Surprise!

Hey what’s up lots of monkeys fam, it’s ya boi FILEMON is back up to his bullshit—And that my friends, is where the joke ends.

Thank you.

In any case, here is a wonderful picture of me and my wife that I’m incredibly proud of.

Reese and Cyrus, ready to protect whatever you decided
to name your town in Animal Crossing
Photo by Yenra Photography

Reese (Pink) and Cyrus (Blue) are characters from the video game series Animal Crossing. They are a husband and wife team that run the Re-Tail store in the town. They are never armed with pink and blue weapons in the game. This is my headcanon where they are in combat for a mysteriously vague ill explained reason, but that wasn’t important—the important part was getting to look like badasses.

This was a very fun shoot, but also a little challenging for me. I’m not accustomed to being the center of anything. In fact, for most of my life I’ve always tried to be as unassuming as possible but that’s another kind of blog post.

I’m typically the person behind the camera, not the person simultaneously trying to make sure my costume is set up properly, that yes, I’m angled into the lights, while simultaneously holding a crouched position on a not quite 100% stable rock, internally screaming OH MY GOD IS THAT MOSQUITO THE SIZE OF A HALF DOLLAR, while also having this argument with myself:

Me: “Is this my good side—Do I even have a good side?”

Also Me: “Whoa whoa, wait.”

Me: “What?”

Also Me: “Stop self deprecating and experience this moment. Learn from it later—but do your best right now.”

“Okay.”

There are other, more in character Animal Crossing pictures, but this one is my favorite because I imagine Reese and Cyrus as good partners who are there for each other, even in less than ideal situations. They trust each other, they have each other’s backs.

And they look good doing it.