exclusive vip club you're funding the death and automatisation of, by simply picking up a pen and piece of paper and starting to draw. It's that fucking simple.

Good, fuck off.

AI people: we're just as much artists as you are, you gotta be so observant and go through so many correcting phases for the picture to look good uwu also AI people:

[jadeshifting]

hi lovely!! 🪲 anon again, (good god i feel like i’m plaguing your inbox), is it okay to semi infodump about my jurassic world dr again?? If not ignore this ofc!

okay okay, so it’s still very much more so a concept than anything concrete however that’s because i’m an indecisive girlie at the core and it’s a full time struggle. BUT, a very solid choice is to be a photographer on the island!

think like max caulfield has landed on isla nublar kind of vibes y’know?? awkward and all with a big old camera in hand

like my currently plan is to show up and take photos of everything! the park, the people and workers (consensually duh) and of course the dinosaurs. it’s how i also get like extra access to different places of the park (like the genetics labs, restricted sections and what not!)

(mostly because i’m so incredibly nosey and i have an urge to really know how it all works at the fundamental levels if i can 🥸 or i’ll just get to know many gossip points! a win win scenario for me)

i want to do something on the side with the dinosaurs also, herbivores mainly because to be honest carnivores scare me a little bit … so watching from a distance is the plan mostly. unless they’re babies or like, safe to a degree. IDKKK i can’t think of a job for it or like a species to specialise in. i love ankylosaurus’s tho so maybe them?? not sure at all

anyway photography is also how i plan to meet my s/o! i haven’t fleshed him entirely out yet (names are stupidly hard for no reason and i can’t find something that sounds nice with grady yet🙁)— but essentially i’ll be taking photos or something at the raptor pen whilst he’s helping Owen with training or whatever and BOOM a cliche meet cute 🤩

he’ll basically take it upon himself to introduce himself and offer up his ‘help’ because he knows ‘the good spots’ (it most definitely is a cover up and there will be little help but admittedly he does know good places) and it’s the start of a dynamic duo running around the park

ANYWAYS! thanks for maybe entertaining my ramblings once again, even if you didn’t! i think it’s just nice to talk about it to someone even if it’s through anonymous messages on an tumblr! and like if there’s a point where there’s too many jurassic world things coming from me ofc let me know!! it’s your inbox ofc!

(p.s signing off with my little emoji makes me feel like i’m sending an important secret letter it’s so much fun)

as always much love🫶

— 🪲

you’re not a plague you’re my beedle i’m happy to see u every time >:) evil laugh. never too many asks from u

photographer is such a lovely idea !! to be honest, journalism is such a good option for people who are looking to be able to poke around places and make it ‘reasonable’ in the canon, because truly photographers and journalists end up everywhere LOL. you could always specialize in photographing one kind of dinosaur, like a herbivore photography specialist or something like that? you’d still be like wandering around taking pics of everything, but you’d get to spend extra extra time with the cute dinosaurs. that would be so fun though getting to walk around and ask as many questions as u want

hmmmm you’re literally so right about coming up with original names—I always base them off of something rather than just trying to come up with them from scratch. like I’d look at other character names, even little side characters, from all the other Jurassic Park movies and take a name from there. I also like plant and animal based names ( when I picked out Lotus as my middle name, I mean ) because Owen is like a nature-y salt of the earth kinda guy ( just incase that helps a tiny tiny bit )

i’m giggling kicking my feet stoooop cute little photographer and reckless raptor guy running around Jurassic World together. like that’s literally SO cute i’m obsessed with y’all that literally sounds like a fanfic you guys are gonna have so much fun

( it makes me feel like i’m receiving a little secret letter so we’re literally on the same wavelength here )