#i forgot all of the tags i normally out here 🙃

[toastermin-it]

I AM ALIVE

what's up everyone? hello! it me :)

(unfortunately for you guys i am the same min, just a year or so older and way more tired.)

(i spelled put wrong in the tags i am so sorry guys it's "put" not "out")

[reasonandfaithinharmony]

2023 writing gif-making round up

Rules (adapted for fic, gifs, art, etc.): Share what you made this year! It can be works you posted to Ao3, Wattpad, Tumblr, or anywhere else! You can share everything you made or just the projects you're most excited about. Thank you for the tag, @thisbuildinghasfeelings!

January

Um. Coming to terms with the idea of 2023? I dunno. But certainly nothing creative happened here.

February

Boyfriend → husband (Schitt's Creek) — A side-by-side comparison of how David refers to Patrick in season 4 and season 6. (Brought to you courtesy of a lovely text post by @jesuisici33.)

David questioning Stevie's motives (Schitt’s Creek) — A fun look at David's expressive face. 😄

March and April

An existential crisis. Or two. Or five. 🙃 Managed to finish absolutely nothing.

I did come in contact with a lot of 911 Lone Star content, however. Which explains everything that follows. Oops?

May

Marry me. (911 Lone Star) — Ah, my first gif set for this show. A parallel of TK referring to Carlos as his husband when he proposes, and then during their wedding ceremony.

Wedding → honeymoon (911 Lone Star) — Holding hands right after they first kiss as husbands. (Promo footage that didn't actually make the final episode cut). And holding hands poolside on their honeymoon.

Note: From here on out, everything in this list is for Lone Star, unless otherwise specified.

June

TK and Andrea helping Carlos get ready — A parallel set highlighting similar moments from Best of Men and a deleted scene from In Sickness and in Health

We almost forgot. Your boutonnière. — In which I attempt to put a couple pieces of unaired footage back together: the deleted scene with Andrea and Carlos + promo footage of what must be the same scene

Heart tutorial — Danielle Savre and Stefania Spampinato teach Rafael Silva how to make a heart sign with his hands at the First Responders Reunion 🫶

July

🤨 (affectionate) — Listen. I love this dynamic. Had to do the parallel set.

Nothing ever stays the same, Carlos. — A look at TK and Carlos' conversation in 2x04 in parallel with Carlos' wedding vows. The first set I wanted to do for Lone Star. Took me a while to get to it because I wasn't sure how to put it together.

August

TK needs you all to RSVP — My first attempt at this type of post. Incorrect quotes? Text post memes? I don't know what to call them, really. But it was definitely fun. And then it became the thing I did most often. Lol.

And if it never changes? // What if everything changes again? — A parallel set for me and ~5 other people, putting Tarlos in 2x04 side by side with Marcel the Shell with Shoes On

September

You're a menace to society *smooch smooch smooch* — My next incorrect quotes/meme post. And my contribution to ascribing cat-like behavior to TK.

I like him a normal amount — A fandom reaction gif, essentially. Courtesy of Joey Tribbiani on Friends.

Love is stored in humans finding out we can make heart shapes with our hands — Had to revisit the heart tutorial for Rafa. This time as one of the incorrect quotes/text posts.

When you can be silly and slutty with them — Oh, I had fun with this look at TK and Carlos' relationship. 😍

Pretty sure this happened at least once — In which we learn TK was seen trying to catch a frog outside the firehouse. Obviously.

October

Carlos is lit like an angel — Commentary on that beautiful moment from 2x02 where TK falls into Carlos' arms.

I put my emotions into my cooking. // This tastes… horny? — A playful and sexy look at Carlos in the kitchen with TK, and then heading upstairs… 😏

I adore you. Why are you like this? I’m going to kiss you with such fervor… — Oh, just exploring the Tarlos relationship dynamic with a text post and a scene from 3x18.

November

Unedited Gif Game (26 entries so far) — This has been very fun. I think it was good for me to have a bunch of low-stakes gif projects where I was not in charge. Lol. I will spare you individual links to each of them. But they should all be in the tag linked here. I will probably make this an ongoing thing, as long as it's not annoying everyone.

December

Episode vs. Promo: Yee-Haw (1x02) — Let's start diving into some more unaired footage, shall we? And let's start with some alt takes on that first make-out scene.

Missing moments: then and now — From an almost-kiss in 1x02 to an alt kiss from their wedding.

You're a miracle, TK Strand. My miracle. — A rather large close-up gif of that alt wedding kiss. Why? So we can see the teardrop that beads up under Carlos' eye.

Tags below the cut…

Tagging: @rmd-writes, @reyesstrand, @strandnreyes, @cold-blooded-jelly-doughnut, @carlos-in-glasses, @lemonlyman-dotcom, @birdclowns, @welcometololaland, @lizzie-bennetdarcy, @rosedavid, @heartstringsduet, @noxsoulmate, @chicgeekgirl89, @paperstorm, @tailoredshirt, @guardian-angle22, @swearphil, @carlos-tk, @three-drink-amy, @orchidscript, @danieljradcliffe, @lightningboltreader + open tag!

[for-the-ninth]

WIP Whenever!

A bunch of ppl tagged me in WIP Wednesday and I forgot to post because of course I did 🙃🙃🙃 tags below the cut - feel free to post your work, but I'm mostly just tagging ppl who I know might wanna read my shit 😊

Anyway here's another snippet from a chapter I've spent far too long on! The aftermath of Cullen having a PTSD flashback on his first day of reassignment.

***

Hours later, he awoke in his bedroom, shrouded in shadow, save for the flicker of a bedside lamp and the warm glow emanating from the fireplace. His eyes snapped open and he shot up, groaning and clutching the sides of his aching head. What happened in there?

Shielan sent him in, Diedre gave him the spiel, and then, she put a knife in his hand. His first day—his first task—and he’d already failed. Diedre would surely fire him, and Shielan would…well, he’d no idea about her plans for him, and that was perhaps the most terrifying bit of this whole ordeal. He rocked back and forth, lips pursed and forehead wrinkled, but his mind failed him just as he’d failed the Inquisitor. He remembered nothing beyond Cahir saying, “It’s not his fault,” which, if Diedre’s face was any indication, couldn’t be further from the truth.

Curse his pathetic brain and its useless muddled memories, and curse Gregoir for leaving him to die, and fuck the goddamned Chantry for ruining his life under the guise of servitude to their precious Maker. Years of wholly dedicated service, only to realize he’d been wrong about all of it. Without lyrium to embolden him, he was a fucking coward too—an ignorant child, once afraid of demons and now paralyzed by the common kitchen knife. He’d known Mabari with more courage.

A knock came at the door and Cullen pushed himself out of bed. It hurt like hell but he didn’t care. Nobody knew what happened to survivors of lyrium withdrawal because there weren’t any, so who’s to say a life of constant pain wouldn’t be his new normal? Might as well quit crying over it while he was ahead.

“Coming.” Despite the urgency in his voice, his movements were slow, and his limp markedly worse, but he could endure. He must endure. Another knock came, and he grit his teeth. “If you’d just give me a mo—”

Cassandra marched in, brows furrowed as she examined the doorknob, turning it this way and that. “Someone ought to fix this.” Cullen smiled weakly as she shut the door and gave him a once-over, mouth turned down in a fretful scowl. “You look…unwell.”

“Don’t flatter me.” He gestured toward the sole chair in his room as he limped back to bed, but rather than sit, Cassandra hooked one arm through his.

“I’m fine.”

“No, you are stubborn.”

Weeks ago, he would’ve been too proud to accept her help, but weeks ago, his muscles still worked and his thoughts were coherent and his memories appeared in mostly chronological order. Jaw clenched and smile tight, he nodded his thanks and allowed his dear friend—perhaps his only friend—to carry the burden he could no longer bear.

@a11sha11fade @nirikeehan @oxygenforthewicked @emerald-amidst-gold @roguelioness

[sylvinuk-turkey]

Today was a travel day and we knew we’d have to pack and clean Gokay’s parents place to get it back in good condition. So it wasn’t a super exciting day. We set a 9:30a alarm to leave by 10a to make a 10:30a reservation at the first Turkish breakfast place. We took a cab to and from for timing and due to it being down a crazy hill.

I was so hungry I forgot a picture, so here are a few from the first time we went as a reminder. Definitely ate too much, but it was all sooooo yummy!

Once home we all packed, did some laundry (sheets), showered, cleaned the kitchen, vacuumed, and took out the trash… nothing exciting. Except for right after my shower… instead of towels, Gokay and I got towel robes… it’s a thing in Turkey. I’ve been using mine all week and I quite like it. My robe had been hanging in the bathroom behind the door so it dries after each use. Before the shower I took it down and put it closer to the shower. Once I showered I grabbed it and started putting it on. As I was getting the second arm in I felt a pinch/poke on my back. I freaked, let out a short scream and dropped the robe/took it off. I was working to convince myself the tag just caught me, and was about to put it back on when I saw the largest black spider on the bottom corner of my robe (and for those who don’t know I hate spiders). I threw the robe out of the shower on to the ground so quick, and yelled for Gokay. He at first had thought my scream was Carley sneezing, so he was near the door checking it out. He came in and was my savior, killing the spider, and checking my back. Luckily, it was a non-poisonous thing, so I just had a little bump for about an hour. Just my luck though!

Anyway, once packed we had to weigh our bags because although we could check a bag it has to be under 18kg, and our carry-ons had to be under 8kg. Gokay found this out while checking in (we are sensitive now after our experience in London to Turkey).

We also had planned to do Turkish baked potatoes in Ortaköy as a later lunch (since later breakfast and later/no dinner due to travel). Instead, we ordered in Dominos Döner pizza lol. 🤪🤣🙃 although I would have preferred Mantı (dumplings in yogurt) at the local store, Dominos was surprisingly alright for a meal.

We finished cleaning and eating around 4:45, which was perfect timing as we planned to get out of the house by 5, so we could get to the airport by 6 which was a couple hours before our flight (8:30ish). It was good we did because the experience was a little nuts!

First, right at the front doors, you have to go through normal security, taking out any electronic devices, metals, etc. Luckily we didn’t have to take out liquids here. I beeped because I didn’t take my Fitbit off… which usually isn’t a problem.

Next we had to check our bags. So we were about to go into the express lane but the guy stopped us saying we had to check in using the kiosk to get our bag tags (they have automated it, minimizing the need for personnel). But we immediately needed help. First because the kiosk wasn’t checking the US tickets in (Gokay was separate because he’s Turkish/has a Turkish passport). Next because once we got started with the US tickets, we didn’t do it right, and only one of us could take a 18kg bag… instead of all three of us. Third and finally, Carley’s name some how got autocorrected to a Turkish word (Varken - meaning ‘while there is’) when purchasing and then missed during all the check-in processes.

At this Gokay had to run around trying to find the right ticket desk to get it fixed. Again, very lucky we arrived early. After about 20 minutes he came back and it was all fixed. So we redid the check-in process on the kiosk, and finally dropped our bags on the automatic conveyor. We did notice that due to having to fix Carley’s ticket the 3 US passengers were now not in the same row. So we figured we see what happened once we were on the plane.

Since we still had about an hour before boarding we got some food at the food court. Gokay had iskender - which is Döner on bread with butter poured over it, while I had a Döner burger. We also used the restroom, then headed to our gate.

Once getting to the gate there were very few people and it said “Last call” on the board even though it was still about 45 min before the flight left! We had to get on a bus and get taken to our plane on the tarmac, just one of those airports/gates. Turns out we were not the last bus, there was one after us. So we were fine, but it’s a great way to give someone a heart attack!

Once we got on the plane there was already someone in Carley’s originally seat so I let her take mine next to Adam, and I took her new seat, which was in the middle of the exit row - aisle 15. They were in 23, and Gokay was in 26? since he was always going by himself being the 4th of a party on a different ticket reservations). But it’s a little over an hour flight so whatever.

Once we landed, we waited for our bags and then went to pickup a manual car for Gokay to drive us to Selimiye. We were going to get picked up by one of his parents but although we would have fit we weren’t sure if the bags would. So this is what he and his mom decided on, but he was the one who decided to practice his manual driving. 🤣

So we landed, did the mandatory bathroom break and snack purchasing before the long-ish drive. Gokay did not see a car place for the company his mom told him about, so he called her. Turns out they’d be outside waiting, but the name we were looking for was wrong because the company contracted a contractor… like 3 times removed. So it was a little confusing. Once we figured it out, Gokay checked us in for the car. They did paperwork outside the airport at a cafe and then brought the car to us. It was a small car, so to fit the 4 suitcases, 2 backpacks and a small duffel, I utilized my ‘trunk Tetris’ skills that my dad taught me over the years (that’s what we call fitting things in a tiny trunk space). I fit everything but the two backpacks which were going to be inside the car anyway.

Unlike the US… the car was completely empty of gas (the last line was blinking on the digital display) and the low tire pressure light was on. What the heck?! So I found us the first gas station on the road and luckily they did tire pressure too. So once we finished with that it was 11p… and it was a 2ish hour drive so arrival around 1a.

So I’m posting this at midnight and if anything more happens tonight I’ll post about it tomorrow. This is my first time seeing a 24 hour digital clock turn midnight… surprised I never saw it in Italy.