#i actually planned on making gifset of this scene but it just kind of turned into making this Pawin appreciation post

[crispywizardtale]

I'll be a shooting star that makes your wish come true .

Nawa | Dangerous Romance ep 11

[inkedroplets]

20 Questions More

A deeper and more detailed version of the 20 questions for AO3 fanfic writers. Thanks @eqt-95 for the tag

1) How do you keep getting ideas for your ship/fandom?

I always have too many ideas and not enough time to actually write.

2) Which authors inspire you in your fandom, and why are they so freakishly good?

There are way too many authors to list that I feel like would deserve a mention. I would love to give a huge thank you to all the gifmakers still in the fandom-sphere. I can probably thank gifsets for a lot of my ideas (even if I still haven't actually written them down).

3) Aside from the characters of your main ship, who are the characters you love to write?

Within the Supercorp-sphere, I love writing for Sam. I think because I would have loved to see her stick around longer in the show itself.

4) Are there pairings or tropes you know for sure you'd never write about? Which ones?

I don't want to say any trope is technically off the table but I don't think I'd ever write a true enemies to lovers fic. I slow burn enough as it is, if I tried to write that, I'd never finish it.

5) What is your writing process and why is it cursed?

My editing process is akin to pulling weeds. I like to reduce my word count by maybe 10% on the first edit. Add back maybe 5% more and repeat the process until I'm finally happy with it. Spoiler alert: I'm never happy

6) What is your favorite part of your writing process?

I'm much more a gardener when it comes to writing so I never know where the story will go exactly. So just writing the first draft is always the most fun for me. I sometimes think the characters will act a certain way and they kind of take a life of their own and I'm just along for the ride.

7) What’s the weirdest thing you’ve had to research for a fic?

I remember having to research art forgery for essentially a throwaway line but it really was interesting. E

8) Is there a particular writing rule you struggle with (grammar, spelling, tense, reality in general)?

None in particular, but that's not to say I don't make many many mistakes. I do tend to make tiny changes as I go which means that I've doubled up on some sentences in the past and I am always mortified when I find them after I've already posted the chapter.

9) What was your hardest scene to write so far and why?

Scenes with urgency give me trouble. You want the scene to breathe but you need to be aware that time is short so what the characters can say, what they want to say and what they actually get to say are so different. There was a scene like that in A Rich Girl With Issues that I kind of agonized over. How much should I let Kara and Lena speak to one another, what's important, what should be left unsaid?

10) Have your characters ever done something you didn’t expect, changing your plot completely?

All. The. Time. I never have a plan. I sometimes have scenes I want to write and hope the story veers in that direction so I can write it but it always turns out so different.

11) If you could converse with any of the characters, who would it be and why?

Probably Lena because she's the loml (Apologies to the actual loml)

12) What are some of the tropes or themes that you find yourself returning to in your writing?

I am addicted to pining. Not just pining, angsty pining. I love writing something that's so obvious to everyone else when the characters are so in love or so full of self-loathing that they can't let themselves even begin to imagine their feelings being returned.

13) What's your most important resource as a writer?

Reading. I read voraciously. I'm normally surrounded by books. Some that I pick up to just read anywhere. It's helped me find my voice and it's helped me grow as a writer (at least I think it has)

14) Can you share some of your strategies for editing and revising your work?

I do small edits as I go but nothing major. If a line sticks out that I really don't like then I usually tinker with it before I move on. I think that's not good advice in general but it bothers me too much to ignore. But if you do edit as you go, there's a lot less to polish in the final editing stages.

15) Which is worse: making the summary, picking the tags, or the anxiety when you post your fic?

I hate making the summary. I don't even know what the fic is about, how the hell am I supposed to tell other people?

16) How do you define success for your fanfic - hits? Kudos? Comments? Bookmarks? Or just if you like it?

I feel like my writing is very selfish in a way. They are stories that I want to read and I get enjoyment out of writing them. So every kind comment I get, there's always a sense of wonder because it's so strange that someone else is interested. I truly do cherish every comment and there are many I like to revisit when I'm not feeling so confident in my writing.

17) Do you have a playlist for your favorite character/ship?

I usually make a playlist for each multi-chapter fic. Some fic ideas get their start as a playlist. Please someone ask me about them, I have so many.

18) If fan art was going to be made from your work, which fic would you pick and which fan artist would you like to create it?

I have been very blessed that people have made fan art of my work and I'm still in awe. I could never even begin to describe how touched and honored I am that anybody did that. One of the pieces has been my computer background for ages. It's not an exaggeration that I cherish every single piece. I honestly don't think I could ever adequately describe how much it means to me.

19) How many WIPs do you currently have?

For Supercorp I have 15+ I do plan on actually posting them in the new year.

20) What's your advice to new fanfic writers?

I would say to write for yourself first and foremost. Sharing your art or your writing or even your head canons or ideas takes a lot of courage. It's scary to put something out there that means so much to you. I'd also advise not to get too hung up on hits/kudos/comments etc. I can't say don't look at them because I'd be a hypocrite but I would say to focus on the journey rather than the destination.

- - - - -

tagging (respectfully and without pressure) @fazedlight @autisticlenaluthor @rustingcat

[ferociousconscience]

Hi! Hope its ok to ask, and sorry if its already been answered before: Do you have fav Les Mis adaption? Or a few?

Thank you for asking me!! I've not watched all of them, considering how many there are floating around out there and how many are sadly lost, but. I have spent this year hunting down and watching every adaptation I could. A special thanks to @ueinra for a lot of help in that regard. I recently made a Letterboxd account and a List just for Les Mis. I've plans to go through and review them properly, (Currently I only have Shoujo Cosette reviewed!) but I'd be happy to try to coalesce my thoughts on my absolute favorite for you, that being the four-part silent* Les Miserables (1925) under this read-more! Hiyah!

It's... Hard to grasp my feelings on LM1925, considering how special it is to me. These films really made me love the idea of cinema again. I had never seen a silent movie before, and frankly I thought they were one of those things that were a bit out of reach for me, but wow I am so so happy I watched LM1925. Not only is it a fantastic adaptation of LM, it's also just a fantastic set of movies (miniseries??) in general. The casting, the acting, the sets, the locations, the attention to detail, the quality of the visuals (which often are just frankly stunningly beautiful), the pacing, the atmosphere. Everything just works and is faithful to the feeling of reading the novel. (I will say I watched it without the accompany music at first, but have since gone back and listened to it overtop on a rewatch, and wow what a cool oddity it is. The Sims 1 soundtrack but with a surreal and often nightmarish twist.) I adore Gabriel Gabrio as Valjean. He really captures the idea that Valjean can both be noble, kind, and fearsome all in one. And Jean Toulout as scrunkly and lively Javert...!! I truly love him. I think them and Sandra Milovanoff as Fantine (less so as her playing Cosette, too, wish they would have cast another person) give absolutely amazing performances. This is also a great adaptation for the Gorbeau part of the book, ESPECIALLY Suzanne Nivette as Eponine, wow! What an Eponine! Probably my favorite Eponine. Same with Thenardier, both the Eponine and Thenardier in this one are tied with LM1972 for me. I also just like the... what I'll call "Theater Acting" performances I've seen in this and in the other early films I've watched since. The thick makeup. The funny expressions. The dramatic poses. All this would be considered overacting in the modern day, but to me it just feels alive. It reminds me of a lot of animations, I suppose, and that delights me. I also love love love that they didn't attempt to make big changes to the material at hand (Hell, they even touch on Waterloo in a way I thought was cool!). LM1925 and Shoujo Cosette made me realise that the longer a Les Mis adaptation is, typically the better it is to me. (with. One exception off the top of my head...) I think by the time I had watched all the other adaptations of both the novel and the musical, I had grown fatigued over the different ways films would try to condense things into 2 hours, and leave a lot on the cutting room floor (even if that usually means they focus more on the J vs JVJ aspect that I always have a weakness for), or when they try to cram everything into said 2 hours and turns it into a pacing nightmare. LM1925 avoids all that!

I feel I'm rambling on, so I'll rapid fire some stuff off. I love that they filmed in the actual msurm. I love that they kept things really grungy when the film calls for it. I love the scenes of the barricade, especially the scenes with the national guards spilling in. I love the subtle changes to the valvert side of things, it's truly one of the better adaptations for the shippers. I need to get on making some gifsets. If you love Les Mis, or just film in general, I think you owe it to yourself to watch LM1925. It's free! It's on the Internet Archive! There are download buttons or you can stream it! Please do! And tell me your thoughts on it!

[storytime-reviews]

Do Revenge Movie Review

A dethroned queen bee at a posh private high school strikes a secret deal with an unassuming new student to exact revenge on each other's enemies. 

It’s actually somewhat difficult sitting down to write a review about this film, because I loved everything about it and want to just shout it from the rooftops. You could say I am obsessed.

Do Revenge is interesting because it’s a dark teen comedy, yet full of pastel aesthetics. It looks absolutely gorgeous, the costumes are amazing (albeit very wacky and not at all like anything anyone I know would ever wear) and the song choices fit perfectly in each scene. All in all, this film is really just a vibe, and I enjoyed myself from beginning to end. Is it often crazy and over the top? Yes. But Do Revenge works precisely because it simultaneously doesn’t take it itself too seriously, yet is a well crafted and thought through narrative.

This review contains some spoilers

Drea (Camila Mendes) finds herself slipping down the social ladder at school when her boyfriend leaks a private video she made for him. With no one to turn to for support when her friends turn their backs on her, she finds herself becoming friends with the new girl, Eleanor (Maya Hawke). Eleanor is desperate to get revenge on the girl who outed her and labeled her a predator when they were young. The two girls form an unlikely friendship behind the scenes, in an attempt to exact revenge for each other. Of course shenanigans follow, and their plans inevitably go off the rails.

Camila Mendes and Maya Hawke have so much chemistry; whether you see their characters as platonic or romantic soulmates, there is clearly a deep connection between them. I love how over-dramatised so much of this narrative is, yet it’s also grounded in the slowly developing friendship between the two girls. I just absolutely loved watching these two girls protect each other and go absolutely feral in order to exact revenge, there was nothing more entertaining than watching them scheming and putting their plans into action.

I loved all of the sly looks at each other as they continued to pretend they barely knew each other, and the ways in which they would comfort each other. Their dynamic works so well because they are both so messed up, they don’t even care about all of the collateral damage in their attempts to destroy their enemies. Yes, their dynamic is fucked up, and yes so are their actions towards others, and yet you cannot help not only completely sympathise with them, but also feel the need to encourage them to be worse, to do worse. Even when they fuck each other over, you know that they deserve to be together, that this is where the narrative needs to end, and you cannot help but be glad they got the story right.

I honestly did not see that plot twist coming, but it made complete sense. From the beginning, if you look carefully, Eleanor’s true character is foreshadowed. The very day the film came out I already saw multiple gifsets putting it all together. When Drea says, ‘I like you Eleanor, you’re just like me’ she didn’t realise how right she was. Then there’s the fact that Drea says narcissists don’t realise they’re being played, which Eleanor throws back in her face once she realises the truth.

Yet, at the same time, they both acknowledge that they felt their happiest when with each other. Neither of them felt good with their attempts to destroy the other. They really are fucked up soulmates. And that’s what makes their dynamic so enjoyable. They are so similar, so messed up in the same way, that it is a true joy to watch them together. There’s no one-sided toxic angle to this relationship. I kind of love how full circle it is, that Drea betrays and ruins Eleanor when they are young, and therefore influences who she becomes.

You have to commend the writers and directors for putting together a cohesive, enjoyable revenge plot, whilst at the same time creating this really messed up dynamic that works so brilliantly. They both hurt each other so deeply, they hate each other but are also best friends. They ruined each other’s lives, but they only feel happy around each other. They don’t want to hurt each other anymore.

Do Revenge works from beginning to end because it’s a carefully constructed film wherein the plot points and twists make sense, and the characters have so much chemistry. It’s just so much fun to watch them destroy lives together. That’s why it’s such a good film, it’s consistently fun, consistently good, without being too serious. And it’s definitely worth a re-watch.

[sweetteaanddragons]

Rings of Power: Episode Six Review

Many, many spoilers ahead.

Southlands

- Post-volcano visuals were stunning; I want to steal them for Dagor Bragollach gifsets.

- If, you know, I ever make a gifset. 

- I thought the scene in the healing tent was highly moving, but I have to say, this is the third time I thought we’d find out Bronwyn was dead, and it’s not that I want her to die, it’s just that there’s only so many fakeouts I can care about.

- Speaking of: their treatment of Elendil’s grief for Isildur was fantastic. However.

- We all know Isildur isn’t actually dead.

- We are all very sure of this.

- And it’s not that I wanted anyone in particular to die from the volcano, it’s just that I feel strongly that if you are going to have a volcano erupt and you have an ensemble cast, someone central to the plot SHOULD die of it.

- Instead, even the creepy villager guy made it.

- Speaking of that side of things, the synopsis definitely pulled a fast one on me with Adar; I assumed he’d be coming up with a new name for himself, not the Southlands.

- . . . honestly, I think that reveal would have hit harder if they’d waited. The book fans already knew where this was going, but letting it be called Mordor by the narration really nails home that they’re not getting the land back, and I think they should have waited to nail this particular coffin closed. It’s inevitable, sure, but timing is everything.

- Oh, yeah.

- There’s also Celeborn.

- I literally shouted WHAT at my screen.

- Several times.

- Don’t get me wrong, I support him existing in the narrative, I just -

- This was such a bewildering direction to take with him.

- Him going out to fight in the war instead of staying in Doriath. Him being missing, presumed dead, when we all know he’s going to have to turn up again later.

- Why would you make this narrative choice? What is the plan?

- I have so many questions, and I’m not sure I want the answers.

Harfoots

- It’s a little thing, but I like that they say “hair of her foot” instead of “hair of her head.”

- I liked Poppy’s song about snails.

- In general, I like the slow dread of the smaller horrors the Harfoots had to face in this episode.

- I have mixed feelings about Poppy’s decision to go after the Stranger (can we just go ahead and call him Gandalf now? I feel really sure he’s Gandalf now). On the one hand, warning him is a noble goal; on the other hand, the Harfoots really need all hands on deck right now.

- Sadoc continues to be a standout character; I love how he clings to his traditions, but stills tries so desperately to be kind about it, like when he’s sending the Stranger away.

- I also love his final lines in the episode - the grumpy resignation of ‘we might as well do this’ that’s behind “Why not? We’re all going to die anyway,” and how he then throws himself into doing it, and the humor of, “How could we miss him? He’s a GIANT.”

- Very curious about the creepy people following the Stranger.

Dwarves

- I loved just about every scene that Durin was in.

- Love the references to Khuzdul and to dwarves’ secret names, though I don’t quite like the dwarf lords using it in front of Elrond, even quietly.

- So Durin has a brother! Who we haven’t heard from until now. Some kind of rift?

- Durin the elder disinheriting his son over the argument seems extreme.

- Disa’s reaction is . . . interesting. Up until now, she’s been a very positively focused character; her final scene with Durin here was giving me definite Lady Macbeth vibes. Our friend Disa is ambitious.

- I kind of like it.

- Like. It definitely puts a more morally gray vibe out there for her. But I think it could be fun.

- Not sure of the feasibility of that two man mining operation they had going, but I really liked the vibe between the two characters.

- And we have our balrog! Earlier than I was expecting him.

[arcane-ish]

Okay, maybe I’m just a big dumb-dumb, but when I was watching the dinner scene particularly this dialogue about Vander I was like screaming.

Like my thinking was “She knows!!! She has known the entire time!!” With the basic idea being that she knew what she did but she’s been hiding that knowledge inside from him. 

Which says so much about just how smart Jinx is and how much aware and there is a lot more complexity there is rather than just “he took her and she drank the kool-aid and believed everything he said” (I mean there are plenty of other lines that suggest this, that she had her own opinions independent of what he said, but this happens to be another one)

I have always read the “tackling” scene as that Powder was fully aware of the danger he posed and that was kind of a last ditch effort to save her own life, to try to reel him in with pity (of course more in a spontaneous way, not in a “I have this fully figured out calculated plan”) (Though I guess theoretically it is possible that she didn’t know at that point who he was? because they hadn’t really met and when she was outside preparing her bomb maybe he just wasn’t really in view)

So, basiaclly that scene got me super excited. 

But then I got to thinking ... did Powder actually see Vander get stabbed? 

In the sequence, the explosion happens, Powder gets blown from the building 

After that Vander has a brief fight against the Shimmer dude (during this Vi is screaming) and gets stabbed by Silco.

Then Vander chocking Silco but collapses to his wounds, Silco throws him off the mini bridge. Vander hears Silco saying to his goon to find the girl (I presume he means Vi because he heard he screaming? I don’t think it makes sense in the sequence of events that Silco was aware that the monkey bomb meant Powder was present) Also Shimmer goon immediately goes into the room where Vi is. Vander takes Shimmer to get up again. Vander attacks and presumably kills Shimmer dude. He is then turn between going after Silco or rescuing Vi. 

He grabs Vi and jumps off the building. Vander delievers his dying words to Vi, Vi grieves over Vander. (sidenote: somebody should do a gifset of all the “dying words” from characters, Vander to Vi, Marcus to Cait, Silco to Jinx and any others I might have forgotten) 

At this point Powder shows up and seems to have missed what exactly went down (in theory it is possible that she was faking it). 

I think the cinematography suggests that Powder sees the consequences of her actions only here? [ETA: and the Script to Scene video suggests that she only realizes what happened at least in regards to her “family” members here]

In the tv sequence this about 5 and a half minutes if you go from her being thrown to her showing up (you can maybe subtract some of that for slowmo/dream sequences). 

Even if Powder came back earlier than when we see her again, Silco stabbing Vander in the back was fairly early in the sequence of events, about 2 and a half minutes in. 

Anyway, made me wonder, if maybe it wasn’t “Powder came back, saw a lot more than she let on and was just pretending she missed the chaos” what is the alternative?  (it is noteworthy that the bridge is visible from the outside because Powder sees Vi on the bridge as Vi faces down Silco’s goons earlier)

And then it dawned to me, what if it is simpler... what it Silco just flat out told her about “that time when I stabbed Vander in the back”? Because thinking about it, that seems like the kind of thing Silco would do. 

Like I wouldn’t put it past him that he would just take Jinx to the scene of the crime and go “And this is where I finally rid myself of Vander and got over my trauma!”, complete with reinactment! (just like he is sort of reinacting his trauma when he takes her to the river) 

It’s interesting if he would similarly have talked openly about how he originally planned to stab her. And I definitely wouldn’t put it past Sevika to drop a “man, I wish he had stabbed you that night like he was originally going to” type line. 

Similarly, i don’t think that it’s that strange that Powder noticed even back then. Silco approaches her, knife in hand, blade still bloody from Vander’s blood. 

I love the detail that when he kneels down to talk to her, he hides the blade behind his back. 

When she tackles him the knife very audibly clatters to the ground next to him. 

Anyway, thoughts? Did Powder come back earlier and flat out see Silco stab Vander? Or did she find out about it from Sevika or just whispers in the street? Or did Silco just flat out tell her? 

TLDR: How did Jinx know that Silco stabbed Vander in the back? Did Silco openly tell her that or did she find out some other way? Was Silco aware she had that knowledge or did she conceal that from him? 

[logicheartsoul]

I’m back again with my ‘make a meta post at random o’clock’ thing again but tbf these aren’t posts I actually plan to make but just happen lol

Anyways, I was checking my dash earlier and a gifset with the familiar “Bucky swooping in to ‘save’ the day by tightening the valve” scene on the boat showed up and as I was looking at it my brain was like “we all know where Bucky’s right hand is during this, so where’s this left”?

This led me to rewatching the scene again because that kind of thing is gonna bug me and stay in my head until I do lmao

(Click for bigger sizes coz I didn’t resize my 4K screenshots, I just kinda cropped the other stuff)

And why was I thinking that? Well when he touches his waist (twice) I was like “is it by his side? Is he touching Sam’s back? What is going on??”

When he steps back it’s just been by his side, ok but then I just had to see through the entire rewatch of the scene anyway and so

Ok, still near his side, though I think it’s bent at the elbow (based on other shots from this angle)

In these next two shots his arm is literally almost against Sam’s sleeve, certainly probably at least touching (but we also get him literally putting his hand on top of Sam’s to get the wrench so I mean... just watch the thumb action)

I mean, personal space, what is this? 

But we can really only tell they were pressed against each other is how you can see the actual physical space made when Sam actually pulls away

So in conclusion, most likely Bucky’s arm is pressed against his side with his hand pressed against his thigh so no inappropriate small of the back or butt touching BUT instead we get 0 personal space, pressing of arms and hand touching -- all this in the span of a few seconds but damn that’s a lot in such short time

And I’m sure there are other ways they could’ve had this moment to go but it went this way?? Like as long as Bucky got the wrench AND turned it with his right hand the metal hand joke comment Sam gives him later still could’ve worked but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Why they decided to go this route we’ll never know (unless someone asks but I don’t think we’ll get an answer any time soon or ever lmao)

[4alarmfirecracker]

So... The Nevers. What's it all about? I've seen your gifsets and my interest is piqued. I 100% trust your taste in shows as you got me into Astrid and Raphaelle last year and am a keen follower of your wlw journeys haha

OMG where do I startttt. First, thank you for trusting me with your choice of shows to watch (and ships ^^). ♥ I always seem to choose the small fandom ships though :D

I call them Truedair but the fandom doesn’t seem to have come to a choice ... On twitter you have TruePenance you also have Trudair and that’s mostly the main ship names. I love “Truth and Dair” and ThunderCloud (when you see the scene in ep 3 you’ll know ^^)

No Ann it’s not Adue and no Laura it’s not Pamalia :D

Everything under the cut ♥

---------- General ----------

Ok so now ... a general comment about what the show is. Took it from wiki tbh ^^

The series is set in Victorian London and follows a group of people, mostly women, known as the Touched, who suddenly manifest abnormal abilities. Among them are Amalia True, a mysterious and quick-fisted widow, and her best friend Penance Adair, a brilliant inventor.

The Nevers is described as "an epic science fiction drama about a gang of Victorian[s] who find themselves with unusual abilities, relentless enemies, and a mission that might change the world."

At first I'm not the kind of person who loves Victorian London settings BUT this show honestly made me like love it ^^ (sorry youtube for all the Victorian dresses making videos I watched lately and NO I do not plan on creating one it's just ... hyperfixation) I love fantasy, I love sci-fi... so that's why I might like this show. The sci-fi part is the powers but also the big TWIST. (Nope won't tell you about it and yep I was sadly spoiled about it ... I know I shouldn't have went through the tag :D) Oh and also ... SteamPunk energy. I swear, at the start of ep 6 you will be ... Is it the right show I’m watching ? :D

It’s HBO so ... yeah sex and nudity sometimes are a thing. Sometimes it’s kinda dark but it also has humor and amazing lines/quotes. 

There’s some White Old Man™ talks especially in the first two eps where they discuss in their closed clubs about the fate of the Touched ... You know :D Boring talks where you wanna rip their throats when they’re talking about woman/Touched but it’s kinda necessary to get the feel of the situation they’re in.

It’s created by Josh Whedon but after what happened in other shows he decided to leave the show after ep 4 and Philippa Goslett took back the showrunner chair. Then you have  Jane Espenson as a writer ... Buffy, OUAT, Jessica Jones, ...

---------- Soooo the characters ----------

You have Amalia True, the number one main char who has the ability to see glimpses of the future. She doesn’t control it, she doesn’t know when her glimpses will manifest themselves and she doesn’t know when she sees an event that will happen, when it will actually take place. "The most irresponsible, spontaneous, and psychologically broken hero of 19th-century London, and a danger to the British elite. She is dedicated to her cause and never turns down a drink."

So yeah, you've guessed it, she's the perfect anti-hero, absolutely badass (in a corset and dress nonetheless), dark soul/past character. Who ... weirdly (we all know it and love it in our ships) is all soft and loving when one Penance Adair is concerned. Shocker, right? :D I swear the hearteyes I’ve seen x_x She’s also very protective of Penance. She’s got PTSD and doesn’t like large crowds.

She runs the Orphanage where a great number of Touched are gathered and live as a community. She protects them, she helps some others to get to safety and so on.

She’s played by miss Laura Donnelly who’s perfect for the role and amazing at doing different sorts of accents because, you might have recognized her from Outlander (Jamie’s sister), she doesn’t talk the same way AT ALL in both series. Also I’m in love with her voice in the Nevers I don’t make the rules. She’s 40 but honestly looks way younger. MILF am I right? Also Amalia fighting scenes are amazing and Laura has done the majority of it by herself !

You might have guessed ... I immediately thought of Jessica Jones when I saw her face ^^ But that’s kinda irrelevant here. She’s beautiful and messy and my kinda gal.

Then you Have Miss Penance Adair “Amalia's best friend, and a Touched with the power of 'seeing' electrical energy patterns and a skill for inventing. She is both religious and heretically progressive.”

She’s an amazing inventor, creating all sorts of gadgets for Amalia to fight with :D Our own 007 ... She’s her BeSt FriEnD ... When you know, you know. (Xena flashback ^^) She’s her wife right hand man and goes in the field to help Amalia. They also have this cute dynamic where Penance name an invention and Amalia calls it another way (the right way) and they bicker about it lovingly.

She’s THE sunshine character. Amalia is the Sunshine protector of course. But we all know who’s the top in the relationship and it ain’t Mrs. True. All her interactions with Amalia are WIVES™. She’s the cutie, she’s the hope and compass of Amalia. She loves to touch Amalia too ♥ Amalia is her idiotic suicidal wife and Penance has to deal with that but she doesn’t love her less. Like Laura said, Amalia loves Penance more than she loves herself. We all know it’s because she doesn’t think highly of herself but also because who doesn’t love Penance.

She’s played by Ann Skelly and has an amazing, lovely, Irish accent (Laura is Irish too but not in the show). And OMG I just checked and she’s only 25 ? She’s 6 months younger than me and I’m kinda shocked because I thought she was at least 28 :D Listen to her saying ‘fabric of the world’ at the end of ep 1 and not fall in love with her I dare you. You’ll fall in love with Penance way before the end of ep 1 tbh.

---------- Queer rep ??? ----------

They are not canon, I prefer saying it before anyone thinks that they are. (Like Astraëlle)

I honestly thought they would become canon until Laura Donnelly called them sisters in a IG live ... (Honestly the showrunner might make them canon who knows) but like Astraëlle even if they don't become canon I don't even care. Their interactions are magnificent and their relationship is everything that’s good in this world. Like I said, they have the WIFE™ energy, they’ve know each other when the show starts for about 3 years. “You’re supposed to be inseparable.” is an actually quote from ‘the bad guy girl’ (Maladie) or as I could say the misunderstood woman who’s kinda crazy too though don’t get me wrong ^^ But everybody is his own hero in his story. Maladie = Disease in French.

They both have what seems like male love interests too. One for Amalia who honestly I’m not a fan of. He’s cheating on her wife with Amalia so ... let’s not ship them. And then you have an adorable being as Penance’s LI aka Bird guy ^^ aka Augie. He’s a cutie like Penance and honestly if they go that way I won’t be mad.

Now ... the CANON queer rep ... I give them from the top of my head so if I forgot some sorry and please add them in the comments !

Amalia : She’s bi or pan ... given by an info in ep 6. Won’t spoil.

Hugo : pan man, of course we ship him with Augustus (Augie). Give them to me. They aren’t canon.

Won’t spoil it but there’s a repressed (kinda homophobic it feels like or at least not well in his shoes) gay man in the show too who’s as much as a main as Hugo and Augie. I personally am not a fan of him.

Nimble Jack is they/them (probs ?) not sure about it but the person playing them said this : “androgynous trans character” they’re not a big part of the show though so only a supporting char.

You have Bonfire Annie who looks kinda close to Maladie at some point so yeah probs not canon but she seems to be pan too. supporting char too

------------

It has for now 6 eps because it stopped in the middle because of covid but s1 will have 12 eps overall ... 6 more eps will prob come in april or summer 2022.

If you can’t tell, yes I’ve become obsessed with this show and this ship. I love them with all my heart ... They’re blonde x brunette, sunshine x sunshine protector, they’re wives your honor.

OH AND I ALMOST FORGOT ... You’ll see miss Claudia Black in ep 6 and let me tell you I so ship her with an other character ^^

[canary3d-obsessed]

Restless Rewatch: The Untamed Episode 06 part two

(Masterpost)

Warning: Spoilers for All 50 Episodes!

Bathing Boy Beauties

So, now we and Wei Wuxian get to see Lan Wangji with his shirt off. Eventually Lan Wangji will realize that his brother set this up, and will think of some way to get back at him, possibly by spending three years being stubborn in a cave or maybe by chopping an arm off of someone his brother cares about. 

This is A+ Yibo fanservice but it's also a male-male version of a trope that's ubiquitous in c-drama, in which the male lead takes a bath and the female lead sees him. The purpose of the scene is almost always so a woman can look a man’s body over and decide, not to put too fine a point on it, whether she wants to fuck him. 

Examples:

The Pillow Book - “Which part of Shen Ye is better than me?”

Women’s sexual agency is not often at the forefront in c-dramas, but the bathtub scenes are an acknowledgement of the female gaze, and of male objects of desire being subject to evaluation & approval.

Tientsin Mystic is a show with a lot of muscley swimming in it, In case you’re looking for your next Netflix show. 

As a CGI artist I have to mention that water does not reflect or refract 100% of light. If you look at a naked dingle-having person in a bathtub full of clear water you will definitely be able to see their dingle. But C-drama water is magic and nothing is visible below the waterline, to the point that Bai Yu is modestly covering his thoracic surgery scar chest in Detective L while leaving his lower half uncovered.

Note: that caption isn’t fake; she is really saying this on her way out the door, after having a long chat with him in the bathroom. You can find the whole series on YouTube.

Seen in this context, The Untamed’s two bathing scenes are saying quite a lot. Wei Wuxian, being a boy, doesn’t display any female-encoded shyness or modesty, but he and his sword pause for a moment of admiration.

(more after the cut!)

16 years later, Lan Wangji will sit quietly in this pool and let Wei Wuxian examine his wet body thoroughly from multiple angles, in a more prolonged invocation of this C-drama mating ritual.

Carrying on - was Xiao Zhan supposed to kick his boot in the water like that? Because if not, he rolls with it like a champ.

Wei Wuxian starts trying to be direct with Lan Wangji, giving him the worst, most neg-filled compliment ever, bless his heart.  

Then he says that there are benefits to being his friend, and starts taking off his clothes.

Wei Wuxian here takes his first step into the bold new world of respecting Lan Wangji’s boundaries, asking Lan Wangji to stay and saying he will keep his clothes on. 

Lan Wangji actually does stay, so he's apparently not too angry with Wei Wuxian about the drinking. Wei Wuxian invites him to visit Lotus Pier sometime (see my gifset here), but the promise of lotus pods doesn’t impress him. Then Wei Wuxian tries to tell him that the Yunmeng chicks really knock me out, they leave the rest behind. This also doesn’t impress him. 

You could read this macking-on-ladies talk as a sign that Wei Wuxian is oblivious to LWJ's feelings for him. But I read it as a bisexual boy being horny on main with a boy he likes, not  understanding yet that some boys don’t share all of his turn-ons.

Lan Wangji is sort of mildly startled when Wei Wuxian disappears under the water. His eye makeup is good here, isn’t it?.

Ice Cave

They end up in an ice cave and both spend the rest of the episode showing how good they look with wet hair. 

When the guqin starts attacking, Lan Wangji is only mildly perturbed about Wei Wuxian getting his shit rocked over and over.

Eventually he sends Bichen to protect his very bedraggled date. Lan Wangji’s sword is faster than the speed of a very slow sound wave.

Beauty's where you find it not just where you bump and grind it 

Gusuship Down

I feel like there are a couple of things in this show that are so problematic the fandom has silently agreed to never discuss them. Well, I’m here to talk about this one:

There are rabbits in this ice cave and they are wearing headbands. HEADbands. On RABBits.  

EXCELLENT FUCKING QUESTION, LAN WANGJI

*deep breath*

Are these rabbits lineal Lan descendants? Who makes the headbands? How do they stay on because “headband” here means “glowing cloud on forehead” without any actual band.  When rabbit babies are born, how do they stay safe while they’re waiting for someone to make them baby-sized headbands? Do these rabbits adhere to the other 3499 Lan Clan principles or just the headband one? Is any ol' rabbit allowed to touch a rabbit’s headband or is it limited to parents and significant others and is that even relevant when presumably these bunnies are all fucking each other like...bunnies?

The characters are like “oh, the rabbits are wearing headbands; killer guqin problem solved.” And then they move right the fuck along with their lives and the rabbit headbands are never seen or discussed again and I just want a hit of whatever the author or creative team was smoking when they came up with this whole idea.

Headband Sharing

When Wei Wuxian tells Lan Wangji to hand over his headband, Lan Wangji understands his entire rabbit-based thought process without asking

Gen-X Joke Alert

Wei Wuxian is awfully impressed by this sword-recall trick, considering that he did it himself when they went to the lake.

I see you know your way around a sheath

Killer Guqin

When they approach the guqin I hope that the subtitles are mistranslated, because Wei Wuxian keeps promising not to touch it and then says he can't look at it without touching it. I'm not going to touch it, I just need to touch it. 

Lan Wangji is going to teach Wei Wuxian some goddamn boundaries no matter how many times he has to make him fondle his sword.

Nothing suggestive here

Lan Wangji sits down to play the guqin and immediately goes off into the ether where there are seagull noises and plenty of fans. This is either a state of pure bliss, or he just really likes seagulls.

Did Lan Wangji just have a stealth orgasm?

Speaking of getting off, get your ass off of my desk

The Yin Iron

Lan Wangji does some spirit whispering, and suddenly the cave starts yelling at them. A bunch of clans are chanting in unison about a plan, which is the cultivator version of a battle cry.

Lancestor Lan Yi shows up. She is elegant and has a combination of sweetness and gravity that is similar to Lan Xichen’s. And none of Lan Qiren’s douchiness.

Search Party

Lan Qiren is worried and Lan Xichen is worried and they have sent people to look for the boys. It's really too bad nobody around here knows magic.

All these powerful cultivators search for missing people by running around outdoors yelling for them. 

Yanli is excused from PE class because she’s not feeling well, so she sits on a rock in the woods instead of, you know, staying home in the first place. She gets bored sitting down and unwisely decides to walk two or three steps. Xuan Lu, seen here competing in a gymnastics event, gamely pretends she can’t climb a small rock. 

Yanli falls into Jin Zixuan's arms and they gaze at each other for a long heterosexual moment. 

No homosexual explanation possible

This means two things: 1. he isn't looking very hard for her brother if he's hanging out here catching wobbly girls 2. soulful longing looks from him ain't shit, because he's going to dump her in the next episode.

Lanny Granny

Lan Wangji intros himself to Lan Yi and does a full prostrate bow. Wei Wuxian does a standing bow since he's not a descendant, just a future in-law.

No I mean come on, HEADBANDS

Lan Gran explains the entire history of the yin iron. It's bad, it's full of resentful energy, no-one should use it. She’s going to dump it on a couple of 16 year old boys, one of whom has a woody for using resentful energy, because it’s destiny and her battery is about to run out. 

Props to the Prop Department; this thing does look pretty cool

Xue Chonghai was the most problematic cultivator back in the old days. He killed a lot of dudes and fed their resentment to...a turtle? To the disk? I don’t know; I literally am unable to pay attention when anyone is explaining the intricacies of the unobtanium Yin Iron. 

Anyway there’s a disk and it’s soaked up a lot of resentment.  

Using it makes people evil. Well except..clearly this dude started off evil, yeah? If he was feeding people to his turtle.

Side effects may include: being fucking crazy

Here Wei Wuxian brings out his "resentful energy is awesome" theory and has an experienced grown-up grand master tell him that she also thought this, and has spent 100 years locked in a cave with headband-wearing rabbits because she was super fucking wrong. Does this deter him? ...nope

Baoshan Sanren

Now she name checks Baoshan Sanren, and Wei Wuxian has a big reaction and Lan Wangji has a big noticing of Wei Wuxian’s reaction. He’s very attuned to Wei Wuxian’s emotional state, in the moments where WWX lets his actual feelings show through the sass and swagger.  

Lan Gran talks about her search for the Yin iron, and Lan Wangji wisely says, if you can't neutralize it, why look for it? And she says, I was filled with hubris just like ya boi Wei Wuxian.  Lan Wangji points out the exact same shit he will later point out to Wei Wuxian.

So now we have a parallel in which Lan Yi is just like Wei Wuxian and Baoshan Sanren is just like Lan Wangji, yeah? Which is kind of sweet; it shows how these types are drawn together and how your clan doesn't determine your personality. Also it shows how the Lan clan has room for an unorthodox clan leader. Also it shows how the Yin Iron causes some really bad breakups. 

These boys are standing on snow barefoot which has got to take a pretty high cultivation level. Look how short Lan Wangji is without his stilettos, aww.

Flashback to Baoshan Sanren, just long enough to appreciate how beautiful she is.

Did OP give up on recoloring that flashback-blue-hazed image and just start fucking around with random filters? Yes she did. 

We also get to see that Lan Yi and Lan Wangji have more common than just guqin, because they both like to solve problems by kicking them.  

So after breaking up with her girlfriend, Lan Gran became invisible in this cave for 100 years while trying to contain the Yin iron and put headbands on rabbits. 

Soundtrack: Vogue by Madonna Writing prompt: Watership Down rabbits meet Lan rabbits

Bonus extended bath clip:

Bai Yu, Detective L

[kbsd]

not sure if you’ve answered this before, but what’s your process look like when you make an amv? i’m just curious and in constant awe of ppl who can make videos like you do :)

hello all!!! i have answered this before and i have a vid help tag with other asks i’ve gotten about stuff like this! but i’ve gotten several more messages along these lines so i’m just going to answer a bunch of them together (under a cut since i love to ramble about editing lol). i do just wanna say i’m definitely not the authority on video editing and obv everyone has their own techniques!

edit: i just finished typing all this up and it’s SO long so sorry in advance LMAO god bless anyone who reads this entire thing

so i work in news tv and we have a very specific workflow for writing scripts, sourcing video, producing, and editing. i’ve just applied that to making amvs! for every video i make, i copy the song lyrics into a google doc and adjust them to match the song i’ve cut (i often will trim songs for time and/or content purposes). then i start planning! i’ll mark down what clip i want to use for each lyric next to that line, and any sound bites i want to use (with episode numbers!). i’ll color code between video and sound bites and lyrics, so my scripts end up looking something like this (for my honeybee amv):

doing the planning ahead of time makes everything much easier when it’s a video that spans the whole show or involves a lot of sourcing, like honeybee or sports analogies. that way when i get to the actual editing process, i already know what i’m going to do and have a game plan. for videos like happy ending or believe it or not, where i’m mainly just pulling from a few episodes, i can just plan it in my head as opposed to writing it all down, and produce as i edit. obviously i do make in-the-moment decisions while editing—sometimes a shot doesn’t work the way i thought it would, or i go where the video takes me—but planning ahead definitely helps. i know some people use spreadsheets as well, with columns for lyrics, video clips, and sound bites if applicable. once you find a system that works, it actually goes pretty quickly.

as for sourcing clips themselves/finding clips within episodes, i talked about that here and kind of here. the short version is that transcripts are a must, and the supernatural wiki is hugely helpful by cataloguing all the hugs, prayers, phone calls, etc. in the show. gifmakers that tag episode numbers on their posts are your friends. it gets easier the more video you make—that’s another huge reason i make the google docs for each video (even the ones i plan in my head, i end up going back and making a loose script with episode notes just for reference). if i can’t remember where something is but i know i used it in another video, i can easily reference past scripts!

i also cut all my videos in the same project in premiere pro, so i can flip between them easily. instead of checking a past script, i can just go to the video sequence itself and copy the clip i’m looking for! this was especially helpful when i match cut together the 5x18 and 4x22 wall slam shots for my bestie video, and then stole it from myself for honeybee hahaha. at any given time i have at least 8 sequences open:

because of the sheer volume of videos i make, it’s worth it for me to download the entire show—i have all 327 episodes in HD, plus deleted scenes. if you think you’re only going to make a few videos, i’d start with scene packs. you can usually just google “destiel [or whatever ship/character you’re looking for] scene packs” and there will be any number of ones you can download. if you need other specific scenes, you can always download/torrent individual episodes or screen record netflix (that’s what i did before i got HD download links). i’m happy to share my links if you DM, but be warned it’s a lot of disk space (about 500GB on my hard drive). someone also compiled every destiel scene, downloadable here.

having every episode already loaded in premiere for all my projects also makes it a lot easier to source clips. once i use a clip in a video, i’ll put a marker on the episode file, so that after a while i have most of the important scenes/lines marked to easily find them. to give you an idea, this is my episode file in premiere for 12x10 lily sunder has some regrets (markers at destiel scenes, the car fight, hot girl cas, etc.). markers are the green tabs along the bottom:

premiere also lets you color code and name markers, so ONE DAY i will go back and color code them all. the ones above are all the same color, but in a perfect world, i’d have a myraid—for destiel shots like hugs, touches, looks; for important pieces of dialogue; for action shots; etc. but for now this works ok for me, so that’s a project for another time!

between detailed scripts, one giant premiere project, markers, the wiki, and my own memory, i have so many points of reference that i can usually find any clip i need in about 2 minutes max. sound bites are often harder to start out, or tiny specific shots i haven’t used before, and that’s when i turn to tumblr gifsets or beloved mutuals to crowdsource. but if you’re as obsessive about marking/keeping neat scripts as i am, it gets easier and easier with every video you make. that’s part of why i’m able to cut videos together so quickly. (also i want to stress i do this for a living and have to produce/edit a new piece for my show every day so i’m used to it. and compared to constantly updating content/sources and news that changes every day, 327 highly documented episodes that never change are much easier to handle hahaha)

this is all great for me since i make so many videos and plan to continue doing so, but if you’re only making a few, this level of work isn’t worth it imo. really it’s all about developing a system that works for you. whatever you do with episodes/sourcing, though, i cannot recommend planning things out in a script ahead of time enough. 

everything i just mentioned is producing, though. for the editing process, i usually do it in this order:

music first. any parts i want to cut, i make sure it all sounds smooth

then soundbites. i usually try to weave them into the lyrics—i have characters talk in breaks between lines or instrumental sections as much as possible. i’ll sometimes go so far as looped/extending an intsrumental part to make room for the soundbite i want there lol. if i do have dialogue over a line, i do the sound mixing/levels at this point as well to make sure everything is audible/one doesn’t overpower the other. (also i always include the video that goes with these bites when i drop them in, and decide later if i want to show the character speaking or have other clips cover the dialogue)

once i have all the audio locked in, then i bring in all my other video clips. sometimes i edit completely chronologically, sometimes jumping from section to section—it depends on the song or how i’m feeling

double check sound mixing. i usually listen to my videos through a few times, with headphones and without to make sure it’ll sound good no matter how people watch it

once i have picture and audio lock, i go through and color correct my clips. i’m basic and just use lumetri color in premiere, and usually just play with brightness, saturation, temperature, and tint until i like it

render and export! :)

i always have several audio tracks, but i try to keep my video tracks condensed. i’ll drop clips on a V2 level, and edit a section there, and drop the whole chunk down to V1 so i know it’s finished. that way when i leave and come back i can know where i left off/what’s done/etc. to give you an idea, this is the timeline for my what the hell video:

i always render as H.264 with high bitrate, and make sure to check “render at maximum depth” and “use maximum render quality” for the best quality. i’m sorry, but i don’t know what the equivalent options are in final cut, imovie, kdenlive, etc. i post on youtube mostly so i don’t have to sacrifice quality, but usually just using a lower bitrate will get you under the tumblr file size limit and it’ll still look good.

as for the anon who asked about “polishing”: first of all, thank you!! second of all, it’s in the details. all of this is a matter of taste and my own insanity, but here are some little things i always try to do:

after i color correct, i blur out any credits from the starts of episodes. i use gaussian blur for this, but really any blur tool works

as much as possible, i avoid clips where we see a character’s mouth move but don’t hear the words. in tv/film we call it “lip flap” and i just think it looks messy. also i’m trained to avoid it at all costs at work hahaha. it’s more for serious videos that this matters a lot to me (e.g. i think i did a really good job eliminating lip flap in my happy ending amv)—for comedy videos i don’t sweat it as much

i put audio fades on the start and end of every single audio clip i use, even if i don’t think i need it, to make sure everything sounds smooth

i use markers for timing, especially in action-y videos like what the hell. i’ll put a marker on the clip i’m using at the exact moment a punch lands, and in the song on the beat. if i have the magnet/snap in timeline tool on i can just easily snap them together instead of having to spend time finagling it

this is such a small thing but i dip/cut to black for a tiny bit at the start and end of every video. this way if i post with tumblr video player, there’s black between the loops, and it gives you a beat before the video restarts. i do this even on videos i post on youtube, just because i think it looks nicer/more professional

this is 1,500 words so i’m going to stop myself before i pull something. if you have follow-up questions feel free to ask and i’ll continue to add them to the vid help tag, but any more questions about sourcing clips or my process in general i’ll just link this post going forward. anyone who made it this far, i am sending to a telepathic kiss. thank you for reading and happy editing!

[inessencedevided]

(You can find the set that this gif belongs to here 💙)

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 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

I was tagged by @aheartfullofjolllly. thank you so much Pat! it was really fun to reflect about my own process 💗 You can find her post here and @lan-xichens' post that started it all here :)

Also thank you @huigusu 🥰 (who tagged me for my nie brothers set) I'll get to that one in a few days!

Now Pat gave me two sets to chose from to show my process, so obviously I chose the more complicated one :P

I only work in Photoshop CC 2018. I know that there are programs out there for easier cutting and sharpening but I have only just figured out how to do that in PS and I am too lazy to figure out any other programs right now xD

1. Idea and Planning

This set, like most of my sets with lyrics started with me reading the poem, clutching my heart and going "oh shit this fits my favourite characters!!". The idea actually started with me thinking that the first stanza of the poem would go really well with wwx during the burial mounds arc. Then I realized that the last stanza fits lwj better than him and from there came the idea to contrast the both of them next to each other. This is when I realized I wanted to do a dark-light contrast set, though I did not know that I would go with red and blue at that time. My idea in the beginning was just to do a black and white set

I was really impressed by how Pat said that she plans her sets around exact timestamps. Because I don't do that at all ^^ I just get ideas for which scenes would fit (in this case the wwx burial mounds scenes and lwj's kneeling and punishments scene) and then I watch the scenes to narrow them down.

Back when I made this set, I still used a screenrecorder (AceThinker Screen Grabber Pro to be precise. They have a test version that allows you to record up to 3 minutes) and recorded the scenes I needed from Netflix. This worked well enough but now I have the entire show saved on an external drive and it makes a world of difference when it comes to gif sharpness

Now, in this case I had to repeat this step once because when I was almost finished, I realized that I wanted a gif for the lwj corner but let's pretend I didn't do that and that's the way this gif was always going to look because otherwise this post will be way too long ^^

2. Creation

Short disclaimer: The creation process for this gifset was anything but linear. Multiple effects I used here were things I had never tried before. I just had a vague idea and tried to realize it through trial and error. So whenever I say "then I did xyz", it is implied that I ultimately went back to that step several times and changed stuff ^^

I started with the Wei Wuxian part of the gif. I usually use a frame rate of 0,06 (with some variation depending on gif length and size). I work in timeline so I converted all the layers to a smart layer. Then I resized the gif into a square, leaving big chunks of the gif empty (as can be seen below.) I flipped the gif horizontally, so he is looking inwards. This was simple because I felt it fitted the composition better. Then I imported the Lan Wangji part of the gif, again with a frame rate of 0,06. (Image 2)

After that I created a layer for masking in a separate PS document by rotating a square until it was point down (is that a rhombus?). I sized it to match my gif (540x540 pxl) and copied it over. (Image 3) a bit of masking magic and ta da! There's the basic layout (Image 4)

I put a layer of solid black behind wwx to get rid of the transparent bits (Image 5) and then started adding more white and black to both sides by adding solid whit and black layers that i put masks on and changed the opacity as i needed (Image 6)

("reading" direction: from the upper left to the lower right corner)

Then I fiddled with the colours a bit. The first thing I always do is using the curves layer to get more contrast. Then I use the colour balance tool and the selective colouring tool to get rid of that cql-typical cyan tint after that it's just trying to have it look "natural" while the colours still fit the overall scheme. This was difficult here because wei Wuxian’s side of the gif was very dark and when i turned up the saturation to see which colour dominated it was a very weird mixture of multiple colours. That's when i decided that I'd just go with red on his side, since lwj's side was already so blue and those to look great as contrasts.

After that just came a lot of fiddling with selective colour layers and brightness and contrast unti I has happy. There really wasn't much to it ^^. (Image 1)

After that I added the text. I knew I wanted the two lines to for a square of some kind. So I tried different fonds until I arrived at the one below. The two lines are in seperate layers so I could move them around and change the spacing between the letters until I was happy with the layout. I also changed the layer mode for the text to "difference" (is that what it's called in english? my PS is set to german sorry ^^), keeping their colour white. (Image 2)

I originally hadn't planned adding anything else but I felt like the gifs (plural because I switched between the gifs of this set) was still kind of empty and lacking, so I added the tear down the middle (a tutorial for that is either coming up later or already posted. I recently got an ask for this :)) (Image 3)

It still felt empty after that, so I tried different overlays. Okay no, first I wasted a lot of time on different free image sides but then I tried out different ones until I chose the one you can see in the finished gif. I liked that one because a) I felt the round shape was a nice contrast to all the straight lines already there and b) because once I applied a black and white filter to it and switched the layer setting to "difference" (again, i hope this is the correct translation) it looked a bit like a moon. (Gif at the top)

("reading" direction: from left to right)

And that's it! :)

Although in general, these gifs took so much fiddling! I went back and forth between them a lot and sometimes almost redid the entire thing because I had no idea what I was doing in the beginning and by the time I noticed an error, the only way to fix it was ti redo everything. So yeah, this set definitely is the the one that took me the longest out of all the ones I've posted so far.

3. Posting

I save all my gifs to my drafts first to see what they look like put together and to check if they look any different on mobile. Usually i do this several times and change stuff until I'm happd enough with it to hit post. Once i am happy enough, i can't hold back. Doesn't matter if it's at a time when nobody is online, i hit post 😅

And that's it!

Tagging:

@lanwuxiann for this gifset (I adore it so much. I've looked at it and read it severat times since you posted it and the poem just kills me every time!)

@suibianjie for this gifset (The combination of static images and gifs in your gifs is always absolutely perfect! This one is only my favourite of yours because the light coming from behind wwx is just so pretty!!! ^^)

@sweetlittlevampire for this piece (It was soooo hard to pick a piece of yours because I have so many favourites! But this one is just so out if this world, I want to know how you worked that magic :D)

@wei-gege for this set (sparkling shijie! 😭 that set is so incredibly beautiful! I love how you matched the colour of the overlay with her dress!)

@purplexedhuman for this set (your gifs are always incredible! I chise this one because it showcases both your colouring skills and some really intricate effects)

If any of you have already been tagged or don't have the time or energy for this, obviously no pressure to do this at all! 🥰

(btw, I originally tried to place the actual text of this under a "read more" cut but somehow it always messed with the order of the images, so this ended up as a rather long post. sorry!)

[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.)

[hickeys-dickey]

Pls share your thoughts about the gays in THAT scene… I would love to read them!

Ahh you are too kind, I am but a little swiss cheese brain but I'll try my best to sum up my thoughts, I have too many! I wanted a chance to grab some screenshots too! I'm going to put a read more because this is a long one buckle up lads.

So obviously the whole punishment for Hickey is designed to humiliate him (I would imagine this is one of the reasons his punishment isn't explained to him, because if Hickey truly was a naval petty officer he would know, and I think it's another way for Crozier to essentially say "I see you" and not in a good way). The fact we're not shown the other whippings shows the importance lies in the scene with Hickey.

I've seen a bit of discussion about his charge of "dirtiness", which isn't listed initially when we see him being questioned by the Captains, and whether or not it alludes to homosexuality but on a quick cursory search it does seem to have been used as a euphemism where an outright accusation of sodomy would mean a death sentence. The way Crozier throws it out there, no doubt to heap the humiliation onto Hickey and add crimes to the list to cover the fact he added lashes on to the punishment essentially for a bruised ego (but that's another matter), suggests a whole lot of venom to the accusation. Hickey's pointed look at Irving and Irving's quick shift of his gaze down suggests they both know exactly why Crozier has listed this among Hickey's list of crimes, and Hickey looks furious for it.

But I think this is also ultimately where the panic begins to set in. Again, there are far greater minds than me who have made excellent posts about queer coded characters in the terror, and I think it's no surprise that most of them are the faces that are focused on in this scence. It is clear long before this moment that Crozier's leadership is lacking, and people have already begun to voice concerns fairly loudly. Tozer for one is livid in the wake of Heather being injured, and the marines have clearly started distancing themselves from both the officers and the men. I feel like this scene, for a lot of characters is a point of major shift in either allegiences or character.

Tozer and the Captains are the first faces that are panned to in this scene and I think the expressions speak for themselves.

Tozer is visibly upset/concerned after the first lash. I do think guilt probably has a part to play, in that is was him whole told Hickey where Silna was, and presumably approved enough of the plan to not rat him out to anyone. Again, very probably part of Tozer's anger at Heather being injured due to what he sees is Crozier's poor management. Fitzjames is stoney faced, but is also the only one looking. As a man who many have noted pushes himself to pick emotional scabs, I think it would make sense for someone who is also notably queer coded and stuggles with trauma to make himself look directly at someone being whipped for a crime he himself might commit. Crozier isn't even looking, whether out of suddenly doubting his harshness or simply triggering something in his own memory it's not clear. I think the end of this shot also speaks for itself.

(Fig 1. Three Concerned (very likely not straight) men contemplate)

The lads at the back behind Mr. Johnson are all looking Directly At the whipping as it is taking place. Interestingly none of the men at the front near the table are looking. This is the stewards, officers, and marines. Whether out of respect or also Concern at their own skins (I think every one of these characters has been addressed as being queer coded at some point, minus the marines who are all, except Tozer, fairly nameless characters).

I'm not a gifmaker which is unfortunate for this section, though this is what is gifed in the beautiful gifset by sashneeka I reblogged (x). Tommy is also visibly upset, whether because he knows Tozer was involved in the plot to kidnap Silna and is concerned for him and any of the rest of the crew who had assisted in someway or voiced support. Billy interestingly does look briefly, and sets his jaw after in a way that suggests he's trying to fight the guilt of being the one to tell Irving about the whole affair with Hickey to paint himself in a better light. It could just as easily be Billy there on that table being lashed, but he somehow rationalises it in his head (probably because Hickey is a little bastard) that he was right in what he did. He does look down fairly guiltily after this, so maybe he hasn't quite settled on an opinion. Jopson also looks incredibly concerned/unsettled, and interestingly looks at Hickey right up until the whip hits where he flinches, and not for the only time in this scene. From what we know about Jopson's past, though not at this point, it may well be he is remembering similar punishment/mistreatment and like Fitzjames looks enough to pick the scab open and flinch from his own trauma.

The closeup of Hickey shows the full extent of his rage and humiliation building, and as I think Adam himself said, they whipped something out of Hickey that day and let him reach this potential that lay inside him (to become an even bigger bastard). He's fully severed all ties and feelings of loyalty after this and it becomes full on train to manipulation station from this point. I have a lot of Thoughts about Hickey also (which I am sure you are all aware of) but I think there was some semblance of Hickey attempting to start afresh on this journey, or at the very least keep his head down and go unnoticed. The trouble is, he notices Crozier as a flawed man, and one not from the upper classes like himself, and his ego can't help but think we're not so different, that could be me with the right connections. Well surprise lads, its murder time now and he's gonna make this old man pay for not recognising initiative but punishing it. I do wonder if Crozier wasn't booze sick and rattled from losing even more men under his command, would he not have come down so harshly for someone clearly defying the Articles to do what he thinks is right and save the men (a la Crozier and his fuck you I'm directly contradicting an order and leading this rescue party myself).

Tozer gets another wee closeup here and again looks like he has resolved something in his head too. Most likely that he thinks Crozier an unfit leader, and admiring Hickey for having the balls to do what he did (Hickey also never reveals anyone else who came with him, and when he talks about Hartnell and Mason's part in taking Silna it highlights their skill and bravery and (he thinks) commends them to the Captain. It's probably the only time we see him building up and applauding others). He looks dead ahead here and seems to have a very steely gaze, like yep fuck it looks like I'm going it alone now. It is interesting that Tozer goes from this to notably disliking Hickey (both at the start and when they are packing up - "you've just given me an excuse to give a big shove". This might be anger at Hickey having caused all the issues with Silna after the fact when Heather gets killed at Carnivale), but still follows him in the end. Hickey has the ability to kill, manipulate, steal, basically do whatever needed for their group to get ahead, which means Tozer can be part of the group and not have to dirty his own hands. I think Tozer probably has a complicated relationship with Hickey, but he does fall for the charm hook, line, and sinker, and the fact he seems concerned for him here suggests how easily he is sympathetic to those he sees as being wronged.

Gibby getting Hickey's blood on his hand (ayy) seems to visibly make him blanch, and I do find it interesting that the shot then pans to Tommy as though they are looking at each other when they are stood side by side. The similarities between them maybe? (I've seen and reblogged a lot of discourse about Tommy loving Tozer, maybe another nod to no one being so different to the man on the table?) Irving doesn't get much of a close up in the rest of this scene but bless him he looks equal parts terrified and guilty (another man who has been noted as having a list of many things to distract from the Gay Thoughts like why do you need to distract from Gay Thoughts Irving?). He also has the Far Off Look of trauma about him, probably because he too could just as easily be on that table.

I have many many thoughts about the way Hickey turns to look (and fucking smile???) at Crozier next, which is when Crozier is looking directly at him and Fitzjames looks at him. Like if I were Crozier I think my fucking blood would chill, look at this man. Being humiliated and lashed still hasn't broken him, if anything he has just become fully unhinged and looks at Crozier as though to say "did you really think this would work?". I would also say, this man has fairly quite for someone who is at this stage something like 22 lashes in? Like what the actual fuck Hickey?? I fully belive Hickey to be a psycopath, and most of what he does in the beginning of the series is an attempt to stay hidden until they get to Hawaii and he can ditch the crew, but I think it is fairly safe to say he isn't hiding it any more.

And he knows this is going to make the men doubt Crozier - I can't do a proper search because I am using my work laptop atm, but I seem to remember reading that a punishment greater than 12 lashes required a court martial (probably why Little steps in to say so when Crozier orders his punishment as well as them technically being lost at sea), which would be another strike against him as a Captain. Not only that, but Crozier does seem to grant him some mercy in letting him only be lashed I think 23 or so times? Probably because the tension is fucking palpable in this whole scene and Crozier can either choose to claw back some sense of control on the matter, or deal with the consequences of many people admiring Hickey for what he has done for the crew and start a mutiny. I think this is the first time Fitzjames sees the damage Crozier is doing to himself with his choices as Captain, and is probably just as concerned at the look Hickey is giving him. He knows this has unleashed something in this tiny rat bastard too, and that he will become the physical manifestation of Crozier's self-destructive tendancies. Crozier perpetually comes to everything just a fraction too late to change anything - he never saves any of the men, only comforts them as they die, and a lot of this has to do with his own ego and bad decision making, and I think this is the first example here of the fact his actions are having an effect on others to the point it will be his downfall.

Anyway, to round it off, I think this scene really epitomises the notion that Hickey is a mirror to the rest of the men, and they see their flaws in him. Those who have questioned Crozier's captaincy look concernced knowing they too could be being lashed. They too would have tried to get Silna to stop the Tuunbaq hunting them. Those who are queer or queer coded know they too could be being lashed for it. Crozier himself sees his unwillingness to follow the Articles in him, sees his own insubordination, and feels what Sir John meant when he said his position afforded him deference. Hickey may as well be a metaphor for all the men being lashed, theres not one among them who haven't voiced wanting to do what he has done. Let them without sin and all that. This is make or break for who holds loyalty to the Captain, and the turning point for who is going where. I think everyone except Jopson, Irving and Fitzjames ends up in the mutineers camp, and Irving ends up killed and mutilated by Hickey and Fitzjames is scavanged by them. Theres not one of them that isn't haunted by what happened in this scene, and Hickey would end up being the death of every single one of them. The only one who remains loyal after this is Jopson, who thinks his care and duty to the Captain can outweigh his other sins. Fitzjames and Crozier have a stronger relationship once he recovers from his withdrawal, yes, but Fitzjames also keeps him in check now (I'm thinking of Edward Little being threatened with flogging again because of course I am), and it is another step too late for Crozier's self-destruction. I've seen a Hickey/Fitzjames Christ analogy on here before too, so I hope you'll forgive me in comparing them, but Hickey in this scene really does get punished for everyone else's crimes in this scene, and becomes a sort of Christ-like figure, reborn as a complete version of the worst of himself from the pain of being lashed. They whipped something out of him!! Anyway, that about sums it up!

[burningblake]

show your process

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.

I have been tagged by @lordbelacqua to talk about this gifset (thank you sm, I always wanted to make my own sort of gif tutorial hehe). Also, shout-out to lordbelacqua’s gifset here.

Since this is going to be long, I put everything under the cut.

planning: so since this is an inspired gifset, obviously the idea came from another post, this one here and as you will see this post has an insp credit on its own, but the user changed their url so I had to do some search to find their gifset. anyway, it’s here. the first gifset includes the greek words ‘eros’, ‘philautia’, ‘storge’, ‘philia’ but you will notice in my gifset I have an extra word which is ‘agape’ (my personal favorite as a greek person), this extra word I saw from the second gifset. 

At first, I wanted to do this with #alina starkov from #shadow and bone, but I realized that the word ‘eros’, i.e. romantic love would go for #darklina, whilst ‘storge’, i.e. familial love, would go for alina and mal, and becaure of the ship wars in the fandom, I didn’t want to potentially attract haters from doing this. btw, someone else did this after I posted the yennefer gifset and I was really happy to see it, especially because they used many moments/relationships I had in mind, so shout-out to @darkstarkova for the gifset. 

anyway, I also ended up choosing yennefer because for me it just felt much more meaningful to do such a gifset for her, since she has so much love to give and so few chances to do so. I also wanted to do right by it and use quality frames, so I went the extra mile and downloaded higher quality episodes. then I had to choose the shots that would work. some of the words, like “eros” and “storge” and “agape” I already had an idea what they would be, but for the words “philautia” and “philia” I had to fast-rewatch some episodes again. long story short, I first planned to blend this gifset for “philautia”, i.e. self love:

but then I rewatched the scene at the end where yennefer burns it all and as she was remembering all the times she’d been abused and maltreated, I teared up (I always do) and that scene just felt much more powerful to me, because it was then that she truly accepted herself and “let her chaos” be unleashed. 

giffing: to sharpen my gifs, I used the light sharpening action from this post. for the coloring and blending I’ll use the first gif as an example, but more or less, I didn’t follow any specific color palette, but went with what looked nice and what didn’t. so at first I had this gif: 

after I finished staring at this (took me a few minutes), I actually focused on the coloring. so first I used a curves layer and chose the light and dark areas (left pic below). Basically you choose the marker in the yellow circle to choose the lightest spot on yor gif, and the marker in the dark circle to choose the darkest spot respectively. I also play individually with the greens, blues and reds (right pic below) until I get a lighting base that I like:

Now at this part I usually just add a levels and brightness layer to further enhance the light and dark spots. At this point the gifset looks like this: 

personally I didn’t like the red tint on their faces and the cyan tint on geralt’s hair, so I used a selective color layer and turned up the cyans in the reds and turned down the cyans in the cyans like below. I also turned down the yellows in the cyans but I see that this didn’t change much, so it’s something I simply forgot to turn back to normal. 

I also added a color balance layer. With this I usually increase the blues, the magentas and cyans for midtones, shadows and highlights. So now: 

At this point, I add a gradient map layer in b&w, right-click on it, select ‘blending options’ and turn it to soft light, then play with the opacity if necessary:

Usually this is where my coloring ends, but I still didn’t like the result so I played around some more and ended up adding a second gradient map layer in b&w, left it at normal blend mode and turned the opacity down to 47%. So this is what I have finally:

So then I colored the second gif similarly and blended it in. For blending gifs, I follow this tutorial here. So now I had this:

As you can see, the coloring and light of the blended gif doesn’t match the base gif. Adding a similar second gradient to the blended gif didn’t really work nice. Then I decided to turn it b&w with a simple black and white layer and voila, the result just clicked. 

For the text I downloaded various fonts from here. So the title line “eros” is in the Bellerose font and the rest are in the Avenir font from here. I used the gradient text effect described here for the title line. And as for the second subtitle text, I simply opened “blending options” again, set the fill opacity to 0 and used a white stroke of size 1 px. Final result:

For the rest of the gifs I did similar coloring and blending.

arranging: To arrange, I simply play around with what looks good. The size I used is 540 x 450, because in the first gif I needed yennefer’s dark hair to take quite a large proportion of the gif, so that I could place the blended gif on (it does not show on light areas), so this determined the dimensions for the gifset. 

posting: I always “save as draft” before I post any gifset because I want to make sure all gifs play out correctly and also I want to see if the mobile app shows them correctly as well. So after I verify this, I add the caption and I search the necessary blogs to tag to spread awareness. 

I’d say it is my most quality gifset yet and I am kind of proud of it :) 

I’m tagging: 

@starkkov​ for this gifset | @captainheroism​ for this gifset | @swanthief​ for this gifset | @aleksander-alina​ for this gifset | @the-darkling​​ for this gifset

of course you can just ignore this or choose another creation of yours to show the process for <3

[kdramacrybaby]

Itaewon Class (2020)

Genre: Life, Romance, Youth

Synopsis: Saeroyi’s life falls apart at the hands of rich heir Geun-won, who never receives punishment for his crimes, but Saeroyi is determined to get revenge. He carefully plans out his future and works hard to achieve his dreams. Along with the friends he gains along the way, he wants to create the next big business empire. Despite everything and everyone trying to knock him down, Saeroyi always gets back up.

Episode info: 16 episodes / Runtime around 70 minutes

Lead cast: Park Seo-joon (Park Saeroyi), Kim Da-mi (Jo Yi-seo), Kwon Nara (Oh Soo-ah), Lee Joo-young (Ma Hyun-yi), Yoon Kyung-ho (Oh Byeong-heo), Chris Lyon (Kim Toni), Kim Dong-hee (Jang Geun-soo), Ahn Bo-hyun (Jang Geun-won), Yoo Jae-myung (Jang Dae-hee)

Link to watch: You can watch on Netflix or on Viki

Drama rec masterlist | Drama rant thread (beware of spoilers)

I usually try and avoid any spoilers / too much information about a drama before I watch it, so if I do have any information, it’s from the few gifsets I’ve seen. For this drama, I had gotten the impression that it was sort of a light-hearted, slice-of-life kinda drama in the same sense as Fight For My Way. Spoiler alert - it is not!

So, I also just want to state a warning that there are some really graphic scenes right off the bat and throughout, the worst being a very bloody car crash that gets uncomfortably close.

The drama surprised me with how dark it actually was. And it deals with a lot of important topics that I haven’t really seen in any other dramas that I’ve watched so far. In some shape or form, this drama has dealt with:

Sexual assault

Life as a transgender woman

Trauma (Not sure if I want to call it PTSD but definitely heavy issues from their past)

Mental illness

Racism

All in all, this drama is actually a good reminder of how much the world sucks. But also how good it can be. It has a “life sucks, but you have to deal with it” kind of vibe to it that feels raw and real. It doesn’t matter who you are or what your life is like, we all have our battles we need to fight. We all have our struggles. In the end, the only thing that matters is what we do with what we’re given. If you work hard and treat people with kindness, you can go a long way in life.

The drama is also a reminder of how money really can solve and create problems. It can turn good people bad, allow the rich to trample all over everyone without consequences, twist your mind completely. Sometimes, it doesn’t matter if you’re a good person, life will still fuck you over. You just need to get back up and keep fighting. Good things will come eventually.

To be true, the first half of the drama had me hooked! It felt realistic and raw and unlike any other drama, I have ever seen. It is so good! But I slowly stopped caring during the second half. It was like the characters stopped growing from there, and they just became stuck in the role they had been given. The events became a lot more far-fetched and… well, too drama cliché if that makes sense. It went from an easy 5 stars to 3 stars in the span of a couple of episodes, and that made me really sad.

I don’t think I’ll give season 2 a chance when / if it comes out, if I have to be honest.

[innerspeaker]

i was tagged by @josephlevitt, thank you so much! your works are all absolutely spectacular, you’re so talented and creative!! 💖(i swear im gonna start watching the umbrella academy exclusively for your i know the end gifset tbh)

rules : it’s time to love yourself. choose your 5 favorite works you created in the past year (fics, art, edits, etc.) and link them below to reflect on the amazing things you’ve brought into the world. tag as many writers/artists/etc. you want (fan or original) so we can spread the love and link each other to awesome works !

the wizard of oz + “i know the end”: the wizard of oz (1939) was my first movie of the decade: i watched it on january 1st 2020, back when i still didn’t know “there is no place like home” would have been taken so literally, and i was dying to make a gifset about it cause it’s just so beautiful, i had made a bunch of psds for a couple of scenes but they were laying in some folder with no use, until i heard “i know the end” for the first time and its lyrics basically made me visualize this very same gifset in my head. it was absolutely wonderful to bring it to life cause it made me try many new things, from the settings of the big font, which makes me very happy with the way it turned out, to the blending: this wasn’t my first blending attempt, actually, but i don’t think i’ve ever tried it on such big gifs and i think the result is kinda good(??? i think). also i’m obsessed with the lyrics about having to go repeating “i know” three times matching the three clicks of dorothy’s heels;

joker(s) as fear/chaos/pain: (tw: blood, tw: clowns) so, right after watching tdk trilogy, i looked for something to reblog and i stumbled upon the gifset i mention as my inspiration and, like, i had an actual spark in my head (love that feeling tbh!) cause i thought the words on the original gifset were perfect for each one of the cinematic jokers and that it would have been interesting to portray three different shades of the same character. i think this is one of my favourite gifsets i’ve ever done, and, also, it allowed me to use a script as a caption, which is so cool;

phoebe bridgers’ nominations for the 2021 grammy awards: punisher is my favourite record of the year and, for a lot of reasons, it has become one of the most important records ever made, for me, so i was so hopeful about phoebe getting the grammy nomination(s) she deserved so much in my eyes, and when they announced not one but four (4!!) nominations my heart exploded with joy and i immediately decided to celebrate with something, which ended up being this gifset: originally i didnt plan to make it so violet, actually i was just happy i had an excuse to gif /that/ part of ikte music video and to gif again the seth meyers performance but i didn’t have any specific prominent color in mind, but i think i like this coloring a lot, although it was made in a kind of a rush. (but also with care, i swear!) also, i really wanted her handwriting to be one of the fonts for this, but i looked for the word “kyoto” handwritten by her everywhere and i couldn’t find it, so i chose to use elliott smith’s handwriting font for that word, instead, which isn’t the most consistent choice in the world, but i think it was kind of a  nice touch, regardless;

“the terminal” gifset: my humble homage and take on one of my favourite movies ever made, i love the terminal so much!! this is so different from the original concept i had in mind cause at first it had more gifs and they were supposed to be blue-ish or, however, not like this, but when i started to color tom hanks’ gif i thought about adding a gradient background and i started to mess up with the settings and the original blue-turquoise gradient became red-orange (and the fact the sky blue is still visible in the middle/last frames of the gif kinda bothers me a lot aaaah anyway), then i repeated the process with the fountain gif and i loved the result so much i decided to just go with the flow and make these all red, orange and green shades, so yeah, another way to experiment new things while giffing another absolutely stunning masterpiece imo;

this is us’ “vietnam” gifset: i had to gif my favourite episode of this is us, which is still haunting me to this day (the panoramic on the babies’ birthdates??? c h i l l s). it is also the first gifset i published for this blog’s new era! (it’s a long story). despite it being pretty simple, i love how the coloring turned out and how pastel-y everything is, and how pretty every shot is (i mean, this show is unparalleled for both storytelling AND cinematography so it wasn’t hard to find pretty shots), i tried my best to keep it as delicate as possible to reach a sort of vibrant pastel and not to get too crazy with colours and i’m very happy with it. 

+ bonus: bojack horseman + the four horsemen of the apocalypse, i’m adding it cause i’m still not sure if it falls under “clever ideas” or “pure shitpost”, either way this was something i thought about at 3 am once and i had to bring it to life and i kinda like how it turned out, so yeah (the funny thing is i though it could have been richer but i didn’t know what to add and like literally one, two days later all those gifsets about characters + tarot cards popped up and they had all those beautiful static images of tarots blended with gifs and i was like “shit,this is what i missed, i should have done something like that!”...yeah)

i’ll tag @alexturner, @caulfielings, @antaris​, @colettes and whoever wants to do it!