#anyways don't mind me I'm just making gifsets to try and get some things out of my system

[subtle-as-an-earthquake]

Alex Turner chainsmoking & making beautiful music [x]

[a-force-dyad-in-space]

A Fanfic Update

Hey guys, I thought I should give you an update about what's going on Ongoing-WIPs-wise just in case you've had some worries.

The short of it is that the writing juices haven't flowed well for a while now and I'm trying to get them back but it is a struggle. I've worked a bit on this fic or other but haven't made significant progress in a few months. I absolutely hope that will change soon but I unfortunately can't force it. It doesn't help that I'm going through some stuff IRL right now that I have to take care of (I am unfortunately an adult who has to do adulting and pay bills and shit 🥲). I try not to be too stressed out about it, but the more time passes the more the anxiety sets in. Wish me luck. 💪🏻

Anyway, here's a fic-by-fic overview, split up by fandom.

THE UNTAMED

The Angsty SongXue Fic — I'll be honest, I've written a little bit since I last updated you guys but I still haven't finished the buffer chapter (at this point I'm thinking about posting chapter 51 even though 52 isn't done yet), so nothing really new here. I really want to get back into a writing flow but so far it hasn't really worked. I am still working on it, though, so don't worry, I'm not going to drop it.

The It Follows AU — I'm ashamed to say I didn't even realize I posted that fic almost two years ago and I still haven't written the second half. I'm so sorry it's taking so long! I definitely still want to finish it! I might rewatch the It Follows movie before I do that, though.

The Observer Series — Oh yeah, remember that smutfic series I started a few years ago of which I've only posted part 1 so far? Yeah, I still need to work on that. I did write chapter 1 of part 2 a while ago, so it's not like it's forgotten, I just need to get my ass up and write the rest of part 2 before I can post it. 🙈

The Color Rush AU — Okay, technically I haven't posted that one yet but I did share a snippet along with a gifset a few years ago, so you guys know it exists. I haven't worked on it in a long time, though, and I don't know yet when I will find the spoons to continue writing it but I'm still intrigued by the premise and want to give it a go. Thank you for your patience!

The Somewhat Sweet, Somewhat Angsty XuanXian Fic — Again, haven't posted that one yet but I've been posting about it, so you guys know it exists. Nothing new on this front. I did want to rewrite the whole thing because I wasn't really happy with the way I wrote it thus far, so I'll probably go back to it at some point and do that, I just don't know when yet.

WORD OF HONOR

The Xie'er Deserves the World Fic — Listen, guys, I love this fic so much, I just haven't worked on it in a while. I'll probably re-read what I've written so far and go on from there, I've just been struggling with the latest chapter ever since I started writing it years ago. It's not dropped, though, I will get back to it! Pinky swear!

SAILOR MOON

I've mentioned here and there that I'm working on part 1 of an epic that is based on a doujinshi I started when I was 13 or 14. Unlike my other WIPs, this one really is 100% self-indulgent to the point where I don't even care whether people will read/like it once I post it when it's completely done. I'll just put it out there to make my teenage self happy because this story has been simmering in my head for over 20 years, and so that my IRL friends can read it if they want to. So, this one will be a long way out, but it exists. I'm only really mentioning it because I've mentioned it a couple of times before and because it's the fic that's been on my mind the most lately.

STAR WARS

You didn't think I forgot about TROBS, did you????? I did work on several beginnings of a draft during NaNoWriMo last year and I'm getting more and more of a clear picture of how I want it to go. For those unfamiliar, TROBS (or The Rise of Ben Skywalker, though I already changed the name of the fic again) is my attempt at an Episode IX fix-it fic that essentially replaces TROS. This one has been simmering in my head since early 2020 and I really want to get it out of there and onto the page for catharsis. I've even held off on reading any other TROS fix-its because of it, even though I've heard there are some really amazing ones out there (and I can't wait to read them once I've gotten my own out of my damn head). I really need to finally finish that beast. Wish me luck. 🥲

UNPOSTED WIPs

I still have so many notes for other fics (mostly for The Untamed) that I want to write at some point. Will I be able to get them all on the page? I honestly don't know, but I'll see where they take.

Anyway, that's all!

[gothamstreetcat]

You can take Wesley and Lilah and spin them off as leads of their own show post... I dunno, mid-S4, let's say (maybe Wesley and Lilah leave L.A. after the Beast attacks W&H, you can decide exactly when they leave).

Are there any other buffyverse characters, major or minor or just one-episode characters that would be significant characters on this spin-off as well? What would the general premise be?

Okay, I've decided I'm going to answer this instead of finishing my little gifset (which has literally been talking over my mind all day). I don't know if this was the initial intention of "you can take Wesley and Lilah and spin them off as leads of their own show..." but I really think I read it wrong as took it as a compliment? <3 I really need to came down, lol I swear that is all I ever do. They're the leads of my blog FOR SURE.

(I'm going to put it under the cut because I know it's going to be long and embarrassing)

It's actually funny you should propose this because ever since I was little some bit of my brain decided they did run away together?? I wasn't even really over the beast but they did end up together in my little childhood brain and have been together ever since. Just doing whatever they want and being in love. But honestly, as I have gotten back on the Weslah train I have thought a lot more deeply about this.

I think leaving after the beasts attack is obviously ideal but I also think it is possible after everything has happened. Even though they are dead and serving W&H, who is to to say they can't just fuck-off and leave anyway leading their best undead lives???? I also think they would travel a lot and just be normal about things? Like have a normal life; breakfast in the morning, going to the movies, late night drives on Wesley's motorcycle. I even would want them to be married, nothing big or anything - just at a courthouse and I think Linsey would send Lilah an anonymous note congratulating her (I swear to god I am only sappy and dumb for them, okay?)

It sounds silly and so plain but I just want them to have it all and that would be enough for me. I also think Virginia would be part of it too because I have this little idea in my head that she and Wesley had been in touch and writing letters back and forth. I would want everyone in the buffyverse to be part of it in some way, just to see how far the pair of them have come. And at some point Faith shows up at their door and crashes with them for a few years.

I also have it in my mind that Cordelia bargained with the Powers and everyone got a do-over (because I am a sucker for the early seasons where everyone was alive and together and happy). And at one point the group is trying to figure out where Wesley is and what happened to him, and they go to his house and see him and Lilah cooking breakfast and they see how happy they are together so they just leave him be (but at some point, they all do come together again even if things still are not the same (because I literally have an entire inner workings of Wesley and his trauma and my trauma and even if everything is good it will just not be the same, you know?) But Wesley still helps out from time to time with cases and everyone does get together for major holidays or whatever.

I may or may not be making any sense right now and I know this is becoming very long.

I feel like I should be really embarrassed for what I'm about to say (as I also proceed to tell you with nothing but a NORMAL amount of joy in my heart), but there are also two other scenes I play in my mind constantly and I definitely put myself in them.

The first scene is a court hearing against Wesley/Lilah, W&H, and the Powers; where Wes and Lie have to fight for themselves to be free of their contracts and to be able to be together (on the count of that dumb and pesky good/evil thing). I am literally the star witness in this scenario literally just so I can talk about how in love they are and I would have a huge binder compiled of various blog posts and novel texts, show moments as proof. And I would show my gifs, and go on a huge tangent about Wesley and how he saved Lilah (love saved her) from the beast and how he tried to free her from her contract and it should have worked. And then I would tell Eve that she looks like the person who should be getting everyone's coffee and that she's just jealous because Wesley's given Lilah more orgasms in one night then she's had in her entire life. In my mind and in the scenario I think this is so fucking funny.

Also, when I was a kid I didn't really have friends so I got super fixated on my favorite characters from tv shows and they were my friends. Of course I was so fixated on Wesley and Lilah so they were my friends and we were close, so in this last scenario I imagine us being apart for my years (and somehow not because my ban be from watching the show) and somehow W&H tries to trap Lilah into coming back and I'm going to be used as some virginal sacrifice (which is so silly and weird but it is honestly one of the few things I am good for). But things get worked out and Lilah saves the day (as my hero) because she is a strong and independent woman who doesn't need a job that treats her badly - she is literally stronger and smarter then everyone at W&H. And at one point in this scenario she fights the people of W&H off with a sword because she is a badass baddie and I will forever be in love with that picture of her holding the axe (it's a real crime she didn't get to use it).

I also wanted to add, though, I'm sure you have read it already: the tough get going (out of town) by thinlizzy2 is literally a perfect Wesley/Lilah run away fanfic. I read it a lot and I say it so many time but I get so emotional about the bit with the horses and towards the end where Wesley tells Lilah he loves her ("as his heart fills with pride in her for so many reasons") It is literally one of my TOP Wesley/Lilah fanfics, maybe third. Almost cannon ending because my top fic is til break of day and in continuity of things, that's my cannon ending for them (in terms of fanfic, I wasn't not going to link one and not the other).

[its-tea-time-darling]

Oh tea. The rarepairs I have thought about. You’ve opened a door and the ocean is at it (the ocean being my unhinged mind) (and I will not flood you though) 💕

First — I’ve been thinking about Aris and Gally a lot and I want to see if you can be on board with me. To my knowledge their interaction is few and far between but I just kind of love the idea of them.

Aris: contained and somewhat shy but even more cunning than Thomas, less outspoken and openly curious but finds out information and pieces together things on his own before showing anyone else and if someone gets the privilege to see what he’s discovered it’s a great one, not exactly an amazing runner but has his own tactics of survival as he is somewhat mischievous in his own right. Kind of the hidden predator you’d never expect but also doesn’t want to be that if he doesn’t have to.

Gally: I’d wax poetic but we both know, we just both KNOW, especially post tdc he’s damaged and lonely and trying his best, can be absolutely brutal but doesn’t want to be seen as such, ruthless when on a mission, is very intelligent and was often underestimated, does let fear control his motivation but he’s trying to overcome that because he wants to be BRAVE (oh look at that I’m waxing poetic again).

Anyways, yeah — tea, do you have thoughts or am I alone on this boat?

why helloooOOOO

first off: crest, you are NEVER alone in a boat 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻 but also not in this specific one, worry not.

i've talked about aris and gally with @dunne-ias before and i do love the idea of them!! i believe that was in a modern day au, where aris just fit that tad bit better than thomas because he's that little bit more.. off. which is a bit of what you're getting at, too, i think?

ias correct me if i'm wrong but i think it was aris being into gally and gally not clocking it At All? which in that instant was just much more charming than if it would've been thomas, bc thomas is all head first running into something and aris would be keeping his cards close to his chest, even if he was trying to make it super obvious he had a thing for gally??

and you got me thinking, i don't know that they ever interact in canon at all. aris isn't on the minho rescuing mission, and i just watched the safe haven vince pep talk scene pretty closely to do that thomally week gifset and i don't think gally and aris are shown to acknowledge each other.. but i could be wrong, i wasn't specifically on the lookout!

i do think that in movie canon aris and gally are a very interesting spot, because aris could only ever have heard about gally's arc in the maze second hand. and he never knew chuck. so he might be intuitively more inclined than the gladers to have empathy as his primary reaction to those events. and it could result in scenes of gally trying to explain to aris just why he is such a bad person.

ohhhhh but honestly now i'm thinking about them at safe haven 0.0. quietly working alongside each other (different tasks though, i wouldn't think aris would be especially skilled in building something), and it takes gally much longer to notice aris in the first place than the other way around. bc gally's so caught up in everyone he lost, and the guilt he's carrying with him. i think talking to aris, and forming some sort of tentative friendship could be a really good way for him to get some tether to live that isn't centered around the gladers as a social group.

OR, this just came to me, it could start off as a hook up alsdkjfsalkdjffds. love sex + emotions <3 oh my god. i am having vivid ideas of how a scene like that could go. curse you, crest.

but also thank you - tickling new spots of the brain is always a good time! and tmr rarepairs are just a fantastic way of doing that.

<3

[covenlegacy]

I'm sorry that i make coven blog some exchange of messages with others but i don't want to talk via messages with anyone, including coven because I had very bad experience with it plus everyone would attack me then. So that's why I use this method here sending anon replies. I agree with you too, anon. I guess that when my opinion wasn't loaded with negative emotions, especially about JK, more people would understand and reply this way before. But I'm only human with emotions that got the best of me. But just like you said. It's exactly this way. I treat coven as confidant who's in this topic and knows about this general obession over JK between fans so that's why it's a relief to spill the tea. But people act offended like it was about them. Maybe it is. But generally many Army's react this way. Idk maybe they don't fight back in rl and that's why they look for fights online. I already said it's some projection from their side. I also fought with others online when I had stesssful day but now i try not to do this. You're right. I've been fucking fighting for four years to not to think about JK. I used to think it's being in love but it's just attraction and fascination that is difficult to get rid of. Sounds like karmic lesson. So imagine how annoying it is when after seeing only one shit on Tumblr like gifset, he haunts my thought for hours. I actually felt happy when I saw him on vlive, especially with Bam so it's good but I'd like to not to think about it later. Like really, not think about him that often and randomly. Maybe avoiding everything related to him would be good but I get recommendations and he's really everywhere so I'd need to delete all of my social medias then. But I guess there would be some hot topic on Tumblr one day or elsewhere and I'd randomly saw him anyway. I guess it will pass but it just takes long. I'm sure it's some karmic lesson and i still need to learn something. I hope that I'll meet my spouse soon. I'm curious if he's my type. I'm a bit worried because my 7th house in vedic is ruled by Mars and astrologers say it symbolizes domineering, agressive, sporty, competetive spouse. If someone who knows astrology well, could tell me something more about this placement, I'd be grateful.

I get that you're very hurt. And it's okay to like a celebrity like JK. He represents alot of things at the same time. He is one of a very few number of people who backs up being this popular. Talent, looks and a lot of things in one. He is very easy to admire.

Anon, I know how bad it feels when people who are supposed to be your strength end up being the exact opposite and that's why I think people should calm down. At the end of a shitty day all you perhaps want is someone who shares a little bit of sympathy and not just be in an attack mode. So whenever you are deeply sad you vent out by saying stuff about him because you know that it won't affect him. By your posts I know that you know that you don't see him in your life and that's also proof that you are not delusional.

Don't mind me saying this but I think you feel good when all his fans attack you so that you have somebody to say things to. By this kind of fight you can say things that perhaps you won't in real life to the people you have real problems with.

Coven is cute that way. She gets the gossip for the blog and still she protects you because she knows what you feel and it's a win for you both.

Your crush and obsession is not really that. It's just that you don't like that people like him have the scope and opportunity to do things that their heart desires whereas someone like you has to fight for the smallest things.

I don't hate your messages and you don't have to apologize for this behavior because we all lose it sometimes but we are all not surrounded by people who won't judge us like that or admire us deeply for being soft and vulnerable.

.

[tuiyla]

Hey, Happy New Year!! I wish you had been on the Glee fandom back when the show was airing; you'd have encouraged me to try to see things differently with your metas instead of just dismissing every one-shot character or absurd plotline that never went anywhere. You certainly gave me a newfound appreciation for certain chunks of S3 and S4-S6 as a whole. And your fancy gifsets are *chef's kiss* too but I guess they could only exist in the 2020s so thank you (and all the other gifmakers) for being here and keeping the fandom alive with this new giffing style bc it must take so much time and effort to make them look so gorgeous.

So anyway could you please rank the Glee seasons? Based on whatever standard you'd like - personal preference/enjoyment, whether the year was a good one for your faves, the actual writing and whether the plotlines were well-executed, etc.

Hey Anon, Happy New Year to you too! This was such a kind message, thank you so much. To be honest I don't wish I was here then haha just because I know how intense it all was and I would have burned out so quick. And I think we need this distance from the show to be able to analyze it in such ways. But! I'll take the compliment of course and I'm very happy if my ramblings can bring about new perspectives and appreciation. That's more than I could ever ask for.

And thank you for the kind words about giffing, too! It's become my primary way of adding to this fandom recently and it's always nice to see it being appreciated. I still maintain that I only do it because I want to and it's fun, but feedback is nice of course.

On the topic of Glee seasons, well I have a feeling that'd be a different ranking every day so take this as a very fluid list. It's also a mushed-together one because I kinda wanna consider several aspects, my personal enjoyment as well as what we'd call "good writing" in a more, though not completely objective sense. I'm happy if I can encourage appreciation for seasons 4 to 6 if only because it really irks me when people pretend there's a clear-cut divide in quality, though on previous lists I've also ranked the first three first and the later seasons last. So with that in mind, strap in:

Season 2

This is the easiest to decide. Season 2 is that sweet spot, imo, where we still only have three writers and therefore a semblance of consistency but it feels like a larger world with more developed characters than season 1 did. There are issues, sure, and I could go on and on about major gaps in all Glee seasons. But season 2 feels the most like Glee, to me. There's infighting and an overall arc and fun one-off themes and tributes. The focus is still too Finchel heavy and the Wemma drama throughout is meh, but those are general problems in Glee. I feel like, more than any other season after it season two has a beginning, middle, and end, and some of Glee's strongest character arcs. Scratch that, in Kurt and Santana we get the two strongest arcs of the series. And the way Karofsky's story builds on and makes both of these better, chef's kiss. And the whole Glee club feels much more like the dysfunctional family they are and there's more of an effort to include every member. Basically it's my fave and imo, the best, for many reasons. We could get more in-depth with this one day.

After no.1 is where we start going "Idunno" but I'll try to establish a ranking.

2. Season 4

I'm not sure if placing season 4 second feels quite right but ranking the other seasons above it doesn't, either. Look, it's a very flawed season of television. There's a clear shift between the two halves. For the better, but still. Santana took way too long to go to NYC. The most fascinating dynamics happen in two lines of dialogue and then entirely off-screen. The Lima-NYC split was not thought through. But it's by far the season where I can tolerate and even like Finn the most. It's arguably Santana's best. It brought me the newbies, my beloveds. Amazing group numbers. The best the New Directions have ever been as a group. Good one-offs, some crimes against humanity, surprisingly few duds. Will fades more and more into the background, bar wedding drama. No clear direction or purpose but a vibe of ND becoming a new sort of family and the alumni struggling. Waaaay too many characters and the season is worse off because of that but, somehow, it still kinda works. It's a ride.

3. Season 1

Sigh, listen, season 1 is the big struggle for me. If I muster as much objectivity as I can, it's the best-written and generally well-put-together season. Even when the back nine changes direction a bit, it's still a much more cohesive unit than even season 2. It's a good season of television. It's also one I saw all the way back in 2010 and said "uhm, no thanks, that was fine but I don't need more Glee." It's missing that je ne sais quoi, imo, that makes Glee truly great. And maybe truly bad, too, but that's part of the show's appeal and I still find season 1 one of the least engaging whenever I watch it. And there are many reasons, from my infuriation with the disproportion of singing to Finchel shenanigans to Quinn's storyline, and, of course, the lack of Santana. I still rank it in the top 3 just because I can't overlook how strong it is from a purely, this is good TV perspective, but make no mistake it's far from being among my personal faves. Deffo not the one I wanna be rewatching the most. It's so good in some aspects but I know what else Glee can be and yeah, that's messy and makes my blood boil but at least it makes me feel so much more than the Finchel features and Finn-Will bonding moments of season 1. Based on this you might think I should rank it lower. Maybe I should. I think I'm just being so hard on it because I know it's considered to be the best by many and it's just, not that for me. I only put it in the top 3 begrudgingly.

4. Season 3

Season 3 is impossible to rank and I feel bad putting it above season 6 but I can't lie and say it didn't have good stuff. I'm actually really curious to find out what parts of it you appreciate more now because of me haha because I feel like I'm always so hard on season 3. Because it sucks. I hate s3A so much. It pisses me off like no other season. But damn, it has the good stuff too. Some of my favourite GCVs, for starters. Nationals, graduation. All the nostalgia and sting of that. The underdogs winning. The end of an era. So much more Santana. (Soundtrack-wise, anyway.) The Troubletones. What did it cost? Everything, but we got it. There's a clear arc, it just takes a million detours. The most controversial season for me, personally. I wish it never existed. I wish it was so much better. I'm a different person for having witnessed it. Everything wrong with Glee but maybe everything great with it, too. The new writers? Not a great idea. An inevitability. Season 3 is a dumpster fire and quintessential Glee, dare I say even the peak of it in some ways. It makes me wanna choose violence. We should move on.

5. Season 6

Sweetie I'm so sorry for ranking you so low, I'm usually a season 6 defender. It's been too long since I've seen it to confidently be able to say that it's good, though, and it just very much feels like the swan song it is. I'll be completely honest, it's also the lack of Santana for me. Sure, she gets her own arc on the side but I'm not a 100% happy with how they bid her farewell and any given episode of Glee is just way less appealing to me without her in it. But putting the Santana of it all aside, season 6 fully leans into the insanity of Glee in its final season. It's also a breath of fresh air, of postmodernity and a new generation and goodbyes that feel as authentic as they could be at this point. It's... like a post-finale. It's surprisingly real about the concept of the aftermath. A fascinating case study of the show's identity, its underdog obsession, what it means to deconstruct that. It's also just a bit boring, innit, compared to earlier shenanigans. But still, season 6 defender over here.

6. Season 5

I really didn't think I'd rank season 5 last, again, because I always used to and I actually appreciate it a lot more these days. But it's a case of not wanting any of the others to be last. Season 5 seemed like as good a sacrificial lamb as any. I think it's that, much more than season 4, it doesn't feel like one season, not even like one show. And it's understandable, of course, because production and the people behind it went through hell when Cory died. Looked at through the lens of grief, it's a fascinating season. And there are aspects I really like but aspects I despise, and unlike season 3's controversy I also find a lot of it just dull. Now, this might change when I eventually rewatch it but as it stands I just don't feel as strongly about wanting to defend season 5 and I do season 6. It's great when it's great but it's lukewarm so often. There are also way too many character assassinations happening and part of me will never forgive dropping the newbies like that. And all of me will always be mad about Santana's/Naya's treatment in season 5B.

[evansbby]

Hey lovie,

Just read this post and I am sorry about the comments. Ig I have written a lot of the 'I'm sorry about the anons and update comments' but I can't help it. Ig I did mention previously I want to post my work but honestly speaking, these comments scare me. I really wish people realized that that isn't your only project neither have you abandoned it. It's just that I truly feel as if some of them do get to you.

You have an amazing fan interaction I really haven't seen any blogger this active and your drabbles and even that colour gif set are so awesome. I don't want to come out as a sugar coater and write the same asks for the hundredth time. (I am sure you might think that I legit have no better thing to do than to reply on each of the posts.) But hats off to you for the amazing pieces you post even after all the pressure and all the asks.

All the love

~A <3

Ahhhh i’m crying thank you sm!!😌😩🫶🏼😭 this is way too sweet!!! And thank you for mentioning my gifset, it really makes me feel special when people compliment my gifs!! Anyways yes I do feel pressure sometimes but a lot of the time I’m so grateful that people show interest in my writing like it still blows my mind!!!

As for being active, I have a lot of free time rn so I’m trying to take advantage of that bc I know next month I’m going to be so so so busy. That’s why I’m trying to get poyt 4 done before the end of this month hehe.

[mercymaker]

can I ask you for advice? how do you make colorful hotd gifs without them being so pixelated? I tried but it just looked way too grainy. I'm wondering whether it's the place I downloaded the episodes from (it's 1080p still)? can I ask you where you download the episodes from and how you sharpen/color your gifs please 🥺

Eyo! I try to work with as high quality as I can possibly get my hands on. For the hot d gifs, I use 2160p footage. I get most of my stuff off tor, if you want direct links IM me or send an ask off anon so I can get back to you with those.

These are my Smart Sharpen settings:

Pretty standard, most gifmakers use this. Back in the day I would just roll with only this because I kinda enjoyed the crispy vibe (I've been swimming in the gifmaking waters for over a decade oofe). But these days, I think since the dimensions and the quality are much higher, just slapping a sharpen on makes everything look noisy and grainy, so I usually duplicate the gif frames and apply an additional Gaussian Blur layer (that I then change the opacity of to 60-80% depending on the scene):

I work with smart objects + timeline animation nowadays so these apply to those. Back in the day I'd write scripts to apply actions to all my frame layers, but we don't do that anymore.

As for coloring, I tend to just color the scenes from scratch, starting off with Curves and Channel Mixer and then building on that. I might make a video on my process sometime or do a lil stream or something (if anyone would be interested anyway).

I tend to be not that great with written tutorials anyway (e.g. this very ask lmao), but there are some fantastic guides out there that can give you a general idea on where to begin. Like this one from Becca, or this one from Jagoda, or this one from Ava. I usually don't follow tutorials step-by-step, but rather see how other people work to pick up new things to try or optimize my own processes.

And as a final note, keep in mind that a lot of the top-notch beautiful gifsets that people on here make are the result of a ton of trial-and-error. So, just play around, have fun and let yourself fuck up a couple of times. You'll get there!

[boxenstopp]

hello daily czech it out post! i missed yesterday which technically removes that title but i don't care because genuinely carzzy saying "your girlfriend my husband" is something i would say to my friends about blorbo and it makes me go absolutely bonkers.

EPISODE 4!

firstly!! carzzy desperately trying to not carry this series on his back (if you can't carry ur games ig that's what you do. i appeciate it.) literally like getting your bf to try to talk at family dinners tho. he's like!! say something!! and humanoid just declines and carzzy has to sit there. teehee. light tap to humanoid's cheek. cause he's annoying and we can't dare forget that.

random ass argument time! carzzy is literally wrong again but he's carzzy so i can't really say who won this. literally just lying <3

+ marek's reaction to carzzy calling him bad. (btw calling him marek bcs carzzy did and that makes me happy :3) my man just leaves. collecting these reactions now:

sad pout

agree that you're bad

leave the screen

ignore him and say a completely different sentence that just so happens to be about carzzy being shit at the game.

ANDDD he's back. with this beautiful freeze-frame. i also don't know shit about one direction so if "one direction, we disbanded" means something to you emotionally, i'm sorry. i mean humanoid forgives him anyway (even though he's the one that left- i mean.)

also just look at him looking at carzzy. ALSO to anyone who fucking reads these a) ily b) should i take up giffing. cause sometimes i think screenshots really arent enough and i should make gifsets. cause carzzy has this really cute shrug here that i need. in motion. on this post.

NOW we get to the insulting carzzy part. i was not worried as the first half had been insulting humanoid time. also humanoid's impression of carzzy's voice as this high pitched girl voice... it's the same as his "yes master" voice lmao. and carzzy laughs way too hard at this. if i made the same "how does carzzy react to being insulted" list it would just be:

laugh really hard and try not to make it obvious that you're infatuated

and then humanoid just makes carzzy hold his mic box. for some reason. and they don't mention it. (carzzy holding onto it in his arms like it's precious btw.)

NOW IT'S THE WORST FUCKING SEGMENT OF THE VIDEO. how humanoid will kiss you. after he wins mvp. WHAT PROMPTS HIM. WHAT TAKES OVER HIS MIND TO JUST FUCKING. MIME KISSING THE AIR. WITH TONGUE. but i mean then carzzy has to go. "hmmm how do i make this worse. ah." no he didnt!! no he didn't kiss me like that >:( i want you all to know. so i'm going to say it multiple times. cause he didnt kiss me like that i need you to know.

btw carzzy laughing at being called humanoid's dog. again. not that funny. also, according to these videos, he must call you that like 10 times a day. don't you get sick of it, carzzy? isn't it at some point enough? or are you really that down bad?

anyway episode already over :<. humanoid gets up and then remembers he's literally tethered himself to carzzy.

the second pic is great cause a) carzzy looks great yes and b) the editors pause way too long on carzzy's face as humanoid's now gone. like bitch he's probably 5 meters away.

shadow's here say hello and then

VIDEO END.

final thoughts: honestly. apart from whatever the fuck the kissing thing was, not too torturous. had coherent thoughts throughout most of this. humanoid did not want to be in this video, his mind was probably not okay and that's why the kissing thing happened, i imagine. see you tomorrow.

[mushroomwriter]

hermanos anon again, all the best for your exam!! ooh, i'm very interested in whatever you'll gif, i'm sure it will be lovely! and thank you once more asdfjsk i'm absolutely starved for hermanos content (and the spinoff didn't provide at all) so you are doing God's work <3

Oh, it was exactly the same for me! It's a long story but at first I really wasn't interested in the show at all, but my family would put it on during every meal so I'd catch a few episodes here and there, I even missed the bella ciao scene at first. But during s2 when tokyo confronts Sergio about Andrés knowing his name, and we get like a 10 sec flash to the bella ciao scene, that was my first time I went "what's going on here" and the seed for my hermanos obsession was planted XD If you'd said to me back in 2019 that 5 years later these 2 would be my favourites and I'd still be loving and missing them, I'd never have believed it lol. I rewatched some scenes I'd missed, by the s2 finale I was invested and the hermanito reveal made me cry 😭💔

You're not alone, I will never recover from that either. In fact, allow me to make the scene worse for you - there's one thing I noticed when rewatching the show. When Tokyo dies/Raquel 'fake' dies, both times Sergio is pleading with them too to get away or give him up. But you'll notice in both cases he's adamantly giving "orders" in a sense, he doesn't use the words "por favor". There's only one scene where he switches from orders to child-like pleading, and that's the hangar scene. He's pleading, begging Andrés to leave and he screams 'Andrés por favor' desperately.

(pt 2) Sergio really is so comfortable with affection from Andrés, love the way you put it! And hahaha Andrés is the most Unhinged Bastard Man but that flies out the window with hermanito, he's always so fond of him. One of my favourite things about their relationship is how they are both such cold/reserved people otherwise but around each other they can show their genuine emotions, it's beautiful. The guantanamera scene is like a perfect time capsule of their bond, the mingled grief and love, the joy and the sorrow, the smiles and tears. And how despite Andrés is the one with a death sentence looming over him, it's him trying to cheer up Sergio, just like in the Bella Ciao scene it's him singing "che mi sento di morir" and continuing on till Sergio smiles. Anyway it's truly such a precious scene and I love how it ends with their silly little dance moves, gives me so much serotonin :') Please don't apologise about replying late, I loved reading your thoughts too! It's such a joy to find a fellow heist brothers fan :D I just hope I'm not bothering you with my rambles asfdfjsk I've been thinking abt them a lot lately 😅 Thank you for the gifset again and for being so kind, hope you have a great day 💗

hi there!! I'm finally here! Thank you so much for the well wishes, I passed! I really hope so, I'm still in search of inspiration... maybe I need to rewatch their scenes a little more... Aw, don't mention it, I also have a high need for hermanos content tbh (I knooow, I didn't have a lot of hope but a tiny teeny part of me did hope Sergio would show up and I'm so sad he didn't!) it's a honour to be able to provide some food 🫡

Oh, that's cool! I remember that scene in season 2, and I love the shot we get of the hug there, like you can really see how protective it is, the way Andrés crandles Sergio's head and back... so yeah, I can totally see how that moment planted the first seed for your hermanos obsession! The hermanito reveal was such a gut punch, there is little to do...

And wow, thank you, this did indeed make that scene even worse for me, I didn't think it was possible! You're so right, oh no... really, the way Sergio sobs "Andrés, por favor!" is so child-like and heart-wrenching... literally a little brother begging his big brother not to leave him, and knowing on some level that he'll never be able to make him change his mind... I need to curl up into a ball for a while ahhh

That's definitely one of my favourite things too, they're so calculating but around each other they feel safe and comfortable enough to let their guard down... brothers!! Yesss, that's such a big brother moment for Andrés! Like he can be pretty self-centered but there he clearly puts Sergio's needs above his and I melt! Side note about the bella ciao scene, I wonder if Andrés singing "e se io muoio da partigiano tu mi devi seppellir" on his own was supposed to be some sort of foreshadowing of the fact he'll die and Sergio'll survive... I mean, "and if I die as a partisan you must bury me" is basically what happened, isn't it? Except that now I'm struck by the thought that probably Sergio couldn't bury Andrés, coudn't take care of his brother's body... OH NO. On a happier note, I love the way Sergio asks Andrés, "we're the resistance, aren't we?" in the bella ciao scene, it almost sounds like it used to be an inside joke, maybe something they told each other when they were younger, captivated by their grandfather's stories... And yes, Sergio "I don't dance" Marquina WILL dance if his big brother so requires :D

I'm glad to hear that! I hope you'll see this reply too (the last few weeks have been pretty hectic, I was either busy or super tired all the time) and rest assured your rambles don't bother me at all, I LOVE THEM! ❤️ Thank you for your enthusiasm, truly, I hope you have a great day too!

[after-nine-at-the-oasis]

Okay so uh yeah had to stop watching clips of the episode because I was about to lose my mind again but uhhh yeah! Still stressing horribly about Paul :))) Glimpsed 3x10's Summary but I'm still stressed xdd

And no I don't know why I capitalized "summary" lol 😭.

Anyway yes AHHH help me 😭😭😭 I'm not ready and this episode absolutely destroyed me - also clearly they were trying to make us think it was current day at the end with "In honor of mom" but still it destroyed me either way 😭😭😭

So yeah!!! I fear for Paul :DD buuut still wish I hadn't gotten any spoilers lol. Knowing me I'll probably forget anyway, hopefully lol.

But, those were the final thoughts, now it's time for the. . .

REVIEW

This episode destroyed me. Absolutely. I literally can't sit in my feels for too long because it's s o d e p r e s s i n g. Plus, I'm trying to forget the slight spoilers I got, and thinking about 9-1-1: Lone Star will only make that harder xDD. But, I will endeavor to try to at least make a worthy review here.

And quickly, too, because I'm tired and even MORE emotionally drained now lol.

But, yeah. This episode was absolutely heartbreaking. But still, it remains - or probably will remain, at least - one of my favorite episodes. It just has such good moments, and it's honestly just straight up beautiful. No matter how sad it is xdd. Yep, no fancy words this time, just: sad. It's sad. Let's accept that xDD. 9-1-1 Lone Star is sad. Sometimes, honestly, a lot of the time. This episode was sad. Really sad xdd. But sad nonetheless.

And yeah, I agree with what I've seen people saying - Nancy and Tommy were being good friends by checking on him - checking on him by checking on that, the medicine count. I hope he doesn't find out and get angry at some point, that if he does find out, or even just figures, he understands. And it's just so sad, but I honestly kinda get it. I've never been addicted to drugs or anything so drastic, but there are things that I just continually. Do. I know it's wrong, and I do it anyway. Especially after something bad or stressful. So while it's nowhere near as severe or significant, I can kind of understand it. No matter how much I hate that he has to go through it. So, yeah, it hurt, but it touched me.

Now, I don't deserve this 😭😭😭😭. Those flashbacks literally killed me, I can't. It just hit me so hard, and it h u r t s. I was crying in the first scene because of the whole situation and also thinking about losing people I love, but the last flashback scene, the last time I cried, it was just because she cares. So much. And I want someone who cares about me like that. I know I kind of have that, but I want it for sure. And even though she knows he doesn't like it, she's doing what's best for him, because he needs it. And she's letting him go. Letting him make this choose on his own, because he's strong, and he can do it. He can do it without her.

And now, she's gone.

It just really hurt me and I love it and I don't think I'll ever get over it 😭😭😭 :'(((( :')).

And even just the little bit we saw of them, though we saw more of Tommy and Nancy, the 126 is amazing. I just- I love them all so much. They're family, and they love each other <3. I truly believe that, and I know they do too. Because it's true!! Just one example is the flowers Grace sent. All of them - it's amazing. Beautiful.

ALSO I JUST REALIZED THAT IT'S EPISODE EIGHT LIKE WE KNEW THE 8'S AND THE 12'S (WELL PROBABLY BECAUSE WE DIDN'T HAVE A 12 FOR SEASON 1 BUT MAYBE IT'LL HAPPEN AGAIN AND WE'LL KNOW FOR SURE) ARE R O U G H AND TARLOS EPISODES MOSTLY 8 BUT HOPEFULLY 12 TOO (WHAT I LOVE PAIN XDD NAH I ACTUALLY LOVE TARLOS, LOL) BUT DAAAANG I FORGOOOOOT!!!! NOT TILL I SAW A GIFSET COMPARING THE TWO (2X08 SORRY FORGOT 1X08 EXISTED FOR A SECOND LOL) JUST SOME PARALLELS AND LIKE AHHH I WASN'T PREPAREDDDDDDD BUT I LOVE IT THANK YOU!!! HELP ME XDDD.

Anyway, lol, I'm fine. Not really, but, I'm fine xDD.

By the way, I will from now on be using the tag '911 lone star', because it's easier and seems to be in more popular use :)). I might still use '9-1-1 lone star' sometimes, but if it's one of the situations I'm sure I will continue to have where I only tag two tags, the show and my personal tag for it, then I'll probably just use 911. Just so you know!! And also because I often forget or don't have the time to tag spoilers lol. Anyway! Yeah xDD.

So! Yeah. Overall, I loved this episode. Like, it broke me and barely rebuilt me, at least back to level where I was, but I adored it. It was wonderful, and it was beautiful, and even though it was horribly sad, it was s o. g o o d. I just- I really loved it. Thank you, for this amazing episode. And thanks to you guys, for following this :)). I'm sure I'll thank you again as time goes on, lol, and probably at the finale, but still <3. For this episode specifically, and all it's pain, but also still amongst every other episode and all the stuff they had going on lol. Thanks. I loved this episode. Despite its sadness, or maybe even, probably honestly, in part because of it, it's definitely one of my favorite episodes.

So yeah!! I absolutely loved this episode. This has been my review of. . .

9-1-1: Lone Star, Season 3, Episode 8: In the Unlikely Event of an Emergency

I may have loved this episode, and I'm sure I'll love the next one too, but I am scared. Excited though!! See you next week for my review of. . .

9-1-1: Lone Star, Season 3, Episode 9: The Bird

See you then!!!!

[gunsatthaphan]

doreen tysm for the bad buddy gifset. its unhealthy how eager i am for this series lol. 3M out of the 3.9M views on that trailer has to be me 😂 i’ve read the novel and i think i have mixed feelings that they’re deviating from it BUT IN A GOOD WAY. its kind of a double edged sword.

tw// spoilers

it has a happy ending but the book is a BIG ouch — its so sincere and realistic and really shows how queer people can get guiltripped and forced into heteronormative relationships (it actually has one of them basically get shoved into an engagement to this lady) and they spend half of their lives miserable because of familial expectations. it contains angsty bangers such as:

pat (ohm): “I don’t want to upset my parents, so I try to forget that my life is my own. I keep trying until sometimes, I’m angry that I have a heart.”.

“A child is only born to pay the debts of the parent, aren’t they?”

pran (nanon): “Its not about the age, father. Even if I’m older, I’m sure I would underestimate my feelings as a mere childhood joke. I’m sorry but I cannot control my heart.”

so yeah. that shit hurted. it genuinely was relatable and spoke to me. we NEED more stories like this :( i would love, love, loveee to see this story told well and actually in depth but knowing gmmtv and the nature of that trailer i doubt they’re aiming for such a deep social commentary, or pull it off well.

AND life is kinda stressful and i would not mind a well produced and not cringy show that’s a lighthearted rom-com with enemies to lovers. i would NAWT complain.

sorry to go off in ur asks. but the thought of us getting this series within this year is making me insane.

have a nice day!

AAAAAH ANON 😭 hard same. I shouldn't even be allowed on youtube anymore with the amount of times I've watched that trailer jkfdhgfd

I've heard so many things about the novel and now I'm starting to think maybe I should read it 😂 But then again I feel like that would give me a false impression if they're deviating from it? idk.

But anyway that sounds so good. I didn't know the story was that deep tbh lol but I love it. However I agree with you - The trailer is very lighthearted and just judging from that, it doesn't seem like they will go to that extent? On the other hand we all know it's just a mockup. So anything could happen. But either way I do think they will stick to the core parts, they just probably won't go in super deep. But if there are parts about (explicitly!) queer kids being pressured by their parents then I definitely believe they will tackle that. (Although I don't think I would want that engagement story dksfd)

But at the end of the day I really have no idea which direction it will go into. I would appreciate comedic elements but based on what you said about the novel I really do hope they add some seriousness to it and actually make use of Ohm and Nanon's acting talents bc we all know they would (and will) crush it.

xxx

[jengarie]

#showyourprocess !

From planning to posting, share your process for making creative content!

To continue supporting content makers, this tag game is meant to show the entire process of making creative content: this can be for any creation.

RULES — When your work is tagged, show the process of its creation from planning to posting, then tag up to 5 people with a specific link to one of their creative works you’d like to see the process of. Use the tag #showyourprocess so we can find yours!

Thank you, @rinielle for tagging me! She chose the piece above (original post), and oh boy this one was a whole ass rollercoaster ride! Unfortunately, I hadn't turned on the timelapse feature for this but I'll try to go through each part of the process as best as I can!

The photos I'm gonna upload are gonna be a mix of screenshots and literal photos of my screen, because I'm taking some of them from my updates to friends, since a lot of the steps got lost in my painting process.

But before that, let me tag some other amazing creators!

@dragonji: this gif art!

@candicewright: this yibo painting!

@wendashanren: this gifset!

@mylastbraincql: this gif!

I haven't been able to keep track of who's been tagged so apologies if you've already done this! Also, no pressure to do it at all if you would rather not! <3

Planning

Sometimes, I get an idea first and find reference photos to go with that idea. But for this one, I sought out a reference photo first, and built an idea on top of it!

After that, I roughly sketch out the base pose. Usually, this looks very messy, but it doesn't really matter as long as I understand which part goes where!

The idea for the background didn't really come until the creation process because I don't think I really planned this to be a full piece.

Creation

Sketching

Honestly, from this point on, it's more of trial and error.

So, I redid the the initial base pose—made it cleaner and a little bit more detailed. See: the added definition in their arm muscles, the rearrangement of Wei Wuxian's legs, and Lan Wangji's hand on Wei Wuxian's back. If you look at the second photo, I also changed the pose a bit midway—I tend to edit as I go sometimes when I change my mind. (For this, I thought, given the Lan arm strength, it would be better to make Lan Wangji look more at ease carrying Wei Wuxian. This gets covered by the robes anyway though, so it didn't matter much in the end.)

I also started adding details to the base! I usually start with the face and then the hair! I usually go for the clothes next, but I dreaded the robes in this piece so I guess that's why I ended up with a basic idea of what I wanted for the background instead LOL I also figured out how I want the final crop to look like, so I blocked out all the other areas with an extra layer!

Okay, onto the part that killed me like ten times: the robes. There are a lot of interactions between their robes here given their pose, and not to mention they also have layers upon layers on each of them! So, to maintain my sanity and to keep track of which part is which, I color coded them into the most colorful sketch I've ever made.

Another reason why I filled in each layer of robe with a solid block of color, is so that all the lines underneath gets covered. Without all of the colors, the actual outline actually looks like the one on the right. What a nightmare!

I also ignored the crop again for this part, because it's always better to draw past your borders, in case you decide to rotate or tilt or whatever your piece later on. I didn't do the feet anymore though, because that I was sure wouldn't show in the final piece anymore.

After that, I did the sketch one more time and then started adding the base colors. (I didn't have a screenshot of just the base colors, and the final CSP file is a nightmare so I copy pasted the layers into a new canvas to show you guys :') )

By the way, I drew their robes flowing this way, because I wanted it to frame the lower arch of the moon behind them for the composition. It was a little frustrating that I couldn't get Lan Wangji's robes a little higher because of Wei Wuxian's legs but I later filled in the empty space with his forehead ribbon anyway, so it all worked out in the end!

Painting

Because apparently, I was a masochist back then, I merged the base colors all into one layer and started adding shadows to the robes. (These days, I add shadows first and then, merge. It's much easier this way.)

And then, I started painting! Again, I did the face first and then the hair, before finally the robes. This was my first time painting side profiles and honestly it was quite a pain to figure out LOL but !!! I think I did a good job and I'm proud of how it turned out. I again used reference photos for this one but I can't link any because they were just several random Pinterest photos that I didn't save.

Another thing to note is that I use the mesh transform tool a lot, especially on faces. That's largely why Lan Wangji's face looks so different in the latter two!

And then I went with the robes. Somewhere along the way, I realized I didn't like how I planned to do Lan Wangji's sleeves and the flowy part of Wei Wuxian's robes and I... decided, with much dread, to do them over. So I sketched on top of the painted layers and redid the robes, again.

It was at this point that I decided to take a break from this piece because it was honestly very draining! I think it took about three weeks before I decided to open the file again and continue it.

When I did, I just finished painting the rest of the robes and their hands. The blue details on Lan Wangji's outer robes were painted on a separate layer that I put on Multiply. I probably did more adjustments to the face and hair and stuff, because my painting process is honestly a mess :')

Final Adjustments

I added some correction layers on certain areas to fix some of the colors. See: Lan Wangji's sleeve becoming much brighter and paler; Wei Wuxian's legs having less contrast. And then I merged all of the layers (excluding the background) and added a bit of blur. See: Wei Wuxian's ponytail; the entire lower part; the flowing forehead ribbon. My reasoning for this is so that most of the detail (and therefore the flow of the eye) goes to their faces and expressions!

And then, I put a blue Overlay layer on low opacity to make Wangxian blend better with the background, added a bit of shadow on the inside and the lower sections and added the glowing details for the added flair. I initially wanted sparkles and/or stars but they didn't turn out as well as this did. I also upped the contrast by a little for the entire piece!

Aaaand, that's it! In truth, I did a bit more color adjustments to the whole piece, but I was a dummy who forgot to turn them back on before posting so ... oh well.

Posting

Before posting, I upload it either on my spare private Twitter account or on a drafted Tumblr post so I can check the colors on my phone. This is because the colors on different devices can look very different, and I would at the very least want all my pieces to look nice on both of my devices!

And then, once I deem it satisfactory, I just try to think of a caption and post! Some artists wait for a certain time where most of their followers are active, but I didn't have a lot of MDZS followers at this point so it didn't really matter to me.

It still doesn't really; I haven't actually been able to figure out when my MDZS followers are awake even now.

[kasienda]

Sailor Moon Crystal is out on Netflix. I don't know how it holds up to the original series but I'm gonna watch it.

Totally check it out!! It's worth a chance I think! (Though if I'm honest, I never really could get into it...) I WANTED to like Crystal so badly! I've seen the first two seasons and tried like three separate occasions to keep going after that, but honestly, my favorite thing about Sailor Moon Crystal is the resulting gif-sets because it's just so pretty! (Imma gonna get in so much trouble with half my followers...). But let me explain!! I LOVED the 90s anime as a kid. I grew up on it! And was obsessed. My sister and I would come up with all all kinds of theories for what we wanted to happen next! But the thing about the 90s anime was that it kinda changed the concept of the manga - like not a WHOLE lot - but enough to cause some issues. The biggest of which is Mamoru's characterization in the first season or two of the 90s anime is just... not good, and not true to what the personality/vision established by the creator, Naoko Takeuchi. And a few backstory elements were also changed, and Takeuchi was apparently salty about all of the changes the anime people chose to make. But I didn't know any of this. I never read the manga - it wasn't available for the longest time where I lived, so I didn't know any better. At one point, I read a summary of the manga, and I was blown away. I was like, WHY DID THEY CHANGE THIS??? This concept is AMAZING!!! I NEED TO READ THIS MANGA!! So I tracked it down, only to discover that the "summary" I read wasn't a summary at all. It was a verbatim script of the first story arc. And that just left me feeling disappointed. I wanted the IDEA of the manga, but I wanted it to be EXPLORED and developed. And it just wasn't! So I was disappointed with the manga. (I've been told I'm wrong. That the development is in the artwork, but when I'm reading a comic my mind only looks at the artwork long enough to like tell what's happening and who's talking). But that's what fic is for, right?! ANYWAY, Sailor Moon Crystal is a love letter to the manga. It was supposed to be the anime that we never got in the 90s - loyal to the original concept (WHICH WAS AMAZING). So I wanted Sailor Moon Crystal to be the CONCEPT of the manga with the character and story development of the 90s anime. And like, they didn't develop it very much. It is almost a script of the manga. Which fits on like three pages, but they took that script and dragged it across a whole Season and it feels so slow!! And I wanted MORE damn it. And I talk to my husband every time I get him to retry it with me about everything that I wanted in each episode. Like all the things they could have done with it that they just didn't! Anyway, I think my problem is that I went in with expectations of what I wanted it to be, and it's just not that thing. And I always hold that against it. So, in conclusion, the people who loved the manga, LOVE Sailor Moon Crystal. And honestly, if you've never read the Sailor Moon manga, I think you could find it really interesting because then you're getting the original concept for the first time, (WHICH IS AMAZING!!). Also, Sailor Moon Crystal definitely gets better as it goes. Like they started to be braver about fleshing things out more as they went and it becomes more compelling. But it wasn't enough to hook me. I hear absolutely wonderful things about Sailor Moon Crystal - Eternal though! And the fact that it packs the whole story arc into a three hour movie, well, that holds promise to me! And if I wasn't so unmotivated to watch anything on television lately, I'd probably have watched it by now. The artwork of Sailor Moon Crystal though is GORGEOUS! And the gifsets - the emotion they show? It makes me sooooo happy. And when I see them, I'm always like, maybe I should try watching it again? But then when I try, I get one episode in, and I'm like, "oh right, this is why I didn't like it before". But anyway, if you watch it, I would LOVE to hear your thoughts. Like what your reactions are to it when you don't have all my baggage with the source material.

[nobodysuspectsthebutterfly]

Hello! If you don't mind me asking, are you planning on watching House of the Dragon? I'm personally unsure about it. I was cautiously optimistic about it since D&D are not involved, but the recent casting news have been ugh disappointing imo. What do you think?

Hey anon! Sorry to say I kind of mind you asking because my inbox is still closed (to everyone except my secret Santas, which is why the ask page is accessible at all), but then I realized it’s possible if you’re on the mobile app only, you haven’t seen said note in my askbox, or my FAQ, or anything of the sort. And with older metas of mine being reblogged recently, it’s possible you may be confused. (I hope you’re on mobile only and not just ignoring my requests.) So I wanted to inform you of that... but also, y’know, I kind of wanted to make a post about the HotD cast anyway? And this ask is as good a prompt as any... so, you’re lucky, but please don’t push your luck. ;)

So, straight up: I currently have no plans to watch House of the Dragon. HBO is not getting any of my goddamn money, I don’t trust like that. And hunting down illegal livestreaming sites is a pain in the ass and I regret ever doing it for GoT, as well as regretting getting drunk every weekend enough to dampen my senses to ever tolerate that show. Yeah it’s different showrunners and writers, I know. It’s still (mostly) the same executives at HBO and even if the pervert producer is gone (or is he?), you know they still just want to sell sex and violence and dragons to an audience that thinks fantasy is for geeks.

Also, considering that Fire & Blood’s story of Dance of the Dragons has very little actual narrative or dialogue, and the historical record is deliberately untrustworthy, that gives them pretty much full rein to do whatever they like with the story and characterization and words without even being slightly obliged to GRRM at all. Furthermore, since the story is wholly political with virtually none of the magical side of ASOIAF (excepting dragons), and honestly does not have much in the way of themes or depth that main ASOIAF or even D&E has, I think it will be very hard for an adaptation to show even those brief sparks of quality that used to make me wistful GoT couldn’t be that good all the time and eventually just made me frustrated and depressed. Note I do like the history and characters of the Dance despite myself, despite its many many many textual issues, but I don’t need to see an adaptation, I have a very visual imagination. I don’t watch a lot of television to begin with, I don’t see why I should start again with this.

However, I’m not going to avoid spoilers or discussion, and I’ll probably follow the show the tumblr way, through gifsets and video clips and people bitching on their blogs etc. If, somehow, by some miracle of good screenwriting and acting, the show manages to transcend its source material, I’m sure I will be informed. And then, if and only if then, I may try watching. (Without, of course, giving HBO any of my goddamn money.) We shall see.

(Though I certainly don’t know why anyone in Targ standom would ever watch a Dance adaptation considering almost every Targaryen and everyone else in the story is terrible except Helaena and the kids, and considering how the story ends, unless y’all are gluttons for punishment? (I do not comprehend hatewatching, sorry.) It’ll probably be fun at first to see the adventures of those “precious silver douchebags” (to borrow a friend’s tag), but eventually rocks fall, everyone dies, including the girlboss you know you’ll hope the story will be changed enough that she succeeds. Just letting you know now, she won’t.)

That said. I’ve been following the casting news and I think the hate/fear/wild screaming is entirely overblown. Yeah, I know, but wait, just listen. On Friday I officially welcomed @naomimakesart to the “favorite character is now played by an actor who looks nothing like most fanart and is mostly known for wildly different roles” club. I still remember that day in September 2009 when my brother texted me “yarp”... and that right there is the thing. Yeah. Rory McCann looks very little like most pre-GoT Sandor fanart... but many fans grew to love him anyway. (There are some who never did, of course. And yeah the character went off the rails by the end, but truly, who didn’t. Having seen his audition, having spoken to him and heard him wistfully talk about book scenes he loved, I’m convinced if Rory had only been given Sandor’s actual scenes and such, he would’ve killed it. Sigh. Deep, deep sigh.)

And Rory isn’t the only one. Neither of the actors for Jaime and Cersei were considered “beautiful” enough at first. I recall very clearly people bitching about Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (about his nose particularly?) because they had wanted Tarzan-era Travis Fimmel to be Jaime. (Seeing people bitch because current-Fimmel isn’t playing Daemon made me laugh out loud for both BEYONCE?! meme -type “why would you ever cast him omg he doesn’t fit my headcanon Daemon at all”, and amazing amounts of fandom flashbacks.) Lena Headey was “too square-jawed”, “too mean-looking” (since at the beginning you should never be able to guess she’s evil), “too dark-complected”, “too mannish”, not at all attractive enough. (Tricia Helfer was the most common “but I wanted” for Cersei, btw.) And of course “they don’t remotely look like twins, ugh!” Note, there’s receipts for all of this, none of it is made up. (Unfortunately.) Those two actors are just the ones whose casting wank I recall most clearly, particularly because oh how the turn tables.

Also. You know, there’s a post with Matt Smith and Mark Simonetti’s TWOIAF Daemon going around with shrieks of horror... and I’m finding it maddening in a “am I crazy? am I  the crazy one???” way, because Matt looks like the painting. Their features are not that dissimilar.

Same deepset eyes. Same cheekbones of doom. Same thin lips. Same protruding chin. Same high forehead. Same invsible eyebrows ffs. Matt has a squarer jaw, and a longer more rectangular face, and a wider nose, but considering that Daemon’s features are not described in the text, and this is the only official ASOIAF artwork that shows Daemon’s face straight on, I can for sure see why he was probably shortlisted to begin with. And that’s not even getting into to his role in The Crown, which I’ve heard is very well played with politics and palace intrigue... and if you doubt Smith can play seductive/roguish and/or evil (depending on how you LARP as a Westeros historian), or look good with long hair... well. I do not want to watch the movie, but this trailer is disturbingly enlightening.

And as for Rhaenyra... y’all know this show is starting at the beginning of the story, right? When she’s a teenager? Not a voluptuous MILF? Yeah, Emma D’Arcy doesn’t look like a Magali Villeneueve painting (though who does, good lord), but you know who she does look remarkably like? Harry Lloyd.

Same jawline. Same nose. Same thin lips. Same sharp cheekbones. Notably, same kind of sharp cheekbones and deep-set eyes as Matt Smith. HBO evidently has a concept of a “Targaryen look” that’s a little bit quirkier than supermodel-Greek statue-gods on earth, yeah, fine. But it’s consistent, and they look like family, and that-- that is good casting.

And yeah, in a few months to a year or so, you’ll see them in costume and wigs and makeup, you’ll see them in motion and speaking lines, and go Oh. That’s different. Never mind. And while people will make fanart of the show depictions of the characters and those will probalby get popular, they’ll also keep doing fanart of their pre-show headcanons, and those too will be popular. (God knows when I draw or visualize book!Sandor, Rory does not come to mind, lol.) Either way, there’s no reason to panic. We’ll live.

(Though will we live well? Got to wait on the writing and showrunning for that, alas.)

[number5theboy]

Hello :3 Thank u for working so hard on your gifsets, please take your time producing your quality content 🥺 I don't really have a Tua related ask to send in askskskd but I'm down to read abt Five at all times so there's that. So here goes: Your thoughts on Five and Reginald and the nature of their relationship? Thank you <3

Aaahhhh thank you, you are so sweet!! And I’m actually working on a deeper dive into the relationship between Reginald and Five, especially looking at the bar scene, because it fascinates me, but I keep getting distracted, but it’s coming, I promise.

In the meanwhile, a more general overview. The thing about Five and Reginald is that Five has a fundamentally different relationship to his father from his siblings. His siblings can all safely and squarely point at Reginald as a) being the worst thing that has ever happened to them and b) the one responsible for ruining their individual lives. For Five however a) he has the apocalypse which is just clearly worse than the academy life (I’m not trying to say that the academy life didn’t scar the other siblings for life or comparing trauma, I’m just saying that however bad the academy was, at least they had food and alive human company) and he himself qualifies the Handler as being worse than Reginald (not to speak of the fact that his childhood lies back forty-five years, those are distant, distant memories, distorted by decades of monotonous apocalypse life and some very busy working years), and b) Reginald is demonstrably not responsible for ruining Five’s life - Five is, and he knows it. It’s the ‘I told you so’-theme. I’ve seen people blame Five ending up in the apocalypse squarely on Reginald, and while there is something to be said about upbringing and how Reginald dealt with Five’s more rebellious personality, in that moment, the agency is all with Five, Reginald didn’t really do anything wrong. He told Five that he shouldn’t try to time travel and told him exactly why (impossible to foresee the effects it could have on his body and his mind), and Five disregarded that and did it anyway.

So essentially, Reginald is not the villain figure to Five that he is to all of his brothers and sisters. Five does what none of his siblings do: he underestimates Reginald, underestimates his cruelty and ruthlessness, and does so massively. It is a very nice and deliberate touch of having the sibling that spent the least time with Reginald be the one who turned out most like him, while at the same time having Five be the sibling that managed to move past Reginald the most. I’m not saying he’s unaffected by Reginald - he clearly isn’t - and he definitely suffered the same abuse as a kid, but he is the one for whom it is the least defining. It is both explicitly said in the show (S1E6 “Who cares if dad messed us up? Are we gonna let that define us?”) and metaphorically, in the fact that Five is the only Hargreeves who is not technically a Hargreeves. I know we keep tagging him as ‘Five Hargreeves’ for organisational reasons here, but that’s not actually his name. Five is ‘Number Five’, he is never referred to with Hargreeves as his last name, like his siblings are. He has made a name of his own, quite literally, by taking the number assigned to his existence as an experiment and becoming more than that, a legend in something that is completely apart from what his father intended. Five is very detached from Reginald as an actual being. It has been so long for him, so much has happened in-between, that he approaches him with a certain kind of distance, as a potentially very valuable source of information, having discarded (or maybe the memory has just faded), the things Reginald did to him, to his siblings. He underestimates Reginald, and he underestimates the severity of the effect his abuse had on his comparatively much younger siblings, which is, in the end, why they end up in a 2019 where cold, hard Reginald has rejected even the idea of their existence.

As for Reginald’s view of Five, it’s a bit more difficult to interpret because we just see less of him, and know less about his personality and even less about his true intentions. We see little of their relationship in Season 1, and I think Five did comparatively fine under Reginald from what we see. He is naturally curious and willing to push his powers to test his limits, but also the one most ready to openly talk back to Reginald, which seems to faze Reginald little, indicating that it was a regular occurrence. During the fateful breakfast, Reginald doesn’t even bother looking at Five arguing for his right to time travel, until the moment that Five runs out and openly, directly defies him, and it would be the very first and very last defiance. This tells us very little, which is why I find Reginald’s reaction to the Five we know even though he doesn’t know him in Season 2 so very, very fascinating, incidentally the same thing Reginald finds Five. There is a universe in difference between Reginald not sparing Five a glance at the breakfast table and them having a discussion on even terrain in the tiki bar. I’m not going to delve too deep into the scene because that’s for the post I’m working on, but I think, for the first time in the show, Reginald looks at Five and sees someone to take seriously. I’ve seen people suggest that Reginald was playing Five during that scene, that it was all an act, but I personally think that that interpretation makes that scene so much less interesting from a character perspective. Reginald entertains Five’s ideas, he takes him in earnest, and he seems genuinely sorry that he can’t help out. I don’t believe Reginald walked out of that bar with a bad opinion of Five. For a moment there, we see a glimpse of how Reginald acts with someone he gives at least basic human decency, and maybe even something that approaches respect, to. It doesn’t break Five’s illusion that Reginald isn’t the worst thing in the world, a sense of false security that makes the plot twist at the end of the season probably most shocking to him, because I think he never would have thought of Reginald just replacing them.

There is a very intriguing dynamic between Five and Reginald, one that lives less in extremes than it does for the other siblings. I think the point of this entire ramble is that Five and Reginald don’t dislike each other, and it makes for a very fascinating relationship where everything is open for the future, where this dynamic can develop further in narratively interesting and relevant ways. Five has enough distance from his abusive childhood (which, again, is not me saying that he has no repercussions from that, just that he has suffered different trauma and abuse on top of that and, let’s be real here, never had the opportunity to work through any of it) that he can approach Reginald different than his siblings, who are still very much and more acutely hurting, and this different approach allows him to get through to Reginald on a more personal, honest level than we have seen a sibling do before.